Purple Sky - A. Teller (the chimp paradox txt) 📗

the feeling of small beads of venom bubbling and popping beneath my skin. It wasn’t a wince worthy feeling. It was a reminder of the searing pain before, and it brought a terrifying ache to my whole body. My body feared the venom. I couldn’t feel the venom when I sat still. Slowly, over time, I began to process where I was.

I was at home, thank God. The hospital bed I laid in was moved into my room. My huge window was covered with black sheets, which left the room completely blackened. My furniture had been cleared out of the room, and only two chairs were left. And the many mechanical devises that monitored everything going on inside me. It had been about six hours before I saw light. A ray of light, from the bottom of the door, glowed brightly against the blackness of the room. The door cracked open, sending a flash of light right for my eyes. I blinked several times before the light faded. And soon, a cold head stroked my head. Mom…

“Bella?” I asked. My voice was raspy and dry, and I coughed. Bella handed me a glass of water, which I gladly drank.

‘Hey Renesmee,” she said, holding my hand. Her marble hand felt nice against my hot skin.

“I probably look like hell, huh?” I asked. My voice was more of a broken whisper now, but Bella could still hear it.

“Very hellish,” she said with a wind chime laugh. I smiled, since facial expressions were all I could bare. My insides felt torn up and bruised.

“How is he?” I asked. Bella smiled with confusion.

“You went to the brink of death and back, and you want to know how Jacob is after drinking a quart of blood? You are my daughter,” she said, smiling before kissing my forehead. “I’ll call him in.” Bella pulled the curtains back, revealing a rainy and cloudy Forks afternoon.

“How long have I been out?” I asked. Bella came over and pulled me up. I sat up, with support from at least ten pillows behind me.

‘Since last night. You passed out before Jacob was done, and we had to bring you back for a blood transfusion.”

“What time is it now?” I asked, looking around for a clock. My neck was sore, and no matter how much I licked my lips, they remained chapped and painful.

“About five. Here,” she said, handing me some chap stick. I went over my lips twice, and it gave me instant relief. I finally had to ask.

“So, I suppose getting all the answers from you would be easiest.”

“You supposed correctly,” she said, pulling a chair up to my bed and explaining.

Apparently, a few of the vampires were gifted. Three of them were anyway, and they created a last minute newborn army. But not like one the Cullens had seen before. These were all teenagers. Kids from twelve to sixteen turned to vampires and told to destroy. One vampire was elementally gifted, like Benjamin, a vampire from the Egyptian coven. This vampire however, only controlled one element. Fire. Why? No one has a clue. Bella said the family spent most of the night waiting to hear about me, and to speculate on our latest encounter. A lot of ideas were tossed around, but there’s no telling the real reasoning of our enemies. Another vampire, a younger looking one, was gifted like Alice. She was blocking Alice out. She was a mental shield, using images to block out other’s gifts and take control of them for herself. Bella was locked in a mind power war with her. Alice has since returned to normal, but the reasoning behind the entire attack. All the newborns were killed, including the one that attacked me. But not all the vampires were destroyed. Two made their escape. The younger girl, whom I had pinned and planned to kill, and the fire girl. I suddenly felt the anger boiling within me. I wanted that girl dead. She’s a no good, murderous rat. And she stole my ring from right under my nose!

I glanced down at my hand. There was my ring, smudged with ash. My hand was almost transparent. Ghostly white, with ash and dust clumped beneath my nails.

“Bella, could I get a shower?”

“Sure, come on.”

Bella helped me up, but after a while, it was clear I wasn’t standing up any time soon. She simply picked me up and took me to my bathroom. . I quickly glanced into a mirror before getting in the tub, and boy was I a sight. Giant, dark circles, limp, oily hair, and ash covering me in a thin layer everywhere. I really did resemble some sort of creature from hell. My eyebrow adorned a butterfly stitch, and my bottom lip was cracked open and scabbing. My neck was rapped as tight as possible, only allowing me to breath.

“Did anyone clean the…” I trailed off. I couldn’t say it. Bite mark…

“Carlisle clean up your neck, sewed you up, and wrapped you tight. We will change the bandage in about a week,” Bella explained, running her hand under the water.

It was soothing, but lying in the water trying not to move wasn’t exactly fun. Bella explained that although Jake got the venom out of my blood, there were still remnants of it in the small, microscopic cavities of my bones, and the small molecules of fiery torture that remained would have to be worked out of my system over time.

I was helped out and dressed by Bella. Jeans were torturous, so we resorted to a long sleeved, very short grey dress that Alice provided. I only caught a glimpse of Alice, who darted in and out, but I could tell she was better. She had her bright, cheery smile that she always had when things were good. Things were good again. They truly were.

With no shoes, I was carried back to my grey hospital room and hooked up o only one IV this time. With painkillers and water, I lay in my bed, wordless. Bella left, and soon, I was greeted by the only person I really wanted to see.

“Hey Ness,” Jacob said in a soothing whisper. Instead of grabbing a chair, he just walked up to me and kneeled at my bedside.

“You saved me,” I said. My voice was still weak, and Carlisle came in earlier to put me on oxygen. Clean, fresh air felt good.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” he said, brushing my hair out of my face. I was just gaining the ability to move my hands and wrists without pain, and I overturned my flat hand to show my palm. Jake held my hand tight, and I took into account how bad he looked too.

A bandage on his forehead and a black eye was the least of it. The worst was his right arm, wrapped up in a sling around his neck. He had a couple blue patches on his arms, and one on his neck.

“You look like hell,” I pointed out, smiling. He looked down and laughed.

“Oh please. You can’t even see the rest under the wraps,” he said, standing up and lifting his shirt. His entire abdomen is wrapped in white gauze. His chest is a little bruised, but the wrapped area is what I’m worried about the most.

‘How bad is it?” I asked worriedly. He rolled his eyes.

“Just a couple ribs, nothing big. I was mostly thinking about you,” he said, pulling his shirt down and walking around my bed. He pushed my covers closer to me and climbed in the bed with me. He sat on top of the sheets with his good arm around me. I tucked me head beneath his chin, and there we sat. It felt as though everything slowed down. Everything froze, just for this moment. Just for us.

“You did that for me,” I said, still amazed with him.

“I couldn’t lose you forever. And I like the way you smell. I wouldn’t wreck it and turn you into a walking bleach bottle,” he replied, playing with my hair. I still had dark circles, but my hair and skin was clean and my lips absorbed the Chap Stick. I added more, just to help with the cracks in my bottom lip.

“Thanks,” I said, laughing. He chuckled, and tightened his arm around me. I looked up at him. Under the bandages and bruises was my Jacob. His perfect face, chocolate brown eyes, pitch black hair and perfect russet skin. His giant hands that seemed to perfectly cradle mine. And his giant heart of gold.

“I love you,” I said. He smiled, and kissed my forehead.

We laid there for a while. Jacob’s heat felt nice; it warmed up my covers and helped with my soreness. We watched the rain out of my window as it stormed outside. The sky was a very bright grey, and the rain poured. In silence, we simply embraced each other. Appreciating the fact that we were both alive, and would soon be well.

Over the next few weeks, I had plenty of visitors. The wolves, including Sam and his pack, all came to see me. Jared and Embry both brought me a bunch of flowers. Emily brought me a plate of her best muffins, which I could never turn down. Poppy seed muffins were my favorite. Nate gave me a “get well” kiss on the cheek, which was meant to agitate Jake. He succeeded, but he really did want me to get better. I sensed his sincerity.

Even Leah came to check up on me. She justified it by stating Seth had dragged her along, but while Seth was still there, he whispered in my ear, “She really did want to come and make sure you were alright, she just wants to seem tough.” I was skeptical, but it seemed Leah was less cold than she usually was. She seemed…lighter. Less dark and conflicted-looking. She wasn’t happy, but she wasn’t sad or angry. She was…neutral.

Jake stayed with me through it all. The gigantic needles used to get through my rock hard skin, the IV tubes, the physical therapy I needed to work the venom out. What many didn’t know about my anatomy is that although I had a tough shell, my whole inner body was completely human. My vampire genes were only skin deep. Jacob held my hand through thick and thin. He usually stayed in my bed with me, except for when Carlisle would come in to inject me with something. He’d usually stand up for that. Needles were like blood with Jacob. Gross.

Although, in Edward’s mind, things were much different. In Edward’s opinion, Jake was taking advantage of all of this. But he only thought so because there was someone sitting and sleeping in his daughter’s room, constantly eating out of the fridge, and kissing me every chance he got. But Jacob wasn’t taking advantage. He was there for me. To listen to my ranting or just to listen as I spoke meaningless blabber. Anything that popped up in my head, I’d tell Jake. And the kissing thing…well, I wasn’t complaining. Jake would kiss me constantly, whenever we were alone. It was like beating away a dog with a stick, no pun intended. Although I gave plenty of slack with our making outs and what not, I was always wary of my father. He would, more than occasionally, walk past my bedroom to keep tabs on us. Whenever Jacob’s mind would begin to run rampant, Edward would be there to stop it. Of course, he could only look in Jake’s head.

There was a new house rule, which I greatly appreciated: Edward was not to look in my head. No one was allowed to use their gifts on me anymore, unless deemed absolutely necessary. It gave me a new, and much needed, sense of freedom.

It took about two weeks for me to get better. I felt fine after one, but Edward and Bella insisted on one more week, just to be sure. During those weeks, on one day, Alice