Howling Moon

Just as I was making my way out the front door of my house to go for another sweep in the woods as a human, I caught the distinct whiff of blood... And Amelia... Coming closer to me. I turned to see Amelia stumbling out of the woods, naked and completely covered in her own blood.

"Fuck..."

I mumbled the word, as though it would sum up the idea of my entire world coming to crash down around my ears. I dropped whatever it was I was carrying and in several long strides, I was clearing the distance between myself and Amelia. She was mumbling something unintelligible as she lost her footing and came crashing toward the earth. I took a dive, something similar to a baseball player sliding into home with one foot outstretched, and caught her before she could hit the damp dirt.

"Amelia..!"

I cried out her name breathlessly and it came out as a broken squeak, as though I were a small boy whose voice was just breaking into manhood. My frantic mind thought that she was dying in my arms, and I could feel my heart breaking into a thousand pieces at how limp and lifeless she felt. A raised a shaking hand to brush a damp, matted lock of hair from her face, trying to will myself not to cry. I finally found voice enough to scream as loud as I could manage, never taking my eyes off of Amelia's face.

"HELP! SOMEBODY, PLEASE HELP!"

I wasn't sure if it was minutes or seconds before I had a crowd of people, all dressed in their pajamas still, crowding around me. Several of them were dialing 911 on their cell phones, while others were attempting to offer helpful advice on keeping her still, raising her head, lowering her feet... Things that didn't matter. Despite my instinctual cries for help, all I wanted them to do was to back away; I felt like biting and snapping at their hands when they tried to touch her. I pulled Amelia's broken body closer to my own, taking solace in the fact that her body was still warm and she was still breathing.

"GET AWAY! DON'T TOUCH HER!"

The tears were screaming down my face, hot and fierce, as I waited to hear the sound of salvation. I heard Phil's truck pull up, and I could hear the terrified sounds of Phil's voice mingling with Leah's and Sue's.

"My daughter! What's happened to her?!"
"Where are her clothes?!"
"Oh, my God! She's bleeding!"
"Has anyone called an ambulance?!"
"There! There's the ambulance, I see it now!"

I had tuned out everyone's inane questions and chatter as I cradled Amelia's body to my own, trying to protect her from the curious paws of the onlookers. As soon as I heard the screeching wail of the ambulance pull up, I knew I would have to let go of her. I was terrified, and I did not let go easily, but when I saw the ambulance pull away with my other half inside of it, bleeding and knocking on death's door, I dashed inside the house.

"Jacob, wait!"

I ignored Billy as he called after me, the worry in his voice as evident as the sun in the sky. I grabbed my leather jacket and keys off of the couch in the living room and skipped the front door altogether by jumping through the back window. I kicked my bike to life and, tires squalling, left the reservation to follow the ambulance. I had caught up to it within ten minutes and all but rode abreast with it the rest of the way to the hospital.

I followed the stretcher into the hospital, struggling to hold onto Amelia's now icy hand as the doctors and nurses wheeled her down toward the emergency room. I was stopped at the double doors, held back by two male nurses as they tried to explain to me that I couldn't follow any further.

"But that's my girlfriend in there! She could be dying!"

I argued for a good five minutes until I finally gave in and sat down in the waiting room. People were staring...

I was covered in blood, wearing nothing but ripped jeans and a leather jacket. My hair was damp and tousled from the ride up to the hospital, and I was shaking so badly that the other people in the waiting room probably thought I was a nutcase. I ignored them, waiting for any news from the doctors about Amelia's condition. I was asked several questions by the doctors, but the only information I could give them was that she was probably attacked by some sort of animal. I explained that we lived out in La Push, and the doctor could only nod. Eventually, Carlisle came out to ask me a few questions as well. I explained to him, in great detail, what had happened that night with my encounter with the mysterious rogue wolf. Carlisle only shook his head, patted my shoulder, and said he would do everything in his power to help Amelia.

I hoped that he didn't plan on biting her. I still had qualms about dating a vampire.

I sat for close to two hours in the waiting room. Edward and Bella had come up once they heard the news, and Billy, Leah, Sue, and Phil were there as well. Everyone was silent, and I knew that Edward had closed his mind off from my own; my thoughts were frantic. I was running over everything in my head, and revenge was the only thing that rang loud enough in my head to understand.

I would kill that white wolf. Rip it to shreds for what it had done to my Amelia. Bella could sense my anger and my hands began to shake. She leaned in and kissed my forehead, stroking my hair despite how disgusting it looked, but it calmed me down enough to keep from phasing right there in the hospital.


I fell asleep at some point. Apparently the nerves had completely frazzled me out and I had all but passed out after the third hour in the waiting room had passed. When I woke up, my head was resting on Bella's shoulder and she had an arm around my back. She was quietly talking to Edward, who said nothing in response, but when she felt me shift, she immediately stopped talking.

"Jake?"

Bella's soft voice woke me up even further, and for a moment, I thought that she had woken me up to give me bad news. I shot back into a proper seating position, turning toward her and grabbing at her shoulders frantically; all that energy and mania had come back, full force.

"How is she?! She's not dead, is she?!"

I could feel the tears of fear welling up in my eyes, and from the expression on Bella's face, she looked absolutely heartbroken. I took that as a bad sign, but before I could completely break down, Bella slapped me hard across the face.

"Would you stop?" She hissed, leaning closer to me and turning her gaze from me to the other people in the room. "Get a hold of yourself..!"

The slap definitely calmed me down. It was much harder than I expected it to be as I had completely forgotten the strength that came with her new life... Err.... unlife. When she had punched me in the mouth on the beach when she was human, I hadn't even felt it. Now, I felt as though my jaw had come unhinged.

"... Ow..."

It was all I could manage before huffily crossing my arms over my chest and leaning back in the uncomfortable seat. I shook my leg nervously, and Bella reached down to stop it.

"Stop... She's fine. Edward can hear the doctor's thinking. She's going to be just fine, they're just confused about something, that's all; that's why they haven't come back with any news, yet."

If I'd had a tail, it would probably be wagging at the news Bella gave me. I would have kissed her, but I was sure I'd get more than a slap to the face; Edward would probably clean my clock. So, I sat in my seat and waited for more news from Carlisle and the other doctors.

Amelia's alive! Thank you, God! I'll never doubt you again!

All I could do was just sit and wait until I could see her... And wait to get more information on that damn wolf. I was going to tear it limb from silver limb the next time I saw it; I was going to hunt it down to the ends of the earth for hurting my precious Amelia, and it would know pain. Lots of pain.

My thoughts were cut short when Edward reached over and slapped me, albeit softly, in the back of the head. My hands were shaking and I was apparently on the verge of phasing again.

"Do we need to take you outside, already? Chill..."

Edward's voice made me go into full pout mode again, and I began to recite the Spanish alphabet in my head to not only keep him out of it, but to keep me from getting too angry again.