18.0

                                    

                                          
Surprise! Last chapter posted Sunday and then a week long break before the next book starts on April 9th. Maybe April 2nd if you're lucky!
                          
Carlisle had been inside with Jacob for an hour now and there was no ending to the screams of pain. No one had moved in the time Carlisle had been here. No one had said anything, everyone was just lost in their own thoughts. 
                          
Billy had been the worst. Kate was sure that he was a few screams away from telling Carlisle to stop and leave him be. Every few minutes, Billy would look more and more distressed. Sue and Seth Clearwater had also arrived bringing food that no one had yet touched. Sue went to comfort Billy while Seth looked like a lost puppy with his idol and role model inside.
                          
The sound of an engine interrupted the silence of the night as Bella's truck pulled up in the dirt driveway. Before the car had come to a stop, she shut off the engine and jumped out of the car. She marched up to the rest of the pack and took in their faces.
                          
"Hey what..." she began but before she could finish her sentence, Jacob cried out again as more of his bones were broken.
                          
Kate flinched at the sound but once it was over, she went back to drawing shapes in the dirt in front of her.
                          
"It's been going on for a while now," Quil told Bella, "The doc is re-breaking his bones."
                          
Leah piped up from beside Kate, "Why did he have to butt in? I could have taken that..."

                          
"Oh give it a rest, Leah," Paul cut her off looking down at Kate with a frown on his face.
                          
Bella stood there for a moment before walking over to her sister and crouching down in front of her.
                          
"How are you holding up?" she asked Kate.
                          
Kate shrugged, "I'm fine."
                          
"Kate."
                          
"I'm fine!" She snapped before calming herself once more, "How'd it go with the royal bloodsuckers."
                          
"Fine."
                          
Kate nodded her head but before she could get another word out, Carlisle and Sam opened the door and stepped out into the night. Kate scrambled to her feet and looked at the doctor expectantly, the rest of the pack doing the same.
                          
"The worst is over. He'll be alright," he announced.
                          
The pack let out a collective sigh of relief at the good news but no one looked more relieved than Billy.
                          
"I gave him some morphine but his body temperature will burn it off soon. I'll come back to set up a drip," he concluded.
                          
Carlisle began to make his way down the stairs before Billy stopped him.
                          
"Thank you," he simply said extending his hand to the vampire.
                          
Carlisle took it with a small smile on his face. He turned and scanned the crowd before his eyes fell on Kate.
                          
"Kate, he's asking for you."
                          
Kate took a few steps forward to the house before stopping and looking at Billy wanting him to see his son first. Billy gave her a small nod and she made her way into the house. She had to stop herself from sprinting to him to make sure he was alright.
                          
She walked through the door and saw him lying in bed covered in sweat. His arm was slung in a brace and he looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. His eyes were closed as he concentrated on fighting the pain that went through his body.
                          
"You look terrible," she said.
                          
His eyes snapped open and he frantically looked for her but calmed when their eyes met. She gave him a sad smile and went to sit next to him on his bed. She brushed some of the sweaty hair out of his face and he leaned into her touch.
                          
"I was worried about  you," he told her.
                          
Kate gave him a small smile, "Me? I'm not the one on injured reserve list. How do you feel?"
                          
"Well I just had half of my bones broken one by one, so about like that," he joked halfheartedly.
                          
"Even when you're injured, your jokes suck."
                          
"Looking at you makes me feel better," he said giving her an attempt of a smile and a laugh.
                          
"Stop laughing, you'll hurt yourself. Don't make me send Paul in here."
                          
"He's not as pretty to look at."
                          
For the first time all day, Kate laughed. She smiled looking around the room for one of his old shirts and found one on the floor. She took it in her hands and gently wiped some of the sweat off of his brow.
                          
"Bella's here. She came to check on you."
                          
"Is she okay?" he asked.
                          
Kate nodded, "She's fine. Everyone's worried about you. You should see your dad, he's a wreck," she paused, "For a second when you hit the ground, I thought you dead."
                          
"A vampire isn't going to kill me. Besides, you got him off me in time."
                          
"But if I hadn't?"
                          
"Kate, listen to me," Jacob paused, "Nothing is going to take me away from you. And I'm not going to let anything take you away from me. Not even death. I promise."
                          
She wiped some more sweat off his face, "Don't make promises you can't keep."
                          
"I promise," he said again not taking his eyes off of her.
                          
"I think the morphine is going to your head," she laughed standing up, "I'm going to get Billy. He'll want to see you."
                          
She began to make her way out of the room but Jacob's voice stopped her, "You'll come back, right?"
                          
She turned and gave him a smile before she left the room, "I promise."
                          
She got outside and saw everyone looking at her expectantly.
                          
"He's fine. Billy, he want's to see you."
                          
She made her way down the steps and over to Bella who was sitting and waiting patiently for her turn to talk to Jacob. When she saw Kate coming over to her, she stood up.
                          
"How is he, really?"
                          
Kate shrugged, "Tired, but good. He should be okay in a couple of days at the rate he's healing." She looked at her sister for a moment and studied her. 
                          
"Are you okay?"
                          
"Yeah, why?"
                          
"You look like you're about to vomit"
                          
Bella bit her lip, "Jacob's hurt because of me. This is all because of me. You could have died because of me."
                          
"Don't flatter yourself, not everything bad that happens is because of you. Just try to get some rest."
                          
Bella nodded her head at her younger sister and watched as she went over to stand next to Paul who was looking tired and like he just wanted a long nap.
                          
"How's pretty boy?" he asked her.
                          
"Well enough to make jokes."
                          
Paul grunted in response before leering at her, "Looks like we're not getting married after all, Princess."
                          
Kate smacked him on the arm and the two of them chuckled to themselves.
                          
"So are we all going to be singing Kumbaya with the bloodsuckers now?"
                          
"I don't think so. But just in case, you might want to take up singing lessons."
                          
Paul let out a real laugh this time and Kate's shoulders seemed to lose some of their tension. She looked around at the pack and saw that they too had seemed to relax now that Jacob had finally stopped screaming and was on the mend. Now, they all looked tired and Kate was more than ready for a long, deserved nap.