CHAPTER EIGHT
ʜᴇsɪᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ

The snow had finally eased overnight, melting the thick drifts along the road edges into slushy pools. By the time I pulled into the school parking lot, my car was wheezing and coughing like an old man with a cold, even sitting still.

I sighed and climbed out, eyeing the lot from its far back end, a consequence of my lateness. The sky hung heavy and grey, the dull concrete and metal blending into one another in a wash of monotone coldness. But through the bleakness, Bella's bright orange truck stood out like a flare, its dented paintwork a defiant splash of colour amid the greys and blacks.

She leaned against it, headphones in, a dog-eared copy of Wuthering Heights in her hands. I smiled at the sight of the familiar cover.

Then Tyler's van lurched forward, cutting off my view. No one seemed to notice, but I caught the flash of panic on Tyler's face as he lost control, his knuckles whitening on the wheel.

I froze mid-step. The Cullens were across from me, and the van was spinning toward Bella.

My body betrayed me—I hesitated. What if someone saw me? But Bella's head remained bowed, lost in her book—a small mercy before the van would strike.

Without thinking, I sprinted forward, dropping my bag by the sputtering car, my hands ready to pull her out of danger. But as I reached the van's side, Bella had already moved—hidden beneath a heavy black coat that belonged to Edward Cullen. Her wide, dazed eyes peeked out from behind his arm, and Edward himself was lifting his head, untangling it from where it had rested on her shoulder.

He'd gotten there first.

Relief flooded me. Bella was almost untouched. I didn't have to reveal my secret today. Yet beneath it all, I couldn't shake the shock of my hesitation—of how close I'd come to being too late.

Bella coughed sharply as I stumbled back, crouching near her truck. Shouts erupted as Tyler lifted his head, a thin trail of red bleeding from a cut across his scalp. Blood. The smell of it had reached me before I even saw the wound.

I'd hesitated to save Bella—and I'd been too late for Tyler. If Edward hadn't been there... I didn't want to think about it.

But Edward's eyes locked on mine, sharp and narrow, jaw clenched. He'd seen me. There was no other explanation for the luck he'd granted me.

"Don't move!" someone yelled. "Get Tyler out of the van!"

I forced myself up, edging toward Bella and Edward, who huddled near the dented side of her truck. They whispered fiercely, Bella gripping his wrinkled shirt.

"You were over there. By your car," she insisted.

"No I wasn't."

"I saw you," Bella snapped, resisting the urge to shove him.

"I was standing with you—I pulled you out of the way," Edward hissed, like a command meant to hypnotize.

"No," Bella said, with relief that surprised me.

"Please, Bella."

"Why?" she growled.

"Trust me."

"Fine."

I stepped forward then, though Edward must have sensed me the entire time. He glanced up sharply as I crouched near the dent—small, but deep, like the imprint of a strong hand.

"They've called an ambulance," I said, brushing a stray hair from her forehead. Edward flinched—more than Bella did.

"Are you hurt?"

She shook her head, smiling faintly. "Not too bad, I don't think."

Edward's jaw twitched, and he turned away, raising a brow.

"She hit her head," I explained just as the van door slammed shut.

Bella and Edward exchanged a glance. I studied the dent—less damage than expected but still heavy-handed.

"Good thing you got to her. It could've been worse," I said, standing.

"Yeah. Good thing I was here first."

Mr. Varner and the coach moved the van away before Bella could be pulled out, shooing me back to ensure her safety. Her complaints were less about pain and more about being placed on a stretcher, having been nearly crushed by a van before nine in the morning.

I followed the ambulance in my sputtering car.

"I thought you could use some company... someone who won't talk your ear off."

I imagined Jessica waiting in the hospital lobby, fresh tears on her cheeks, acting melodramatic.

"Thanks," Bella said quietly.

But I sensed my company wasn't truly wanted. Bella smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. She stared ahead, brows furrowed, lost in thought—worried, maybe—and the thought knotted my teeth and clenched my hands.

I sat on the edge of her hospital bed, fingers twirling the ends of my hair. Behind the bars and monitors hung a tiny black-and-white photo, like those lining the other patients' beds. It was dull, but still pretty—a moment frozen in time.

"You alright?" I asked.

She chuckled. "You ask me that a lot."

"Sorry. Habit."

"No, it's fine. I just... never know how to answer," she said, shaking her head.

"You're lucky. It could've been way worse if Edward hadn't been there."

Her eyes snapped to mine. "You saw that?"

"Yes."

"He tried to tell me I hit my head," she said, gingerly touching the back of her skull and wincing.

"No, I saw him."

"I'm surprised they're not checking on him, too," she muttered, annoyed. "He put me in the ambulance, said I hit my head, let them take me like he wasn't even hurt."

She glanced toward the doorway as if expecting him to appear. But I knew he wasn't—he never tried to hide. You could smell him even from the waiting room. A scent impossible to ignore.

"I need to talk to him," she whispered.

I laughed. "So he talks to you now?"

"He apologised."

I frowned. "Be careful, Bella. Please."

"Yeah," she said, but I wasn't convinced.

"Wait until the doctor sees you before you talk to him. Promise me. If not for me, then for your dad."

"Charlie's here?"

The fact that her dad's presence was the only thing that made her consider my begging irritated me. I sighed, looking away toward the hospital doors. I heard the steady breath of a man approaching.

"He'll be here any minute."

Bella groaned and tipped her head back.

"Great."

Charlie pushed through the doors and scanned the room. Bella groaned again to alert him, and he came forward, checking her face.

"I'm completely fine, Char—Dad," she said, pulling her chin from his hands. "There's nothing wrong with me."

Charlie looked grim and stalked away toward the nurse's desk, shoulders slumped.

"Bella, I'm so sorry!"

She shook her head. "I'm fine, Tyler—are you all right? You look awful."

We turned to Tyler as he begged forgiveness, ignoring Bella's words. He winced as fresh bandages were wrapped around his wounds—a long cut from eyebrow to scalp, shallow but raw.

"I thought I was going to kill you! I was going too fast, hit the ice wrong," he said.

"Don't worry about it; you missed me."

"How did you get out of the way so fast? You were there, then you weren't..." He trailed off, wincing again as the nurse bound his arm.

"Edward pulled me out of the way."

Tyler's eyes narrowed. "Who?"

"Edward Cullen—he was standing next to me."

Bella flushed, cheeks burning as she glanced away, hoping Tyler would drop it. She was a bad liar, but how he missed it was beyond me.

"Cullen? I didn't see him... wow, it was all so fast. Is he okay?" Tyler asked, then turned wide-eyed toward me. "And you, Elide? You were there so fast. I thought you were at the other end. I passed you on the way in."

I shrugged. "She's my friend," I said, feeling pathetic.

Bella smiled and remembered Edward. "I think he's okay. He's here somewhere, but they didn't make him use a stretcher."

A nurse hurried over to wheel Tyler off, breaking the tension. I moved closer to Bella.

"Want me to stay?"

"You don't have to," she said shyly.

"If you won't let me be your probable best friend, at least let me use you as an excuse to skip class," I joked.

"I suppose I could agree to that."

"Anything's better than biology," I said, settling against the bed's backboard.

For a while, Bella stared at the emergency room doors behind me. I sensed the Cullens—four of them—looming just outside, their predatory presence impossible to miss. Each time a doctor came or went, Bella's eyes flickered with hope, desperate to see them whispering in their circle.

I heard every word.

I shifted, sitting beside Bella so I could watch through the doorway. Edward stood in the center, the others circling him like shadows.

"Do you understand what you've done? This could've been it!" The blonde one—Rosalie—snarled, jaw clenched, eyes blazing.

"She won't say anything, Rose," Edward said, shaking his head.

I felt his eyes slide over to where she sat beside me, eyes closed, her head gradually drifting toward my right shoulder. I looked away quickly.

"How can you know?"

"Trust me. I'm going to speak with her—before Carlisle comes in."

Edward slipped away from the group, leaving his siblings to frown and linger, their predator-like presence unmistakable as they stalked off together. He stopped at the foot of the bed, neither looking at me nor greeting, his brows furrowed as he gazed at her.

"Is she sleeping?" His voice was gentle.

"Not really," I said, feeling the subtle change in her breath as she stirred. "Do you really think it's best you're here?"

"I'd like to talk to Bella, if that's okay."

"I'm awake."

Bella shifted again, sitting up fully in bed, eyes fixed intently on Edward.

"So, what's the verdict?" he asked, ignoring me completely.

"There's nothing wrong with me at all, but they won't let me go," she said, laughing as she rubbed the back of her head. "How come you aren't strapped to a gurney like the rest of us?"

"It's all about who you know," he said, earning a smile. "My father will be here in a moment."

Just then, Dr. Carlisle Cullen entered. His skin was deathly pale but flawless, more graceful than sickly. His blond hair was pushed back in perfect layers. The doctor smiled warmly as he stopped beside the bed, clipboard in hand.

As I'd thought: the perfect predator. A beautiful man wearing the mask of trust, but underneath, unmistakably a vampire. His eyes were yellow. The tension only eased marginally in my body.

"So, Miss Swan," he asked carefully, smiling down. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine."

Carlisle held up a folder, lifting a single X-ray toward the window's streaks of sunlight.

"Your X-rays look good," he said. "Does your head hurt? Edward said you hit it hard."

"It's fine," Bella insisted.

Carlisle nodded, but spared no energy to make himself look in belief. He smiled again, showing off bright teeth.

"Well, your father's in the waiting room. You can go home with him now, but come back if you feel dizzy or have any trouble with your eyesight."

"Can't I go back to school?" Bella asked.

"Maybe you should take it easy today."

She nudged her head harshly toward Edward, who still stood at the bottom of the bed. "Does he get to go to school?"

"Someone has to spread the good news that we survived," Edward said with a smirk.

"I'm sure I could do that, well enough," I said, before remembering I'd stay with Bella. Though it seemed she was happy enough to have the time alone. Carlisle spared a glance toward me, his perfect brows raising.

"Actually," Dr. Cullen corrected, "most of the school seems to be in the waiting room."

Bella groaned, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Do you want to stay?"

She shook her head. "No, no!"

Bella looked at me once more before swinging her legs off the bed, but she nearly tripped, steadying herself against a strong arm. Carlisle chuckled as he helped her upright and gave her one last examination.

"Take some Tylenol for the pain," he suggested, removing his hand from her elbow.

"It doesn't hurt that bad," she insisted.

"It sounds like you were extremely lucky," Dr. Cullen said.

Bella raised a chin defiantly. "Lucky Edward happened to be standing next to me."

I wanted to laugh. Edward stayed stoic, hands resting lazily on the bedpost, but I knew he was seething inside—he'd warned his siblings she wouldn't say that.

"Oh, well, yes," Carlisle said, eyes back on his papers before turning to another patient across the room.

Silence stretched between us. I sighed softly. Nothing more would be said between them until I left. I could feel Edward's eyes on me, as if he was reading every thought, his face taut with pain. His usual grace slipped away.

I slid off the bed.

"I'll leave," I said bluntly, breaking eye contact with Edward to smile at Bella. "I'll come see you tomorrow?"

She nodded and I twisted, lunging out of the room.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" I heard Bella say.

Despite all the fear I'd harboured about the Cullens over the past week, I somehow hoped Bella's confrontation with Edward wouldn't be as painful as I feared.

After all, it was I who hesitated.

edited