15.0

The doctors in Phoenix took Bella as soon as they stepped through the door. Carlisle, Alice, and Kate were left standing in the waiting room. It had been hours and they were still sitting in uncomfortable chairs as they waited for Bella to come out of surgery. Edward still hadn't come back from the ballet studio. Kate thought that it was a good idea since he just practically tried to kill her sister.

"Kate," Carlisle whispered to her from her left, "I think it would be best if you called your parents."

"What can I say to them?" she asked.

"Whatever you say, it needs to be believable."

Kate shook her head and stood up to walk out of the room. The hallway outside was deserted. Her brain seemed to be flying at a thousand miles an hour as she dialed Charlie's number.

"Kate, where the hell..." he began as soon as he picked up.

"Dad," she began.

"What is it?"

Kate sighed, "Dad something's happened. I called Carlisle and Edward yesterday to try to help me get Bella back to Forks. When we got to their hotel to try to talk to them, Bella fell. Dad, she went down two flights of stairs and went through a window!"

There was silence on the other end, "I'm leaving now," and the line went dead.

She made a similar call to her mother who swore that she would be on the first flight out of Jacksonville to Phoenix. There was one more call that she needed to make and it was the one that she was dreading the most.

"Hello," his voice rang out over the other line.

It was as if all of the events of the past few days had finally caught up to her. A sob escaped her lips and she slid down the hospital hallway wall to the floor. Her knees curled into her as she put her hand over her mouth.

"Jacob..."

"Kate, what happened," he demanded to know, "Dad told me everything he knows but it doesn't make sense. What really happened?"

Not for the first time she wanted so bad to tell him the truth. It was as if her heart was struggling to exit her chest with the pressure of trying to tell him but she couldn't. If she was going to keep Jacob away from all of this, she had to lie to him. She had to spin the same bullshit story that she had told her parents. It was for the best.

So she told him the cover story and not once did he interrupt her. Tears streamed down her face as she lied over and over again. Once she had finished, Jacob was still silent on the other end.

"Do you need me there? Dad and I can come right now?"

Kate shook her head even though she knew he couldn't see it, "No. We'll be home soon. My mom and dad are on their way now. I'll see you in a couple days."

"Kate?"

"Yea?"

She heard a sigh on the other end of the line, "I'm glad you're okay. Come back soon."

"Goodbye, Jacob."

"Goodbye, Kate."

Kate hung up the phone and but her head in her hands. She didn't know that anyone was near her until she felt a body slide down the wall next to her. She looked over to see Edward looking forward not giving her any attention. They sat there looking miserable for a while before Edward spoke the words that were on her mind.

"It's not your fault," he said slowly.

"Yes it is. I should've known that she was gone. If I didn't fall asleep she wouldn't have run away."

Edward let out a small derisive laugh, "If I'd stayed away then we wouldn't be here."

"Yes she would. She has a sister who is supernatural... sometimes I wonder if we were destined to be here."

He finally looked at her.

"I mean. Maybe we were meant to be supernatural. I would've changed eventually but she'd find out. Besides, maybe you and her were meant to fall in love."

"She isn't meant to be a be like me."

Kate turned to face him and looked him directly in his pale eyes, "No. She's not. I saw the pain of the transformation to do. If you do that to her, if you take away her soul, her life, you and me are going to have problems. I won't let you do that to her. If you change her, I'll kill you."

Edward didn't say anything but let her go as she went back into the waiting room. Alice and Carlisle were there and she knew that they had heard every word. They had the decency to not say anything. Kate went to the opposite side of the room and wiped the tears from her face as she looked out into the parking lot of the hospital. She wanted nothing more than to be back in her own bed with a hot cup of coffee.

When Kate and Bella's parents arrived at the hospital, all hell broke loose. There was so much shouting between Charlie and Renee then between Charlie and Kate, and even Charlie and Edward. Her parents demanded a retelling of the story from Kate and she dutifully repeated the cover story, which Carlisle had praised her for inventing. Her mother burst into tears while Charlie just stood there stony faced.

Kate was the last to see Bella when she woke up, mostly because her parents took up all of Bella's time, but also because she didn't want to face the reality that she almost lost her sister. When she walked into the room, Bella was awake talking quietly to Edward. When Bella saw her sister, her face lit up and she relaxed further into the bedding.

"Edward, I want to talk to my sister alone," Kate told him.

He immediately stood up and went to walk to the door. Before he could reach the handle Bella called out to him.

"Don't go," Bella asked.

Edward paused and looked between the two sisters. One looked fragile while the other looked like a storm of fury. He didn't really know which one he wanted to upset. Neither would be better for him in truth.

"Edward," Kate said again.

With that he turned the handle and left the room. Kate turned back to Bella before sitting at the edge of her bed.

Bella immediately launched into an apology, "Kate, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean..."

But Kate cut her off, "I almost lost you, Bella. I almost lost my big sister. First you almost died because of a bloodsucker, then you almost turned into a bloodsucker, then again you almost died because of a bloodsucker."

"It wasn't like that..."

"Yes Bella it was! I was there, and conscious I might add. You didn't see Edward's face as he drank your blood. He almost didn't stop."

"But he did!"

Bella had gotten so angry that her heart rate monitor had started to blip frighteningly. The two sisters stared at each other both hurt and angry.

"I want to change," Bella said suddenly.

Kate wanted to give Bella a chance to change what she'd said, "Come again?"

Bella took a deep breath then continued with more certainty and force, "I want Edward to change me into a vampire. I want to be like him."

Kate stood up and started to pace across the room to keep her temper in check, "What the hell?"

"I want to be with him forever!"

"Bella, you get to love him for the rest of your life! What's wrong with that?"

Bella was angry now, "Carlisle told me how you get to live for an insanely long time so why can't I live forever?"

"That's what this is about?"

"Yes! I want to live with him forever!"

Kate stopped pacing, "When did your human life not become enough?"

"When I met Edward."

The sisters looked at each other saying nothing. Kate shook her head and left the room. As soon as she opened the door, she saw Edward sitting there. She knew that he had heard the whole thing. She spun on her heel and marched down the hall to get away from all vampires and to seek some human company in the form of her mother.