Page 40

Emmet followed Carlisle into the dining room, carrying Pearl. Carlisle's voice rang out from inside the room.

"Rosalie, I'm going to need your assistance." He said.

Rose entered the room and closed the door behind her. Leaving the rest of us in the living room. I wiped my eyes, even though there were no tears falling, it felt right to do so. I pulled away from Esme so that I could follow Rose, but Jasper stopped me.

"Let go" I mumbled, as he held onto my arm.

Jasper sighed. "Bree. Pearl needs medical attention. And other than Rosalie, none of us are particularly qualified to assist Carlisle. If any of us go in there, we could end up getting in the way. We need to let them work." He told me.

"But Emmets in there!" I tried to argue. 'Pearl is my mate! I should be in there with her!' I screamed in my head.

"Not anymore." A defeated voice sounded out, as Emmet entered the living room.

'They kicked Emmet out? ... That doesn't matter. Pearl needs me!' I tried to pull myself out of Jasper's grip, but he just pulled me back into him, and held both my arms behind my back, restraining me.

"Jasper!" I screamed at him in frustration.

"You can't go in there." Jasper reaffirmed.

"But-" I tried to argue with him, but got cut off by Emmet.

"My little sister is strong. She fights with me on a daily basis and never backs down. A few injuries caused by some stupid dogs, won't stop her... Pearl will be okay." He exclaimed, looking into my eyes.

Esme nodded. "Yes, she will." She agreed, then spoke to me in a soft voice.

"Bree, if Pearl hears her imprint panicking and worrying, it will probably make her feel worse right now.

She needs to feel safe. And that will best be achieved, if you can try to stay calm.

She can feel your emotions through the bond after all. "

'... Esme's right.' I thought looking down at the ground, venom filling my eyes again.

Esme continued, "She knows you care, and she knows that you're worried. We will all get the chance to show her our concern once she's been treated, but until then, we all need to try and remain calm. Okay?"

"Pearl needs us to be strong for her right now." Jasper added. I glanced at his face from over my shoulder and he looked quite concerned. His voice was firm, and it held confidence. 'So why does he look like that? Is he hiding something?'

My train of thought was cut off by a loud yelp, that came from the dining room.

'Pearl. Please be okay.'

'Ow! That hurt!' I let out another whine, that was followed by a weak whimper. Even though I was currently a vampire, communicating like a wolf felt a lot easier. 'I'm too tired to try and speak.'

"Sorry Pearl" Rosalie said, placing the bottle of disinfectant that she had just used on my shoulder, back onto the table.

Carlisle moved over to Rosalie's side and examined my injury. "Alright, it looks clean. With how deep it is, we're going to have to stitch it up." He mentioned.

'Needles! Oh no! No! No no no! Absolutely not! I don't do needles!' I tried desperately to move my body away from them, but my arms and legs just weren't co-operating. I barely moved a few inches, and yet it took so much effort to even try.

I felt cold hands being placed on my right side.

They were keeping me still. Carlisle had a needle in his hand, he was hovering above my left side.

I wasn't able to see much from my position, but i could see more than enough to figure out what he wanted to do.

Since I couldn't move, and didn't have the energy to speak, all I could do was let out a scared whimper. And squeeze my eyes shut.

"It's okay Pearl! You're going to be okay!" I heard my imprint call out.

I opened my eyes to see if I could see her, but, she wasn't there. All I saw was Carlisle crouched down in front of me. He was looking at my face. He looked troubled.

"... Pearl?" He spoke softly, after a minute. "Are you scared of needles?" He asked gently.

I tried to nod my head, but I couldn't. So, I attempted to speak instead. I managed to mutter a very quiet, "...ye ...yes" after a few tries.

Carlisle stood up and looked past me. I felt the hands on my right side disappear, and Rosalie reappeared in my line of sight.

She was speaking to Carlisle. They were quiet, I tried to listen but, it sounded muffled.

Carlisle looked down at me, then back at Rosalie, before nodding his head, causing Rosalie to speed off somewhere.

Carlisle turned to me and spoke louder, he made his voice clear so that I could hear him.

"You've lost a decent amount of blood. With your natural slow heartbeat, you shouldn't loose that much more if you stay calm.

But your fear, it's speeding your heart rate up.

You could end up going into shock if this continues.

So, I'm going to need to put you under anaesthesia.

It will allow me to stitch you up without you feeling any of the pain, or worrying about the needle. "

Rosalie came back into the room. She was holding a vile and a needle. She handed the stuff to Carlisle and the next thing I know, I felt a prick in my right arm.

'He's going to put me to sleep?! But I... I'm not... I...' Darkness started to cloud my vision. I tried to keep my eyes open, but, the darkness was so warm and inviting. In the end, it just seemed easier to stop fighting it.

With Pearl now unconscious on the dining room table, Carlisle and Rosalie could finally get to work properly without having to worry about the pain she may be in.

Carlisle got to work on stitching up her shoulder, and Rosalie made quick work of all the cuts and scrapes that littered Pearl's battered body.

Once finished, Rosalie moved onto Pearl's right leg, that had been packed and wrapped with bandages earlier.

Peeling the now red soaked bandages away from the wound, she got a good look at the injury.

And what she saw made her vampire 'blood' boil.

"You didn't tell me it went down to the bone." She muttered quietly, so that only Carlisle could hear.

Not looking up from his work, he replied.

"It's deep, and I won't deny that it is bad.

But because of how severe it is, her vampire healing is prioritising it.

That's why she's not loosing mass amounts of blood from that area.

Giving it a chance to repair itself before aiding it, was the best course of action. "

Rosalie nodded and took another look at the deep gash. She could see it. It was slow. But the healing was there. The previously bright white bone that was visible, was now covered in a very thin layer of light pink tissue. Her body was healing. Slowly but surely. "How long will it take?" She asks.

Finishing his stitching, Carlisle looked up at his daughter.

"Her body is prioritising, once the injury is not as severe, her healing will slow down in that area once again.

So it can focus on something else. It will probably take around 3 full days for her body to fully recover.

And that is just a guess. I have no idea, how her exhaustion levels will affect her healing. " He admitted.

Rosalie hummed, and handed Carlisle another sterilised needle so that he could start the sutures on her leg. "It would be reasonable to assume that her healing is going to slow down because of her exhaustion." Said Rosalie.

"Yes. So we will have to account for that, by aiding her healing factor as much as we can." Says Carlisle as he stitches the gash closed.

"These injuries... will they leave scars?" Rosalie hesitantly asked.

"Most definitely. The bite mark on her left shoulder may fade over time, but there will always be something there. It's too deep to just disappear I'm afraid." Carlisle spoke softly.

"And her leg?" She questions.

"I'm afraid that injury will always be prominent. I imagine that it will also leave a scar on Pearl's wolf form, but, I think it's safe to assume that her silver fur will cover it up quite well."

"I take it that the only way for it to quote on quote 'disappear' in her vampire form, is to cover it up with clothes." Rosalie asks.

"It's high on her thigh, so, most clothes would do a good job at covering it anyway. I don't think she'll be to worried about it. But the scar is here to stay. Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about it." Carlisle regretfully states.

Rosalie frowns, before saying, "I'll get some loose fitting clothes to change Pearl into." Then she leaves the room.

Once Carlisle finished and Rosalie changed the unconscious hybrid, Emmet was called back into the room, so that he could move Pearl into Carlisle and Esme's bedroom.

Given that they didn't have a spare guest bedroom at this time that contained a bed, it made more sense to the vampires to set Pearl up in an already existing bedroom.

And Carlisle and Esme's room was the closest and the quickest to get to from the living room.

Not to mention the fact that Carlisle's office was on the same floor as his bedroom.

Which means quick access to medical supplies, if they are needed.

Once the sleeping hybrid was settled, the family convened in the living room to discuss what events may have occurred. All except Bree, that is. Bree chose to remain by Pearl's side, so that she could be there when the hybrid woke up.

The patriarch of the family had no issue with it, and told Bree that she should alert him if anything changes.

Bree agreed, and sat next to Pearl on the bed.

Bree listened to Pearl's heartbeat and the sound of her breathing, to reassure herself that her mate was okay.

They still had a future together. No matter what it may look like.

Pearl would be by her side. And she would be by her's.

As Bree watched over the sleeping hybrid, she thought, 'I think I want you, as more than just my friend.'