Rose POV
To a vampire almost everything in the human world happens in slow motion and so the cliché of time slowing down is a long forgotten experience for me.
The sound of her head hitting the front of the truck, the cake box cart wheeling down the street and the tyres running over her soft body as I fly towards her, will haunt me forever.
I'm already examining her injuries as onlookers gather and good Samaritans 'help' me get her out from under the truck. Blood, her blood, which is everywhere, has never been so easy to ignore.
The urge to take her and run is almost overpowering but I force myself to stay calm and think the situation through carefully, ignoring the clamour going on all around me.
She's out cold but her heart is beating strongly and her breathing is good. She's got several broken bones but other than that I can't hear any disturbance inside her body that would indicate internal injuries.
She might be okay, she might, albeit in a cast, still get her trip with Charlie, she might at the least be able to spend time with him at home. But if I take her now it's over and so against my instincts, and for her, I decide to let the humans take her to the hospital.
Waiting for the ambulance tests every shred of patience I don't have, and the desire to bite one of the soft squishy humans who keep poking at Bella and asking if she's okay is fearsome. Why can't they just fuck off so I can call Em, I need to talk to him, I need to tell him. I need to hear his voice telling me that everything will be okay. And so help me god I need to call Jazz, I've never known him care about anything before and I've no idea how he'll react. Thank god he's with Carlisle, the world's greatest calming influence.
My ears pick up the sound of the siren before the humans and I breathe a gusty sigh of relief. Bella's still out cold and my earlier optimism is leaking away. My mind is on a constant loop, replaying the sound of her head connecting with the truck.
"Come on baby." I whisper. "Wake up, I need to tell you how fucking clumsy you are."
Finally, the ambulance.
Reluctantly I allow the EMTs to replace me at Bella's side, taking out my cell to call Em.
"What's up babe?" He asks. "Mission Cake gone to hell? Bells run off with Jazz again?"
"Bella's been hit by a truck."
"Fuck, is she okay? Tell me she's okay Rose."
"I don't know Em. Broken bones." I stop, taking a deep shuddering breath. "She's unconscious Em. She hit her head . . . ."
"Hey, hey, babe." His voice is soothing although I can hardly hear it over my own sobs. "Where are you, I'm turning round."
"No. You'd better go ahead and pick Charlie up."
"Okay. Let me know which hospital, I'll bring him straight there from the airport."
"Okay." I stop again, struggling to get myself under control, I've never needed his big stupid arms around me so much in my life. "Hurry."
"Hey babe, I'm NASCAR vampire, remember?"
"K." I almost whimper.
"Will you . . . ."
"Yes. First sign of trouble. I'll stay with her, I won't let her die Em, no matter what the consequences."
We sigh together, a long heavy one.
"I know babe and I wouldn't have it any other way." He says after a pause. "Do what you need to do. I love you."
"I love you too." I sigh again. "Will you tell the others, they need to start the plan. I'll call Jazz."
