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.“See, I told you I didn’t hear a crack.You need your ears checked, Edward.”There was no answer.Alice made a face.“Edward’s going to end up ripping Rose into small pieces, I think.I’m surprised she doesn’t see that.Or maybe she thinks Emmett will be able to stop him.”“I’ll take Emmett,” I offered.“You can help Edward with the ripping part.”Alice half-smiled.The procession came down the stairs then—Edward had Bella this time.She was gripping her cup of blood in both hands, and her face was white.I could see that, though he compensated for every tiny movement of his body to keep from jostling her, she was hurting.“Jake,” she whispered, and she smiled through the pain.I stared at her, saying nothing.Edward placed Bella carefully on her couch and sat on the floor by her head.I wondered briefly why they didn’t leave her upstairs, and then decided at once that it must be Bella’s idea.She’d want to act like things were normal, avoid the hospital setup.And he was humoring her.Naturally.Carlisle came down slowly, the last one, his face creased with worry.It made him look old enough to be a doctor for once.“Carlisle,” I said.“We went halfway to Seattle.There’s no sign of the pack.You’re good to go.”“Thank you, Jacob.This is good timing.There’s much that we need.” His black eyes flickered to the cup that Bella was holding so tight.“Honestly, I think you’re safe to take more than three.I’m pretty positive that Sam is concentrating on La Push.”Carlisle nodded in agreement.It surprised me how willingly he took my advice.“If you think so.Alice, Esme, Jasper, and I will go.Then Alice can take Emmett and Rosa—”“Not a chance,” Rosalie hissed.“Emmett can go with you now.”“You should hunt,” Carlisle said in a gentle voice.His tone didn’t soften hers.“I’ll hunt when he does,” she growled, jerking her head toward Edward and then flipping her hair back.Carlisle sighed.Jasper and Emmett were down the stairs in a flash, and Alice joined them by the glass back door in the same second.Esme flitted to Alice’s side.Carlisle put his hand on my arm.The icy touch did not feel good, but I didn’t jerk away.I held still, half in surprise, and half because I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.“Thank you,” he said again, and then he darted out the door with the other four.My eyes followed them as they flew across the lawn and then disappeared before I took another breath.Their needs must have been more urgent than I’d imagined.There was no sound for a minute.I could feel someone glaring at me, and I knew who it would be.I’d been planning to take off and get some Z’s, but the chance to ruin Rosalie’s morning seemed too good to pass up.So I sauntered over to the armchair next to the one Rosalie had and settled in, sprawling out so that my head was tilted toward Bella and my left foot was near Rosalie’s face.“Ew.Someone put the dog out,” she murmured, wrinkling her nose.“Have you heard this one, Psycho? How do a blonde’s brain cells die?”She didn’t say anything.“Well?” I asked.“Do you know the punch line or not?”She looked pointedly at the TV and ignored me.“Has she heard it?” I asked Edward.There was no humor on his tense face—he didn’t move his eyes from Bella.But he said, “No.”“Awesome.So you’ll enjoy this, bloodsucker—a blonde’s brain cells die alone.”Rosalie still didn’t look at me.“I have killed a hundred times more often than you have, you disgusting beast.Don’t forget that.”“Someday, Beauty Queen, you’re going to get tired of just threatening me.I’m really looking forward to that.”“Enough, Jacob,” Bella said.I looked down, and she was scowling at me.It looked like yesterday’s good mood was long gone.Well, I didn’t want to bug her.“You want me to take off?” I offered.Before I could hope—or fear—that she’d finally gotten tired of me, she blinked, and her frown disappeared.She seemed totally shocked that I would come to that conclusion.“No! Of course not.”I sighed, and I heard Edward sigh very quietly, too.I knew he wished she’d get over me, too.Too bad he’d never ask her to do anything that might make her unhappy.“You look tired,” Bella commented.“Dead beat,” I admitted.“I’d like to beat you dead,” Rosalie muttered, too low for Bella to hear.I just slumped deeper into the chair, getting comfortable
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