When Angels Cry
by wizardtho
Chapter 11: Angel Tears
Our trip had been uneventful so far. We had completed several leapfrog jumps with the other vehicles, Alice’s sight had stayed clear, and Edward hadn’t detected a ‘thought’ from an enemy the whole way.
We must have been less than five minutes from the small private airstrip when my entire body stiffened in Edward’s arms. Without a thought of why, I said in a rush, “Jasper, tell everyone to stop. Something’s wrong. We ha--”
I was cut off by Alice yelling out, “Braaaace!”
In the same instant, I heard Edward cursing, “Shit!” as he wrapped himself almost completely around me. I barely caught the sight of Carlisle’s SUV in front of us flying off the road sideways as Edward covered my face with his jacket, then my body was jarred.
The air was shoved from my lungs, and I couldn’t seem to cry out for my dad. He was in Carlisle’s SUV, which had just been attacked. I was pretty damn sure our SUV had, too, but I couldn’t speak without air in my lungs.
Glass breaking.
Metal creaking and scraping.
Gasping, and oh… air. “Daaad!”
Metal scraping against metal.
More than one vampire growling.
Edward quickly removed the jacket from over my head, seeking my eyes as I felt myself being placed on the ground. “Are you alright, Love?”
I shook my head as I looked around, “No… Dad!”
Edward insisted as he started scanning over me, “Isabella. Are. You. Injured?”
Without a pause, I firmly stated, “Edward, I’m fine. Where’s my father!”
That’s when I truly took in the scene around me. All three SUVs were completely totaled, warped and twisted beyond repair. We were about 50 yards down the embankment that had been on the left side of the road, the cliff drop-off about 35 yards above us. Several trees were cracked and mangled, and there was more than one fight going on around me. I frantically searched, but I couldn’t find Carlisle or Esme anywhere. I couldn’t find my dad, either.
I looked back to my mate, panic growing inside me, then heard several roars as six men bigger than Emmett flooded the area from every direction. My eyes sought one coming up behind Edward, but they were immediately drawn to something that made my blood run cold. “Daaaaad!”
Carlisle and Esme were at the edge of the cliff, both hovering over my father. I couldn’t be bothered with the metallic screeching or the sounds of fighting when something was wrong with my dad.
My wings were out and my arms around Edward in a split second, then we were in the air and landing near Dad the next second. I released Edward as I dropped down at my father’s side, but I only needed one look to see his injuries were fatal.
Someone had ripped Dad’s shirt open, and it was easy to see he’d not been as lucky as me. Cuts and scrapes littered his face, arms, and chest. His left arm was broken in at least one place, so was his left leg. Several ribs were broken, and I knew that because of bumps along his rib cage sticking up under the skin at odd points. Then there was one rib along his side that had broken completely through the skin. Blood was seeping through the wound there, but my father was also coughing up blood. Dark blood… too dark.
I must have been categorizing the injuries for too long, because I didn’t realize Carlisle was talking to me until he wiped blood tears from my face. “You need to choose, Dear. Quickly. I don’t know how long his heart will stay stable. This rib… as it broke, it nicked his spleen, then punctured his lung. He’s bleeding internally and drowning in his own blood, Dear. You need to choose.”
I didn’t know what to do. He’d never told me how to handle anything like this. I leaned over to hug him to me. Feeling and hearing how much Dad was struggling to breathe had tears pouring down my face, the bones in my wings all going rigid with how scared I was. I didn’t even think as I leaned my head back and cried to the heavens for the answer.
What came out was that same harpy-like screeching wail I had heard during the birth of my angel. In the next second, my wings partially shielded my father as I continued to wail against his chest. My tears fell on my father’s skin, but I couldn’t tell my tears from his blood.
I was so torn at what to do, I was startled when I heard several people gasping. I turned my eyes to Edward, who had come around so he would be in my sight range. “Edward, I don’t… he never… what should I do? He never told me. Would he want to turn? I have no clue! Tell me, please!”
Edward bent down, wiped his fingers under my eyes, then whispered, “There’s no need to ask what you should do, Love. You’ve already done it. Look. Take a second to really look at your Dad.”
I leaned my cheek against his palm, soaking up his support, then did as he asked. I gasped as I really took in my father’s condition, because it was improving before my eyes. The deep cuts and scrapes were knitting themselves closed, the broken ribs were no longer showing under the skin, and the open wound from the broken side rib seemed to be absorbing the blood back into it as the rib healed.
I gasped loudly again, my head whipping around to find Carlisle. “But how…”
Carlisle smiled softly, “Your tears, Dear. They have healing properties. I will monitor him throughout the flight to be sure, but I feel safe in saying that you just saved your father’s life.”
I hugged my father to me, then saw Emmett holding a distraught looking Rose. She shook her head as she choked out, “I’m so sorry, Bella. I had him. I had him in my arms, but I guess my hold was too tight. I broke both his leg and arm by accident, and knew if I kept my hold on him, I’d crush him. I had to let him go. I tried to warn him to tuck and roll. I’m sorry.”
I shook my head, offering, “You tried to protect him from those bastards who attacked us, Rose. You let him go when you knew you were going to do more damage by holding him, again, to protect him.” Then a thought hit me, and I looked around to find the hulky man that was coming up behind Edward before I found Dad.
When I found him, he was on his knees, his head bowed and his body facing my direction. His five companions were doing the same thing. His eyes were on me, though, so I asked, “The ones who attacked… they were disposed of, correct?”
He lifted his head, saying surely, “Yes, Lady Isabella. Five in total. The three who hit the vehicles, and two that were out a bit further, waiting to see if anyone made it out. We came as soon as we heard the vehicles being hit.”
I nodded, looking down at my Dad in my arms, then said, “I need to get him settled so Carlisle can take care of him… and the sooner we’re in the air, the better I’ll feel. I want half the men to go ahead of us to make sure the plane is still secure. The rest will run with us.”
He smiled, then offered, “No need, Lady Isabella. I have four men -including the pilot- still with the plane. The distress signal has not been called, so it is secure. We can make our way there whenever you are ready.”
I had Carlisle take my Dad, made sure to go hug Rose tightly for a second, then climbed into my Edward’s arms. I needed to feel his arms around me. Minutes later, we were off toward the airport again, our six escorts surrounding our group, who all had pieces of Dad’s luggage and mine.
Our trip had been uneventful so far. We had completed several leapfrog jumps with the other vehicles, Alice’s sight had stayed clear, and Edward hadn’t detected a ‘thought’ from an enemy the whole way.
We must have been less than five minutes from the small private airstrip when my entire body stiffened in Edward’s arms. Without a thought of why, I said in a rush, “Jasper, tell everyone to stop. Something’s wrong. We ha--”
I was cut off by Alice yelling out, “Braaaace!”
In the same instant, I heard Edward cursing, “Shit!” as he wrapped himself almost completely around me. I barely caught the sight of Carlisle’s SUV in front of us flying off the road sideways as Edward covered my face with his jacket, then my body was jarred.
The air was shoved from my lungs, and I couldn’t seem to cry out for my dad. He was in Carlisle’s SUV, which had just been attacked. I was pretty damn sure our SUV had, too, but I couldn’t speak without air in my lungs.
Glass breaking.
Metal creaking and scraping.
Gasping, and oh… air. “Daaad!”
Metal scraping against metal.
More than one vampire growling.
Edward quickly removed the jacket from over my head, seeking my eyes as I felt myself being placed on the ground. “Are you alright, Love?”
I shook my head as I looked around, “No… Dad!”
Edward insisted as he started scanning over me, “Isabella. Are. You. Injured?”
Without a pause, I firmly stated, “Edward, I’m fine. Where’s my father!”
That’s when I truly took in the scene around me. All three SUVs were completely totaled, warped and twisted beyond repair. We were about 50 yards down the embankment that had been on the left side of the road, the cliff drop-off about 35 yards above us. Several trees were cracked and mangled, and there was more than one fight going on around me. I frantically searched, but I couldn’t find Carlisle or Esme anywhere. I couldn’t find my dad, either.
I looked back to my mate, panic growing inside me, then heard several roars as six men bigger than Emmett flooded the area from every direction. My eyes sought one coming up behind Edward, but they were immediately drawn to something that made my blood run cold. “Daaaaad!”
Carlisle and Esme were at the edge of the cliff, both hovering over my father. I couldn’t be bothered with the metallic screeching or the sounds of fighting when something was wrong with my dad.
My wings were out and my arms around Edward in a split second, then we were in the air and landing near Dad the next second. I released Edward as I dropped down at my father’s side, but I only needed one look to see his injuries were fatal.
Someone had ripped Dad’s shirt open, and it was easy to see he’d not been as lucky as me. Cuts and scrapes littered his face, arms, and chest. His left arm was broken in at least one place, so was his left leg. Several ribs were broken, and I knew that because of bumps along his rib cage sticking up under the skin at odd points. Then there was one rib along his side that had broken completely through the skin. Blood was seeping through the wound there, but my father was also coughing up blood. Dark blood… too dark.
I must have been categorizing the injuries for too long, because I didn’t realize Carlisle was talking to me until he wiped blood tears from my face. “You need to choose, Dear. Quickly. I don’t know how long his heart will stay stable. This rib… as it broke, it nicked his spleen, then punctured his lung. He’s bleeding internally and drowning in his own blood, Dear. You need to choose.”
I didn’t know what to do. He’d never told me how to handle anything like this. I leaned over to hug him to me. Feeling and hearing how much Dad was struggling to breathe had tears pouring down my face, the bones in my wings all going rigid with how scared I was. I didn’t even think as I leaned my head back and cried to the heavens for the answer.
What came out was that same harpy-like screeching wail I had heard during the birth of my angel. In the next second, my wings partially shielded my father as I continued to wail against his chest. My tears fell on my father’s skin, but I couldn’t tell my tears from his blood.
I was so torn at what to do, I was startled when I heard several people gasping. I turned my eyes to Edward, who had come around so he would be in my sight range. “Edward, I don’t… he never… what should I do? He never told me. Would he want to turn? I have no clue! Tell me, please!”
Edward bent down, wiped his fingers under my eyes, then whispered, “There’s no need to ask what you should do, Love. You’ve already done it. Look. Take a second to really look at your Dad.”
I leaned my cheek against his palm, soaking up his support, then did as he asked. I gasped as I really took in my father’s condition, because it was improving before my eyes. The deep cuts and scrapes were knitting themselves closed, the broken ribs were no longer showing under the skin, and the open wound from the broken side rib seemed to be absorbing the blood back into it as the rib healed.
I gasped loudly again, my head whipping around to find Carlisle. “But how…”
Carlisle smiled softly, “Your tears, Dear. They have healing properties. I will monitor him throughout the flight to be sure, but I feel safe in saying that you just saved your father’s life.”
I hugged my father to me, then saw Emmett holding a distraught looking Rose. She shook her head as she choked out, “I’m so sorry, Bella. I had him. I had him in my arms, but I guess my hold was too tight. I broke both his leg and arm by accident, and knew if I kept my hold on him, I’d crush him. I had to let him go. I tried to warn him to tuck and roll. I’m sorry.”
I shook my head, offering, “You tried to protect him from those bastards who attacked us, Rose. You let him go when you knew you were going to do more damage by holding him, again, to protect him.” Then a thought hit me, and I looked around to find the hulky man that was coming up behind Edward before I found Dad.
When I found him, he was on his knees, his head bowed and his body facing my direction. His five companions were doing the same thing. His eyes were on me, though, so I asked, “The ones who attacked… they were disposed of, correct?”
He lifted his head, saying surely, “Yes, Lady Isabella. Five in total. The three who hit the vehicles, and two that were out a bit further, waiting to see if anyone made it out. We came as soon as we heard the vehicles being hit.”
I nodded, looking down at my Dad in my arms, then said, “I need to get him settled so Carlisle can take care of him… and the sooner we’re in the air, the better I’ll feel. I want half the men to go ahead of us to make sure the plane is still secure. The rest will run with us.”
He smiled, then offered, “No need, Lady Isabella. I have four men -including the pilot- still with the plane. The distress signal has not been called, so it is secure. We can make our way there whenever you are ready.”
I had Carlisle take my Dad, made sure to go hug Rose tightly for a second, then climbed into my Edward’s arms. I needed to feel his arms around me. Minutes later, we were off toward the airport again, our six escorts surrounding our group, who all had pieces of Dad’s luggage and mine.