Chapter 15 – Edward

Edward was in the bathroom, running the water to fill one of the flimsy cups full of water when he heard Andy call for him from the other room just before a loud crash. He froze where he stood, terror flashing in him as his ears told him that there was no movement in the next room, no breathing, no heartbeat. He was out and in the main room in a millisecond and was horrorstruck by what he saw; Andy lying limp and still on the ground, her eyes wide open.

"NO!"

Edward was beside her and furiously checking her for a pulse though he already knew that there would be none before he knew exactly what he needed to do. He bared his teeth and bit her with his venom coated fangs, bit her over and over, pumping her limp body as full of venom as he could. Then he rose over her and began to do CPR, trying desperately to not cross the line between pumping her heart and breaking delicate ribs. He continued to do this well into the night and into the morning until he could hear a soft and slowly gulp of her heart as it continued on by itself.

It took until that night for his family to look for them, hearing Carlisle, Alice's, and May's thoughts as they drove down the road towards their hotel, as they got out of the car, as they traveled up the elevator, as they walked down the hall and as they smelled Andy's blood at the door. May growled low in her throat as her thoughts flashed between killing Edward for drinking from her dead best friend and drinking up what was left of the delicious blood. Carlisle was feel pity and worry for his eldest son and hoped that he'd done what he'd meant to do and that now they could take Andy home, however, the lack of Andy's screams worried Carlisle. Alice already knew what would be inside waiting for them because she'd seen Andy die and that had been what she'd been calling about, but she could also see that Andy would survive and would be the most impressive vampire that any of them would ever see.

Carlisle was the first inside, not bothering to knock on the door but just ran in and stared in shock at Edward. Edward was crouched on the ground cradling Andy's nearly bare but still body, his eyes dead as he blankly stared into space. Carlisle stared at Andy, amazed that she wasn't screaming and begging for death as every human ever bitten had done.

"We know what happened, Edward," Carlisle told his son softly, walking forward to check the progression of Andy's conversion. "We're here to take you both home,"

"She was having one of her headaches," Edward said, his voice quiet and too even. "I had no choice,"

"I know, Edward," Carlisle assured him. "You did the right thing. Don't blame yourself. You'll see that when the conversion is complete. You will have her forever and she will no longer be in pain,"

Edward just continued to stare blankly at nothing as he held Andy to him until Carlisle insisted that they go home. May and Alice cleaned up the room while Edward and Carlisle left out the back door and placed Andy in the car, May checking out of the hotel for them. Together they drove home, Edward not leaving Andy's side until Carlisle took her from him and Esme insisted that he changed his blood stained clothes. That only took a matter of seconds before he was sitting beside Andy, where she'd been laid out on a long table in Carlisle's office where they'd been prepping to change her. Edward slipped in hand in hers, running circles over the back of her hand with his thumb.

The silent worry throughout the whole family that they wouldn't admit to each other- but Edward knew and felt nonetheless- was Andy's silence.

"Still no change?" Carlisle asked as he walked in, coming to check Andy's pulse which was getting steadily more rapid as time went on.

"None," Edward said shortly.

"Andy? Can you hear me?" Carlisle asked, bending down toward her ear.

There was absolutely no sign that she'd heard him; her pale face didn't twitch, her fingers didn't move in the slightest… there wasn't even eye movement.

Edward tried then; once Carlisle had pulled back Edward scooted up in his chair, whispering softly to her, though not so soft that she might not hear him. "Andy? Andy, love? Can you open your eyes? Can you squeeze my hand?"

Edward reached over the table's edge and touched her hand against, squeezing her fingers a little, hoping that something would happen. But there was nothing.

"Maybe…" Edward began sadly, continuing to hold Andy's hand, though the other moved to cover his face. "Carlisle, maybe I was too late,"

"Listen to her heart, Edward," Carlisle told him, trying to reassure his eldest son. "It's strong and her injuries weren't so much worse that Esme's-"

"But Esme's were flesh wounds, Carlisle," Edward interrupted, almost growling.

"The venom will heal her as it did Esme," Carlisle told him firmly, placing a hand on his shoulder.

There was a long moment as the two vampires stared down at the woman. She was pale, paler than either of them which worried them both though they didn't say it out loud. Her too skinny body- having becoming slightly emaciated from not being able to eat as of late- was filling out beneath the blue dress she still wore. Her hair was also a sight; the purple dye seemed to be flaking off, slowly revealing the dark blonde that was her natural hair color.

But soon Edward broke the silence again.

"What about the wolves?" Edward asked, feeling the need to talk about something else, think about something other than the possibility that his Andy might not make it.

"I phoned them and had a meeting with their pack leader," Carlisle told him. "He said that we can have no more than three weeks to take care of our business and leave,"

"Why?"

There was silence between them as Edward heard the answer in Carlisle's mind.

"Charlie,"

"Billy Black and his son Jacob are close to him and Andy and convinced the other's to allow us to have a funeral for her instead of just leave and leave Charlie wondering,"

"It's kind of them," Edward murmured.

"I think we should tell people the truth; that Andy died on your honeymoon, or in this case, on your way to it," Carlisle mused as he told Edward his plan. "We'll have the funeral in a week and we'll be gone as soon as Andy's ready for travel,"

They were silent again before Alice came streaking into the room, her eyes wide and her hair windblown.

"I can't see her!"

Both male vampires turned to her, shocked and confused.

"I tried to look into her future and I can't see her, it's just blank," Alice explained, her voice coming out at a million miles an hour though any human could have understood her. "Not like she's not going to have a future, but like something's blocking me,"

None of them knew what to make of it at first, until Edward chuckled.

"What?" Alice asked, confused and a little annoyed.

"That's exactly how it felt the first day I met her… how it feels when I try to read her mind," he told them, not sure if he should feel relieved or not.

"Interesting," Carlisle murmured to himself.

Edward stayed with Andy, watching over her until May and Carlisle came in the next day around noon, May rushing over to Andy's over side, staring down at her.

"She's so still," May murmured. "Andy's never been good with pain,"

"I must have done something wrong," Edward murmured, his eyes full of pain as he stared down at the love of his life.

Carlisle instantly put a hand on his shoulder. "Son, you did everything I could have and more. I' not sure I would have had the persistence, the faith it took to save her. Stop berating yourself. Andy is going to be fine,"

"We both know what you are thinking, Carlisle," Edward bit out. "What if the brain tumor has affected her negatively? Left her brain dead and that's why Alice can't see her?"

"We don't know that," Carlisle argued. "We all know that that's just an easy way to explain it, far too easy. It could be her gift, Edward,"

Edward just sighed and looked up at May who was sitting and poking Andy's arm.

"What the hell are you doing?"

May looked up, shocked before she gave an embarrassed smile. "When I was withering around in pain I always wanted something to focus on beside the pain. I had you guys talking and Emmett's breathing. I just figured I'd give her something new to focus on and possible annoy the hell out of her until she moved,"

Edward rolled his eyes at his newest sister before he looked back down at Andy. "Andy," he whispered to her, leaning toward her. "I love you,"

By the end of the day Andy's heart sped up to an impossible rate, alerting everyone that it would soon be over and they'd be able to see if Andy would be the amazing vampire they were all hoping for or be a brain dead creature of the night. They all slowly filed into the room, Carlisle, Jasper and Emmett standing in front of Esme, Alice and May near the door while Edward remained sitting beside the love of his life.

There was a painfully long moment of silence as her heart sped even more and Andy's body suddenly arched up off the table and a gasped breath was drawn through her clenched teeth before her body went slack again. Edward held tight to her hand as her skin turned the same color as his, no longer the sickly pale of before, and her heart began to slow until, with one last gulp, it stopped.

There was a moment of utter silence before Edward leaned toward her carefully.

"Andy?"

Nothing happened.

"Andy, love?"

Then her blood red eyes flashed open.

THE END