Authors Notes: According to the time line on The Twilight Lexicon, Harry Clearwater died on March 16, 2006. Also, according to info provided by the lexicon (confirmed canon, by Stephenie Meyer, herself), Seth and Leah phased for the first time on March 16, 2006. This is how I think it all went down. Leah's POV.
Please comment (but constructive criticism only, please. I'm trying to learn from my mistakes (so I would like to know if I've done anything wrong) but I'm also wanting to know what I'm doing correctly. I really want to improve. Also, I wouldn't mind writing more, so just let me know. THANKS!
I don't own Twilight, but I sure wish I did (because I would be hella rich right now). Anyway, the Twilight series and all characters therein belong to Stephenie Meyer, not me.
I heard a clutter and then a large thud, down the hall, in the kitchen.
"Dad? Are you okay?" I called.
There was no answer so I walked down the hall and discovered my father on the ground. Grasping his chest and obviously in a lot of pain - He was having a heart attack. Horrified, I ran to his side.
"DADDY!", I screamed "Don't worry, everything is going to be okay, I'm going to call an 9-1-1." I said as I grabbed the phone that was on the ground near his head.
"No! Don't call an ambulance. No hospital. Get your mother." My father fought to speak.
"Dad, you need help. You need to see a real doctor, not a nurse." I insisted as I started dialing.
Just then he grabbed my hand and I looked at him again. "No ambulance! No hospital!" he commanded with all the strength he could muster.
"Okay," I said, trying to appease him. "I-I'll get Mom!" I stammered as I got up and ran out of the house.
I knew Mom was down the street, at the Call's home. The Call's house was always a quick walk down the street but even running as fast as I was running right then, it felt as though I would never get there. When I'd finally arrived, Embry was just walking out the door with Seth right behind him.
"Leah? Is eve-" was all Embry was able to say before I interrupted him.
"MOM! MOM!" I shreaked over Embry's shoulder, totally ignoring him. "MOM! DAD IS HAVING A HEART ATTACK!"
Moments later my mother came to the door with a horrified expression on her face. She started running toward our home but she wasn't fast enough. Embry picked her up, cradled her, and ran her to our home. I kept with Embry's pace the whole time.
When we got to the house Mom automatically started barking out orders while she started evaluating Dad. "Seth, get your fathers heart medication. Leah, get the first aid kit, the big one, in the closet"
I went looking for the first aid kit, wondering what she needed from that thing and how it could help Dad, when she interrupted my thoughts by yelling "Leah, get the BIG first aid kit, in the closet. On the floor!"
I realized that she was talking about the first aid "kit" that wasn't even a kit, it was a massive box of heavy-duty medical supplies, some of which - technically speaking - we shouldn't even have in our home. Immediately my mind made a connection and I remembered it contained the portable defibrillator she'd told me how to use not two months previously.
My stomach lurched. Were things so bad that he'd need a defibrillator? Had his heart stopped beating? The thought of my father's heart stopping, practically immobilized me - should have immobilized me, had it not been for an unexpected surge of adrenaline. At that point, my body shifted into autopilot. The real me, the part of me that was terrified, seemed to leave my body and watch everything unfold, totally powerless to stop the inevitable from happening.
I ripped open the case for the defibrillator and plugged it in while kneeling down next to my mother.
"Harry Clearwater, don't you dare leave this earth without my permission!" Mom commanded as she ripped his shirt open. After doing so she started performing CPR, tipping his head back, pinching his nose and placing her mouth over Dad's mouth. After she breathed into his mouth – twice – I instinctively started giving him chest compressions.
"One, two, three, four, five…" I counted out loud as mom attached the defibrillator to Dad's chest. When I got up to fifteen, Mom gave him two more quick breaths and I went back to the chest compressions.
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twel-" I was interrupted by the machine which was instructing me to 'stand clear'. I pulled away from Dad and the defibrillator shocked him. As it did so, Dad's body jerked in a sickening manner.
We looked at the defibrillator's screen to see if Dad's heart beat was normalizing. It wasn't, so mom continued with the CPR. I started chest compressions for a third time when the machine told me to 'stand clear' again. After the second shock, Dad's heart stopped beating all-together.
Mom gave him two more breaths; his chest rising, but not on its own. I returned to the chest compressions but counted in my head this time. When I reached fifteen, I looked over at the monitor. There were no signs of a heartbeat.
Behind me, I could hear Seth begin to cry, quietly. Mom started crying but gave him two more breaths. I gave him more compressions but to no avail, Dad's heart wouldn't start beating.
Mom was sobbing by the time it was her turn to breathe for Dad. She made no movement to do her part. I could see she was giving up.
"Mom, breathe for Dad! NOW!" I commanded, but she just looked at me and shook her head. At that moment, I was enraged beyond words so I shoved Mom out of the way and she landed somewhere near Embry.
"Leah!" Seth yelled at me through his tears as I breathed into Dad's mouth.
"Dad is not going to die!" I yelled back. And then I began the chest compressions. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen…
I continued CPR for what seemed like forever to no avail, while Seth, Mom and Embry sobbed. I finally stopped preforming CPR when Embry gently placed his hand on my shoulder.
"Leah, leave him be." Embry whispered.
I looked down at my fathers face, checked his vitals one last time and it was clear that he was no longer really with us.
Dad is really gone, I allowed. It was then that I started sobbing. It didn't make sense, we had just been talking and joking with each other not thirty minutes prior. Dad isn't supposed to die, not yet. He was supposed to walk me down the aisle on my wedding day and someday hold my children - his grandchildren - in his arms and tell them the Quileute legends he used to tell me and Seth. My mind refused to accept this new, horrific and unexpected reality.
"NO! NO! NO!" I screeched as I ripped Embry's hand off my shoulder and jumped to my feet in one quick movement. I was no longer sobbing. I was white-hot with anger. So angry, that I was shaking. I knew I was no longer in control of myself but I didn't care.
Embry looked shocked, as if I had just burned him, and there was something else in his eyes...fear, possibly. He slowly started to back away from me. "Leah, you need to calm down." He spoke to me slowly.
"Sue, Seth, get out of the house!" Embry was ordering them, not asking. "Sue, I'm going to need you to get the Elders. I'm going to get Sam!" Embry said without taking his eyes off of me.
For a moment I was frozen, not sure about the direction things were going - Embry's reaction had confused me - but it was the mention of Sam's name that set me off again. "Don't you DARE bring Sam here!" I snarled as I lunged to block Embry's path.
"Embry, I don't understa—" Mom started to say, but then a sudden a look of comprehension, mixed with horror, spread across Mom's face. She started inching toward the backdoor but Seth didn't follow.
Seth stood his ground and met my gaze, without flinching, clearly challenging me for some reason. I turned my attention toward Seth as I had the overwhelming urge to attack him, although, I couldn't comprehend why. Seth was my baby brother and I was devoted to him, I loved him but I also wanted, more then anything at that moment, to rip his throat out. Disoriented; terrified, I fought with the urge to murder as I attempted to work things out in my mind. Embry took the opportunity to slip out the front door while Mom slipped out the back.
Seth and I stared murderously at each other, willing the other to attack first;Neither of us wanted to make the first move. It wasn't long before a wolf's howl ripped through the silence, alarmingly close to our house;drawn-out and mournful sounding.