A New Cullen Life

Chapter 1

                  

A single heartbeat echoed through the house, appearing as though it mocked the Cullen and Denali families as it raced along. Three days had passed, three agonisingly slow days. Yet there was still no change to Amelia, no relief from the torment that was burning through her veins.

"Eleazar, should it be taking this long?" Carlisle's voice was tortured as he paced the study.

"Carlisle, listen to her heartbeat. It is strong. She just needs time."

"What have I done to my daughter, old friend?" If agony had an expression, it would be the one on Carlisle's face.

"You have saved her life, that is what you did. Please stop beating yourself up."

"It's been three days. She should be nearly done. Instead she is burning up," Carlisle placed an icy hand on Amelia's forehead, "she has not burned like this since she got pneumonia the last time you visited."

"Alice keeps seeing her waking up. Try to relax."

"But everyone else's transformation took three days!"

"Amelia is not everyone else. She had significant damage to her body," Eleazar explained kindly.

"So did Bella and Esme! They had broken vertebral columns and spinal damage for goodness sake!"

"Their bodies had structural damage, for lack of a better term. Amelia's bodily damage is on a cellular level. She had significantly more wrong with her than a handful of broken bones," interjected Blythe, joining in on their conversation. She had been sitting quietly next to Amelia along with Samantha and Alair, watching the conversation between Eleazar and Carlisle like a tennis match.

"Should we remove the oxygen?" queried Alair.

"She still needs to breathe," reminded Samantha, "the venom has not yet healed her lungs."

As if to emphasise her point, Amelia coughed loudly. Samantha tapped her back a few times to try to dislodge the mucus obstructing her airway. She had arrived only an hour prior, after Emmett had called her. The Denalis had arrived only a couple of hours after Amelia had slipped into the coma that triggered the change to begin with. Carlisle had phoned the hospital to inform them that he would not be in, as Amelia had taken a turn for the worse. Alair had arrived ten minutes later. Sixteen vampires were assembled Forks, waiting. The four vampires proficient in health care, namely Carlisle, Blythe, Samantha and Alair, along with Eleazar, were ensconced in Carlisle's office, surrounding the teenager whose transformation was taking a tad longer than expected.

Rosalie and Emmett were downstairs, trying to keep everyone's spirits up. Jasper and Alice had left the house temporarily, and were lurking in the woods, far away enough that Jasper would not be so badly affected by the generally gloomy environment of the Cullen mansion, and close enough that Alice could notify them of any changes. Bella and Edward were on the Reservation with Renesmee, determined to shield their daughter from what was transpiring.

Edward had confirmed that he could not hear anything from Amelia just before they left, a fact which worried Carlisle. Amelia's gift would not kick in until she was turned, so how was it that she seemed to be affected already? Jemima was sitting in Tanya's lap; even she had picked up on the morose atmosphere and was pining for her owner. Garret and Kate were in the garden, unsure what to do with themselves.

Carmen had taken Esme out of the office for a little while. Esme's nerves were shattered, and she was becoming increasingly concerned that Amelia might never wake up. Her daughter had been so quiet; the only noise she ever made was when she was coughing. Just like Bella. Amelia seemed to be locked in her coma. Esme had initially been worried how she would manage listening to her sweet baby girl crying out as the venom spread, but now she would give anything to listen to that agony. The silence was deafening.