I practically crawled down the hallway and out to the car, I was moving so slow. When I finally got in the back of Emmett's Jeep, Aleena sat beside me. I smiled at her and put my arm over her shoulder, trying not to let her see me wince at the pain. She looked at me, and I grinned through the pain. Tenderly, she put her hand on my thigh. She glanced at me, and I chuckled.
"I'm not going to howl in pain at the slightest touch." I told her, making my own corny joke.
She blushed.
I leaned forward and kissed her forehead, like she had done to me earlier. Keeping my lips there, I said, "I love it when you do that." I whispered.
She smiled. "You've only known me for three days, and two of those days you were unconscious."
I laughed. "That doesn't matter. Plus, you were the star of my morphine-induced sleep." I grinned.
She shrugged and grinned back. "If you say so."
"I do. And I'll say it every day if I have to."
She was about to reply when Emmett said, "Can we please stop the mushy love show? I'm getting nauseous."
I rolled my eyes, but he had already killed the moment. I rode back to the Cullen's with my arm around Aleena and her hand on my thigh. I was content.
*
I must have fallen asleep because I was woken up by a car door slamming shut.
I moved my head and saw Rosalie sauntering inside in a pair of heels, with Emmett following her like a little puppy, watching her butt. I rolled my eyes. Aleena saw me.
"Don't watch my butt," she said, "And we'll be fine."
I laughed. "You can't stop me."
She stared at me, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm kidding." I said. "Jeez."
"Mhm."
I removed my hand from around her shoulder and said, "Come on. Let's go inside."
I walked slowly inside. When we arrived in the dining room, everyone was already seated. I shuffled over to an empty seat by Embry.
"Hey, man." I whispered.
"Hey."
Aleena just stood behind me, not knowing what to do. I sighed and pulled her into my lap. Everyone laughed stiffly as she blushed.
I wrapped my arms around her and held her until she relaxed.
"So, what exactly is this meeting for?" I asked everyone.
Edward and Alice glanced at each other, and then at Aleena.
"What does this have to do with her?" I asked, my arms tightening around her.
"We…think…that Aleena…has somehow…acquired our gifts." Edward said.
"What?" I said. "How is that even possible?"
"We're not sure." Alice said. "But, she had a vision, and she showed me. So, we know she has Renesmee's and my gift. And Jasper's."
"And I can't read her mind, so she has Bella's also." Edward said. Bella grabbed his hand and held it.
"I…think that I read Seth's mind earlier." Aleena said, fiddling with my fingers and looking at them.
"What?" Alice asked.
"When you called me in to see him, I heard him asking you…why I was healing so fast."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Esme asked.
She shrugged, dropping my hand and wrapping her arms around herself. "I don't know." She whispered.
"That doesn't matter." Bella said, looking at Alice.
"What does?" I asked.
Bella looked at Alice, Edward, Jasper, and Renesmee.
"I haven't had any visions."
"I can't read anyone's mind."
"I can't control emotions anymore."
"I can't show anyone anything."
A pause, and then…
"We're losing our gifts."