CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Slow Movement

***

*THIRD PERSON POV*

Anthony Carter was dead. 

 Well, for two and a half minutes. 

 He was in his human form, in the one minute it took for Carlisle Cullen to get him back to the Rez. His neck was a dark purple bruise, the rapid-healing being the one thing that saved his life. The first slow, shaking breath that he took sent a sharp spark of hope through all of the pack. 

 Even when he didn't open his eyes.

 Carlisle did everything he could, but he had bones to break, so he had to leave. 

 Embry Call sat on the floor next to his bed, gnawing on his nails, his face as white as a sheet, and his stomach seeming like it was trying to digest itself. He leaned his head back on the wall, silent tears flowing down his face, that during any other circumstances, he would have tried to hide it. He kept telling himself that he didn't care anymore. If Tony wasn't okay, who cares?

 Embry and Tony met when they were eight years old. He remembers that day even more vividly since he imprinted.  

 It was sunny, and hot which was unusual for Washington as is. Embry, obviously, went to the beach, since that was kind of his thing. He didn't have any siblings, and his mom was so busy, that he was just kind of... alone. 

 Well, at first. 

 He heard them before he saw them. Loud laughter that made his head spring up. Two boys his age were walking toward him, enveloped in what seemed to be a very amusing conversation. 

 "Wait, no, say it again!" The taller of the two, the boy without glasses, requested, crossing his arms. The short boy with the glasses rolled his eyes. "Quil, I have already said it a million times!"   

 But the taller boy-Quil-was persistent, and kept nagging glasses until he sighed deeply and began speaking in a very rushed voice. "Hydrogen, helium-" 

 Embry's jaw dropped open in a mixture of shock and amusement. Was this kid saying the periodic table? Embry only knew that that was a thing because his mom was a scientist... he could barely memorize his classes, how could someone memorize so many elements? 

 "Hey!" 

 Embry's head flew up when suddenly the two boys were running at him. Glasses skidded to a stop and grinned. "Hi!" 

 Embry raised a shy hand in greeting, "uh, hi?" 

 "My friend thinks I am a nerd, so I have a very important question to ask you," he took a deep breath, his cheeks pink from the sun, the taller boy rolling his eyes from behind his back. "Just because I like science, doesn't automatically make me a nerd, right?" 

Embry shrugged, "I don't know... how old are you?" 

 "Eight." 

 Ahh.... so they are the same age. Embry cracked a smile at the boy behind glasses. "I'm gonna have to agree with your friend on this one." 

 Who would have known what that encounter would have turned into. 

 Alyssa was pacing in the small space between the foot of his bed. Her face was red and puffy, and she was sniffling like crazy, wiping at her face every three seconds. "That idiot," she gasped, tugging at her hair. "He said he'd be okay." 

 "It's all my fault." Embry stared into space as he said this, blinking twice. His voice was hoarse and shaking like a leaf on a tree. His eyes were so wide, and glassy. Alyssa stopped to give him a stern look, but he couldn't see her. "I- I should've just-" 

 "Shut the hell up!" The girl snapped, her hair wild and flying around her face. She stalked over to Embry and plopped down in the space next to him, crossing her arms and directing her watery eyes into a glare. Neither of them said anything else for a while, they just sat there. 

 Embry felt like his chest was being crushed. 

 Alyssa felt like she was going to loose it. 

 But they kept it together. The girl leaned her head on her brother's mate's shoulder, and breathed deeply. They sat in silence, clinging onto hope and staring at the motionless body of the boy they both love more than anything. 

 ***

 Emily's house was a lot louder. Alice Cullen was there for one, as was Jasper Hale, who was seated silently in the corner, sending out calming signals that didn't do anything for Paul Lahote. Jacob was upstairs, and they would occasionally hear him scream in pain. 

 "Stop it!" He finally snapped, raising his voice and stomping over to Jasper. "Okay? Cut it out!" 

He turned around, growling under his breath, and kicking a chair so hard that it hit the wall. Emily winced, but didn't say anything. Paul's heart was beatings o fast he felt like he was going to explode... knowing Paul, he would. 

 None of this was fair. Tony was the soft one, the smart one that everyone liked for some unknown reason. Paul was supposed to protect him, and look where that got him. 

 "This isn't your fault." Alice said, despite not being a mind reader, getting the gist of the situation. "And Tony will be fine." 

 "How the hell do you know that?" He shouted, making Jared roll his eyes and rock more aggressively in his chair. "Huh? I thought you couldn't see our future!" 

 "I don't need too!" His eyes were wide, and his shoulders were rising and falling in sharp waves. Alice walked right up to him, although her eyes barely met his chest. She was just about done with Paul's erratic behavior. "Have you ever met Anthony? Do you seriously think he would just... die?" 

 The word sent a sour taste down Paul's throat, and he clenched his fists, trying to control his temper that he knew could be uncontrollable. "In-case you don't remember, he just did!" 

 "You know nothing about your friend!" 

 "Stop talking like you know what you are talking about!" 

 "Enough!" Emily's voice may be soft, but it held a firm edge that made Paul clamp his lips shut and take a step back. He wanted to test that if he glared hard enough at Alice Cullen, she would burst into flames. Emily put one hand on Paul's arm, and he noticed immediately that it was trembling. "Both of you, stop it! This is not a time to be fighting!" 

 Alice took a deep breath that she really didn't need, and walked to Jasper, leaning into his embrace and appreciating the calming aura. 

 "I know that everyone is scared," she announced, turning so she could look at everyone in the room individually. "But fighting will get us no-where. If Tony was here, he would be calling you all dramatic idiots by this point." 

 A small smile quirked on Sam's face at just how Tony that was. 

 "So let's do what Tony would want, and..." she looked around the room, before walking over to the drawers in the corner, and pulling out a stack of cards. 

 "Let's study these trivia cards." 

 ***

 "Remember when he got a ninety-two on a test and immediately thought he was a failure?" 

 Alyssa choked out her own form of a laugh. The room was still quiet, but the two were doing their best to keep the mood as light as possible. They were telling their best Anthony Carter stories to pass the time. "Yeah, I kind of hated him for that." 

 "He was so bad at art," Embry ran his hand over his face, "that was the one class I was better than him at... he hated it." 

 And then a different voice entered their conversation. A hoarse, quiet, shaking voice that made them both scramble to their feet. "I heard you were talking shit-" 

 The biggest smile anyone has ever seen jumped onto Embry's face as he ran over to the bed. Because there, bruised, bloody, and beaten to a pulp, but with his dark, chocolate colored eyes open, was Anthony Carter.

 And Embry Call had hope again.

Because Anthony Carter was alive. 

A/N: Damn was that bad? In-case you couldn't tell, I don't write in third-person a lot. 

 (One more chapter until Breaking Dawn part 1!)

 So yes, thank you all for making me question my entire life's choices as I wrote this, like DID YOU REALLY THINK I WAS GOING TO KILL TONY? 

I actually had a similar situation in Forever and Always, when literally everyone thought I was going to kill Courtney, like what??? I don't have the balls for that!

 For my O.C book: 

 Do any of you have any ideas for incorrect quotes? Just comment your suggestions, and I am sure they will all make me laugh!

 I was tempted to do a chapter in said O.C book about me, but then I realized I would probably have to post a picture of myself, and I don't want to loose all of my readers because of how ugly I am... actually, I'm pretty average, I just have red hair. 

Thank you all for reading, and I love you all!