"Bella?" I shouted.

126

"Bella?" I shouted.
There was no change in her lifeless face when I yelled her name.
My whole body went colder than ice.
I was aware of Mike's aggravated surprise as I sifted furiously through his
thoughts.  He was only thinking of his anger toward me, so I didn't know what was
wrong with Bella.  If he'd done something to harm her, I would annihilate him.
"What's wrong—is she hurt?" I demanded, trying to focus his thoughts.  It was
maddening to have to walk at a human pace.  I should not have called attention to my
approach.
Then I could hear her heart beating and her even breath.  As I watched, she
squeezed her eyes more tightly shut.  That eased some of my panic.
I saw a flicker of memories in Mike's head, a splash of images from the Biology
room.  Bella's head on our table, her fair skin turning green.  Drops of red against the
white cards?
Blood typing.
I stopped where I was, holding my breath.  Her scent was one thing, her flowing
blood was another altogether.
"I think she's fainted," Mike said, anxious and resentful at the same time.  "I
don't know what happened, she didn't even stick her finger."
Relief washed through me, and I breathed again, tasting the air.  Ah, I could smell
the tiny flow of Mike Newton's puncture wound.  Once, that might have appealed to me.
I knelt beside her while Mike hovered next to me, furious at my intervention.
"Bella.  Can you hear me?"
"No," she moaned.  "Go away."
The relief was so exquisite that I laughed.  She was fine.
"I was taking her to the nurse," Mike said.  "But she wouldn't go any farther."
"I'll take her.  You can go back to class," I said dismissively.
Mike's teeth clenched together.  "No.  I'm supposed to do it."
I wasn't going to stand around arguing with the wretch.
Thrilled and terrified, half-grateful to and half-aggrieved by the predicament
which made touching her a necessity, I gently lifted Bella from the sidewalk and held her
? 2008 Stephenie Meyer