Editing the Truth

(Jacob's POV)

"Jacob!" Angela's quavering voice rang out in the room across the hall from where my wounds were being properly dressed by Dr. Cullen.

He didn't attempt to stop me as I jumped up from the hospital bed and made my way to the door; however, I turned before I stepped out into the hallway and faced him. I knew that we had to get our story straight with one another, before the cops started nosing around and asking too many questions that I wasn't sure how to answer.

"I'll demand to speak only with Chief Swan, and you do the same, Jacob," He answered as if he knew what I was thinking, before I said it out loud. As far as I knew, though, Edward was the only Cullen to possess the ability to read minds.

"What good will that do?" I questioned. "He knows just as little about you and I as the rest of the world."

"True. But Charlie trusts me and he won't question anything I tell him."

"How can you be so sure of that?" Was he serious? Charlie may be completely oblivious when it came to his daughter's choice in otherworldly companions, but this was police business -his reality. I had always known Charlie to be very diligent when it came to matters concerning the law and his position.

"This won't be the first time that I've successfully manipulated the facts concerning what would otherwise be an unexplainable incident." His grin showed his self confidence, but did little to calm my fears that we both would be found out somehow by this stupid "incident".

"But, how...I mean, what exactly do I tell Charlie?" It was frustrating, having to rely on a bloodsucker to keep my enormous secret a secret.

"Don't worry about that. I've already got your story covered."

"Well?" I questioned. "Mind letting me in on the plan?"

"Not at all, but the only way this is going to work, is if you go to Angela right now. Hurry," he said as he pushed me toward the door.

Carlisle frowned as he wadded up the paper covering the bed and placed it along with the needle and other bloody supplies in a waste basket. I watched as he quickly tied up the trash bag and then stuffed it into a black duffel bag that he removed from a cabinet. I was curious as to what he was planning on doing with that, but didn't feel it was as important as the matter at hand.

Carlisle glanced back up at me and smiled reassuringly. "Go on, Jacob. I'll be there to save the day momentarily. Just go play the worried boyfriend and I will interrupt Charlie's interrogation of the two of you. Timing is everything."

I turned my back on him, dashing across the hallway in an instant. Angela was sitting on the bed facing me with Charlie sitting in a chair directly in front of her. Although his back was to me, I could see that he was patting Angela's hand as if to comfort her.

Distress clouded Angela's features, but she still glowed like an Angel. She rose to her feet and darted toward me when her tearful eyes found me standing in the doorway.

"Oh, Jake! I was so worried. I wanted to see you so badly. I couldn't think straight, not knowing if you were okay. You are okay, aren't you?" She was babbling. Her words rushed out. When I didn't immediately answer, she squeezed my arm with her hand -wincing as her stitches pulled tight.

Having Angela in my arms was all I needed to make the world stop spinning and the chaos fade away. With her eyes locked on mine, I felt indestructible. Even the strength of a werewolf was nothing compared to the way Angela made me feel. I couldn't fight the urge to kiss her any longer. I picked her up off of her feet and held her tightly against me until I felt her tension subside as her body relaxed.

I could have easily let myself get caught up in the moment and simply disappeared from the scene as though I had never even been there -and never taken a bullet to the shoulder. But time was working against me, and since Carlisle had been kind enough to assist me in taking down "Ben Eastwood", I figured I should do what I could to help with the police report.

"Shh. It's okay, Angela," I kissed her lips quickly and then pressed my lips to her forehead. She whimpered lightly and my heart nearly stopped. I could feel how worried she had been -how much she needed me and loved me. And in that instant I felt a stronger bond grow between us than had previously existed. It was an overwhelming sensation.

I stumbled backward, with Angela in my arms and Charlie flew from his chair to avoid being squashed underneath us. His hand caught my right arm and he guided me to the bed to sit down.

I sat down a little too hard and Angela's body bounced like a rag doll in my arms. She giggled and I looked into her sweet face to see that a smile played on her lips even though her eyes still pooled with tears.

"Jake, you shouldn't be lifting her like that," Charlie said with obvious concern in his voice. He assumed that I was weak from my stress over my injuries. I could use this to my advantage.

"I'm..I"m alright," I stuttered, but not from pain or feeling faint. I hadn't taken my eyes off of Angela. She was looking directly into my soul and for the life of me I couldn't break her gaze. Her lips parted slightly as her eyelids slid shut and she inhaled slowly and deeply.

Oh, no. Not here. Not in front of Charlie.

A small sound rolled out of Angela. It was like the purr of a big cat -a cougar or a lion. I wanted her in that moment so badly that I was glad she was sitting on my lap to conceal my torment. At the same time, it was agonizing to have her so close. It took all the will power I could muster to keep her far enough away from where I wished she was -in order to remain fully clothed and decent.

Thankfully, at that moment, Carlisle knocked loudly on the open door and made his way in without waiting for an invitation.

"Well, I see that you two seem to be somewhat calmer now. I was worried there for a minute that I would have to restrain Mr. Black to finish up with his stitches." Angela looked up at Carlisle questioningly and then back to me.

"I tried to tell him that I was fine, so that I could come in here and wait with you," I grinned sheepishly.

"Oh, Jake, I could tear-" Her voice was thick with lust. I panicked and hurriedly pressed my lips to Angela's to silence her.

Dirty thoughts had been running rampant through my mind. One of them being a scene of us tearing off each others clothes.

I guessed that Angela still had some of those naughty images bouncing around in her mind. I would have to temporarily distract her...though, I realized suddenly that a kiss was probably not the wisest approach.

Angela moaned and parted my lips with her tongue. My eyes flew wide open as her hands traveled down my chest and I felt her fingers sliding under the waist band of my jeans.

"Uh-hemm," Carlisle cleared his throat and Charlie snickered despite himself.

"Perhaps, it would have been wise of me to restrain instead," Carlisle chuckled. Angela acted as if she didn't hear him, clawing at the button and zipper of my pants.

I had to literally pry Angela's hands away from me. Her strength was surprising. It took her a second to realize that I was fighting her off. When reality came into focus, she blushed the most beautiful shade of red.

"I still need to ask you all some questions...if you two think you can behave long enough to do that for me," Charlie added. He was sporting a huge grin, but his tone was now very serious.

"I'd like to start with you, Ms. Weber. May I call you Angela?"

"Actually, Chief Swan, I don't think Ms. Weber will be of much use to you in this matter," Carlisle interjected.

"Hmm? How's that?" Charlie looked at Carlisle, confused.

"It was my understanding that the assailant was Ms. Weber's boyfriend. Or rather ex-boyfriend, I take it?" Charlie threw a look at the two of us -one eyebrow raised as though he assumed that he knew what had happened without asking.

Angela merely nodded slightly and Carlisle answered for her. "That may be true; however, Ms. Weber was receiving stitches just moments before the gunshot rang out and I insisted that she stay where she was. From the look on her face, I would surmise that she was terrified as anyone would have been at that moment.

I personally ran out to the lobby, where I found Mr. Black -who had sustained a minor grazing injury and a shocked Mr. Cheney, holding a gun in his trembling hand. He himself looked as terrified as Ms. Weber had been."

"I see." Charlie turned to Angela who was gazing desperately into my eyes again.

No. I mouthed silently to her, as Charlie posed another question.

"So, you didn't see anything, Angela?"

Angela never looked away from me as she answered.

"Not until Dr. Cullen had taken the gun away from Ben. And then I saw that Jacob was bleeding."

She paused and ran her hand gingerly over the bandage on my shoulder. The light touch of her fingers on my skin made my pulse quicken and my mouth began to water. I bit my lip as she stared lustily into my eyes once again. This was pure torture.

Angela shifted her weight in my lap, knowing that I was fully aroused. She peered at me through long dark lashes and I held my breath. Another ten minutes of this was all I would possibly be able to take -if I could hold out for that long.

"Umm.." Charlie sensed the tension between Angela and I. It was obvious that he was becoming uncomfortable and Carlisle suggested that they give the two of us our privacy for a moment.

So, this had been Carlisle's intention -distracting Charlie with Angela's "little infatuation" with me- when he insisted that I go straight to her. Maybe the bloodsucker knew his stuff after all. Charlie took the bait -hook, line and sinker.

How Carlisle knew that Angela would act up was an entirely different matter. Even Bella didn't know that I had fallen out of love with her so quickly and found my soul mate in her unsuspecting friend.

I hadn't told anyone outside of the pack that I had imprinted on Angela -not Bella, especially. So, I didn't know how any of the Cullens would have an inkling of what was going on between Angela and I.

"Well," Charlie started, "technically I'm suppose to interview each of you separately and as quickly after the incident as possible...but, since what you've told me matches pretty closely with what the Cheney kid says...I guess it would be alright if I finished taking your statements a bit later."

To my surprise, Angela broke her trance at the mention of Ben's name and her eyes grew large with worry once more.

"Chief Swan? Can I ask you what will happen to Ben? I..I mean, really..I don't think he ever meant to hurt anyone. I don't think he was thinking about what he was doing at all. What I mean is...well..I don't...I mean-"

"I can't disclose much information about him to you, but you should know that I think we can possibly make this all go away. I don't think that he was acting rationally either, Angela. But that's just between the two of us, okay?" Charlie winked at Angela and explained to her that he and another officer had found an empty six-pack of beer in Ben's car and that his parent's had been fighting all week about things involving Ben and his future at college.

"Apparently Ben had been coming over to Angela's to tell her that he wouldn't be attending school in the fall with her, after all. He was already upset when she showed up late to meet him. He had been driving his father's car, when he found the pistol in the glove know this because his father admitted to keeping the gun there. His parents called to alert me that Ben had taken off in a terrible state," Charlie admitted.

So, that's why the police had responded so quickly. They had already been alerted to Ben's strange behavior. This was all working out too smoothly.

According to Charlie, when Ben gave his statement, he had barely been coherent enough to tell the officers his full name and address. He didn't even remember coming to the hospital at all. He thought that he had been in some sort of accident and nearly fainted at the sight of blood on the floor, when the police ushered him out of the lobby and into the squad car.

Charlie and Carlisle stepped outside to give us our "moment alone", and I listened carefully to their continuing conversation.

"Honestly, Dr. Cullen-" Charlie began.

"Please, call me Carlisle."

"Okay, uh..Carlisle. I don't think we should pursue this investigation. I mean that's entirely up to what you and Jacob would like to do, but knowing what this kid is going through...well, you know what it's like having all that pressure on you as a kid, and..."

That was all I needed to hear, and it was a good thing to, because when I turned to relay what I had heard to Angela, she leaped into my arms -nearly knocking me down.