The Adopted Cullen

Chapter 30

I hear the annoying sound of beeping and I slowly blink my eyes. I sit up and make a low, painful sound in the back of my throat as I can't move my body. I look down at myself as see I have a cast on my arm and leg, multiple bandages, and my stomach is wrapped up.

I look over to the side of my bed and see Seth propped up beside my bed, his head on top of the sheets, snoring. I hear someone cough lightly and I quickly look over to see Edward standing at the door with a painful expression on his face.

"Grace, I..." he gasps and I say hoarsely, "Get out." Seth shoots up out of his sleep and a big grin stretches across his face until he looks at my expression. "You have to listen, we need to explain." I shake my head, tears filling my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall.

"Leave me alone. I told you not to save me. I told you to let me die and you still didn't lis...." I break off my sentence by gasping at the pain shooting through my chest.

Seth comes over and grabs my left hand, "Shh, shh. Don't talk." I glare at him for worrying, "Why are you still here anyways? You were supposed to leave, and considering how dark it looks..."

I stop talking and take in short quick breaths. "Do you want me gone?" Seth says sadly and I shake my head and gasp again but say, "No, I just want my music." I say breathlessly and Seth nods and gets up.

"I'll grab it. Rest, ok?" I nod and close my eyes as Seth growls to Edward, "Get out. She'll talk to us later. I've got to call the pack and let them know she's awake. Leave her alone until she's ready."

I hear Edward hiss something back, but it is too low for me to hear as the door slams shut and I let out a breath of relief? Sadness? Anger? I don't know and I'm too focused on the pain right now to care.

When Seth comes back in with my phone and ear buds, he gently places them in my ears and kisses my head before walking through the door. Before he leave he ducks his head inside and says, "I love you."

I smile gently at him before using my left hand to put on my music and turning it up, trying to drown everything out except for the lyrics. I don't know how long I sit there, my eyes closed just listening to the lyrics, before my dad and mom come in, my brothers and sisters trailing behind. I glance at all of them before turning my music up louder and closing my eyes again.

Suddenly my earbuds leave my ears and I glare at the culprit, my father. "How are you feeling?" He asks me as he checks whatever he's doing on the computer. I don't respond I just lean back and think about the song lyrics that were just playing.

I hear Edward groan somewhere in the back and say, "I don't know either Carlisle." I smirk and look at him. "Sucks doesn't it? Not being able to pick through someone's mind for useful information." Edward goes to say something, but my mother scolds me.

"Gracelyn Cullen! Watch your tone." I close my eyes again and roll my eyes behind my eyelids. "My tone is perfectly appropriate considering I should have already yelled at all of you and said some very choice words that I feel like saying at the moment."

I hear Emmett chuckle, and I try my best to hold back my smile, which isn't too hard considering that he has also been lying to me.

"You have to understand, we couldn't tell you what we are because you would be in danger." Edward says and I hear Seth scoff. "We figured out since she was four years old how you could tell her and still keep her out of harm, Edward. Don't try to make this seem better than it is."

"I was trying to help. She doesn't need to be a part of our world and that much is evident after yesterday. That is what I was trying to avoid."

Esme interrupts the bickering boys, "Boys! This fighting is not what we need to hear at the moment, not what Grace needs to hear at the moment. We need to tell Grace what she has deserved to hear for fifteen years."