I realized that I was still. There was no tug of the current on me – the heaving was inside my head. The surface under me was flat and motionless. It felt grainy against my bare arms.

"I don't know," Jacob reported, still frantic. His voice was very close. Hands – so warm they had to be his – brushed wet hair from my cheeks. "A few minutes? It didn't take long to tow her to the beach."

"If he's talking like this, she must be breathing again, right?" Emmett asked.

"Yes... the pup wouldn't be so nonchalant if Bella was still in danger," Jasper said.

The quiet whooshing inside my ears was not the waves – it was the air moving in and out of my lungs again. Each breath burned – the passageways were as raw as if I'd scrubbed them out with steel wool. But I was breathing.

And I was freezing. A thousand sharp, icy beads were striking my face and arms, making the cold worse.

"Warm her up, pup," Alice commanded.

"He must not realize that she's cold," Carlisle sighed.

"He just brought her out to the freezing ocean," Emmett said, like even an idiot would know that she would have been cold.

"She's breathing. She'll come around. We should get her out of the cold, though. I don't like the color she's turning…" I recognized Sam's voice this time.

"You think it's okay to move her?"

"She didn't hurt her back or anything when she fell?"

"I don't know."

"That's smart, but the first thing they really have to worry about is hypothermia," Carlisle said. "That takes precedent over a back injury."

They hesitated.

I tried to open my eyes. It took me a minute, but then I could see the dark, purple clouds, flinging the freezing rain down at me. "Jake?" I croaked.

Jacob's face blocked out the sky. "Oh!" he gasped, relief washing over his features. His eyes were wet from the rain.

"I highly doubt it's just from the rain," Edward said knowingly.

"Oh, Bella! Are you okay? Can you hear me? Do you hurt anywhere?"

"J-Just m-my throat," I stuttered, my lips quivering from the cold.

"Let's get you out of here, then," Jacob said. He slid his arms under me and lifted me without effort – like picking up an empty box. His chest was bare and warm; he hunched his shoulders to keep the rain off of me. My head lolled over his arm. I stared vacantly back toward the furious water, beating the sand behind him.

"You got her?" I heard Sam ask.

"Naturally. I think one wolf could handle the little girl," Emmett smirked.

"Yeah, I'll take it from here. Get back to the hospital. I'll join you later. Thanks, Sam."

"Is someone hurt..." Esme asked, worried, though it sounded like most of her concern was still with Bella.

My head was still rolling. None of his words sunk in at first. Sam didn't answer. There was no sound, and I wondered if he were already gone.

The water licked and writhed up the sand after us as Jacob carried me away, like it was angry that I'd escaped. As I stared wearily, a spark of color caught my unfocused eyes – a small flash of fire was dancing on the black water, far out in the bay.

"That can't be!" Emmett said, shocked.

"She's that close?" Edward growled, looking worried and angry.

"It doesn't seem like she's going to attack now though," Jasper offered, his expression mimicking Edward's, though it paled in comparison.

The image made no sense, and I wondered how conscious I really was. My head swirled with the memory of the black, churning water – of being so lost that I couldn't find up or down. So lost…but somehow Jacob…

"How did you find me?" I rasped.

"I was searching for you," he told me. He was half-jogging through the rain, up the beach toward the road. "I followed the tire tracks to your truck, and then I heard you scream…" He shuddered. "Why would you jump, Bella? Didn't you notice that it's turning into a hurricane out here? Couldn't you have waited for me?"

"Because she wanted to hear my stupid voice," Edward growled. He seemed to be recovering from the agony by replacing it with anger, though he seem to be directing most of it inward.

Anger filled his tone as the relief faded.

"Sorry," I muttered. "It was stupid."

"You can say that again," Edward hissed and Emmett chuckled, which only made Edward madder.

"Yeah, it was really stupid," he agreed, drops of rain shaking free of his hair as he nodded.

"Look, do you mind saving the stupid stuff for when I'm around? I won't be able to concentrate if I think you're jumping off cliffs behind my back."

"Sure," I agreed.

"Will she really follow that?" Emmett muttered, this time looking like he actually wanted her to. "She doesn't seem to have a problem with breaking promises in this book."

"She'll follow," Edward said, convinced. "She's over that part, and she wouldn't want to put the pup in danger."

"No problem." I sounded like a chain-smoker. I tried to clear my throat – and then winced; the throat-clearing felt like stabbing a knife down there. "What happened today? Did you… find her?"

"No... or at least they didn't stop her," Jasper said.