A/N: General disclaimers that I don't own Twilight and all that nonsense. This is a work of fiction heavily based off my psychology and communications classes as well as being a Christmas gift to Princess.
A/N 2: A reminder that this is fanfiction and not real. Therefore if a reader has a complaint about how aspects of this story cannot be real then refer back to this AN. This story is being read by the insightful Madame Apathy and the cheerful .Love.
"Move!"
Phoenix, Arizona traffic was nothing short of a nightmare on Friday nights at five-thirty in the evening and Bella Swan chastised herself for being out at this time. Her mother had asked her if she could go to the store and pick up a jar of tomato sauce for tonight's dinner and she had rolled her eyes at her mother's habitual forgetfulness, but grabbed her purse anyway. To her mother's credit, Renee had offered to let Bella drive her car, but she refused, with the 'oh so solid reasoning' that the trip could be made faster on foot. What Bella had forgotten in that prideful moment were the arrogant and dangerous drivers. That is, until she tried to cross the street in the designated crosswalk.
"Get out of the street, little girl!"
Bella hurried across the street and entered through the open door to the local grocery store. The feeble attempt of the store's air conditioning to actually cool the air made her chuckle and she waved a hand in greeting to her friend at one of the cash registers. She picked up the customary little square basket and ambled down a random aisle to see if she wanted or needed anything else besides the desired jar of tomato sauce.
"Bella hurry up... I've got some major juicy gossip."
Bella rolled her eyes and laughed but nodded her head once more in her friend Amber's direction before she disappeared behind a giant, larger-than-life version of Tony the Tiger on the Frosted Flakes special stand. She shook her head as she realized that her feet had carried her out of reflex to the alcoholic beverages aisle. Her father always demanded a fresh, cold beer when he got home work as one of Phoenix's local police officers. With a heavy sigh she picked up a six-pack of Sam Adams and dropped it with an unceremonious "plonk" into the basket. Bella hurried out of the aisle and decided that maybe picking up the jar of sauce would be the wisest choice of action before more unwelcome thoughts flooded her mind. In a few minutes the jar sat next to the pack of beer and she slid her basket down the checkout belt as she rummaged through her purse for the necessary amount of cash.
"Charlie's running low on beer already?"
Bella rolled her eyes at Amber's comment and nodded as she placed a twenty down on the counter top. Her father's drinking habits had increased over the last week and heaven forbid if there wasn't a fresh case or pack waiting for him when he got home. The cost of spending a little extra money every other week to keep the fridge stocked with the necessary evil far outweighed Charlie's temper and sulking around the house.
"Yeah I wouldn't be surprised if he started pissing the stuff. Anyway, what is this important gossip that you need to share with me?"
"Oh that! Well did you know that..."
Bella tuned Amber out and nodded her head at the appropriate moments to make it appear that she was listening to the latest from the self-designated gossip queen of Phoenix High. She had only asked the question to make the other girl stop asking about Charlie. While Bella surmised that she herself held a certain amount of popularity at their local high school, she could never for the life of her understand where said popularity came from. People often said that she had a certain quality that drew people to her and made her welcoming, trustworthy and likable, but all Bella could see when she looked in the mirror was flat, boring long brown hair that reached to her waist, a too-plain face and odd brown-colored eyes coupled with a too-fat body.
"Bella, you have to meet up in the courtyard tomorrow with me and the usual group since it's our first day back. Goodness, Spring Break went so fast."
Bella picked up her bag of groceries and headed out the door.
"All right Amber, that sounds like a plan. See you tomorrow morning."
Maybe her popularity was due to her sense of cheerful aloofness and Bella decided that was how she wanted it to remain. She didn't fit in with the jocks since athletics and gym class were deathtraps for her and although she ranked in the top twenty for academic achievements in her class grade, the brainiacs and geniuses were too smart for her. The groups she liked were the musicians and the artsy crowd, though she mainly stayed in the background even with them. Bella had to thank her mother Renee for her artistic talent as Charlie had absolutely no talent for anything artistic. Her drawings, illustrations and blend of the different elements of art had earned her many accolades, and coupled with her passion and intensity for music, this may have been another reason for her popularity.
"Renee, I'm home. Where are you?"
Bella dropped her purse off at the foot of the stairs and walked into the kitchen to see if her mother needed any help. She giggled as she saw the noodles boiling on the stove, the table halfway set and Renee swaying her way between them, with her ever-present drawing pad on the edge of the circular wooden table. Bella shook her head, a smile still on her face, and turned the heat down on the noodles. Renee must have had super hearing since she detected Bella's presence over the oldie rock song on the kitchen radio underneath the exhaust fan, and she smiled.
"Bella, my dear! Welcome back. I see you managed to secure my much needed jar of tomato sauce and I thank you from the depths of my heart."
Renee kissed Bella on the cheek and dipped low to the ground in a graceful dance move as she sauntered back to a large pot on the stove. She poured the sauce in with a tick of her hips and then turned the flame on low underneath. Bella had to smile at her mother's antics and she finished setting the table. Although she and her mother were at different ends of the spectrum, most of the time they had a solid and healthy relationship and they both agreed to work hard to make their dreams come true. Renee aspired to be a famous artist and on most nights would creep into Bella's room to show her a hasty sketch of her latest idea. Bella would never tell Charlie about these late-night meetings since he held fast to absolute silence in the household after ten o clocks with an iron hand and he wouldn't tolerate any exceptions to this rule.
"Your father called while you were at the store and he will grace us with his presence in about a half-an-hour at so you should best make sure his beer is cold for him."
"Sure thing, Renee."
Bella put the beer in the fridge and made sure one bottle was placed at the front for a quick grab. She lit the candles at the center of the table, another odd rule Charlie had, and skipped up the stairs to get a start on her homework.
Her room always made her feels safe and secure. It was her private sanctuary and most of the time no one would disturb her up here. Renee claimed that climbing the stairs to the loft-like attic of Bella's room used too much energy and Charlie usually stood at the bottom of the stairs and yelled at the top of his lungs until Bella came down when she finally heard him, or Renee made the trip up.
"Your own little slices of heaven right here in our quaint house on the corner."
Bella smiled at her mother's description and she had to agree with her. The large bay window let the feeble breeze in from the outside, as well as a natural light source, and her footsteps were muted as she walked across the carpet, courtesy of Charlie when he complained of the creaking floorboards. She flopped down face-up on her four-corner queen-sized bed and exhaled in one deep breath to release all of the afternoon's tensions from her body. Satisfied that no inward turmoil would disrupt her from her homework, Bella got off her bed and plopped down into her desk chair to begin.
"Bella get down here! Dinner's ready and I'm hungry!"
Bella jumped at the sound of her father's boisterous voice and scrambled out of her room like a bat out of hell. She almost fell down the two flights of stairs in her haste to catapult herself into the kitchen, picking up the breadbasket on her way to Charlie's chair at the commanding position at the head of the table. She noticed with relief that he still wore his uniform in the customary crisp fashion instead of his shirt being halfway unbuttoned to reveal the white wife beater underneath. She used the tongs to place a large piece of bread on his plate next to his salad and pasta. Renee nodded her thanks and Charlie pointed to her chair, his usual sign for her to sit down so they could begin eating. Charlie may be a brute and rough around the edges, but impeccable table manners were a must in his household and Bella resisted the urge to shudder at the violent memory of the consequences if she slipped up.
"Charlie, did you apprehend that reckless driver I saw on the news last night?"
Bella sighed in relief again as Renee started the dinner chatter and waited for Charlie to eat his first bite before eating hers. Asking Charlie about his day was another way to help keep the peace for the night and calm his uncontrollable temper for the evening.
"Yeah that rebellious, no good redneck is locked up behind bars right now and if I have my way he will lose his license and not get out on bail. That buffoon caused a massive headache down at the station since the blasted media decided to hype up the story by covering it all of last week on the evening news. The station chief gave me the job of hauling the redneck's ungrateful butt to the station and we had to make sure the media was present for the booking."
Bella waited for Charlie to finish speaking and then looked up at him from across the table.
"I'm glad to see that the station chief knew who to give the privilege and honor to, Dad. Congratulations."
Silence met Bella's polite lie and she held her breath as Charlie glared at her, but the tense moment passed with a grunt of agreement. Dinner followed in silence after that and Bella made haste to clear the table so Renee could place dessert, a warm apple pie, on the table in front of Charlie. While Renee cut a large slice for him and placed whipped cream on top in a fancy design, Bella snagged the cold beer bottle from the front of the fridge and placed it in Charlie's other outstretched hand. She slunk back against the wall when Charlie pushed his chair back and ambled into the living room to watch a baseball game on ESPN.
"Dad, may I be excused from the table to finish my homework?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
Bella nodded her thanks and walked up the stairs until she knew Charlie couldn't hear her and then sprinted to her room. She shut her door with a soft click and fired up her laptop, last year's Christmas present from Renee. Tonight went well, no mishaps and so far no drunken rampages. If God felt like being merciful, there wouldn't be any.
Bella sighed as she walked in the main doors to Phoenix High and took off her sunglasses. Although she didn't mind the usual Phoenix weather, she would like to dial down the glare from the sun by just a little bit since it made the normal everyday activities that much more difficult for the average klutz like her. The school's air conditioning cooled her irritation and Bella weaved through the morning traffic of hundreds of bodies to get to her locker. Satisfied that she made the journey in one piece without any abrupt jostles or awkward moments of breaking up random couples' make-out sessions, Bella entered the code into her locker and swung the door open.
"Bella Swan, didn't I tell you yesterday to meet me at the usual spot this morning?"
Bella finished the morning process of grabbing her books and closing her locker. She looked past Amber into the wild throng of milling students and knew in a moment that Amber would realize her passiveness and Bella darted into an opening of hallway traffic to disappear.
"Oh don't think this is over Bella Swan! I'll meet you at lunch and then we'll talk, okay?"
Bella raised a hand behind her before she turned the corner into a less-crowded section of the hallway and into a classroom down at the far end. The smell of clay, paints and faint cinnamon greeted her like an old, silent friend and she walked to the back of the classroom to a table hiding under pieces of cloth. With deliberate care she peeled off the cloth and smiled at the large painting underneath. Although Bella tried to keep her best pieces of work private, her art teacher had recognized her talent and displayed Bella's pieces in the art shows that popped up throughout the school year. As a compromise, her art teacher had given her a small anteroom to work on her painting during class, far from the curious and prying eyes of her fellow classmates, and wrote Bella a pass at the end of the period every day so she would not receive an infraction for being late to her next class.
"Looks like you're still safe and sound. I'll come back to you later when I have class. Please stay safe until I get back, all right?"
Bella dipped her brush into the red paint and chewed the inside of her bottom lip as she thought of how to highlight the color of her father's eyes in her painting project. She didn't know why she wanted to paint him since he caused her unpleasant memories and disturbed thoughts, but when she had glimpsed him on duty in his uniform in an article covering the local police force, an image had formed in her mind and that was that. The person in the painting resembled her father, but Bella had been careful to add layer upon layer of subtle details to blur his distinguishing characteristics and pronounced the background with heavy strokes of her brush. The man in her painting, if one looked close enough, could still be determined as her father, but not that many people would take such a detailed glance and of those who did, fewer still would know it was him.
"Bella, what are you working on over here?"
Amber's voice startled her and she almost made a mistake. She tilted her paintbrush bristles up so the paint wouldn't touch anything. When Amber tried to peer around her easel, Bella stood up and blocked her from catching a glimpse. Amber pouted, but Bella shook her head and smiled.
"You know the rules, Amber. My painting will be mistaken for a work of genius and be displayed in one of the center exhibits at the art show this evening. At that time, you will be able to critique it along with everyone else as much as you want, but not now."
Amber huffed in mock indignation but took two steps back at Bella's pointed glare and tapped her foot. Bella walked over to join her friend. She looked down at the table and saw the sketch Amber was working on. Bella was an excellent painter, but Amber could draw even better and most of the times on joint projects the two were teamed up together. Amber always argued that Bella could draw just as well when she sketched the outline for her paintings, but Bella always shook her head and refuted this with a point to her rough sketch and then to Amber's. The difference in skill made it clear who was better when it came to drawing, but Amber's cheerful stubbornness never failed to warm Bella's heart.
"What is this?"
Bella gestured to the large piece of paper with what appeared to be a complete mess of abstract and random lines all across it. On closer inspection, Bella noticed that Amber had written the specified colors in small, neat handwriting in between some of the lines and she tried to visualize the finished product but couldn't do so without a headache.
"I don't know yet. I have this crazy idea about a four-color tone mixed in with these lines but I want to draw something neat in the center where that blank spot is."
Bella leafed through Amber's art portfolio and wrinkled her nose in concentration. She stopped at one of her favorite drawings and pulled it out. Amber had been nuts about Japanese calligraphy about a month ago and had drawn out several kanji symbols in vibrant colors over a painted riverside.
"Why don't you draw one of these symbols in the center?"
Amber snatched the drawing away from Bella's hands and scanned it. She knew that Amber would use one of the symbols just because Bella had suggested it and she left her friend to her musings as she tiptoed back to her secluded corner to finish her painting.
Bella hurried to put the lasagna on the table and ran back into the kitchen to grab the garlic bread out of the toaster oven. Charlie had said that Bella and Renee could attend tonight's art show if his favorite meal was ready for him when got home, so both women scrambled like mad to make that happen. Charlie's customary beer sat chilled in a bucket of ice, his place setting set to perfection and fresh candles were lit at the center of the table. Renee smiled wide at Bella as she walked past with a large bowl of salad in her hands and Bella returned the gesture with equal enthusiasm.
"Bella! Renee! Why isn't dinner ready yet?"
Bella froze in her spot halfway into the kitchen at the sound of Charlie's slurred speech and his unsteady footsteps echoed too loud in her ears as her face drained of color. One look at Renee's frightened face as she caught a glimpse of her drunken husband confirmed that tonight would be a long nightmare and her spirits fell as she realized she wouldn't be attending the art show tonight. Charlie hit the doorframe with a heavy thud and almost fell face-first onto the floor..
"D-Dinner is ready C-Charlie and the whole spread is sitting on the t-table just like you asked. P-Please have a seat and I-I'll serve it to you."
Charlie glared in a drunken haze at his wife, but shuffled and stumbled his way to the table and fell with a heavy thump into his seat. Renee tripped on her way to his seat and the lasagna ladle fell onto the floor. Bella bit her thumb in tense anticipation as Renee picked it back up, but Charlie had caught the action and rose from his chair. The sound of the smack of his palm hitting across Renee's cheek reverberated with a sharp snap. Renee stumbled and fell onto her side from the force of the blow, the lasagna no longer in her hands. To Bella's ears, the clatter of the lasagna hitting the floor was muted compared to the smacking sound of her father hitting her mother and she jumped when Charlie kicked Renee in the stomach.
"You stupid woman! Ladies should have perfect grace and manners while in my house. What makes you think that you can drop my ladle onto the ground?"
"Charlie I-I'm sorry a-and it w-won't hap-pen again. I p-promise!"
Charlie hauled Renee to her feet like a limp ragdoll and breathed into her face and her mother cringed at the strong smell of alcohol. Bella tried to open her mouth to tell him to stop, but her throat twisted itself into knots and her knees shook in fear.
"You're darn sure you won't drop my lasagna ladle again!"
Renee crashed into the china cabinet and Bella could hear and see the china break. Charlie paused mid-rant and mid-hit to survey the damage, but Bella knew that it would have little effect on his temper. She looked down at her mother's bloody body and noticed she kept mouthing something and pointing with a hand that Charlie couldn't see, toward the phone.
'Phone. Phone. Call the police.'
Renee had come into Bella's room the first night both of them had received a beating from a drunken Charlie and told her to call the police if this ever happened again. Bella had argued that no one would believe them since Charlie was a police officer, but Renee had chuckled and explained that although Charlie performed his police duties well, everyone knew of his addiction to alcohol, and his drunken beatings . Renee's and Bella's silence on the matter was the one reason that Billy Black, a long time friend of theirs, didn't drag Charlie off to jail with the help of two or three of his fellow officers.
"Look what you did, you lazy woman! You broke the china set your mother gave to me as a wedding gift. You're going to pay for that mistake Renee, have no doubt about that."
Bella hated to leave her mother alone with this drunken monster, but calling the police would put an end to this …so she hoped. When Charlie became occupied with Renee again, Bella scrambled into the kitchen on her hands and knees and called Billy's police-issued cell phone. It rang twice.
"Bella, how wonderful to hear from you. How's the art show coming along?"
Tears formed in Bella's eyes and spilled down her cheeks; if only tonight had gone differently and she and her mother were at the art show right now. A large crunch deafened Bella's ears for a second and she inhaled in one quick sharp breath.
"Bella what's going on over there? What's that noise?"
"C-Charlie's in a bit of a mood right now. H-He's drunk and beating on Renee. Ahhh!"
The phone clattered to the floor when Charlie backhanded the side of her face and she dropped it.
"Bella? Bella!"
Charlie and Bella both glanced at the phone and he picked it up.
"Billy, don't worry about Bella. She's fine. I'll see you tomorrow at work."
Charlie hung up the phone, threw it out of the kitchen and then turned his murderous glare back on Bella. He kicked her in the stomach and blessed unconsciousness met her once he hit her across the face again.
The water, or whatever the liquid substance was, felt cool as it caressed her body and Bella sighed in contentment as it swirled around her body. She opened her eyes and looked around her but she couldn't place where she was. She appeared to be floating in darkness and shadows were defined by a hidden light source but she didn't feel afraid. Instead, comfort and peace filled her and she smiled to herself.
"Bella?"
She turned around to try and find the voice but it echoed in the darkness.
"Bella we need you to come back to us, sweetheart. Open your eyes."
Strange, her eyes were open and she felt warm, but she couldn't smell or hear anything besides the mysterious voice.
"Come on sweetheart, pull through this. We would all like to see your beautiful eyes open and alert."
No, she wanted to stay in this blessed darkness for a little while where she couldn't feel any physical or emotional pain. Yes, not feeling any pain was a gift she could be selfish with and about.
"Follow my voice Bella and come back to us. Squeeze my hand back if you can feel my hand squeezing yours."
She knew that Billy held her hand since she could feel those all-too-familiar calluses, but the sensation turned painful. Out of reflex she yanked her hand close to her chest and closed her hand into a fist.
"That's right Bella, come back to us."
Bella squinted against the sudden bright light that appeared over her head and she sighed. Whatever this place was, she couldn't hide in here anymore, not when Billy needed her. With that thought she floated to the light and it grew brighter and brighter. She squinted against the harshness of the glow.
"Bella."
She turned her head to the voice and saw Billy's tear-stricken face along with who she presumed was her doctor in his white medical coat, her doctor's nurse aides and a beautiful couple she didn't recognize. Pain radiated from her right arm and her ribs on her right side. She also had one massive migraine. Bella clutched her head and a sharp prick let her know that an IV nestled itself in her hand. The doctor strode forward and took a gentle hold of her shoulders. Bella shrieked and recoiled from his touch, flashbacks of what appeared to be her subconscious showing her how Charlie beat her, ran through her mind.
"Bella, Bella. Please relax. The doctor won't hurt you and he just wants to help. Tell him what hurts and he'll alleviate the pain."
Billy's voice pierced through her nightmarish visions and she noticed how hard her body shook from the touch of her doctor. She focused all of her willpower to try and stop, but the most she could do was limit the shaking to a tremble every now and then. Billy reached for her hand again and she shrank back against her pillows, her arms crossed around herself, but she let them fall back to her side when the pain in her ribs became too great. The doctor took a step forward but kept himself at a safe distance and he wrote something on his medical pad.
"Bella does your head hurt? I noticed that you keep trying to hold your ribs together with your arms as well. Are the morphine and other anesthetics not working?"
Pain flared in Bella's head again and she closed her eyes to try and ward off the worst of it. Her whole being felt on fire now that she thought about her pain in detail. Gone were the cheerful smile, witty retorts and big wondering eyes. Now she felt broken and betrayed, and a feeling of foreboding wouldn't leave her for the peace she felt desperate for.
"Where's my mother? What happened to Renee? Is she here in the hospital too?"
Her curiosity and desperation dimmed a tiny amount as she heard her voice for the first time. How long had she been out? If she remembered right, her father had beaten them on the twentieth, the day of the art show and the calendar on the other side of the room showed that today was the twenty-second. She'd been out for two days? Her migraine reared its ugly head again from the stress of trying to process all of this information at once and she buried her face in the blankets.
"Bella! Bella, please tell me what hurts. I can't help you if you don't tell me what hurts."
The pain lessened again and she sat back up. Billy went to reach for her but when she recoiled again he sat back in his chair, pure agony written in his eyes. The doctor moved in closer, which made Bella's eyes narrow as she kept a watchful eye on his hands but he just held up a small ball-point flashlight and flicked it on.
"I know that this might make your headache worse, but I want you to follow the light as it moves."
Bella tried her best to follow the light but after two sweeps an acute sense of vertigo followed by another spike in her migraine forced her to put her head down in her lap again and she balled her fists into her sheets. After a moment the two sensations passed and she sat back up against her pillows, but she felt drained both on an emotional and physical level.
"Bella, a hospital psychiatrist is here to see you if you're ready, and then I can discharge you from the hospital into the Cullen's' custody."
The Cullen's? Who were they and why would they take custody of her instead of Renee? Unless something had happened to Renee and they weren't telling her on purpose to try and placate her.
"What happened? Where is my mother?"
Again Bella's new voice and tone surprised her and she knew that it would take a while for her to get used to it. Meekness replaced her usual curiosity and she thought she detected a sense of fright or stillness instead of her quiet determination. She caught the uneasy looks that traveled between everyone in the room and she swung out of her bed in such a graceful and fluid movement that she chalked up to this new rush of adrenaline. The IV in her hand gave her an uncomfortable prick as the needle tore from her hand and she waved off the sense of vertigo as she made her way across the room. Billy launched himself out of his bedside chair and grabbed her arm, but she yanked it out of his grasp and held it to her chest.
"Bella, honey, you need to focus on getting better and then we can talk about your mother."
"Why is everyone avoiding the subject? Why won't anyone tell me what's going on?"
She moved past Billy and the doctor, careful to keep her distance, and she walked to the door. However, her body betrayed her and the vertigo caused her to fall down, but instead of the hard floor, she felt herself encased in a strong pair of arms. Bella's instincts screamed for her to recoil from the touch, but when she opened her eyes and stared into the calm eyes of her savior she uncoiled all of her tensed muscles. The man's face reminded her of a priest or a monk because of the calm that settled there and the man's eyes were such a calming blue hue that she felt drawn to them. The man couldn't have been older than thirty, though possibly not older than thirty-five.
"Good morning, Isabella Swan. My name is Carlisle Cullen and if you would take a walk with me out to the veranda this particular hospital boasts, then I will answer your questions as much as I can."
Carlisle's voice soothed her nerves and her mind with that same serene calmness that his face bore and she gave a slight nod. His smile grew wider and the woman behind him gasped in relief. Bella stood up with Carlisle's help and she stared at the woman. She looked as young as he did and her honey-spun golden hair fell to her shoulders in graceful waves. Everything about the woman shone with love and compassion but her eyes, a deep green, were filled with tears. Bella didn't understand and her first instinct told her to try and comfort this woman but Carlisle shook his head with a little chuckle.
"Esme my love, why don't you join Bella and me out on the veranda and we can talk in private there, hmm?"
The woman named Esme nodded and looked like she wanted to pull Bella into a hug but refrained, much to Bella's relief. Carlisle's touch soothed her for the moment, but she didn't think that she could handle another person's embrace with the turmoil that raged within her like a tempest, and she followed Carlisle's gentle leadings out of her room.
Bella sat in one of those outside deck chairs with the rubber strips and the two adult Cullen's sat in front of her, side-by-side. The doctor who tried to diagnose Bella gave no argument about Carlisle taking Bella out of her room because, as Bella found out, he was a young prodigy and even at his young age outranked her doctor.
"Bella, what do you remember of that night?"
"I-I remember that Charlie was drunk out of his mind and beat my mother for dropping the lasagna ladle."
Carlisle and Esme shared a look between them and then he looked at Bella with a slight mist in his eyes.
"Bella, my dear, I'm going to tell you the truth. Billy and a couple of his officers rushed to your house after you called, but I'm afraid your mother was already dead when they got there."
Bella fell over off her chair in shock and desperation as the news hit her like a mega-ton brick and she curled up into a reflexive ball on the ground. Such an acute sense of loneliness and heartache hit her that she gasped for breath and tried to fall unconscious, but the darkness that she craved eluded her. She heard a painful, soft cry above her and Carlisle knelt at her side in an instant, his hands on her back. Isabella Marie Swan, the last of her immediate family, and now a broken mess.
"Isabella, Bella, sweetheart please don't hide yourself away from Esme and me. Please, we traveled all the way from Forks, Washington to see you and we want to help you. If you'd like, we can take you back to our home and away from here and let you heal in peace."
Carlisle's words seem to come from far away, muted, like something covered her ears and Bella realized that her body was shutting down to compartmentalize the pain. But his offer appealed to her and she struggled against the looming darkness for a moment.
"Okay."