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He had watched.
Lurked, or stalked, more like, he thought of himself on his worse days.
His cause, on better days, he told himself, was noble.
Jacob was gone, and she was alone. He would keep her safe until...he was less certain about when that would end. There were so many things that could hurt her. Some of them, he could protect her from. Others, he could only wish to.
She wept, and then slept restlessly most nights, from grief, or discomfort, he couldn't tell. It was frustrating. It made him ache in fresh ways to not be able to soothe those tears.
Her health concerned him. She was carrying her pregnancy well, but he could hear small blips and dislocated beats in her body that he didn't like. He would ask Carlisle about the strange melody of her heart, and the baby's. They didn't seem...right, to him.
He'd resumed his silent surveillance after Alice had called him. She'd been able to see Bella again, in more than fits and starts, and what she saw had rattled her enough that they'd both come back.
But only Edward had stayed.
Alice had been distraught, watching her. More distraught, and angry, when she caught snatches of Edward's possible choices.
Bella was close now, to delivery, and he could hear the sound of her body, subtly shifting, preparing itself. Perhaps a few days. Not long.
He'd liked the midwife. Kerry. She was pert, and intelligent, thoughts kind and practical. The obstetrician—Dr. Carr—had been another story though. He was new since Carlisle had left the hospital, and his mind was marked with contempt for the people he served here. He thought himself above them. That hadn't rankled so much, as had his thoroughly unprofessional assessment of Bella.
Edward hadn't been sure he'd be able to stay put when the lewd fantasies had been so viscerally imagined. He allowed a shiver to carry the memory down his back, rather than force his anger onto the defenseless trees near Bella's home.
It had only been a consultation. He consoled himself with the likelihood that the man would never actually lay hands on her. No, her midwife was skilled. There would be no need.
For now, he listened to Bella and Charlie talk.
"You sure?" Charlie asked again. "I can stay with Sue, let you and your mom have your time."
"No dad," Bella whispered, her voice husky with emotion. "The Weber's said she could stay with them. They've got room now that Angela's at school."
"Sure, but, well, if you change your mind," he said.
Edward could hear the rustle of her nod.
"I talked to Dave today," Charlie said. "He's gonna refund your damage deposit and stuff."
Was she short of funds? Edward thought, frowning. He wondered if he could find a way to help her that way, that she would accept. Wouldn't notice mysteriously arrive. He would have to talk to Jasper about that.
If Jasper would talk to him, that was.
"Thanks Dad, you didn't have to do that," Bella said.
"Yeah I did," he said, gruffly.
"You didn't...do anything that could get you in trouble, did you?" She sounded worried.
"No," Charlie said, almost laughing. "I just asked, Bella. People are...kind. They all want to help." Edward could hear him shrug.
"Thank you," she said again, this time much more softly.
There was no more conversation, and Edward frowned. He wasn't sure what was happening.
"I think I'm going to head up to bed, Dad," she said. He could hear the scrape of the chair, as she pushed back from the table.
She didn't step away though, and Edward could hear the crack of her stretching.
"Sore back?" Charlie asked.
"Yeah," Bella said. The word wobbled with more emotion than Edward would have expected.
"Hey, hey, hey," Charlie said, and he could hear the hug, and Bella's breathing become irregular with her tears. "It's gonna be OK, alright?" A moment passed, and Edward could hear her moving up the stairs, slowly.
Good. She would be in bed soon, and he could watch, more closely.
He felt a guilty squirm at this, but shoved it away.
He was surprised at how short a time it was before Bella was asleep, and slipped silently into her room, as soon as he was sure he wouldn't disturb her. He could hear Charlie downstairs, but knew he'd have plenty of time to disappear, or hide, if he needed to.
He took his familiar seat, listening to the steady, and healthy thump of her heart. The peace of its thrum, and her scent, flooded his senses. In these moments, it was enough, simply, to be here, to be near her.
His peace, though, was short lived.
By the early morning hours the rhythms of her body had shifted, and he could hear the minute contractions taking on a profound regularity.
If his own heart beat, it would have been running at twice its pace. Part of it was excitement. She was having a baby. A child of her own flesh. The father was immaterial. It was hers. He wondered what it would look like. If it was a boy, or a girl. He could hear its formless thoughts, soft and gentle. Intelligent musings. He smiled. She would meet her child soon.
But he had other thoughts too. Worried ones.
So much could go wrong in childbirth. Or after.
He frowned, listening to the sounds of her body, squeezing in on itself. No, he told himself, he was just imagining things. Everything was fine.
She was beginning to stir though, and with a final sigh, he stood, and slid out the window, closing it behind him.
He stole away, and called Carlisle.
"There are other doctors, Edward," came the impatient reply.
Edward blew out a breath, making the phone rumble with static. "Yes, but...could you not, arrange to...visit, perhaps? If things become difficult?" he asked.
Carlisle sighed. "What are you not telling me?" he asked.
Edward wished they were closer. That he could hear what Carlisle was thinking. He would feel better, giving him this information, if he could hear him. He explained, haltingly, what he'd seen, and heard.
It was Carlisle's turn to blow out a breath. "I see." He paused. "How many doctors do they have on staff this weekend?"
Most people wouldn't think to ask. They wouldn't have thought it possible that he would have checked. But, of course he had checked. And on the midwife's locums, too.
Edward told him.
"Alright," he said, "I'll be nearby. Ready to 'visit', as you put it, just in case."
He thanked him, and hung up.
Inside, he could hear Bella call out, "Charlie!"
He stiffened. She never called him that. Not to him, anyways. He listened closer. Her heart was racing, and she was trying to breath out.
Yes, he thought to himself, she's realized.
Charlie's thoughts were abruptly loud with panic. He hadn't expected this. Not yet, and not without Renee there.
"Let's call the midwife," he said, abruptly.
"No," Bella said, "she said to wait for the contractions—", but she couldn't finish the statement, the wind knocked out of her by the next tightening.
Edward was alarmed by the power of it, and began timing. One minute long. Two minutes since the last one. No, they should definitely be calling, he told himself.
Charlie, clearly, was thinking the same thing.
"No," he said, "it's time," and walked the short distance to the phone.
Edward didn't spare attention for Charlie's conversation with the midwife, but listened to Bella. She was breathing through them, but starting to make noise to get to the end of each one.
"Here," Charlie said, handing the phone to Bella.
She grunted, taking it, and continued to make unintelligible sounds in response to the midwife's questions.
She had clearly handed it back to Charlie when Edward caught his "OK, see you soon, bye."
He was moving around, gathering things.
And then, Edward heard the sound of two sets of footsteps on the stairs, and then at the front door.
He followed the car in a parallel line, cutting through the woods. He had to stop at the treeline, out of cover, and bound by promise, not to reveal himself.
He was glad that Carlisle had no such restrictions.
The noises became harder to catch, but there were at least more minds to watch Bella with. The midwife, Kerry, was a careful observer, and he was glad for her sharp eyes.
They hadn't been in the hospital long, when her thoughts became abruptly concerned.
Edward could tell why. Exactly.
He pulled out his phone.
"Now," he said to Carlisle, "hurry."
When the black Mercedes pulled into the parking lot, Carlisle Cullen stepped out, and turned, giving Edward a dark look.
"Please," he called to him. "Please."
Carlisle nodded, but frowned, and walked into the hospital.
He stopped and chatted with the ER clerk, and the general clerk, and then just happened to run into the emergency dispatch nurse. All easily located by scent. He continued to casually greet people, staying in sight, waiting.
The obstetrician's thoughts preceded him, as he drove into the parking lot.
Edward's face grew taut, hearing them, and a tree took the brunt of his anger, the snap distracting him. The odious man needed to be stopped. Immediately, and potentially, permanently.
He set a rock carefully by the obstetrician's intended parking spot. As the loathsome man stepped from his car, Edward's shape, invisible with speed, jarred the doctor's step onto the rock, and then his hand into the pavement. He heard the snap of bones, broken.
"Fuck!" roared Dr. Carr, cradling his working hand with his other, and stood, awkwardly.
Edward watched, grimly satisfied. He couldn't touch her now. Quite literally.
It wasn't long before Edward could hear a nurse asking Carlisle, could he see a patient? An emergency, after all?
The relief Edward felt was rooted in his gut.
She would be safe in Carlisle's hands.
