Disclaimer: Not only is the original concept not mine, I can't even take credit for the AU, since I'm just borrowing the characters!
Here we go!
In one continuous motion, Edward had her lying down on the pavement. 'Bella? Talk to me,' he said, using what little control he had left to keep himself calm. She needed him more than ever right now.
Her eyes were wide in shock and probably pain and she was gasping in breaths without really making any headway. Quickly, his hands went to her chest, to the right side where the car had hit her. Bella's entire body jerked away from the agony as he pressed gently, feeling the ribs give way. She choked, coughing and her lips were suddenly stained red. There were at least three breaks, maybe more and in multiple places, and one had obviously punctured through to her lung.
Edward allowed himself a brief instant to glance around. It had been less than ten seconds since the accident occurred, and no human witness had reacted yet. Charlie was still frozen on the sidewalk, having only just turned away from the empty spot where Edward had been standing. He had to trust that someone would call an ambulance, as soon as they processed what had happened.
His phone rang again. Bella gasped, her eyes closing.
'No, Bella! Stay awake, love. I need you to stay with me. Bella, open your eyes!' It was obviously a struggle, but she managed it.
'Ed – ' she choked, coughing up more blood.
Edward grasped her head gently. 'Shallow breaths. Just breathe slowly. I know it hurts. We'll get you to the hospital quickly and everything will be fine. But keep breathing Bella.'
She seemed to understand that much, though it was obvious she was terrified. Edward sat back on his heels, keeping one hand in hers, fingers wrapped around her wrist to monitor her pulse. In the sudden noise of ten bystanders talking at once, one of them Charlie's frantic yelling, Edward needed the physical connection with her. With his other hand he ran over her limbs, finding the right hip displaced, though the leg was intact. He'd bet she was bleeding internally too, with the force she had hit the front of the car.
Charlie was on the ground now, frantically calling for Bella. Edward's phone rang again. He hoped it was Alice.
'Did someone call an ambulance?' Edward asked, loud enough to carry in the gathering crowd. The rain, at least, had momentarily relented. He spared a glance at the driver of the car. The man was still behind the wheel, clearly dazed, but conscious.
'Yes, they're on their way,' a woman behind him said. Edward spared her the briefest smile of thanks before Bella drew his attention once more.
She was tachycardic and breathing was becoming even more challenging, every gasp ending in a cough. He needed the paramedics to arrive. She wasn't going to last more than a few minutes more on her own. Edward's thoughts were running a mile a minute, all centred on how he was going to change her before her heart stopped; on praying that it wouldn't and above all wondering 'why now?'
'Shit, Bells!' Charlie exclaimed, even as Edward heard the sirens in the distance.
His phone rang a fourth time. He couldn't spare the distraction, but he desperately needed to know what Alice was seeing. Needed to know if Bella would be alright. Still grasping her wrist, he all but tore the cell from his pocket.
He didn't waste time with hello.
'Why didn't you answer the phone?' his sister screamed at him, Jasper's pleading voice in the background all but drowned out.
'Alice, tell me,' Edward pleaded.
'Paramedics in one minute. She's about to stop breathing,' Alice said, at vampire speed. Edward's still heart sank. 'Carlisle's on his way; he's running. Should be at the hospital five minutes after you. Edward,' Alice said, her voice slightly calmer over his name, 'she will be okay.'
It was almost more than he could envision believing her, considering the injuries. 'Thank you,' he breathed, pressing the end button and tucking the phone into his back pocket, since the front one was now ripped.
Bella gave a very loud gasp and then her eyes closed again. A split second later Edward heard her stop breathing.
'No, Bella!' He leaned over her again. 'Bella, breathe!' But of course, she couldn't. She was literally drowning inside her own body. The sirens were loud enough now that the humans could hear.
Edward leaned down to press his lips to hers, breathing two quick breaths in, grateful her heart was still beating.
'Stop!' Charlie yelled at him, clawing at Edward's shoulder. 'Stop, what are you doing?' Of course, he hadn't heard his daughter stop breathing and in his distress he wasn't thinking clearly either.
Edward ignored him, continuing to breathe for Bella, knowing that with the fluid in her lungs that it was only doing so much good. The ambulance came to a screeching stop, two paramedics piling out. They shoved Charlie aside easily, but Edward was a lot harder to move and he wasn't planning on going anywhere. While he held a high amount of respect for the humans that ran the ambulance services, knowing what they often had to deal with, right now he had a great deal more medical knowledge than they did. And all he cared about was that Bella got the help she needed.
'Three, perhaps four, broken ribs; she has a fail chest; stopped breathing thirty seconds ago. You need to intubate.' The two men gave him a hard look and then decided to just go with it. One of them moved to do exactly that, getting a breathing tube down her throat with surprising ease, considering all the blood. He attached a bag to the tube's end and quickly started pushing air into her lungs. Visually, only one side rose and fell, the other was too crushed under the fractured ribs to re-inflate.
The other paramedic was starting an IV, though Edward knew she'd need more than one in her hand to get the fluids into her necessary to combat the internal bleeding. Still, it would do until they got her into the ambulance, and hopefully the saline would help a small bit. The tachycardia was getting worse; her body was simply starting to shut down from the trauma.
They fitted a neck brace on and then swiftly got her onto the backboard and then on to the stretcher. 'You coming?' one of them asked Edward.
'Yes!' he agreed. 'Charlie,' he said, turning back to Bella's father. 'Charlie!' he called again, because the man's attention was firmly focused on the stretcher disappearing into the ambulance. 'I have to ride with her. Carlisle's meeting us at the hospital. She will be alright, Charlie. Get your car; follow us, Chief.'
The use of his title seemed to snap Charlie out of it, at least temporarily. 'I should – ' he started, but Edward plucked the thought from his mind.
'No, she needs me,' he said, knowing how harsh it sounded. But there was simply no time left to explain. Edward rushed over to the ambulance, jumping into the back and slamming the door shut behind him.
He sat down on the end of the stretcher. They already had her hooked up to a monitor, her heartbeat skipping wildly. Her blood pressue was already too low, confirming the internal bleeding.
God, Alice, I hope you're right this time. I won't lose her, he thought.
Port Angeles had a lot of good things going for it, not the least of which was its relatively small size; they managed to reach the hospital in under five minutes. Edward let the ER staff take over from there, knowing he wouldn't be allowed inside, however much he wanted to be.
Instead, he stood near the entrance, waiting for his father and Charlie to arrive. Carlisle beat the Police Chief by a minute. He was drenched from the rain, but his clothes were casual enough that Edward knew he'd been out hunting, instead of at the house. It was probably the only reason he'd reached the hospital so fast. Even Edward would have been hard pressed to run the fifty miles from Forks in so short a time.
Carlisle didn't even pause, he raced right passed Edward with barely even a thought, though his mind was all ready racing ahead through the injuries Alice had probably seen in her vision. The police cruiser pulled into the parking lot a moment later, Charlie slamming the breaks so hard they squealed on the wet pavement, nearly hydroplaning before he got the car back under control. He was out the door and across the lot as fast as a human could move, but he got no further than the sliding glass doors. Edward's hand stopped him hard.
'No, Charlie. You can't go in there; you know that. Carlisle's here; he'll take care of her.' Mentally, Edward was praying for that and wondering why Alice hadn't called again. 'Come on; come with me,' he implored, taking a firm grip on Charlie's arm and leading him through the waiting room.
It wasn't exactly busy inside, for which Edward was grateful. 'Nurse?' he asked the young woman at the counter, flashing her a convincing smile. 'Is there a free exam room we could use? Chief Swan needs a few minutes. That was his daughter they just brought in.'
The words 'Chief' and 'daughter' made the largest impression. 'Of course,' she answered, her voice betraying the pity Edward could hear in her mind. 'Exam room three and take all the time you need. I'll make sure the doctor knows to find you there, when they have word.'
Carlisle would already know, of course. Edward led a stumbling Charlie down the hall and into the room numbered '3'. He pushed the man across to the exam table, shut the door and took a stance in front of it. He knew Charlie was moments away from falling apart, and it would be better for everyone if that happened in private.
'Charlie, just take deep breaths,' Edward said, trying to maintain his own sense of calm. He could pick up Carlisle's thoughts from here with ease, but despite Alice's promise, they weren't particularly optimistic. It was all he could do not to throw the door open and rush down the hall to her room, but that wouldn't help the situation and right now Charlie needed him. 'You need to stay calm, Chief. You need to be calm and level headed for Bella right now.'
It didn't quite have the result Edward had predicted. In a heartbeat, Charlie went from shocked and confused to angry. 'What they hell are you playing at? What happened back there? One second you're in front of me and then Bella's on the ground and – ' he choked on a sob, coughed a few times and then continued. 'Then she couldn't breathe; God she couldn't breathe. What the hell happened Edward?'
Edward blinked momentarily, surprised that Charlie had bothered to call him by name in the heat of the moment. 'I saw the car, but I was too late. I think the driver was drunk; he certainly looked it. I was too late Charlie, and I'm sorry for that.'
'That's not...look just...' he took a deep breath, let it out in an attempt to calm down and started again. 'Look, I just want to see her.'
'You can't Charlie,' Edward said. 'They're taking her into surgery.' He knew what effect this would have on Bella's father, because the same fear was clenching in his own chest. He really needed to call Alice; and was equally as worried about why she hadn't called again.
'Oh God,' the man said, slumping back against the table. 'Shit. What – ' His thoughts continued to be jumbled for a few more minutes, racing from one to the next almost faster than Edward could keep up.
Edward took the opportunity to focus fully in on his father's mind. Carlisle had privileges here in Port Angeles. He'd been called in more than once when they needed a specialist surgeon. He talked them into leading the surgery, so for the moment, Bella was in the best hands possible. They'd managed to stabilise her enough to operate, but her injuries were severe.
His phone rang; with a sigh of relief he tugged it out of his back pocket. 'Alice, tell me good news,' he pleaded in a quick voice, turning slightly away from Charlie.
'It keeps changing Edward, I'm sorry. It wasn't good before, but I was sure she'd pull through; but now it's all hazy. I'm keeping a close watch and I promise to call when I know more. I'm sorry, Edward,' she whispered.
'It's not your fault, Alice. I should have answered the phone.'
'And I shouldn't have yelled at you last time; it wouldn't have helped. I saw it too late. Or, really, the driver decided too late. He was going to turn right for home, but he switched at the last second.'
Edward had turned fully around to face the door, pressing his cold forehead into the wood. 'Alice, just please, tell me she's going to be okay. Her heart's weak right now, if we have to change her...'
He left the rest unsaid, because it didn't need to be spoken out loud.
'Edward she's – damn!' Alice interrupted herself, whatever comforting words drowned out in the proceeding string of curse words. It wasn't often that Alice resorted to vulgar language. It scared Edward more than he wanted to admit.
'Alice?' he screamed into the phone, completely forgetting about Charlie.
There's a few cliffhangers in this story, which is why I'm posting updates every few days, so you won't have to wait for long!