A/N: You guys... *sniffle* You seriously made my week with your responses to the first chapter! Thank you so very much. :) A lot of you asked if/suggested that Edward is a vampire in this one. You'll learn Edward's story this chapter. He's very canon in this story until later on, so... ;) Now, read on! (And again, warning this chapter, as well, just like the first.)


Chapter Two

Edward watched Bella sleep, although he knew sleep wasn't quite the correct term for it. She'd passed out from the pain of her injuries—in particular, from the very broken bones in her arm. From what he could see just by looking and not touching, he could tell that both the radius and the ulna were broken. She was lucky—Edward nearly scoffed at even the thought that Bella was lucky—that neither had broken through the skin.

He'd been relieved to hear that her head and neck didn't hurt, which hopefully meant there was no damage to her spine and she didn't have too bad of a concussion, if she had one at all. Maybe she'd lucked out and hadn't hit her head on the way down. She'd only been out a couple of minutes this time—he had no idea long she'd been unconscious after the fall—so he would wait to see if she woke on her own after a few minutes and then simply do his best to keep her awake until rescue came.

He began thinking of her other injuries while he waited. The chest pain wasn't good. The pain coupled with the raspy sound of her breath made him think that at least one rib was broken, and although the thought terrified him, it might have punctured her lung. She seemed to be breathing okay, even though it sounded wrong, so he wouldn't do anything for the moment.

There was a steel beam across her legs and a big chunk of concrete on her abdomen. That worried him more than anything now that he knew her head and neck were okay. There was too much blood from Bella's scrapes and bruises to know if she were bleeding internally—yet. That she hadn't mentioned pain in her stomach and legs was also worrying.

Even though she was out, he didn't want to move from her side. Edward still couldn't believe that here, buried deep in the rubble from the towers, he'd found his mate—and a teenage human child at that.

He'd been searching through the building's debris on the hunt for survivors and had just about given up...when he'd heard her cry out. He'd heard her heartbeat and breathing, but had foolishly assumed it had belonged to one of the firemen who were struggling through the concrete nearer to the top of the wreckage. When he realized it was a survivor he'd heard, buried deeper than he'd expected, he'd raced through the ruins, trying to locate the mind of whoever had cried out. He was so used to relying on his gift that it had taken him several minutes to realize he couldn't hear one. The victim's mind was completely silent to him. Using his ears, rather than his mind, he'd quickly found the young girl in front of him.

The moment his flashlight had passed across her face, Edward felt like someone had reached into his chest and squeezed his heart. He'd never felt anything like it in all his life—human or immortal. He hadn't realized then what he'd felt, but he'd known he couldn't leave her. So he'd sat and waited. When she'd awoken again and he'd looked into her eyes and heard her voice, it had been like the sun had come out from behind the clouds. His entire being had flooded with light and warmth. That was when he'd known... He'd remembered Carlisle and Esme, Rose and Emmett, and Alice and Jasper... Even now, decades after finding their mates for the first time, they each felt that way when they looked at one another.

He still wasn't sure what to make of it all. The thought of leaving her made him skin crawl, but he knew there was no other option. He would stay with her and make sure she got out of the remains of the building alive, and then he would leave. She was young, innocent, and he would not be the one to take that away from her—no matter how much it hurt him in the process.

Bella woke a few minutes later, stirring with a cry of pain as she tried to move her arm.

"Be still, sweetheart," he murmured.

"Where am I?" she asked, but then she shook her head. "Oh, yeah. How long was I out?"

Edward frowned. "Just a few minutes."

"I'm scared..."

"I know, Little Bird. I am, too," he admitted. "But I'm here, okay? We're gonna get you out of here. I promise."

She nodded, wincing at the movement, and breathed deep. Edward could hear the rattle in her chest that all but assured him she'd indeed punctured her lung.

"Wh-Why do you keep calling me Little Bird?" Bella asked.

Chuckling, Edward answered, "You remind me of a little bird. So small, so weak-looking, but strong. You're so strong, Bella. You're a fighter, just like a little bird who's trying to survive in a big, scary world."

Bella nodded. "Then I'll call you angel," she wheezed before falling silent.

Edward thought about protesting, yet again, that he wasn't an angel, but decided if it helped Bella's peace of mind, he'd let her call him anything she wanted.

As he watched her breathe, Edward hummed the melody aloud that he'd been composing in his head since first finding Bella, trying to ignore all the voices he was hearing in his head. The last victim he'd heard had been pulled free from the rubble a few hours before, and now the only voices in his head were of the firemen and other emergency personnel as they searched for survivors and bodies to recover. The devastation was beyond anything he'd ever witnessed in his hundred years. At a later date, he knew he would need to truly face what he'd seen and heard in the last twelve hours, but for now, he was putting every effort into blocking everything but Bella that he could.

He thought about Emmett, who was on the other side of the rubble, working with firemen to clear a portion of debris blocking what had been a stairwell. His brother had yelled Edward's name in his head a few hours before, just checking in. Edward hadn't been able to gather the courage to leave Bella's side, so he'd called as loudly as he'd dared—hoping it would be loud enough for Emmett to hear, but not so loud as to catch the ear of any of the rescue workers—telling him that he was fine, but busy. Emmett had responded in his head immediately that he'd heard.

He and his brother were the only two members of the family that were at the site of the former Twin Towers. Carlisle was at one of the closest hospitals, helping treat the victims, while Esme and Rose were at one of the places that family members were being sent to, in order to help in any way they could. They five of them had made the five and a half hour trip to New York City from Rochester in under three hours, leaving the car parked out of the way about a hundred miles outside the city so they could come in on foot and avoid the police and military that were blocking traffic.

Jasper and Alice had stayed behind in Rochester. Neither of them were in the right frame of mind to be anywhere near New York City. Alice was blaming herself for not being able to prevent the attacks—or more correctly, for not seeing them happen beforehand. Even though they'd all tried to tell her that she couldn't have foreseen them, she was hating herself and her "gift." And Jasper... Besides the fact that the scent of blood was almost overpowering, especially outside the rubble, the emotions and devastation were strong enough that they would've brought his brother to his knees. Jasper was one of the strongest vampires, emotionally, Edward knew, but this would've been too much for him to handle.

Bella groaned, bringing Edward back to the present, and he switched the flashlight on, holding it up so Bella would be able to see his face.

"E-Edward?" she croaked, her voice dry and harsh-sounding.

"I'm here, Bella." Reaching around beside him, Edward grabbed the water bottle and then pulled a cloth from his pocket. He and Emmett hadn't known what they would need going into the wreckage, so they'd just stuffed their coat pockets full of everything they could think of. Wetting the corner of the cloth, he held it to Bella's lips. "Suck on this, sweetheart. If I try to give the bottle to you, you'll choke."

She hummed as she sucked the water from the cloth, her voice much more clear when she said, "Thanks."

"More?"

There was a pause, and then she told him no. Bella gripped his hand tightly, whimpering. After a minute, she begged, "Talk to me..."

Edward chuckled low. "What do you want to know?"

"Tell me about yourself?" The request came out in the form of a question, but Edward could hear the silent plea to her voice, as if she needed him to talk to keep her mind off her situation.

A thousand thoughts raced through his head. He couldn't tell her the truth, and he hated that. "I'm...seventeen," he said after hesitating. "I was born in Chicago, but I live with my family in Rochester."

"Tell me about your family," she requested when he'd been quiet for a bit.

He moved the flashlight, settling it just to the side so she could still see him but it wasn't shining in their faces. Then he smiled and squeezed her hand, which was still clasped in his.

"My parents—Carlisle and Esme—have been married...for what seems like eighty years." He chuckled. "They're almost disgustingly happy. He's a doctor. She's a stay-at-home mom, although she's big into interior design. She's designed every home we've ever lived in."

Bella interrupted with a gasp as a flash of pain crossed her features, and then she asked, "How many times have you moved? Sounds like a lot."

She made a face at that, making Edward chuckle.

"A few times. My dad likes to move around and take jobs at hospitals that need his help."

"C-Cool," Bella stuttered, the shock she was in making her speech slur. "Wh-Who else?"

"My older brother, Emmett," Edward began, if for no other reason than to keep her awake and alert, "is married to the girl of his dreams, my sister-in-law Rosalie. I have a twin sister, Alice, and a foster brother, Jasper."

"Wow." Bella smiled. "I always wanted brothers or sisters."

Edward looked at her worriedly as her speech got more and more slurred, but schooled his features when her eyes met his again. "It's nice having siblings, but sometimes I wish for more peace and quiet," he said honestly, thinking both literally and of his mind-reading.

Almost so distorted he couldn't understand her, Bella slurred, "Silence is overrated."

Listening to the eery silence around them, including even the few voices he could hear in his head, Edward was inclined to agree with her.

"What's the song you keep humming?"

Edward smiled. He'd wondered if she'd noticed. Not being able to hear her thoughts was...disconcerting. "Just...music," he hedged, not sure why he didn't want to tell her it was something he'd made up on the spot.

"Mm, I like it," she said, grimacing when she tried to move.

He started up again, glad when it seemed to help her relax.

The next handful of hours passed much the same way. Bella slept off and on, her body weak with exhaustion and pain, and in between, they would talk. She told him more about her life in Florida, more about her parents and the move to New York. He told her everything he could about his life, fudging details when he had to. It seemed neither of them could hear enough about the other. Edward knew a lot of it on her end was because there was simply nothing else to do and because she needed something to take her mind off where she was and how much pain she was in. But he was soaking up every detail about his mate and committing to memory, which would have to last him the rest of forever.

"How long have I been here?" Bella asked suddenly. "What time is it?"

"It's just before midnight—a little over twelve and a half hours since the tower fell," he answered, taking her hand when she reached blindly for him. "I'm right here, Little Bird. I'm not going anywhere."

"I...I'm cold," Bella admitted, sounding pained, and then a shiver racked her frame.

Edward shrugged out of the firefighter's coat he'd been wearing and draped it over her, even knowing she wasn't really cold. He had a feeling it was shock and blood loss, so it wouldn't do much good physically, but the psychological effect might be worth it.

"Th-Thanks," she stammered.

It was dark, but Edward's vision allowed him to see her with perfect clarity, and he watched as she bit her lower lip. He was about to ask if she was okay, even though he knew that was a ridiculous question—of course she wasn't okay!—but then Bella spoke again.

"Hurts," Bella groaned, coughing. "Why does it hurt? What happened?"

Edward could immediately smell the scent of fresh blood in the open air and turned the light more toward her face. There were specks of red dotting her lips, and he knew Bella was beginning to cough up blood. Panicked, he opened his senses fully and took a deep breath in—something he'd been avoiding, given the air around them—and realized while he'd been holding his breath, the scent of her blood had grown exponentially. Bella was so distracted by how she was feeling, she barely seemed to register as Edward slid his hand inside the coat and up her torso. When he pressed lightly on the upper left portion of her abdomen, she cried out.

That was bad. That pain plus the blood and the confusion meant internal bleeding, most likely from the punctured lung and maybe a ruptured spleen.

"Bella," he said in a rush, "I've got to get you out of here now. We can't wait anymore for someone to get to you. This is going to hurt, sweetheart. I'm sorry."

Bella blinked, gazing up at him blearily, and slurred, "Edduurd."

Edward grabbed the steel beam across Bella's legs and lifted it—as heavy as it was, it was no match for his supernatural strength—maneuvering around obstacles to set it down away from Bella. Moving the concrete from her torso was just as quick.

When he got back to her side, her eyes were wide, more clear than they'd been for hours.

"H-How?" she asked, but Edward didn't have a chance to ask before her eyes rolled back and she passed out.

Worried about the sudden drop of her blood pressure—her heart had slowed to half the beats per minute it had been—Edward scooped her up and began making his way through the rubble, muttering softly to Bella the whole time.

"Stay with me, sweetheart."

"Keep breathing, Isabella."

"Please, Bella. I can't..." Edward swallowed, not able to go on.

When he knew he was close enough that he knew they would be able to reach her, Edward set Bella down amongst the concrete, rebar, and wiring, reaching for one of the pipes littering the ground.

Finding another pipe to bang it against, Edward began making noise, hoping to draw the rescue workers' attention. Minutes passed as Bella's breathing got more and more labored, her heart slowing even further, before yells from the men closest to his position let Edward know that help was coming.

With a few more loud, rapid bangs of the pipe, Edward tossed it down and then squatted down beside Bella. Brushing her hair back from her forehead, he whispered, "You're gonna be fine, Little Bird. Just hang in there. Help is on its way."

He waited as long as he could, but as the two rescue workers got close, Edward melted into the shadows, watching as the men dropped to Bella's side.

~oOo~

It was a long twenty minutes before the men were able to secure Bella to the backboard, and every minute, her heart slowed more and more. Edward didn't know what he'd do if it stopped before they were able to pull her from the wreckage and get her to the hospital. To Carlisle. But finally, she was clear of the rubble and being taken to the ambulance, which had been driven as close as possible to the downed buildings. Edward had followed their progress through the rubble, and as soon as he saw Bella loaded into the ambulance, he raced away from the crowd on foot, knowing he'd be able to beat the vehicle to the hospital.

Once there, he zeroed in on Carlisle's thoughts and found him in the ER, coming out of a curtained trauma room.

"Edward?"

In words too fast for human hearing, Edward said, "I-I need you. Now."

Carlisle nodded and led him through the emergency room to a doctors' lounge in the back. "Talk to me, son," he said as soon as the door closed behind them.

Edward suddenly felt every emotion he'd bottled up inside the wreckage with Bella come flying out, and he began shaking. "I..I met my mate," he uttered, feeling his gut twist. Worry for Bella was at the forefront, but there was also sadness over the fact that even if she lived, their relationship would never be.

His father, for all intents and purposes, looked shocked and then nodded slowly. "I'm guessing since you don't seem...happy about it that it's not...wanted?"

Shaking his head, Edward said, "She's..." He swallowed. "She's fifteen, Carlisle. And she's hurt. She was in the North Tower. She's coming here. I need you to... I can't..." Edward gripped his hair and pulled so hard, he was afraid he'd rip it from its roots. "You can't let her die. She can't become one of us—she's too young, and I wouldn't steal her life from her that way—but I have to know she's safe. Please, Carlisle. Save her."

Carlisle reached out and pulled Edward into a fierce hug, and Edward took a moment of comfort in the embrace. His eyes were stinging with venom that would never fall, and he felt wrecked inside, hollow, and like he couldn't catch his breath.

"Dr. Cullen?" A nurse stuck her head into the room and cleared her throat. "We have a trauma coming in...a victim pulled from the tower. Her stats are dropping, and they're afraid they're going to lose her."

"I'll be right there, Linda," Carlisle said.

Edward murmured to low for the nurse to hear. "Internal bleeding, dangerously low pulse and respiration, possible punctured lung and ruptured spleen, and multiple fractures—the radius and ulna on her left arm are definitely broken, and her legs were trapped under a beam." He'd been through medical school twice, so he knew what he was talking about, and he knew none of that was good.

"Call and have them prep OR 2. I have a feeling if she's been in the wreckage this long, she'll need immediate surgery," Carlisle said aloud to the nurse, taking Edward at his word.

"They're two minutes out," she said quietly, closing the door behind her.

"Edward," Carlisle started, but Edward stepped back, looking up at him through eyes that felt like sandpaper.

Shaking his head, he said, "Go, Carlisle. Save her, please."

Carlisle nodded once and then turned and left the room.

Edward stayed around the corner as Bella was wheeled into the ER. Carlisle immediately got to work, listening to the EMTs call out numbers and information. He stood at the end of the hallways watching as his father and two nurses loaded onto the elevator with Bella's stretcher.

Just before the door closed, one of the nurses called out, "She's not breathing!"

Carlisle glanced at him before turning his attention to Bella, and then the elevator door closed and they were out of view.

Edward raced to the stairwell, barely keeping his speed in check, and ran up to the fourth floor, to the surgical wing. From Carlisle's thoughts, he could see one of the nurses pushing air into Bella's lungs through a bag and mask. His father was issuing instructions to the nurses even as the elevator doors opened. As Edward watched from his spot in a small alcove, Carlisle and the others exited, and they were greeted by two nurses who took over for the ones from the ER, as well as another doctor. Bella's stretcher was pushed through the OR doors, and with one last glance at Edward, Carlisle hurried behind them.

Edward sank to the floor, head in hands, and prayed.


A/N: So yes, he's a vampire. The Cullens are all vampires, just like in canon. Poor Bella isn't faring too well right now, is she? Don't worry... For all those that are worried about her being too young, I agree. She is too young to be changed right now. So that should give you some idea of how this will progress. :)

Don't forget to check out Deb's (drotuno) new fic, Masen Manor. You can find her on my Favorite Authors list. MM is amazing, something totally different than I've ever read. So please do check it out! :)

Okay, as I stated last time, I'll be posting regularly on Wednesdays, so I'll see you next week. Leave me a note and tell me what you thought of Edward! Mwah! – Jen