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Chapter Four

I had just finished making my rounds and was back at the check in desk when Ben and Angela walked up to the vending area to get a drink.

"Hey guys, what are you up to tonight?" I asked them

"Hey Edward. We are watching movies in Mike's room and eating pizza." Ben answered

"Sounds like fun, what are you watching?"

"The Professional" he answered

"Ah great movie."

"Edward, you haven't seen Bella come in yet have you?" Angela asked.

"No, but I just got back from making rounds, so she could have come in. Is something wrong?" Angela's concerned look suddenly had me a little worried.

"Well she is supposed to be joining us for movie night. She sent a text to Mike saying she was just leaving the library and would be a few minutes late, but that was about 25 minutes ago and she isn't answering our texts now."

Even if you walked, the library was ten minutes tops from the dorm. What I know about Bella, she didn't seem the type to not respond to someone or to make a detour when she tells you that she is going to be somewhere at a certain time. In fact I can remember several times listening to her fuss at Alice for making them late to class or some other function.

"Maybe she ran into someone at the library on her way out and just hasn't heard her phone yet." Did Angela really buy that? Did I? I had to admit I was a little worried, but I could not panic, it would go against the whole head RA image. "When I see her I will be sure to let her know you guys are waiting for her."

Angela still looked concerned but she smiled and nodded a thank you. As they started to walk off faint screams could be heard. They both stopped and looked my way.

"Sounds like someone is having fun" I said wondering which floor the screams were coming from. But suddenly the screams were getting louder and they seemed to be coming from outside and these screams were not from someone having fun, these were blood curdling screams. I rushed out from the desk and headed for the door. Stepping outside I looked around and the screams were even louder, coming up from behind. I turned around just in time for someone to crash into my arms. I grabbed a hold of the girl trying to hold her up when I noticed she was not wearing a jacket and her shirt was cut open. Her hair was full of dirt and leaves and the back of her shirt was filthy. I grabbed the door to take her back into the dorm when her head fell back and I could see her face for the first time. Bella, oh my God, Bella. There was blood dripping down her neck and her face was cut and black and blue. I pulled her into the dorm, her body falling into me more with each step.

"Bella? Oh God Bella what happened?" As soon as I got the words out she went limp.

Ben and Angela were waiting inside the door to see what the noise was and when Angela saw it was Bella, she let out a gasp.

"Oh my God, it's Bella." She yelled

"Ben, call 911 right now." I barked at Ben not really meaning for my words to come out that way, but I was so scared at that moment. Bella was lifeless. She had bruises all over her arms and on her neck you could make out the shape of someone's large hand. There was a cut at the calf of her jeans and there was blood coming out of the cut. I pulled her jean leg up and could see the wound on her calf. I knew I needed to add pressure to the wound to help stop the bleeding. I looked around for something to apply when I noticed Angela had a sweater tied around her waist.

"Angela, we need to stop the bleeding from the wound on her leg. Would you please take your sweater off? We can use it apply pressure to help slow or stop the bleeding." Angela nodded and took her sweater off handing it in my direction. "If you would please, hold it tight against the wound?" She hesitated like she was afraid she was going to hurt her. "It's ok Angela; it will help her I promise." She placed the sweater on her leg and held on to it.

"An ambulance and the police are on their way." Ben said hanging up his phone. "What the hell happened to her?"

"It looks like she has been attacked." I whispered, not wanting to believe my own words. I could see tears starting to fall from Angela's eyes.

"Bella, can you hear me?" I tried to shake her but was afraid to hurt her, she looked broken. "Bella, sweetie can you hear me?" Her body twitched and she looked like she was coming around.

"God, please help me." She whispered "please, please help me." She began to open her eyes and at the same time she seemed to sense someone was holding her and she bolted back as if to escape from me.

"Bella it's ok." I told her trying to calm her "Bella, it's me, its Edward. You are safe inside the dorm. The police and an ambulance are coming any minute now."

She looked around her for a moment and them seemed to gain her bearings better, seemed to recognize where she was. "Edward?" her voice was raspy and rough.

"Yes sweetie, it's me." She jumped back into my arms, holding tightly onto me like her life depended on it. I wrapped my arms around her to let her know she was safe.

"Bella, what happened to you?" Angela asked timidly reapplying pressure to her leg, pressure which had been broken when Bella moved away from me seconds before.

She pushed herself back from my chest and looked over at Angela. "I was walking back from the library on the path when someone, some guy attacked me." She whispered, barely able to get the words out. With this Angela's tears begin to fall heavier. Bella lifted her hand and she tried to wipe the tears from her face. She had to be in shock, why would she try and comfort someone else at this moment. She suddenly seemed to be aware of the fact her shirt was cut open and that she was exposed. She quickly pulled her hand away from Angela's face and tried to cover herself.

"Ben, my jacket is over there on that chair, could you hand it to me please?" When he gave it to me, I wrapped it around Bella. She looked up at me with so much gratitude and love in her eyes that I just about started to cry myself. I wrapped my arms around her tighter to let her know she was safe.

A few minutes later the police arrived and shortly thereafter an ambulance. Everything seemed to fade into a blur. The EMT's were tending to Bella's wounds and trying to asses her condition. The police were trying to ask her questions, but she could barely speak to answer them. She looked so lost and so scared and I couldn't even imagine what was going through her head at this moment. I just wanted to go over to her and hold her hand, try and make her feel safe.

Mike, Tyler and Eric had joined the crowd and her friends stood there with stunned looks on their faces, looking at their broken friend.

They were about to load her into the ambulance when the look on her face consumed me and I asked the EMT if I could ride along with Bella to the hospital. I could not for the life of me figure out why I needed to be with her, but I knew I would go crazy if she left by herself. The EMT's looked to Bella to make sure it was ok and she nodded yes. I climbed into the rig and sat down beside her, taking her hand in mine. "Thank you" she whispered. I just smiled at her and nodded my head.

As they closed the doors to the ambulance, I looked out to see Ben holding Angela whose body shook with deep sobs.

The ride to the hospital was quiet expect for the EMT's working on Bella. Occasionally they would ask her a question that she would answer with a head shake yes or no, but her eyes never left mine and I never took mine off of hers. It was as if we both needed to do this because if we didn't something awful would happen. Something worse than what had already happened.

When we got to the hospital they would not let me go back with Bella to triage and the look of fear on her face damn near brought me to my knees. I promised her I would be in the waiting room and that as soon as they let me I would be there by her side again. The nurse told her I would be able to come back once they had completed their exams and she seemed to relax a little bit.

I found a seat in the waiting room and everything that had happened this evening suddenly washed over me. I couldn't help but fear the worse. Fear that the attack was worse than what could be seen on the outside. Fear that she had been… I couldn't bring myself to think the word let alone say it. I got up and started to pace the floor, I just wanted to get back there to her, back there to make her feel safe. The more I paced the more I had to ask myself why? Why did this happen to her, her of all people. She was too sweet to have something like this happen, she was too good. Why did I feel the need to rush back there and check on her, why did I feel like my own life depended on it? Why was I so scared for her and yet so drawn to her at the same time?

My head started to hurt but I could only imagine it was a tiny pain compared to the pain she must be in. I hoped that they were giving her pain medication. What was going on back there? I had to know what was going on. The longer they were back there the more worried I got and the quicker I paced. I was about to jump out of my skin and go and demand some answers when two men in suits walked over to me.

"Are you Edward Cullen?" the taller of the two men asked. I shook my head yes.

"My name is Detective Sam Uley and this is my partner Detective Jacob Black. We are with the violent crimes task force and we have been assigned Ms. Swan's case. We need to ask you some questions."

Before I could let them start theirs I had a few questions of my own. "Have you seen her yet?" I asked "Do you know if she is ok? They will not tell me anything."

Realizing I need answers first Det Uley gave me some charity. "We just came from speaking with her and the doctor. She is ok. She has cuts on her face, neck and leg and the ones on her neck and leg took a few stitches to close." I winced at those words. "She has a concussion and lots of bruises. It appears he may have tried to choke her and between that and her screams, there is a bit of damage to her vocal cords making it hard to hear her. Doctor Turner says that with some rest her voice will go back to normal soon and that despite everything, she is going to be ok."

"Was she…." I still could not bring myself to say the word

"Raped?" Det Black asked. I lowered my head and nodded

"No, it appears she was able to get away before it went that far." My whole body sighed with those words. Thank you God.

"We haven't really spoken with her yet about all of the details of the attack but she did let the doctors and us know she wasn't raped. She wanted to know if you would come back there with her while she answers questions."

She wanted me back there? She needed me back there? "Of course" I almost shouted heading back there.

"We need to ask you a few questions first if that is ok?" Det Uley said

Ok? Ok? Of course it is not ok, she needs me back there and I need to go to her. But I knew they needed answers from me before they could question her further. I would have to wait a little longer before going back to her.

"Of course, what do you want to know?" I answered feeling defeated.

"Can you tell us what happened? How you found Ms. Swan and anything she may have said." Det Black asked, taking out a notebook.

I recounted the story for the detectives, telling them about hearing screams, about stepping outside and finding Bella, about how she collapsed and about what she said about being attacked. They asked a few others questions about whether or not I had heard anything else or seen anyone else. The whole time we were talking I just wanted to get back there to her, to make sure she was ok. To put my arms around her and let her know I was there. Det Black must have sensed my needs as he paused before asking another question, taking in my stance.

"Come on Mr. Cullen; let's go see how she is doing." He said pointing the way back to triage. Stopping for a moment he turned to me and put his hand on my shoulder "I need to warn you though, the bruising has gotten much worse as she has been here and it's pretty bad."

All I could do was nod my head yes as I braced myself for the worst.

When we got back to the exam room, Bella was sitting up, her legs over the side of the bed. They had given her a scrub top to put on and she had pulled her hair back into a bun so that it was out of her face. As I got closer I got a clearer view of the damage that had been done to her. I stopped in my tracks for a moment, frozen.

"Take a minute if you need to before you go in there." Det Uley said putting his hand on my shoulder. "She needs you right now, and this won't help her any." He said pointing to the look on my face and the way my body was frozen. I nodded my head yes and took a moment to take everything in.

The cut on her neck had been bandaged, but the rest of her neck was deep purple with bruises, the imprint of fingers of both sides. They had cut her jeans in order to stitch the wound and a large white bandage was covering it. Her arms were black and blue. The cut on her face and been butterfly stitched and the bruise around it covered her left cheek.

I just stood there, looking at this poor broken girl and could not move. So many hate filled thoughts were racing through my mind at the asshole who did this to her. I was so consumed by rage that I could not see straight.

"Edward?" her small, raspy, barely audible voice pulled me from my anger and when our eyes met, my protective side took over and I rushed over to her. She held out her hand for me to take and I quickly took it. She wrapped her fingers into mine; seemingly hold on for her life. "I'm here sweetie, just like I promised."

"Thank you" she whispered

"Ms Swan, I know this has been a very rough evening for you, but we need to ask you some questions and get a statement from you."

"Ok" she hesitantly said.

"I know that you don't have much of a voice left so if you find it difficult to speak, we can stop at any time ok?" Det Black said. Bella nodded her head yes. "Can you tell us what happened from the beginning?"

Bella recounted the horrible details of the attack back to the detectives who in turn recorded information and asked other questions. When she told them the awful things he said to her, the rage began to consume me again. Bella placed her other hand on top of mine almost as if she sensed my rage and tried to calm me down. I couldn't believe that after all of this, she was trying to calm me just like she had done with Angela. As she described the pain she had inflected upon the attacker I couldn't help but feel good that the son of a bitch had suffered some pain, wishing only that I could inflict much more upon him myself. I also felt this great sense of pride towards Bella for having the strength to stand up for herself to fight for herself. Bella had always seemed so shy and quiet, but underneath all of that it seemed there was this very strong girl.

The detectives too seemed very pleased to hear about the pain she had inflicted on the attacker and Det Black even held up his hand to high five her. She just smiled at them as they told her she had done well.

"Were you able to get a good look at his face or tell what he was wearing?" Det Uley asked.

With that question, the smile on her face dropped and she looked away from them "No" she whispered. "When he turned me over, I tried to get a good look at his face but then he punched me and everything went very fuzzy. I wanted to so badly but I just couldn't see him or really anything else for that matter." She paused for a moment. "I'm sorry."

"Ms Swan, look at me" Det Uley said, putting his hand on her shoulder. She slowly brought her gaze back to meet his eyes. "You do not have anything to be sorry about. You did nothing wrong, this is not your fault in any way shape or form. If anything I would say you fighting him was about the bravest thing I have heard of in a very long time." His words were sincere.

"Thank you" she whispered, a half smile crossed her lips. He patted her shoulder and stepped back.

"Could you tell how tall he was or what his build was?"

"When he had me up against the tree, it seemed like he was only a few inches taller than me, maybe about 5'7" but he was very stocky, like a defensive lineman."

"A lineman? You know football?" Det Uley asked somewhat surprised

Bella chuckled "Yeah, my dad is a big sports fan and I am a bit of a daddy's girl so I spent a lot of time with him watching sports. Guess it rubbed off."

"Well Ms. Swan I would have to say you may be one of the coolest young ladies I know. Can kick some butt and talk sports at the same time." He said smiling her. Although he was trying to lighten the mood and make her feel better, I believed his words were sincere and would have to agree with him. Bella just laughed, blushing at the same time. It was good to see some color come back into her pale face. The same color I had admired on her face a few other times.

"Speaking of your father, would you like us to contact your parents for you?" the color suddenly left her face.

"No thank you, I will call them tomorrow." She quietly said. I wondered why she did not want to contact them tonight or if she even planned on telling them at all.

"I think we have all that we need for now. This is my card, if you remember anything or need anything at all, please do not hesitate to call me." Det Uley said while handing her and I business cards. "That goes for you as well, Mr. Cullen."

"Thank you" we both said together and they turned and left the room. The room grew very quiet. I did not know what to say, but I wanted to say something so badly, wanted to comfort her as best I could. I started to ask her how she was holding up but Bella broke the silence first.

"Thank you Edward" she said softly looking up at me.

"What?" her words shocked me "Bella you don't need to thank me for anything."

"Edward I want to thank you for everything. For being there to rescue me, for staying with me and for watching over me. I don't know if I could have handled all of this without you."

"Bella" was all I could manage to whisper out. Her gratitude was over whelming and left me speechless. As I collected myself and was about to say something else the doctor came back into the room.

"Ms. Swan, how are you feeling?" Dr Turner said.

"Tired, sore and in desperate need of a shower." She chuckled

"We will be releasing you shortly and you should be able to take a shower when you get back to school. Given the hour I am going to send you home with something to take for the pain that will help you sleep as well as some bandages and other things you will need for the wounds. Just be sure to re-dress the wounds on your leg and neck when you get out of the shower and change them over the next few days. Although you can walk around on that leg without assistance try to stay off it as much as you can for the next day or two and try to relax your voice as much as you can." He paused for a moment having just said a mouthful. "Do you have a roommate or someone that you can stay with? You really shouldn't be alone."

"My roommate is out of town tonight but I guess I could stay with…"

"She can stay with me." I cut her off. She looked up at me in total surprise.

"My father is a doctor and I'm pre-med, so I have a little bit of a background in medicine. I'll watch her to make sure there aren't any complications with the concussion and will be able to redress the wounds for her. Plus there is a shower in my dorm room, so she will be able to take a private shower. "

"Well that sounds great. I'll go finish up the paperwork so you can get out of here." He said as he was leaving the room.

"Edward, you don't have to do this. I can get Angela or one of the other girls on the hall to stay with me." She said still looking at me with shock and surprise on her face.

"Bella, I want to do this. I want to make sure you are ok."

"But it is against the rules; you could get into a lot of trouble." Could she really be worried about me?

"I have an in with the head RA, I think it will be ok." I chuckled at her

"But Edward…"

"Please Bella, I want to do this. I want to know you are alright." More like I need to know she is alright. I just am not ready to let her go yet. And then it hit me, maybe she would be uncomfortable being alone with me, with a guy. "Unless of course you would be more comfortable staying with a girl" I stammered the words out.

"No Edward, it's not that. I would be very comfortable with you; in fact you are the only safety net I have had all night long. It's just that I have taken up so much of your night already and I don't want to take any more away from you." I couldn't believe my ears, here again she was worrying more about me than herself of all times when she should be thinking only about herself. I have never met anyone as selfless as she is.

"Bella, I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be. Besides what did you take me away from, writing up drunken teenagers all night long? This is more important, you are more important than that."

"But" she hesitated "won't your girlfriend get upset with you for having another girl sleep over at your place?" I couldn't help but laugh to myself when she said this.

"No, no girlfriend. We broke up about a month ago. I am all yours." She blushed again with those words; I couldn't help but think how beautiful that color was on her face.

There was a knock on the door and Det Uley poked his head back into the room. "It just dawned on me that you may not have a ride home."

I hadn't even thought about the fact that I rode in the ambulance over here with her and that we did not have a way home. "I can call someone at the dorm to come and pick us up." I said trying to figure out who to call since Emmett and Jasper where gone.

"Nonsense, Jake and I will be happy to take you guys back. Plus it will give us a chance to see what they were able to get from the crime scene."

"Was he still there?" Bella asked quietly

Det Uley paused for a minute before answering. "No, dear, there was no one there. " he looked down. "But I promise you we will do all that we can to find him. We will be in the waiting room when you guys are ready to go." And he walked back out of the room.

Bella looked broken all over again with his words, fear creeping back into her face. I put my arms around her and kissed her forehead. She leaned into me and put her arms around my waist, seemingly holding on again for dear life.

"I believe him Bella. I believe him when he says he will do all he can to find the son of bitch that did this to you." I hated to use that kind of language in front of her, but I could not bring myself to think or say anything other than that about her attacker.