A/N: Hey Readers! Thanks for all the reviews! It makes me so happy! The results of my little vote thingy go as following:
Carlisle: 57%
Rosalie: 15%
Esme: 30%
So our lucky winner who gets to find Bella in the forest is CARLISLE!! Hope you enjoy the read! And I hope you review. They make me smile and squeal :D
I was only vaguely aware of the rain hitting my skin and soaking my clothes. I could barely feel the wind brushing against me and sending chills through my body. However, I was aware of the night sky leaking through the thick tree trunks, which blackened out whatever light there was. I was aware of the panic that filled my chest and pressured my lungs.
I couldn't breather. I couldn't see. I have no idea where I am.
In a moment of pure stupidity I took a step forward, only to fall flat on my face. It seems like I managed to break the leg that was already broken. Only in a different spot. That eliminated any hope or chance of me getting out of this forest before the sun rose.
Crack!
I whipped my head around. Hating that my human eyes couldn't see anything past my nose.
Crack!
My eyes narrowed in an attempt to see in the ink black sky. The noise was coming from the ground. I could tell that much. Maybe from an animal. A rabbit perhaps?
I heard the wind rush past my face and continue to travel in the forest. Rustling the leaves and forcing them in the air. Where they then circled around each other trying to push the others to the ground first. Despite their attempts to win . . . they all fell.
BZRIIIINNNNGGG!! BZRRRIIIINNNGGG!
I jumped. What the heck were the chances of me getting cell phone reception in the middle of the flipping forest?
Slowly, shaking, I brought the cell phone to my ear and hit the talk button.
"Hello?" My voice was hoarse from crying.
"Isabella." Ah . . . Carlisle. He sounded relieved for some reason. "Where are you? Esme said that when she came back from shopping tonight you weren't at the house. So she called your friends and your father, but they said you weren't they either. We're worried."
"I- . . . Umm . . . I don't really know where I am."
"Are you in the forest?" The relief left his voice.
"Yeah. I am. I . . . uh. I came from the school." Please don't get mad at me, I thought.
"I'll go to the school and follow your scent. I should be there soon. But for now just stay put. I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Okay."
The conversation ended and I was left sitting on the cold, wet forest floor. Unable to move, see and starting to feel very cold. For some reason the tears wouldn't stop falling from my eyes. I knew I had to stop them, because if Carlisle found me like this then he would feel more grief. Grief that he doesn't need to feel because the reason I'm in the forest with a broken leg is my fault. I was the one who ran. I ran from the truth. I am just being a coward. Sitting in the forest, waiting for someone to come and rescue me as I was once again the damsel in distress. That title has been applied to me so many times now it isn't even slightly humours.
I tried to stop the tears before Carlisle got here. I really did. I tried as hard as I possibly could to stop them from coming and to plaster on a smile. I tried to get rid of Lauren's words that replayed through my mind over and over and over again. But I couldn't. I couldn't do a single one of those things. And before I knew it soft hands were pulling me into a hug and a voice was repeatedly telling me that I was safe now. I was loved.
"C- C . . . Carlisle?" My voice choked on the word. But I needed to say it. I needed to know that someone did come to save the damsel. If no one came then I'd be forced to face the harsh reality of Lauren's words.
Gentle hands stroked my hair and lifted me effortlessly off the ground. They held me against a chest and in their arms. Carefully, lovingly. I felt a small kiss being placed on the top of my head and then I was given a response. "It's me, honey. Close your eyes."
I snuggled deeper into the warmth of the clothes on his body and my eyes slowly closed, dragging me deeper and deeper into a blissful darkness of no pain, hurt or heartache.
The first thing I noticed upon awakening was that my right hand was itchy. Horribly itchy. The second was that when I went to relieve the itch another hand grabbed mine and moved it back to its original position.
I peeked one eye open and then gave a small sigh of relief at noticing the white walls of Edwards bedroom and the golden comforter covering me on the bed. Both of my eyes opened quickly after I knew I wasn't in a hospital and I was able to see Carlisle, dressed in casual clothes, staring at me intently.
"Bella? How do you feel?"
How did I feel? I felt like I got run over by a truck. No scratch that. I felt like I got run over a cement truck in the middle of the arctic.
"I feel fine." I answered. My voice scratchy. The itch still in my hand, I looked down. Only to wish I didn't. It was an I.V.
"Is there any particular reason why I don't believe that?" He asked me.
I shrugged, knowing that he caught me in a lie and not having the energy to try and defend myself.
He gave me a soft sigh and sat down beside me on the bed. Reaching out he tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear and gave me a small, sad smile before continuing.
"Your body temperature went down slightly. Too much for me to give you a warm bath immediately so we're going to have to warm you up the old fashioned way first. Warm clothes and blankets. You also managed to do some damage to your legs. The broken one and the now sprained one. Considering that and how your crutches weren't found, I'm afraid to tell you that you'll be stuck in a wheel chair for a bit."
"A wheelchair? I can't just get new crutches?" I asked. My voice rising slightly in panic. Lauren could do all sorts of things to me while I was in a wheelchair. At least in crutches I had a slight chance.
He glanced at me apologetically and then frowned. "What I would like to know is what happened to your crutches?"
I blushed. Realizing how stupid it was for me to not just bend down and grab them. Another flaw to add to my long list. "Umm . . . I sort of just wanted to get away from Lau- I mean the school. And at the time crutches weren't my first priority."
He raised his eyebrows. "Lauren? Isn't she the one you don't get along with?"
"Where's Esme?" I changed the conversation abruptly not liking where it was heading. I can't bury my problems if people want to talk about them.
"She's downstairs. What did Lauren do?"
"I didn't say Lauren. I said school."
"Bella, honey, what happened?"
My heart rate increased and I know he was able to hear it. He was probably able to smell how my palms started to sweat. "Nothing Carlisle. I just don't want to talk about it."
He sighed. "As long as you know that you can tell me whenever you want. Whatever you want."
Then he kissed my forehead and slowly stood up to leave the room. And before I could stop myself the words came tumbling out of my mouth.
"He's coming back right? They're all coming back?" I sounded desperate, scared. Pathetic.
He lowered himself back to his position beside me and nodded his head. "They could never leave."
"But . . . they were able to before. What's so different now?"
Carlisle watched me, his eyes sad and I could see him struggle to find the words to both reassure me of their staying and explain why they left. But it was too hard for him to find the words, because we both knew that they would leave again. At least . . . I knew.
I looked down at my hands and fiddled with the blanket between my fingers. Looking anywhere but at Carlisle. However it appeared that he did not want that and he slowly held my face between his hands.
"Honey, it was not easy for us to leave you. You must understand that. After we left we were missing a big part of our family." He paused and looked straight into my eyes, trying to see if I understood.
"You could've brought Edward back." I mumbled.
His eyes were still sad and he slowly shook his head. "We were upset that Edward was gone. He has been family for over a hundred years. But we were miserable because a much younger and much newer addition to the family was gone."
I stared at him in confusion.
"You," he stated. "We were greatly missing you. Esme and I lost a daughter."
I shook my head, trying desperately to get out of his hands. But he held me firmly and continued, not bothered by my tears, as I realized the truth in his words.
"Alice and Emmett lost a sister. Jasper and Rosalie felt you absence as well."
"B- but, no one called. No one tried to contact me! I was left alone!" I was crying greatly now. It didn't deter Carlisle; he just wiped my tears away with loving fingers and continued.
"Esme lost her will to garden. She cried every time she had to go to the grocery store, to keep up appearances. I couldn't find the enjoyment I once had in saving people. You always were my favourite and constant patient."
I gave him a small smile at that. He returned it.
"Alice only went shopping when it was necessary. I can remember vividly walking into a room to see her tiny body curled into a ball, shaking with unshed tears. Crying for her lost sister. Emmett stopped joking and fooling around. He was serious and sad and mature. The complete opposite of his former self. Jasper must've gotten the worst of it. He felt everyone's pain, loss, sadness on top of his own. He fell into a despair, believing it was all his fault, because he lost control. He also lost a companion, a younger sister who he could protect."
My eyes were showing no sign of slowing down the tears falling from them. I had no will to stop them. I was being held in loving arms, spoken to with a loving voice and I was being told of all the ways I affected/effected the family. Each was true and real. All except one . . . "Rosalie?" I whispered. Maybe one was happy at my absence.
"She -" Carlisle was cut off.
"I was probably the worst of them." Rosalie stated from the doorway. When did she get here? "I'll admit that at first I was thrilled. No more human to protect of slowly destroy my family. Those were my thoughts. But soon enough I saw what us leaving did to the family. How it destroyed them. I mean, my Emmett didn't smile any more or joke about sex. And it wasn't long after that I felt something missing from our family."
Carlisle gave me a small smile and left the room. Leaving me and Rosalie behind. She took his spot, wrapping her own arms around me. They held love as well, surprisingly.
"I felt innocence, curiosity, happiness and youth missing. And it scared me. I never became close to you, Bella, for that very reason. I had a feeling that you were just a fling, you would destroy our family or that Edward would play the hero and leave. Obnoxious git." She snorted. "I was so wrong though, in my thoughts about you. Eventually I fell into despair as well. I did nothing but fix cars and other things. 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I skipped school. I spent as little time as possible with my family; because being around them meant that I had to see their despair as well. I couldn't do that. Then I just gave up pretending and I knowingly broke the one rule given to us."
My heart raced. I stared at her with eyes wide open in alarm. Had my absence cause the death of an innocent person, innocent people?
She quickly corrected herself. "Nothing like that, Bella. I stuck to the diet, despite my stronger urge to go against it. I broke the one rule Edward gave us, when we moved."
I interrupted her. "Edward said he only stayed around long enough to give you one rule before he left. He said that . . . that he told you guys to stay away from Forks and made you promise not to check up on me." I was confused now. If she broke that rule than it meant that she had come to check on me. Or Edward had given them another rule that made much more sense.
"That would be the rule I broke. I came back here. At first I told myself it was only for my family. I was just going to come back here, see how happy you were and then leave. I would tell them and then things would go back to normal. Stupid thinking I know. However, when I got here Bella, I smartened up greatly. I went straight to the school, I knew that's where'd you'd be. It only took me two seconds to glance at you to know that my family had caused it. I saw you sitting at our table, in Edward's spot. Just staring out the window. You were so much smaller; you still haven't gotten as big as you used to be. And the way you held yourself together. It broke my heart. Your eyes were empty, lifeless."
I tried to remember seeing any evidence that Rosalie was near. I tried to remember seeing Rosalie, but I couldn't recall anything. Except for delusions and hallucinations.
"That's when I knew that I had to stay. I had to watch you and try to make sure you were going to be okay. Maybe it was just a hormonal young teenage thing. Stupid excuse, you were never a hormonal teenager. So I stayed, much longer than I entitled to. I watched you deteriorate further. I saw you hide food and lie to your father about eating and sleeping. I watched as you drifted further and further away from your friends. Then you met Jacob. You got better, gained some weight, got some colour in your face. You smiled. And even though he is a dog. When I saw you smile, my heart leapt in joy. I stayed for a couple weeks after that, saw you smile and laugh. Hang with your friends. The night I was going to go home, I stopped by your house. Just to check on you. Say my goodbye
'I jumped through your window, just in time to hear you scream. You sounded like you were in agonizing pain. A sound that will never leave my ears. A sight that will never leave my eyes. You thrashed and cried and screamed. Pleaded for us to stay. All of our names, you called every single one of them. I was so confused when I heard my name. You even told me to come back. I sorta had an epiphany there. I realized that I loved you. Despite my harsh attitude and coldness towards you. And you loved me. If there was any sort of rule that I hadn't broken. I broke it that night."
Suddenly I remembered. I remembered the nightmare I had. The fear of being abandoned. And then . . . "You held me. And comforted me. I thought it was just a part of the dream. I didn't believe that you were actually there. I – thank you." It was her. A sudden happiness filled my heart at the knowledge that it was real and it wasn't a nightmare.
She smiled at me. "No thanks needed. It was our fault. We left you."
My fears and pain were forgotten at the moment. I had a question that needed to be answered. "If you don't mind me asking. If you did all that. Broke all the rules and stayed with me, protected me for months . . . why did you tell Edward about my cliff diving?"
"I was furious Bella. I saw what us leaving did to you. I showed him with my memories. He was in so much pain at seeing you hurt. But he remained stubborn and stayed furious at me for breaking his rule. Then he left, just disappeared. I was hopeful that he was returning to you, but he didn't. When Alice had the vision of you - of you . . . committing suicide" She hesitated before saying the words.
"It wasn't suicide. It was recreational fun." I mumbled.
She ignored my words, knowing that there was a lie hidden in them.
"So in my anger I acted stupidly. And I told Edward what you did in the hope that he would realize what he did to you. I wasn't thinking about you actually dying, or that he would go and try to kill himself. All I was focused on was saving our family. All of our family." She glanced at me and then tightened her arms slightly. Indicating that I was a part of her family.
I smiled. "I- umm . . . Thank you Rose. I didn't know and you are a part of my family as much as I am of yours." I gave her an awkward one-armed hugged. She returned it.
"I heard rumours that you ran into the forest broke your already broken leg and sprained the other one."
I blushed. "That would be true."
"So considering how you lost your crutches and happened to injure both your legs, I guess that means that you're stuck in a wheelchair."
I grimaced. "Don't remind me." I stated darkly.
She chuckled. "Would it improve your mood greatly to know that Esme has cookies fresh from the oven downstairs?"
"Oatmeal chocolate chip?" I asked. A smile finding its way to my face.
"Of course, dear!" Esme called from the main floor.
Immediately I blushed. Realizing that everyone in this house, besides me, probably heard the whole fit I was having. Despite the fact that it was only Emse, Carlisle and Rosalie. It was still embarrassing.
"Well then it's time to go get some cookies." I swung my body off the bed. Only to find that it was still on the bed. Being held by a very amused blonde.
"Did you forget that you can't walk on either of your legs or were you intentionally trying to injure yourself further?"
Stupid blush. Rosalie laughed and then lifted me off the bed without a problem. Just before we walked down the stairs she whispered.
"I love you, little sister."
"I love you to, Rose."
A/N2: Well . . . I got a review saying that Rosalie needed some good grace and I completely agreed. So in we throw Rose. Thanks so much to everyone who left a vote. It means a lot! I'm hoping to get the next chapter in soon, considering how ideas are just flowing through my head! But I do have some tests and things to juggle around . . . we'll hope for the best!
LOVE YOU READERS!!
