Chapter 4
Another hour passed and Bella was much the same as before; temp still increasing to what I thought might be right around 100 degrees. My hand reached up to my head tugging at my hair, I was frantic. I didn't know what to do to save her. My mind was racing through various scenarios of how to get Bella off of this island, one such thought was to make a raft and pull her to get help. I was pulled from my reverie by the distance sounds of what I thought was helicopter blades.
I ran outside to see a small green dot in the distance getting bigger as it approached me; I quickly pinpointed this as the sound. I waited for it to get closer within human visual range and I waved my arms back and forth hoping to catch their attention. Once they were close enough for me to hear their thoughts I realized there were three people on board, all three of their thoughts were in Portuguese. Luckily I had learned Portuguese years previously and was able to decipher that they worked for a private rescue organization in Brazil and had been hired by Carlisle to come and rescue us.
I backed up towards the cottage and left them plenty of room to land on the beach. With the pilot there were 2 paramedics and a helicopter full of supplies. For the first time since this catastrophe started I began to feel hope that Bella might escape this nightmare alive.
'Are you Edward Cullen?' Yelled the first paramedic to jump out of the helicopter in Portuguese.
'Yes.' I told him. 'Please, my wife needs help, she's direly injured.'
The first paramedic, a man with cropped brown hair turned back to the helicopter and helped the female paramedic who had green eyes and hair tied back into a bun, to unload a stretcher. They carried the stretcher over the sand as I lead them into the cottage.
I could tell Bella's temperature was even higher than minutes before when I had left. She was still unconscious, pale and breathing rapidly and shallowly. I went over a quick inventory of her injuries to the paramedics, they paid extra attention to my makeshift fix for her sucking chest wound. They wiped a little bit of blood away from the opening and the female paramedic turned to me.
'This is great work.' She commended, 'You saved your wife's life.' Then she turned back to work on Bella.
They deemed most of her injuries stable enough except that they placed a neck brace on her replacing my crude attempt at keeping her neck still and unmoving. Before they placed it on the male paramedic palpated her neck and frowned where I knew he felt the broken vertebrae, I tried not to think about it too much.
The three of us gently lifted her onto a back board and then carefully shifted her over to the stretcher, she didn't wake up once through this. The paramedic lifted the stretcher again and carried her across the beach, not able to use the wheels because of the sand. We loaded her up and quickly took off without another look backwards.
Immediately after securing Bella and taking off they started an IV, they placed pillows under her arm to support her shoulder. I sat in the closest chair I could get in to Bella without being in the paramedics way. They spoke back and forth to each other rapidly in Portuguese, sharing information about Bella's condition. It was jolting hearing her condition so bluntly from an outsider perspective even though I had clearly seen it for myself.
The panic that had ebbed a bit with the arrival of the paramedics came back with a force listening to their unfiltered thoughts. It was clear that they didn't think she would live, they clearly didn't know Bella. I retreated into my own thoughts, my gaze on my wife, trying to ignore the two paramedics in the helicopter.
The helicopter ride was about 45 minutes but it felt like hours. Bella had almost crashed multiple times during the ride, her blood pressure and heart rate plummeting. All three times they were able to revive her with multiple medications, one time they had had to use a defibrillator to shock her heart back into sinus rhythm but amazingly it worked the first time and she stabilized.
By the time we got to the hospital Bella was nearly white from the loss of blood that had been steadily trickling out of her despite the bandaging and pressure being put onto her wounds. Blood swirled around on the floor of the helicopter, the blood that I had once craved so strongly now sickened me beyond belief. She was taking short shallow breaths as we landed on the roof, she hadn't woken once.
There were other hospital personnel waiting for us, they received Bella from the helicopter and ran with her at an infuriatingly human speed towards the operating room while the paramedics ran along and conveyed crucial information. I ran with them until I was stopped at a set of double doors reading 'Staff Only' in Portuguese. One of the nurses kindly took my hand and led me to a bathroom where I could clean myself up.
I got to the private bathroom that was clearly meant for situations just like this and I stood in front of the mirror and looked in shock. I was covered in Bella's blood; I couldn't do anything but stare at my reflection in the mirror. Now that I didn't have something to do to help her, all I had to do was wait, I was collapsing in on myself. I couldn't move.
The nurse was back suddenly running tap water and shoving a face cloth under the water and handing it to me. It took me much longer than it should have to comprehend what she wanted me to do but finally I did grasp it and I started scrubbing Bella's blood off of my arms. I felt a gentle tugging and realized that the nurse was trying to get me to remove my shirt. I helped her and lifted my arms as she pulled it up over my head.
I continued scrubbing my arms and torso with soap and water until there was no trace of it left on my skin although I could still smell it. I noticed that the nurse had left me a worn white t-shirt and a pair of old blue jeans that both- thankfully- fit. When I was done the nice woman lead me to the public waiting room in the surgical wing of the hospital. I asked if she had heard anything and she told me that Bella was currently in surgery and it would probably be a while until I heard anything. 'Obrigado' I thanked her as she walked away giving me a sad smile.
I collapsed into the hard plastic chair of the hospital waiting room feeling exhausted for the first time in over a hundred years. Now that I had nothing to do but wait- the panic was all encompassing, I didn't last long sitting. I was spurred into action and without anything to do I paced the halls, I paced non-stop for hours. Multiple nurses had come to me asking if I needed anything, but the only thing I needed was news on my Bella which no one seemed to be able to give me.
It wasn't until 6 hours after arriving that Bella's surgeon came out to meet me and lead me to his office. I was trying to pick in out of his head what her condition was but he wasn't focusing on one thought for very long so it was hard to figure out exactly how she was. I gave up trying by the time we arrived at the surgeon's office.
'Mr. Cullen' the surgeon spoke to me in English in a thick Portuguese accent. 'My name is Dr. Acosta, I am Bella's surgeon.'
I nodded 'How is she, doctor?'
He sighed, not a good sign. 'She sustained a massive amount of blood loss from her various wounds. The most dire wound we discovered was the sucking chest wound which I was able to fix with surgery. I was also able to piece her shoulder back together with some plates and screws, the joint was shattered. She has multiple broken ribs and many, many lacerations to her entire body. She also broke her C4 and C5 vertebrae in her neck, I was able to correct it with a fusion surgery but she will need to be in a neck brace for 6-8 weeks. The most troubling injury though is occipital head injury to the back of her brain. During the surgery the swelling in her brain kept increasing and we were forced to perform a craniotomy to relieve the swelling.'
I thought I was going to vomit even though I knew it was an impossibility. The thought of Bella lying somewhere in this hospital with her skull cracked open was enough to make me stand.
'Please,' I choked out, 'I need to see her, please bring me to her.'
'Of course.' He stood with me, looked apologetic. 'Come this way, and please don't be alarmed. We have her on life support short term while she is kept under sedation. We will bring her out of sedation once the brain swelling is down.'
'Dr. Acosta, what are the long term effects of this brain injury, what damage has been done?' I asked, dreading the answer.
'I can't tell you for certain. I do believe that she will recover, but the most likely effect from this injury is visual deficits. The occipital lobe is responsible for processing visual information including visuospatial processing, colour differentiation and motion perception.' Dr. Acosta told me as we walked.
I felt my chest constrict, the thought of her not being able to see again was too painful to bear. I forced myself to snap out of it, if Bella survived this I could deal with visual deficits, I could help her deal with them as well. As I walked into her room I saw the most painful image of my entire life. If I lived to be a million years old I would never forget it.
My sweet, hilarious, beautiful Bella was broken. Tubes snaked down her throat into her lungs and stomach, as well as into her veins. She was covered in so many wires as well which were transmitting vital information to the monitoring computers. Beyond that she looked so unlike herself. The right side of her face from her hairline to her cheekbone was various shades of black and blue, her eye completely swollen shut. The left side of her face was still distinctly Bella save for a few small scratches, for this I was eternally grateful.
Her head was wrapped in a tremendous amount of gauze and packing protecting the area of her skull that had been removed. Her neck was firmly encased in a collar and that was all In could see above the sheets, the only other thing I noticed was that there was no longer a stick protruding from her thigh, the sheet lay smooth over a slightly bulky bandage.
I forced myself to slowly walk to her right side and peeled back the sheet to look at her right shoulder, there was a strip dressing down the front of her shoulder where they had performed the surgery. I noticed that her shoulder like most of her body was discoloured but having seen it before the surgery I could tell immediately that it was in such better shape. The surgeon had rebuilt her shoulder; it was no longer sunken and collapsed. I replaced the sheet back over her arm satisfied.
Next I lifted the sheet off of her right thigh and as I thought it was completely covered by white bandages. I reached down to her calf to check the circulation and it was thankfully pink and warm, slightly too warm. I figured she was running a temperature from infection, how could she not have an infection from the stick through her leg and whatever had been floating in the water with her. I just had to hope that he broken body had it in it to fight it off. I replaced the sheet again and went to her left side.
The last injury I needed to check was the one that nearly took her from me, her chest wound. Again though, she was covered up by bandaging. From the discolourations on her ribs it was easy to see that she had several broken ribs but I was so glad they didn't also need surgical intervention. While I couldn't see the wound itself I could see the steady rise and fall of her chest and there was no whistle of air escaping from the wound. I breathed a sigh of relief having seen that she was as okay as she could possibly be and I sat down at her left side.
Her head had been turned slightly toward me to keep pressure off of her exposed brain. I couldn't stop myself from stroking the unmarred side of her face, watching the steady, artificial rise of her chest. As much as I hated the tubes that invaded her mouth I knew that they were what was keeping her alive and I tried not to look at them. I reached forward and held onto her left hand, the palm of which was bandaged- I assumed the same of the right.
There was nothing to do now but to wait. And wait.
Nurses shuffled in and out over the next few hours checking equipment, starting a tube feed, keeping her IV going. It was about 18 hours since the tsunami hit when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I was startled from my reverie to see Carlisle, Esme and Alice behind me; I had shut out the outside world from my head so completely that I somehow missed my family's thoughts as they approached. I was overcome with emotions that I had been keeping at bay and suddenly felt myself choking on them as my father pulled me up into a hug. My sister and mother soon followed, each pulling me into an equally tight embrace.
'How is she Edward?' Esme asked me delicately as Alice moved to sit at Bella's right side and Carlisle began to flip through the chart at the end of her bed.
I shook my head 'Not good, I'm amazed she even survived. She's so hurt; she just barely made the trip here. Thank you for that by the way, she would have surely died if you didn't send the helicopter to us.' I had turned to my sister and father. Alice didn't look up from Bella, just nodded and Carlisle said 'Of course Edward.' Then turned back to the chart frowning at what he read.
'What do you think?' I asked going to sit back in my chair at her side, feeling a physical ache from being separated from her for even a few moments. Esme pulled up a chair next to me and held my hand.
'I think that they did a wonderful job and made all of the correct decisions to care for Bella, I couldn't have done a better job myself.' I nodded and turned back to her.
'Hopefully the swelling will reduce soon and they can replace the flap of skull quickly.' Carlisle said closing the chart and replacing it.
'Carlisle, they said that the head injury might leave Bella blind…' I could barely continue 'do you think she has a chance to regain her full sight?' At my words Alice had tightly closed her eyes and laid her forehead down on the bed next to Bella's right arm.
'I think Bella has surprised us before. I don't know that she will regain full vision, but I have hopes that she will gain functional levels back that will enable her to live a full life. It is a moderate brain injury. Not irreversible but definitely not minor.' Carlisle told me.
I couldn't respond I just looked at Bella, assessing her again for what felt like the millionth time. The fact that I couldn't do anything to help her was killing me.
'What do we do from here?' I asked my father knowing that we couldn't stay in Brazil forever. We not only couldn't go outside most days but we had to avoid windows.
'Well, we can't do anything until the brain swelling goes down. Once the craniotomy is reversed they will slowly take away the sedation drugs. Once she is awake they will remove the ventilator, if she can breathe on her own and she is otherwise stable then we will have her transported to Forks.' Carlisle explained and I nodded.
'While we can't do anything for Bella except wait and be here for her, we do have to call Charlie and let him know what has occurred.' Carlisle said.
My heart sunk, how do I explain that I let her get so injured on my watch? How do I explain my complete lack of injuries? How can I face Charlie again after promising she would be safe with me forever?
My family sensed my increased stress; Esme squeezed my hand and stroked my arm trying to calm me.
'I will call him Edward; I will tell him what happened.' Carlisle said, walking up behind me and gripping my shoulder with one hand. All I could do was nod, I was so overwhelmed. If I was able to cry, I would never be able to stop.
I was aware of the sound of Carlisle's steps walking away from me and out into the hallway where he called Charlie. Esme held my hand as we all listened to the conversation between the two fathers.
'Hello Charlie, we located Edward and Bella. The help I had sent to the them reached them in time, we are at Sao Paolo Hospital in Brazil.'
'Is Bella okay?' Charlie asked frantically from across the world.
'She is gravely injured, Charlie. She and Edward were swept up in the tsunami, Edward managed to get up a tree and avoid most of the disaster but Bella was pulled from him and was critically injured. As it stands she has been in surgery for a multitude of injuries, the worst of which she is still in critical condition from. She sustained a major injury to the back of her head. Her brain was swelling to the point that they had to perform a craniotomy, they removed a portion of her skull to make room for her brain to swell.' Carlisle explained and listened for Charlie's response, the line was silent aside from the almost imperceptible sound of Charlie's increased breathing.
'Charlie?' my father asked delicately.
'Oh god…' Charlie said 'Is she going to be alright?'
'I am optimistic, all of her other injuries have been dealt with and once the swelling comes down and they replace the piece of missing skull she should be taken off of life support and stabilized.' Carlisle said.
'I'm going to be sick.' Charlie said and indeed the sounds of him vomiting could distantly be heard over the phone.
'I'm so sorry Charlie, but I promise everything is being done here to save her, she's getting the best care possible.' Carlisle told him.
'Thank you Carlisle. I'm so glad you sent them help, she wouldn't be alive if you hadn't. I owe you a debt I can never repay.' Charlie said.
'Nonsense. Bella is family; we would do anything to make sure she's safe.' Carlisle said.
'Still, thank you. When I get off the phone with you I will be booking a flight to Brazil. Can you tell me how to get to you?' Charlie asked.
'Of course.' Carlisle then proceeded to tell him how to get from the airport to the hospital and where our room was from there. After that they wrapped up their conversation and Carlisle came back into the room to find us all sitting as we had been when he left.
'He should be here within the next 24 hours.' He told me and I nodded squeezing Bella's hand and we all settled in to wait.
