SM owns Twilight.
Story title comes from the song Sometimes Salvation by The Black Crowes.
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Chapter Four
"Talk to me Jake." Edward barked out as he gently shook Bella trying to get her to wake up again.
"BP dropped from 110 over 80 to 80 over 65."
"Shit she's losing too much blood. Sam ETA."
"Five minutes Edward."
"Tell them we need to start her out with 2 units of O Neg and that more needs to be ready until we can control the output. We need chest x-rays and OR needs to be made aware of incoming GSW to chest. Who's open in OR?" Edward gave his orders as if nothing was affecting him, but inside he was terrified about losing her. And that terrified him even more.
He didn't even know this woman, but from the moment he laid eyes on her he knew his existence would never be the same.
"They are on standby with 10 units of O Neg and an x-ray machine. Biers is open now."
"Fuck!" Edward grumbled. "Who's next?" As Edward listened to Sam talking with the dispatcher at the hospital he turned his full attention back to Bella.
"Bella can you hear me?"
Nothing.
"Bella, please, please open those eyes. Please let me see those brown eyes again." He begged.
"There's just Biers Edward. Jenks and Smith are in surgery. O'Hare and Brown are both off and can be called in but neither of them will be able to get there in less than 30. She may not have that long." Sam said trying to get Edward to see the unfortunate need for Riley Biers to be her surgeon.
"Fine, tell them to have him meet me in the ER and to be ready to go." Edward said through gritted teeth.
Sam looked up into the rearview mirror at Jake, their eyes sharing a knowing conversation.
Riley Biers was not a bad surgeon; in fact he was quite talented. But with his talent came an enormous God complex and the majority of the other doctors and nurses in the hospital could not stand dealing with him. His ego and bullshit were the last of things Edward wanted to deal with right now.
There were two nurses and the attending waiting for the ambulance when they arrived. Edward began spouting off vitals and information as they rushed Bella into the ER. Of course Biers was nowhere to be seen yet which only enraged Edward even more.
Once Bella was moved off the gurney onto the ER bed, one of the nurses began the IV that would give Bella the blood she needed while the other brought over the x-ray machine and began to take x-rays of her chest.
Once the machine was wheeled away and the films were being developed, Edward began to clean the site of the bullet's entrance carefully pulling out pieces of her dress that had been pulled into her body from the bullet.
"Films are ready Dr. Cullen." Nurse Stanley said.
Edward walked over to the films and his eyes immediately began to look for organ or bone damage. The others in the room continue to work on Bella, giving her another 2 units of blood while trying to get her blood flow to slow down, trying to keep her BP and heart rate stable and to prepare her for surgery.
"It looks like the bullet hit her sternum first. Three of her ribs are shattered. There is a tear in the aorta and there is damage to the lower right side scapula." Edward looked away from the film in front of him, his eyes scanning the room for one person.
"Where the fuck is Biers." He barked.
"What's the matter Edward, can't handle a little GSW on your own so you had to come to the master?" Biers cocky voice called out as he strolled into the room like it was Saturday in the park.
"Where the hell have you been?" Edward said as he rushed Biers towering over him by a good five inches.
"Back off Cullen. I don't keep up with your time and I don't expect you to keep up with mine. I'm here now so all is well." He said brushing past Edward to look at the films.
Edward raised his hand to pull Biers around to look at him again when Sam grabbed his arm and shook his head at Edward.
"Focus on her Edward." He said low enough that no one else could hear him.
Edward let Sam's words calm him down and he returned his attention to Bella. He began giving Biers all of the details of her wounds and the other vital information that he would need to perform surgery on her in order to repair the damage caused from a single bullet.
"Alright I have it from here." Biers said as they began to move Bella, who had not regained consciousness the whole time they were working on her. They were through the doors and in the hallway of the ER heading to the elevators when Biers turned to stop Edward who was following beside the gurney.
"I said I have it."
"I'm coming with you." Edward said.
"Like hell you are buddy."
"There is no room for debate here Riley, I'm coming with you. I will only observe, but I am not leaving her."
"Why the fuck not?"
"Because I don't trust you." Edward said once again in Riley's face.
"Again I ask why the fuck not?"
"Because I don't trust anyone right now."
"Neither do I." A voice called from behind them. Both Edward and Riley turned to see Carlisle and Charlie standing there.
"Daddy fighting your battles now?" Riley said with disgust in his voice.
"The young lady you are about to take to surgery is under the protection of the FBI. To ensure her safety at all times, Edward will be with her when agents are not allowed."
"Listen buddy I'm not sure who you think you are or who your vic is…"
"Her name is Bella asshole!" Edward said charging towards Riley interrupting him.
"Yes her name is Bella Cigno and she is my daughter and I want Edward with her while she is in surgery." Charlie said pulling Edward back by his arm trying to calm him down. "I just witnessed two men in broad daylight mere blocks away from the White House try and kidnap my daughter off a busy street filled with people. And when she fought back one of them he shot her, while she was standing no less than fifty feet away from a cop and two FBI agents. Edward was the one who was there to save her life, he was the one who held her hand and made sure she wasn't scared." Charlie's calm voice was growing more and more aggravated as he spoke. "So you will have to forgive us all if we are a bit skittish about who is left alone with her whenever we are not there." He seethed as he finished his words.
"As for whom I think I am, that would be the Deputy Director of the FBI. And unless you want a shit storm of FBI, CIA and Secret Service here to make your life a living hell, I suggest you stop trying to piss all over her leg, get her into surgery and repair the damage caused by those assholes." Carlisle said in an almost too calm voice as he moved closer to Riley. "And in case you doubt my ability to do that, let me just assure you I can have the President of the United States here in a matter of minutes to show you just how much I can fuck with your life!" Carlisle was in Riley face now towering over him.
Knowing there was nothing he could do; Riley turned to the nurses helping move Bella to the OR and nodded his head for them to proceed.
"We need to talk dad." Edward said.
Carlisle was never one to throw around his position or the power he held within the government. Edward knew this was so much more than just helping an old friend.
"We will Edward, I promise we will. For now, go be with Bella."
Edward shook his head yes and followed Bella into the elevator that would take her to surgery.
SSES
While Carlisle and Charlie went to the hospital to be with Bella, Emmett stayed on the scene to make sure the local leos got every bit of information they could possibly get from witnesses and the crime scene.
"Rosie baby please tell you have something?" He begged into his cell phone as he paced back and forth in the spot where Bella had gone down, making sure to stay away from the huge blood stain on the sidewalk.
How does someone so tiny lose that much blood? He thought to himself as he listened to Rosalie type away on her computer.
"Gotcha ya bastard." She said.
"What baby?"
"We got a picture of the van from one of the traffic cameras two blocks from the restaurant. It is registered to Felix Johnston. This guy has a rap sheet a mile long mostly petty theft, stealing cars and what do we have here, last year he did three months for drug possession."
"Any way to tie him to this McGovern guy?"
"I'm working on that."
"Thanks baby. Great job so far."
"Have you talked to your dad yet?" Rosalie asked her tone getting very serious.
"I spoke to him before I called you. They had just taking her up to surgery. Edward was going in there with her."
"How is Charlie holding up?"
"He didn't say…but…fuck…he just found out he had a daughter and less than a week later he watches as some asshole first tries to take her and then shoots her without so much as blinking an eye. He's got to be losing his shit right about now." Emmett paused for a moment collecting his thoughts. "I love you Rosie, you know that baby right?"
"I know sweetie, I love you too."
SSES
It had been three hours since they had taken Bella into surgery. Esme arrived at the hospital thirty minutes after they had taken her back and she collapsed into Carlisle's arms as soon as she saw the haggard look on his face.
She was now sitting in one of the chairs holding Carlisle's hand while he spoke to someone on the phone trying to secure protection for Bella while she was in the hospital.
Esme was watching Charlie pace back and forth in the private waiting room Carlisle had arranged for them.
Charlie looked as if he had aged considerable from when she had seen him the night before. She couldn't imagine what was going through his mind. Spending as much time with Bella as she had over the past few days, Esme had developed a great motherly love for the girl and she was currently heartbroken to think of what had happened to her only a few hours earlier.
And as much as it pained her to think of that she knew it had to be a hundred times worse for Charlie. Bella was his daughter and even though they had just recently met she could tell just how much he loved her already. To make things worse he was there, he saw everything with his own eyes, watched as someone tried to take his daughter away from him.
Esme leaned over and kissed Carlisle's cheek before removing her hand from his and standing up. She walked over to where Charlie paced and stood in front of him. At first he didn't really notice her, his mind a million miles away replaying the day's scene over and over in his head trying to figure out what he could have done differently.
"Charlie." Esme's voice called out to him and he stopped in his tracks. The look on her face held so much pity and love for him that all of the emotions he had been holding back crashed onto him and he fell into her open arms, loud sobs wracking his body. Esme just held him, rocking him back and forth and letting him get out all of the pain he was holding onto.
Carlisle watched in his own pain the sight before him. He knew Charlie was blaming himself for what happened. He knew this because he carried that same blame. Bella never should have been alone, especially after all that they had learned from Renee's final words to Charlie. It shouldn't have happened that way. He kept repeating to himself. Of all the places for her to be in danger of being by herself, the place she was at, on the sidewalk, in front of all of those people that never should have been an issue. They were right there, all four of them, they were there watching as she made her way to them. She should have been safe, but she wasn't and Carlisle blamed himself.
Shortly after Charlie had calmed himself down Alice and Jasper came rushing into the room. They had gone back to Richmond the day before and had gotten back to DC as quickly as they could once they had gotten the call from Charlie.
"Charlie is there any news?" Alice said as she rushed over to him and pulled him into a hug.
"She's still in surgery." Charlie answered her.
Alice quickly turned her attention to Carlisle and glared at him murderously.
"Why the hell was she left alone Carlisle." Alice demanded.
"I've been asking myself that same question for the past four hours."
"And your answer is?" Alice demanded even louder.
"I don't have an answer Alice." Carlisle said with shame lacing his voice.
"Why the fuck not!" Alice screamed.
"Alice sweetie calm down." Jasper said walking over to his wife and pulling her into his arms. He could feel angry tears rolling down her face.
"How the hell am I supposed to calm down Jasper? My best friend is in there fighting for her life. She's too young Jasper. It isn't fair."
"I know baby, I know. But yelling at Carlisle or anybody else isn't going to make her better. You know as well as I do Bella wouldn't want that. She would never want to have someone watching over her 24/7, she's too damn stubborn."
"She's going to have to get over that because she will never be alone again if I have anything to say about it." Charlie said.
Just as he finished speaking, Edward came into the room.
"Edward how is she?" Esme said as she rushed over to him and pulled him into her arms.
"Riley was able to stop the bleeding and repair the damage done to her heart. The most damage was done to her sternum, ribs and scapula. Each of them was shattered at some point from the bullet traveling through. She will have to have additional surgeries over the next few days to repair the damage done to those bones. Her body is going to have to get a bit stronger before we can even attempt another surgery right now. We are worried about the stress to her heart and about possible infections. We are going to keep her in a medically induced coma until we have a better idea of how her body is going to react to the trauma she has suffered."
"How long will that be?" Alice asked with a huff.
"And you are?" Edward answered her with a greater huff.
"Edward don't." Carlisle said. "This is Bella's best friend Alice and her husband Jasper. Alice, Jasper this is my son Edward. He was with us when Bella was shot and he saved her life out there. He will be her doctor while she is in the hospital. That way we know she is safe from outside sources so to speak."
"Nice to meet you." Alice and Edward both said at the same time as the held out their hands, neither of them really looking at the other.
"Sorry." They both sheepishly said at the same time as well.
"Can I see her?" Charlie asked breaking the awkward moment filling the room like a cloud.
"You should be able to in a few hours. She is in recovery right now and they will be moving her to the CICU in a little bit. They are working right now to make sure she has a private room."
"We will have agents posted outside of her room at all times, no matter where she is." Carlisle said. "She will not be alone again until Paul McGovern is behind bars."
"Or dead." Charlie added.
"Who's with her now?" Esme asked.
"Sam Uley is with her right now. He was one of the EMT's who answered the call today. I trust him with my own life and I asked him to stay with her while I came to talk with you all."
The room was quiet for a moment when Alice spoke up.
"Who is Paul McGovern?"
Carlisle and Charlie exchanged a brief look with one another, both men knowing well that it was time to share the news they had discovered with the rest of the family.
"Edward do you have time?" Carlisle asked his son.
"Let me go and make sure Sam can stay with Bella until I get back or they move her."
Moments later Edward comes back to the private room, making sure the door is closed behind him. He notices that Emmett and Rosalie have joined them. He settles in with rest of his family as Carlisle and Rosalie recount the story Renee told them and all of the information that they have learned since.
SSES
"Again I ask what the fuck were you thinking?" Paul said as he kicked Demetri in the stomach as he laid in a ball on the floor. The past hour of repeated blows were beginning to drain his body.
Felix sat in another chair watching as his best friend was getting the ever living hell beaten out of him. He knew Demetri had screwed up shooting that girl, he knew Paul would be upset, but he had no idea it would have been this bad.
"Tell me you stupid motherfucker. Tell me again why you tried to grab her like you did."
"It…was the only time she was alone." Demetri managed to sputter out.
"But she really wasn't alone now was she? She was walking down the street in front of two dozen witnesses and these four men in particular." He said as he pointed out Carlisle, Charlie, Edward and Emmett in the picture Felix had taken while he was waiting for Demetri to get Bella into the van.
"And what do you know but two of these men are FBI, one of them being the Deputy fucking Director of the FBI no less and the other a cop." Paul seethed as he kicked Demetri one more time.
"Our source told us she was alone. It was the only time she had been alone in the past four day's boss." Felix said trying to get some of the attention off of Demetri. "We figured that she would have to park in one of the parking garages around the corner and that we would get her there. But I guess a spot on the street opened up and she took that one instead. We knew it was risky but we figured that was going to be our only chance."
"Bullshit!" Paul said as he back handed Felix sending him to the floor beside Demetri. "You should have stayed on her a little longer. She would have had to have been by herself at some point and if not you could have gotten her when she was with one of those women who have been around her of late. That would have been better than the shit storm that you have unleashed on me."
"I have no idea who that bitch Renee talked to before I killed her nor do I have any idea what she told them. But considering the FBI is involved I imagine it couldn't have been good." Paul paced back and forth trying to calm his anger. He had more questions for these two men that he deemed well beneath him and a waste of his time.
"James." Paul said looking over to his right hand man who was standing in the corner of the warehouse watching as Paul dealt with the trash before them. "Did I not say I wanted her alive and unharmed?" Paul asked with an eerie sense of calm in his voice that scared Demetri instantly.
"I seem to remember you making it very clear that Bella was not to be harmed in anyway shape or form." James answered him.
"So then I have to ask, wonder really why the fuck was she shot. For all I know she could be dead right now because this piece of shit shot her." He said as he walked over and kicked Demetri again.
"The…stupid bitch was kicking me." Demetri admitted.
"BITCH!" Paul screamed. "You do not call her a bitch. You are not to even think of her name you dumb piece of shit." He said while kicking Demetri the entire time. "I'm kicking you, are you going to shot me now? I don't care if she would have pulled out a gun and fucked you with it you asshole, she was not to be touched!"
"I'm…sor…sorry…boss." Demetri managed to get out through the pain of being kicked repeatedly.
"Did you hear that James? He said he was sorry."
James chuckled darkly and nodded his head yes.
"Well thank heavens for that. All is perfect now, all of course is forgiven now!" Paul said as he threw his hands up in a halleluiah style.
"He fucked up boss. It won't happen again." Felix said, his eyes pleading with Paul to stop his assault on Demetri.
"You're right Felix, it won't happen again." Paul said as he pulled out the Eagle he had tucked behind his back. Without a moment's hesitation he shot Demetri in the head followed closely by one to Felix's as well.
"Fuck did that feel good!" Paul screamed into the air before forcing himself to calm down.
"What's the word on Bella?" Paul asked turning to James.
"Our guy at the hospital says that she is out of surgery but that it is touch and go. That stupid fucker did some serious damage with his stupid wounded pride."
"FUCK!" Paul screamed again before placing another bullet into Demetri's lifeless corpse.
"First Carmen and Seth and now these two dumb fucks, what the hell is happening James?"
"It's a bump in the road boss. I am working to make sure all of our people are clean right now. Nothing will touch you boss, I promise." James paused before continuing. He knew what he was about to say would not go over well.
"You may want to step back from Bella though Paul. There is too much heat around her now."
"Fuck you James!" Paul seethed. "I will not back off of her. She will be mine." He said taking out a picture of Bella that he had in his pocket. "Her bitch of a mother owes me at least that and I always get what I want, ALWAYS!"
James watched as Paul paced back and forth franticly before coming to a dead stand still. The evil smile that took over his face even made James shutter a bit.
"And I know just how I am going to do it." Paul said.
SSES
It had been three long days since Bella had been shot. In those three days she had gone through two additional surgeries. One that repaired the damage done to her scapula when the bullet exited her body and the second that repaired the sternum and ribs that had been shattered by the bullet going into her body. They had to use small rods to repair her ribs.
Her surgeries had been successful and Edward and the other doctors were feeling better about her chances of survival. Unfortunately for Bella, Edward knew that she would be in pain for a while going forward.
The thought of Bella in pain was devastating to him and he was going to make sure she would be in as little pain as possible. Even though Edward was an ER doctor, arrangements were made for him to be Bella's primary doctor now and he would be able to make sure she was comfortable when she did wake up.
True to his word, Carlisle had two agents posted outside of her room at all times. He also had agents posted at different points throughout the hospital. No one was allowed into her room without passing Rosalie's background check first. There were rumblings throughout the hospital about it being too much and wonders of just who the hell this girl was. None of that was the concern of Carlisle Cullen though. Bella's safety and her well-being were his only concern.
Bella's friends and family were by her side at all times. Once they had moved her from CICU to ICU she was allowed two visitors at a time. An unspoken schedule was set and someone was always there for her.
This was more important now that they had stopped given her the medicine that induced her comatose state. Edward and the other doctors were hoping it was just a matter of time now before she woke up.
Edward walked into the room to look over her latest stats. Charlie was asleep in the chair beside her bed. He was holding her hand, his upper body resting on the bed by her waist.
Edward walked over to the other side of her bed and took her free hand into his.
"Bella." He whispered hoping she would wake up or at least squeeze his hand in recognition of her name being called.
"You're going to be ok beautiful." He said before looking over at Charlie to see if he had heard him call her beautiful. There was no movement from Charlie at all. "You are so tough Bella. I could see it as you fought off the bastard who did this to you and I can see it as you have fought these past few days. So strong! Your family loves you Bella and they are, we all are waiting for you to open those beautiful brown eyes of yours and talk to us."
He stood there for a moment, hoping upon hope that she would open her eyes. But there was nothing. No sound other than the machines, no movements other than the steady rise and fall of her chest.
Edward sighed heavily before leaning down and kissing her forehead gently.
"I'll be back soon." He whispered in her ears before turning to leave the room.
He was standing by the elevator waiting for it to get to the 10th floor so he could go and check in with the ER to see if they needed anything. Once inside he let everything sweep over him as the car descended its way to the ground floor.
So many thoughts were running around in his head. He knew it was wrong for him to be this emotionally attached to his patient. It was against his medical and personal oaths but he couldn't stop if he tried. That brief moment that they had shared before his world stopped on its axis was all it took to change his outlook on things.
And what were these emotions that he was feeling. He was very protective of her, he knew that, but what were the others. So many emotions pulling at his heart and mind, so many emotions trying to break free from everything that usually held him together.
"Edward." A familiar voice called to him.
He looked up to see the doors to the elevator had opened and Sam was standing there watching him.
"Hey Sam." Edward said with a small smile on his face.
"How is she doing?" Sam asked.
"Still not awake yet, but doing well otherwise." He answered Sam.
"Do you have a moment to talk; maybe we could get some coffee?" Sam asked.
Edward hesitated but then thought that maybe talking to Sam would be just what he needed.
"I've never seen you act the way you did with Bella Edward." Sam began once they sat down at the cafeteria table after getting their coffee.
"Me either." Edward said with a sigh.
"How long have you known this girl?" Sam asked.
Edward chuckled to himself as he realized how absurd his answer was going to sound to Sam.
"Truth be told Sam I don't really know her at all. That day was the first time I ever laid eyes on her. When I first went to her after she was shot, that was our first introduction to one another." He said unable to look Sam in the face.
"Wow!" Sam muttered.
"I know." Edward said with a pause.
"There's just…" Edward started but was cut off by his beeper going off and then hearing his name being paged to the 10th floor ICU.
"Bella." Edward said as he stood up. "I got to go Sam, sorry." He said as he was rushing out of the cafeteria unsure of whether or not Sam even heard him.
It seemed to take forever for the elevator to reach the ground floor and Edward contemplated taking the stairs. He heard his name being paged again and he was about to head for the stairs when the doors opened and he saw Carlisle standing inside.
"Bella?" Edward asked, fear evident in his tone.
"She's awake son." Carlisle said with a smile.
A/N: I took several liberties with medical terminology and procedures. Please forgive me as I know only what my mind remembers from TV shows and a little internet research. I also know I was a vague with her care at the beginning but I didn't want this chapter to get bogged down in medical terms and procedures.
I also gave Carlisle a little more power than maybe he should have had, but then again I would suspect the Deputy Director of the FBI to have some major power. Plus I like Carlisle being a little bad ass from time to time!
I know this chapter was short compared to the others and very angsty. I didn't want it to be too much so I left it shorter on purpose. There will be much more action and much more Edward/Bella interaction to come.
So Paul, very scary dude huh?
Much love to all for your thoughts, favs and alerts!
Would love to know what you think about this one!
