AN: There will be abuse in this chapter! There will not be rape!
As always, I do not own Twilight the great Stephanie Meyer's does.
CHAPTER 6
The opening week for Twilight went better then what Jasper expected it to. There was still a lot of food left over for the shelter to pick up the following morning. They were very grateful for the donated items, Didyme said that Alice and Rose had also been by and dropped off the clothes for them. She was on her way to Midnight Sun and Crossroads to pick up the food from Edward as well.
I was sitting at home watching Big Brother's season premier, evil Dick and his daughter had just entered the house, I couldn't wait to watch and see what crazy things he did this time, he's my all-time favorite in the series, I knew that it was going to be a great show.
Suddenly there was a knock on my door, I wasn't expecting anyone because I knew they were all at work. I was still nervous about it being James even though he hasn't been around the last few weeks. I turned the TV down and slowly got up to answer the door, whoever it was started to knock again. I made my way to the door to look out the peephole and see who was there, but I didn't see anyone. I waited again watching the peephole to see of someone would knock again but after a minute nobody was there I decided to go back into the living room. Just as I was turning around the knocking started again, I looked out but there was still nobody there, I was getting really scared now. I quickly ran back into the living room where my phone was and called Jake but he didn't answer his phone, I knew that he was at work but wasn't sure if he would be able to answer his phone or not. I tried to call Paul's office phone but it went to voicemail, the knocking continued and I continued to freak out. I decided to call Edward, he would be the closest to me, just as I was hitting the send button the door flew open. I ran to my bedroom, with my phone in hand, and locked the door, then I went into the bathroom and locked that door. I didn't know where else I could hide being on the 6th floor I didn't have any windows that I could climb out of that had a balcony to it. I heard the person in the living room going threw and smashing things, I had completely forgotten that Edward was on the phone until I heard him yelling at me.
"BELLA! BELLA!"
"Edward, someone's here, help me please," I whispered just as my bedroom door was broken open, I knew that I was in major trouble now. My bathroom door was kicked in and there stood James, I was shaking with fear and I dropped the phone when the door few open.
"Did you really think that I wouldn't find you? That moving into a new apartment would stop me from coming after you and finishing what I had started?" I could see in his eyes that he was crazy, he had completely lost touch with reality. I just shook my head, I didn't know what else to do.
"That stupid doorman was easy to get threw, all I had to do was wait until he walked into the office, I quickly shut the door behind him and locked it, then I went in the door for the stairs. I didn't take me long to find out what apartment was your either, people here didn't know who I was so they were willing to give me the info. I must say that the picture of me that day in your apartment doesn't really look like me now does it?" He had dyed his hair black and cut it off, it used to be long and blond, he also had on a baseball cap that somewhat concealed his facial features, it was covering his eyes well.
"What do you want James? Why won't you just leave me alone?" I was crying now, I was terrified and I didn't know what I could do to get out of here, he was standing in the doorway and it was my only escape.
"I want you to come with me, just like you were supposed to, we're going to leave this area and live someplace else, just the two of us, nobody around to tell us we can't be together." I didn't want to go anywhere with him, but I didn't have a choice in the matter right now, I nodded my head and asked if I could pack a bag to take with me, he said that was fine. I made my way to the closet trying to think if there was anything I could use as a weapon in here, but I don't think that a heeled shoe would do much damage to him. I was stalling and I knew it, I knew that my phone was in the bathroom maybe I could get to it and somehow call for help. I was making my way there, just as I was about to go in James got off the bed and hit me from behind, knocking me to the ground. I fell on my hands and knees, I wasn't sure if I should get up or just stay down, I decided to stay down, and sat on the floor. He started to come after me again, this time I noticed what he had in his hands it was a book from my living room, he proceeded to hit me with it, hitting my arms and legs, he managed to hit me on the side of the head knocking me out.
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I had no idea how long I had been out, when my eyes adjusted to the lighting I noticed that I was in a basement. It smelled moldy, there was only a small amount of light coming from the door by the stairs so you couldn't really see anything. I could hear the water running threw the pipes and it sounded like someone was walking around above me, there was more than one person up there I could tell. I had no idea where I was or who was up there but I didn't want to alert anyone that I was awake yet. I tried to move my arms but they were tied behind me and around a pipe, my feet were also tied together, there was no way that I could get my hands untied without some sort of sharp object to cut the rope with, the more I moved the tighter the rope got around my wrists. My throat was dry and my head was throbbing, I tried to look around but there was nothing anywhere close to me that I could use to cut threw the rope. I could hear someone walking closer to the steps, the door opened then and two men came down the stairs.
"I see sleeping beauty is finally awake, now we can have our fun!" James said as he came and stood in front of me.
"Why? Why are you doing this James, why not just leave me alone and go one with your life? You could be long gone by now I bet, nobody would know where you went or who you were if you had changed your name, I mean you changed your hair and nobody recognized you." I was trying to get him to leave, even if it would mean that I would be constantly looking over my shoulder, I would still be alive then.
"No! I want you to suffer just like I did in jail. I want you to experience real pain," he said to me with a gleam in his eyes. He cut the tape that was around the pipe, but it still left my hand tied together, he grabbed me by the arms and lifted me up, my feet were still tied together so I couldn't walk, he carried me by my arms and set me on a table that I hadn't noticed was there, he tied each of my arms to the table and then untied my feet. I started kicking as much as I could, unfortunately that didn't work to well in my favor, he punched me on the leg just above my knee to stop me from kicking, then he tied my legs to the table. I was positioned like an X on the table, next he taped my mouth shut.
"I don't want to have to listen to whine and scream while I have my fun with you."
He left me there with the other man, who was just watching the whole thing, I didn't know what his involvement with this was. I just looked at him pleading with my eyes for him to help me but he just looked at me with an evil sneer on his face.
"Sorry little girl but you will get no help from me, I love to watch the torture," he said. When James came back he had a variety of knives with him, I didn't want to know what he was going to do with those. He placed them down on a table near by, I noticed that the table also had what looked like a whip along with the knives he had.
"I'm going to use this one you, it will be painful that's why I have taped your mouth shut, I know you will scream once this hits your skin." He did just that, he hit me repeatedly; over my legs, arms, and stomach, I could feel it ripping away my clothing and skin. I started to get lightheaded when I could smell the blood leaving my body, I tried to breath out of my mouth but it didn't work, I just let the black consume me I didn't want to be awake for any of this.
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I could smell something nasty under my nose, I started gagging instantly but with my mouth taped it made it even worse. When I opened my eyes I was looking right at James and his friend. They both has smiles on there face and I knew that my torture wasn't anywhere close to over yet.
"Nice of you to join us, are you not a fan of blood?" I shook my head no, maybe he would spare me but he didn't he continued just like he had before I had passed out, but this time he was going for the knives. Just as he grabbed a knife off the table beside me there was a loud crash from upstairs. I was silently thanking whoever was up there for temporarily relieving me of my torture. Both James and his friend took off for the stairs leaving me alone, I was shivering now because of the cold and the blood loss. I could hear them upstairs fighting, I had no idea who it was but I was hoping that when it was done and over they would check the basement to see if anyone was down here.
What felt like hours later there was a gun shot, then dead silence, suddenly the door was flung open and someone was running down the stairs, I couldn't see who they were until they were right in front of me.
"Edward," I whispered just as everything around me went black again.
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I could hear someone talking and a beeping sound in the back, where was I?
Beep, Beep, Beep
Someone need to turn that noise off, it was killing my head.
Beep, Beep, Beep
I tried to open my eyes but they were just to heavy, it was probably a good thing anyway, I didn't want to wake and have him torture me anymore.
Beep, Beep, Beep
"Ugh," Someone turn that damn thing off already! The beeping was getting louder and faster now, it was killing my head, I already have a nasty migraine.
"Help please," I was barely able to whisper out, but someone must have heard me, I could feel someone's hand on my arm lightly squeezing it.
"Bella, baby, can you hear me? It's me Edward, your in the hospital right now, if you can hear me squeeze my hand, don't try to talk right now ok." I squeezed his hand letting him know that I could hear him, I could feel the tension leave his body. "I've been so worried about you, when you called and said someone was in your apartment I got there as fast as I could, I called the cops on the way but you were already gone when we got there. I'm so, so glad that you're ok baby, I've missed you so much." His voice was heavy with emotions, it sounded like he was fighting back the tears. I could feel myself falling asleep again, I knew that I was safe for now so I didn't fight it.
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I heard the door open then, Edward told the person that I could hear him, but I hadn't opened my eyes yet. I was still so tired, I felt like I could sleep for a few more days. The person who I guessed must have been a doctor told him that it was because of the meds that I wasn't opening my eyes or talking yet, I could hear him but my mind was still clouded with the meds. The door closed then and I could feel my heart beating like crazy, I didn't need the monitor to tell me that, I was scared to be alone right now.
"Calm down baby, I'm still here, I'm not going anywhere I promise, don't worry." He placed his hand back in mine, I gave him a squeeze in thanks, I could feel myself almost instantly calm down. "I know that you have many questions and I will answer them when you are more alert but right now you just need to rest, try to go back to sleep love, I'll be right here when you wake back up." He kissed my temple, I nodded to him and felt myself drifting back to sleep.
The next few times I woke up were kind of fuzzy, I remember waking up panicked that I was alone, but then Edward would place his hand on mine to let me know that he was there and I would fall back to sleep. I was finally able to open my eyes what felt like days later, I could feel Edward beside me, he had his hand on mine letting me know that he was still here with me. I turned to look at him, he had days worth of stubble, it looked like he hadn't shaved in weeks, his hair was messier then usual he must have been running his hands threw it or pulling on it in frustration. Next I noticed that his eyes had purple like bruising under them, he hadn't sleep much it looked like, his clothes were all wrinkly too, he was asleep so I didn't want to wake him up yet. When I tried to move my arm I felt a sharp pain and a tugging, I looked down and noticed that I had an I.V in my arm, I hated needles.
"Ugh," I said and then started to cough, my throat was so dry and sore.
"Try not to talk to much love, let me get you some water ok?" When I turned to look at him I could have cried, his eyes were so green, they were filled with so many emotions, the main one being concern. It was so nice to see his face and hear his voice. I nodded to him that I wanted water and would wait until he handed it to me with a straw before I tried to talk again.
"How long have I been out?" I rasped out.
"You have been here for about a week now." There was something he wasn't telling me, I waited a minute to see if he would tell me but he didn't so I knew that I was going to have to ask.
"How long have I been gone?" I was kind of afraid to know that answer this. I saw him take a deep breath and then let it out slowly.
"It took us about a week to find you, when we did you were pretty out of it, I don't know how long you were out while you were in that basement." I could hear the sadness in his voice, I nodded my head, I went to take a deep breath and was met by a sharp pain in my sides. I cried out in surprise and pain, Edward asked me what was wrong and I just pointed to my sides.
"You have several broken ribs love, that's why you are in so much pain, they had to keep you sedated for a few days because one of the ribs punctured your lung, but there were able to repair it. You also have several lacerations on your arms, legs, and the bottoms of your feet, you won't be able to walk for a while I'm afraid."
I noticed then that I was in some pain but not a whole lot, when I looked at my arms they were covered in gauze so where my legs and feet when I looked under the covers. Just then the door opened and I jumped causing me to cry out again in pain, my ribs were now throbbing. The man in a lab coat came over to me and Edward, he put his hand on Edwards shoulder and patted it lightly, I wondered how he knew who this guy was.
"Bella, I would like you to meet my father Carlisle, dad this is Bella my girlfriend." It was weird to hear him call me his girlfriend still. I tried to smile but I think it came out as a grimace because of the pain I was in.
"I didn't mean to scare you Bella, as you know my name is Carlisle, I'm also your doctor. Would you like me to get you something for the pain?" I nodded that I would because it was rather hard to breath right now. He walked out the door and came back a minute later with a syringe for me.
"This is morphine, it's going to go right into your I.V. I'm not going to put another hole in your arm don't worry." He said lightly, I tried again to smile but I don't think it worked I was still in to much pain. Almost instantly I could feel the relief the meds were giving me. "Ok, it that better now?" I nodded yes.
"Good, has Edward here told you what injuries you have sustained?" I nodded, "Good, I want you to take it easy when you're released, it's going to be about 6-8 weeks before your ribs heal properly, that means no lifting anything heavier then a gallon of milk until you are cleared. Also with the cuts on your arms and legs that you have, the bandages will need to be changed twice a day and ointment applied so that they don't get infected and it will also reduce any scaring you may have. The cuts on the bottoms of your feet will need to be cared for at least three times a day, I'm also going to give you an oral antibiotic to take four times a day. You are going to have to stay off your feet for the next 2-3 weeks until they are completely healed, that mean you will be in a wheelchair to get around. I know that you live alone, Edward told me, However you are going to need lots of help while you're recovering, so someone will need to be with you at all times for the next 6 weeks minimum." He gave me a pointed look, he must have heard how stubborn I can be, I nodded my head that I would have someone with me at all times. I had no idea who I was going to ask but I didn't have to wonder long.
"She can stay with me, her apartment is being redone right now anyway due to the damage from that asshole. Jake is working on a big case with Paul so they will be at the office for the majority of the time unfortunatly. I didn't know who else to call, I just took some of the clothes from your apartment and moved them up to mine. We can stop by on the way and pick up anything else that you might need once you are released."
"Ok, I guess, um where is Jake and Paul now? And most importantly when am I getting out of here1" I wanted to laugh but I knew that it would put to much strain on my ribs so I just smiled as wide as I could.
"Jake and Paul are in court right now, they had some meeting with the other attorney? I have no idea how that stuff works sorry, but they did say they would be here later to see you now that you're awake." Edward told me and then looked at his father.
"As for you getting out of here, I would say that as long as you rest for the rest of the day then I will come and check on you again before my shift ends, if everything is still good, and your CT scan's are good then I will let you go home tonight."
"Ok, thanks for everything then Dr. Cullen, I wish it were under different circumstances that I was meeting you." I started blushing, I hated that I had to meet Edward's dad this way it was embarrassing.
"Please call me Carlisle, it was nice to meet you as well. I will be back later to check on you, if you're released tonight I will be following you home Edward to make sure that she gets set up ok."
"No problem dad, thanks again," he said as he gave his dad a hug goodbye.
"I'm sure you have more questions for me but I know that the police want to talk to you also, just so they can get your side of the story."
"When do I have to talk to them?"
"They wanted me to call them as soon as you woke up, but I wanted to give you time to adjust first before calling them. I was going to call them now while your still here so if need be I can have dad tell them to fuck off."
"Ok then, let's get this over with." He went over to the phone in my room and called the number he had on a card, he told the person that I was awake and could have visitors for a little while, but I was to be resting. When he was done he came back over to me and sat down, I wanted to ask him so many questions but I knew that I had to wait until the police were here.
About 30 minutes later there was another knock on my door, this time I didn't jump but I could feel my body tense up. Edward went to the door and let the people in, there were 2 uniformed officers, one male and one female.
"Glad to see you awake Miss. Swan, my name is Sam, I'm the detective in charge of your case, and this is my partner Emily. Can you tell us what happened that day?" I told the detective what happened that day and the time before he was in jail, when I was done I was mentally and physically exhausted. It took me about 2 hours to get everything out that they needed from me, I wanted so badly to ask them questions but I was just to tired. I asked Edward if he could call the nurse so that I could get something for the pain, when she came in and gave me the dose I drifted off to sleep almost instantly.
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I could hear Edward talking to his dad, he was asking him how the scan's looked and if I would be ok to go home tonight. He also told him about the police coming to talk to me, Carlisle said that it was a good idea to have them come in while I was still in the hospital so that incase I had a panic attack I could be treated right away. He told Edward some things that he should watch out for, but I couldn't really hear him, I think they knew I was waking up so they stopped there conversation.
"Hey sleepy head, are you actually awake this time?" Edward asked me with a smile on his beautiful face, I just looked at him confused I had no idea what he meant by this time. "Did you know that you sometimes talk in your sleep?" I instantly went red, my mother had told me that I talked in my sleep but I didn't believe her.
"My mom once told me, but I didn't believe her, what embarrassing things did I say?" I groaned.
"Nothing bad, you just called for me a couple of times that's it."
"I don't remember dreaming about anything," I said, I didn't know if that had anything to do with it or not. I tried to shrug my shoulder but it hurt to do that so I stopped.
"Ok Bella, as I was just telling Edward your scan's came back fine, you can go home tonight if you want." I nodded my head rapidly, only to cause me to get sick to my stomach. Carlisle laughed lightly, "you might not want to do that for a little while yet, with having a concussion your balance is going to be off and you're going to get sick to your stomach moving quickly also. I'm going to send home something for pain called Norco, just take one tablet every 4 to 6 hours as needed. I'm also going to send you something for the dizziness called Meclizine, 1 tab three times a day. I know that you won't be up moving around a lot right now but if you need it take it, the side effects on both of these are drowsiness so when you take them your going to get tired. You need as much rest as possible anyway, it will help you heal faster. Make sure with the Norco that you have food in your stomach, I'm also sending some cream for the cuts that will help to heal them and also minimize the scarring."
"I have a change of clothes for you also, I wasn't sure when you were going to get released so I had Jake stop by your apartment and pick up some comfy clothes for you."
"Thank you, how soon before I can get out of here? No offense to you but I really hate hospitals and needles."
"That's quite alright dear, let me just finish up with my last patient and by then the nurse's should have your paperwork done, then we can all get out of here." He patted my hand lightly and left to give my chart to the nurse. I was glad to be going home so quickly, I would think that they would keep me longer but maybe because I would have a doctor on call they were letting me go.
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Awhile later Carlisle came threw my door, I was so happy to see him, it meant that I could go home finally.
"Does this mean that I can go home now!" I was so excited. I had already changed clothes, the outfit Jake picked out was definitely comfortable it was yoga pants and sweatshirt, he also had a hairbrush and toothbrush in there for me. Carlisle had brought in a wheelchair for me to use for the next couple of weeks while I was at home also. Edward went to bring the car around while Carlisle wheeled me out of the hospital.
"I know that you don't really feel up to talking right now after just talking with the police, but it might be a good idea to see a counselor about what happened, many people go threw anxiety or panic attacks after an event like this."
"I have a therapist already from the first time James did this to me, I had dropped down to only seeing her once a month because he was in jail and things were better, when he attacked me again I started to see her once a week. I still plan to see her now, her name is Siobhan, she's great and I really like her."
"Good, that was actually the person I was going to recommend that you see, she is great with trauma victims. When we finally get you settled in at Edwards we can go over what happened with you ok? I don't want to talk about it today only because you had to deal with the police earlier, so tomorrow afternoon I will come over and then we can talk about what happened with you is that ok?"
"Yes, I have been wanting to know what happened, but I knew that nobody could say anything until I talked to the cops first. Thank you for taking care of me while I was in here and while I am at home." He bend down so that I could give him a hug while we waited for Edward to bring the car up.
AN:
Up next we find out what happened to Bella while she was out. Did they catch James?