DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Stephenie Meyer owns it all.

Thank you so much to those who sent kind wishes for a speedy recovery from being sick. Hopefully, I can update this soon, but it all depends on when inspiration strikes.

CHARLIE POV

"Why? What happened, Charlie?" Edward blurted out at the other end of the line.

At that exact moment, Alice Cullen ran into the emergency room waiting area. She quickly walked out and put her hand out for my cell phone.

"Charlie, you should be resting! Not making cell phone calls! Hand it over!" She didn't really give me a chance to hand it over and basically ripped the sucker from my hands. Not a smart move on Alice's part as my one arm seemed broken and the other was badly bruised.

She then put the phone up to her ear. "Edward, I'll call you back."

"How did you know…"

"Charlie, you know can't use a cell phone in the hospital! Listen to me, I'm explaining breaking the rules to the chief of police." She shook her head and walked over to the nurse's station. With a huge grin, she held out her hand to a frizzy haired bleach blonde nurse who I recognized as Lucille Cleghorne. She was two years ahead of me at Forks High. She was Lucille Danvers then and also a frizzy brunette. Her hair might be different, but she still piled on the makeup like she did in school. Her husband, Ray, was one of the foremen at the nearby mill.

"Hi, I'm Alice Cullen and you are?"

Lucille tentatively took Alice's hand and shuddered a bit at her touch. Just like the rest of those Cullens, Alice was always freezing.

"Nurse Cleghorne."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Doctor Carlisle Cullen's daughter. Chief Charlie Swan was just brought in after being in a bad car accident which resulted in multiple injuries. He's just sitting in the waiting room suffering in silence." She leaned closer and whispered. "Now, you and I both know that the chief is a humble man and doesn't want a fuss made over him, but he really is injured badly and needs to be seen by a doctor. Is my father aware that he's here?"

Well, that just about did it. Lucille was not about to be bullied by some teenager. After a long minute, she responded to Alice coolly.

"Miss Cullen, there are several other patients ahead of him and we've already ascertained that his injuries are not life threatening. He'll have to wait." Lucille gestured in my direction and continued with her chilly response. "I cannot go and break the rules for those in a position of power. How would that be fair to the other patients? How would it look if word got around that Chief Swan was abusing his power." Geez Lucille, what the hell did I ever do to you in school?

Alice's eyes turned to slits and the smile disappeared.

"Abusing his power? The man has been waiting here for over an hour. How would it look if word got around that the beloved chief who has kept this town safe was ignored and left to die?"

"He has a broken arm and some other minor injuries. He's hardly at death's door."

"Nurse Cleghorne is it? Hmmm. Let me take this opportunity to abuse my power. I am the daughter of Carlisle Cullen. Dr. Carlisle Cullen. Dr. Carlisle "Chief of Surgery" Cullen. Yes, that Dr. Cullen. And that man over there, Chief of Police Charles Swan, is horrifically injured and we have yet to catch the perpetrators who ran him off the road at eighty miles an hour landing him in a ditch with the front of his car embedded right into a tree. The rest of the police force is looking frantically for whoever did this to him because he is a person who matters here in Forks. EVERY person on the force has been called to duty to solve this because he is beloved by the citizens of this small town. Now I demand that he is seen immediately. Chief Swan is also one of my relatives and has been like a second father to me. So someone better page my father right away and apprise him of the situation down here in the ER! Dr. Cullen will not be pleased to learn that a member of his own family has been so cruelly and inhumanely treated by members of the hospital that he has devoted his life to! Again, Dr. Carlisle Cullen…"

Man, that Alice was enraged! Everyone was staring at her as she put Lucille in her place. To be honest, it felt awful good to be taken care of.

"Did I hear someone mention my name…several, several times?" As usual with the Cullens, Carlisle appeared out of nowhere. He gave Alice a disapproving look.

"Daddy," I've never heard Alice call Carlisle that before! She must really be desperate. "Charlie was run off the road tonight and landed in a ditch with his car ramming into a tree at eighty miles per hour. He's badly injured. I'm so worried. And Nurse Cleghorne here doesn't think the CHIEF OF POLICE deserves to be treated immediately."

Carlisle put his hand on Alice's shoulder. "Sweetheart, everything will be fine. I will take care of Charlie myself. Now go ahead and have a seat. Actually, call your mother and let her know what's happened. You can use the phone in my office."

Alice threw her arms around Carlisle. "Thank you Daddy!" She withdrew from her father and all but stuck her tongue out at Lucille as she disappeared down the hall.

Carlisle then leaned over the desk where Lucille was sitting. It was obvious that Lucille would have put a poster-sized picture of Carlisle on the ceiling of her bedroom if Ray would let her. She was breathless being so close to the handsome doctor.

"Lucille, I must apologize for my daughter's behavior. Chief Swan's daughter is married to my son and our families have become quite close. Alice is especially close to him."

I've heard the expression, "butter wouldn't melt" when describing particularly icy personalities and Lucille would definitely fit into that category. However, Carlisle's close proximity seemed to make Lucille melt right into the floor with steam rising from the cheap linoleum tiles. She giggled and swatted the air in front of her.

"Oh Dr. Cullen, she's a lovely girl! I can only hope that someone would be as considerate and caring if I were ever injured. You are so lucky to have such a compassionate daughter who cares about her elders!"

"Well, that's awfully kind and understanding of you. I'm going to check on Charlie Swan." He began to head in my direction.

"Okay, Dr. Cullen. I'll be right here if you need anything!" Lucille stared at the view of Carlisle walking away. I had heard that the nurses had always been "partial" to Carlisle, but had never seen it first hand. I bet they all throw darts at Esme's picture in the nurses' lounge.

"Hello Charlie."

"Hi Carlisle. Had a bit of an accident as you can see."

"Yes, can you walk?"

"Yeah, I've got a bit of a limp though."

"In that case, let me get you a wheelchair." He motioned to an orderly who brought one over right away. People jumped when Carlisle was around. That was one advantage of Bella marrying Edward.

I sat in the chair and Carlisle maneuvered me into a private room. A minute later, Alice silently slipped in. They really freaked me out sometimes.

Carlisle stopped the chair by the bed and motioned for me to sit on it. He then picked up a clipboard and started making notations.

"Okay, so you were run off the road?"

"By a group of the Quileute kids no less." Carlisle shook his head.

"Tell me exactly what happened."

I had hit my head when the car struck the tree, but the events leading up to it were quite clear…

It was about 7:30PM and I had just wrapped up my shift. I had taken to working longer shifts since Bella, Edward and Nessie left town. I stopped by the middle of town to pick up a pizza and my intention was to go straight home to watch a game. As I was making my way down Rivers Road, I noticed that there was a gray SUV tailing my cruiser. It had been there since I made my way out of town. Now, I've always told Bella not to speed on this road because it's awfully winding, but I was uncomfortable with the closeness of the SUV and sped up just a bit. The next thing I knew, the SUV was riding right up alongside of my car head on into the lane of opposite traffic.

"What the hell?"

The driver rolled down his window and I recognized him and the guy in the passenger seat as some of the boys I had seen down in La Push. Paul and Quil, I think. I turned on my sirens right away, but they were not deterred.

"Hey Charlie!" The driver was taunting me.

"Pull over, young man!"

"I don't think so. We're halfway to the rez and we play by our rules in this territory. Hell, the whole thing is our territory!" The two of them laughed like crazy.

"I said pull over!"

"We'll obey your laws when you start to obey ours. Where the fuck is Nessie? According to our laws, she is not allowed to be taken from Jake."

I picked up the radio and called into dispatch. "This is Chief Swan. I am on Rivers Road being tailed by two Native American males driving recklessly in a gray SUV license plate number—"

The SUV then bashed into the side of the cruiser. I was able to steer and keep my car under control. I slowed down and began turning my car around, but they did a quick U-turn and hit the gas as hard as they could. They rammed my cruiser from behind and my car was propelled over the side of the road. The cruiser barreled right into a tree. Even though I was wearing my seatbelt, my body still hit the side of the car by the door breaking my arm and I also hit my head. A small river of blood trickled down my forehead and I cried out in pain from my arm.

The SUV disappeared and the next thing I knew there were sirens in the distance. Soon I was being loaded into an ambulance. In the distance, I could hear the cries of Alice Cullen who happened to be driving by at that exact moment. She followed the ambulance to the hospital and had been with me ever since.

At the end of my story, Carlisle took a deep breath. "When will it ever end? Why can't they just leave us all alone?"

"Well, dispatch sent some officers down to La Push, but I doubt they'll get any help from anyone there. They protect their own."

"We'll think of something. I cannot believe they've taken it this far."

"Let's do something fast because I can't imagine them getting Nessie into their group. My grand-daughter and the rest of the family can't live in fear like this."

"Let's get you X-rayed and then plot out our next move, shall we?"

After I was X-rayed and the bone in my arm was set, Alice took me home. She helped me to my bed and gave me some pain killers. I drifted off to sleep and awoke at 11AM the next morning.

When I woke up, Alice was standing over me with a great big smile on her face.

"Yay! You're awake! How are feeling this morning?" She was a chipper little thing. It was a bit unnerving as I was not used to having an audience first thing in the morning.

"Alice, have you been here all night?"

"Not exactly. I went home to change my clothes this morning and Esme came by in my absence."

"Esme's here?"

"And Rosalie. And Emmett. So come on downstairs and let's get you something to eat!"

She pulled back the covers in one swift motion. "Come on, everyone's been waiting for you to wake up!"

"Alice, I need to use the facilities first. I'll meet you downstairs"

When I got downstairs, I could smell fresh coffee brewing. "Esme walked out of the kitchen wearing an apron while Rosalie and Emmett were parked in front of the TV watching some sort of soap opera.

"Good morning Charlie! How are you feeling this morning?"

"Much better, Esme, thanks."

"We're sorry to intrude like this, but we really wanted to make sure you were taken care of and protected. You are family after all. Now have a seat and I'll have some breakfast ready for you in just a minute."

"Well, that's mighty kind of you."

Emmett motioned for me to sit in the lounger. "You're just in time to find out who is the father of Caprice's baby."

"Rosalie got you watching soap operas with her now?"

Rosalie snorted. "He wishes he had that excuse. I'm just killing time until Top Gear comes on BBC America."

Alice exited the kitchen and started sniffing. She looked at Emmett and Rosalie who also turned away from the TV to sample the air.

Rosalie sighed. "Ugh. I hate the smell of wet dog in the morning." The doorbell rang and Alice answered it. It was Billy with a Quileute boy I had never seen before. Billy nodded at Alice and wheeled himself right in. The boy followed. Billy had been my friend my whole life, but with the look on his face, I hardly recognized him. It was as if he was radiating with some kind of new power. I almost envisioned him getting up out of that chair and walking by himself.

"Charlie! Glad to see you up and about. You remember Eric, don't you?"

"Eric? Little Eric who used to ride the bike with the training wheels?" It couldn't be him. He was towering over everyone else and had gained enormous amounts of muscle. He was just like all the other boys on the reservation now.

"Yes, that's him. He's grown. We've grown in numbers." And that he shot a look over at Emmett as if it was almost a warning. "Anyway, I heard you had an accident and wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Who told you I had an accident? I haven't told anyone yet."

"Well, you know, Forks is a small town. Doesn't take much."

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about who might have been driving the other car now would you?"

"Me? No. Haven't heard a thing. I just wanted to make sure my best friend was able to walk away."

"Well, I'm fine now."

"Have you told Bella yet? She must be an absolute mess. I know how she worries about you."

"No, I haven't spoken to Bella yet."

"That's right, she went out of town, didn't she?"

"She's not around, no." Was this really my "best" friend that I was talking to? There was something in his voice that replaced all the trust I had once had in him. It was something along the lines of entitlement.

"Well, where is she? Shouldn't she be here taking care of you?"

"She's fine where she is. I have people to take care of me."

He looked at the rest of those in the room and smirked. "People?"

"Yes, family."

"Interesting. So where did she go? I know how much you hate to be away from her and Nessie."

"They're just taking some time to be together as a family."

"I assume Edward is with them."

"Of course, the three of them are a family."

"Jake is family too you know. He's just as much a part of Nessie's life as Edward."

"Not exactly, Billy. Edward is Nessie's father and he's my son. Nessie is his blood so he's much more to Nessie than Jake is. You understand course."

"Of course, but Jake is still important to Nessie and Nessie is family to all of us. And she needs to be with family."

Emmett broke his silence. "You mean family like a cult is a family, right?"

"There is nothing cultish about a boy being with the girl he cares for."

Rosalie couldn't stand it anymore, "Yes, there's nothing more romantic or sick as a girl being forced against her will." She stood up. "Listen, Billy Black, you stay the hell away from my niece! Stop threatening my family!"

"This is between me and Charlie. No one invited you into this conversation. You know Charlie, none of us would even be in this mess if you had been a better father and paid attention to your daughter from the beginning."

"Excuse me? Just what in the hell do you think you are talking about?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. Had you taken an interest in your daughter, she wouldn't have gotten involved with the Cullens at all. Think about it, she could be going to the University of Washington right now dating that Newton kid. How many life and death situations has she been in since she started dating Edward? Hmmm, to be fair though, you probably have no idea since you could barely pull yourself away from the playoffs. Now look at Bella, nineteen years old…married with a baby. Not the life you envisioned for her is it? But that's the Cullens for you. They'll suck the life right out of you."

"Get the hell out of my house! Consider our friendship officially over!"

I practically lunged at him, but Eric got in between us.

"Well, I guess that's goodbye then Charlie, but just pass along the message to Bella and Edward that this isn't over. They can run to the ends of the earth and back again trying to keep Nessie from Jake, but we'll find them. We have all the time in the world and as we all know, maybe all except you, so do they."

And with that, Eric wheeled Billy out the door. A lifetime of friendship ruined by his son's insane insistence that a little girl was his soulmate. I slumped back leaning against the back of the sofa. My heart was beating out of my chest. I know there are certain things that are beyond my understanding. I know I am standing in a world I no longer comprehend or even believe. A world that is not natural to me. Rather wholly unnatural. But that doesn't mean I won't use every means necessary to protect my daughter and grand-daughter. Even if it is the last thing I ever do. The very last.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story. If you do favorite this story or add it to your alert list, please review. I would really appreciate it.