I hope you enjoy the last chapter! Thanks for sticking it out with me!

I must have drifted off again because the next thing I knew I was waking to the sound of voices.

'-as long as the incision looks good we can leave off the head wrapping.' I heard a heavily accented voice say. The doctor? I thought to myself.

'Bella?' I heard a soft feminine voice ask.

'Alice?' I asked and I felt her small hand grip my left ankle.

'Hello Bella.' The accented voice spoke again, my eyes were open again but all I saw were shadows around me, I focussed on the one I thought the voice was coming from. 'I don't know if you remember me but my name is Dr. Acosta, I'm your doctor here in the hospital. I understand you're having trouble seeing, I'm going to check your eyes, ok?' he asked me.

'Sure.' I croaked, mouth dry again. I felt the straw touch my lips and Edward gently reminded me 'Slowly Bella.' I heeded his warning and drank slowly, when I was done I felt the doctors warm hand touch the tender right side of my face pulling up my swollen eyelid and then flashed a light in my right eye. I flinched at the bright flash, it was almost painful.

'Good Bella, let me look at the other one now.' Dr. Acosta said and the flash of light happened again in my left eye. 'Pupils are responsive but slow, the eyes themselves seem healthy. The only thing to do for her eyesight is to wait for the brain to heal, there's no way to tell how much of her eyesight she will regain.' He said.

'Ok Bella, I'm going to take the dressing off of your head and inspect and clean the incision.' I felt the head of the bed lifting up and I tried to lean forward a bit for the doctor, but unlike the last time I woke up I was in pain and my ribs protested angrily as I tried to use my core muscles and put weight on them.

I gasped lightly and Edward was there immediately holding me up in the position I had tried to get myself into. I then felt the doctor peeling away the bandages that my head had been encased in; as the bandages came away I was relieved to feel my hair fall around me and into my face. I winced as he peeled the gauze from the wound itself and the incision pulled from the dried blood sticking to the gauze.

I sensed that a nurse was there with the doctor assisting him, she must've handed him something to clean the incision because I felt something cold and wet press against what felt like a sizeable wound on the back of my head. I jumped at the change in temperature and winced at the pain as he cleaned the back of my head.

'It looks great Bella, no signs of infection, its healing well.' Dr. Acosta reported when it seemed like he had completed his inspection. Edward leaned me back and started what was probably the huge undertaking of fixing my hair. I closed my eyes as Carlisle and Dr. Acosta spoke to each other and I assumed it was Alice that came to my other side to help Edward.

It was then that I heard Edward speaking to someone in Portuguese and a woman's voice responded, I opened my eyes then reflexively before remembering that it wouldn't help me figure out what was going on. Thankfully Alice must have seen the question on my face.

'He asked the nurse to bring us a basin to wash your hair in.' she told me quietly.

'Thanks Alice.' I said to her, appreciating the gesture more than I could say, she stroked my face in response. 'How much hair is left?' I asked dreading the answer.

'Most of it actually.' She reassured me. 'They only shaved a section in the back where they had to do the surgery. What is here is a mess though Bella, I'm going to be working on this for hours.' She said and I sensed she was glad for something to do to help me.

A short time later I heard the sloshing of water as what I assumed was the basin come to the bedside. I felt Edward move but he didn't release my hand, I just felt him shift so he was sitting farther down the bed by my legs.

'Sweetheart,' I heard Esme speak from where Edward had been sitting. 'Is it ok if I put your hair in the water basin? Alice and I are going to wash it for you.'

'Of course,' I whispered 'thank you Esme.' At this she gave me a kiss on the forehead and then someone lifted me by the shoulders and slid a pillow under my shoulders and laid my head into a container of warm water. I tensed for a moment at the stinging pain of the water on the wound on my head but quickly relaxed as the pain eased.

Alice and Esme spent the next 20 minutes methodically washing, rinsing and conditioning my hair needing to change the water twice in the process. I assumed my hair was probably full of blood, dirt and whatever else the ocean had put in my hair. When they were done I was exhausted and I was in a lot of pain in my neck, shoulder and chest from the strained position I had been in.

Esme and Alice then proceeded to brush out my hair, never pulling once which showed how much care they were using, it must have been a tangled mess. I must have drifted to sleep again sometime in the process, when I woke again I noticed that the hand in mine was warm, a huge difference to the constant cold hands that had been comforting me and I opened my eyes.

'Bells?' I heard Charlie's gruff voice ask as I stirred.

'Charlie?' I asked to the darkness.

'Yeah Bells, it's me. How are you feeling?' he asked squeezing my hand.

'I'm ok.' I whispered 'I just want to go home.'

'I know Bella, hopefully soon. You're improving so quickly. You're doing amazingly well.' Charlie told me.

'Thanks Dad, and thanks for coming. I'm sorry I worried you.'

'That went beyond worry Bella… I thought I had lost you…' he cut off, choked by emotion.

'I'm really sorry Dad.' I whispered, upset that I had worried him so much.

'Don't be Bella; it's not your fault. You're alive, everything else we can deal with.' He said pulling himself back together.

'And if I don't get my eyesight back?' I said so quietly I didn't know that he would hear it. I felt his warm rough hand caress the uninjured side of my face.

'You will Bella. And if you don't we'll figure it out. You've got a pretty amazing husband who you know will stand by you through everything. And me Bells, I'll always be here for whatever you need.' He spoke to me more gently than he ever had in living memory; it was so touching tears washed up in my eyes, spilling over where he wiped them with his fingers.

'Thanks Dad.' I whispered. 'I love you so much.'

'Love you too Bells.' He said and a sudden thought occurred to me.

'Does Mom know?' I asked him and he went stiff.

'I had to tell her Bella,' he said and I groaned closing my eyes. 'she's your mom, she deserves to know what's going on with you.'

'I know, I know. I'm sure she's freaking out.' I said.

'With reason Bells, we all were. Anyway she can't afford a ticket to get here but I'm sure she will be waiting for you when you arrive in Forks. I had to talk her out of putting herself in debt to get here.' I appreciated that Charlie was still looking out for Renee since I couldn't be.

'Thanks for talking reason into her Dad.' I said.

Shortly after this I drifted off again waking up what I assumed wasn't too long later to more voices, this time it was physiotherapy there to get me up and moving. As exhausted and in pain as I was I was glad for it. I started with sitting on the edge of the bed and when that went well they had me stand up. I was apparently able to put as much weight as I could through my injured leg. Up until now I hadn't felt much if any pain in my leg but now it was making itself known.

I gripped onto the therapists hand as I stood and was immediately sweating and shaking from the pain but I was determined. We managed to make a semi-circle around the room before I made it into a recliner chair next to my bed. I was exhausted and in pain but I felt better knowing that although it wasn't far I was still able to walk.

A few days later Charlie had to leave, Forks PD was missing their chief and so with a temporary goodbye, knowing we'd see each other soon, he left for the airport. As much as I loved having him here it was easier with him gone. The Cullen's didn't have to watch what they said nearly as much as they did with him around. They also didn't have to keep up a human charade which meant Edward didn't have to leave to pretend to sleep- this was just fine with me.

Over the next two weeks I began to drastically improve, as long as I had pain medicine in me and someone to hold my good hand I was walking farther and farther. Walking without eyesight was terrifying, it was by far worse than the pain and weakness I had in my legs and body. I could push through that- the fear of walking without seeing was paralyzing at first.

With Edward's gentle ministrations and reassurances I was able to walk further and further and while it was still uncomfortable walking without sight it wasn't the terrifying experience it once was. I was also completely off oxygen now, getting up and walking and not lying in bed all day did wonders for my breathing.

Another thing that improved although just slightly was my eyesight. In the beginning everything was dark, people and bigger objects were distinguishable as darker blobs. I was starting to see light and objects and people were getting more definition, I was able to tell the four Cullen's apart by sight now, mostly by the way they moved.

Three weeks to the day that I was admitted to the hospital they agreed that I was stable enough to be transported to Forks because I was under the watchful eye of Dr. Carlisle Cullen. The only decision left to make was how I would get from Seattle to Forks, I argued against a helicopter- that was a needless expense at this point. Edward was trying to convince me and Carlisle that I needed an ambulance to travel the last couple hours to town.

I managed to convince him that since we agreed that I wouldn't be going to the hospital- I'd be going to the Cullen's home that an ambulance wasn't necessary. Instead we arranged for Emmett and Jasper to drive separately to come and get us from the airport. Carlisle, Esme, Edward and I would take one car and Emmett, Jasper and Alice would go in the other car.

Carlisle had arranged for a private plane to take us home, usually I would refuse such an unnecessarily large amount of money spent on something but I couldn't imagine flying in a regular plane in the condition I was still in.

To get from the hospital to the airport though was a different story; they would only let me leave in an ambulance. Dr. Acosta had given Carlisle all of the medicine I may need for the 20 or so hours we would be traveling. So it was around 10am that I found myself sitting down in a transport chair being brought down to the ambulance bay.

They got me up and then had me take a few steps and turn to sit on what I knew was a stretcher thanks to Edward's constant stream of telling me what is going on around me, he did an amazing job of trying to make up for my lack of sight. It made everything way easier.

Traveling from the hospital to the airport was miserable. Laying down on the stretcher as we bounced down the road hitting potholes and bumps constantly was incredibly painful and I nearly cried with relief by the time we got to the airport. I was allowed to finally get up off of the stretcher and I hobbled a few feet to get into a wheelchair.

Edward crouched in front of me and put his hands on my knees, I leaned over so my forehead pressed against his.

'Are you ok?' Edward asked, worried about me.

'Yeah.' I whispered, lying.

'Do you need something for the pain?' he asked me, worried.

'Not yet, let me get on the plane first. I want a clear head.' I told him and he nodded, kissing me on the forehead and then moving behind me to push the chair.

The plane was sitting there waiting for us so we spent almost no time in the airport. The last barrier I faced was getting into the plane. Because it was a smaller private plane the only way to board it was to go out on the runway and climb what Edward said was 20 stairs to get into the plane.

Edward wheeled me to the bottom of the staircase and crouched in front of me again.

'I can carry you up if you like.' He said to me reading the look on my face.

'No,' I shook my head. 'I want to do it, will you help me?'

'Of course.' He told me and he helped me to my feet.

Putting my left hand on the railing I lifted my left leg up onto the next step followed by my right foot. Edward held most of my weight with his hands on my waist and even with him doing most of the work by the time I got to the top I was exhausted and he had to half carry me into my chair. While Edward buckled me in, Carlisle was ready with some pain medicine that I gladly accepted. I was overdue and with the amount I had moved I was in a lot of pain.

Edward sat next to me as I swallowed the pills Carlisle had offered me and I felt him doing up his own seatbelt.

'We're going to sit in the seats for takeoff and once we are in the air there is a bed in the back for you to sleep in.' Edward told me.

'Really?' I asked surprised and immensely grateful.

'We weren't going to make you fly for 16 hours without somewhere for you to sleep Bella.' He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I didn't answer him I just leaned my good side into him and closed my eyes waiting to take off.

It wasn't long until we were taxiing down the runway, my lack of sight was proving to be a source of anxiety again and I grabbed Edward's hand. When the plane's engine picked up in volume and the plane started to rocket down the runway my anxiety got worse, Edward could hear my elevated heartrate and my shallow breathing and he rubbed my arm and spoke to me softly but loud enough so I could hear him over the roar of the engines.

I didn't relax until the plane had stopped climbing and had leveled out, it also helped that the pills Carlisle had given me had started to kick in.

'Do you want to go to the bed?' Edward asked me.

'Yes please.' I nodded drowsily.

'Do you want me to carry you?' He asked again, reading how drowsy I had become.

I just shook my head again and felt along the seatbelt searching for the button but he reached it first unbuckling it and then helped me stand. Luckily he was holding me because I wavered once I was on my feet, I was experiencing some awful vertigo, I knew I was high in the air but I couldn't see this so it was messing with my brain.

Edward held my hand and steadied me, half carrying me to the back where he lead me to the right side of the bed and helped me to sit down. He then took off my shoes and helped me swing my right leg into the bed and tucked the blankets around me. He then climbed into the other side of the bed and pulled me close to him. I cuddled into him as much as I could with my neck brace and shoulder sling. I was beyond annoyed by the neck brace; the sling was annoying but didn't bother me nearly as much as the inability to move my head. I sighed in annoyance.

'Are you in pain?' Edward asked me, concern colouring his voice.

'No.' I sighed 'Just sick to death of this neck brace, I can't wait to take it off.'

He kissed me on the forehead, 'Soon my love.' He murmured and began to hum my lullaby and I drifted off to sleep.

The 15 and a half hour flight passed by much quicker than I could have imagined thanks to the drugs Carlisle had given to me before takeoff. I was awake for 5 hours in the middle of the flight then slept the final 5 hours. I woke to being lifted and carried down the stairs to the tarmac; Edward settled me in a waiting wheelchair and brought us inside to go through customs.

We got through customs fairly easily; I was unsure what time of day it was and didn't feel like expending the energy to ask. I was grateful when Edward told me we were walking up to Emmett and Jasper, this meant we were almost home.

Emmett was much more subdued than usual; clearly he had been spoken to and was aware of my situation. As I stood up to get into Carlisle's black Mercedes Emmett pulled me into a gentle hug, something I hadn't experienced before from him.

'I'm glad you're ok Bella, none of us could have stood it if you didn't make it.' Emmett said, uncharacteristically sweet.

'Thanks Emmett.' I said, uncomfortable but quickly feeling a rush of calm flood through me and I smiled.

'Thanks Jasper.' I said smiling, not knowing where to look.

'It's good to see you Bella.' He said from my left, I thought I saw Alice right next to him.

'You too Jasper, I'm sorry I kept her from you for so long.' I said feeling guilty.

'Don't be, you needed each other more than we did these past few weeks.' He said and I smiled. Edward helped me in the back right seat and then climbed in beside me. Carlisle got into the driver's seat and Esme into the passenger side. I stayed buckled in but Edward slid over and put his arm around me and I leaned into him relaxing.

I found that I got car sick now without the ability to see where we were going, it was something that I had never had happen to me before. I curled into Edward the whole drive home keeping my eyes shut trying to keep the nausea at bay. Edward rubbed my back soothingly trying to soothe my stomach.

The 1.5 hour ride to Forks almost felt longer than the 15.5 hour flight because of the constant nausea and the pain creeping back in. When we did arrive back in Forks Edward didn't even ask me he just picked me up from the car and carried me up to his room, or I guess our room now.

'Wait.' I said as he went to sit me on the bed. 'I don't want to go in the bed until I'm clean. Will you help me take a bath?'

'Of course.' He said but hesitated. 'Are you up to it?' and I nodded.

He carried me into the adjoining bathroom and sat me on the toilet seat while he got the bath running. I was now allowed to get all of my incisions wet thankfully; this would be my first bath in almost a month. I was so tired; I had my left hand bracing my weight against the wall as Edward turned back to me.

'Are you sure you're up to this, we can do it in the morning.' I shook my head at his question.

'I just want to get clean, I feel disgusting.' I said exhaustion clear on my face and in my body language. 'I'm sure you won't let me drown.' I said and he huffed a laugh.

'I'm going to take your sling off.' He warned me before he undid the clasps in the back and I felt the support disappear from my arm and I felt his cool hand there to replace it. While continuing to hold my arm up he took off the shirt I was wearing, I was actually completely oblivious to what clothes I had been wearing lately. He then helped me to stand and took off my pants and underwear and helped me into the bath.

'How do I look?' I asked him as I stepped into the hot bath.

'Beautiful.' He responded automatically and I laughed as I sat down in the water and hissed as it burned some of my cuts.

'I mean my injuries, Edward.' I said.

'Much better.' He told me. 'Your bruises are mostly faded, the worst if which are shades of light purple and yellow. Most of your minor cuts have healed, your incisions look great. The swelling in your face is finally gone too.' he said gently stroking the right side of my face.

'My hair?' I asked quietly.

'When its down you can't tell at all, but even looking at it it's hard to tell, the hair is all growing back in well.' He said as he gently felt the short hair at the back of my head and I yawned.

'Let's get you clean and out of this bath before you fall asleep.' He said as he started to help me get clean, I wasn't much help, he mostly got me to hold my arm while he worked and even so by the end I was exhausted, I could barely keep my eyes open.

He lifted me from the bath and dried me off, drying as my neck as best as he could without taking off the brace. He then helped me to dress in a clean pair of pajamas then slid my arm back into the sling and wrapped a towel around my hair and carried me into the bed.

I was warm, clean and comfortable finally back in my home with my husband. My mother would be on her way to Forks the next day and Charlie would visit as often as I wanted. Then there was my new family, the Cullen's all loved me almost as much as Edward. I knew that they would be here to love me and keep me safe until I finally decided to join them in immortality.

While I knew I still had obstacles to face I was certain I could face them with my family by my side. With Edward by my side.

The End.

Thanks for reading! I'm on the fence about doing a follow up bonus chapter maybe a few months in the future. Let me know if you'd be interested!