Good morning! I hope you're all ready for a new chapter, because it is a doozy - and I don't mean in length.
This chapter has unfortunately been a long time coming, and if you've been paying attention, then you should already know this.
I promise I'm not trying to send all my readers away screaming, but I hope when you make it to the bottom, you understand and come back.
Thanks to my pre-reader. She should know who she is. And thanks for reading in advance.
Warnings for language and, unfortunately, violence.
Here we go.
Falls on Me
By the time Carlisle was out of bed and in and out of the shower by six-thirty a.m., Edward had already been up with Michael three times. The last time he got up at almost five, he carried Michael out of the bedroom to take him downstairs. The house was obviously quiet, but there were reminders of the last week everywhere Edward looked. One of Bella's toys was setting in the middle of the stairway on the first landing, and Edward grinned as he passed it silently wondering exactly how it had gotten there. Alice's laptop bag was hanging on the banister pole at the bottom of the stairs, but her laptop was setting on the dining table where she'd left it to help him put Michael down the night before.
Before doing anything, Edward made sure to call the hospital to set up his leave for a few weeks. He knew Carlisle was going to work today, but after that, they were leaving for South Carolina for a little while. They'd already both been off work for a week, but right now, it was more important for them to be together as a family. Edward had a feeling he was going to be using a lot of his leave over the next few weeks, but that's what it was for.
Michael stirred against his chest just as Edward stepped into the kitchen, and he absently kissed the baby's forehead as he opened the refrigerator to get the bottle he'd made a few hours earlier for this very purpose. He knew Michael needed breast milk, but this was all they had for him.
The sun was coming up just when Carlisle came into the kitchen wearing his usual tie and dress shirt with dress pants, and by then, Edward was pacing around the bar island with Michael asleep in his arms.
"Did you get any sleep last night?" he asked Edward, moving around to get coffee and then facing Edward.
"A little," Edward shrugged.
Carlisle lifted his hand to the back of Michael's head. "And what about this little guy?"
Edward laughed softly. "Of course."
"Well, maybe while he's napping later today, you can too," Carlisle whispered leaning closer and kissing Edward gently.
Slowly, their kiss began to evolve, with the promise it usually held, but a tiny whimper stopped them both, and Carlisle laid his forehead against Edward's. "Ugh, I wish I didn't have to go in today," he complained. "I want to stay here with you."
Edward wrapped his arm around Carlisle's waist. "I want that too. But we'll be okay here. I think Tanya's going to take Alice shopping for beach clothes, and she might take Bella with her. You just take care of your patients, and we'll be here when you get home."
Carlisle smiled. "I like how that sounds."
"Good morning."
They both turned to see Tanya there in her pajamas, and Carlisle laughed softly, stepping away from Edward and sipping on his coffee.
"Morning," Carlisle greeted.
"You goin' to work?" she yawned, sitting up at the bar island and slouching over it.
"Yeah. But just today. Then we'll be going to South Carolina. I have to put in my leave request. Honestly, I would rather stay here, but they need me to work." Carlisle sighed softly, finishing his coffee and moving around to kiss Edward's cheek before he also bid goodbye to his cousin so he could get to the hospital before seven-thirty.
Edward laid Michael down in the bassinet so Tanya could keep an eye on him while he woke the girls. The first thing Alice did was ask about Michael, and Bella demanded having waffles for breakfast. Edward complied happily, promising he would make her as many as she wanted.
"You're gonna fatten her up if you keep cooking for her like this?" Tanya teased as they worked seamlessly through the kitchen to get everything ready.
Edward laughed. "And as long as she asks, she knows I can't refuse her. Besides, I like cooking for her."
"Can I have sausage?" Alice asked as she hovered over Michael.
He smiled. "Of course you can."
They all got everything ready, and Edward and Tanya carried all of it to the nook so they could eat.
"I want a bikini," Alice announced over her waffles and sausage.
Tanya stifled a laugh, and Edward almost choked.
"What's a bikini?" Bella asked.
Edward lifted his eyes to Tanya's, blushing slightly.
"It's a two-piece bathing suit that shows off your belly button," she explained to Bella. "And I'm not exactly sure your sister's ready for that, but we'll look, okay, sweetie?"
Alice pouted and slouched in her chair but nodded after a minute.
"I want to learn to swim in the ocean," Bella confessed.
"I sense you're already starting to take after your Uncle Carlie," Tanya grinned.
A toothy grin spread across Bella's face, and Tanya stroked her hair gently.
After breakfast, Alice ran upstairs to take a shower, demanding that neither of them did anything with Michael until she got back downstairs. Unfortunately, he woke in the bassinet needing attention, and Edward had to change his diaper before Alice got back. But he sat at the nook table with her and Bella so they could watch the new baby while Tanya went upstairs to get ready for her day out shopping.
"I want to stay with Uncle Eddie and Mikey," Bella informed them as she watched Michael suck on a new bottle.
Alice whined a little too loudly when it looked like her sister might get to spend more time with Michael than her. "Then I want to stay too."
"Alice, you need to go with Tanya to pick out your things," Edward chastised gently. "You know how you are when it comes to that. Bella will be fine here with me, and we'll all be here when you and Tanya get back. Okay?"
Her pout intensified as she sat there, and she folded her arms over her chest stubbornly.
Tanya came down dressed to go out in the mid-March weather that had already begun to warm up in the days after the funeral, and when she found out Bella wanted to stay with Edward, she offered to take them all.
"You don't have to keep up with both of them," she insisted.
He shrugged. "It's okay. But if you can carry Michael's things up to my room, I'll have a better chance of not losing either of them while I give Bella her bath."
Tanya laughed softly. "Oh, that's the least I can do," she exclaimed, lifting the various baby things in her arms and then leading the way up to Edward's room.
Alice remained adamant that she wanted to stay with Edward, but she followed everyone upstairs without complaining. Bella happily helped Edward put Michael down, and he shooed her out of the room to get her clothes for the day while he got her bath ready.
"We won't be long," Tanya promised. "And I'll have my phone on me if you need anything. In fact, call me if anything happens."
Edward sighed softly as he laid towels next to the tub. "We'll be fine," he assured her. "Just have a good time, and stay strong. Alice has a tendency to go overboard when she has a department store at her disposal."
Tanya laughed softly, holding Alice in her arms even as the little girl continued to mope. "She'll be enjoying herself before she realizes it. We'll go to all her favorite places, and we'll get some lunch. And I meant what I said." She stepped closer to him and kissed his cheek. "Anything happens, and you call me."
"I will," he nodded.
Bella came running into the room then carrying a green pair of pants and a pink shirt. "I have my clothes," she exclaimed.
"Well, we'll just get going," Tanya said, taking Alice's hand and leaning over to kiss Bella's cheek. "Be good, baby."
Tanya pulled Alice out of the room slowly, waving as they left, and Alice glanced back at Edward, waving sadly.
As soon as they were gone, Edward picked Bella up and carried her to the bathroom. The tub was already filled up halfway, and he shut off the faucet before sitting on the side to help Bella undress.
"Your sister is a mess," he teased, tickling her as he pulled her nightgown over her head. "You'd think she was having separation anxiety."
"What's that?" Bella asked as he lifted her up and then dropped her in the water.
He knelt beside the tub and poured soap into the sponge there. "Well, it's when you spend so much time with someone that when you have to leave them, it makes you sad."
Gently, he began to wash her off, and Bella's little hands followed his.
"Then I think I have that sometimes."
Edward smiled, washing her face. "And why is that?"
"Because I get sad when I leave you."
He paused, holding her deep brown eyes with his own green eyes.
"Bella, you know I'm never going to leave you," he said softly. "Don't you?"
"I hope not," she admitted.
"Well," he said as he began shampooing her hair. "I'm never going to leave you. I promise."
She laughed softly. "Then I promise too."
"You like having Michael here, don't you?"
She nodded. "Yeah. He's cute. And I really want him to be my little brother."
Edward laughed then, holding her still so he could rinse her hair clean. She giggled loudly, practically jumping in the tub until he was finished.
Bella loved the water so much. Carlisle was telling him she always had. Edward was thinking like Tanya that she would be a swimmer like her uncle. Maybe when they went to South Carolina and even after that, they could talk about signing her up for lessons.
He didn't say anything else until it was time to rinse out the conditioner, and with the door open, he heard the doorbell.
Once Bella was clean, he lifted her out of the tub to wrap a towel around her.
"You're so beautiful," he grinned. "One day, there's gonna be somebody else in your life you feel separation anxiety for."
"Do you promise?" she asked resting her hands over his shoulders.
He leaned up and kissed her cheek. "I promise."
The doorbell rang again, and Edward thought maybe it was a delivery truck or something. He couldn't remember ordering anything for himself or Carlisle, but so much had happened in the last week, he probably forgot something.
"Let's go see who's at the door," he said to Bella, helping her with her clothes and then checking on Michael before he left his room with her in his arms.
The doorbell rang a third time, and Edward shook his head even though he smiled.
"Someone's getting impatient," he joked to Bella kissing her just under her jaw.
She laughed and squeezed his shoulders tightly.
A heavy fist pounded on the door, and he stepped off the bottom step.
"Coming!"
He was at the door in just a few steps, holding Bella closer and pulling the door open to find Jasper on the other side of it.
The smile on Edward's face faded instantly, and his grip on Bella tightened.
"Carlisle's not here," Edward informed Jasper.
"I'm not here to see him. I came to see you."
Edward couldn't move for several seconds, reading Jasper's face and trying to see if there was some sort of ulterior motive in his eyes. The smirk and sneer present was something Edward was accustomed to, and he watched Jasper's eyes give Bella a once-over before they reached her head where her hair was still wet.
It didn't take much thought on Edward's part to know Bella didn't need to be around if another yelling match was about to happen. Slowly, Edward stepped back, allowing Jasper into the house and closing the door. Before they could get too far, Edward put Bella down and leaned over to whisper to her.
"Go up to my room and close the door, okay?"
She hesitated, lifting her eyes to Jasper, but she didn't argue, turning slowly and then hurrying up the stairs.
Edward waited until she was out of sight to look at Jasper.
"You probably shouldn't be here," he said to Jasper. "Carlisle's at the hospital."
Jasper scoffed lightly, folding his arms over his chest. "So he left the girls here with you," he complained. "Of course."
Edward backed away as Jasper stepped closer to him, attempting to block his path to the stairs. "You don't have to be here," he snapped. "I know you don't want Alice or Bella. You just don't want them with Carlisle."
"I don't want them with you," Jasper spat. "I know what happened to you. I know the fucker you were with whored you out to his friends, and you got all high and mighty with him, so he beat you."
Edward clenched his fists, glaring as he yelled. "He did not whore me out! He was the whore, and you don't know a goddamn thing about me. You never have! And it doesn't make any difference what you do to me. Once Garrett hears from the judge, this is all over, and you can go back to New York or Tokyo where you're obviously happier."
"He said you'd say that," Jasper taunted.
Blood drained from Edward's face, and Jasper grinned, stepping a little closer.
"Like I said, no way am I gonna let my sister's kids stay with their gay uncle and his slut. And I don't give a shit what some stupid judge says. My father might think this is over now, but it's not over until I say it is. There's nothing you or anybody can do about it," he sneered, jamming his palm against Edward's shoulder and shoving him back.
Edward grabbed Jasper's hand. "Don't fucking touch me."
"What will you do if I don't stop?" Jasper shot back, pushing him again.
Instinct kicked in, and Edward pushed back.
"Leave now, before I call the police."
Jasper laughed. "Like they'll believe you over me." Without waiting, Jasper reared back with his arm cocked, and Edward barely had time to react, almost getting hit in the face as he grabbed Jasper's arm to stop him.
"What the fuck is the matter with you?" Edward shouted.
Jasper didn't answer him, suddenly shoving his other fist into Edward's gut and causing him to double over. Dull pain radiated through his torso, and he huffed loudly looking at Jasper only a second before his other fist slammed into his jaw.
Edward stumbled away, holding his face and standing up slowly. Jasper gave him no time to regain more of his bearings, coming at him again. This time, Edward was ready, ducking out of the way and then kneeing Jasper in the groin like he'd done the day of the funeral. This time, it only kept Jasper down a minute, maybe, and he stood up to face Edward again.
"Is that the only move you know?" Jasper baited.
Edward didn't pause, balling his fist and swinging at Jasper's face. The instant his fist made contact with Jasper's jaw, heat and pain cracked up his arm, but he paid no attention to it. It didn't matter that he hardly ever fought like this. Edward wasn't a weakling the way Jasper liked to believe.
Blood oozed from the corner of Jasper's mouth, and he smiled.
"So you don't hit like a girl," he snubbed. "That's good to know."
Only a couple of seconds passed before Jasper lunged at Edward and slammed his back into the doorframe to the living room. Another kind of pain spread through Edward's back, and he had no time to recover before Jasper rammed his fist into Edward's gut harder than he had before. Air escaped Edward's lungs, leaving him breathless with little hope of another pause as Jasper punched him again. One more punch was all it took to make Edward fall, and Jasper released him without saying anything.
If that was all Jasper had done, Edward could've recovered quickly. And he started to get up maybe a couple of seconds before the sharp-toed shoe on Jasper's foot slammed into his gut close to his ribs. Once wasn't enough for Jasper. Instead, he kicked Edward another four times, and it was only a high-pitched scream that stopped him for a short minute. After the pause, Jasper kicked Edward in the face. A soft crunch reverberated up Edward's skull, and he couldn't move after that. His ribs were throbbing, and now his face was hot and trembling.
"No! Uncle Eddie!"
Bella's crying voice attempted to pierce the pain spreading through his body, and he tried to get up. Jasper kicked him again, and Bella screamed again.
"Stop! Please, stop!"
Edward raised his head, reaching for Bella only to have his hand kicked away.
This pain felt worse than what he'd felt before, and it settled into his bones so much heavier than it had the last time. It felt like a ten-ton weight was pressing him into the hard wood floor, flattening him out like a pancake and making it impossible for him to stop what was happening.
The hard heel of Jasper's shoe slammed down over his hand, shattering bone and sending an ear-splitting scream through his head. It wasn't until the pressure was gone and left behind the sensation of a sharp, hard spike being driven through his palm that Edward realized he was the one screaming.
A final blow to the head caused everything to go black, and the last thing he heard was Bella crying and screaming for him to get up and help her. Then the door slammed shut.
The one thing Esme Masen liked about driving from Ashland to Chicago was the scenery. It was probably the most breathtaking landscape she'd ever seen in her life, and being a photographer, she'd seen a lot of breathtaking landscapes. The deserts of Nevada and Arizona were among her favorites, but it was here in her home state where she was the most amazed. No one ever same to Wisconsin for a vacation — at least no one she knew. Something Esme knew for certain was that no place would ever be like this — not for her.
She and her ten-year-old daughter Mary Anne had been driving for nearly seven and a half hours when she pulled into the north side of Chicago, and though her daughter had slept most of the way, they'd stopped in Madison for lunch. Now Mary Anne was begging to get out of the car.
"We're almost there, baby," she promised her only child.
Mary Anne sighed as she gazed out the window of their mid-size sedan. "I still don't understand why I have to come now," she complained. "I have a portfolio to finish for art school."
"Young lady, your uncle whom loves you very dearly needs our help," Esme chastised with a dramatic sigh. "Family is more important than art projects. And we talked to Mr. Varner. He said it was okay for you to be out for a little while. You're lucky I let you bring your camera."
Her daughter smiled victoriously. "I'm always lucky, mom. I was born with it, remember?"
To that, Esme could only agree, reaching out to brush Mary Anne's light brown hair from her ear while they were paused in mid-afternoon traffic. "Yes, I remember."
After a minute of waiting, they pulled through a light and made a turn-off that would take them to the neighborhood where Esme's brother Edward lived with his doctor-husband Carlisle Cullen. Only a few months had passed since she'd seen him, which was okay because they lived too far apart to see each other every week. But his last phone call had her worried. Her brother Edward was a caring, warm man, but he was far too trusting for his own good. Esme didn't like thinking he'd gotten himself into something he couldn't handle.
Edward's car was parked at the curb in front of the house, and Esme got out with a long look at the three-story house in front of her. She'd always thought this house was too big for Edward and Carlisle, but now that they had Alice and Isabella to look after along with a newborn baby, maybe they'd always needed a house this big. It certainly had plenty of room.
"I wonder what he's going to think of my new stuff," Mary Anne commented as she and Esme walked up the front steps to the porch.
"I'm sure he's going to love it," Esme chuckled. "Ed always loved you doing photography like me. Of course, I'm sure he always wished you were musically inclined like he and I are, but he can't have everything. Right?"
Mary Anne smiled proudly. "Who says I'm not musically inclined."
Esme shook her head, stepping onto the porch and ringing the doorbell.
With the sun shining and a light breeze, she barely needed a jacket, but a couple of minutes passed, and no one answered the door. So she rang the doorbell again.
"Maybe he's not here," Mary Anne said.
Esme looked around, checking to make sure the Volvo she'd parked behind was Edward's. "His car is here."
Mary Anne sighed loudly. "Mom, that doesn't mean he's here. Maybe he's with Carlisle."
A few more minutes went by, and Esme took out her phone to dial her brother's number. But after a few rings, it went to his voice mail. It was rare for Edward to not answer his phone. Sometimes, he was working and couldn't get to it in time, but more often than not, he would answer and say he'd call her back.
"Call Carlisle," Mary Anne suggested.
Esme chewed on her lower lip, finding Carlisle's number and then mashing her finger on the touch-screen to dial.
He answered after just a couple of rings. "This is Carlisle."
"Carlisle, it's Esme. I'm here at the house, but no one's answering the door. Is Edward with you?"
"No, I'm at the hospital. I had to work today. But Tanya was taking the girls shopping for clothes to go to South Carolina. He might've gone with them."
Esme nodded. "Of course. But what about the baby? I thought he was premature. Is it safe for him to be out so soon?"
Carlisle paused. "I'm sure Edward can handle everything. Why don't you go on in and wait for them to come back? My shift ends at six. The key's under the mat."
She smiled. "All right. I'll see you then."
She turned off her phone, biting her lip and looking back at Edward's car.
Something didn't feel right about this. She wasn't sure why, but it just didn't make sense for Edward to not answer his phone.
"What'd he say?" Mary Anne asked.
Esme inhaled deep and took her daughter's hand. "Carlisle said he's probably out with Tanya and the girls," she reported moving to the front door and reaching for the knob.
She glanced inside and saw the front room empty except for something on the floor. She stepped closer and almost pressed her face to the glass, spotting a hand and then an arm. A click went off in her brain, and she twisted the doorknob in her hand, pushing the door open.
Instantly, she was faced with the scene of her younger brother on the floor unconscious in a pool of blood. She didn't understand. What had happened? Why was he like this? Who could possibly want to hurt him?
"Mom," Mary Anne whispered.
Esme reacted first by pushing Mary Anne back out the door. "Stay out there and call an ambulance," she ordered, rushing across the room and falling to the floor just as she reached him.
The first thing she did was check for a pulse, grateful that she found one and then she rolled him to his back. His face was bloody and bruised, and it didn't look like he was breathing. A stray glance she gave his chest saw it rise slowly, and Esme couldn't think of else what to do first.
"Edward," she yelled into his face.
He didn't respond, and she yelled again.
"Edward!"
"Mom, they're on their way," Mary Anne told her from the other side of the front door. "What do I do now?"
Esme looked up to see her daughter move closer, and she shouted. "Stay on the porch, Mary Anne. Please. Wait for them out there."
"But is he — "
"He's fine! Just stay out there."
A strangled groan reached her ears, and Esme looked at the face less than a few inches from hers to see her baby brother's eyes fluttering open.
"Edward! It's okay. It's me, it's Esme."
"Mi — "
He was trying to talk, but she stopped him. "Don't talk. It's okay."
Through the blood clogging his mouth, he tried again. "Mich — eal."
Esme shook her head. "What?"
He tried to move, shifting beneath her hands. "Michael."
Despite it sounding more garbled than anything she'd heard, Esme understood. Michael was the name of the baby Edward had told her about the day before.
She had a choice to make, and she didn't like what she was about to do as she called for Mary Anne.
"Honey, I need you to come sit with him until the ambulance comes."
Though she hadn't paused before, this time, Mary Anne didn't move. "But you said — "
"I know what I said," Esme screamed, and Mary Anne jumped back. Esme took in as calming a breath as she could. "I'm sorry, baby. Please. All you have to do is sit here and make sure he's okay. Please."
Slowly, Mary Anne stepped into the house, moving to her mother's side and kneeling beside Edward just as Esme rose.
"I'll be right back. Yell if anyone comes through that door. Do you understand me?"
Mary Anne nodded. "Okay."
From there, Esme hurried up the stairs. She wasn't sure why she felt like she had to go this way, but she figured it was her maternal instinct taking over. The instant she got to the third floor and heard a baby crying, Esme didn't pause to think. She ran down the hall to the only door and shoved it open.
The baby's cry was louder now, and rightfully so as a crib set against the far window. Only a few steps separated her from the crib, and she rushed toward it instantly. The baby inside was clearly in need of more than just a soothing voice. She reached into the crib, lifting the baby to her chest and shooshing him as gently as she could.
"It's okay, baby. You're okay."
Still, he cried, and Esme grabbed the blanket on the rail before turning and leaving so she could get back to Edward.
"Mom, the paramedics are here!"
Esme sped up after that, cradling the baby against her and making it to the first landing as two men with a stretcher came through the door. She looked at their faces, unconsciously making sure she'd never seen them before.
The image of James Preston was emblazoned into her brain, especially after going through this six years earlier, and every time she saw a man she didn't know, she couldn't keep from feeling apprehensive. Carlisle was just lucky he was a good man. Not all men were good.
Edward was only partially aware of his surroundings, and the older paramedic helped him onto the stretcher while the other one secured an oxygen mask to his face.
"Ma'am," the older man said, "are you the one who found him?"
"I am," she confirmed. "I'm his sister."
"Was the door locked?"
Heat flushed Esme's face. "No." Then she shook her head and held the baby in her arms closer. "Is he going to be okay?"
"He's lost a lot of blood," the man reported. "And it looks like he has a few broken ribs along with a fractured hand. We're taking him to Cook County if you want to follow us."
"I'm coming with him," she commanded.
There was no argument as the paramedics began rolling Edward out of the house.
Flashes of this very same thing happening six years earlier kept pricking through Esme's memory as she followed the paramedics down the front steps of the house.
Her then-19-year-old brother had found himself in a relationship with a man who was more dangerous than a crack addict on the edge of his last fix, and Edward had still been so inexperienced. The only good thing about that whole mess was that Mary Anne hadn't been with her to find Edward naked and bloody, sprawled out and face down in the floor of his apartment. Nothing else good had come out of that ordeal. The police hadn't been able to do anything — even after talking to Edward.
Now Esme was so upset that she didn't know who could possibly do this now.
"Oh my God!"
A somewhat familiar voice broke Esme from her memories, and she looked out into the street to see a petite blond woman with a shorter, darker-haired little girl. Somewhere in her newer memories, Esme recognized these people, but all she cared about right now was her brother and the baby in her arms.
"Esme!"
The woman and the girl were closer now, and the paramedics had to hold them back as they wheeled Edward to the ambulance.
"Uncle Edward!" the little girl cried.
"Please, ma'am," the older paramedic ordered. "Stay back."
"But that's my cousin," the woman yelled.
The woman's face clicked with her name, and the paramedic looked at Esme, his eyes obviously questioning.
Esme nodded. "It's okay."
He sighed and moved on with Edward, and Esme stepped closer to the woman.
"Tanya," she said softly.
"What happened?" she pleaded. "We were only gone a few hours."
Esme shook her head, tears filling her eyes as she watched her brother. "I don't know. We just got into town. No one answered the door. I called Carlisle, and he said Edward might be with you. And then I saw him through the door," she sobbed.
Tanya moved quickly, putting her arms around Esme to comfort her.
"Who would do this?" Esme cried. "Who would hurt him like this?"
No explanation was offered.
"Ma'am, we need to go," the older paramedic called.
Esme stepped away from Tanya and hurried to the ambulance.
"I want to go too," the little girl cried. Alice.
Tanya held onto her. "No, we need to take the car. He's going to the hospital."
"But I want to go," Alice screamed.
Esme stopped before she climbed into the ambulance. The look on Alice's face was so heartbreaking. She looked at the paramedic. "Wait just a minute."
She didn't give him a chance to argue, moving to Tanya with the baby.
"If you'll take him, I'll take Alice," she suggested, laying the baby boy in Tanya's arms. "Call Carlisle. I have to call my father."
The transfer was a little rough, and Tanya cradled the baby in her arms before she looked at Esme.
"We'll be right behind you."
Esme didn't wait for anything else, taking Alice's hand and nudging Mary Anne back to Tanya's side so they could separate. She helped Alice inside the ambulance, climbing in behind her just before the doors were closed.
The older paramedic started a saline drip, replacing the mask with an oxygen tube, and they were moving before a whole minute could pass. Edward's eyes fluttered open then, and Esme took his hand as he spoke.
"Bella."
Esme glanced at Alice and then looked at her brother. "What about Bella?" she asked softly, caressing his forehead.
He squeezed her hand as hard as he could. "He took Bella," he hissed through a strangled breath.
Panic settled into Esme's chest, and she scoured the ambulance even though she knew it wouldn't help.
Someone took Isabella. How could she have not noticed Isabella wasn't in the house? The state she'd found her brother in aside, it should've been obvious to her that Carlisle's niece, Alice's sister was nowhere to be found — especially when Tanya showed up with only Alice.
"Someone has my sister," Alice exclaimed.
Edward's attention shifted, and the heart monitor above him fluctuated before Esme leaned in closer. "Edward, who?" she begged. "Who has Bella?"
"Ja — Jasp — "
He huffed, squeezing her hand again.
"Who, Edward?" Esme pleaded.
He opened his eyes again. "Jasper."
Anger replaced panic, and Esme knew exactly who to blame.
It didn't matter if this wasn't entirely his fault, and she didn't care if he gave her every excuse he could think of.
He'd sworn to her over two years earlier that he wouldn't let anything happen to her brother after she'd told him about James, and now Edward was laying beaten and bloody in an ambulance on the way to the hospital after his coward of a brother made his feelings very well known.
Carlisle Cullen was never going to hear the end of this.
*peeking behind hands to make sure I haven't completely killed my readers*
I know. It's bad, but this is my philosophy - It always gets worse before it gets better. And just think. If it's this bad, then it'll hopefully be just as good later on.
I also added Esme's perspective for this one to give a little more insight into what happened to Edward, since I know a few people have been wanting to know more about that.
Will Jasper's behavior improve? Yes. Like I said, very bad = very good. And we'll be seeing the consequences of this soon.
Sorry to leave it kind of hanging, but there goes the art of writing. Thanks to ALL my reviewers. You're awesome!
See you next time!
