Chapter 10
BPOV
"Hello?" I ask, into the phone.
When will I see you again?
I hear the last line of one of my favorite songs.
"Edward?" I ask again. Then the line goes dead. Hmmm….I didn't think anything of it as slipped on some black dress slacks and a cream cable knit sweater. Edward said he would be here in fifteen minutes, but he was probably calling to tell me he's going to be late. I can't believe he asked me out, which was weird in itself. Since when do Edward and I go on dates? It was never formal dates, just hangouts really.
I finish putting my hair up in a ponytail and start to apply a little makeup. Once I finish that, I slip my heels on as I glance up at the clock on the dresser. It's almost 6pm and I scramble into the living room for my purse. He's going to be here any minute. I walk into the hallway and grab my long jacket and slip it on while I check my lipstick in the mirror that hangs over the small table by the door. Once everything is in order I start to pace, glancing at my watch every few minutes. I'm nervous about this date if I'm being honest with myself. I didn't want to jump to conclusions but I'm a week late for my period and I didn't want to find out without him here with me. So I'm thinking that after the date he and I can find out together once we get home. I don't know how he's going to react to this news but I know that I'm going to be happy. I'm sure that I'm just making a big deal about it. He'll be ecstatic, he has to be, I'm having his baby…I think. I haven't told anyone else about it, not even Alice.
"Where are you?" I ask myself. Just as I reach into my purse to call him, my cell phone lights up.
"Bella?" I can hear the nervousness in her voice and right then and there I know something's wrong.
"Bella? Honey, there's been an accident." My hand starts to shake and I slide down the wall, sitting on the floor.
"What do you mean accident? Is Edward ok?" I ask, pulling my knees to my chest. I hear some sniffles and a car door shut.
"I'm right outside Bella, I'm here to pick you up and take you to the hospital." The phone drops to the floor and I scramble to my feet and throw open the door. There stands Esme with puffy eyes and a red nose. She walks up to me and pulls me into a hug. I hold her for a couple of seconds then pull back.
"Esme, how bad is it?" I ask, my voice cracking.
"Carlisle called and said that he's not waking up, and his injuries are so bad that he's almost unrecognizable. Someone ran a red light and he was hit driving through the intersection, and as his vehicle rolled it was hit multiple times by other cars that got caught up in the intersection, OH Bella!" She collapses into my arms and I hold her tightly. Just then Emmett's truck skids into the driveway, he and Rose jump out and run over to us.
"Hey Bells, I was following mom to the hospital when I saw her take a detour to your place. I kind of knew the state that she was in. I told her not to drive but she just wanted to get to Edward. I'm going to take her. She's in no condition to drive.
My own tears are falling as Emmett slowly takes Esme over to his truck and places her in the passenger seat. Rose puts her arm around me and guides me to Esme's Mercedes.
"Come on Bella, I'll drive you." This is all happening too fast; I'm having a hard time computing all the information. He was just on the phone with me. We were supposed to go on a date. I was going to tell him that I may be pregnant with his child.
Then it hits me and I suddenly feel very nauseous.
"Rose, I need you to pull over, I think I'm going to puke." She pulls to the side of the road and I jump out and fall to the grass, emptying the contents of my stomach. I feel her warm hand caressing my back and then she hands me bottled water and some tissue.
"Are you ok honey?" she asks. I cough as I spit saliva out of my mouth. I take a second to regroup and drink a little water. I wipe my nose with the tissue and stand with Rose grabbing onto my arm.
"Yeah thanks. I'll be fine, can we just go?" I ask. Rose nods her head and slips into the driver seat. I rest my head on the head rest and close my eyes. Tears continue to stream down my face and I feel Rose's hand on my hand.
"It's going to be ok." I smile and wipe my eyes with the back of my hand.
We pull up to the entrance of the hospital and I can see Emmett's truck parked halfway on the curb. Rose pulls up behind him and slips Carlisle's hospital parking pass on the dashboard. Both of us get out and head inside to the emergency ward.
I see Esme sitting in a chair hugging Carlisle as she sobs into his lab coat; which I noticed was spotted with blood. My breathing hitches and run over to where they are.
"What's going on? Where is he?" I shout. Emmett grabs me and puts his arms around me, holding me to his chest. I try to fight him off but he's just too strong. I look to Carlisle and see his eyes are red and puffy as well.
"No...no…this isn't happening. I need to see him, where IS HE?" I yell. Emmett holds me tighter and whispers in my ear.
"Shhh…Bella, there's nothing that we can do. They did the best they can." I look up at him through my tears in confusion.
"What? What are you saying?" I ask. I shake my head from side to side feeling sick again. Carlisle comes over now and puts his hand on my back. Emmett slowly releases me but stands right behind me.
"Bella, he was hit from all sides. The front end of his SUV is completely pushed in and the roof is gone. The police say that his vehicle rolled at least eight times. When he was brought in, he wasn't breathing, they intubated him and he's being kept alive that way. His damages are…well…I haven't seen anything like them in my thirty years as a doctor." I cry harder hearing all this information. I can see the accident play out in my head as he describes it and I run to the nearest garbage and puke again. Rose is rubbing my back and I shrug her off. I'm not the one that needs comforting; he's lying in a hospital bed somewhere in the building. I stand and slowly turn, as I do I see Esme, the strongest, caring woman I know sitting back in a chair with her head in her hands as her shoulder's shake with Carlisle by her side. I see Emmett's arm around Rosalie's, both of them with tears in their eyes. My breathing comes out in gasps when I see Alice and Jasper running down the hall towards us.
"I want to see my son Carlisle. I want to see him now." Esme stands and walks over to the nurse's station. Carlisle follows her and holds her back.
"Esme, no, you can't." He turns her back to the chairs as she falls to the floor and weeps. Rose, Alice, Jasper and even Emmett rush over to her and try to help in some way, with tissues, offers for water or food, somewhere to lie down. I slowly turn around in a daze, feeling like I'm not even in my own body and walk down the hall where the beds are; I peek through the curtains of each one. One is a child sleeping; the other is an old woman with her husband by her side holding her hand as the church Chaplin reads out of the bible. More tears spring to my eyes as I continue to the next bed. I hesitate before I push the curtain aside. I see the blood covered gauze and empty needle and tube packages on the floor. But what's most notable is the bloody familiar clothes in a bag beside the gurney. My heart drops and my chest feels heavy. I slowly push the curtain aside and there before me is a man I don't recognize.
"Bella?" I jump at his voice and turn around. Carlisle is standing behind me and I fall into his arms.
"Sweetheart, you shouldn't be here. He needs his rest and I didn't want you to see him like this." I sniffle and look up at him.
"What's wrong with him Carlisle? Is he going to make it? What are his injuries?" I ask gasping. He leads me over to the family room and sits me down on the couch.
"Just wait here for a moment while I get the rest of the family. I don't want to have to go over it again and again." He turns to leave and I patiently wait. Minutes later the door opens and everyone streams in, including another doctor. Carlisle closes the door and turns to the doctor and takes a seat.
"Hello there, my name is Dr. Watson. I was attending when Edward was brought in and I helped work on him. Now what I'm going to tell you is going to be hard to hear, so if at any time you want me to stop, please just ask." We all nod our heads; the doctor clears his voice and sits down.
"Ok, ummm….when he was brought in, there was a lot of blood loss, and he was covered in it. It was difficult to tell what his injuries were at the time until we could get an x-ray. As we were wheeling him to the room, he coded. That means we lost a pulse…" I can hear Esme silently crying as Carlisle rubs her back.
"So we quickly diverted back to the emergency room, upon arriving there we noticed that his lumbar region was growing, I made a quick incision and blood started to pour out. He had internal bleeding from one of his organs. We were able to stop the bleeding, but we still couldn't get a pulse, so we intubated him and that's how he's breathing now. I felt that it wasn't possible to get an x-ray on him without moving him, so I had the portable x-ray brought in. The x-rays showed several problems that we're still dealing with and are life threatening."
Sobs rack my body and I fall into myself. I feel Alice's arms around me and feel her tears drip into the back of my head. I hear the doctor in a whisper ask if he should continue. I lift my head to look at him and nod.
"Y-yes…please, I'm sorry, go on." Alice helps me back up in the chair and I hold hands with her. This mustn't be easier for her either, being his twin.
"As I was saying, upon further tests and scans, this is what we're looking at. In a car accident, one of the most common injuries suffered by drivers and passengers is a closed head injury, which can range from a mild concussion to a traumatic brain injury. Even when there is no physical sign of trauma, for instance cuts or bruises, the brain is at risk of being jostled inside the skull because of the impact of a car crash, so that bruising and other injuries can result. The scans show that there is some swelling taking place. We've inserted a tube to drain any blood or other fluids.
"Next, the impact of the car accident and the resulting torque on the body of drivers and passengers can cause back injuries such as a sprain, strain, fracture, disc injury, thoracic spine injury, lumbar radiculopathy, and lumbar spine injury.
Well, Edward has suffered from a herniated disk, which means one of the disks in his back has slipped out and he's going to need surgery to fix it. I'm not sure if it can be done, we need to conduct more tests and scans." The doctor bows his head and takes a deep breath. The room is silent except for our cries.
"I'm so sorry. We're truly trying our best. There has also been some road rash. There are parts on his body where the skin has burned off on the road. Mostly on his shoulder and thighs. The driver door was ripped off and I'm not sure if the police mentioned to you Carlisle, but he was thrown a couple feet." A collective gasp can be heard throughout the room and tears start to run.
"Ummm….also, with the amount of trauma that has occurred, his injuries aren't limited to the physical. Especially after serious car accidents involving severe injuries and even loss of life, drivers and passengers may suffer short or long-term psychological injuries such as emotional distress, and may even develop conditions that closely resemble post- traumatic stress disorder or even memory loss. But… we won't know any of that until he wakes…if…he wakes." The doctor rises and slips out of the room leaving us all weak and stunned.