Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns everything Twilight. No copyright infringement is intended.
Thanks to the lovelies mcc101180 & thir13enth from PTB for their beta skills!
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I shook my head to try to get some sense in me and started walking back from Bella's place. I was almost at the corner of her block, when someone pushed me from behind.
"Hey, Eddie-boy!" the fucker behind me said.
I turned around to see I was being cornered by two guys. "What the hell?" I said, taking a step back.
"Hey! Hey! What do you think you're doing, man?" one of the guys said as he grabbed me by my shirt and slammed me against the wall on the side of Bella's building. I suppressed a groan as my head hit the brick.
"Where's our stuff?" the other guy yelled in my face.
"Listen, there's been a delay. I'll have it by tomorrow." I tried to sound as calmly as possible.
"Oh no… You fucked up, dude. Big Rick is not going to like that."
"I'll pay him. Just give me one day."
"Just keep in mind, it's worth twenty grand."
"Twenty grand?" I was completely fucked.
"I think Eddie-boy needs a preview of what would happen if he doesn't pay us back." The two guys exchanged a look.
"I agree," said the one still pressing me against the wall.
A third guy— Big Rick, I assumed— was coming behind them. Big Rick was… well… big. No, scratch that, he was huge, bigger-than-Bella's-huge-ass-friend, huge. They both looked at him and grinned. One look at his face, and I knew— I just knew— what was coming.
The two guys held my arms and kept me pressed on the wall, while Big Rick beat the shit out of me. At first, I tried to keep my abs flexed, to absorb some of the blows, but after a while, I just couldn't anymore. When the two guys let go of my arms, I fell on all fours and they started kicking me. I tried covering my head, so they mostly hit me in my midsection.
"Edward?" I heard Bella's horrified scream. "Stop it!" It sounded like she was getting closer.
No, Bella! Stay away, please…
It took me a while to realize I wasn't being hit anymore. I tried to open my eyes so I could look at Bella but I couldn't see anything out of my left eye, and I was barely able to peek up at her through a slit in my right eye. One of the guys started walking in her direction. I tried to push myself up with jelly arms but kept landing on my chest. Everything was spinning.
If they touch her… if they…
I heard a police car siren and tried to open my eyes again. I saw the guys running away, and I tried to get up again but barely managed to get on my knees and grabbed my stomach with my arm.
"Edward?" Bella was kneeling beside me. "Oh my God! Are you okay?" Her voice sounded frantic as she helped me to sit up.
"You called the police?" I groaned, grabbing my stomach.
"Of course! I saw them from my window. I thought you were going to get mugged or something!"
"Bella," I said, trying to breathe through the pain in my side. "You shouldn't have come outside." I tried to stand up, keeping pressure on my stomach with my hand. It hurt like fucking hell.
"Are you kidding me? What did they want?" Her hands hovered over my face and my body.
"Go back, Bella. Go back home, please." Blood was trickling from my mouth, and I cleaned it with my hand.
"What's going on, Edward? Please, talk to me." Her eyes were filled with tears as she stared at me. I tried to take deeper breaths.
"Bella, listen to me." I paused to regain my breath. I had to lean on the wall to steady myself. Everything was spinning. "I don't want to get you involved. Please, just go back home." I grabbed her hand and implored her. "Please, I have to go. Okay?"
"Are you going to be all right?" Her voice broke at the question. Nothing on my battered body hurt more than my heart for making Bella cry. I rubbed my thumb on her cheek, cupping the side of her face, and catching one of her tears.
"Yes." I didn't think I sounded convincing, but she let me go anyway.
…
Luckily, I was able to take one of the early morning buses home. I didn't think I would be able to walk all the way. I was drained and in so much pain. My head was pounding, I couldn't see well through one eye, and everything hurt inside of me. I wished the night had just been a nightmare that I would wake up from soon.
I opened the door of my house to find Tanya making coffee in the kitchen and Masen half asleep on the couch. As soon as they saw me, they dropped everything they were doing and were at my side at once.
"Are you okay?" Masen asked, concerned.
"Thank God you're back!" Tanya cried, wrapping her arms around me. I stood there until she released me. I dragged my feet to Mandy's room and peeked at her from the door. My baby was there, still peacefully sleeping, the sheets in their usual mess around her legs.
At least one thing is right with the world.
I dragged myself back to the couch where I collapsed, grabbing my side in pain.
"I see they got to you. You need to listen to me and stick to my plan." Masen was pacing in front of me, running a hand through his hair.
How did I not recognize him that night he was fucking Tanya?
"Is it true, Edward? What's going on? You have to tell me! Do we really have to go?" Tanya sat next to me, with a frantic look on her face, and biting her fingernails. She eyed me expectantly, like I had all the answers in the world.
"I- I don't know." I really didn't fucking know. I was still trying to get my head around all of this shit.
"God, you're all battered up! Let me go get something to clean those wounds." Tanya said, rushing to the bathroom. As she left, Masen inched closer.
"Edward, we need to get them out of here. They already know where you live. This is the first place they'd come," Masen said, sitting next to me. "I know it's a lot to deal with, but I need you to snap out of it and trust me."
"Are you fucking kidding me? Do you really think I can trust you?"
"You don't have any other options, bro."
…
Masen was right. I didn't have any options, or any idea on how to get out of this, other than to follow his plan. So we took Tanya and Mandy to her friend's house and left to Masen's place where we took the car I was supposed to trade. We drove to the place he thought we could find the guys we owed, and waited in the car for hours in complete and utter silence.
"C'mon, Edward!" Masen finally broke the ice. "You are going to have to forgive me, man. I'm the only family left you got. Let me just try to explain."
"I don't want to hear it." I had my eyes closed, trying to focus on my breathing. The pain on my side had been increasing exponentially.
"It's not what you think. I love her, man. I am in love with her. And I've been in love with her for a long time."
"Great, congratulations."
Who the fuck cared anyway?
I sure as hell did not love Tanya. They could be together for all I care. I would find a new place and take Mandy with me. I could try to be good for Bella, try to earn her respect back. I could start over without any of this shit.
"Remember when you got injured, five years ago?" Masen ran a hand through his hair as he spoke. "Remember how I helped you back then?"
"If by helping you mean getting me addicted to morphine and heroine, then yes, I remember."
"It started back then, man. I didn't plan it."
I stared at him. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"I was sixteen, Masen! I was going to try out for the Sounders for fuck's sake!" Raising my voice did not help with the ache on my side, so I tried to take a deep breath through the blinding pain. "Just shut up, okay?" I couldn't do this shit today. I closed my eyes and tried resting my head back. I really needed to lie down. My head was swimming.
"She didn't plan it either, man. It just happened." Masen kept going as if he didn't hear what I said. "Then you and I got busted… then rehab and jail. I told her to pick one of us when I came out. You stayed clean, but I never could, so she picked you, but I never stopped loving her, dude. I even told her she should pick you. She was pregnant, so… I went away," Masen confessed. I just stayed quiet. I couldn't deal with this shit.
I opened my eyes and looked through the window again, hoping to see some kind of movement inside the house we'd been waiting outside of for what seemed to be an eternity..
"Dude, it's okay. Don't be nervous," Masen said, looking at me.
"It's not okay, Masen. And I'm not nervous. Something's wrong. I don't feel fine." I grabbed my stomach and closed my eyes in pain.
"Let me see," Masen said, lifting up my shirt. My left side was bruised and swollen. "Okay… we need to get you to the doctor… quickly… right after we finish this."
I groaned, pulling my shirt down.
"I think I saw someone!" Masen jumped on his seat. "Okay. I'll go inside, give them their shit, and I'll leave. Then you'll go inside and trade them the car."
"What if they don't want the car?" I asked Masen, worried.
"They're going to."
"Why can't we both go in together? I really don't feel good, Masen." I was trying not to be a pussy, but I wasn't even sure I could walk. Everything inside me felt like it had become loose.
"Just do as I say. It will be all right."
"But what if-"
"I'm going in, okay?" Masen snapped. "When you see me come out, you wait a little bit and go in. Got it?" I just nodded.
Masen got out of the car and walked to the house. I looked at him though my eyes were almost closing. I was exhausted and in pain. I felt like I was about to pass out. I watched Masen go inside the house, so I let my eyes close for a couple seconds.
…
I woke up to Masen screaming as he was running toward the car. "Edward, start the car!" I did as he said and Masen got in. "Go! Go!"
"What happened?" I asked, disconcerted, but I drove away as I saw about eight guys coming out of the house carrying all kinds of guns. They started shooting at the car. They hit the tires, and the car spun.
"Damn it!" Masen was frantic, cursing under his breath. We were surrounded by them, and they were pointing guns at us. I didn't have anything left in me to react.
"Get the hell out of the car!" one of them said, hitting the glass on my window with a gun. I turned off the engine. I had to grab on to the door with one hand and hold my stomach with the other. We both got out of the car.
"Oh, so you were trying to get away, huh?" The guy grabbed me by my shirt and slammed me against the car. When he let me go, my knees gave way, and I just fell to the ground on all fours.
"Where is the other half, Cullen?" I heard another one of them ask Masen. "You better give it to me, unless you want your little brother to die. He also owes us, you know? I guess for you guys it's like a family business."
"Listen, here's the other half." I heard Masen try to reason with them. "And you can take the car as his payment."
"This shitty car? It's not worth twenty grand," I think someone said. I was still on all fours, heaving, trying to find the strength to get up.
"C'mon, you guys. You know the shit he got wasn't worth twenty grand. Ten grand, tops." I heard Masen coming closer, and then he was kneeling next to me, helping me up. "Hang on, okay?" he whispered in my ear as he propped me up. "It was his first deal. Cut him some slack."
"Okay. We'll take the car. You can leave."
"Thank you, I won't mess up anymore." Masen turned around and helped me walk. "See, bro? Everything went fine. I just need you to hang in there a little bit longer, and we'll be at the hospital, okay?" I couldn't answer. I could barely walk.
"Hey, Cullen!" one of the guys called. Masen turned us around, and I stumbled behind him. They were all inside the car. "We are done doing business with you, asshole." the guy driving said as he pointed his gun at Masen and fired.
…
My ears were still ringing when I opened my eyes. The sky was cloudy, but it was still light out. My right shoulder and chest were throbbing. I tried to sit up, but the pain in my midsection was overwhelming, so I just rolled on my side. Masen was lying next to me, not moving.
Shit…
I reached out to him with my hand and shook him. "Masen?" He was covered in blood.
I looked around— there was a lot of blood on the ground. Masen had lost a lot of blood, or maybe I had. I used whatever strength I had left and pushed myself up on my hands and knees.
Once I was kneeling, I tried shaking Masen again. "Masen!"
I grabbed my arm— it fucking hurt. There was still blood coming out of what I assumed was a bullet wound on my right shoulder. "Shit!"
I groaned and screamed and tried to get Masen up, but I couldn't. He was too heavy, or I was too weak, or a combination of both. I looked around for help, but there was no one around. Once I saw an ambulance coming, I felt relief and then collapsed on the ground.
…
The room I was in was bright, way too bright. At first, all I could see was white, but then my eyes were able to recognize shapes and forms. Apparently, I was in a hospital handcuffed to the bed.
Great…
To say that I was in pain would have been an understatement. I felt like I had been run over by a bus, numerous times. I looked around the room, but there was no one around. Almost immediately, the door opened, and Bella came in. She walked closer to the bed with a small smile on her face. She looked sad and as if she had been crying. I tried to breathe through the truck of guilt pressing on my chest. I opened my mouth, but no sounds came out.
"Don't try to speak. They had to intubate you during surgery." Bella's sweet voice was like music to my ears. Her hand covered mine, and her touch released its full calming force on me. My eyes closed as I breathed in deeply.
She's here… She's here…
"It's okay. You are going to be all right," she crooned, running her other hand through my hair behind my ear.
…
Bella was still holding my hand when I woke up. She had her head resting on the edge of the bed, and I could feel her breathing on my arm. I tried to caress her hair, but I was still handcuffed to the bed.
"Shit," I whispered, and she lifted her head. She looked at me with sleepy eyes and smiled. She looked tired. I wondered how long had she been here and if she had gotten any rest.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" She rubbed her thumb on the back of my hand.
"I'm okay," I lied, my eyes fixed on hers. I felt like shit, truly and utterly like shit. "I can't believe you are here." I tried to sit up, but the pain on my side was too much, and I groaned and flopped back down.
Bella ran her fingers on my forearm. "Besides the anesthesia, they have not used any pain killers."
"I can tell," I said through clenched teeth.
"The anesthesia must be wearing off. I explained your situation to them, but they said that when the anesthesia wears off you'll be in a lot of pain, Edward. I don't know." Her voice quavered as she looked worriedly at me.
"Bella, it's okay." Part of me wanted to tell her I'd endure it and I'd be okay, but in reality, I was about ready to give up.
"You had me as your emergency contact. You know, from that time with your knee."
"Yes, um… I'm sorry. You don't really have to be here."
"It's okay."
"How did they find you? I didn't have your number, and you are not listed."
"They recognized the name. Remember I told you my dad works here."
"Oh…"
"Yeah, actually he was the one who performed your surgery. They beat you up so bad they damaged part of your kidney and your liver. You were bleeding internally. He fixed that and also took the bullet out of your shoulder. It didn't hit any bones or major vessels or anything like that. You were lucky."
"Did I get you in trouble? I mean, with your dad?"
"Well, he just wonders how did I get involved with someone who did not only have a bullet in his shoulder, and was nearly beaten up to death, but who is also being prosecuted for possession of heroin and involvement in a public shooting."
I wondered what Bella's father thought of me. I would never be good enough for Bella.
"How's Masen?"
Her eyes started to fill with tears, and I knew— I just knew…
"I'm so sorry, Edward."
"Shit!" I felt helpless. I tried to move, but I was in too much pain. "Goddammit!" I shook in the bed. I was so frustrated. Everything was going to shit. Masen was dead. I was going to jail.
"Edward." Bella wiped her tears and caressed my arm. "Listen, I know it's a lot to deal with, but you don't get to break down, okay? Not right now, not when the police are waiting to talk to you." She grabbed my hand and squeezed it in support.
As much as her touch calmed me, and as much as I wanted her with me, I couldn't take her down this road. I looked at her, and she gave me one of her prettiest, earnest smiles, trying to stay supportive.
I struggled for words, torn between what I wanted— what I needed so badly— and what I knew I had to do. "I- I just can't… I mean, God, Bella! You are amazing. I can't believe you are still here. After everything… I don't know what I ever did to deserve you."
"Edward," she whispered, looking down.
"Do you know what it is to finally know what you want, and have it, right in front of you, knowing that you can't have it."
"What are you talking about? Of course you can have me. You already got me, Edward. I'm here for you."
"I'm not good for you, Bella. I'll never be good enough for you."
"I don't believe that."
"You don't get it, do you? I'm probably going to jail. I'm fucked, Bella. You should stay away from me. I won't make you happy."
"Excuse me." The nurse came in. Bella's eyes were filled with tears, staring at me. "They need to talk to him," the nurse said, pointing to the two policemen who were waiting outside.
"Go home, Bella. Please, just leave. I don't want you here," I said, closing my eyes in pain and also avoiding looking at her. I could feel myself shutting down. Bella left the room, and nothing mattered anymore. The nurse came closer to me and checked my chart and the screen. She was about to open the door and let the policemen in.
"Nurse!" I called.
Fuck this shit…
"Yes?" she asked from the door.
"How about those pain killers?"
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A/N: Thanks for reading!