"My son. I can't let him get my son."
"Your son Bella?" Esme couldn't quite hide her surprise at my words and I tried to fight back my tears, to remain strong enough that I could tell this woman enough that she could help him. I nodded my head and began to pick nervously at the blanket, unsure of whether or not I would actually be able to speak the words, to share with another person what had happened.
I didn't know if she expected me to just speak up but I didn't know how to start, so I sat there quietly and waited for her to recover her surprise, to ask me a question, to say anything at all. During the silence Carlisle joined us in my room, hesitating only for a second before he approached the bed taking my vitals again before backing up and standing next to his wife.
"Before you say anything else Bella I need you to tell us where he is now, is he safe? Does Charlie have access to him?" I didn't know how to answer the questions, first nodding and then shaking my head negatively. I didn't know what Charlie had access to, it was possible he had already contacted Renee and started the process.
"He should be safe. As far as I know he's still in Phoenix, I don't know what Charlie has access to... he says that he knows people... and... and Phil..." I was beginning to sob again and I swallowed thickly, reaching to the table beside me for a tissue for my nose.
"Who is he with Bella?" Carlisle's voice cut in then, calm and patient but also firm.
"Laura and John Reynolds." I swallowed again thinking about him, "They are his grandparents."
"What's his name?" Esme asked softly and I saw Carlisle reach into his pocket for his phone, typing something quickly and then looking back to me.
"Cole Weston Reynolds." Carlisle was typing on his phone again and Esme was trying to smile reassuringly at me but it wasn't working. I could feel my body beginning to shake at the memories of everything that had happened in Phoenix, at the humiliating way that Cole had been brought into the world.
"I'm just going to go make a quick phone call and I'll be right outside your door if you need anything Bella," Carlisle left the room, quietly closing the door behind him and Esme turned back to me.
"Can you tell me anything else Bella, anything that we can use to help you? How old is Cole? Do his grandparents have legal custody of him? Where is his father? Why would Charlie want him?" She asked the questions slowly but I felt like I couldn't answer them. I had become so accustomed to pretending that Phoenix never happened, that none of it was real.
"Oh Bella! I'm sorry." She moved closer to me and helped me sit up when I started to cry harder, my sobs loud and pained as the memories cut through my heart.
"He's only a baby. He's only eight months old... I signed custody of him over to Laura, it was... the safest... place... for him..." I choked out the words, my throat constricting even tighter as I thought about those first few days, thought about the ache that never left my chest.
I physically couldn't say anything else, and as the tears dried up and my sobs eventually died down, Esme stayed right there with me, rocking me gently as she held onto me, doing the very thing I had always wished my own mother would do.
Carlisle didn't come back into the room for some time and even when he did, neither of them asked me any more questions, probably sensing that I couldn't say anything more at the time. Even saying Cole's name had been agonizing for me. Instead he informed me that Jasper was taking care of things in Arizona, making sure that Cole was where he was supposed to be and that Charlie wasn't making any attempts to get to him. I didn't ask him any questions about how they did it, only prayed that it worked, that Charlie would not be able to get anywhere near him.
"How's she doing?" I was floating on the border between conscious and dreaming when the voice hit me and I instantly recognized the velvety tone, my body seeming to instantly calm down at the knowledge of his presence in the room with me.
"She's been sleeping off and on... and she's been having nightmares." Esme's whispered voice replied.
"Alice said that you need to go home for a while for appearances... and to hunt?" Edward asked softly and I heard a light squeak as Esme stood up from the chair.
"Yes, Carlisle says the nursing staff is getting suspicious... and I do need to hunt. It was difficult earlier when Ch... when he pulled out her IV line." I felt bad for not noticing earlier, it must have been difficult for Esme to have my fresh blood in the room with her. As I thought about it I began to feel a strange warmth travel through me, a new sense of worth. She must have really been concerned to be able to act normally and not even show her thirst.
"Meet Carlisle in his office, he needs to hunt as well and if he doesn't leave it will start raising questions. Edward and I will stay here with her." I was slightly surprised to hear the tiny vampire's voice but the only thing that seemed to bother me was the way that I still sensed something more to the way that she spoke.
"Are you sure you're okay here Edward?" Esme seemed hesitant to leave and I wondered why it seemed to be more difficult for Edward then the rest of them.
"I'm fine... I hunted earlier and Alice is here if it gets to be too much I'll leave the room." It sounded like he was making some sort of promise to the small woman.
The room quieted down after that, the only other sound I heard being the gentle click as the door was closed, the sound of plastic shifting as someone sat in the chair across from where I was laying on the bed, still half asleep.
"Mommy! I'm hungry!" I hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch and the sun was setting, my bedtime closing in as my tiny stomach rumbled hungrily. She had been occupied with one of her many hobbies and had told me repeatedly through the day to 'go play', she would get me something to eat in a little while.
"Stop whining Bella!" she snapped at me and I watched as she cranked up the volume on the CD player, tuning me out. My lip trembled as my stomach grumbled again.
Crying softly I made my way into the kitchen and decided to make myself a sandwich. Pushing the wooden chair to the counter I carefully climbed up and took the bread out of the cupboard, reaching on my tip-toes to grab the peanut butter from the next shelf. But as I gripped it, my foot slipped, sending my screaming four year old body to the floor and landing awkwardly on my arm.
"Damn it Bella!" I was crying hard by this point, my arm in agony as she ripped me up from the floor and looked at me.
"I don't know what happened, I ran to get something from the other room and wasn't gone more than three seconds when I heard her crying..." Renee's voice was far too innocent and I was confused by her words as I sniffled quietly from the corner of the emergency room.
"Just wait until your father hears about this Bella..." I shivered from the threat and pleaded with her not to tell him, knowing that if she did then the next time I saw him it would be far worse.
I bolted upright in the bed, my breathing heavy as I came out of the dream which was more like a memory. My arm was aching and as I went to rub it I felt the hard cast that covered my hand and the cracked bones from where Charlie had practically crushed it. The memories of the previous two days assaulted me and I began to panic, looking around the room in fear, my eyes widening when I saw the surprised faces of the two vampires in the room with me.
"Do you want to talk about your dream Bella?" Alice's voice squeaked out and I quickly shook my head at her, not knowing how much I had already said in my sleep.
It was quiet as I waited for my heart to slow back down to normal, still glancing constantly around the room to make sure that Charlie hadn't magically appeared.
"Are you alright Bella?" Edward looked at me cautiously and moved to take a step towards the bed, Alice's hand darting out to grab him at the same time that I felt my body lean back away from him in fear. It was irrational and while I somehow knew that he wouldn't hurt me, my instincts had gone into overdrive thanks to my nightmares.
"I'm sorry, I didn't meant to frighten you." He apologized softly and then backed up towards the wall, his hand moving up and his fingers running through his copper coloured locks.
"You didn't... it's not you..." I stuttered slightly and regretted the way I had moved back, now suddenly wanting him closer to me again.
He didn't budge from his place at the wall and Alice remained silently seated in the chair. Eventually my eyes drifted closed again and I was pulled back into the tortured depths of my memories, which had become even more vivid and clear since my arrival in the hospital. My dreams had shifted this time though, no longer was I a young child, no... now I was the one trying to protect the perfect little brown eyed baby boy.
By the time I woke up again, Esme was back and I was beginning to wonder if seeing Edward and Alice in the room had only been another one of my dreams, something that my mind had conjured up and tricked me into believing. But as I examined Esme closer I noticed that she had changed her clothes and her eyes were back to a light golden colour as opposed to the nearly black shade I had last seen.
Esme stayed with me for the entire day, helping me to get up and changed into some pajamas that she had apparently bought for me and then forcing me to eat from the food tray that had been brought up to my room.
When I asked what happened next I was given a variety of options and even more promises from Dr. and Mrs. Cullen regarding my safety and the safety of my son. As difficult as it was, I made a choice that I never would have previously made, a decision that I could only hope was the right one.
After lunch, with Carlisle and Esme sitting on one side of me and the hospital's lawyer sitting on the other side, I gave my official statement regarding the abuse I had suffered through Charlie to both a social worker from Child Protective Services and a detective from the Washington State Police.
To my surprise talking about the abuse almost seemed to give me some sense of relief. Even when they mentioned the possibility of sending me back to Phoenix, to Renee... I was able to remain somewhat calm, knowing that after I told them the rest of the story it probably wouldn't be much of an option.
"Now, from what Dr. and Mrs. Cullen have mentioned, there is concern for another child?" The woman from child protective services asked and suddenly I felt the weight of what I was about to reveal, what I was about to tell them.
"Why don't you start at the beginning Bella, tell us about what happened in Arizona." Esme's voice was gentle and patient and she shifted, taking my hand in her own and squeezing it gently.
"I was always an inconvenience to Renee, especially once she met Phil. When my mom first left Charlie she brought me along simply to piss him off and make him angry. But she never wanted me around which is why she still sent me here to visit him on school breaks and during the summertime." My heart was racing again and I wasn't sure if I could do this, but I also knew it was the only way to keep him safe.
I gave them all several examples of the negligence I had grown used to, the way that I had been my own parent and had been forced to take care of myself. I found myself skipping several of the next parts of the story, not wanting to go into detail about what had happened with Weston, not able to go into detail about what had happened with him.
"Renee was angry when she found out I was pregnant and together she and Phil attempted to force me into an abortion..." I didn't go into the other details yet, not wanting to reveal the things that they had done to attempt to force it.
"Renee and Phil might have access to him. They aren't supposed to... but... Charlie... I don't know what to think anymore." I was frustrated with the conversation, knowing that nothing that I was saying made much sense yet.
"Why would Renee and Phil have access to the child?" The social worker asked calmly and continued to make notes on her yellow legal pad.
"Phil... is... is Weston's brother... his half-brother. Cole's uncle. Laura Reynolds is Phil's mother." I swallowed back the bile that had risen in my throat and continued. "If Renee has access then Charlie has access... he'll pay her off... do whatever it takes... that's why I ended up here in Forks. Charlie always gets what he wants." There was so much that I still had trouble understanding myself and I knew I was still not making much sense as I tried to speak clearly, to tell them what they needed to know.
The social worker continued to pummel me with questions about Cole, about my relationship with Weston and about Phil's relationship with Laura. I answered most of the questions without hesitation, giving them whatever information I could. I could only hope that Laura had kept her promise to keep Renee and Phil away from the baby, but my chest was aching just thinking about it, my stomach sick with the possibilities that my mind had conjured up.
"What happens next?" I whispered softly as Esme lead me down the hall and back towards my hospital room, her arm wrapped around my shoulder supportively.
"They will do their jobs Bella... they will keep both you and Cole safe." I knew that she was right, they had explained the process to me back in the room. I would be placed with a foster family until I turned eighteen – six months from now. With the allegations against Charlie, they assured me that no judge would grant him custody again, but I was cautious in believing their statement. Arizona child protective services would be contacted and a file would be started on Cole, an investigation into Phil's relationship with my son following. Esme and I had left Carlisle with the detective in the small meeting room, my file in his hands. He would be explaining my injuries and the abuse that he had personally witnessed from Charlie, and I knew that they were hoping to send Charlie to jail. I didn't know what to hope for.
"How long do you think it will take..."
I couldn't complete my sentence, the sound firing instantly as we rounded the corner. Even Esme didn't quite have enough time to react properly, her surprise evident as she pulled me back an instant too late. The stinging in my shoulder told me all I needed to know as I collapsed to my knees in pain, gripping the agonizing spot and crying out in pain.
There were voices talking all around me and soon I was surrounded by doctors and nurses. I tilted my head and looked to the side, searching for the one person that I had finally begun to trust again. Instead I only saw Charlie, laying face down on the ground, a security guard on top of him with his knee in Charlie's back as he placed the metal bracelets on his wrists.
"Bella, look at me." Carlisle's voice commanded but I couldn't take my eyes off of the site in front of me as the detective I had just met with hoisted Charlie angrily up by the handcuffs. The gun he had used was on the floor across from where they were now standing and I caught the pointed look that Charlie gave me, first glancing down at the weapon and then back at me, hatred in his eyes.
Carlisle's hands were cold against my cheeks as he turned my head gently back to look at him and I felt myself begin to let go, the tears that had been threatening to spill, rolling down my cheeks as I realized what had happened.
Charlie... my own father... had just tried to end my life in a hospital full of people.
A/N: Okay, a bit of a longer chapter here. There's still so much more to poor Bella's story but obviously she couldn't speak about a lot of it in front of humans! I love this story and hope you all do as well. If you enjoyed it or even if you didn't I would love it if you would please leave a review!
*Just a disclaimer here. I'm not a doctor or a lawyer or a social worker. I know there may be mistakes in this story but really I'm just writing it for fun and as much as I try to be accurate, things are going to slip through the odd time.
** I don't own anything Twilight. It all belongs to it's creator Stephenie Meyer who I am grateful allows us to play with her creations!