Every time that I think I'm used to the response to my story…you guys have to go and do something like the last 2 days! There's a line from one of my favorite songs, Arianne, by Johnny Mathis in which he is describing all of these ideal things in comparison to this woman, and one of the lines is, "And what writers have to feel like, when they've suddenly discovered they've been read." As I don't have kids yet, and I have no man in my life at the moment, I have to tell you, that is one of the greatest feelings in the world, so thanks for the natural high! Much is revealed so now that I've paid my daily dues, I'm just going to move on to the story.
I do not own the song Way Beyond Empty. I did however write the other song in this chapter, so that one belongs to me. (About time something did!)
BPOV
I'm not going to lie, it's been two days since Esme's accident, and the tension in the hospital is reaching critical mass. Emmett stormed out of the room around 3pm, after everything finally got to be too much for him. Rosalie called and told me that he was home with the kids. He wouldn't stop reading them stories, and he wouldn't talk about the hospital. Irina and Rosalie still agreed that the kids shouldn't come to the hospital until Esme woke up, which is when Emmett lost it. Jasper tried to tai chi the situation, but Emmett just yelled and left.
Alice took it hard and cried in Jasper's arms for over an hour. Edward grabbed me and dragged me to our stairwell. Where he just sat, resting his head on my shoulder, before he fell asleep. And he was still sleeping, over two hours later, and even though I was getting stiff from sitting still for so long, I couldn't bear to wake him. Finally, I sat back and lowered his head into my lap, gently rubbing his back. He let out a deep sigh and spoke in a murmur. "Bella." He was dreaming about me. He sounded so peaceful, and I was so happy to be there at that moment. I had gone by the bar earlier, and we were covered for tonight, but tomorrow was New Years Eve, and I knew I would have to work.
It was around 5:45 when Edward finally woke up. "Hey handsome, how was your nap?"
Edward smiled and ran his hand through his hair. "I'm sure I'm anything but handsome. The nap was good. Have you heard anything about Emmett?"
"Rose called, he's home with the kids."
Edward dug into his pocket and grabbed his phone. "Em, why don't you come back?" There was a soft murmur of Emmett's response. He was calmer, that's a good sign, I guess. "Emmett, come on will you-" Emmet cut him off and he got louder. I held out my hand for the phone and Edward reluctantly gave it to me.
"Em, its Mighty Mouse. I don't want to put any pressure on you, but if something happens, good or bad, you'll regret not being here, trust me. If you want, you can hang out in the stairwell with us, but just come back." The line disconnected. "I tried."
Edward pulled me to him and held me tight. "Let's go back to the room." We walked down the hall and sat with Alice and Jasper on the cot. Irina had left to give her husband a break from watching the kids alone, so Carlisle sat on the chair next to Esme.
Around 6:30, the door opened and Emmett and Rosalie walked in. He closed the door and stood there, not making eye contact with anyone, while Rosalie walked over to stand in the corner by the cot. Alice got off the cot and walked over and hugged Emmett around the waist. "Welcome back, Em."
Emmett wrapped his arms around her and Carlisle got up and clapped his hand on his back. Alice let go of Emmett and he walked over to stand in front of Edward and I. "Sorry, that wasn't cool of me bro."
"Don't worry; I've made my share of asshole moves this week, so I can't say anything."
Everyone was busy welcoming Emmett when we heard it, although it was barely louder than a whisper. "Where am I?"
Seven pairs of eyes, mine included, shot across the room to Esme, who was struggling to focus on the group of people standing by the cot. Everyone raced to her side, besides Jasper and I, who hung back a little to give them a moment. But as I heard everyone's relief, I took a steadying breath and snuck quietly out the door.
EPOV
I don't think I've ever heard a better sound then my mother's voice the moment she woke up and said, "Where am I?"
Everyone shifted and went to her side, talking over each other until finally my father held up his hand. "Esme, we've been so worried about you."
"I'm sorry you were worried." Then my mom looked past us, scanning the room. "Where's Bella? I thought I saw her a minute ago."
"She's right…" I started to say as I turned and saw that she wasn't there anymore.
Just then the doctor came in. "Well, Mrs. Cullen, it's good to see you awake. How do you feel?"
"Dizzy, and my head and back hurts."
"That's understandable considering what you've been through. Do you mind stepping out while I examine your mother?" My dad nodded and we made our way to the door.
When we got outside and Bella wasn't in the hall I looked around, agitated. Jasper answered my unasked question. "Bella stepped out a minute after Esme woke up."
Rosalie squeezed my arm. "She was probably the one who got the doctor."
"I hope she didn't think I didn't want her there, I was just so excited that mom woke up." I thought of how I pulled my hand from hers and leapt away as soon as I heard my mother's voice.
"We all are. I'm sure she just wanted to give us all a private family moment." Alice added.
A few minutes later the doctor came out and spoke to us. "Your mother is doing remarkably well. She's dealing with some of the effects of her head injury, so she'll be disoriented for a while, but other than that she is doing much better than expected. We're going to be running some more tests shortly, to rule out any permanent brain damage, but right now, she seems to be recovering well. Now that she's awake, I think it's best if you go in a few people at a time, so as not to tire her out." The doctor went off to order the tests.
My dad walked over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. "Edward, why don't you go find Bella and give her the good news. Your mother wanted to see her."
"Okay, I'll be in there in a few minutes." I walked quickly towards our stairwell and saw her sitting on the top step crying. I went down a few steps and then knelt down in front of her, looking up and trying to find her eyes, which were blocked by her hair and her hands. "Bella, love, what's wrong?"
She looked up at me and tried to talk through the sobs. "I'm sorry…this is…so…stupid…"
I went to sit next to her and pulled her to me, cradling her head against my chest. "Bella, what is it? You can tell me."
"No…it's not…right…just…forget it." I stared at her and she took a deep breath. "I'm so happy for you, I am, and I prayed Esme would wake up, and she has, but I just wished my mom could have gotten her miracle." I held Bella closer and let her cry it out. When her breathing finally started to get normal, she looked up at me.
"My mom wanted to see you. Are you ready, or do you need a few minutes?"
Bella stood up and wiped her face with her shirt sleeves. "I'm good. Let's go see how she is."
We walked down the hall just as Emmett and Rosalie came out of the room. "You guys are up." Emmett told us before grabbing Bella's wrist. "Bella thank you, if you hadn't gotten on the phone, I probably wouldn't have been here when my mom woke up, and I would have felt like crap afterward."
"You're welcome." She started walking and then stopped. "Was that the first time you called me 'Bella'?"
We all laughed. "I think so, Mighty Mouse."
Bella and I walked in the room and she sat in the chair, while I sat on the side of her bed.
"Hello Bella. Carlisle told me about how you took care of everyone, especially my Edward, and I just wanted to thank you."
Bella started to tear up again. "It was my pleasure; you have a wonderful family Esme." My mom took her hand and then the doctor knocked.
"It's time for your MRI." Bella and I got out of the way as they wheeled her bed out of the room.
A few hours later, the doctor came around and sat with us in the waiting room. "I have some very good news. Most of the swelling from your mother's head injury is gone, and there appears to be no permanent damage. Her ability to talk coherently is a very good sign, considering she was out of it for a while, and after a few days, she should be able to go home. She'll have some recovery, but within a month or two, she should be back to normal. Her wrist will probably be the last thing to heal."
"Thank you. That is excellent news." My father shook the doctor's hand and then we went in to see my mom again.
BPOV
New Years Eve. It was the bane of my fucking existence. Professionally, it was the busiest night of the year, and personally, I was always too busy to get a kiss on midnight, when I had a man to kiss me. Edward and his family were watching TV in Esme's hospital room, something only the chief of surgery could arrange for, but for his star surgeon, little was impossible. Somehow, they had found a few babysitters and the kids were safely at home. I contented myself with the fact that I would see Edward tomorrow, before I went in to do the books.
The bar was crazy, and considering the fact that we had officially begun advertising Mistaken for Bears upcoming gig on the 4th, we were even worse. Before I knew it, it was 11:55 and people started getting in position to see the TV's above the bar, which were tuned to different New Years programs. Then the countdown started. 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. Just as everyone started cheering and making out, my phone vibrated in my pocket.
*kiss* Wish I could kiss you for real! Happy New Years Love. –Edward
I laughed and texted back.
EPOV
As the countdown began, I looked around and was once again the only one alone. I pulled out my phone and sent Bella a text, figuring she wouldn't hear it over the noise. So when my phone vibrated a minute later, I was pleasantly surprised.
Wish you could too! MWAH! Happy New Year, tell your family too. -Bells
"Bella says Happy New Year."
My family looked over at me, smirking like an idiot at my phone and laughed.
I hadn't seen Bella much in the last four days. She would stop by for a little bit, but with it being the beginning of the year, she had a lot of paperwork, and she really had been leaning on her staff too much, spending all her time with me at the hospital, while my mom was bad.
We were all sitting around my mom's hospital room around 6pm when she finally spoke up. "Alright, this is getting ridiculous. You guys have been sitting here, watching me for a week now. I'm being released in the morning. I want you to go."
We looked at her like she was crazy. "You're kicking us out?" Emmett asked, completely shocked.
"Yes. Irina and Laurent are leaving tomorrow, why don't you all go somewhere together?"
Alice spoke up. "There is that band playing at Ballet Studio, you know, the guys Bella and Leah met in New York."
Dad sat on the foot of the bed. "That sounds like a lot of fun, call Irina, I'll watch the kids. By the time you leave, they'll all be in bed anyway; they can have a slumber party in the living room."
My mom readjusted herself so that she could look at all of us. "That settles it. Go and enjoy the band. And tell Bella I said 'hello.'"
Alice called Irina, and she and Laurent were in, so we went home to get ready. I was a little nervous as I picked out something to wear. Tonight would be the first time I had seen her outside the hospital since I went to her apartment and kissed her, and I wanted it to be perfect, I wanted to remind her of why I deserved her love.
I got in the shower and was instantly bombarded by memories of Bella and me making love that night. Damn, get a grip man, this isn't helping things any. I finished my shower and looked at the clock. It was 8:25, everyone would be here soon. We had decided that take-out at my place was best, because then we could just walk to the bar. Alice had said the band was going on at 11pm so we still had plenty of time to kill.
At 8:45, there was a knock on my door, and I screamed out, "Alice, just use your key!"
I heard everyone come in and then heard my fridge open as Emmett played bartender for everyone. Alice rapped her knuckles against my door and came in with her eyes closed. "Is it safe to open my eyes?"
"What do you think I'm doing in here?" I asked in amused disbelief.
"I assumed trying to pick out the perfect outfit, but I wasn't taking any chances. Now here." Alice went to my dresser and pulled out a pair of dressy jeans and then went to my closet and picked out a deep blue button down shirt and my brown blazer.
"A blazer, Alice?"
"Hey, don't question the master. You want to look good for her, don't you?" I stopped arguing with her because she was right. "I'll order your favorite, now use some product in your hair and give it that just rolled out of bed look."
"Alice." I growled.
"Oh, shut up, you love me. And you'll love me even more in a few hours." Alice winked and I shuddered to think what plan she was hatching at the moment, glad that she was on my side.
We sat around the table and joked around; it felt so good to laugh after everything that had happened. When the doorbell rang, Jasper got up and paid the delivery guy, bringing the food over to the table. We ate slowly, aware that it would only take about eight minutes to get there. "Do we have to wait in line to get in, I mean if this band is as big as you say, Alice, shouldn't we head out?" Irina was used to the bars in New York and knew all too well how long you could have to wait to get in.
"Don't worry, I called and Leah had Sam put us on the list."
"Why didn't you just call Bella?" I was starting to see the first glimpses of her plan and I was getting a little worried.
"Leah was answering the phone in Bella's office because Bella was running around like mad, trying to get the band set up, and making sure the bar was stocked, tonight's a big night for her. Don't worry, I'm sure Bella knows we're coming by now."
That thought was not comforting, and the idea of Leah possibly being in on the plot was not helping.
Around 10:15 Emmett clapped his hands together and stood up. "Alright, shitlins, let's get this show on the road, I want to get a drink before the band hits the stage."
We left and as we walked the few blocks to the bar, I began to get nervous again. "Breathe, Edward, she loves you, everything will be fine." Alice cooed at me and I did feel a little better. As we walked up, Sam fist bumped me, letting us in ahead of the angry line.
Once inside, I made a beeline to the bar with Emmett. We got our drinks and made our way to our group who had dug themselves into an opening near the ballet bar about twenty-or-so feet from the stage. The lights on the stage came up and the crowd went wild. Bella walked up onto the stage in a pair of skinny jeans and thin blouse in the same shade of blue as mine. I nudged Alice, who ignored me as she continued to hoot and holler with the rest of the crowd. Bella was stunning. She was wearing more makeup than usual, but it brought out her eyes and made her full lips stand out against her creamy skin. Her hair was curled and piled up on her head, cascading down around her face. Like I said, stunning. Bella stood in front of the mic and bit her lip quickly before looking out over the crowd and yelling out the band's intro. "Are you guys ready for the band?" The crowd yelled their answer and she smiled. "I've known these guys for years, and I've watched them work their asses off to get to this point. It's my pleasure to welcome to Ballet Studio, Imprint Records newest recording artist, Mistaken for Bears!" The bar was buzzing with excitement as the crowd screamed, welcoming the band onto the stage.
These guys looked fierce, I'm not going to lie…even the two younger guys on bass and drums were muscular and tall, they looked like they could have been brothers, they all had similar russet skin and dark eyes, and the same short crop of black hair. The guitarist, Jared, stepped up to the mic and I was suddenly grateful to know that Bella and he had never dated. As I looked closer I noticed that Jared and Paul had matching wolf tattoos on their chest that their v-neck shirts hid, except for the tops of their heads. It cut so the wolves almost looked as though they were peaking out of their shirts at you; it was kind of cool, although I wasn't ballsy enough to get a tattoo myself.
The music started and I have to admit it was amazing, I was a little surprised that they were so good, not really looking like the indie rock type. After about half of their set, I saw Jared look over at Bella, who was behind the bar, and she ran into the kitchen with Leah. What in the hell was that about?
"Is everyone enjoying themselves?" The crowd "wooed" and "yeahed" and Jared laughed. "Okay, I want to thank you all for coming out tonight to Ballet Studio, and I'm gonna take this time to introduce you to the band. Back on drums we have Brady, on bass we have Collin. On keyboards we have Paul, and I'm Jared. This next song is very special to me, and it's off our first album, which is on sale tonight after our set, along with our other album and some M4B merchandise. This song is called Bella."
I nearly shit myself, he wrote a song for Bella. Is that why she ran out, because she knew I would be watching to see her reaction, or because she was afraid to see mine? Fuck me! As the music played I focused on the song, wanting to see what he was saying about her. Jared leaned into the mic and began singing.
We met by chance that day
She took my breath away
You could light up Times Square with her smile
I got a week with her
It went by in a blur
But my life will never be the same
One day when I'm old and grey
I will still be proud to say
I walked down Broadway with an angel
We took a carriage through the park
I saw my city through her eyes
With newfound wonder and surprise
And then sweet Bella said good-bye
The two of us stayed friends
I see her now and then
And she'll still sing along with me
Sometimes I wish her guys
Would open their damn eyes
Because then they'd finally drop the games
And now when I remember her
I think about the way we were when
I walked down Broadway with an angel
We took a carriage through the park
I saw my city through her eyes
With newfound wonder and surprise
And then sweet Bella said good-bye
It doesn't matter that she was never mine
I'll take her any way I can
As long as I can tell people that
I walked down Broadway with an angel
We took a carriage through the park
I saw my city through her eyes
With newfound wonder and surprise
And then sweet Bella said good-bye
And then sweet Bella said good-bye
HOLY FUCK! I had been worried about the song, but he got Bella to a tee. She was this wonderful person that should be respected and appreciated. I started screaming and clapping as the song ended and I automatically felt six bodies around me relax for the first time since the song title had been announced. Just then, Jared dropped a bombshell I would have never expected.
"I'm sure many of you out here can guess who the woman is that inspired that last song. I know she gets embarrassed by it so we decided to play it in that slot to kill two birds, because now, Mistaken for Bears and Ballet Studio are proud to welcome to the stage a special treat. The first time I met Bella, she sang this song with Paul and I in the park, and it's now a tradition. So to sing Zakk Wylde's Way Beyond Empty, is Bella!" The crowd went crazy and all I could do was gape as she made her way to the stage and took Paul's mic and stood next to Jared.
I heard every word she sang as well, I didn't know the song, but she sang it with such passion and anguish that I was quickly undone. By the time she got to the second verse I was lost.
If I couldn't be the shoulder
Which your head would rest upon
Would you still be waiting, baby
Or would you be gone?
If I couldn't keep the smile
Forever on your face
Would I still be around
Or would I be replaced?
Yeah, Way beyond empty inside
Awaiting my last day to arrive
Way beyond empty inside
Awaiting my end to arrive
Hearing those words, I thought about all I knew about Bella and the people who had let her down. I vowed to not fall into that category again. As she finished the song, I started screaming and I knew I was crying, but I didn't care. Bella looked over and saw me. Jared laughed at the crowd and informed them, "Calm down guys, she's taken!" As soon as he said that Bella hugged Jared and Paul and jumped off the stage and weaved her way through the crowd on her way to me. When she reached me, she threw her arms around my neck and planted a big kiss right on my lips, and for once, Emmett wasn't the only one making a ruckus at our PDA.
Bella stayed glued to my side for the rest of the set. When it was over the jukebox kicked back in, with its preprogrammed playlist, care of Leah, and the band packed up. After they were done, they sat on the stage and sold their merchandise, signing their CD's and chatting with their fans. We made our way up to buy both of their CD's and as soon as Paul saw Bella's arm around my waist, and my arm over her shoulder he yelled out, "Shakespeare!" I knew immediately that Paul was tight with Leah.
I walked up and shook both his and Jared's hands. "Your music is fucking awesome." I told them smiling.
"Really, any song you like in particular?" Jared's sarcasm sealed exactly how these two had gotten along with Bella and Leah so well for eight hours straight sitting in Central Park.
"There was one, Emmett, what was that name of the one I liked?" I turned to Emmett, who was laughing behind me, as Bella jabbed my ribs.
"Very fucking funny, Cullen." Hearing her call me Cullen felt good, she called me that when she was in a rare mood, and boy was she in one tonight.
We hung out for another hour, and by that time, Irina and Laurent were starting to get tired, and considering that they had to get four children on an airplane tomorrow night, I didn't blame them for wanting to head out. I found Bella, where she was hanging out with the band. "Hey, Irina and Laurent are leaving tomorrow, so we're going home so they can get some sleep before their flight to tomorrow night."
"Okay, where are they? I want to say good-bye."
"They're outside, but you could always stop by tomorrow and say bye to the kids too. And my mom really wants to see you."
Bella's face was shocked. "She's going home?"
"First thing in the morning."
Bella hugged me and told me to tell everyone that I'd see them tomorrow. I walked everyone to the garage where their cars were parked. When I got home I put my copy of the band's first album in my CD-ROM, so I could import it into I-Tunes and play it before syncing my I-Pod in the morning. As I opened the book, I saw Jared's note above the band's signature.
Edward,
She loves you, so keep her as happy as she was tonight, and you and I will never have a problem.
Normally, a semi-threatening note might piss me off, but he was absolutely right, Bella was so happy tonight and I would do everything in my power to keep her that way.
Another one bites the dust! Okay, so we're about at the halfway point for this story. But don't worry, there's plenty more in store in this story and I have the sequel to play with too. Lots more from Cullen and Mighty Mouse on the way. I fell in love with the details in this chapter, hope you found something to enjoy!