EPOV

"Bella, can you hear me?" Carlisle was leaning foward, shining a little flashlight into her pupils as he kept her eyes open with his other hand. I kept her close to me, but I was no longer rocking back and forth. I held my breath in anticipation; her response, or lack thereof, would be the last proof I needed in order to believe she really was catatonic. We waited forty, fifty, sixty seconds. Bella said nothing. I hugged her stiff body tighter to me and kissed her head. I said, "It's okay, baby, it's okay." But really, it wasn't.

Carlisle set the flashlight on the table and sighed. "Well, Edward. I'm afraid -"

"I know. She's catatonic." I hugged her to my chest a little tighter, wishing more than anything that I could pull her into my body to keep her safe.

"Yes, and that will need to be dealt with. But primarily, we're going to need to see how far along her knees are in their healing. Come on, stretch her out on the island."

I rose from the couch and laid Bella out on the marble island as instructed. I had to lay her on her side, her body was stiff and inflexible, so she could remain in the position she had been in for over an hour now. Carlisle placed his hands on her shoulders and made an unsuccessful attempt at flattening her back. He gestured for me to hold down her hips at an angle as he pressed on the front of her shoulders. Even between the two of us, it was as if we were trying to mold a stone. "We may have to wait until she changes the position herself, Carlisle."

"Normally I would agree with you, but her knees can't continue to heal in that position. We have to at least get her legs straight." Carlisle rubbed at his eyes, putting pressure on the bridge of his nose as he thought about his options. "Alice, I need some of your belts. Emmett, I'm going to have to ask you to help Edward and I."

Five minutes later, Carlisle had Bella on her back, as much as her position would allow, and strapped down to the counter with Alice's leather belts. Uncomfortably, I straddled her stomach and pressed my palms against her shoulders. Carlisle and Emmett were behind me and Carlisle had begun counting down from three. At one, Emmett yanked on Bella's calf so hard I worried we'd nearly pulled her leg out of it's socket. I kept her upper body from lunging forward, using all of my own weight to keep her down. The light strain in my muscles left me hoping I wasn't bruising her or crushing any other bones. The process repeated, each time Emmett tried to straighten her leg with more and more force and the strain in my arms became gradually more and more intense.

"One more, but after this we figure something else out. If I put much more pressure on her, my hands will go through her chest." The imagery was so vivid I had to blink a few times in order to see the reality.

Carlisle counted down once more and Emmett pulled. I heard the popping sound of breaking bone and cartilage; my stomach lurched and I had to swallow back the lump in my throat. Carlisle counted down a final time, and the same noises seemed to echo in my head a thousand times as Emmett re-broke her other kneecap.

---

"Does anyone know where James is?" Carlisle sat on the couch, his legs propped up and a medical book open in his lap.

I waited a few seconds but no one answered. "I've been listening for him but I haven't gotten so much as a vibe; I don't know where he is but he should have been the first one to know about her." I looked down at the woman in my lap, her eyes closed and her small frame still quivering as if she were freezing. "I saw his cell phone sitting on the dresser, so I didn't bother calling him. He's just gone."

There was the faintest whisper of a half-thought creeping around the back of my mind, I looked around the room to identify the voice and when my eyes landed on Jasper there was a sudden moment of understanding between us. Instantly, I turned suspicious eyes to Alice, my lips forming a tight line. "Why haven't you told them anything, Alice?" Jasper put his hand on her knee, his thumb rubbing idly against her jeans. "They need to know."

Alice's eyes shifted nervously from Jasper to Bella, stopping on mine as she took a deep breath. She straightened her shoulders and said, "James is gone because he tried to kill Bella." Her posture went slack as if the confession took a physical toll on her and I sat in silence, stunned and a little too shell shocked to move.

The rage flickered to life in my veins and I leaned my head back on the couch and tried to ignore everything. Becoming incensed wouldn't help the situation right now, and if I were to get that angry the chances were greater that I'd go chasing after him. Right now, Bella needed me. She needed me more than my anger needed vengance.

Images flooded my mind without warning; a feeling like internal floodgates breaking open filled up my skull and I felt my body sway. Distantly, I heard Jasper's voice; his tone calm and even, soothingly murmuring into Alice's ear. Understanding crept over me and I realized the images I was seeing were the images from Alice's vision, I was experiencing what her visions were like. I'd been doing exercises with James to expand my abilities, and it was clear that they were a great success. I focused on what my mind was seeing and tried to piece the story together. I could see Rose's hair against green grass, the pale flesh of her neck and jawline exposed, revealing the scarred skin of her throat. I saw the murky light of the moon shining down into the woods, a fading path in the fog and the smell of the ocean on the breeze. Forks. In the final part of the vision, I could see Rose sitting on the limb of a tree, her eyes fixed directly on me and a snarky grin playing on her full lips.

She'd sent the dogs.

AN: I know some of you are confused, and I can completely understand why. I've been vague and sudden these last few chapters, but there is a purpose! Bella and James are in the middle of a very hard lesson. Just keep reading and it'll all clear up soon! :)