I'm back! Thank you all for your kind words and well wishes. I have to admit that I'm having a hard time. I can't seem to get in the groove with any of the things I typically enjoy. I gave myself until Monday to decompress and fool around, and it helped some. Depression would easily set in if I didn't keep going so I'm working on putting words to paper. Thankfully, I'm almost finished with chapter 15. These are the times I'm thankful I was wise enough to wait until I'd hoarded chapters before posting.


They came in droves. His parents, the elementary school teachers, friends and even strangers. They weren't allowed in to see Maggie, but there was an influx of people that Edward was unprepared to face. He felt like a fish in a tank. Tap on the glass harder, see if they'll scatter. He appreciated the support, but he didn't enjoy feeling so overwhelmed with so many people wanting to shake his hand or catch a glimpse of the man whose daughter went missing. They didn't get much crime in Forks and Maggie's abduction had turned the Cullen family into a sideshow. He tried to be cordial until it simply became too much. He hated being down the hall giving face time to strangers when Maggie might wake up again. Eventually, Carlisle was the only one to greet visitors in the waiting room.

Edward mastered one thing though. He'd compartmentalized his feelings for the sake of his daughter. Between the agony of what happened to her and the anger, he had to keep it all under wraps if he wanted to maintain his sanity. It sat there in the back of his mind, festering into an ugly sore. He was ready, more than ready, to unleash everything building up, but he knew he had to bide his time.

Maggie opened her eyes several times the following day. She would blink, shift around and focus on her father, and typically fall back to sleep. He knew she needed all the rest she could get so that she could heal, but he wanted her awake and reassuring him she was better. He didn't care if that made him selfish.

It was the rare time of evening when he was alone and everything was quiet as he sat with Maggie's hand in his. Her color had returned to her cheeks and she looked healthier already. She stirred, and his heart jumped in his chest. He waited to see if she would open her eyes again.

"Maggie?"

He said her name quietly, rubbing his thumb back and forth over her knuckles. He watched her eyelids flutter and he smiled.

"Excuse me, Edward?"

The soft voice was as familiar to him as any, now. He looked over his shoulder to find Bella standing just inside the door. "Hey."

She gave him her gentle smile. "I don't mean to interrupt you, but I want to ask if you need a break."

He looked back at Maggie, who was motionless once more. "You know, I've been out of this room an awful lot today."

Bella came and sat in the chair next to his. "Visitors?"

"Yeah." He didn't say anything else for a few minutes, and she let him be. "Do you think I'll ever feel like I can just go home? Like I don't have to worry or hover?"

Bella watched Edward's profile as he kept his gaze on the bed. "I would guess so, eventually. You've been through a trauma, Edward, and it's understandable that you'd want to maintain a vigil on your daughter. She's what's most important to you."

He looked over, slowly tearing his focus from Maggie to stare at Bella. "Most people are encouraging me to go home. Almost everybody except Emmett has told me that she'll be fine, I'll be fine."

Bella shrugged. "I tend to deal in facts, and the fact is you're not ready. Maybe it's easier to see from the outside."

He looked back at Maggie. "That's probably it."

They were silent for a time as they watched Maggie. For Edward, he watched the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed steadily.

"I can sit with her if you need to shower or get something to eat," Bella said into the silent room.

He took a deep breath. It had been a long day, full of activity and people. He needed time alone, and there was only one way to get it in that hospital. "I think I'll get a shower, if that's okay?"

"Of course. I promise not to leave."

Edward took his bag into the bathroom and locked the door. He'd been doing a decent job of holding it in, he thought. He twisted the knob on the wall of the shower so the water would heat while he stripped off his clothes. He was weary to the bone, dragged down to the base of his humanity. He couldn't help but think he was failing the test God put before him. When he was in the shower and the hot water streamed over his head, he closed his eyes against all that was crushing him and wept. He covered his face with his hands and fell against the tiled wall, shoulders shaking and knees trembling. The grief was suffocating him, and he couldn't get his breath to cooperate. He needed the one person he couldn't have. He needed his daughter's mother, his wife, his life companion that was meant to always be there to help him through the hard times. He missed Beth more intensely than he could recall ever missing her before. After some time, he sank to the bottom, drowning in his sorrow until there was nothing left of him but the empty husk to which he was growing accustomed.

Bella was singing to Maggie again when Edward emerged from the steamy bathroom. Her head was down as she focused her attention on the girl in the bed. She would never tell Edward that she could hear him breaking down on the other side of the wall. She wouldn't tell him that she wanted nothing more than to be able to comfort him in his agony. She wouldn't tell him she sang to avoid hearing the stabbing pain of his sorrow and to keep her focus on Maggie. She'd wiped her face free of the tears that fell unbidden just as she heard him open the bathroom door. It wouldn't help him to see her crying, so she hid it from him. She finished the song as he situated himself back in his chair and then she stood.

"Are you set for the night?" she asked in a voice thickened by suppressed emotions.

"I am, thanks."

He didn't look at her, and for that, she was grateful. She fled the room without another word.

As the door closed, Maggie's eyes opened. "Daddy?"

Her voice was little more than a whisper. Edward smiled down at her. "Magpie."

"I'm thirsty."

Edward stood up and pushed the call button as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Okay, baby. How do you feel other than that?"

She yawned. "Done with sleeping."

He laughed in relief. "That would be great, Maggie."

The nurse came in and saw Maggie was awake. She raised the head of the bed to help Maggie sit up, and after Edward made sure he could give her a drink, he held the cup with the straw to her lips. She drank it all.

"More water, please," she rasped.

"Oh, sweet girl." Edward wiped away his tears as he leaned over her, pulling her head to his chest. "I love you."

"I know that." Her words were muffled into his shirt.

"Are you really feeling okay?" He pulled away and sat in his favorite spot while the nurse looked over the machines and the readouts.

"Yes, Daddy. Why am I in the hospital?" She scrunched her nose as she looked around the room.

"You don't remember?"

"Not really."

Edward sagged against the back of the chair, squeezing her hand in his. He was so happy that she wasn't burdened with those thoughts.

"The memories might or might not come back to her. The bump to her head was significant, but time will tell."

Edward thanked the nurse and watched her leave the room. "Do you want me to call everyone, Magpie, or are you sleepy again?"

"I don't know."

"Okay. Don't worry about it."

"What happened, Daddy?"

Edward sighed quietly. He knew he couldn't avoid talking to her about what happened, but he was so reluctant to relive it, or to have her relive it. "You wandered off, I guess. We found you asleep after you'd fallen down."

Maggie frowned. "I fell down?"

"It seems like it."

"That's how I bumped my head?" She touched the bandage on her temple.

Edward swallowed hard and nodded. It was somewhat the truth. She lifted her elbow, indicating the arm in the sling. "You broke it when you fell."

She looked down at the cast covering her arm and the blue sling it was nestled in. Edward thought she would ask more questions, but she just looked up at him again. "Can I watch TV?"

Edward laughed. "Absolutely."

One of the patient care aides came back with a refilled water cup and handed it to Edward. When Maggie had her fill, he switched on the TV that was mounted high on the wall opposite the bed and flipped through the channels until he found something about horses. He shifted the recliner he always sat in until it was lined up with the bed and sat there holding her hand as they watched the show. He wasn't too surprised to find her asleep again after half an hour. It was more time than he'd had with her in a week, and he was happy to have it. He tucked the sheet and the blanket up to her chin as she snored softly and kissed her forehead.

He called his brother without thinking to look at the time first.

"Edward? Is something wrong?"

"Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't think about the time." He glanced at the clock and winced when he saw it was after midnight. "Maggie was awake and we talked."

"Wow, okay." Edward heard rustling on the other end of the phone. "How long was she awake? What did she say?"

"She asked what happened. She doesn't remember anything, but the nurse said her memories could come back."

"So she's asleep again?" Emmett asked, and Edward heard Rose's voice murmuring something.

"Yeah. We watched TV, Em. She was perfect except for what she couldn't remember."

"That's great, brother. Kiss her for me, and I'll come by in the morning."

"You think I should call Mom and Dad, or let them sleep?"

Emmett laughed. "Dad wouldn't mind being woken, but you know how Mom gets without sleep."

Edward discovered he could actually see the humor in that. His mood was improving. "Okay, I'll wait until the sun comes up. Love you, man."

"I love you, Edward. Rose says she loves you, too, and we'll both see you in the morning. Good night."

Yeah, his mood had improved. He wanted to go and find out if Bella was still in the hospital. She'd never met Maggie while she was awake. He figured she'd already gone home, though, so he contented himself with watching something mindless on the TV set he hadn't turned off.

There were visitors again the next morning, some wanted and some unwanted. Edward had made the decision not to leave her room, though. Emmett and Rose came first, followed by Ben and Angela for a brief visit before she went to work.

"I can only stay for a minute, Edward, but I was so happy when Rose said she'd woken up last night." Angela hadn't been on his list of babysitters, but she'd still made an effort to come a few times that week.

"It was over too fast, but it was nice to see her smiling and talking to me," he told her.

Ben gave Edward a one-armed hug. "It's good that she was talking and everything."

"It's a big relief." Edward sat in his chair and watched Maggie sleeping. "I was worried she'd have lingering issues that we wouldn't know about until she woke up."

"Let me run Angie to work and then I'll be back, okay?"

"All right, Ben, I'll see you later."

Rose sat and Emmett stood behind her. "It's a burden off your shoulders, I hope," she said to Edward.

"It is. You know how worried I was that something was seriously wrong with her."

"I hope that we can find out who did this. Maybe she'll remember who it was." Emmett rested his hands on Rose's shoulders and massaged them.

"I still say it was one of the Quileutes," Edward muttered.

"Why do you think that?" Rose asked with a frown.

Edward scoffed as he glared over toward the door, remembering the way Susan Black had come in there talking about it. "She was found on their land, but they wouldn't let us search at first."

"But what reason would any of them have had to be behind your property in the first place?" Rose pointed out. "Were they wandering around behind the shop for a reason?"

"It's heavily wooded, so anyone could have come from the forest. I don't know why they'd want to be back there, maybe they were just hiking and saw a little girl outside alone."

"I think it was a set of coincidences," Emmett said. "Maggie walked outside, and the person that took her happened to be there and saw an opportunity."

"An opportunity for what?" Edward said, his voice growing louder. "She's five!"

Rose put a hand up. "Lower your voice before you wake her with your shouting. As much as you want her awake, I don't think you want it to be because you're screaming about her."

Edward clamped his lips between his teeth to keep in the retort that sat on the tip of his tongue. The worst didn't happen, he reminded himself. Whatever the kidnapper wanted, they didn't get the chance to follow through on much. He took a deep breath and blew it out. "I still say the chief is going to cover up what went on to keep their reputation intact."

"I didn't get the impression that the FPD was going to let them be in charge, Edward, so I believe it's just a matter of time before they find out who it was." Rose shifted to try to get comfortable before realizing she really needed the bathroom. She got up and left the brothers alone.

"Are you still planning to do . . . something?"

Edward looked up at Emmett. "If I hear who it was and get there first, you bet your ass."

Emmett sighed and took the vacated chair, leaning on his knees to level his gaze at Edward. "You know I will always have your back, but neither of us can afford to go to jail."

"You didn't hear that woman, the chief, trying to kiss up and talk about how they would take care of it if it was one of them. She's going to insist on taking care of it instead of letting the police do it, and the guy will walk free."

"I don't know, Edward."

"I guess we'll see, won't we?" He wouldn't expect Emmett to put his life on the line for this, but he wouldn't let it go, either. He couldn't.


If you're at all interested in my published books, I just launched the second in a series before I went out of town. The third installment will go live on June 21. You can find me on Amazon under Lara Norman.