All Characters belong to Stephenie Meyers
Chapter 11
My alarm shrills to life and with a grumble I blindly reach my hand out to silence it. I never want to leave this bed, but alas its hopefully going to be an insightful day. Fingers crossed Dad will be up and running today or tomorrow but I cant help but worry that we may not know the full extent of his injuries. After all this will be the true test of whether his brain withstood the heavy blow without any mental or physical side effects. In my moment of reflection I shed a few silent tears before putting on a brave face and getting myself dressed and ready for what I assume will be a long day.
Sue arrives just after 8.30am with a small smile in place. She must be just as nervous as I am about today's events.
"Morning Sue" I say seating myself in the passenger seat and buckling my seatbelt.
"Good morning Bella, you look lovely" she comments as she starts to drive. Confused I look at myself. No, nothing special just a pair of dark grey jeans, ballet flats and a dark purple ¾ sleeve top. Even my hair is boring, worn down and rather flat.
"This?" I question pointing to my casual attire
"No sweetheart, I meant you. You seem to have a glow about you. I'm glad to see you taking care of yourself. Or has the good doctor been of help?" she asks with a grin. I immediately blush when my mind decides to take up residence in the gutter. There sure are some things I want to do with Edward, but that's just wishful thinking.
"Uh, yeah well I guess getting plenty of sleep and having a nice relaxing day and home cooked meal would make anyone feel right as rain." I shrug turning to look out the window in the hopes that Sue wont investigate further.
"Yes that helps doesn't it. I think we are going to need all the energy we can get today." she says as her face shows her concern over what may come.
"It will be ok Sue. It may not be perfect but he will get through it. We will be there to help him every step of the way." I say trying to push some positive vibes her way.
Sue only nods her head. Probably because if she says much else what little resolve she has left will break like an overfilled dam.
Walking into Dad's hospital room and I'm surprised to see he already has visitors. Billy and Jake are sitting at his bedside and in a flash of hope I look to see if he is already awake. No, not yet I sigh and quickly look back at Sue to make sure she is ok.
"Well hello there Bella" Billy greets with a blinding smile. I can see where Jake gets his from.
"Hi Billy, its lovely to see you again" I say walking over to him and leaning down to give him a hug "Well Bella, you have certainly grown into a beautiful young woman!" he bellows before looking back at Jake.
"Ah thanks I think" I say embarrassed.
"Hi Sue" Jake greets quickly before turning to me.
"Hey Bells, do you think I might be able to have a quick chat to you?" he asks putting his hands into his pockets. Looking back at Sue I make sure she is ok for the moment before agreeing.
"Absolutely" I say in reply to Jake. He motions me towards the door.
"Would you mind if we went and got a quick coffee?" he asks timidly
"Um yeah that should be alright. I just want to make sure we aren't too long, I think they are going to try to wake Dad today"
"Oh that s cool Bells, we'll just go to the cafeteria so its quick I just wanted to chat to you this morning." he says looking away.
"Is something wrong Jake?" I ask as we reach the elevators. Pushing the button he replies
"No, no. I just want to ask you a couple of things, nothing bad I promise" he smirks and bumps my shoulder in a playful way.
"Oh ok." I say not sure what to expect over our coffee. Just as the doors start to close I spot Edward at the nurses station. He seems to have spotted me too and smiles at me before Jake puts his arm over my shoulders and hugs me to his side. I just see a flash of what looked like anger register on his face as the door closes and the elevator starts to move.
"So Jake" I say smelling the atrocious burnt coffee in my hands. "What would you like to ask me" I finish, putting my coffee on the table and pushing it to the side.
"Well Bells, I just wanted to make sure that Dr Cullen hadn't pressured you into living with him. I mean you could live with me, you've known me for forever and we would make sick room-mates" he winks before continuing.
"I guess what I'm trying to understand is what made you decide to live with him?" he asks as he finishes emptying 5 sugar sachets into his coffee.
"Um, well I was looking in the local paper and he happened to notice and offered up a pretty awesome deal. One that could really help me focus on my future as well as looking after Charlie while he is recovering." I say with a small shrug.
"He's not pressuring you into doing stuff with him though right?" Jake asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Do stuff with him.. What do you mean? Oh.. OH! No, No, No, nothing like that Jake. He's just helping me out. It's a big house and he's hardly home so he wanted to help me. Nothing more" I say toying with the empty sugar sachets. Truth is as much as I would love for it to be more there's not a snowball's chance in hell that Edward would ever want me that way. He probably still thinks of me as the incredibly clumsy teenager with the baggy clothes and a sketchbook firmly plastered to her chest.
"Sorry Bells, but with Charlie out of the game I thought it would be best for me to make sure your safe and being looked after" he smiles.
"Well thank you for your concern Jake, but I am a big girl now & despite earlier events I can look after myself. Even without my gun-toting police chief of a father and his ridiculously tall sidekick." I say grinning at him
"Haha we'll see Bella. But promise me that if you start to feel the least bit uncomfortable that you will call me. I'll come get you day or night, scouts honour" he says saluting.
"Ok Jake, I promise" I say smiling. After Jake downs the last of his coffee catastrophe with a satisfied "Ahh.." We decide to make our way back.
The elevator ding's open and the first thing I notice is Edward pacing the entry way before his eyes zero in on mine.
"Bella" he says with a sigh and a lazy smile.
"Is everything ok?" I ask
"Yes, I was just about to track you down. If you don't mind I'd like to have a talk to you and Sue about what we are doing with Charlie" he says before looking pointedly at Jake.
"Oh ok, sorry I took so long." I say as I start walking back to Dad's room.
Edward walks on my left while Jake walks on my right. Wow Edward and Jake must really dislike each other, but why? You could feel the tension radiating off them and lucky me I'm stuck right in the middle of it. Edward being ever the gentleman rushes forward to open the door and wave us in before him.
"Sorry to have to do this but I'm going to have to limit the visitors to just Sue and Bella today, We don't want to overwhelm Charlie if he wakes today. I'm sure Sue or Bella will keep you updated as soon as they know anything" he says politely with a comforting smile.
"No probs Doc! That's completely understandable, we'll be heading off" Billy bellows before looking at Jake for help with his wheelchair. Jake takes off Billy's brakes and starts to push him past the bed.
"I'll talk to you soon Sue" Billy says with a small smile
"And it was lovely to see you again Bella" Billy says holding my hand briefly with a small squeeze.
"Bye Sue" Jake says. "Bye Bells, text me later ok" he says with a kiss on my cheek and a wink. Surprised I lift my hand to my cheek on the spot.
"Umm...bye" I mumble still confused.
I look at Sue and she's got a smirk on her face the size of Mount Rushmore.
"What?" I ask bewildered
"We are going to talk later" she says turning her smirk into full blown grin.
I scratch the back of my neck before turning my attention back to Edward. What's wrong with him?
"Is everything ok?" I ask quietly
"Uh yeah... Everything's fine. Why wouldn't it be?" he jokes before picking up Dad's record off the end of his bed.
"So, we started weaning off the drugs we have given Charlie early hours this morning in order to slowly allow for his body to come to without any shock or added stress to the brain. I don't know exactly when he will wake up but we are hoping for sometime this afternoon." Edward says looking between Sue and I.
"When he wakes up will he be able to speak or..?" I trail off unsure of what else to suggest.
"Well it really varies from patient to patient. Some start to move their fingers and toes and can still have their eyes shut for a day or two from the drowsiness. Others can open their eyes but have trouble speaking, keeping in mind he hasn't ingested food or drink the normal way so his mouth and throat could be quite dry and tender. Then you have some who wake up thinking its a normal day and can be even more confusing because they wake up in hospital and then they can't move because of their casts or their muscles being weak from lack of use." Edward says trying to be as forth coming with information and trying to make it easier for us to understand.
"Oh.." I say. I guess I really didn't think about waking up being such a difficult ordeal. It makes sense after Edward's explanation, although I can't help but worry that there could be bigger problems to Dad's brain then an x-ray or monitor could allow them to see.
"So what should we do if he starts to wake up and you're not here?" Sue asks
"When...who...wakes.. up?"
Startled we all look at Dad as he blinks and tries to cough.
"Charlie!"
"Dad!?" Sue and I both say with surprise.
Yay! Charlie is awake! I will be sure to post the next Chapter very soon I am really loving writing this story and being able to share it with others who get as much out of it as I do writing it.
Please review, the more reviews the faster I will want to update! :D
