If You See Her

Chapter Ten

The door to Edward's hospital room opened. I glanced up and saw Frank, the main surgeon from the trauma team. He looked first at Edward, then me.

"Good, he's awake. Miss, you will need to wait outside during the exam."

Instantly, the monitor began to fill the room with evidence of Edward's displeasure. Rose bent down and spoke to him lovingly.

"It's okay, Edward. You're in good hands."

She bent down and spoke softly into his ear.

"Bella's here."

My eyes snapped to hers. The expression on my face left no doubt of the words I wanted to speak. What was she doing? We had decided not to add to his stress and to keep my presence from him. My gaze switched to see his reaction to her words.

His eyes were wide. They had locked onto hers and appeared to be begging her for confirmation. She leaned down and kissed his forehead.

"Don't worry. She'll take care of you."

His eyes began searching the room. The head restraint was limiting his field of vision, and I could see the muscles in his neck as he strained against its tight hold. A blanket of sympathy draped around me.

Rose had barely crossed over the door's threshold, when the surgeon began to assess Edward's sense of touch on the lower left side where I had left off. Edward's body was tense, and flinched each time Frank touched him. I knew how strong his fear of doctors was. Remembering how my presence had helped him to relax when we were children, I stepped closer so that I was in his field of vision. Immediately, I could feel his warm gaze fall upon me. Hesitantly, I glanced down and smiled. I was trying to reassure him, but his brow furrowed. It was almost as if he doubted what his eyes were seeing.

I reached out and cautiously grazed the side of his face with my fingertips. The moment our skin made contact, a sense of peace filled his eyes. Another smile formed at my lips. I was grateful that my presence seemed to be a positive thing. I had been so worried that it would add to his emotional stress.

Even though the other doctor in the room was poking and prodding him, Edward refused to become distracted. His gaze had locked on me and he wasn't in any hurry to release me from his stare.

I watched as Frank took a pen from his lab coat pocket. He pressed the tip of the pen hard onto the fingernail of Edward's third finger. I observed the grimace appear on Edward's face, as he pulled his finger into the palm of his right hand to protect it from the painful stimuli.

"Look at me…"

The surgeon was speaking to Edward, but he did not appear to be listening. I watched as Frank moved to the top of Edward's bed. Frank thought the movement would distract Edward, but those emerald green eyes remained fixed on mine. I heard the sigh of frustration leak out of my colleague's mouth. Reaching up with a pen light in between his fingers, he shone a bright light directly into Edward's eyes.

The irritation rolled off Edward's body. It showed in the expression on his face. Because he couldn't turn his head away, he had to close his eyes in order to escape from the offensive brightness. The moment his vision was interrupted, the heart monitor began to beep loudly. I ran my fingers through his hair, allowing my touch to calm him.

"Pupils are equal and reactive, but a little sluggish to light. How is his rate and pressure?"

My voice sounded almost robotic, as I tried to hold back the emotions that were threatening to flood my entire being.

"140 beats per minute, blood pressure 140 over 90."

Edward still had his eyes closed, but the machine registered his body beginning to relax. My colleague took advantage of Edward's distraction, and chose that moment to continue to evaluate Edward's response to obnoxious stimuli. He moved back to the right side of the bed.

Reaching forward, he gripped Edward's right nipple in between his fingers, pulling and twisting. Both of Edward's lower legs pulled up from the bed. A loud grunt filled the room, as a great amount of air was pushed through and around the tube in his throat.

"Frank!"

My voice clearly expressed my displeasure. Frank's head turned towards me, a smirk on his face. My eyes narrowed, challenging him to say something. He shook his head slightly and returned to the top of Edward's bed.

"I am not seeing any signs of spinal injury. We can safely remove this…"

I watched as he began to remove the head restraint. Placing each of his palms onto the side of Edward's face, he spoke gently but with authority.

"Look straight ahead."

Apparently, Frank had finally earned Edward's full attention. He listened to the doctor's orders, his gaze locked on the ceiling. My colleague moved Edward's head left to right, and then up and down. My gaze was glued to Edward's eye reflexes.

"See how his eyes remained stationary and moved with his head? He's fine, Bella. I will order the change in medications and schedule the surgery for first thing in the morning."

He released Edward's head, moving down to the end of the bed to note his findings on the chart. Edward's head slowly turned towards me. He looked exhausted.

"It's okay. Just rest now."

I reached up and pushed some stray locks of bronze away from his forehead. Edward's eyes closed momentarily, his entire being appeared to be reveling in my touch.

For me, however, the contact only seemed to fill my entirety with confusion. It was as if the past years of heartache and loneliness didn't matter anymore. I knew I would pay for it later, probably suffer worse than last time, but I couldn't stop my body from responding to him.

My eyes filled with longing as I looked upon his face. My fingers trembled as the tips made contact with his skin, the electric hum ever present. My own breathing pattern stuttered as I realized how deep I had already allowed myself to sink.

Forcing my gaze to look away, I tried to focus on what else was happening in the room. I observed Frank speaking quietly to Angela.

He had finished making the changes on Edward's chart, and was now approaching the left side of Edward's bed. I walked around to the right side to be out of the way, yet still close enough to offer support if needed.

"I need to examine your shoulder injury. I apologize. This is going to hurt. Just hang in there…I will try to be quick."

He tried to explain what he was doing, but, once again, Edward did not appear to be listening. His gaze had locked onto me as I moved around the bed. The twisted expression on his face was the only sign that he was even aware of what the surgeon was doing.

"The surgery will restore full movement and reduce the amount of pain you feel during recovery. The x-ray showed the fracture is displaced, meaning that the bone fragments have moved out of their natural alignment. During the surgery, we will move the bones back into their proper position. We will cast that part of your body to keep the shoulder from moving while the bone heals. The x-ray didn't show the ball portion being broken, split, or crushed, so a shoulder replacement shouldn't be necessary unless we find things are different when we get in there."

I could tell that most of what he was saying was being lost before Edward could process it. I, however, was absorbing every word that came out of my colleague's mouth.

"The main part of the fracture is right at the joint where your collarbone and shoulder blade meet. There is also evidence of a dislocation between the ball and the socket joint. I'm going to push down with my finger to determine if there is an effusion within the joint."

Edward's face grimaced, as the doctor's palpating finger caused a sharp pain to spread across the already tender area. The surgeon glanced up, looking straight at me.

"There is a boggy feeling with his shoulder."

I wasn't sure what that meant, but I didn't like the concern I saw on his face. I squeezed Edward's hand in mine, as I watched Frank add another finger to the bruised area. Edward's body immediately tensed, as the palpations between the doctor's fingers fluctuated. Loud grunts were vibrating from Edward's chest. He tried to pull away from the source of the extreme pain that was now flooding his upper body. I placed my empty hand onto his chest, trying to brace him.

"There's a slight displacement of fluid which is causing extra swelling to develop in the proximal areas to his shoulder."

I watched in silence as he evaluated Edward's arm for any deformity caused by the additional swelling. He slid his probing fingers down the underside of Edward's arm, searching for signs of damage to the nerves and blood vessels.

Edward's eyes clamped shut and his grip on my hand tightened, as he tried to endure the painful probing. Upon finishing the examination, the surgeon turned his attention toward Edward.

"We will get this taken care of first thing tomorrow."

He patted Edward's left thigh, and then glanced at me. He gave me a smile and a nod, which I returned, before he left.

Rose opened the door merely seconds after the surgeon had exited the room.

"I saw the other doctor leave; may I come back in?"

I nodded and smiled. I was glad that Edward's family was there to give him the support he needed.

I decided to do a quick check of his vitals after such an intense evaluation. Angela had left to get the new medications that the surgeon had ordered. I had not read his chart yet, but I assumed that we would be administering a stronger painkiller.

I placed the pulse oximeter on his middle finger. His head turned slowly in my direction. The level of saturation had dropped since the last check. I reached for my stethoscope. Edward's eyes narrowed.

"Relax…I just want to listen for a minute."

The breath sounds were indicative of under ventilation of his lung tissue. I reached above his head, and raised the pressure to 480ml. After a few cycles, I positioned my stethoscope on his chest again.

"Better"

Replacing my tool around my neck, I began to move towards the foot of his bed. I had to chart the change in pressure and the outcome. Rose's voice was quieter than usual, but still had a questioning tone.

"Bella, can't you take this tube out of his throat?"

I reminded myself that she wasn't challenging my expertise. It was hard to see a loved one so broken. Taking a deep breath, I tried to explain.

"His body is able to absorb oxygen much more easily during mechanical ventilation, Rose. After such a severe chest injury, it would be very difficult for him to maintain natural respiratory movements on his own." I turned my gaze to the patient. "I know that you hate the tube, Edward. I need you to trust me. It is better, right now, that you don't overtire your lungs and exhaust yourself. You need all of your strength and energy to heal."

His eyes closed, momentarily, acknowledging my words. Rose continued to offer comfort to him. I had just finished the additions to Edward's chart, when the door opened slowly.

"Rose?"

It was the voice of my best friend. Rose turned around and nodded in her direction. She stood up and leaned forward, kissing Edward's forehead. His brow furrowed, questioning her departure.

"We have all been taking turns sitting with you, but only a few of us have been lucky enough to catch you awake. The little pixie wants some time before they sedate you again."

His head turned towards the doorway, catching his little sister's gaze with his. A choked sob burst forth from her lips. His eyes softened, as he witnessed the emotion in hers. She hurried over to his side, kissing his cheek.

She sat with him for a few minutes, just staring into his eyes. She began to trail her fingertips across his forehead and down the side of his face. The only sounds in the room were those coming from the machines. I was surprised my best friend could be silent for so long.

I stepped closer, curious. The sight before me, made my heart crumble. Tears had saturated Alice's cheeks. She had been silently sobbing since she walked in. Edward's right fingers were clutching tightly to hers, as he tried to comfort her. My hand came to rest on her back, rubbing up and down.

"He'll be okay, Alice. He is just going to need some time to heal."

Edward's gaze met mine. The hope I observed in his expression took me back. Did he not think he would pull through this? A strong sense of urgency overcame me. I had to make sure he understood.

"You are going to make it, Edward. Just listen to us and do what we tell you. I'm not ready to lose one of my best friends."

A/N: Thank you for all of the encouraging reviews!