Still don't own it. And while HUMAN Phil is Ms. Meyer's, I'm taking credit for VAMPIRE Phil. I think I'm allowed to do that, I hope, if not, oh well….lol.

EPV

I stayed by Bella's side for four days sixteen hours and forty eight minutes. Rosalie and Emmett didn't leave either. Alice and Jasper came in every few hours to check on Bella and the three of us. Jasper on occasion would make sure Bella was getting peaceful sleep. Carlisle checked on Bella every few hours, and Esme worried over all of us.

Emmett and Rose came to the side of Bella's bed when she began to stir slightly.

"Bella?" I called to her.

"I'll get Carlisle." Rosalie volunteered.

"Bella, can you hear me?" I asked her.

I didn't get a response and began to worry that she was having a nightmare.

"Bella, open your eyes, please." Emmett pleaded with her. No matter how much I assured him that this was not his fault, the guilt he felt did not lessen any.

"I think she's trying Ed, look." He told me.

Sure enough, I could see Bella fighting her heavy eye lids.

"Bella, there are still a lot of drugs in your system, it's going to be difficult." I told her. This, however, did nothing to make her stop trying to open her eyes. If anything, it seemed to have made her try even harder.

"Carlisle is on his way home now. He said fifteen minutes." Rosalie informed us as she came back through the door. "And he said to wipe her eyes with a cold wet cloth, it should help." She said, handing me the cloth.

I gently wiped Bella's eyes and it did seem to help. She opened her eyes half way and seemed to be trying to open them the rest of the way.

"Don't fight it, Bella. If you feel like you are going to go back to sleep, let yourself." I told her gently.

"I'm not tired though." She said, her words slurred slightly by the remaining drugs in her system.

Emmett chuckled from beside me. "We know, but even still, don't fight it anyway." He said to her.

Emmett, Rosalie and I turned to the door when we heard it open. Jasper walked in, followed by Alice. Every one stiffened at once when the smell of fresh blood took over the room.

I turned back around to see Bella holding her side and trying to stifle herself from crying.

"Bella?" I asked. "Every one, out, NOW!" I ordered.

Once every one was safely out of the room and away from the scent of Bella's blood, I took Bella's face in my hands and gently stroked her temples trying to calm her down.

"I need to see Bella." I told her.

She shook her head at me, and then stopped and put the heel of her hand to her forehead, a moan escaping her lips.

"That made you dizzy?" I asked.

"And it hurts now too." She replied.

"Bella, this is going to hurt, but I need to know where you are bleeding from." I said, as I started to pull the covers back.

"It's my back I think." She whispered. "And my side." She said, holding out her now red hand.

I immediately held my breath when I saw the fresh blood. Pulling her shirt up to examine her side, I could see the stitches hand been pulled and the gash in her side had come open again.

"If you think it's your back too, I'm going to have to sit you up. We'll go as slowly as you need to." I told her.

She shook her head again, though less vigorously this time. "Please, don't, I don't want you to see." She breathed.

"Bella, I can't help you if you don't let me see. Carlisle won't be here for another ten minutes, and I don't think you are well enough to be losing this much blood. Please. I promise, seeing, again, will not make me think any less of you."

She gasped when I said again. She'd forgotten that I'd seen it twice already, once when helping Carlisle, and then again in Alice's vision.

"You'd forgotten that I'd already seen?" I asked her.

"Yes." She answered so quietly, I almost missed it, even with my hearing.

I gently pulled on her good arm, and supported as much of her weight as she, or the bed, would allow. We went incredibly slow and had to stop every couple of inches as Bella's ribs adjusted to the movement. By the time she was sitting upright, Carlisle walked through the door.

"Edward, hold her shirt up." He instructed.

Doing as I was told, I looked at the damage done to Bella's back. Most of her scars were scabbed over, almost healed, however a few of them were wide open and gushing now.

"How, I don't understand Carlisle. These weren't open wounds when we got her up here."

"I don't know." Carlisle responded. He spread an ointment over the open wounds, Bella stiffening every few seconds, and letting a few moans out as well.

"Bella, you don't have to hold it in anymore, remember that." Carlisle told her.

As if his words broke a damn open, Bella began to cry. I held her against me while Carlisle worked and supported her weight so her ribs wouldn't hurt as much. Once Carlisle was done, he gave me instructions silently and I continued to sit, holding Bella as she cried while Carlisle left.

"Make sure she gets more rest, and that she eats. Don't let her sleep for long periods at a time, her concussion is still pretty severe. Try to get her talking, but keep her as calm as you can." He said to me.

Alice walked in and said a quick hello to Carlisle as they passed each other. In her arms a comfortable looking shirt and pair of pants. "I can't get you into the shower or anything, but I can get that blood cleaned up and get you into some fresh clothes. How does that sound?" Alice asked her.

"And I'll help too, if you'd like." Rosalie said from the doorway.

"Yes, please." Bella whispered.

I carefully picked her up from the bed and placed her in the bathroom for Alice and Rosalie. I then got fresh linens and changed the sheets on the bed.

"She's in so much pain, Edward. I'm almost afraid to touch her." Alice thought to me. "How did her scars open up anyway?"

"I have no idea." I thought back. "And she wasn't moving around, so there is no good reason for the stitches to have split open on her side either. Alice, I need to know, have you seen anything?"

"No, and that's troubling for me. I've been trying, but it's like everything surrounding her is fuzzy." She responded.

"I'm sorry Bella, I'll be back in a few minutes." I turned to see Rosalie saying as she headed for the door. She turned to me on her way out. "It's just a little too much, I need some fresh air." She explained to me as she passed.

I smiled to let her know it is alright and she ducked her head, slightly ashamed of her inability to handle the scent of Bella's intoxicating blood. I could feel venom pooling in my mouth the more I thought about it and forced myself to think of something, anything, else.

"Alice?" I called from the room, mostly for Bella's benefit.

"Yes?" She responded.

"Are you going to be much longer?"

"A bit. Why don't you go and get some food for Bella. I'm sure that she's hungry by now."

"I'll be back in a few minutes."

As I was leaving the room, I heard a gasp. Not sure who it had come from, I tuned to Alice's thoughts. "I'm being as gentle as I can be. Maybe I should just fill the tub and let her soak and then have Carlisle reapply that ointment. Damnit all, I don't know what to do!"

"Alice," I thought to her. "I'll talk to Carlisle and see if it's okay to let her soak. I know you're doing all you can to be gentle, it's not your fault. Those bruises and injuries are bone deep, there's not much that can be done to avoid aggravating them. Try not to feel so guilty or I'm sending Jasper in."

"I can't help it. I think just looking at her makes her hurt, Edward. And I know it shouldn't be possible, but I'm not seeing things, more of her scars on her back have opened up. It's like an invisible knife is slicing the skin back open. I don't know what to do."

"I'm going to find Carlisle. Just keep her as calm as you can."

"Shouldn't be too hard. We're taking a break."

I searched the house for Carlisle, finding him in his room with Esme. I knocked gently and heard Esme call me in.

"How is she doing Edward?" She asked me.

"I'm not sure, actually. Carlisle, Alice said that more of her old scars are opening. She described it as an invisible knife slicing the skin back open. And she wasn't moving when her stitches split. There was no reason for that to have happened."

"No, there isn't." He agreed.

"Also, Alice is wondering if she can't let Bella soak in the tub for a bit. It's causing too much pain for Alice to apply a wet cloth and drag it over Bella's skin. If the water is just right, it will be much less painful, and then Alice will just have to pour water over Bella's head to wash her hair."

"That shouldn't be a problem. Let me know when she's finished and I'll come and reapply the ointment and redo the bandages."

"Okay. Thanks. Sorry to have interrupted."

"Not at all, Edward. I've never seen this family rally around one person so strongly. It's like she is the piece that's been missing, completing us." Esme mused.

"I'm going to go and make Bella something to eat. I'm also going to go and check on Rose. Bella's blood got to be a bit much for her."

"I'll go. You get the food for Bella." Esme offered.

I nodded my assent then headed for the kitchen, passing Bella's room on the way. I stuck my head in to let Alice know that Carlisle said a bath would be fine and to make sure the water was comfortable for Bella, and reminded her to be gentle while washing her hair.

As I was looking through the refrigerator, Rosalie came into the kitchen.

"Edward, I'm so sorry. Her blood, there was just so much, and it smells so appetizing. I knew if I didn't get out of there…" She trailed off.

"Rose, it's okay. I know exactly what you mean. For some reason, it's even more appealing to me than it is to the rest of you."

"How do you do it? How do you handle it? If it was that strong for me, and you say it's even stronger for you, I mean, I was envisioning ways of getting her alone, away from all of you."

"I know. I just hold my breath, and remember that the feelings I have for her outweigh the desire to have her blood."

"You love her, don't you?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"I think I may. I'm not going to push it though. She's been through so much already, and she may never feel anything more for me than a friendship. I can live with that, but I'm not about to tell her something like this so soon. She needs to get herself better, and concentrate on learning to trust before I even consider telling her how I feel."

"You'll have to tell her eventually, especially if she's going to be staying here with us, living here with us. She's very intuitive, very smart. If you don't just tell her at some point, she will figure it out on her own."

"I know, I've seen. It doesn't change anything though. She needs to learn how to trust people first, Rose, like you had to learn how to trust again. The situations may be dissimilar, but the end result was the same."

"It's hardly the same. I was naïve and I already trusted people. I accepted that I'd trusted the wrong people the moment everything…Well, I knew that I could trust other people. This situation is completely different. She's never been able to trust any one. She's never had any one even attempt to show her compassion, until you came along that is. Gah! And then I start off by reacting to her the way that I did! I swear though, I'm trying to make it up to her."

"I know. I think she either doesn't remember, or she's so used to people reacting to her that way that she's already past it. Just…keep trying with her. She doesn't hate you, actually, she wonders if you still hate her." I chuckled.

"I never hated her to begin with." She defended.

"Rose, Jasper was there."

"I know, I know, but he misinterpreted it. The hate wasn't directed at her specifically…just…."

"I know. No one can blame you for that. No one at all. You are being a very good sister Rose, both to me and to Bella. Once she comes to understand how a family should be, she'll recognize this in you too. In the mean time, however, I need to get this food up to her before she starves."

I tuned back to Alice's mind just as I was heading back up the stairs. Her mind was frantic with worry. This was not the way she was when I left not moments ago. Something had happened, her mind was just too chaotic to focus on it.

"Bella!" She yelled. "Carlisle! Carlise, get in here, please!" Alice was pleading as she called for Carlisle.

Rosalie came up behind me and took the tray. "Go, I'll put this in her room and find Emmett. He'll want to know what happened. He, we, both feel responsible for her being in this condition. If we'd been paying better attention, if I'd stayed with them both…"

"It's not your fault, I've told you this. We all knew this was coming, Alice saw it weeks ago. It was inevitable, no decisions you or any one else made could have changed that. Besides, you being in the garage probably saved her life. You had the element of surprise at that point, they were hardly expecting you."

"I know, I know. It doesn't make the feeling go away though."

"Let's just see what we can do now, in this instance, and continue to be there for her, helping however we can." I tried to comfort her.

I then took off up the stairs arriving before Carlisle could to find Alice pulling a sheet around Bella's still form. Blood was already soaking through it and Bella was a shade paler than her norm.

"What happened?" I asked just as Carlisle came in behind me, his voice echoing mine.

"I don't know. She was okay for a few moments, the water was perfect and she was starting to relax a little. Then out of nowhere she started to make a hissing sound, and I realized it's the sound a person makes when something stings. Then the water, it started to turn red, there was so much blood, even holding my breath I could taste it. God, I wanted it, and there's so much and it's still…"

"Alice, I need you to please leave, go outside, get some fresh air, hunt, just back away from Bella slowly, please." Carlisle coaxed.

I could see the look in Alice's eyes. In her mind, she was contemplating if she had enough time to get a taste before we would be able to pull her out.

"Alice, think. It's Bella, your sister." I pleaded as I slowly eased toward them, Bella still cradled in Alice's arms on the floor. "She's a part of this family, we don't hurt family." I said as I reached down and started to ease Bella into my own arms.

Instinctively, Alice's grip tightened around Bella, a predator that had caught it's prey. "Alice, think. It's Bella, you love her." I reminded.

Alice looked down into Bella's face. Her arms relaxed slightly, not enough that I could take Bella from her though.

"Alice, I need to see what happened." Carlisle said gently. "You need to let go, so Edward can get her to the bed so I can see."

I could see the war raging in my sister's mind. She was trying to beat back the monster within, trying to come to her senses.

"Alice," I heard Rosalie call from the door. 'Please don't hate me for this.' She thought. "Alice, what would Jasper think?"

'She won't hate you Rose, she'll thank you later.' I thought to her.

That was what we needed to get her to let go. I quickly gathered Bella and took her to back to the bed where Carlisle immediately got to work. I stepped back to give him room and went to help Rosalie deal with Alice. I silently called for Jasper as well.

"It's okay, you didn't hurt her." Rosalie was saying.

"Do you think that matters? What about the next time? You don't know how close I came Rose!"

"I do, you wouldn't have hurt her Alice." I said.

"How do you know? I'm the psychic here." She accused.

"Because, I was in your head, Alice. I heard you reasoning with yourself. You were already handing her to me, you just didn't realize it. I'm so proud of you. You resisted the worst of temptations. You are going to make an excellent sister for Bella." I comforted her.

Alice put her head in her hands and began to sob. Her shoulders slumping forward, and then she pitched forward and her arms dropped as she hugged herself around the middle. I sat down and took her into my arms and held her.

'Where is Jasper?' I asked Rosalie.

'I don't know. I haven't seen him all day. I'll go and call him let him know what happened.'

'Thanks. And tell him to hurry. Tell him his wife needs him.'

Rosalie nodded to me as she swiftly left. I turned my attention back to Alice who was shaking in my arms with the force of her sobs. Though no tears fell from her eyes, the purple "bruises", as Bella had called them, became darker and more pronounced. I held Alice's head to my chest as she cried, and ran my free hand over her back in an attempt to comfort her. As she slowly calmed down in my arms, I lifted her, cradling her in my arms, and carried her to her own bedroom, meeting Jasper half way.

'Rose told me everything. Is she okay?' Jasper asked me silently, worry and fear coating his thoughts.

'She will be. Right now, she just needs to calm down. After that, she needs to hunt. I won't lie, Jasper, she came very close. She was fine until she was telling us what happened and she had to concentrate on the blood. We talked her back out of it, but her resolve was shaken, her faith in her own resistance was shattered. She's starting to shut herself down, she's not thinking anything right now except about what she almost did.'

"Alice, Love?" Jasper asked her as we entered their room.

Jasper pointed to the bed, and as I started to put her down, she clung to my shirt.

"It's okay Alice, Jasper is here now." I told her gently.

Jasper sat himself down on the edge of the bed and I put Alice directly into his arms.

"Please, Edward. Tell her how sorry I am, please." Alice begged me.

"Alice, she doesn't even know what happened." I told her. "When Carlisle and I got there, she was out cold. Besides, you know as well as I do that she'd forgive you."

"Even still. Please, just tell her, for me." She pleaded with me.

I felt an immense calm going through my body. Jasper was already trying to comfort Alice the only way he knew how.

"Alice, it's okay. You never laid a finger on her. Carlisle is seeing to her now. You were so brave, so strong. You've been resisting for some time now. With that much blood, in that small of a space and all that steam, I don't think any of the others or myself could have resisted, yet you did." Jasper soothed.

"It doesn't change what happened." Alice argued.

"What could have happened." I interjected. "Alice, don't you see? You stayed strong even though your instincts tried to take over, you didn't let them. You allowed me to take her from you. What I bet you don't even realize, is that part of the reason you didn't want to hand her over to me, is because you were trying to protect her."

Alice's head shot up and looked me square in the eye. Her eyes held a look of defiance, but behind that, there was hope.

"Alice, I was in your head. Yes, there was a part of you trying to keep your prey for yourself, but there was a bigger part of you that was trying to figure out how to keep her safe from the rest of us and our urges. Don't you see? You were being so much stronger than you even realized." I said, squeezing her hand.

"Come on." Jasper said starting to stand. "Let's go and get some fresh air." Taking Alice's hand, he led her from the room.

'Do you promise Edward? Do you promise that's what was happening?' Alice pleaded with me.

"Have I ever lied to you Alice?" I questioned her out loud.

"No, but promise me anyway." She said to me.

"Alice, I swear on my life, you were more worried about how to keep Bella safe." I swore. It was the truth, and it showed in my eyes. The gratitude on Alice's face was all the reassurance I needed that my sister would be okay.

I made my way back to Bella's room, passing the rest of the family as they stood in the hall, all of their faces holding looks of worry, all of their thoughts split between concern for Alice and concern for Bella.

"Alice will be okay, Jasper's taken her out hunting. They'll probably be back some time tomorrow or late tonight." I informed every one. I could see every one visibly relax a little as I entered Bella's room.

Carlisle was standing over the bed, Bella laying on her stomach with her head turned to the side. Behind him, the windows were all open, helping to clear the air of the scent of Bella's blood.

"What can I do to help?" I asked.

"Keep her still. I think she's semi-conscious and every time I apply the ointment and try to cover the wounds, she begins to squirm. I am going to have to re-brace her ribs too when I'm done with this."

I carefully sat on the edge of the bed and held Bella's hand gently in my own. Carlisle had removed the sheet that Alice had placed around Bella, and she now lay naked. I pulled the sheet from the bed up to cover what I could of her.

"I hadn't thought of that, I'm sorry." Carlisle apologized.

"'S okay." Bella mumbled.

"I do need you to keep as still as possible though. This will go much more quickly, and then I'll give you something so you will be able to sleep."

"No, please. I don't want to sleep." Bella replied, panicked.

"Bella," Carlisle started.

"No, please, you don't understand." Bella pleaded.

"Try to explain it to us then." I said gently.

"When I close my eyes, I see him. I can feel him. His hands as he traces the scars he created, his eyes, his smile, his breath. It's like he's still here, like he can still hurt me. And he's always here," she said tapping her temple. "I can even hear his voice, his whispers. Taunting me, telling me I belong to him, that he'll find me, that he'll take me away again, that I'll never…" she trailed off.

Carlisle had stopped working to listen to what Bella was saying intently, watching her face, her eyes, gauging her responses. "You'll never what, Bella?" He asked her as gently as he could.

Bella shut her eyes and started to take a few ragged breathes. The tears that she'd been fighting began to leak from the corners of her eyes.

"It doesn't matter." She finally said quietly.

"It matters to me." I told her. "Bella, promise me something?"

She opened her eyes, but said nothing.

"Promise me you won't believe anything you hear him whisper to you." I said.

Bella's eyes took on a far away look, and she didn't respond.

'Edward, I don't think she's going to be able to promise you this. You are asking her to go against the only thing she's ever known, until now. I'm worried about how she described everything though. I wonder if this isn't how she received these injuries, or rather, how the scars on her back re-opened. Perhaps, her attacker has an ability?' Carlisle thought.

'It's possible.' I replied. 'I have a feeling I know who her attacker is.'

"Bella?" I called to her, trying to grab her attention. She eyes shifted their focus and found mine. "Bella, the man who hurt you outside, you know who he is, don't you?"

Bella nodded her head once.

"Bella, was it Phil?" Bella didn't respond this time, just continued to stare at me. "Please, Bella, I need to know. If it's too hard for you to answer, just blink, once for no, twice for yes."

Bella blinked, once, and then a second time, slowly, deliberately.

I put my hand on the back of her head, smoothing out her hair, with my free hand I held her hand, squeezing it gently, reassuring her.

"Thank you." I told her quietly. The confusion playing across her face made me pause. Before I could explain, Carlisle spoke.

"I need to turn you over now Bella, to re-brace your ribs. Then, I believe, Edward prepared some food for you."

I rose to leave, to give Bella some privacy, but Bella just clung to my hand tighter.

"You don't want me to wait outside?" I asked her as Esme and Rosalie quietly came through the door. In reply, Bella squeezed my hand even tighter. "Alright then, I'll just close my eyes."

Bella allowed her hand to leave mine as Rosalie carefully slipped a top over Bella's head, but she replaced her hand in mine the moment her arm was free. Opening my eyes, I turned to face the bed again, seeing for the first time the damage to Bella's ribcage. The purple and blue that covered almost every square inch of skin brought a growl to my throat, that I managed to suppress so as not to scare her.

Carlisle finished re-bandaging Bella's ribs and then instructed her to eat and rest. She cringed at the idea of resting, but said nothing to object. As I thought about it, Bella hadn't uttered a single sound since she'd told us what she sees when she sleeps.

I turned my head to the tray of food that Rosalie had brought in and placed on the stand by the door. I deliberately faced away from her to ask Bella, "Would you like to have a sandwich?"

Bella did not respond. Carlisle noticing what I was doing, grew concerned. I turned around and faced her, but Bella wasn't looking at me, or at Carlisle, she was staring at the ceiling, though, not focusing on it.

Drawing a ragged breath, she whispered, "Please, stop."