Although I was in extreme pain, I smiled at Bella. She smiled a happy smile back, but then she saw my pain. With her hands she urged me back away from the car door, and she climbed out. "DAD!" she screamed, not as loud as James had before, but loud enough so then he could hear her.
I saw Charlie dart out of the house and towards where Bella was standing. He came up to us, but it seemed like he was kind of out of breath, "Yes Bella?" He asked in question.
She hesitated, looking into my eyes, and then she spoke. "Edward's hurt." She stared back into my eyes and I found tears were about to stream down her face. Charlie simply nodded and told us both to get into the back of the police car, and for me to lie down once I got in there. My head was placed on Bella's lap and I winced every so often that we hit a bump in the road. Bella leaned down and kissed my forehead, and it made me forget all the throbbing in my ribs, let alone the fact that it hurt to breath. I smiled up at her to see that her tears were falling silently. I lifted my hand up and whipped the tears that were streaming down her face. "I'm so glad that you are safe, and that you are still in one piece." She chuckled sadly.
"Bella, I'm going to be fine, don't worry about it okay?" I asked in a quiet voice, and I knew that Charlie was listening in. "The only thing that made me keep going was your voice in my head, if it wasn't for that, then I would have given up. Bella, I love you more than anything I have ever had before. I want to be there for everything that happens in your life. Getting rid of my parents was just a step, and I would have taken the blow for you no matter what. I love you." I could tell there were tears going down my cheeks, but she needed to know how important she was to me, whether Charlie approved or not.
She reached down and whipped away the tears that silently fell down my cheeks. "I love you too Edward." She whispered and then the car came to a stop.
"Okay kids, it's time to get out of the car and into the hospital!" Charlie told us. I sat up and winced as Bella got out of the car. She came around and helped me out of the car while I leaned against her. Charlie made Bella go ahead, and made me lean on him instead. Once Bella was out of ear shot, then he started talking. "Did you really mean that Edward?" he asked quietly.
I struggled to put all my emotions out there for this adult, but I knew he wouldn't do anything bad to me like James and Victoria. I could trust him. "Yes Mr. Swan, I really did mean that about Bella. I love her, and I know that I haven't known her all of three days, but I think that this is the real deal. I won't plan on hurting your daughter, or ever leaving her." When I said this, there was promise that couldn't be denied.
"Well then Edward, we won't be having a problem." He chuckled; did I sense relief coming off of him? "Let's get you fixed up son." I smiled as he called me son yet again today. The rest of the walk into the emergency room was silent, and Bella was standing at the door impatiently. "Go on Bella, get him signed in." He smiled towards her and she ran into the door. "She really does love you Edward." He surprised me by speaking again.
"Well sir, I really love her too, so I think you don't have anything to worry about. This is probably about the hardest thing that we have had to do, and ever will." I smiled up at him as we were walking into the blinding light of the hospital.
**Leaving the ER**
"Well I'm glad that there wasn't anything serious…" I sighed as Bella and I held hands. The doctors found that my ribs were only bruised, although I told them that I thought that I heard a crack, maybe there was something else in the background that was cracking. They did about 50 x-rays to make sure that I indeed didn't have a cracked rib. So I just have to take it easy for a few days, and then I can go back to normal. That sounds easy.
"I'm glad too Edward…I'm glad too." Bella smiled happily up at me and I smiled back at her. "So Dad," she turned towards Charlie, but still held my hand, "what day are we going to get Edward's stuff?" she asked quietly, as if she didn't want to have to wait long.
Charlie started to think and then said just as quietly, "Whenever Edward is ready to go back to that house, but he will be staying with us. Edward?" He turned to me, "Do you just want me to go and get your stuff? I can understand if you don't want to go back to that awful house." I nodded my head, I indeed didn't want to go back to that house, so I would allow him to go and get my stuff whenever he had the chance to.
The rest of the ride to the Swan's home – well I guess it's my home now too – was silent. Let's hope everything falls into place.
(AN: I'm sorry that the chapter is short, but I don't really have any more ideas left for this story, so you know what that means! Only one more chapter and then we are done! Are you excited?! **Chuckles**)