A/N: Uh…WOW! Oh my Jasper Hale that was an amazing round of reviews! Also, it is not Friday or Saturday so I got this to you early! Yay! One thing: Edward was supposed to throw the wheel to the right, not the left…sorry about that. Anyway! I can't even begin to thank all of you individually on the A/N simply because I am too tired but I promise I will get around to it! I love you all and I'm sorry to say that no, this will not be a "Edward is just fine" thing. I'm sorry. BIG THANK YOU to twi-ction who answered many late night queries about this chapter and who provided me with medical advice and everything. She's my rock. I think we're going to get married soon.
I LOVE Carlisle in this chapter. He is my absolute favorite in the entire world. He almost made me tear up.
Also, thank you all for the support on my "family issues". I could write a novel about what has gone on/is going on but I'd rather just delve into the "Twilight" realm. Enjoy!
Read and Review and always. I hope you love it.
Then go read "Collide" by twi-ction…now that is a good story.
xoxoxoxo.
- Jill
Bella's POV
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Panic was quickly setting in. I was frantically picking glass out of Edward's hair, trying to make some sort of sense of the situation in front of me. His hand was still outstretched as it had been when he was grasping for me seconds before the crash. His slender fingers were covered in his own blood as well as my own. I ran my shaking fingers over his palm but was met with no response whatsoever. I wanted to vomit and I suppressed the urge to do so several times.
I remembered that my phone was in my purse and I scrambled find it within the confines of the dark, mangled car. My nose was throbbing and I felt woozy.
"Phone, phone, phone." my voice shook desperately. I finally found it, lying broken on the floorboard along with the other contents of my purse. My blood soaked fingers slid across the buttons for "9-1-1", leaving menacing red prints wherever they touched. I wasn't sure if my voice was up to it, but I had to try…for Edward.
"911 What's your emergency?" the voice on the other end sounded bored.
"…Wreck, boyfriend, dying. Help. Please. Help." my voice cracked with fear and I felt hot tears spill down my cheeks as I vocalized what I had been dreading.
"Okay sweetie, where are you?" the voice suddenly sounded more awake. I had no idea where we were. Suddenly, I became even more panicked as I envisioned the ambulance driving around unable to locate us.
"….I-- I-- don't know. Please help. Please. Edward…he's…" I broke off into uncontrollable sobs.
"Sweetie, I need you to stay calm. What kind of car is it? Do you know who it's registered to?" she asked. I tried to control my sobs and ignore the burning pain in my throat. I hadn't used my voice in so long that it burned to talk and I hated it. I would talk for hours though, if it meant Edward would get help.
"Volvo, silver Volvo. It's registered to Dr. Carlisle Cullen." I croaked. I heard the sound of keyboard keys clicking on the other end.
"Is the driver's name Edward Cullen?" she questioned.
"YES! YES! That's him." I exclaimed.
"He's registered with OnStar, sweetie. They received the signal that there was a crash. An ambulance is on it's way, just stay calm and stay with Edward." she told me.
"Alright." I said. I hung up the phone as fresh tears spilled down my cheeks.
Ambulance.
Police.
My father.
Hospital.
Carlisle.
The next five minutes ticked by at grueling pace. Finally, I heard the relieving sound of sirens getting closer. I needed them to see me, so I pulled myself from the crushed car and onto the road. I noticed that it glittered with glass and I felt the sharp prick of the shards as I landed on my knees. I pulled myself up to my feet, clutching my hurt arm and watching for any sign of the ambulance. The headlights, and siren lights, came into view, and I let all of the remaining air out of my lungs as a wave of relief crashed over me.
The police cruiser was the first vehicle to come to a skidding halt in front of the crash scene. My father jumped out, unaware that I was one of the victims, and began jogging toward me.
"DAD!" I cried. Charlie Swan stopped in his tracks, realized it was me, and ran even faster.
"BELLA?! Oh my God, Isabella what happened?! …Wait, did you just speak?!" his words flew from his mouth so quickly that I could barely keep up. I wanted to hug him but my arm hurt so badly that I could barely move it.
"Truck, hit us hard. I warned him. I screamed. Glass, blood…" I trailed off into more sobs and Charlie put his arm around me as I noticed the ambulance pulling up. I wanted to scream at the them to hurry the Hell up, but my throat hurt bad enough and I didn't fully trust them either. They hadn't saved my mother, why should I believe they could save Edward?
"Hold on, slow down honey. I still-- your voice it's beautiful. I can't believe you're speaking but we'll concentrate on that later. Who did you warn? Who were you with?" he questioned.
"Edward, Edward. Told you I was with Edward." I babbled. Charlie looked very confused and terrified at the same time.
"Your boyfriend? The Cullen boy? He's the one in the car?" Charlie shot questions at me rapid fire.
Uh…Duh!
"YES! PLEASE, DAD." I cried. I wanted to crumple into a pile of sobs and just shut the world out, but I couldn't. I had just resurfaced into the active world and Edward needed me far too much at the moment to just have me retreat back to my hole.
"Oh my G--…GET THAT BOY OUT OF THAT CAR RIGHT NOW!" Charlie yelled at the EMTs who were just now getting all of their equipment out of the ambulance. They hurried a little faster at the sound of my father's angry voice.
"Okay, get in the cruiser and we're going to take you to the hospital." Charlie said, taking a hold of my good hand and trying to lead me to the car.
"NO!" I shouted, wrenching my hand out of his. My father looked at me very confusingly,
"Bella?" he questioned. I sniffled and shook my head back and forth.
"I'm staying with Edward! I'm going with him…I-- I-- have to, have to tell Carlisle. I have to be there." I cried. I watched my father nod, as if I would explode at any moment.
"Bella, you have to get looked at. Your nose is broken and I'm pretty sure your arm is as well." he whispered. I laughed and sobbed at the same time,
"Edward…is in…pieces." I croaked. Charlie winced at my words and I saw him glance at the mangled remains of the sporty Volvo.
"We have to get the other driver to the hospital and then to the police station. I'll be right behind the ambulance until you arrive at the hospital but I'll have to leave after we get the other driver stitched up. Will you be alright?" he asked calmly. I nodded in agreement,
"Fine." I whispered. Charlie ran his hand over my hair as I tried to control my sobs. It didn't help.
"Now, go sit in the ambulance and they can start getting you cleaned up." he said. I shook my head again,
"Carlisle." I whispered. I wanted Carlisle to stitch me up because I would talk to Carlisle. I felt safe around the good doctor and I didn't want to have to answer anyone else's questions.
"Alright…please just go sit down and wait--" Charlie was about to finish his sentence when the EMTs cut him off.
"We're going to lose him if we don't hurry up! He's bleeding out!" I felt the blood drain from my face and I didn't even think as I ran toward the wreckage.
"BELLA! Don't go over there! Bella!" Charlie's voice sounded so distant as I ran toward the wreck, but I stopped dead in my tracks at the sight of them trying to extract Edward from the mass of metal and glass. I couldn't handle it any longer. I couldn't handle Edward's still body, or his closed eyes, or the glass that stuck out of his skin. I vomited onto the debris covered street as I noticed that I was standing in a fresh pool of Edward's blood.
"Bella!…Jesus Christ." Charlie muttered the latter part of his statement as he caught up with me turned me away from the horrid scene. I heard the paramedics shout random jargon to each other and my father as they loaded Edward onto a gurney.
"Mike! Do you have room for my daughter?" Charlie yelled.
"If she stays out of my way! But this boy is going to die if we don't get him to the hospital right now!" Mike called back as he rolled the gurney quickly toward the ambulance. My stomach did a double flip as Mike used the term "die".
"Go on, honey. I'll be right behind you alright? Just sit down and stay out of their way. I love you. I really do." Charlie kissed my head and rushed back to his squad car where I noticed his deputies were administering a sobriety test to the, seemingly fine, driver of the truck.
"Bastard." I whispered to myself. I hated that driver and his stupid camouflage trucker hat. I hated that he was probably drunk and could possibly take Edward from me forever. I couldn't think of my raging hate at that moment, I had to get to Carlisle .
I climbed into the back of the ambulance and sat on one of the benches, trying to make myself as small and unnoticeable as possible. The gurney was loud as the paramedics loaded it quickly and climbed in after. In the garish lights of the ambulance I could see Edward's injuries in their entirety…it was awful. His face was blue and purple and I could hardly recognize him from the thick blood and deep cuts. I wanted to yell at the paramedics to clean the blood off of his face but I knew that wasn't the main focus at the moment. I was able to reach out and graze his fingertips with my own before they went to work stabilizing him.
"Edward? Buddy, can you hear me? I need you to wake up okay? I need you to wake up and talk to me. " The paramedic spoke loudly to Edward but he did not respond.
"Fuck." the paramedic muttered. He put a stethoscope in his ears and listened closely to Edward's chest. I saw him nod his head barely, and I was glad he didn't shake it.
"I have a heartbeat. Give him oxygen and let's focus on keeping him stable." he ordered. I watched Edward's eyes desperately, hoping for some sort of motion.
"Edward? We're going to take you to your dad and he's going to help you. We just need you to hang on." he said. I noticed the blood pressure cuff as they put it on his broken arm. I hated the sound the Velcro made and I cringed when I heard it.
"His pressure is dropping..." the paramedic's voice was low and frantic and it terrified me more. I knew low blood pressure was bad and I also knew that there were a multitude of reasons why the pressure would be low.
"If he would just come around for a second I would feel a hell of a lot better." he said through clenched teeth. I tried to cut everything else out and just focus on the paramedic's words and Edward's form. They were injecting him with all sorts of medication and I had no idea what any of it meant, so I just figure it would be best to concentrate on Edward.
"Edward? We have Bella here; will you wake up for her?" he asked.
I noticed, immediately, when Edward's fingers fluttered. I pointed, not wanting to speak to anyone, and the paramedic took notice.
"Edward?" he questioned. Edward did not open his eyes or move anything but his lips, but he spoke and my heart raced at his words,
"Bella. Help her. Please. It's…bad. Bella…" Edward's voice was quiet, and strained. I began to cry again as I watched him lose touch with reality once again. The paramedic muttered a couple of obscenities as they kept working on him.
"That was impressive. I never would have thought he would have been able to say that many words. You must be special because you have no idea how much energy that had to have taken." he told me. It was the first time any of the paramedics had acknowledged my existence and I wasn't quite sure how to take it.
Finally, we reached the hospital and I jumped out of the ambulance the second the doors were open. I didn't want to be in anyone's way and I needed to get to Carlisle immediately. I heard the gurney hit the pavement and I ran toward the automatic doors of the ambulance entrance to the emergency room. They flew open and I spotted Carlisle right away. He was standing with a nurse, going over a chart, smiling and looking as relaxed and as normal as ever. He had no idea the Hell waiting for him right outside.
"CARLISLE!" I yelled with all of my might. My voice was still raspy and it hurt to yell that loudly. Carlisle's head shot up at the mention of his name and his face went from being relaxed to being mortified in a matter of a second.
"Bella?! Bella, sweetheart, what's wrong?!" Carlisle rushed toward me and I momentarily took notice that he had not commented on the fact that I was speaking. I had to hand it to him, I barely knew him but it seemed as though he cared more about what was troubling me than the fact that I was suddenly vocal.
"Edward, it's Edward." I cried as I reached Carlisle. The doctor grabbed me by the shoulders with his free hand so I wouldn't slip in my blood covered heels.
"What?! Bella, you're hurt. What happened?!" Carlisle asked. I began to sputter tears down my blood covered face and Carlisle's eyes began to grow wide with fear. Then, I heard the paramedics quick voices as the doors heaved open and the gurney carrying Edward was wheeled into the ER.
"Get him to Trauma 1, now!" Mike shouted. I watched the chart Carlisle was holding slowly slide from his hands and hit the ground with a loud clatter.
"…Edward? Ed--" Carlisle looked from me, to his son, and ran.
"Edward?! Wait, stop! That's my only son! That's my boy!" he shouted as he rushed to the trauma room. I followed quickly, barely noticing my father coming through the doors with the truck driver in handcuffs.
"What happened?! Give me stats. Now!" Carlisle demanded as he began hooking his son up to more IVs and monitors. He got a bunch of damp gauze and began to clean the blood from Edward's face as he shouted at the paramedics. I hardly understood a word the paramedics, or Carlisle, were saying but none of the numbers sounded good.
"His pressure is that low? Has been awake at all?" Carlisle asked quickly as he tore away Edward's shirt and ran his stethoscope over his chest. Carlisle shook his head, unlike the paramedic had done in the ambulance, and my heart sped up in fear.
"He spoke to her." Mike pointed to me and Carlisle looked up instantly. His eyes softened momentarily, and I was a bit relieved when he didn't being badgering me with questions.
"Bella, he'll be alright." Carlisle said quietly. I nodded but didn't move an inch. I wanted to get closer to Edward but knew that I would only be in the way. I was also afraid that if I walked much further into the room I would vomit again. I hated the smell of hospitals and the smell of blood and the constant plinking of glass being extracted from Edward. It was all enough to make my head spin…
…but I had to be strong.
"Good god, he's bleeding everywhere. What happened?!" Carlisle shouted at the paramedics. One of the younger ones spoke up,
"Drunk driver. At least, that's what Chief Swan thinks." he said. Carlisle's eyes narrowed and the look of hatred that passed over his features was terrifying.
"Carlisle, you can't get angry. Not now." one of the other doctors said. Carlisle shook his head, obviously trying his hardest to push his anger and resentment from his mind so he could concentrate on Edward.
"Edward? Can you hear me son? Ed come on, it's dad…I really need you to wake up and talk to me." Carlisle's voice broke my heart. Edward began to stir a bit and pain flickered across his bruised face. I heard a few mumbled groans from him and I couldn't help but move closer. I wanted to hug him, touch him, kiss him, but I would just be in the way.
Edward seemed to be almost crying as he began to come around, and Carlisle bent down to be able to hear him better.
"That's it, come on bud." Carlisle whispered to his son. Edward's eyes opened just barely and his mouthed moved a few times before any sound came out.
"…Daddy?" he whispered. I gasped and let a few tears fall from my eyes as I inched ever closer. His voice was very low and very raspy but I could still hear him. Carlisle took a moment to touch his son's hair before he answered.
"I'm right here. Can you tell me what hurts?" Carlisle asked. Edward tried to sit up but he screamed in pain the second he tried to move any part of his body. Carlisle and I winced in pain and I finally broke my silent streak,
"Edward, please stay down. Don't move. Please." I begged. Edward's eyes opened wider,
"Bella? Bella? Dad, help her. She's hurt, she's going to die. I don't want her to die. Please, please, I-- I-- I'm sorry." he could barely get the words out. His monitors began to beep loudly and it scared me,
"Edward I'm fine. Just stay calm." I said, trying to get him to calm down. Edward winced in pain again and I wanted to shout at the other doctors and nurses to get him some pain medicine.
"Edward, can you tell me what hurts?" Carlisle asked again.
"…Everything." he muttered. I winced again and Carlisle nodded.
"I know." he said. Edward cried as one of the nurses moved his obliterated arm in order to clean up more of his blood.
"Is it not obvious that his arm is a bit broken?" Carlisle snapped. The sound of Carlisle's harsh words shocked me. The nurse looked a bit taken aback but set his arm back down gently without a word.
"He's stable enough at the moment. Get him up to CT right now but don't take your eyes off of his vitals for a second, do you understand me?" Carlisle ordered.
They started pushing Edward from the trauma room and Carlisle rushed to me,
"Let's go get you cleaned up, alright? Will you tell me what happened?" he whispered kindly. I nodded and allowed him to lead me toward one of the rooms when we heard one of Edward's monitors begin to beep furiously. Carlisle whipped around and I followed as he hurried toward the elevator they were about to get on. Edward was gasping and writhing,
"Dad?! Dad?! I can't breathe! I can't-- I can't breathe! Dad! Make sure Bella is okay, please! PLEASE! I don't want her to be afraid. I don't want her to be hurt!" Edward screamed.
"Edward, she's fine. She's right here, she isn't badly injured I promise. Edward, calm down." Carlisle told him. I rushed to Edward's side and held his hand,
"I'm here." I said through my tears. Edward was gasping frantically for air,
"I'm okay, I'm okay, I promise. Oh god, your face. Your beautiful face. I'm so sorry…AH! Dad, I can't breathe! It hurts!" he screamed.
"Edward, come on. Hey, hey, remember when you were little and you were afraid of shots and we used to blow bubbles and count to get your mind off of it? Come on, count back from one hundred. One hundred, ninety-nine, ninety-eight…" Carlisle was trying his best but Edward was still frantically gasping. His skin seemed to be turning blue and I pointed it out to Carlisle. Carlisle shook his head and took hold of the gurney, pushing it back toward the trauma room.
"Doctor Morris, will you please take Bella to Exam 3? Bella, I'll be there in a moment." Carlisle said, laying a hand on my shoulder. Edward squeezed my hand,
"Go. I'm fine. I--…just go." Edward gasped. I knew he wasn't fine but I didn't have a choice as I was being led away by a less kind looking doctor.
"What? No, I don't want leave him! Don't make me leave him!" The doctor took me by the arm and directed me towards an examination room. I could still hear Edward's gasping and the monitor beeping quickly but there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it.
I paced back and forth in the examination room which did not please Dr. Morris in the slightest.
"Bella, if you don't sit down I can't examine you." he said. My eyes narrowed and I didn't say a word.
"Can you tell me what happened? Was Edward drinking?" Dr. Morris asked. I scoffed and shot him the dirtiest look I could muster before going back to my pacing.
"Are you going to speak to me at all?" he asked. I shook my head 'no' and he sighed. Suddenly, the door opened and my father rushed in.
"Bella. Thank God, are you alright?" he asked as he scooped me into a crushing hug. I howled with pain as he handled my broken arm and Charlie quickly jumped back.
"I just saw Dr. Cullen and-- honey, Edward doesn't look too good. Carlisle said he'd be here in a few minutes. The man who caused the accident was just stitched up and we're going to take him down to the jail to book him." Charlie said. I wanted the man to rot in Hell forever.
"Was he drunk?" I signed. Charlie took a moment to translate what I had "said" and finally nodded.
"Yes, very much so. Baby, I'm so sorry." he said. I wanted to cry but I wouldn't allow myself to do so again. Charlie kissed me on the head before saying his departing words,
"I'll be back as soon as I can. I love you, Bella. Dr. Cullen said he'd stitch you up, so just wait a few minutes." he said kindly. I hugged my father for the longest time before letting him go. I wanted him to stay longer, but I knew he was in a hurry to get his work done so he could come back to the hospital to be with me.
"Love you." I signed. Charlie left and Dr. Morris kept trying to make small talk with me for about twenty minutes…
…it really didn't work.
"Let's get you stitched up." Dr. Morris said, trying to grab my good arm. I wrenched it away quickly and shot him a distrusting glance.
"She's waiting for me, Andrew." I heard Carlisle say as the examination room flew open again. Carlisle was sweating and he looked very tired. He sighed and turned to Dr. Morris,
"There's a young girl with a broken ankle in Exam 2...can you please go take care of it? And come get me if my wife calls back, she didn't answer her phone when I called." Carlisle whispered sadly. Dr. Morris nodded and left, probably happy to be rid of me.
"Sit down, Bella." Carlisle motioned toward the examination table. I sat down and he washed his hands methodically before turning toward me.
"How's Edward?" I asked quietly. Carlisle's eyes never left mine as he spoke to me,
"Let's get you fixed up before I tell you, alright?" he said. I nodded, not wanting to upset the good doctor in anyway. It was much quieter in the exam room and it was a welcome relief from the horror that was waiting for us outside.
It was obvious that Carlisle was trying his hardest to look calm. His face seemed smooth and relaxed, but his eyes were troubled. He pointed the penlight in my eyes to test my pupils and took my blood pressure without saying a word.
"You're very brave Bella, do you know that?" he asked after a long silence.
"I'd be dead if it hadn't been for Edward. He didn't even seem to think before he turned the car." I said. Carlisle's brow twitched in pain just a fraction of an inch,
"Could you please tell me what happened?" he said as he ran an alcohol swab over my arm.
"Do I need stitches?" I asked. He nodded,
"Unfortunately. It won't be too bad though, I promise. Talking will keep you mind off of it." Carlisle said as he began work on my arm.
"Edward was upset about his biological father being the one who killed my mother and we got in the car and took off. He decided to take a back road instead of the main road so that we could talk. He was blaming himself and was asking me if he wanted me to leave him alone forever. I was telling him "no" when I spotted the headlights, but it was too late for us to really get out of the way so Edward spun the car so that my side wouldn't get smashed. If he hadn't spun the car, I just know we'd both be dead…Edward might still die." I recalled. Carlisle stopped mid-stitch and looked up at me,
"Bella, you can't talk like that. Edward is a very selfless boy and he is very strong, but you have to help him be strong." he told me. I nodded,
"…I'll try." I whispered. Carlisle smiled just a touch and continued stitching my arms.
"You know, when he was little he beat up a boy on the playground because he made fun of Alice for being so tiny. The other kid was fine when the teacher finally tore them apart, but I had to stitch Edward's eyebrow up. The entire time he was asking if Alice was okay…he's always been selfless. Always." Carlisle told me. I smiled at this story and at the image of a young Edward defending his sister.
"There isn't much more to tell…I'm sorry. Everything is just kind of a blur." I told him. Carlisle nodded,
"It's alright Bella, you did great." he said with a small smile. He then washed the dried blood from my face and began to examine my nose.
"Is it broken?" I asked.
"Yep, looks like it's a simple break. That's good because that means you won't need surgery. Do you think you can stand the pain if push the bones back into place right now?" he asked. I wanted to say: 'No, I will most likely throw up.' but I knew I needed to do what easiest for Carlisle.
"Yes." I said. Carlisle gave me a look as if to say, 'I know you are lying but I'm going to believe you'. He placed his hands on my nose and I breathed deeply,
"I'm going to count to three…one, two, three."
Crack.
I yelled a few curse words and cried just a bit. Carlisle placed a cast on my realigned nose and smiled at me.
"Good job! Most people I do that to cry a whole lot more." he congratulated me on a job well done. I left out the fact that I would have probably cried a lot more if my mind hadn't been on Edward. I could tell he was dancing around the subject but he was going to have to talk to me about it sooner or later.
"Now, for your arm." he said, motioning to my broken arm. He did the same with my arm and I only cried a bit as the bones snapped back together.
Ten minutes later my cuts were all stitched and my bones were all where they were supposed to be. There was nowhere else for Carlisle to hide and he side as he realized that.
"Okay…I'll tell you." he whispered. I watched his eyes carefully as he chose his words.
"Edward has what is called a 'Tension pneumothorax'. The probably sounds very scary so we'll say 'collapsed lungs'." he began to say.
"That doesn't sound any less scary." I mumbled. Carlisle continued,
"I know, and I'm sorry. We tried to relieve some of the pressure and inserted a small tube into his chest so when you see him I don't want you to be shocked. We're working on getting him stable again before we try to take him to CT. I want to get him scanned to make sure he doesn't have any head injuries outside the obvious broken bones. I'm worried there could be some bleeding in his brain but he hasn't shown any signs of extreme confusion or vomiting yet, so I'm hopeful. It's probably safe to say that almost every bone in his body is broken. His arm and leg on his left side are definitely smashed and it's going to take a surgery or two to fix that. He has a broken cheekbone, nose, and a few ribs, which probably contributed to the tension pneumothorax. We also need to look for fractures in his skull, which is why we really need to get that CT. At the moment, that's all we really know. He's unconscious at the moment, which is probably best considering the amount of pain he was in. He may wake up though, if you try and coax him. Right now, we just need to be there for him…that's all we can ask of anyone. I'm trying to reach Esme but she's proving hard to get in contact with. Just relax, and keep on alert." Carlisle told me. I kept the tears back the best I could but it didn't work, I collapsed into sobs and Carlisle caught me. He let me lay my head against his lab coat,
"Shh, it's alright. He's alive. Shh." he consoled me.
I lifted my head up and apologized for soaking his lab coat with my tears.
"I know it's a bit overwhelming. I thought I was going to have to take a break there for awhile." he told me.
"Can I-- Can I see him?" I choked on a few tears. Carlisle helped me up and held open the door for me.
"Of course you can." he said gently. I walked back into the main area of the emergency room and watched as Carlisle walked to the phone. He sat down, dialed a number, and rubbed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger.
"Esme, darling, thank god. Are you sitting down?…I have some bad news sweetie. It's Edward." the good doctor whispered sadly.
