Chapter 12:

Edward POV:

It had been your typical night I guess, maybe a little more somber than usual. I just didn't understand people sometimes, or why people do certain things. I was on patrol and got a call on a domestic. Usually it's the same people, in the same neighborhoods, with the same problems, but this one was different.

This one was a three bedroom two and half bath in a good neighborhood. Three little kids were lined up on the catwalk of the stairs over looking the foyer. The fourth, answered the door. The house was clean. Spotless.

"Um, my dad hit my mom. She's crying. We were scared. I'm sorry if this isn't an emergency, we didn't know what to do," he said, looking back at his siblings above. He couldn't have been 12 years old.

"It's a good thing that you called, don't be afraid to call. If something feels wrong, it usually is."

I looked out back over my shoulder. We didn't normally do domestic calls on our own, but my backup hadn't arrived yet and so far, it seemed pretty harmless. I should've known better, nothing in this job is ever fucking harmless.

The dad came into the foyer. "What the fuck is this? Nathan, did you call the police?"

The little boy backed away towards the stairs. I could smell the alcohol on the father from ten feet away. He was also wet. The front of his clothes were wet, his hands had water dripping off of them. I felt my chest tighten.

"Sir, where's your wife?"

"She's taking a bath. She cheated on me, man."

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I radioed for backup, stat. "Nathan, why don't you take your brothers and sisters upstairs into a bedroom and close the door while I talk to your dad, okay? I'll be up in a minute."

Nathan nodded his innocent 12 year old head and bounced up the stairs as I asked. I radioed for enough backup that at least one female officer had to be coming. She could tell them. She could tell them that they would never see their mother again.

The father sat down on the stairs as he cried. His hands in his hair. "All I ever did was give her everything she wanted. This house, those kids. I work all the damn time to give them every fucking thing. Two years she's been seeing this other guy. Two fucking years. She told me tonight that she was going to take the kids and leave. I just flipped out man."

"Stay there," I said, as I unlatched my gun from it's holster and made my way through to the back of the house. I passed through an open kitchen/living area and to the left there was a small hallway. There was a guest bath on the left and the master bedroom on the right. I ran into the bedroom and through to the bathroom and my suspicions were confirmed.

"Jesus Christ." Another radio call, "I need an ambulance, and coroner."

I checked her for a pulse and didn't find one, but she couldn't have been in there that long. Against protocol, I pulled her from the tub and laid her out on the bathroom floor. She was cold, but not as cold as most. I started CPR but she wasn't responding. All I could see in my mind were those kids faces. Four kids, under the age of 12, who just lost both parents because of their selfish fucking father.

I heard sirens and people entering the house. The EMTs came into the bathroom.

"She's gone," I said, "but go ahead and check her out. She couldn't have been in there very long. His hands were still wet when I got here. I wasn't fast enough," I said as made my way out of the room.

I briefly met with the homicide detective and told him what I knew. Another responding officer had already taken the father into custody. He didn't even put up a fight. He didn't deny it. I glanced around the house. There were no women officers. Our Captain had showed up and I told him of the situation and the four kids upstairs. He called for a child protective services agent and then he told me to lie to the kids and let them know their parents were just going away for a little while.

I knew which bedroom they were in as I came to the top of the stairs. It was the one on the left with the mountain of eyes peaking through an inch wide opening in the door. They all scattered backwards as I approached. I knocked lightly and pushed open the door. The youngest was just a toddler and she didn't look like the other three. Maybe she would still have a father.

I sat them down on the edge of the bed and I kneeled in front of them. "Your mom and dad are going away for a little while to get some help. Do you have a grandparent or family member near by that you could call?" I asked Nathan, the oldest one. I didn't want them to spend the night with CPS.

Nathan nodded his head.

All of them had the biggest tears I'd ever seen dropping down their little faces. It took everything inside of me to hold it together. They'd never see their parents again.

A CPS agent entered the room, finally a fucking woman to deal with this shit. I told the kids goodbye.

It was another hour before I had made the necessary reports and ended my shift.

Nights like that fucked with me for a while. So, when I heard the crotch rocket go by the first time, I didn't pay much attention and continued to drink my beer and recalled the earlier events of the night in my mind. I happen to be looking out the window when it went by the second time. I knew immediately it was Paul. Although I knew he had a bike, I couldn't identify it that well, it was his unmistakable helmet that gave it away. He was the only ass hole I'd ever seen with neon lights on his fucking helmet.

I heard the crash seconds later. I put my beer down, grabbed my gun, and went outside. It wasn't really a secret that Paul was into some hardcore shit. He didn't work for the same agency as I did and the agency he did work for was pretty fucked up, so maybe they didn't care, or maybe they didn't know, but everyone around here knew he was dealing.

He took off from the scene rather quickly and that's when I noticed another person, a girl, fumbling my direction. It wasn't until I heard her speak that I realized it was Bella.

I got her inside and cleaned up. I covered for her when they came knocking. I tended to her wounds and watched her sleep all night. I never closed my eyes. I couldn't stop thinking about those damn kids, and how fucking stupid Bella was. Sometimes I just wanted to knock some sense into her so bad.

She was pretty fucking gorgeous when she slept. She dreamed, constantly. You could see her eyes beneath her lids going back and forth a mile a minute. Her face told a story as she slept. Her lips parted and pouted and occasionally smiled. It was fascinating. I wondered if she was really dreaming or if she was in pain. She was definitely in pain, but I didn't know if that was the cause of the little whimpers in her sleep.

Sometimes I wished I had a normal career so I could date a normal girl like her, and stop pushing her away. I'm always, always, pushing. Losing someone you love is hard enough, so why let them love in the first place? Push. Push. Push. That's all I knew I how to do. That's all I did.

Author's Note: Finally! An update! lol I'm sorry I've been a total slacker. I've finally got some decent writing done this weekend so hopefully the next update is only a week away. Don't forget to review! And thank you to those that do it faithfully. 3

Twitter: AllOrNothingKR