"What happened? What's wrong?" she asked, confused.

I stroked her cheek delicately and leaned down to kiss her forehead. I was trying to ease her anxiety to make her feel safe and loved. In truth, I was also stalling a little.

"Edward!" she demanded, a little frustrated now. "Why did Carlisle take off my plaster casts? Not that I'm complaining, but I don't understand? And how come I don't remember that? The last thing I remember was being with Esme," she persevered.

"You had a fever, and you were unconscious for a few hours. But you're okay now. The casts were too big for you, though. You need to eat more, Bella. You need your strength. You're so fragile, love," I responded, trying to ease her frustration and still stalling.

She thought about that and nodded. "Yeah, I remember feeling so hot. I'm sorry, Edward. I'll try to do better. I'm just not very hungry, that's all. There's only so much soup I can take," she explained.

"Bella, you don't need to apologise. I'm just worried about you. You really do need to build up your strength. If you get any thinner, I'll be too nervous to hug you," I coerced.

"No, Edward, please! I promise, I'll try much harder. We can try the eggs again. And I guess there's jelly. I'm sure there's lots of soft food I can try," she argued, a little agitated.

"Shush, love. I didn't mean it. I'll always be here, ready and willing to hold you close to me whenever you want me to," I comforted, as I pulled her a little nearer. But my mind was on the horrific reality that as long as the demon child continued to live, Bella would continue to die. It was greedily taking what it needed from her, leaving her frail and weak. Whatever she ate to strengthen herself, it would take from her for its own use. I detested it.

"I'll always want you to," she said convincingly.

I smiled. "I'll always want to hug you, too," I thought.

"Bella, how are you feeling, your pain I mean?" I asked nervously.

"Fine." Her standard reply.

"Bella," I chided. "How are you really feeling?"

She looked at me, trying to determine how serious I was. Then she sighed in defeat. "I, I ache all over. A deep, burning ache," she admitted hesitantly. "And all the other stuff, it all hurts. My ribs, my stomach, they really hurt. It's sometimes a little hard to breathe."

I inwardly flinched. Bella was in pain, and I could see what it took for her to admit that much to me. I nodded, and stroked her cheek again.

"Edward?" she asked cautiously.

"Yes, love."

"I know it's stupid asking this now. But I was just wondering. Um, what exactly is wrong with me? I mean, what exactly did he do to me? I mean injuries, not the other," she whispered, slightly trembling at the memory.

I kissed her forehead again, and extricated myself from our embrace. I needed to really look at her - into her eyes. I needed to try and gauge how she was feeling. I settled her back down on her pillows gently, trying to avoid any undue movement to her fractured and fragile bones. Then I pulled a chair beside her bed, quickly leaning into her and holding her hand.

I proceeded to recite the very lengthy list, excluding the now most important affliction. That would be next. As I reached the end of the list, I concluded with, "but apart from that, you're absolutely perfect, my love." And I kissed her sweetly, this time on her lips.

She frowned as she took it all in, and something new entered her eyes. Anger. My Bella was angry, and it wasn't fleeting either. Her formerly dark, dead eyes were alive with it. I'd seen it before, but only glimpses. This was blatant, and it was a huge improvement. We could work with anger. We could move beyond it. It was so much better than the emptiness.

I wanted to leave it at that. It had taken so much to get to this point. This was progress, of a sort. And I wondered if she would remain angry after I told her the rest, or if she would revert back to the empty nothingness. I sighed regretfully. I couldn't help feeling that it would be the latter.

"But I'm getting better, right?" she asked hopefully.

I struggled to keep my face calm for her. "Yes, Bella. You will get better," I said definitely, and I hoped with all my being that I was telling her the truth.

"But there's more, isn't there?" she persisted, my ever perceptive Bella.

"Your bones aren't healing as well as we'd hoped, yet. It's going to be a slow process. And you will have a little trouble with your legs and your arm later. They are very bad breaks, love. But as soon as you're well enough, we'll get you started on some physical therapy to build up your strength again. I will see you through this, Bella. You're going to be all right." I hoped my voice sounded more certain that it seemed.

She nodded. "Yes, Edward. You don't have to worry. I'll be all right. I don't care if I limp, or anything like that. As long as I have you, I'll be fine," she said reassuringly. This was so very Bella, trying to console me when she was the one facing permanent disability. She knew she was never going to fully recover from James' brutality. I think she'd known that from the start, which is why she'd never asked about her injuries before. She just accepted them, as if they were the least of her problems, which I suppose they were. But she sensed the truth of the situation.

She was coming back to me. I could see it in her eyes now. Slowly, she was coming back. But I couldn't delay this any longer. Despite what may happen now, she deserved to know. She needed to know. And if I didn't tell her now, she would soon find out when it awakened. I'd guessed the demon child was sleeping, as it sucked her very life force.

"Bella," I began hesitantly.

Her attention snapped back to me as I roused her from her thoughts. She was still fully processing what I'd told her, coming to terms with the severity of her injuries. She stared at me then, those same sad, dark eyes. But they were a little brighter, the anger still flashing through them.

"There's something else I have to tell you. We didn't know about it before. We've only just discovered it, while you were sleeping. But it's going to be okay. We're going to fix it, so I don't want you to worry. I won't let anything hurt you ever again." I was striving to keep my voice calm, but I could see the alarm registering on her face. She didn't need this. She so didn't need this.

"Edward, you're scaring me. Please, just tell me, whatever it is," she pleaded.

I gripped her hand a little tighter, sucked in an unnecessary but much needed calming breath, and I told her. "Bella, you're pregnant." There was no other way to say it. I waited for the comprehension to dawn, but she looked confused. Like she didn't understand what I'd just said.

"What. . . How. . . No! It's not possible. I don't understand what you're trying to tell me, Edward. I can't be. . . No, I'm not. . . No," she stammered.

Her agitation was rising. It was palpable. I reached for her, pulling her gently into an embrace, trying to soothe her. "It's going to be okay, Bella. Carlisle said he can get it out. We won't let this hurt you. You're going to be fine," I assured her, and myself.

Her breathing became a little rapid and shallow. I knew how she laboured with the resistance from her damaged ribs, and the unyielding pressure from the granite bruising.

Suddenly she stilled, not breathing at all. I pulled back immediately to look at her. Why wasn't she breathing? I saw the shock register on her face, as she pulled her hand down to feel her stomach. Then she started breathing again, panting really, with the realisation. The demon child was awake. She threw back the sheet, pulling her t-shirt up as she stared down at herself in pure wonder, and then revulsion.

I tried to comfort her, but she wasn't hearing me.

"You have to get it out, Edward," she began softly at first. "You have to get it out. You have to get it out. You HAVE to get it out!" she pleaded, her hysteria mounting. Then she was lost in it. A frenzied panic overtaking her as she began to tremble and jerk, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Get it out of me. Get it out. Get it out. Get it out. Get it out of me now, Edward. NOW!" she shrieked, totally inconsolable as she thrashed wildly, smashing her arms against the bead head and the side table, ripping out the IV tubing in her hand. I heard the sickening crack as her arm snapped again. I wrestled against her, trying to hold her down to prevent any further damage. I was so much stronger, but she was crazed, and she convulsed against me, apparently immune to the wracking pain this violent movement must be causing.

Carlisle arrived first, stilling her legs as they flailed furiously.

"GET IT OUT. GET IT OUT. GET IT OUT. GET IT OUT." She continued to chant, spittle flying from her mouth as she spat the words, her bulging eyes beseeching me in her frantic desperation.

"Bella, please," I cried, distraught. This was the worst - by far the worst.

"Emmett, hold her legs down," Carlisle ordered. The others had come too, of course, their combined agony only adding to my own.

"PLEASE, EDWARD! PLEASE! GET IT OUT. GET IT OUT NOW. GET IT OUT," she continued, screaming until her voice began to sound hoarse.

"I'm sorry, Bella. I'm so sorry," was all I could say, as I pinned her arms to her sides, feeling the shattered bone beneath my hands.

Carlisle injected a large dose of morphine directly into the vein in her arm, and the effect was thankfully almost instantaneous. The thrashing eased as her body began to settle listlessly into the bed, her eyelids drooping involuntarily.

"Get it out. Get it out. Please, Edward, get it out. Or kill me. Please just kill me now. Please," she whispered groggily as she slipped into unconsciousness.

I stumbled backwards, hitting the wall with my back as I slowly slid down to the floor. I placed my head in my hands, overcome with grief. Where was Carlisle's God now, I wondered bitterly. She'd asked me to kill her. My brave, beautiful Bella had asked me to kill her. This was it. This was what severed that fragile thread that she was hanging by. I was starting to feel numb.

Carlisle reattached the IV as Esme cradled Bella's head in her lap, thinking of how she had tried to comfort her before while I was out hunting and enjoying myself. Bella had sobbed for her losses into Esme's motherly embrace, overcome with grief. It was just another knife through my heart, knowing that she'd broken down like that. Seeing how much she needed her mother, but substituting mine as the desolation overpowered her. I should have been here for her. I should have known the first day would be the hardest. But I could never have imagined this.

Alice and Rosalie buried themselves in their husbands' chests, shaking with silent cries. My brothers did their best to comfort them, but I knew that they were feeling this just as keenly. Jasper in particular was struggling with the overwhelming sorrow engulfing the room, unable just yet to bring forth any more uplifting emotions.

Carlisle sat on the end of Bella's bed, his melancholy mirrored in everyone's thoughts. "I'll need to reset and cast her bones now," he said sombrely. "And then we need to get that foetus out. It would be best not to wait, especially given Bella's feelings on the matter," he concluded.

I looked up to him, his face falling slightly as he took in the pained expression on my own. "How will you do it?" I asked dully.

"It's too late for a regular termination. It is obviously further advanced than a normal foetus should be at this stage." He still had difficulty saying it. "We'll do a standard caesarean, before the bruising extends any further, and I can't access it via normal means." he sighed. "What little I could find in the legends is not helpful in regards to the mother, but it appears to have an accelerated growth process, so the sooner the better."

He was deeply troubled, letting his guard down just enough for me to understand what he meant about the legends not being helpful to the mothers. "They always died," he thought. And I closed my eyes as yet another wave of terror pulsed through me.

"I'm sorry, Edward. I didn't mean for you to hear that," Carlisle apologised. "The legends are old, son, and the information is sketchy at best. With modern medicine on our side, I am very hopeful," he insisted, and his thoughts did back him up. But before I could continue the conversation any further, he excused himself to go prepare the plaster solution and the lab for the surgery that was soon to come.

I was still lost in Carlisle's words. "Normal means," I thought curiously. And then it hit me. Whatever was happening to her body as this thing kicked and bruised her, it was becoming solid. Solid as vampire skin. No scalpel would ever be able to penetrate it. Only vampire teeth! I shuddered, and hung my head as my mind sped over all the gruesome possibilities. "Could this get any worse?" I wondered sourly. Yes, yes it could. She could die. The knife in my heart dug a little deeper as I thought the word. I had to pull myself together. She needed me now more than ever.

I dragged myself up and back onto the bed beside her. Esme relinquished her hold on Bella, as I gently cradled her head in my lap, stroking her cheek delicately.

"Believe, Edward. You must have faith. We all must," Esme said soothingly, brushing her lips against my cheek.

"Thank you, Esme. For everything. I should have been here, but I'm grateful for the comfort you were able to give her," I told her affectionately.

"Edward, she loves you and she needs you. But there will be times when she needs a mother. That was one of those times. She is my daughter now, but I will never truly be her mother. But I promise you I will try to be the best substitute I can be. Please don't be so hard on yourself, Edward. She was happy that you went to hunt. I could see how worried she was about you neglecting yourself so much. We've all been so worried about you," she said sadly.

"I'm okay. I will be okay, when she is," I said, trying to make my voice sound hopeful.

She nodded in understanding, gathering my brothers and sisters with her as she left me alone with Bella. "I'll help Carlisle set up the lab so it's ready for the surgery," Rose said on her way out. Like me, Rosalie had studied medicine to help keep Carlisle current as the decades passed us by. Also like me, she hadn't any practical medical experience, but she was planning to assist Carlisle as much as possible. At least until the inevitable when the sight and smell of Bella's blood would be intolerable for her, and she would have to leave the room, maybe even the house. But I was grateful for her efforts.

"Thanks, Rose," I told her appreciatively. I knew she could still hear me.

"It's okay, Edward. I just want to help," she thought gloomily.

Rosalie wanted to help. Rosalie had accepted Bella into the family. I hadn't expected that, and I wondered, if that was possible, then maybe anything was possible. . . .

I continued to stroke Bella's cheek, as I waited for Carlisle. It wouldn't be long now, and this nightmare would finally be over, I hoped.