Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. I do however own a huge stack of presents which I will play with just as soon as I get away from work!

A/N: Thank you to my beta 4StringQueen who removes all my unnecessary commas and makes it look like I know where to use them.

A million thank you's to Weezy for helping me with this chapter and even offering to write part of it for me when I was being a baby and whining about it! I most definitely love YOU more. Ner!

Love to the forum girls and to everybody who reviews. I love all the reviews, even the ones that just told me off for the cliffie. I am so sorry that I wasn't able to get this out before Christmas, life just grabs you by the throat sometimes doesn't it?

Empty

Chapter 14

"Their words mostly noises

Ghosts with just voices

Your words in my memory

Are like music to me.

I'm miles from where you are,

I lay down on the cold ground

I pray that something picks me up

And sets me down in your warm arms"

Set the Fire to the Third Bar - Snow Patrol

Carlisle POV

The silence that hung in the air like a fourth person in the room was thick with the connotations of those simple three words. I heard a gasp and watched helplessly as Edward fell to his knees his hands tearing at his hair ferociously, interpreting Charlie's words in the worst possible way. My heart shot into my mouth as I reminded myself that "she's gone" could mean any number of different things. Flustered I asked Charlie to clarify what he meant, and felt relief course through me as he replied.

"I only left her for a few moments. I was so excited when she asked me to get her a soda. It didn't even occur to me that she would run."

Charlie's voice was low, confused. He was blaming himself for leaving her alone, he had felt hope in that moment when his daughter had asked for the one thing that he knew she needed, then had it crushed when it had be revealed as a trick. He clearly had no understanding of what was really going on with his daughter. Who could blame him? I was a doctor and I was having trouble comprehending it.

If I was honest I was just glad that the news wasn't the worst. That it wasn't the news the very thought of which had brought my son to his knees in grief. I knew that had that been the case Edward could not have lived with it. Beside me he had started to breathe again, his body poised and ready for action, his hands no longer torturing his hair but clenched into fists at his sides, waiting for permission to help the love of his life.

I was aware that asking for permission was likely a waste of time, there was nothing in the world that could stop Edward from leaving this house to go and find her. The thought of her out there alone, cold and frightened was tearing at my heart, I could only imagine what it was doing to Edward as he stood there, desperately fighting for his composure.

"Charlie, please, let us help you look for her. I'm sure we can be of use." I pleaded with him knowing that Charlie had no idea just how much use we could be with how attuned Edward was to Bella's scent. I had no doubt that he could find her quickly.

The November night was wet and cold, and in Bella's condition I was extremely concerned about the possibility of hypothermia. She was so weak that I didn't know if her frail body could fight something like that off.

I didn't even want to think about what could happen if Victoria got to her before we could. I allowed the emotion I felt at the thought of her out there alone, cold, frightened and potentially in danger to seep into my voice as I begged her father to let us help to find her.

I heard Charlie sigh heavily on the other end of the phone before he gratefully consented to our help.

"I think I may need your help, I'm scared that she might have left the hospital. It's freezing outside, if we don't find her…" His unfinished sentence hung heavy in the air, each of us aware of what the consequences would be if we didn't find her and find her quickly.

"We'll find her Charlie. It's going to be ok, we'll be there as soon as we can."

Edward POV

The scenery flashed past me in a blur of greens and browns as I ran full tilt to get to the hospital so that we could find Bella's scent and follow it. Knowing that she maybe didn't want to be found was tearing at my heart so fiercely that I almost buckled from the pain. Only the thought of my Bella being out, alone, and scared in the pouring rain and piercing cold drove me forwards.

The moment the devastatingly familiar scent assaulted my senses the flames to leapt to my throat and my entire body froze.

"Carlisle, she's nearby." My father stopped in his tracks. He smelt it too. "I'll go…maybe… we don't want to overwhelm her."

He nodded his agreement, thus telling me silently that they would stay around in case I needed them.

I followed Bella's scent into the forest moving at human pace, and doing everything in my power not to frighten her any more than she was already. The forest was rapidly getting darker as the twilight took over from the day. The heavy raindrops fell in cascades through the gaps in the trees overhead, dripping from the leaves and soaking everything beneath.

I didn't know how to feel about the fact that she had run from the hospital and come in the direction of my home. Was she trying to get back to me or had she just run for the forest without any idea of where she was running to?

It wasn't long before I could hear her heartbeat, not steady and strong like I was used to hearing it, but slow and labored. How long had she been out in this rain? How could her poor starved body possibly cope with it? I quickened my pace slightly, working hard to keep silent. Then I saw her.

She was lying on her side against a rock curled up into the fetal position with her arms around her knees, shivering uncontrollably. Her entire body was shaking with the cold. Her hair was soaked through and hanging in strips across her deathly pale face and down her back. Her breath was coming in gasps as she fought to keep air going into her lungs.

"Bella?" I whispered softly as I lowered myself down to her level.

Her eyes were staring into the dark, empty and expressionless. She didn't even seem to have noticed that I was there with her. I touched my hand to her cheek, and was shocked to find that it contained almost no warmth at all.

"Bella honey, please. It's me, Edward."

Nothing. She just lay there, unmoving not registering my presence at all. I had to get her back to the hospital and back into the warmth where they could help her. "Please God let them be able to help her," I prayed as I gathered her up into my arms. She stirred slightly when I lifted her, moaning gently in my grasp.

"It's ok Bella, I'm going to take you back. They can help you there."

Her gaze snapped onto me at that. Her eyes suddenly alive with fear. She struggled uselessly against my grasp, kicking out at me with all the strength her weak body could muster.

"Let. Me. Go!" She screamed out as I tightened my grip on her.

What was I supposed to do? How could I let her go knowing that she was in this state? But then, how could I betray her again by forcing her back to the hospital against her will?

"Bella, please listen to me." She continued to struggle against me, her eyes boring into mine, betrayal written all over her face. "You're really sick. I can hear your heart, and baby it's barely beating. I'm sorry. I know you're scared, but I have to do this. I can't live without you. Please don't ask me to do something that will make me lose you. Please Bella."

Her body went limp in my arms and her features empty again, surrendering.

"Please forgive me." I pleaded lightly as I held her head against my chest with my hand, stroking her beautiful hair lovingly.

She just glared at me while her teeth chattered loudly and curled her body into itself against the biting cold and the driving rain.

Mercifully, when I reached Carlisle and Esme, it was to find that she had been back to the house to get blankets. I wrapped Bella's shivering body in the thick wool while Carlisle frowned at her condition. His thoughts confirmed what I already knew. We needed to get her back to the hospital.

Charlie POV

When he ran into the hospital clutching my girl in his arms, I didn't know what to feel. Relief that she was found? Anger that he was the one who found her? Gratitude to him for bringing her back to me? Guilt for still hating him?

She was hanging limply in his arms with the long tendrils of her hair dripping rain water into large puddles on the hard floor. She was wrapped up in several thick blankets, but it must have been really teeming down out there because she was still shivering violently. Her limp body jerked around with the force of it. Her eyes were open, but there was no life in them. It was as though she had just surrendered and no longer having the strength to fight against us.

The doctor quickly bustled forwards, requesting that Edward lay her down on the stretcher he had brought. I watched as he set her down so gently that it was almost painful to watch. Was I wrong about this guy? How could I be? He left her. He left her and she fell apart. I missed my Bella so badly. I got such a short time with her before I lost her to the grief that had left her a shell of her former self and now here he was again, looking as though he was still in love with her.

The doctor wheeled her away from me barking orders at the other staff loudly as they went, leaving me alone in the hallway with Edward and his parents. I shifted uncomfortably, looking at my feet, building myself up towards thanking him. He looked unsure of himself as though he wasn't sure whether he ought to stay or go. How could I ask him to leave now after he'd returned her to me so quickly?

"Um... Edward." I started, clearing my throat nervously. "Thanks for… well, you know."

He nodded absently at me, his mind clearly elsewhere. I had to respect him for that.

His mother, Esme I think she was called, moved forward and put her gloved hand on my arm comfortingly.

"She'll be ok Charlie, I'm sure of it."

She was trying to be reassuring, but the uncertainty in her voice just made me feel worse. I offered her a half hearted smile and allowed her to lead me to a chair.

Doctor Cullen, Carlisle, Bella had called him, stood behind her, his hands rubbing her shoulders soothingly. They were all really upset by this. They really cared for her. That much I could see. It was kind of nice to have somebody here to wait with even though nobody was saying anything. I thought that the Cullen kid was going to wear a hole in the floor from the way he was pacing back and forth.

He stopped pacing abruptly and stared towards the door the doctor had taken Bella through only seconds before the doctor emerged. The kid must have the hearing of a bat. The doctor approached us, a small smile on his face.

"She's stable." He announced. Then he waffled on in some doctor speak which I'm certain that Doctor Cullen understood, but it meant very little to me. I just wanted to see my girl and from Edward's stance I figured he wanted the same. After what he had done for me today, I wouldn't stop him either.

Everything was white in the room. The walls, the floor, the bedding, even Bella's face seemed to fit in nicely. It was so sterile. It felt all wrong. Bella was lying on the bed covered in a big blanket type thing that looked like one of those lilos people float on at the beach. It was plugged in to a machine and had what looked like a dryer hose going into it. Carlisle explained to me that the tube was pumping hot air into it to warm her up after being out in the cold for so long. It would warm her up gradually so as to avoid sending her into shock.

She was asleep, but I wasn't sure whether it was a natural sleep or whether they had sedated her again. After seeing her lifeless body in Edward's arms only moments before, I found it hard to believe that they would feel the need to sedate her, but I didn't want to ask certain that the doctor had probably told me before when I wasn't listening.

The tube that had been in her nose before had not been reinserted and I wondered why. Were they giving up on her? My mind was reeling with questions about what was going on with my daughter, but I couldn't bring myself to ask any of them.

Edward had sat himself on the bed beside her with one of her hands clutched tightly in his and his other hand was on her cheek as his thumb rubbed gentle circles under her eye. He was whispering to her soothingly. His voice too low for me to hear, but he seemed to think that she could hear him.

Edward POV

She lay there, looking so peaceful, finally sleeping of her own free will and not because of the sedation, the bear hugger blanket wrapped around her, and the heated saline in the drip forcing heat into her hypothermic body.

I sat beside her and touched my hand to her cheek as my other hand clutched her needle free hand. As I touched her, I heard her heart leap in her chest. Did she know that I was there? I murmured to her gently, telling her that everything was going to be ok. That Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie were out hunting Victoria and that she would be safe soon.

The erratic rhythms of her heart led me to suspect that she could hear me through the shroud of sleep, so I carried on talking nonsense mostly. Telling her about how excited Alice was that we were going to get married and making random plans for the wedding. I did anything to keep her with me and to make her want to come back to us. I told her how worried Charlie was about her and how she would have to get better for him so that he could walk her down the aisle.

I couldn't help but wonder whether that was something he would consent to doing. He had been understandably hostile towards us in the beginning, but he seemed to be accepting our presence now, even seemed to be grateful for it. I had never heard Charlie's thoughts very clearly. It wasn't blank like when I tried to tune into Bella, but his mind was more guarded than most, almost like he knew to block me out, but right now his thoughts were as accessible to me as any book. Apparently his concern for Bella had thrown his mind wide open to me and I could see that he was watching me with interest, almost becoming approving.

My silent heart leaped into my mouth as I felt her fingers tighten around mine, and saw her eyelids flutter delicately against the purple shadows under her eyes. As she came round, she screwed up her eyes against the harsh institutional lighting and opened and closed them repeatedly until they became accustomed to the brightness.

Her eyes flickered around the room, seeming confused for a moment, and then they alighted on mine and stayed there. Her expression was unreadable as she held my gaze for an infinite moment. I longed for her lips to curl into the smile I knew so well, the smile that could light up the biggest of rooms, but they remained as they were, curved into a slight frown as she refused to release my eyes from her piercing glare.

I wished, more than anything at this point, that her mind wasn't closed to me, and that I could know what she was thinking. Her face was so serious, almost accusing. In my heart I knew that she was unbelievably angry at me for bringing her back here to the one place she didn't want to be. I could almost see the betrayal in her eyes. I wanted to break the silence that was suffocating the room, but what could I say that hadn't already been said?

I hadn't even realized that Carlisle had left the room until he returned with Bella's doctor on his heels. Even as he moved forward to examine her, her eyes never left mine. He took her blood pressure. It was completely unnecessary since I could already tell that it was low. Then he took her temperature which was starting to stabilize and various other observations before writing them all down on his charts then settling down on the other side of the bed from where I was sitting.

"How do you feel Isabella?" He questioned her seriously.

She didn't move or even show any sign that she had heard him. She just silently carried on what seemed to be turning into the longest staring competition in history.

I wanted to scream at her that I was sorry, but the truth was that I wasn't sorry. If she put me in that same situation a thousand times, I would act the same every single time because the truth was, that even if she never spoke to me again, even if she hated me forever, I would still be happy that she was alive and safe.

"Isabella, can you hear me?" The doctor tried again, concern edging his voice this time.

"Mmmhmm." It was all the response he was going to get apparently, but it seemed to be enough as he started scribbling on his charts again a frown covering his face.

"Bella answer the doctor properly." Charlie demanded of her. Without breaking her eye contact with me she responded to him.

"What do you want me to say?"

"Answer the question. He asked how you're feeling." His voice was choked, but firm, trying to act like a father in a horribly difficult situation.

"And what would you like my answer to be?"

Was it my imagination, or was that question addressed to me?

"Honest." I whispered, finally breaking away from her glare, looking down at her hand in mine instead.

I hope you all had a very very Merry Christmas! :)