PRAYERS ANSWERED

Disclaimer: The Cullen's, the Swans, and most of the characters mentioned in the story that are known from Stephanie Meyer's beloved Twilight Saga, are all hers and hers alone. I neither have nor wish to pass them off as mine. I do appreciate the fact that she did bring them to life and allows us to play with them in our imaginations. The only thing I will claim is the current storyline.

The awesome and talented dowlingnana searched out my errors and corrected them.

Esme looked at him for a moment, opened her mouth as if to say or ask something, but, just as quickly closed it as she turned to go get what Charlie had asked for. On the way to Edward's room she paused long enough to inform Carlisle of her conversation with Charlie and what he has currently requested.

CHAPTER 21: ANOTHER LEAP FORWARDS

Both Esme and Carlisle brought Edward's year books to Charlie. Not knowing what exactly Charlie was looking to find they made sure to include all the way back to Edward's middle school years running through high school. Neither of Edward's parents were sure of what good this would do, or, why Charlie was particularly requesting this information, but, if there was something there that would help to clear their son then they were determined that Charlie Swan would have any and all information they could lay their hands on.

Once all of the books were presented, Charlie looked at each of his friends in turn with a quizzical expression before asking why so many. Esme quickly explained that she wasn't sure how far back he had wanted to go so she and Carlisle decided to bring them all. He nodded and asked for the oldest one and opened it after Carlisle handed it to him.

Charlie took his time in looking at the book and then he looked up at his friends for a moment before he explains what he was going to be looking for. "Esme mentioned about how none of Edward's friends came by any time during Edward's arrest, trial or even after, and then mused about how strange she thought it was. Her musing got me to thinking along the same lines since he had to have some very close friends.

"I'm wondering if any of his friendships had continued on from high school to college. If I find any then I'm going to be checking to see how close those people were to Edward and find out what happened as to why they weren't more supportive during the time all of you would have needed them the most."

"I never gave any of that a thought until now, but, you're right, they didn't come around after Edward's arrest. Neither of the two young men were there to give Edward any sort of comfort or support. Do you really think that that could somehow be tied in to what happened to Edward?" Carlisle remarked and then asked in regards as to what Charlie had surmised.

"Do you two want to help me speed up the gathering of information?" Charlie asked of his two friends as he looked up from where he was still seated at the table which was completely covered with open files and papers spread across the whole surface.

"Of course we do. Why would you ask that question?" Both answered and questioned.

"Okay, what I need for you to do is to go through all of these books, find the kids that were closest to Edward and then make notes of anything unusual behavior you might have noticed during that period of the year book.

"What you will be doing is tracing out the friendships and giving me information as to how close the relationships might be and what might be happening between all of them as well. That sort of information could give us some clues that might have been overlooked by anyone else.

"Now, mind you, I'm not saying that it will, but, at least, it might answer as to why they abandoned him when they might have been needed the most."

So, with the goal stated it didn't take any time for Esme and Carlisle to start going through the year books. Carlisle was doing the looking while Esme was making notes of what either of them had observed about their son's friends. And, Charlie was busy going through the rest of the files that he hadn't been able to review before that time.

Everybody was silent as the three worked at the assigned tasks.

XXXXXX

Time passed and eventually Renee managed to get some sleep. It was during that time that Bella did open her eyes and looked around her room before her look settled on the sleeping woman that was beside her and holding her hand. She smiled a little as she remembered that Edward had told her that this gentle woman was her real mother.

Her Edward also reassured her that both this woman and the rugged looking man that had been with the woman had and did want her very much. That they loved her in the beginning and loved her now in the present. And, he told her that they had never given up looking for her after she had been kidnapped so long ago.

These facts brought a smile to her face and a few tears gathered in her eyes before slowly sliding down her face from the corner of her eyes. It was hard for her to believe that anyone would really want her that much, but, the one person that she trusted the most had told her that this couple did.

Silently she prayed that Edward was correct about what he had told her. Her greatest desire was to be wanted by someone that would be proud to claim her as their own; that was willing to love her and to be willing to accept her with all of her faults that she had been told she had.

As she reached this point in her thoughts Bella slowly closed her eyes once more as she was still weak while recovering from her case of pneumonia and the condition of not eating properly that Carlisle had found her in, but, managed to give a little squeeze to the hand that was gently holding hers.

And, as she slid back into unconsciousness Renee came awake from feeling the slight pressure that had been applied to her hand. Renee sat forward and the first place her eyes swung to was to the young woman lying in the bed unconscious. She wondered if she had truly felt the pressure of a squeeze or if she had only imagined it. It was hard to know for sure, but, she knew that something out of the ordinary woke her up.

Leaning forwards just a bit to study the young woman a little more closely Renee noticed the moisture that was still damp at the corners of her daughter's eyes. She wondered why they were there and if she should get the nurse to check on things in case Bella was in pain.

XXXXXX

Michael looked at Edward with a lot of questions running through his mind. Edward noticed the questioning expression that had appeared on Michael's face and asked, "What is it you're wanting to know?"

"Can you tell me what you meant about things 'got funny' after R. J. was gone?"

"Yeah, as I told you Demetri and Felix acted as if I was to blame for her death. Even saying as much after a bit, but, they never really stopped to consider the fact that I didn't know. Felix finally told me that as close as we all were that I should have realized it and taken better care of her. I never could get them, especially, Felix, to understand that because of R. J seeming to prefer another that she never gave me any signs that she had a crush on me, or, wanted my attention other than what it had always been.

"Felix, after I made this statement, yelled at me I was just making excuses to deny my lack of guilt. But, Michael, I had a lot of guilt, not because I felt that I was the cause of her death, but, because I didn't follow my instincts in the beginning and took the necessary steps to put a stop to her attending the frat parties and such. I should have knocked some sense into Demetri and forced him to listen to reason about R. J.'s clandestine activities at the time they were starting to cause me the tiniest bit of concern.

"But, as I told you before, I allowed myself to become absorbed with my own nonsense and thought that if it didn't raise any alarm bells with her brother or Felix, then I was probably over reacting." Edward paused at this point in his explanation. He closed his sad looking eyes as the memories of that time seemed to be rushing at him like a runaway train.

"Edward, you said that both Demetri and Felix started pulling away. What did they do? And, how is this leading up to what happened to you? I'm having a hard time grasping where all of this is leading. And, was there ever a time that you did find out what the Carlson family name had been changed from?"

Edward didn't answer immediately as he was still caught up in the pain he was experiencing due to his memories. Then with a quick shake of his head Edward did pull himself back to the current situation. He noticed that Michael was looking at him in an expectant manner and then very quickly his mind caught up as to the reason why. Michael was waiting for some answers to his questions.

"What they both did was to slowly begin to pull away, as I had mentioned before. Plans made were changed or cancelled altogether, each person from time to time would go off into a different direction, but, would come back as if nothing was wrong or had happened. And, this continued until time came that our once closeness was a thing of the past.

"I'm not sure how all of this connects to what happened to me and caused me to end up where I am now, but, I do know that it does in some weird sort of way. Just a feeling that I have; the feeling that R. J.'s death had something to do with all of it.

"And, lastly, no I never did find out what the old family name had been from the old country, as they would refer to it from time to time. Just like I never did receive an answer as to why R. J.'s mother thought that Mr. Carlson's business had anything to do with their daughter's death."

As Edward finished talking Michael nodded and then told Edward that the best thing to do since his instincts were telling him to start at the point of R. J.'s death then the best thing to do would be to continue on from that point. It was then that Edward felt the pull to return to Bella for some reason; like he's desperately needed or something important is about to happen, but all he knew is that he needed to return to her immediately. He informed Michael of this and had no sooner finished speaking than the familiar fade and swirl started that returned them to Bella's hospital room.

XXXXXX

Renee had had the nurse in charge of Bella's case to check on all of her daughter's vital signs to see if there might be any detectable reason as to the tears that had appeared on Bella's face. However, after the nurse had checked on her patient she informed Renee that nothing unusual had shown up on any of the monitors that were keeping track of Bella's progress.

Feeling somewhat appeased she felt reassured enough that she saw no reason to call Carlisle and alarm anyone about Bella's condition. So, the dear lady settled once more into the uncomfortable chair/recliner and fell back to sleep until someone showed up to relieve her for a while.

XXXXXX

It took a while for Carlisle and Esme to work through all of the collected year books and making the notes for Charlie, but eventually, they did get finished. Charlie accepted the information and thanks to Esme's resourcefulness she had attached one of the last pictures she had available of Edward and his three closest friends. It gave him a chance to match face to names mentioned in the notes.

After a bit Esme mentioned that she was going to get ready and go to the hospital to relieve Renee for a bit. That way Renee could come back and get something to eat as well as some decent rest. Carlisle mentioned that he might need to accompany her, but, that got vetoed as Esme told him that Charlie might need an extra hand.

With that decided Esme did leave to go to the hospital and Carlisle remained at the table with Charlie. And, Charlie would from time to time comment on what he was or wasn't seeing and then ask Carlisle a question concerning some concerns.

XXXXXX

Three things all happened at the same time. Edward and Michael, Bella and a third entity appeared together. Edward and Michael were prepared for Bella, but, not for the other one. However, it didn't take Bella long to introduce Chloe to the two men.

Edward didn't hesitate one minute to tell Chloe how much he appreciated all that she was doing by taking care of Bella and helping to guide him into the right areas. "All of your guidance has helped to shorten the amount of time needed to seek all of the correct answers and for that I'll be eternally grateful to you, Michael and Bella."

Chloe just smiled a little, but, said nothing else. She was a bit shy and didn't communicate very often with others. But, she noticed that Michael was doing nothing more than just staring at her for some reason. That did upset her some, but, she still made no comment about it, even though she didn't understand why he was doing it.

She turned to Bella and seemed to be telling her something without actually using words. Once that was done Chloe did turn to the two men and quietly said goodbye as she faded out.

"Where did she go? Why did she leave? Did we do something wrong?" Edward threw out question after question. But, as he was questioning Bella Michael continued to look at the space of where Chloe had been with a look of puzzlement on his face.

"Michael, is something wrong?" Bella gently asked of him which at the sound of her voice he seemed to snap back to awareness fairly rapidly.

"I'm fine dear lady, but, what seems to be the problem that you called Edward back here?" He answered and then asked without answering her question.

"Chloe wanted me to tell Edward that he needs to let someone know to investigate the family name for the Carlson's."

It was as she mentioned that that Esme walked into the room and began talking with Renee who happened to wake up as the lady came in. The two ladies quickly changed places and Esme handed over her car keys so Renee could go get something to eat and some rest.

The three spirits had continued talking while the exchange was taking place between the two women and it was after Esme had settled into the chair/recliner that Edward decided he was going to communicate the request that Chloe had told them through his mother.

Looking around for something to write with and some paper to write on it didn't take long for him to write out his message to the stunned woman watching the pen float in air as it wrote.

She quickly read the message, pulled her phone out of her purse and called Carlisle and Charlie to tell them what needed to be done. And as she dialed she quietly whispered, "I love you too, son."

A/N: The friendships have been traced from the year books and all notes made. Edward firmly believes that what happened to him is somehow connected with R. J.'s death. Chloe has finally made an appearance before the two men and gave Edward a bit more information. And lastly Esme was the one receiving a note from Edward just like Carlisle had.

Let me know your thoughts and ideas.