AUTHOR'S NOTE: Pictures of the Oheka Castle on my facebook page ashley . victoria. 75033 facebook . com or you can look it up via search engine. Thank you for all your support especially after the one shot with Edward's POV. Thank you again!
WARNING:
This story may contain content that could offend readers. Story will surround storylines involving acts of dominance such as domestic discipline. This story will not contain BDSM. This story will have spanking themes in later chapters. The following story will use mature language. This story has already been written and will contain character death in future follow ups. Lemons will not occur right away and not in every chapter this isn't Fifty Shades of fun. Please do not read this story if you think you may feel offended by the discussed themes.
Story and lyrics are mine; the characters are borrowed from Stephenie Meyer.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
I wasn't sure how Edward would feel about me using the family jet to fly off to New York, knowing him he would want to use it once he heard the message Jacob and I had left for him. I couldn't think about the warning I received the last time I flew out of the state without consulting him. All I could think of was two frightened girls and the ass I was going to be kicking into gear.
Jacob thankfully called ahead to the airline and booked us two first class tickets on the first flight out. We only made it in time because we obviously didn't have any bags to check. Jacob didn't bother me too much during the flight; I think he could tell that now wasn't the time to be crass or irritating.
We landed in New York at 9:20 pm after five long hours. At one point I pictured going up and ripping the door from the cockpit and telling the pilot to move over, I was sure I could get us there faster. Jacob and I had debated whether to rent a car or get a taxi; we finally decided to take the time to rent the car. It was a forty minute drive according to my iPhone from JFK airport to Lloyd Neck, New York where Savannah had texted me her address.
I insisted on driving, knowing that I could easily turn this forty minute drive into less than a half an hour. No word from Edward yet but we had to turn off our phones during the flight. Lloyd Neck was this Richie Rich suburb right outside of New York City. The mansions that filled the area had a colonial feel to them but as we drove down the streets in the quiet community it was already late and there wasn't a person in sight.
We arrived at the gate and I dialed Savannah to ask her to let us in. The gate slowly opened and we continued to drive up the long path. From the outside you would look at this beautiful mansion and think that the life of the residents inside must be as put together as the well-manicured shrubs. How many times do you ever think that on the outside I look put together and happy but on the inside I am dying and my whole life is falling apart.
Savannah met us at the door; as soon as she saw me she jumped into my arms and started crying. I held her all the way up the stairs as Jacob and I searched out her room. Once we found it, Gracie was already passed out on the floor in front of the television. It looked like the girls had made a small tent.
"Jacob, can you help pack a few things for Savannah, I'll work on Gracie." I pulled out the suitcases that Edward and I bought the girls, they still had a couple of things inside.
Jacob and I got to work quietly trying to not wake Gracie.
"Savannah, Jacob is going to take you to a hotel. I am going to talk to your daddy and then I will come right along after."
"Wait a minute, Bella. I'm not leaving you alone here." Jacob came over and stopped what he was doing.
"I'll be fine, please just do as I ask. The girls need you right now, I need you right now. Can you please just do this?" I looked Jacob in the eye, pleading with him. He stood there for a minute and finally nodded his head and let out a sigh.
We finished packing and Jacob called for a cab, he decided to leave the car with me since it would be safer. The car arrived and I told him that I would call them as soon as I left to find out what hotel they went to.
There had been no sounds or sight from Embry but Savannah showed me before she left where he spent most of his days now. I was standing looking down at the stairs that led to under the house. The basement. I mentally prepared myself and went over in my head what I was going to say upon seeing Embry for the first time. But nothing could have prepared me for this.
I walked down the stairs as I harnessed every brave thought in my mind, part of me felt like I was in a horror movie as I made my way down to the darken basement. I hadn't even walked down all the way and I could already see some form of glass on the bottom step. Embry's basement wasn't small and typical, in fact it was rather large. He had put in his own music recording studio down there as well as an open room that held a comfy couches and a big screen TV.
The room was a mess; it had looked like a tornado had whipped through here. There were plaques with Embry's many accomplishments that were once hung on the walls. They were now on the ground and look to have been thrown at objects for target practice. But the room wasn't what had surprised me the most. Sitting among pizza boxes and various forms of takeout was Embry passed out on the couch as the TV showed static. Embry looked to have gained around twenty pounds. His coffee table held the remnants of empty whiskey and vodka bottles and of course a small bag of white powder along with a couple of prescription bottles of pills.
I had a flashback to 2001 and the story my dad had once told me of the morning he had found my sister unresponsive after the overdose that had taken her life. I walked over to Embry and placed my hand on his head to make sure he was still warm. Once I had confirmation I breathed a sigh of relief and I shook him awake.
"What the fuck?" he awoke cranky.
"Embry, get up." I ordered.
His eyes open and he looked at me confused.
"What are you doing here?" he growled.
"I'm here to save your damn life. What the fuck? Really Embry? What the fuck is all this?" I gestured to the coffee table before me.
"You're a father and those girls already lost one parent to this crap and I'm not going to allow that to happen again."
Embry pulled himself from up off the couch. "You don't know the first fucking thing about what I'm going through?"
"Try again. I know you lost Eugene and you lost your wife but this is your master plan for honoring them. You think that this is what they would have wanted for you. You're a bum, Embry. You were once something great and now look at you. You were an amazing artist, an amazing father and now nothing."
"Don't fucking talk to me." He yelled and picked up a bottle and threw it into the TV screen.
"I could think of something to throw too." I pushed his coffee table over and the contents littered out all over onto the floor.
"You bitch." He yelled.
"Go ahead, call me a bitch." I yelled back.
Embry picked up another bottle and threw it into the wall so hard that it smashed into pieces. He was having a tantrum but I kept pushing.
"You can have all the tantrums you want. Go ahead. But when it's done you're going to rehab. You need help."
"I'm not doing shit." He argued.
I walked over to him and got in his face. "Yes you are, because if you don't I will make sure that you never see your daughters again."
"Don't you fucking talk about my girls." He threatened.
"Why? You obviously don't care about them. Maybe you'll start to care when you see child services pull up and take them away."
That made Embry snap, he pushed me so hard that I tumbled backwards my fall caught by hitting the concrete wall. He started to advance on me. His eyes burned with hate as he looked upon me, it all happened so fast but I could see him pulling his arm back ready to punch me.
"Go ahead. Show me the monster you've become." I spit.
That was enough to falter him and he lowered his arm.
"Get the fuck out of my house." He said dangerously.
I started to push myself up off the wall. I could hear glass break beneath my shoes as I walked. I got to the basement steps and looked back at him standing there with his back to me in the same place with his shoulders hunched.
"I'm taking the girls for the night. I'll be back in the morning for your decision. You have the two most beautiful gifts in the world and you're ready to just throw them away, I'm sure that would make Eugene real proud."
Embry didn't say anything back to me as I started the trek back up the stairs. I picked up my purse and took out my keys. The front door opened just as I was approaching it to leave, it nearly gave me a heart attack after the intense confrontation I had just gone through.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Derrick, I'm a friend. I…just come by to check on my boy." He replied.
"Derrick. What kind of friend? Not one who has supplied him." I looked at him fiercely.
"What? No!" He exclaimed. "Look, I'm just a friend. I know he's using but he won't listen to anybody. So I try to check on him, you know just to make sure. You can ask Savannah, I come by and make sure they eat and get to school. I swear."
I relaxed a little. "Thank you. Thank you for watching out for all of them. I don't know how receptive Embry will be at the moment; we kind of got into a heated argument a couple of minutes ago. I'm sorry for not introducing myself, I'm Bella."
"I know who you are. Embry told me about you. He really thinks a lot about you."
"Yeah…well I doubt he thinks much of me now. I have a feeling that he probably is going to be really pissed at me for a long while. I took Savannah and Gracie to a nearby hotel. I don't want them to be around this anymore so I will check by in the morning to see if he will agree to go to rehab. I can give you my number if you should need anything." I suggested.
Derrick and I switched numbers, as I was inputting his number in my phone I could see I had several missed calls. I told Derrick good-bye and went to my car ready to find out where Jacob had taken the girls.
I dialed Jacob while massaging my shoulder from where I landed against the concrete basement wall. It was sore and I had a feeling there may have been a bruise forming. I never told Edward what really happened that night. I knew if I had, Embry would have been a dead man.
"Hey. Where are you?" Jacob answered quickly.
"I'm leaving now. Where did you guys end up?" I asked exhausted.
"The cab driver took us to this like castle hotel, it's called Oheka Castle. I'll text you the address, Savannah loves it so at least I managed to perk her up a bit. Oh and Edward called of course, he should almost be here."
I sighed, I figured Edward would be here by now. "Did he sound mad?"
After all I had been through tonight I was actually thinking about Edward's reaction?
"I don't know. He was real short; he just wanted to know where we were. I didn't tell him that you weren't with me I figured that he would kill me if he found out I left you with Embry. So if you could get here fast, I would really appreciate it."
I ended my call with Jacob and put the address into my phone and followed the highlighted path to the hotel. Jacob wasn't joking, it really was a castle. What was a castle doing out here in the middle of New York?
I drove the car up to the front and a valet met me to take the car. I walked into the vast entrance and began to follow the instructions that Jacob texted me to get up to our suite. I quietly knocked on the door afraid I would be disturbing the sleeping girls and Edward answered the door.
He let off a visible sigh of relief at the sight of me and slowly started to shake his head.
"Hey…"I said awkwardly.
Edward pulled the door back to let me in the Olmsted suite. Leave it to Jacob to find the most gorgeous room to stay in for the night.
I walked over to the couch and sat down across from Jacob.
"Alright, I want to know everything." Edward ordered as he sat down near me and looked between Jacob and I.
"When I was in Vegas, Darren told me that he was worried because he thought that Embry was using again. I told myself that I would just break it off with Embry that I wouldn't allow myself to go through that kind of pain again but then Savannah called a couple of hours ago and I knew I had to do something. I didn't think about getting to you to sign off on my little trip, I just needed to reach these girls fast. I didn't know what was going on; Savannah didn't say anything more than she was scared and she heard a lot of noise coming from where Embry stayed now at days. She was frightened. I told her to take Gracie and go upstairs to her room and stay there until I arrived. Of course Jacob tried to talk me out of going but at that point no one could talk me out of going so he came along. When we arrived at the house Savannah jumped into my arms and started crying. We took her upstairs and Jacob and I helped pack them up. I told Jacob to take them to a hotel nearby because I wanted to have some time to talk to Embry and see if I could make him see reason. I didn't want the girls to be there in case it turned ugly; I was trying to spare them from further pain."
"So you asked Jacob to leave you behind without any form of protection with a known drug addict?" Edward asked clearly upset by my choices.
"It was something I had to do." I snapped back, I wasn't about to let Edward make me feel bad about my choice, because this was something I had to do.
"What happened?" Jacob asked.
I sighed looking down thinking on the incident that occurred down in the basement.
"Embry was a mess, he looked horrible. He was asleep when I went down to confront him. It looked like a tornado hit the place with all the destruction. I woke him up and of course he was very unhappy with me because I told him that if he didn't go to rehab I would make sure he never saw Gracie and Savannah again. Of course we may have both exchanged colorful words with one another but I left him to let him think on them. How are the girls?" I asked Jacob.
"Good, I mean well Gracie never even woke up. I held her the whole way. Savannah seemed to be upset but the sight of the castle broke her into a smile. They're both sleeping now in the next room." He replied.
Jacob looked over at us and surveyed the tension between Edward and I. "Well, I'm off to bed now, so I'll just leave you two to…deal or whatever." He got up and padded his way over to his room.
I looked over at Edward who still seemed visually upset. "I know you're mad at me, but I don't regret a thing. And if you punish me for this, I will never forgive you because I did what was right."
"Bella." Edward got to his feet; he was struggling to keep his voice down. "Of course I'm upset, not just at you but this whole situation. You have this thing, where you know that you are running into danger and you never stop long enough to really think of the ramifications. You could have been hurt. I could overlook the whole going across the country without talking to me. Of course I want Savannah and Gracie to be safe but you could have waited to talk to Embry. A person on drugs, they're unstable and he could have hurt you."
I subconsciously rubbed my shoulder and looked down.
"Let's just get some sleep, we'll figure this out tomorrow." He sighed.
I got up from the couch and followed him to a bedroom. It was such a shame we weren't staying here longer, this hotel suite was fantastic.
"I got your message when I got back to the office so I was at least prepared enough to pack us a bag from the clothes we had in the office as well as some basic toiletries." Edward informed me.
I was never happier, then knowing I would have clean undies. We both went through our nightly regiment and got into bed. I knew Edward was still upset with me so I tried to stay to my side of the bed but Edward wrapped his body around mine and held me while I went to sleep.
It was two-thirty AM when my phone started ringing. I had been in such a deep sleep that it took a couple of rings before I pulled myself up to answer.
"Hello." I said as I tried to push Edward off of me.
"Bella, its Derrick. I need you to come down to Huntington Hospital."
That woke me up.
"What? Why?" I said breathless, afraid of the answer.
"Embry overdosed. They're working on him right now. I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry…." Derrick started to sob into the phone.
"I'm on my way." I hung up the phone and jumped out of bed. I couldn't allow myself to breakdown, I needed to stay focused.
Edward heard me rustling around and woke up immediately and turned on the light.
"What's going on?" He asked panicked.
"Embry overdosed. I have to get to the hospital." I said sliding my pants on.
"Well, I'll come with you." Edward said jumping out of bed.
"No. Just stay here with the girls." I started to rush off toward the bathroom but Edward caught me.
"Bella, would you just stop it. When are you going to realize that we're in this together? Jacob can stay with the girls, I'm coming with you." He said absolute.
I let out a breath and scrunched my face trying to push the tears back.
"He can't die. He can't die, Edward." I pleaded.
Edward pulled me into a hug. "We are going to get through this. I promise."
After a moment we broke apart and I continued on to the bathroom. Edward went to wake Jacob up and let him know what happened. Edward and I made our way out to our car and on towards Huntington Hospital.
We arrived and I called Derrick to find out where he was. He gave us instructions toward Embry's location and I started to say prayers as we made my way to his room. Edward held my hand the whole way. I had just met Derrick earlier this evening but the man looked broken. I couldn't help but give him a hug when I saw him.
"How's he doing?" I asked softly.
"Their monitoring him but they think he's going to make it. They seem pretty positive." He said as he wiped the tears from his eyes. Derrick was a huge man; he had the makings of a body-guard. I don't know why but like my father I always had a hard time seeing a big guy cry.
A nurse came by, "I'm sorry but you have to leave, visiting hours are over and only family are allowed."
"I am family. You have to let me see him." I started to argue but Edward stepped in.
"Can you please find the head of the hospital; I need to speak with him or her. It's very important." Edward said smoothly.
The nurse looked at Edward and sighed, "Please follow me." She took Edward over to the nurses' station and picked up the phone. I took the distraction to go into Embry's room. Embry was sleeping of course and he looked rather weak. I walked over to the bed and sat down beside it. I held his hand that lay beside me careful not to mess up any of the IV's.
I couldn't believe this happened. I mean I knew that any person doing drugs there was always a chance for this but looking back on our friendship, I can't believe this happened. I missed the old Embry who would look at me crazy when I would try to rap or when we would make fun of each other. Now my friend laid beside me broken and damaged and who knows what tomorrow would bring. He could wake up pissed off just at the sight of me. He could fall into an even bigger depression but I had to hold out hope that he would wake up and realize just how much help he needed.
Edward walked in after a couple of minutes. "After the promise of a rather large donation, the head of the hospitial has allowed us to stay as long as we need."
"Why don't you go back to the hotel, I want to be here when he wakes up and there's no need for both of us to be on little sleep."
Edward looked at me and determined he walked over to the chair in the corner and sat back in the recliner.
"In this together, Bella." He vowed.
I turned to look back at Embry and laid my head back on my head rest. Off and on throughout that night I managed to get a couple of minutes here of sleep and a couple of minutes there. I think around seven AM I finally passed out for a good hour or so. When I woke up, I noticed Edward was nowhere in sight.
I looked up to Embry to see him staring back at me.
"You're awake?" I croaked out.
"I could say the same." He replied.
"How are you feeling?" I whispered afraid that any moment he may dismiss me.
"I've been better."
I nodded my head unable to think of what to say next.
"Bella, I fucked up." Embry acknowledged.
"Yea…you did." I confirmed.
"I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for how I acted toward you. I'm just so….fucked right now." He seem at a loss for what he was trying to say.
"Embry, you were handed the worse possible hand but you still have a few cards you can play. Please…please don't give up. You have to fight through this depression. I know it's hard and it sucks because all you can think of, is the what if's. What if I was at that club that night? What if Eugene was still here? What if I had gotten to my wife faster? I have my own list of what if's but I know my sister loved me and she would never have wanted me to spend my life wallowing in her death. So I have to fight. I fight the pain everyday but thankfully I am surrounded by people who make it worth it to fight."
"What happened to your sister?" he asked solemnly.
"The same thing that happened to you last night, but there was no Derrick to get her to a hospital in time." I looked at him in the eye. I just wanted to shake him until he saw reason.
"What are you going to do, Embry? Are you willing to fight for Savannah and Gracie? Are you willing to fight for a better life?" I asked.
He looked down at his hospital sheets. He looked to be in a serious debate within himself.
After a few moments he looked up at me, "I'll fight. I'll go to rehab. On one condition."
I waited in anticipation. This moment was one I was never going to forget. The condition was one I hadn't seen coming.
"I want you to legally adopt my daughters."