Disclaimer: For almost the last time, I don't own any of it.
Thank you to every one who reviewed the last chapter. Obviously, Tanya will be dealt with in this chapter. I couldn't reply to the reviews. I've been packing and taking care of my daughter. She's been very sick the last couple of days.
This is the last real chapter. :( I know. I had a great time writing it. So...on with the story.
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EPOV
Sixteen days.
384 hours.
1,382,400 seconds.
That's how long Bella's been in her coma and my son has been born. Noah's been getting stronger by the minute. He was on a ventilator when he was first born but last week he came off of it. He still has his feeding tube but he's gaining a lot of weight. He's gained almost 2 pounds. I split my time between the two of them. I have yet to leave the hospital. My superior allowed me time off so I practically live in Bella's hospital room. I shower, eat, and sleep here. Everyone has tried to make me leave but I just blow up at them and they leave me alone. How can I leave when the two most important people in my life are here?
No one is the same since Bella's been asleep. We all spend time with Noah and check on Bella, but no one smiles or jokes. Hell, we barely speak. Charlie has been holding down the fort in the chapel. I been talking to Bella and trying to convince her, and myself, that she'll wake up and come back to us. I don't know what I would do if something were to happen to her.
I had to call the school and tell them that Bella was in a coma. That conversation didn't go over too well.
"Mr. Cullen, if Isabella doesn't turn in all of her work, she won't graduate." I was standing outside her room, in the hallway, trying to remain calm.
"I said she's in a coma! She can't do anything!"
"Mr. Cullen, I understand. But if everything is not turned in at the end of the semester, she won't pass." I grabbed a hand full of my hair and yanked, fucking hard.
"She might not wake up to finish the damn work! Can't you like...cut me a break here? Maybe she can finish up at the beginning of next year?" I was grasping at straws with these people.
"You will have to take that up with the school board, sir. I can't make those decisions. I'm sorry." I punched the wall, super hard, and I heard a crack.
"Yeah, I'm sure you're sorry. My wife is fighting for her life and my son might not have his mother!" I hung the phone up and slumped down on the floor, crying once again. At that moment, Charlie came down the hallway, in full police gear. He grabbed me by the arms and pulled me up into a hug. I clung to his jacket, sobbing uncontrollably.
"She's gonna be fine. She's a fighter, Edward. We have to be strong for her." I nodded against him and leaned back out of the hug.
"Thanks Charlie." He clapped me on the shoulder and smiled at me.
"You can call me Dad, too." I noticed his outfit and again and asked if he was getting off of work. "No, I'm actually here on official business. I'm looking for your sister." I stiffened and stood straight up at his words.
"You're looking for Rosalie? Why?" He shook his head then looked around before whispering the answer to me.
"She's gonna be arrested." I laughed.
"My sister is gonna be arrested? You realize she's pregnant. You're gonna put a pregnant woman in jail?"
"No. I don't want to though. We've had charges filed against her. I need to talk to her before someone else does." I looked at him like he had lost his mind.
"Charges? What kind of charges?" He peeked around again.
"Assault and battery charges." My eyes almost fell out of the sockets.
"What?!?"
"Someone came to the station with physical proof stating that Rosalie Hale McCarty beat her up." My sister wasn't a violent person. Who in the hell would she want to....
"Tanya Denali." Charlie just nodded, silently confirming my suspicions. "I'll figure out where she is." Charlie left for the station and I called Rose.
"Hi Edward. Any change?" She's been answering the phone the same way for two weeks now.
"Yeah, there's a change."
"Is she awake?"
"No, the change is you could be going to jail! You beat the shit out of Tanya? Have you lost your damn mind? You're pregnant!" She started laughing.
"Tanya called me the other night and asked if you were single father yet. I asked what she was talking about and she told me that she was the one that pushed the door into Bella. I asked her to meet me at the park down from the house. I was sitting on a bench when she showed up. As soon as she got in front of me, I stood up. I guess she thought I was going to hug her but instead I just wailed on her ass. I told her to keep her ass away from me and my family or I would do more damage next time. I blacked both her eyes, busted up her nose and mouth. I may have even broken one or two fingers."
"You do know that you're going to get into some serious shit for this? You should have let Charlie handle it, Rose. She was going to be arrest for almost killing my wife and child. I can't believe you did that. What would Em had done if something happened to you or the baby? He'd be where I am now. Would you want that to happen?" I heard sniffling on the other end of the phone. "I didn't mean to make you cry. Just...thanks for doing it but you could have been hurt."
"I wasn't thinking. She hurt my nephew and my new sister. I couldn't let her get away with just a fine or probation or jail time. She physically hurt my family so I returned the favor." We talked for a few more minutes before I told her that she needed to call my father in law and figure something out.
I walked down to my father's office and asked him to check out my knuckles. We took some x-rays. It was just cracked and I need a couple stitches.
"Why would you punch the damn wall, Edward?" My father was shaking his head in shame at me.
"I was just trying to focus my anger somewhere else besides yelling at the lady on the phone and possibly scaring other patients."
"Well, at least it's not completely broken. You're gonna need both hands to take care of a child right now." I almost muttered 'don't remind me' before I thought how it would sound.
January 20
Today I got to take Noah home. I felt so weird with a newborn baby and no mother to help me do anything. My family tried to do everything for me but I couldn't allow them to do it.
"Edward, son. You need some help. Let us help you." I held Noah closer to my chest, turning the opposite direction of my mother.
"No. I can do it. I just need to figure out why he won't stop crying." I had already changed his diaper, clothes, tried to feed him and now I was working on burping him. He was screaming at the top of his lung and I was freaking out because I couldn't get him to stop.
"First, you need to calm down. He can sense that you're upset and it's making it worse." I took a few deep, calming breathes before I started walking and bouncing Noah while patting his back. After five more minutes, he still hadn't stopped his crying. Now I was crying. My mom came over and took my son from me and sat down in his rocking chair in the nursery. I stood in the doorway, dumbfounded when my mom started to sing some baby song to him, rubbing his belly while rocking him. Within two minutes, he had stopped fussing and was almost asleep. I, once again, found myself on the floor crying. I seem to be doing that a lot lately. Esme put Noah in the crib and sat down on the floor in front of me.
"You just need to be patient and stay calm." I threw myself in my mother's arms, hugging her to me.
"How am I supposed to do this without Bella? Noah needs his mother and I need my wife. What am I gonna do if she doesn't wake up?" My mom just told me that she would wake up and everything would be okay.
The next day I decided that I would take Noah to the hospital to visit his mother. I dressed him up in a little blue button up and pair of khaki's. Bella had bought him this outfit with some soft brown shoes that looked like he was going to church.
Before going to Bella's room, I took my son around to see my co-workers. The nurses fawned over him and the male doctors told me that he was such a handsome little boy. When I got the floor that I worked on, Jane and Chelsea were there, gossiping about the newest surgeon on rotation.
"Ladies." I set Noah's car seat on the counter and pulled him out for them to get a good look at him.
"Aww. He is just so adorable. May I?" I was skeptical to let Jane hold me, since the way she acted around Bella, but I let her hold him for a minute before she passed him to Chelsea who shook her head.
"I don't hold babies. Sorry." I pulled Noah back to me and was placing him in the car seat again when Chelsea spoke up.
"Uh, Doctor Cullen, I know it's been a while, but I just wanna apologize for what I said about you and your wife. I'm also very sorry for what you're going through right now." I thanked her and Jane mumbled out an 'I'm sorry' as well and I decided that I needed to go see my wife now.
Every time that I walked into her room, it was maddening. She was so pale, almost ghostly white. Her cheeks were sunk in and she had dark coloring around her eyes. Her hair wasn't shiny like it usually is. The tubes and wires were everywhere. She had a breathing tube down her throat, she had a small feeding tube in her nose. Two IV's, one in each arm. Numerous bags of medicines and nutrients were given to her everyday. She had a catheter and the funniest thing I could think about is the fact that she hasn't had her legs shaved in almost three weeks. Bella would freak out. She had monitors hooked to her heart and today she was getting more. They would be performing a brain activity test. After two weeks, my father told me it mandatory. If she had no activity after the stimulation, we needed to have a serious discussion.
I did my usual routine of coming in and turning on the TV, volume down. I kissed her forehead and told her hi.
"Hello, love. I brought you a visitor." I pulled Noah from his seat and placed him on Bella's chest. "Noah told me that he wanted to come see his mommy." I sat down in the chair beside her bed and placed hand in hers and the other on Noah's back. "He's been giving daddy a run for his money. I've been so lost, Bella. My family's been helping out a lot. Your dad is a trip. He's gotta arrest Rosalie. She beat the piss out of Tanya for you. Oh yeah, I stopped by to see Jane and Chelsea. They told me they were sorry and Jane held Noah. I think they're jealous that we made such a pretty baby." I kissed her forehead again before lowering my head to the bed beside her arm. I rubbed her knuckles over my cheek, relishing in the feeling of her skin on mine. "Love, please wake up. I'm so fucking lost without you. I don't know what to do. It's like I'm not living without you. I need you to wake up and come home. I want you in my arms when I got to sleep and when I wake up. I can't raise Noah without you. You'd be so happy to see him. He's looks just like me. You were right. Another Edward Cullen roaming the planet. God help the world." I laughed quietly and kissed her hand. "We've been staying at home now, since Noah got released. I hate to leave your side. I don't wanna miss the moment that you wake up." I felt the tears prick the corners of my eyes before falling down my face. "You promised that you would never leave me again. You better keep your promise. I need you. We need you. Baby, please just open your eyes." I cried and almost fell asleep until Noah made his presence known. I mixed up his bottle and fed him quietly and then burped him.
Alice came in and told me that she just saw my dad coming down the hallway with another doctor.
"I heard something about activity and life support." It's that time. If Bella doesn't register any brain activity, I have to turn off the ventilator. My wife will be gone. They rolled Bella's bed out of the room, hooked her up to the mobile heart monitors and ventilator. They were going to perform the EEG and determine if my wife was still with us or not. It was an agonizing two hours before I saw my father again. His face looked grim.
"Edward. Her pupils were unresponsive. However, the brain responded to pain stimuli. It was small but the response was there. So, it's still hopeful that she'll wake up. Although, we do need to discuss the other options." I passed Noah to Alice, kissed Bella and followed my father to his office. I sat down in the leather chair and hung my head. "We will perform another EEG in a few days. Depending on the results, we need to talk about when you would want to terminate life support." I sobbed.
"I...I can't think about that. Her test came back with a positive result. She won't die on me. She fucking promised me that she'd never leave again! I can't live without her, Dad. I can't do it!" My father rounded his desk and hugged me tight.
"I know son, but we need to be ready for anything. Hypothetically, if something were to happen, would you want to donate her organs?" Could I pull the vital pieces of my love's body away from her?
"Yes. As ugly as it sounds, if she dies, she won't be needing them anymore. Maybe someone could benefit from it. No other family should have to suffer a loss like that." My father nodded his head.
"If the results from the next EEG come back bad, when would you like to turn off the machines?" I hung my head and breathed deeply, trying to keep from throwing up.
"I want everyone to say good bye then I want myself and Noah to be in the room when I turn off the machines." Once again, my father just nodded his head and hugged my close. "I need to get back to Noah and Bella."
I walked around and around the halls of the hospital. Thinking. Just...thinking. What would I do without my wife? How could I live? Would I move? We just bought a house together. Should I quit my job and open a practice? What about Noah? He needs a mother. Would I ever remarry? Could I allow someone to take over the mother role in my son's life if his mother doesn't wake up? No. No one could ever take her place my heart or his life. I would raise my son by myself, without a female for a companion or a mother figure. Noah would have Alice, my sister, my mother and Renee.
I walked back into Bella's room and Alice had Noah in her lap, telling him about how Bella wanted a Halloween party for a wedding reception.
"She is crazy. You have to have a reception at your wedding Noah. Trust me, your future wife deserves one. Your mom is just crazy for not wanting to have a traditional reception." I knelt down in front of my cousin and my son.
"You're mother may be crazy but we love her just the way she is. She's perfect. You're gonna love her so much." Alice kissed my cheek goodbye and told me she had to go pick up Jasper from work.
Renee and Charlie came by about dinner time and told me to go home. They would call if something happened. I needed to get Noah home and bathe him, give him another bottle and put him to bed.
My mother had cooked my supper when I arrived to the house. Rose and Em were there as well. We had Shepard's Pie--it's hamburger meat, mashed potatoes, and shredded cheese. Mom sometimes put corn in it.We ate quickly before my mom and sister kidnapped my son and gave him his bath. Em followed me into my study.
"So...Noah's a great kid." Em sat down on the couch, stretching out and rubbing his stomach.
"Yeah. He's perfect. I'm glad that he's finally home. Now we just gotta wait on his mom." I blinked back tears when Em jumped up and grabbed me by the arm.
"Come on. We're going for a beer." I tried to protest and yank my arm back from him, but he was just so damnstrong. "The girls will watch the baby and you need to get away from the hospital. One beer, that's all I'm asking for." Before I could go upstairs and ask my mom to watch out for Noah, she hollered down the stairs.
"It's fine Edward. He's in good hands. Have a good time." We drove quickly to this little hole in the wall place that Em just loved. I felt so guilty for being out while my wife was almost dead in the hospital and my mom watched after my newborn son.
I nursed my one beer slowly while Em fought off the female population that thought we were 'fresh meat' to hit on. I was disgusted. I had to leave.
I got home to a peaceful Noah and I passed out on the bed. I hated to sleep here without Bella but the floor wasn't very comfortable.
We awoke the next morning and hung out at home, watching TV. I was fighting my instinct to go to the hospital and sit but my son didn't need to stay there a lot, germs and all that.
The next couple of days passed in a blur and I found myself standing out in the hallway at the hospital, passing Noah off to Grandma Renee. They were performing the next EEG in about thirty minutes. My heart was going to beat out of my chest. My palms were sweating so bad and I swear I was about to puke at any second. The waiting was the worst part. They wheeled Bella back into her room and reattached all the cords and shit. No change on the results and her pupils were still unresponsive. Not worse but not any better. I guess that's a good thing. Renee asked to keep Noah over night and I gave her the key to my house.
I was sitting in my chair, holding Bella's hand and crying.
"We have to go on a honeymoon. We have to have more babies and watch them grow up. I want you by my side for the rest of my life. You have so much to look forward to, baby. Please, just open your eyes for me. Squeeze my hand. Something, Bella. Please! I can't turn these machines off. I won't do it. God, please just open your eyes. One peek. That's all I want. If you can just do that for me, I will be so fucking happy. You have no idea." I buried my face in her bed, nudging her leg with my nose.
I must have dozed off because a new nurse had come in the room and was changing out an IV bag. She didn't speak, just smiled tightly and left again. I knew that I had two more hours before they would come in again and check on her. I was mindful of the wires and cords and IV's as I climbed in bed with my wife. It had been almost three weeks since we slept in the same damn bed together. I pulled her tight against me and kissed her neck.
"We'll go anywhere in the world that you want when you wake up. We've got so many things to go. Just name it and we'll go baby. I promise." I thought I had dozed off again when I heard a voice in the room with us.
"..url...and..." I cracked open one of my eyes to look around the room. Dark and empty besides us. I turned my attention back to Bella. Still asleep. I laid back down and heard it again.
"...url...and..." I jumped up. That's Bella's voice.
"Baby? Bella? Did you say something?" I had tears in my eyes again, but she didn't respond. "Please let that have been real."
"Turtle Island." Bella whispered out. She wants to go to Turtle Island. I grabbed her face in my hands and cried out in sheer happiness when she peeked one eye open.
A/N: So, she's awake. Finally. Noah's fine. Tanya got her ass beat. Epilogue's next. I can't believe it's over. I may have the epilogue up later tonight after my daughter goes to bed. Sorry if this chapter was kinda angst-y. I had an aunt that was in a coma and they had to do several brain tests before they decided she was brain dead. Thank god that she woke up the day they were going to turn the machines off. So, let me know what you think.
-Whitney