Chapter Twenty One

Carlisle

I was glad things were sorted out with Esme but I would be speaking to Alice about her role in this, she should know better than to stick her nose in when affairs were not of her concern but then maybe there was a little of the sour grapes involved because despite her assurances I wasn't convinced she was over Jasper even now.

And speaking of Jasper, he would be calling me again soon. I knew he was impatient for news of Edward and Bella and might well take action of his own if I had nothing to tell him. Hopefully he wasn't aware of Esme's role in recent events and I would prefer it stayed that way, I might see her point of view to a degree but I wasn't sure he would see things the same way and I didn't want anymore friction within the family.

I thought it might be a good idea to try once more to speak directly to Bella so I dialed Billy's number although with little real hope as he had refused me once already.

This time the phone was answered by a female and my hopes soared.

"Bella?" I asked hopefully.

"No, this Emily Uley. Who is this?"

I hesitated, she was Sam's wife, the wolf pack Alpha so even less likely to help me than Billy but I had to try.

"It's Carlisle Cullen and I was hoping to speak to Mr Black or Bella herself."

"Who?"

"Doctor Cullen from the clinic in Forks. My family lived there for a while, Bella dated my son Edward."

She laughed bitterly,

"Oh, so it's you at last. You took your own sweet time, Doctor."

I was taken aback by her reply which assumed I should have contacted her earlier, it made no sense to me.

"I'm sorry, Mrs Uley, I don't understand. I think I must be missing something. I was calling to see how Bella is. She was under my care in hospital after her accident and as I haven't heard from any medical person I was wondering if she has registered with anyone on the reservation?"

There was a long pause before she spoke again as if she were mulling something over.

"Are you telling me that you haven't had any messages regarding Bella, Doctor Cullen?"

"No, why? Should I have? Is there a problem?"

Her reply was delivered in a hurried whisper.

"Give me your cell phone number and I'll ring you back. It's not safe right now, I don't know how long I'll be alone."

As I gave her my number I heard a door open and then Jake's voice in the background,

"Who is it, Em?"

"Just a wrong number. We've had a lot of them lately."

"Put the phone down. Don't talk to them."

The phone went dead and I waited, and waited, and waited.

I wondered if she had decided against speaking to me or if she couldn't get away from Jake. More to the point what had she meant by 'you took your time' and 'it's not safe'?

Deciding I couldn't wait any longer before calling Jasper I began to call his number when my cell phone began to ring and I put the receiver down and answered it.

"Dr Cullen?" I recognized Emily's voice although it was low and hurried.

"Why didn't you contact me?" she hissed in anger.

I was even more puzzled now, contact her?

"I'm sorry Mrs Uley, I have no idea what you are talking about. Have you tried to contact me? Did you leave a message? Because I must tell you I never got it if you did and that concerns me. Is there something wrong with Bella? I did tell her she might need medical help in the future. Is it her head?"

There was a long pause and I wondered if she was contemplating ringing off, I hoped not but I certainly hadn't heard anything from her before today.

"Please Mrs Uley, why did you call me? Is there something wrong? Is it Bella?"

Her answer, when it finally came confused me further.

"Do you trust your wife?"

"I hope you have a very good reason for asking me that question," my tone was icy now. How dare she insinuate that Esme might keep things from me? Although…..

"Oh, I have. I left a message for you with her nearly a week ago. I asked you to contact me about Bella."

So Esme had been holding something back from me and although that didn't come as a complete shock after recent events I couldn't help wondering why she would do so.

"I never received your message and for that, I apologize. What did you want to discuss with me?"

She sighed, "What happened to Bella, Dr Cullen?"

I wanted to ask why she was inquiring but I felt that putting too much pressure on Emily would only result in a dead phone line so I answered her as best I could.

"So you're saying she just turned up in the hospital after an RTA? And someone is after her? How did Jake know where she was if she was supposed to be in hiding?"

I knew that had to be a trick question but I answered anyway.

"My son took it upon himself to tell Jake, without my knowledge I hasten to add."

"But why would your son help Jake?"

Now that was a question I would very much like to know the answer to myself. I was no longer sure I believed Esme's explanation.

"I really don't know, Mrs Uley. Now, please explain why you wanted to talk to me."

Emily

I didn't know what to believe but I needed his help, or at least Bella did.

"Dr Cullen, I don't know what to do with Bella. She needs help and I can't persuade Jake to take her to a doctor. I'm at my wit's end and that's the only reason I'm talking to you. Bella is my friend and I'm the only one who is willing and able to act against Jake's wishes. She's not been right since she got here. I don't know how to explain it but she's drifted away from us, she doesn't talk or react to anything. I'm having to spoon feed her and she's just getting weaker and weaker. It's like she's a zombie, in a kind of trance, and the only time she ever reacts at all is when Jake loses his temper. He's so frustrated with her attitude that he loses his temper and yells at her, he doesn't understand that what's happened to her has affected her badly. He thinks everything should be just as it was."

"And when she does react?"

"She starts shaking as if she's terrified and then screams until her voice goes and she sobs. I don't know what to do, no one does."

"How long do these fits last?"

"I don't know, not long I guess, but yesterday she had one for no reason, no one was near her and she just started screaming and throwing things so he locked her in the bathroom to calm her down and Billy called for me. The next thing we knew it got real quiet and I wanted to go in and check on her but Jake wouldn't let me, he said she needed time to calm down. When we finally persuaded him to open the door we discovered that she'd tried to kill herself. Luckily she's about as clumsy doing that as most things, the cuts weren't too deep so I bandaged her up. Jake wouldn't hear of her going to the clinic and I'm scared we won't be so lucky next time."

"How is she now?"

"Back to her zombie state, but for how long? And what will she try next time? I can't get her to eat, or drink and I'm scared. I think she's trying to starve herself to death. Whatever happened to her during those two years has destroyed her but Jake doesn't see it. I have to get her out of here before it's too late but I don't know where to take her, I can't afford awkward questions, that's why I called you. I guess I trust that you'll help her."

I waited for him to answer,

"Can you stay on the line for a few minutes or shall I ring you back?"

I knew I didn't have long before someone would discover me but this had been the safest place to make the call.

"I'll wait if you're not going to be too long."

I heard him put the receiver down on his desk and call someone and I prayed I hadn't been mistaken, that he wasn't calling the authorities. He spoke far too rapidly for me to hear anything then came back on the line.

"Mrs Uley, can you get Bella off the reservation?"

I thought about this, Jake wouldn't be back for at least an hour and Sam was with him, so it was just about possible if I had help.

"I'll try, but I don't have long."

"Don't worry about that, if you can get her to our old house someone will come there to pick her up."

I heaved a sigh of relief and agreed to get her there if I could although how I could accomplish the task alone I had no idea.

As I left my hiding place in Jake's garage where I'd hidden to make the call I heard a voice behind me.

"What are you up to in there, Emily?"

I turned, shocked at being caught out, only to be relieved when I saw it was Leah, this was my chance. I pulled her back into the shadow of the garage so no one would see us.

"Leah, we have to get Bella away from here, you know that. If we can get her off the Reservation Dr Cullen will take over her care."

Leah looked at me shocked,

"Cullen? How do you know that? Is that why you were hiding in there? So you could call the leech? What's going on with you, Emily?"

"Look, we both know that Bella isn't going to make it. Hell, she's already tried to kill herself once. Do you want that on your conscience? Because I don't. Jake won't listen, neither will Sam so it's up to us to act and Cullen the only person I can trust. If I take her to the local clinic it will bring accusations and suspicions down on all of us. Surely you can see that?"

She looked around troubled, her arm cradling her stomach protectively. If I could have thought of anyone else to ask I would have left Leah out of this in her condition but I was between a rock and a hard place.

"Are you sure about this Emily? I mean I know what you're saying but Cullen? One of the leeches? Are you sure you can trust him? He could take her and still report us to the authorities. And what about Jake and Sam? When they find out they'll go apeshit."

I nodded,

"Yeah, I know, but I don't see any alternative, do you? If we don't do something Bella may succeed next time and that's something I couldn't live with, Leah. So, will you help me?"

As she nodded her reluctant agreement another voice joined in.

"You'll need transport."

I'd seen Billy watching us from the porch, he suspected I was up to something and had joined us just in time to hear the plan.

"Yes, we will."

He nodded and threw a set of keys to me,

"Use my truck, you can lay Bella in the flatbed."

I hugged him in relief and thanked him and Leah and I took off towards the cabin knowing how short a time we might have in which to succeed.

Billy wheeled himself back and stationed himself on the porch to keep an eye out for trouble while we wrapped Bella in a blanket and I half carried half dragged her out to the truck, I couldn't expect Leah to help me lift her. Then I placed her carefully in the back and covered her with a tarp from prying eyes.

I knew Billy was frustrated with his inability to help us further but I also knew he would do all he could to stall Jake on his return if he appeared before we got back and thinking about that I had made my own contribution to giving us more time.

"I rolled a blanket up and pulled the covers over it so it looks like Bella is asleep, it won't fool anyone for long but it might slow down discovery that she's missing

He nodded his eyes still on the road watching out for any sign of the guys returning.

"Thanks, Emily. I'll do my best to keep him out of the cabin as long as I can. Good luck."

I twisted the key in the ignition and for once the engine caught the first time which I took as a sign that the Gods were on our side. As we drove off Billy raised a hand in farewell then positioned himself in the doorway, his wheelchair a barrier to anyone wanting to go inside.

We drove as fast as we dare with Bella in the back, I'd explained to her what we were doing but I don't think she'd heard or if she had that she'd understood me. Once outside the village and away from prying eyes I pulled up briefly so Leah could climb, with my help, into the back with Bella to brace her because the track I was using to avoid traffic going to and from the village was pretty rough. I just hoped Leah wouldn't get jiggled about too much, the idea of her giving birth in the back of the truck with only my help was sobering but she had insisted and I didn't have time to argue.

When we got to the house unnoticed I heaved a sigh of relief but although there was no one in sight I had no intention of leaving her alone, she was too vulnerable and there had been sightings of a bear and cubs in the area recently. We waited for some time becoming more and more impatient until finally, Leah offered to stay while I drove the truck back, hopefully before it was missed. So, I shook hands with her and kissed Bella's cold cheek in farewell before driving off.