I don't own Twilight!

Chapter Twenty One

EPOV

I watched, absolutely horrified, as The Nomad, or whatever the hell Charlie had called him, dragged Bella back into the room. My heart ached when I saw the condition Bella was in. It was clear by the way that she struggled to hold her head up that she was weak. When she looked up I saw bruises all over her beautiful face, and when she tried to move she flinched, which no doubt was from pain. Right then I vowed that this monster would pay for what he did to Bella.

"Edward," Bella whispered in disbelief.

"Hi beautiful," I murmured, wanting nothing more than to go to her. Unfortunately, I still had a gun pointed at my head which made that an unwise choice.

"As touching as this little reunion is," The Nomad snapped, "it's time to move on to bigger and better things."

"Like what, you sick bastard?" I spat. The Nomad growled and smacked me across the face with the butt of the gun. Hot red pain seared across my face, but I was thankful he hadn't used the other end of the gun.

"Mind your manners, boy," he seethed.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked as I clutched my cheek, "What do you want from us?"

"I don't really want anything from her," he looked at Bella before returning his gaze to me, "You, on the other hand, I want to suffer."

"Why?" I asked, not understanding why this man I had never laid eyes on hated me so much.

"It's pretty simple really," he explained, "You took away the most important thing in my life, causing me insurmountable pain, so now I am just returning the favor."

"What are you talking about, what did I take away from you?" I asked.

"My Victoria," he said and I watched a ripple of pain ghost across his face.

"I don't know what you are talking about," I said even more confused than ever "I have never met anyone named Victoria."

"You are right, you never met her," he said as stalked over to my chair, "but you killed her."

"What?" I gasped in horror as his rage-filled face came within an inch of mine.

"What, you don't remember the car accident?" he breathed, his rancid breath filling my nostrils.

"The…" I began before everything clicked into place. I flashed back to that night years ago. The pain and the terror I felt as we rushed to hospital, the helplessness as we slid through the intersection, and the deafening crunch as we collided with the other car. And finally, the devastation of waking up and finding out that my parents had died.

It was clear now that this desperate, crazed man in front of me had been a passenger in the other car.

The car we hit.

Whoever this Victoria person was, it was clear she had been in the car with him and had suffered the same fate as my parents.

"You were in the other car," I whispered.

"So, you do remember?" he spat.

"I could never forget that night," I replied.

"Yeah, I imagine it would be hard to forget killing someone," he said.

Everything in me longed to say "you would know," but I restrained myself, knowing that wouldn't be the smartest of things to say to mad man with a gun.

"It is," I said instead.

"Edward," Bella wheezed, "what happened wasn't your fault."

"Oh that is cute. Your little gal pal is trying to defend you," The Nomad smirked evilly before going over and giving Bella a matching smack with the butt of the gun.

"Bella!" I cried, and moved to get out my seat before I was stopped by the gun that was once again pointed in my direction.

"Don't move," The Nomad seethed. I nodded showing that I understood while frantically looking at Bella who had passed out after the blow to the head.

"Admit that the accident was your fault," he barked as he shoved his face in mine again.

"I was a kid, I was sick, and my parents were just trying to get me to the hospital," I explained in a whisper, "I lost them just like you lost Victoria."

"See, if it wasn't for you, your parents wouldn't have been on the road," he smirked in triumph.

It was clear that this man was far past sanity and there was no point in trying to reason with him. For Bella's sake as well as my own, I decided it was best to agree with him. I also knew I had to stall him until Charlie and Emmett returned, hopefully with backup. The only way I could think to do that was by keeping him talking.

"You're right," I agreed, "So, what are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to destroy you," he said sinisterly.

"How did you even find me?" I asked, hoping the explanation would buy me some time.

"It wasn't easy," he began, "Basically, I went from town to town looking for clues that would lead me to you, and I had contacts that helped me out. I had a little side project for making money. I would rob banks and occasionally there would be a few casualties. Precious Bella's mom was one of them. Turns out I knew your girlfriend before you did. I knew she looked familiar the first time I saw her with you, but I just couldn't remember from where. Bella herself filled me in on the details."

"Yeah, I know all about you, Nomad," I replied, and the bastard smiled.

"The FBI is so creative when it comes to names," he said with a roll of his eyes. I was about to say something else when I flash of light from the direction of the window caught my eye. Charlie and Emmett had finally returned. The flash of light momentarily caught The Nomad's eye and I seized the opportunity. I dove at The Nomad and we rolled to the floor.

We were both fighting for control of the gun when I slid backward.

My head hit the counter.

The gun went off.

Then everything went black.

BPOV

My face was throbbing as I carefully lifted my lids. It took me a minute to adjust to my surroundings. I was expecting to wake up in hell yet again and was shocked when I took in the room around me.

I was in a hospital room; that much was clear. The beige walls with the generic art that I assumed was supposed to be soothing, and the TV mounted to the ceiling, gave it away. Not to mention the beeping that was coming from the tubes I was hooked up to. I racked my brain trying to figure what had happened and how I had gotten here when I remembered Edward.

Edward had shown up at the cabin to save me.

I had no idea what had happened after James knocked me out with the butt of his gun, and I was starting to freak out as horrible, bloody scenarios played out in my head. It was a good thing nobody else was in the room because the heart monitor was going wild as my panic increased.

"Bella," I looked up and saw the worried face of my father as he came rushing into the room.

"Dad," I whimpered, part happiness and part pain, as he sat down on the bed and pulled me into his arms. My now taped up ribs were still killing me. I really hoped one of things they were pumping into me was a pain killer.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked as he pulled away.

"A little," I admitted, "my ribs are sore."

"I'm so sorry honey," Charlie said as he bent down to kiss my forehead.

"How bad am I?" I asked.

"Well, you have three broken ribs, burns on your legs, and the cut on your arm," Charlie explained, "You have some pretty nasty bruises, too." Charlie stood up and paced, and I could tell he was trying to control the anger that was threatening to erupt.

"If he wasn't already dead, I would kill that bastard for what he did to you," Charlie seethed.

"What?" I asked in disbelief, "He's dead?"

"Yes, thanks to Edward," my dad said, with what I could have sworn was a proud smile on his face.

"Dad, where is Edward?" I asked in desperation, "is he okay?"

"He is in the room next door," Charlie explained, "I'm not entirely sure what happened, but when I entered the cabin Edward was unconscious and James had a bullet in his chest."

"James?"

"Yeah, that was The Nomad's real name," Charlie responded, "I found I.D. on him."

"What is wrong with Edward?" I asked as I tried and failed to sit up in bed.

"Just lie still," Charlie said. As he fussed over me, it was clear to both of us that he was out of his element, "Edward is still unconscious."

"But…but that's bad, right?" I stuttered as I tried to ward of the panic, "he should be awake by now, shouldn't he?"

"Carlisle checked him out and said that he has a concussion and some bruising on his face, but he should be fine."

"I want to see him," I insisted as I once again try to sit up. Charlie had no trouble overpowering me and I huffed when I was lying safely back down. Carlisle chose that moment to walk into room.

"You're not trying to leave us already, are you?" he joked.

"I want to see Edward," I knew I sounded like a five year old who didn't get her way but I didn't care.

"I am afraid that's not possible right now," Carlisle said, and I could tell he was upset that he had to tell me no. "We just set your ribs, and moving around could cause further damage."

I nodded and bit my lip to keep my tears at bay.

"I am sorry," Carlisle said as he came over to examine me. After his check, Carlisle informed me that as long as I didn't move around too much my ribs should heal nicely, he gave me some balm to help treat the burns, and he said as soon as the cut on my arm healed he would give me some cream that would help with any scarring.

Once Carlisle was done he informed Charlie that visiting hours were over and I needed my rest. Charlie grudgingly agreed and with one last peck on the forehead I was left alone. I closed my eyes to try to make sense of everything I learned from Charlie, but after just a few minutes I was fast asleep. Unfortunately my sleep was not peaceful, between the nightmares and the nurses waking me up to check my vitals, it was a wonder I got any sleep.

About a half an hour after my last nurse check, I was once again woken up, but this time I didn't mind at all. I was woken up by a pair of warm, soft lips pressing gently to my own. My eyes flew open and once they adjusted to the darkness I was able to make out Edward's beautiful face.

Edward was sitting on the edge of my bed with the portable I.V. he had wheeled in here standing next to him.

"Hi love," he breathed as he gently stroked his thumb up and down my chest.

"Hi," I whispered, and for the first time in days I felt a smile creep on my face.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Better now," I replied, "How about you?"

"Never better," he said with a breathtaking smile, "Although I could do without the concussion."

"I'm so sorry," I said, "How is your head?"

"First, none of this your fault, so I don't want to hear any apologizing," Edward began before I cut him off.

"That goes both ways; this isn't your fault either," I was hoping my look would work in the dark but I wasn't too sure.

"I know," Edward replied with a sigh before quickly moving on, "Second, my head hurts like hell but I am sure I will live. The nurses who have been waking me up every half an hour might not be so lucky."

I snorted, which caused Edward to break in a fit of silent laughter. Before I knew it we were both lost in fits of laughter. After the last couple of days laughter never felt so good. It also helped that my pain meds had finally kicked in. Once we had calmed ourselves, Edward glanced towards the door then back at me with a look of sadness.

"I should probably get back to my room before they realize I'm gone," he sighed.

"I don't want you to go," I said as I squeezed his hand in mine.

"Oh screw it," he said as he carefully got into bed with me. I snuggled into Edward's chest and sighed in contentment.

"What happens when one of the nightmare nurses walks in and finds you here?" I asked.

"Maybe I'll get special treatment because I am Carlisle's nephew," Edward said hopefully.

"We can only hope," I agreed. I drifted off to sleep happily in Edward's arms. I knew tomorrow would be filled with questions about what happened, but right now I was in my own little slice of heaven.

AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thanks also to: sujari6, the captains wife, jadedghost22,leah1398, austexfan, sandy4321, Xx-BMSC-xX, gothgirl1245 for taking the time to leave a review it means alot!

PLEASE REVIEW! THANKS :)