AN: Hey, guys, another relatively short update. Thank you all so much for 400+ reads and comments and alerts! See you again in a week.
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Chapter 24 – She did what? Part II
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"I thought they were just baby pictures."
"Yeah, that's what we all thought."
Bella must have fallen asleep, or passed out, possibly... She startled awake to the sound of voices - low and hushed voices. They were distinct enough for her to recognize though, and she quickly concluded that both Esme and Edward were in the room with her.
She also knew, without really opening her eyes to look, that she was tucked into her own bed. She would recognize the smell of her own pillow anywhere. This meant they were not over at the new place anymore, which in turn meant they had moved location without her even noticing. Wow, she must have really been out of it….
She had been exhausted on the verge of collapse before, but this was quite a different experience. Her brain felt as sluggish as her muscles. She had a thumping headache, steady and rhythmic, like a pounding fist beating against her skull. She felt like she literally couldn't move a finger, or open her eyes without causing her entire body to protest against the effort forced onto it.
She wanted nothing more than shut down her brain and go back to sleep, but her mind swirled with fragments of the day she'd just had. Was it still the same day or had she been passed out for more than a few hours?
Bella felt her socks being pulled off her feet. Edward's doing, no doubt. Next, to go were her sweatpants and as they were being stripped down thighs and legs in a swift manner, Esme mumbled something too quiet for Bella to pick up on.
She felt naked and vulnerable, lying flat on her back, only half dressed and half alert, like this. She knew she was going to have put in a more focused effort to fight the fog of unconsciousness that kept trying to shroud her.
After a few irritating moments, she heard Edward voice again, respond to whatever it was the Esme had just said.
"She has showed me the albums. I've seen the pictures," he said. "There was nothing unusual about them."
"Then why would Renee go through that much trouble to steal them? Why would anyone?"
"I don't have any answers to that, mom."
Bella felt Edwards hands tugging at her maternity top. She didn't like that…. at all. Her clothes were the last bit of dignity and control she could hold on to.
"Edward?" She managed to crack an eye open and the world swam into focus.
"Yes, I'm right here."
She forced her other eye open. Her head pounded as tiny dots of light danced across her vision. "Don't talk like I'm not in the room," she croaked, her voice rough as if she had not used it for days.
"Sorry, love. You were completely out of it. Didn't think you'd hear us."
"I did," she rasped with difficulty.
Wait, don't try to talk." Turning away, he fetched a glass of water from the bedside table and sat down on the bed. "Here, you should drink some!"
He gently put his hand under her head and lifted it up a little before he put the glass to her lips. Bella drank greedily without pause until the glass was empty.
A groan escaped her lips as he removed his hand and her head sank back into the pillow again. It still throbbed, but fainter than before.
"Let me just get this off, and you can go back to sleep," Edward said, his hands tugging at her clothes again.
Her top had concealed buttons at the front and she had not expected him to find those—but, he did…. of course, he did…
"Remove that top and you're a dead man," she protested, her voice stronger than before, but still cracked. "Leave me some dignity, please."
"Don't be silly, you'll be more comfortable without it. I'll get you a T-shirt to sleep in, no worries." He went on to push one of the straps off her shoulder.
"Edward, Please don't. I mean it," she huffed, making a weak attempt at batting away his hands.
Woah... not a good idea. The movement just made the room spin a bit.
"It will take two seconds, then you can go back to sleep again."
"What if I don't want to sleep right now?" she protested again, waiting for the dizziness to subside. "Also, I'd like to handle the undressing myself, thank you very much. Especially when we're not alone. We do have company, don't we?"
"Yeah, hi. I'm right here," Esme appeared at Edwards side. "I'm sorry we woke you, Bella. Honestly, I just came in here with a glass of water and some crackers to leave on your bedside table in case you woke up hungry. I'll leave you know, so that you can get ready for bed. "
Bella groaned inwardly. This kind of kindness was truly foreign to her. 'Yes, will you please leave,' was what she wanted to say, but of course, she didn't.
"No stay, talk to me," she said instead, moving her hand slightly in invitation for Esme to come closer. It was difficult to be anything but polite to someone who was being so courteous to her.
"You can start by telling me what the time is," she suggested, her eyes trained on Edward, as she watched him get up and retrieve the blood pressure monitor. He could probably tell she wasn't feeling super great at the moment.
"It's quarter after ten now," Esme responded, firing off a cheerful smile, as she moved to unload the plate she'd been carrying. "Tony's been asleep for an hour and a half," she added, taking a seat at the foot of the bed.
"Anthony," Bella muttered. She knew she had forgotten something. Then she suddenly winced as another thought struck her. "Please tell me that you washed his hair, Edward? It was a proper mess," she groaned.
"Yep, I did," Edwards face softened, as he wrapped the BP cuff around her arm. "He wasn't too happy about it, but got over it when I let him play with your hair dryer."
"That's not a toy." She shook her head, instantly regretting it as spikes of pain ran through her skull. At least she was fully awake now.
"You'd done the same, if you'd been there," Edward shrugged and then instructed her to stay still while he pressed the button on the automatic monitor to inflate the bladder on the cuff.
"He didn't break it or anything," he continued, eyes trained on the monitor. "And even if he had, it would have been a small price to pay to get him to go down without crying just this once. He was asleep in five minutes, you know."
"Looking on the bright side we should be glad that at least someone's had a good day," Esme cut in. "I don't think either of the boys noticed that anything was off, at least not in a bad way. They were both a bit wild, but when aren't they?"
"Excuse me, but are you calling my son a handful?!" Edward protested with mock indignation,
"Nah, he's not a handful, he's two hands full," Esme chuckled. "But that's how it should be. Don't worry."
"I guess that's true. He is slowly, but surely coming out of his shell." Edward said, removing the cuff from Bella's arm.
"He's perfect jut the way he is," Bella insisted, flexing her fingers. She tried moving her head again, and smiled at the beautiful absence of pain. She would have to make a trip to the bathroom real soon. It felt important that she could do so without needing to be carried there.
Esme made an affirmative noise as she turned to beam down at Bella. "Of course he is. He really is a true darling that one."
"So what's the verdict? Can I get up?" Bella asked, trying to get a peek at the result as Edward wrote it down in the little notebook they kept in the case with the BP monitor.
"Not as good as I would have preferred it to be, " Edward replied, and then went about tucking the covers around her as if she were a child. "You should stay put for a little while longer. We'll have to another reading in about ten minutes, or so. And to get a more accurate result, you should probably be sitting up for that one."
"Why did you even bother doing it this way then?" she rolled her eyes at him. Ten minutes felt like a lifetime to wait. No way she would make it that long without her bladder exploding.
"I just wanted an indication. Honestly, it wasn't alarmingly bad or anything. Not considering all the fun and not so fun little 'surprises' we've had do deal with today." He used air quotes around the word 'surprises', because really, he, if anyone, understood that it had been one heck of a day; one very long, very frustrating day. "I know you must have a million things on your mind right now, but it's important that you try and relax."
"Speaking of dealing with surprises, where is Seth?" Bella asked, rubbing her forehead. This was important, this was something she should have asked straight away. "He's not around is he? I'm assuming he went home, or to the HQ. Did he say anything before he left? I should probably speak with him." She moved as if to get up, but Edward put his hands on her shoulder and gently pushed her back into her pillow.
"No, he's not here and he didn't say much. Nothing you don't already know. He was acting all sorts of strange and then he packed up and left without saying anything other than a cordial goodbye."
"Aright, where is my phone? I'd like to call him."
"All your stuff is her eon the dresser, but seriously Bella, you're not calling him now," Edward said, shaking his head at her. "Leave it be. You can talk to him in the morning. I'm sure he'll get in touch with us if there is anything he thinks we need to be made aware of before then."
"I still want to speak with him," she insisted.
"Of course you do, but not tonight." Edward seemed determined to hold his grounds with her. "How about I send him a message. Wait, let me finish," he continued, when he saw her opening her mouth to interrupt him. "I'll send it from YOUR phone and I'll tell him to call YOU if anything comes up? How is that?"
"I don't like it," she scrunched up her nose. "Why can't I send him that text myself?"
"Because you should be resting. Why don't you just simmer down and let me do this for you." He turned around and began digging for her phone in the deep, dark depths of Bella's tote bag, where she kept her essentials. "You still have the same pin code, don't you? It's not brain surgery; I think I can manage sending off a simple text message."
"You do need your rest, Isabella. I think it sounds like a good compromise," Esme offered, from the foot of the bed. "If you don't hear anything from him tonight, you know everything is under control."
"Fine, I guess that will have to do," Bella relented. "Just tell me one thing, the photo albums... Did he at least take them with him?"
"He did," Edward said, swiping at the phone's home screen to open a new message window. "I didn't even get to look at them before he left. He said something about having them properly analyzed, or something. "
"Alright, good," Bella nodded, relieved that at least someone had started looking into this mess. "Seth knows what to do with them. He's the best."
"Oh, I'm sure he is," Edward scoffed in a manner that suggested he didn't really agree.
"He is a professional and this is his field of expertise," his mother reminded him with a knowing look. It was no secret that Edward had never been too impressed with FBI agent Seth Clearwater.
"Pfft, I'm well aware of that," Edward reminded her. "I tolerate him, but that doesn't mean I have to like everything he says and does."
Bella turned her head and hid a smile in her hair. Edward was possibly a tiny bit cute when he was jealous.
Esme didn't seem quite as amused though. "Don't roll your eyes at me, Edward." She shook her head. "This is not an everyday situation, a little delicacy and a lot of patience is in order," she continued. "Just get that message written, so we can all wind down and talk about something else."
"Yeah, I could use a bathroom break, just about now," Bella pointed out, with more urgency in her voice than she had intended.
"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses. I'm almost done. There," Edward grumbled, turning the phone around to let them inspect what he had typed.
"Looks great, hun. Send it!" Bella had already started inching towards the end of the bed. "Let me know what he replies."
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