25
As Edward fell to the ground, one hand reaching for her and the other clutching at his chest, Bella stood there with a look of horror on her face. In an instant she was on her knees, grabbing his hand. Her mouth opened and she tried to scream, but she couldn't. She couldn't because cancer had eaten away at her vocal cords and stole her voice away. Tears sprinkled down her cheeks as she dug her phone out of her back pocket and sent Angela a text, hoping and praying that she'd have her phone on her. Her aunt wasn't known for having it on her all the time, and Ben refused a phone all together, claiming they were destroying the sanctity of humanity. But right now, her phone was all she had to reach out for help.
When almost thirty seconds went by without a response, Bella looked around for anything she could find to make some noise. She couldn't leave Edward, not when he needed her. Five feet away from her, laying between two rows of seats, was a long, metal pole. Bella scrambled over to it, lifted it off the ground and began to beat on everything she could, hoping the ruckus would cause her aunt and uncle to come running.
Sure enough, less than a minute later, the doors to the back of the theater opened and Angela and Ben ran through, looks of irritation on their faces. However, they looked from Bella to Edward, who was laying in heap on the ground.
"Oh, my God," Angela cried, rushing over to him. "What happened?"
Bella's tears continued to fall as she began to sign. "He has heart problems. Call an ambulance. Please!"
Then she tossed Ben her phone before falling to her knees next to Edward again. She wanted to beg him to stay with her, beg him not to leave her like her parents had, but she couldn't. All she could do was hold him and silently let her tears fall while Ben called 911 and requested an ambulance.
Time felt like it had slowed down. Bella had opened herself up to Edward, shared all her fears and darkest secrets. He was the one person who never told her how to feel, tried to sweep the pain she felt everyday under the rug. He was her everything, her life, and if she lost him now, she'd never be able to recover.
The sound of the ambulance pulling up outside and the doors to the theater opening echoed throughout the theater. Angela wrapped her arm around Bella's shoulders and pulled her away as two paramedics came rushing inside.
"What happened to him?" one of them asked, looking at Ben, Angela, and Bella.
"Bella?" Angela asked. Tears continued to fall as she brought her hands up and began signing, knowing her aunt would translate. "She says they were just talking when he grabbed at his chest and passed out. He has a heart condition, and had a transplant two years ago."
Angela and Ben looked down at Edward with pity, and Bella knew that he'd hate it. He was so protective of himself, of what he shared with other people. The paramedics began their assessment, muttering terms like low blood pressure, faint pulse, and rapid heartbeat. It was all gibberish to Bella.
Minutes after they showed up, they strapped Edward to a stretcher and loaded him into the ambulance. Bella wanted to ride with him, but they refused. Angela once again wrapped her arm around her and told her that she and Ben would take her to the hospital. The ride was silent. After Bella sent Esme a text, telling her to call Carlisle and let him know that Edward was being taken to the hospital in Port Angeles, Bella curled herself up in the backseat of their car and watched the flashing lights in front of her, hoping and praying that Edward would be okay. He'd suffered enough, struggled enough in his life without needing to add this, as well.
The ambulance pulled up in front of the emergency room and they rolled Edward inside. Bella was out of the car and following them before Angela or Ben could stop her. She stood outside of Edward's trauma room and watched while they continued to work on him, hooking him up to wires and attaching monitors to his body. She'd never felt so helpless before.
"Miss," a nurse called, and Bella looked over at her. "Are you family?"
Bella just stared at her, knowing that she wasn't, but at the same time, feeling like she was.
"Honey, are you okay?" the nurse asked, reaching for Bella's shoulder. However, she stepped away and shook her head. "Can you tell me your name?"
She shook her head again.
The nurse sighed and looked around. "You can't just stand here, honey. Come on, I'll take you out to the waiting room."
This time her fingers wrapped around her arm. Bella started fighting her as she attempted to drag her down the hall, away from Edward. She needed to stay with him, to be there for him. He couldn't wake up alone, not again. Bella grabbed the nurse's hand and ripped it off her arm before running back down the hallway to Edward, but the nurse wrapped her arms around her, dragging her to the floor. Two orderlies rushed over to help her subdue Bella, who as sobbing uncontrollably.
"Let her go!" Angela shouted, causing everyone to turn to her. She sprinted over and pulled Bella out of the arms of the nurse. "Can't you see that she's upset and worried about her friend?"
Bella's hands shook a she brought them up, giving her aunt the sign for boyfriend.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Angela whispered, before addressing the nurse and orderlies again. "That young man is her boyfriend. She's very scared, and she needs to be here for him."
"We understand that, ma'am, but she isn't family," the nurse stated, like that should just seal the deal.
Bella gritted her teeth together and began signing, her hands flying everywhere in a frenzy. "She says, he and I may not have the same blood, but he is everything to me. He's holding my heart, my soul, and I will not leave him," Angela interpreted.
"She can stay." At the sound of the doctor's voice, they turned around and saw him standing in the doorway to Edward's room. He was tall, thin, with short black hair and tanned skin. The nurse glared at Bella before she turned and walked away. "He's stable for now. Have you contracted his family?"
Bella nodded and pulled her phone out of her pocket, indicating that she had. She gestured to Edward.
"I can't tell you anything other than for now, he's okay, but you can go sit by him," the doctor stated.
Bella's eyes closed as a fresh round of tears flooded her eyes. She'd never cried like this in front of other people, especially over the last few years. She'd worked so hard to protect herself from everyone.
'Thank you, Dr. . ." Angela trailed off.
"Dr. Black. Jacob Black. And don't thank me," he rambled. "I'll be back in a bit to check on him."
With that said, Jacob turned and walked away. Bella's hands shook as she reached out and pushed open the door to his room. She walked over and sat next to him, sliding her fingers over his hand.
She wasn't sure how long she had been sitting there when the doors to his room opened again and Carlisle and Alice came rushing in. They looked from her to Edward, and sighed.
"What happened?" Carlisle asked
Bella gestured to his heart, but couldn't say anything else.
"He had chest pains?" he pushed.
Bella shrugged her shoulders, but the truth was, she didn't know what Edward had felt just before he passed out.
"What were you doing?" Carlisle asked, his tone turning short. "Hmm? Where'd you take him? Was it dangerous?"
She opened her mouth, but promptly closed it, wishing like hell that Esme, Emmett, Rose, or Jasper were here to interrupt for her. Carlisle muttered something under his breath about her being a pain in the ass. Bella flinched, but managed to keep either of them from seeing. Carlisle grabbed Edward's chart and began reading over the notes Dr. Black and the nurses had been making.
"Excuse me." Everyone looked over at Jacob, who was standing in the doorway of Edward's room. "I'm Dr. Jacob Black. I'm taking care of Edward."
Carlisle introduced himself before gesturing to Alice. "This is our sister Alice. I see here that his pulse was low, but his heart rate was high."
"Yes," Jacob said, walking over and gently tugging the chart from his hands. "I've scheduled him for a heart biopsy to check for organ rejection, but I don't think that's the problem."
"And why not?" Carlisle asked, folding his arms in front of his chest.
"When I listened to his chest, I thought I heard a clicking sound. I think he's experiencing mitral valve prolapse."
Carlisle nodded and looked back at Edward. "Do you think it's surgical?"
"I can't answer that at this point," Jacob stated with a shake of his head.
"When are you doing the biopsy?" Carlisle asked.
"They should be taking him to the cath lab in a few minutes."
Carlisle nodded and brought his hands up to his mouth, dragging it over his face and through his hair. "Okay."
Jacob shifted his eyes over to Bella, watching her for a moment before he said, "It's a good thing she was there and acted so quickly."
Alice and Carlisle looked over at Bella, but neither of them said anything. Jacob turned and walked out of the room, leaving the three of them alone. Bella felt awkward and out of place. Standing up, she tried to let go of Edward's hand, but he held on tighter. When she looked down at him, she saw him watching her with wide eyes.
"Don't leave me," he croaked, his fingers tightening around hers.
Bella simply nodded and sat back down.
Edward smiled, though it didn't come off as being real as he looked over at Alice and Carlisle. "Hey."
"Hey," Carlisle murmured, sitting on the side of Edward's bed. "How are you feeling?"
"Shit," he muttered. "Like shit. Tired and sore."
"Yeah, I would imagine so," he replied. "What happened, Edward?"
However, he shook his head, his eyes closing. "Pressure . . . pain. The usual."
Alice's whimpering trickled through the air, causing everyone to look over at her. Edward lifted his other hand. "Pix."
"I'm okay," she cried, but walked around the bed and took his hand.
Carlisle pulled her onto his lap, and it was in that moment that Bella saw just how close the three of them were. Like Bella, Emmett, and Esme, they'd been through hell and back. They'd lost their parents, but somehow, they'd managed to hold on to each other. And in that moment, Bella understood why Carlisle was being rude. He was terrified of losing his brother.
A few minutes later, two nurses came in to take Edward down to the cath lab to perform the biopsy on his heart. He pulled on Bella's hand, and whispered, "Kiss me."
She smiled as she leaned down and pressed her lips against his.
Carlisle cleared his throat, reminding them that he and Alice were standing right there. Bella's cheeks flushed as she stepped away from him and allowed the nurses to unhook his monitors and roll him out of the room. She was unsure if she should follow them, so she stood there. It wasn't until Carlisle and Alice were at the door to his room that he looked over his shoulder at her and said, "Aren't you coming?"
She nodded and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around her torso and following them out to the waiting room. Bella was surprised when she saw Emmett, Rose, Esme, and Jasper sitting with Angela and Ben. Esme was on her feet immediately and rushed over to Carlisle wrapping her arms around him.
"Is he okay?" she asked.
"We don't know yet," he muttered, ducking his head into the side of her neck. Feeling out of place, Bella sat in the empty seat next to Emmett, pulling her knees up to her chest, and trying to keep her tears from falling. However, when he slid his arm around her legs, she looked up at him and the damn broke. Bella buried her face in the side of her arm and cried. Cried for Edward and how scared he had to be. Cried for Alice and Carlisle, who had had to sit by too many times and watch Edward fight for his life. And she cried for herself. She was in love with Edward, and losing him now would be the end of her.
"Bella," Alice whispered, causing her to look over at her. "Can you tell us what happened?"
Nodding, she leaned away from Emmett and brought her hands up in front of her, knowing he'd communicate for her. "She says they'd gone to the theater that Angela and Ben are restoring. She wanted to share it with him because it's her favorite place to go. They were talking when he grabbed his chest and collapsed."
"We heard her banging on . . . well, everything," Ben said, shaking his head. "When we ran in, we found him on the ground. We called for an ambulance immediately."
Carlisle nodded. "He's been having some soreness, but kept saying it wasn't anything. I mean, he always has some discomfort. The bones rub together . . ." He sighed and sat down. Esme settled in the seat next to him, sliding her hand into his. Carlisle looked at Bella. "Has he told you everything? About his heart, I mean?"
Bella nodded, feeling Emmett, Rose, and Jasper look at her.
"I'm sorry, but what about his heart?" Emmett asked, and when Carlisle looked over at him. "She didn't tell any of us."
Carlisle shifted his eyes to Bella for a moment before he said, "Edward was born with a heart defect. He's had dozens of surgeries over the years, but they were all just quick fixes. About two years ago, he had a heart transplant."
"So they think he's rejecting the heart?" Rose asked.
"They're doing a biopsy now, but the doctor thinks it's mitral valve prolapse," Carlisle explained.
"Hmm, that's rare in a patient with transplanted heart," she murmured.
"Yeah, well, Edward doesn't do anything the easy way," he scoffed, leaning forward and placing his elbows on his knees and shifting his eyes back to Bella. "Thank you."
Bella cocked an eyebrow in confusion.
"For being there with him," he whispered. "Just thank you."
She nodded, trying in her own way to say you're welcome.
Forty-five minutes later, Jacob walked out into the waiting room, and everyone was immediately on their feet. Bella could feel her heart racing, and the sense of anticipation in the room was thick.
"I've transferred him up to ICU, just as a precaution," Jacob told them. "We won't get the results of his biopsy for a couple of days, and I'm waiting for a call from his cardiothoracic surgeon in Seattle, but I'd like to go ahead and do a few tests to check his mitral valve. An electrocardiogram, chest X-ray, echocardiography for now. Depending on how those look and how the biopsy comes back, we'll have a better idea of what we're looking at."
"When can we go see him?" Carlisle asked.
Jacob looked at all of us. "I can let a few of you go up now, but the rest will have to wait."
"Okay," he said before he grabbed Alice's hand and started to lead her to the elevator after Jacob. Once again, he stopped and looked over his shoulder at Bella. "Are you coming?"
She nodded and followed him and Alice, knowing how big of a deal it was for them to let her go with them. The elevator felt like it took forever as it slowly climbed to the fifth floor. They stepped off and followed Jacob down the hallway, through a set of double doors, and to a small, private room. Edward was lying in bed, his eyes locked on the ceiling. He turned and looked at Bella and he smiled.
"Hey," he murmured, reaching for her. She rushed over and took his hand, bringing it up to her chest. "Don't cry. I'm okay."
It wasn't until he'd said anything that she realized she had been. Her eyes closed, and more than ever she found herself wishing she had her voice. She wanted to tell him how much she loved him, how much she needed him. He made her life worth living, and now, he was sick again.