Thanks for the reviews--I love them

Jane was always the actual bad guy, but I wasn't going to make it easy for you. Hehe. Jacob was a distraction--even though he is an asshole ;)

And yes, you should know where Bella has seen Jane before...some of you caught it when I updated with that chapter a while back, so claps for you!

Oh, and for those of you who, like me, would have gone all Mama bear on Jane's ass, Bella will not be the delicate little flower any longer...

This chapter deals with mental illness and drug use. I researched everything in this chapter for hours and made sure that it was as realistic and plausible as possible. If I happened to mess something up, please take it with a grain of salt but let me know.

Ah, angst...

Don't kill me. That's all I have to say.

*~*

Chapter 26

Edward

"NO!" I roared. "It's not fucking good enough!"

I paced the police station as I took all my anger out on Aro. I knew it was irrational, but I was so terrified of something happening to Bella or Eli, I didn't know what else to do. I wanted--no needed--for this to all be over.

I didn't sleep the entire night. I held on to Bella and listened to her tormented dreams. Dreams of her screaming for Eli with such agony, it nearly destroyed me.

I looked over at Bella, who was curled up in the chair, watching us with tears streaming down her face and nearly collapsed. I couldn't bear to see the sadness and the fear in her eyes. I hadn't been able to protect her. I hadn't been able to protect Eli. And for that, I didn't know if I could ever forgive myself.

I felt Emmett's hand grab my shoulder and shook it off. "You need to calm down," he said forcefully.

"NO! I will not calm down!" I spun around and faced him. "This woman tried to take MY SON! She has his toys! It's been something she's planned all along!" I was getting out of control. "She needs to be found. NOW!"

"Edward," Aro said calmly, "we're looking for her. I was almost to the restaurant in time to catch her." I heard Bella sob with his words but didn't face her. I couldn't. "We've got round the clock surveillance at your home and there will be a police officer tailing you and Bella wherever you go. We've also notified the school to tighten security and instead of going out to recess with the rest of his class, Eli will go to the gym with the principal to play. And once Bella can remember where she's seen Jane, I'll have another avenue to track her down."

"You think I'm letting Eli go to school?" I asked angrily. "We kept him home with my parents today because there was no way I was letting him go anywhere with Jane trying to take him!"

"You can't keep him locked up, Cullen," Emmett said stoically.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and tried to calm down. I wasn't getting anywhere. Yelling and screaming at my brother and Aro wasn't going to do any good. I was just keeping them from being able to search for Jane.

"Edward, I'm s...s...sorry," Bella sobbed.

I slowly lowered my hand and looked over at her. Her face was buried in her knees and her entire body racked with her cries. I heard myself let out a strangled moan at the sight.

I went over to her and crouched down next to her, grabbing her arms and gently lifting her off her knees so I could see her face. "Wha-" My voice broke. I was so close to breaking down. "What are you sorry for, baby?"

" I...I let her ge...get aw...w...wa...way," she hiccupped. "It's my fault!"

She started crying again, almost hysterically. I picked her up and sat in her place, putting her in my lap and wrapping myself around her.

"Shh. It's not your fault, a ghrá. You did what you thought was best for Eli," I cooed in her ear.

"No!" she cried.

"What do you mean 'no'?" I asked softly.

"I...I wanted to get him in the restaurant where I knew he'd be safe. But I was so scared. Not just because of Jane trying to take Eli. But of Jane herself. I...I panicked! I wish...I should have done something! Hit her, tried to grab her. Something!"

She tried to bury her face in her hands, but I stopped her. "You did the right thing," I said fiercely. "You have no idea how to fight. You had no weapon. You were alone with Eli. Do you honestly think that if you would have tried to fight her, that you or Eli would be here--right now--completely unharmed? You wouldn't be able to focus on taking Jane down while you worried whether or not Eli was still okay. You could have gotten hurt. Or worse." I swallowed the sob that threatened to bring me down.

"He's right, Bella. There's no way you could have tried to keep an eye on Eli and fight Jane without getting yourself or Eli hurt in the process," Aro told her. "You have to remember. She does have combat training."

She nodded and wiped her face with the tissue Emmett gave her. When she looked back up, her eyes were full of fire. "Teach me how to fight." I blinked in shock at the turn the conversation had taken. "Teach me how to defend myself. How to keep her from being able to run away. I will not live like this anymore. I will not let her get away again."

"You want to learn how to fight, Baby Bird?" Emmett asked with a smile. "We can teach you how to fight!"

I looked over at Bella warily. As much as I didn't want to picture any kind of situation where she would need to know how to defend herself or take down an attacker, I had to admit I'd feel much better if she did. Not only because of Jane, but because we lived in a world filled of thieves, rapists, and murderers. She wasn't in the nice little town of Forks anymore. She was in Chicago. This kind of shit happened every fucking day.

"Fucking fuck, fuck, fuck," I muttered to myself. "She's right." I ran my hand through my hair and looked at everyone. "When do we start?"

******************************

"Okay, Bella? I want you to come after me." Emmett grinned at her devilishly.

I watched Bella purse her lips and look Emmett's stance over. She lunged forward, trying to reach for his nuts, but Emmett grabbed her and slammed her down on the mat. Her air went out of her body in a whoosh, and I had to fight my instinct not to run over there and kick the shit out of Emmett for touching her.

"Ow," she whimpered, laughing slightly.

"Not bad. But you're too slow. And Jane's not a guy so that won't work on her." Emmett helped her up. "Try it again."

I bent my head down and studied the medical journal I had brought with me, trying to concentrate on the new laparoscopic procedure that was being described instead of Bella attempting to attack my brother.

Without realizing it, I had gotten so wrapped up in what I was reading, I had stopped paying attention to Bella and Emmett and was startled by the sound of Emmett's lungs emptying at Bella's kick and a loud groan as he went down to his knees.

"Good job, Jingle Bells. Fucking awesome kick," he panted.

I looked up to see Bella grinning triumphantly over Emmett as she pushed her sweaty hair away from her face.

"Did you see that?" she asked me excitedly.

"No," I admitted. "But I heard it. I take it you're making good progress?"

"Hell yeah, she is. I think she could kick Jane's ass in a heartbeat with a couple more lessons," Emmett said, getting up.

"Good," I said, honestly. I marked my place and stood up. "Want to pick up some lunch before we go home?"

She grinned and nodded. "Yeah. I'm starving."

I couldn't help but laugh. "I bet."

"What about me? Don't I get any lunch?" Emmett asked, pouting slightly.

Bella laughed. "Come on, you big gorilla. You can come, too. Our treat."

"Sweet!"

Aro came into the room, carrying a huge stack of papers and smiled. "Excellent. You're still here." We all looked at him curiously. "I got Jane's medical records."

My eyes widened at the amount of paperwork involved. "Is all that her medical records?" He nodded. "Holy fuck."

"I'll say. Want to see what you're darling ex has been seeing the doctor for?" he asked me mischievously.

"You're damn right I do!"

We all huddled up on the floor as Aro began explaining everything to us. "Jane was admitted to a psych hospital in Maryland just after she signed the agreement your lawyer drew up. After being observed for a few days, the doctors determined she had a form of paranoid schizophrenia--with the main symptoms being hallucinations, delusions, anger, and violence."

"I said something to you before about that," I mentioned.

"Yes. You did." He smiled at me. "You're very good at your job, Edward. You didn't even specialize in psychology and you caught it." He looked back down at the paper. "They began her treatment by prescribing mood stabilizers and anti-psychotics. She began talking to a therapist, whom she continued to see for the year that was required in the agreement." He looked up at me. "Jane described your break up to your therapist in detail, matching what you told me. However, I know now what happened in those two days before her phone calls to you began."

I leaned forward. "What?"

"She OD'd, Edward." I mouth dropped in shock. "It seems her psychiatrist believes that she has always had schizophrenic tendencies, but she was always able to hide them. The drugs that entered her system caused her brain chemistry to change just enough that it brought those tendencies to the surface. Or so the theory goes."

"What? Why would she do that?" I felt Bella's hand touch my arm and I quickly grabbed it and intertwined our fingers.

"She wanted to kill herself. It's one of the symptoms of schizophrenia." I nodded. I knew this, but it didn't make me feel any less guilty. "She found a dealer willing to shoot her up with heroin and give her some pills." He checked her records. "Looks like Valium that was taken with alcohol. She's extremely lucky she didn't die."

No shit.

"But that was supposed to be the point, wasn't it?" He nodded. "What did they treat her with? Narcan?"

"Yes, I believe so." He checked the records and nodded in affirmation. "When she was released from the hospital, she was under the delusion that you still loved her--which was the reason for the phone calls. Her delusions eventually became more severe and she believed you'd been cheating on her so she broke into your room and looked for evidence, destroying half of your belongings in anger during the process. She was also still doing drugs at this point, causing her..." he trailed off and looked at Bella, "monthly cycle to become disturbed which is where the pregnancy claim came from."

"How did no one notice she was on drugs at the hospital when she took the fucking pregnancy test?" I asked incredulously. "They didn't do a full work up?"

He chuckled. "No. You happened to get the laziest lab tech the hospital had. He was fired not too long after you came in because he missed diagnosing a patient with some sort of lymphoma. I don't know the details. The point is he ran her blood for the pregnancy hormones only."

"Why did she stab him?" Bella questioned.

"Again. Delusions. She believed Edward had gotten the hospital to falsify the results somehow." He looked at me seriously. "Do you remember her going to the bathroom before she had her blood drawn?" I nodded. "She went into the supply room and found the scalpel she used to stab you. Also, she admitted to having a hallucination after the nurse told you the results were negative. Your son told her not to let you get away with abandoning him. So she stabbed you."

"Jesus," Emmett whispered.

"So why now? Why Bella?"

"I don't have an explanation for that. I spoke to her last psychiatrist on the phone before I came in here and he told me that she had progressively been getting worse, rather than better, even though she was still taking her medications religiously. He recommended that she undergo Electroconvulsive therapy, but she refused. He was certain that it would help her more than the medications she was taking.

"My best guess is that she stopped taking them, like her friends suggested and her symptoms came back in full force. She saw you at the aquarium and the delusions started again. Bella just got caught up in all this because she's your fiancée."

"I should have been able to see the signs. I should have tried to help her. Instead, I was so wrapped up in my own life, I sent her on her way and never gave her another thought." I took my hand away from Bella and got up, walking over to the opposite side of the room.

She needed help and I didn't help her. What kind of a person did that to someone they dated for almost a year? What kind of person claimed to care for someone, only to walk away from them when they needed you most? What kind of person did that make me?

"Edward?" Bella asked softly. "Are you all right?"

"No. I should have helped her and I didn't." The guilt that I felt seemed to root me in place. "I..."

"Hey!" She took my face in her hands. "You were young. You were scared. You weren't a doctor yet. How were you supposed to know?" I shrugged, unwilling to answer her. "This isn't your fault. It's not even Jane's fault. She can't help it. We just have to find her and get her the help she needs before she tries to hurt us again."

I leaned down and pressed my forehead against her. "You are fucking amazing, you know that, Bella?"

"You're not so bad yourself." Her stomach rumbled. "Come on. Let's go get something to eat. Emmett's practically dying of starvation over there."

******************************

Bella

I had been working all day, trying to get the recipes Edward and I had come up with for the restaurant perfected before Edward came home. I had my meeting with Alistair in the morning and I couldn't wait to see if he liked them or not. If he didn't like something, I could try to revamp it this evening before I went to bed.

Edward came into the kitchen just as I was plating the last dish.

He looked around and grinned. "What's all this?"

"A distraction," I said pleasantly. "I thought I'd make everything we thought of for the restaurant and let you try it out. If you don't like something, we can fix it or just toss it out."

He frowned slightly. "A distraction? Bella-"

I cut him off. "Stop it. I need this. I need to quit thinking about Jane and when she's coming back and what she's going to do next. I need to quit thinking about how I shouldn't have let her get away. I need to live my life. I'm not going to get any better unless I try."

I couldn't stop thinking about it for the last few days. I felt torn between trying to make sure my family was safe by spending every free second I had training with Emmett and feeling guilty for wanting to hurt someone that clearly just needed help. Add the fact that I'd beaten myself up over letting my fear win out at the restaurant and you got this result--Bella as an emotional, stressed-out wreck.

I was honestly looking forward to my meeting with Alistair. I needed to be able to focus on something I loved, rather than the disaster that was my life. And I was desperately in need of some good news. I had barely slept since Eli was almost taken. Every night I had nightmares. Dreams of ghostly hands reaching out and snatching Eli, while I just stood there, unable to move--completely helpless as I screamed for the entity to bring my son back to me. Dreams where I robotically handed him over to the unnamed demon and watched him wiggle and writhe in it's arms, pleading and crying for me to save him and did nothing to help him. I'd woken up on more than one occasion with Edward grasping at my flailing arms, pleading for me to wake up and calm down. Nights where I'd woken up with a sore throat from screaming out in my sleep.

He watched me carefully for a moment before nodding slightly and letting it go.

"Where's Eli?" He asked instead, coming over and kissing me sweetly.

"Upstairs." I handed him a fork. "I hope you're hungry!" I said in mock excitement.

He chuckled. "I am." He looked at all the food. "Where do I begin?"

"How about we start at the appetizers?"

Edward dug in--tasting everything from the Irish potato cakes to the lamb stew. He finished his last bite and smiled.

"It's really good, baby." He looked around the food on the counter. "What are we going to do with the rest of it?"

"I'm going to pack everything up and take it with me tomorrow for Alistair to taste. Do you really like it?" I asked nervously. "All of it?"

"I loved everything. I swear." He leaned down and grinned crookedly. "Don't you dare say anything to Carlisle, but your fish and chips were so much better than Mamó's."

I giggled. "Really?"

"Um-hm. Come here," he murmured, tracing his tongue across my lips before kissing me deeply.

"Edward!" Eli yelled, coming over and hugging his legs, breaking our kiss.

"Hey, little man. Ready to see your dad tonight?" he asked, ruffling Eli's hair.

"Yeah." Eli turned around and raced out of the kitchen. "I gotta play my game before Daddy gets here!"

I laughed at him and turned back to Edward, who was looking down at me seriously. "What?"

"We need to tell Jacob, Bella."

"No," I said adamantly, looking away.

"Bella," he pulled my face back to his, "we have to. As much as I hate to admit it, if he knows the situation and who to look for, he can help us keep Eli protected. I can't keep our son safe when he's not with me."

I thrilled with his words. Our son. "I don't want to fight with him."

"I know. But, Bella? If this was happening to Jacob instead of us, don't you think you would want to know? Wouldn't you feel you had a right to know?"

Damn it. I hated it when he was right.

"Fine," I sighed. "But I need you to be there when I do. There's no telling how he'll react."

It wouldn't be good, that much I knew.

"You got it."

Edward and I got the food packed up and put it in the garage refrigerator, ready for me to take it to Alistair tomorrow. We had Eli go upstairs and clean his room and his game mess up in the bonus room, since it would most likely take him an hour, and waited on the couch for Jacob to get here.

"I'm sorry."

I looked over to see his guilty expression and felt it tug at my heart. "I know. But you have nothing to be sorry for."

"Bella-"

I grabbed his lips with my fingers. "Please don't. Not again." I turned my body towards him and met his green eyes with mine. " Just because you happen to know her does not in any way make this your fault. If it wouldn't have been you, it would have been someone else."

He took a deep breath. "You're right. I can't help but think that if I hadn't have ignored the situation, this wouldn't be happening."

I cupped his face with my hand. "Not your fault. Remember?"

He leaned over and kissed me tenderly just as there was a knock on the door. I broke away from Edward and got up to answer it.

"Hey," I said to Jacob as I opened the door.

He stepped inside. "You know there's a cop outside?"

"Yeah."

"What's going on?" He looked around. "It's awfully quiet in here. Where's Eli?"

"Upstairs. Sit down." I pointed to the chair in the living room.

Jacob walked into the living room and glared at Edward as he sat down. Apparently that relationship wasn't getting any better. "I'm sitting. Now would you tell me what the hell is going on?"

"Um...I, uh..." I stuttered.

Edward gripped my hand with his and looked Jacob square in the eye. "There's a cop outside because Bella had a run in with Jane the other day."

"What?" he shouted.

"Hey!" I said angrily. "Eli's upstairs," I reminded him.

He glanced over at the stairs and started again. "What happened this time?" he asked crossly.

"She tried to take Eli," Edward said calmly, squeezing my hand.

Jacob's eyes narrowed and the tendons on his neck stood out. I watched his fingers curl at his sides and wondered if maybe we should have had Emmett with us.

"She tried to take my fucking son!?" he shouted.

"Calm down, Jake!" I yelled.

He glared at me. "How can I be calm about something like this?"

"Jacob, there are extenuating circumstances involving Jane's behavior," Edward explained.

"Like what?" he spat, never looking away from me.

"She has paranoid schizophrenia. And she's not on her medication."

"Jesus Christ! That just makes it even better, doesn't it?! You've allowed some crazy chick to come into my son's life!" Jacob turned his heated stare towards Edward. "I knew it was a bad idea that Bella let you around Eli, no matter how fucking great you are with him!" He stood up. "Don't fucking come near him again, you hear me, Cullen? I don't want you anywhere near my son!"

"Jacob!" I yelled, shocked. "Be reasonable!"

"Be reasonable? Are you fucking kidding me, Bella? OUR SON WAS ALMOST KIDNAPPED BECAUSE OF HIM!" he roared, pointing at Edward. "I ought to take you to court and get Eli as far away from the two of you as possible!"

I pulled in a sharp breath at the pain the radiated throughout my chest and felt my eyes swim with tears.

"You can't!" I cried.

"Watch me."

Edward stood up and faced Jacob. "You can hate me all you want. I don't give a fuck. But what good is it going to do to take Eli away from his mother? Do you think that he's going to be okay if you do? Because I certainly don't."

"Please don't try to take him from me, Jake." I was blubbering now.

Jacob watched me collapse on the floor and rest my head against my knees. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. All I could concentrate on was the excruciating pain that seemed to slither along my skin, burning--scorching--every part of me. I didn't know what I'd do if Jacob took Eli away from me. Cease to function, I suppose.

I heard a shuffle on the carpet and felt Edward's hand touch my back. "Don't fucking touch her," he fumed. "You've done enough to her."

"Oh, and like this situation is any better for her?" Jacob asked sarcastically.

"Of course not! But you're not making this any better for her," Edward snarled.

"Some crazy ex of yours is out to get you and I'm supposed to just let my son stay with you? Exactly how am I suppose to react to this, Cullen?"

"Not like this! Would it help if I wasn't in the picture? If you want, I'll gladly disappear from their lives if it meant that you wouldn't take Eli away from her." Edward's voice was full of pain.

"No! Edward, please!" I wailed, crying even harder. "You can't leave me!"

I wrapped myself in a tight ball, trying to hide from the words that Edward had just spoken. I wanted to walk into a burning building, rake hot coals across my skin--do anything to distract myself from the debilitating pain of Edward leaving me.

"Shh. It's all right, a ghrá." He rubbed circles on my back.

"Don't leave me," I sobbed.

My chest heaved uncontrollably as I struggled to breathe. It felt like my lungs were being squeezed with a vise and were unable to get any air. Black dots danced across my vision as I felt my head getting lighter and lighter. I could hear my loud gasps, coming in quick and hard, but I couldn't seem to stop myself. I wasn't sure I wanted to stop myself. With each tortured breath, I felt my mind slowly detaching itself from the pain; I was becoming numb.

"Oh, baby." Edward said, agonized. "I'm not going anywhere. I love you too much not to be with you."

He grabbed me and pulled me into his arms, hugging me so tightly against him, the only movement I could make was to breathe in time with him. My chest rose and fell with his, allowing my brain to function normally again. His touch soothed the fire, eventually calming me down.

"Then why would you say that?" I asked shakily, looking into his teary eyes.

"Because he's your son. I would disappear if it meant keeping Eli in your life. It would kill me to do it, but I'd do it if Jacob asked me to." He ran his thumb across my cheek, wiping away some of the tears, and pleaded silently for me to understand with his eyes.

And as much as it broke my heart, I did.

"I'm not going to make you break up with her. She obviously loves you and I'm tired of hurting her." Jacob sounded exhausted.

Edward continued to rub circles on my back and whisper soothing words while I continuously battled to calm myself.

After a while, Jacob spoke. "Bella?"

I slowly raised my head and looked at Jacob. His eyes were still furious but his face had softened dramatically as he watched me sob on the floor.

"Wh...What d...do you w...wa...want from me, Jake?" I wiped at the tears that seemed to be continuously falling.

"I don't know, Bells. I need some time to think about this."

"Are...are you going to take Eli from me?" I asked meekly. "Please don't. I couldn't stand it if you did."

I saw his body start to move towards me before he straightened up and cleared his throat. "No, I won't. I need to go. I'll...I'll be back in a little bit and we can figure something out."

He bolted out the door, leaving Edward and I alone in his wake.