Author's Note: Stephenie Meyer created Twilight. I created this work of fan fiction.

Mrs. SWS knows drama.


BPOV

I had managed to shower and dress in the beautiful ivory gown in record time. I pinned my hair into a bun at my neck and let a few tendrils hang down, framing my face. My makeup was sparse, but I was pleased overall, given the time I had to work with. Once I was ready I checked in with the caterers and made sure their setup was going well. Then I cleared myself a space in the busy kitchen to cut the fruit for my fondue. I was only on the second strawberry when the chef's knife sliced down the length of my index finger.

I stared at it, stunned for a moment at the sight of so much blood that had appeared so quickly. I must have gone deep enough to get a vein. I reached down and wrapped the finger in my apron while I went in search of a better bandage.

But I wasn't wearing my apron.

The sight of crimson blood on the ivory fabric made me gape in horror and let out a silent scream. One of the caterers caught sight of me and came to my aid. He sat me down and wrapped my hand in a clean dishtowel, but the damage was already done. There was blood all over my dress and Alice was going to kill me.

"I don't think it needs stitches. You might be able to just use butterfly bandages. We have some in our first aid kit." The caterer was bravely looking at the damage to my finger, but all I could do was sob. I was beginning to feel light headed from the way I was choking on my breaths.

My dress!

"Bella! Your dress!" Alice's voice rang out through the entire house. She and Jasper were in the doorway, removing their coats. I had asked her to come early and help me with any last minute details. These weren't the circumstances I had thought I would need her help with. All I could do was cover my face with my non-bleeding hand and wail.

"What happened!?"

I was unable to answer, so the caterer spoke up for me. "She sliced her finger pretty good while cutting fruit. I looked at it and I'm not sure whether she needs stiches or not."

"Bella, do you have anything else you can wear?" Her question only made me cry louder.

"Where's Edward?"

"He had to run to the apartment to pick up his suit," I sobbed. "He forgot it."

"I'll call and ask him to grab you another dress. Jasper, can you take her and help her get bandaged up?"

Jasper led me down the hallway to the master bedroom and into the bathroom. He turned on some warm water in the sink and pulled the bloody dish towel away. The cut hadn't begun to stop bleeding. Moments later the caterer came in with a first aid kit.

"This is going to hurt like a son of a bitch, Miss Bella," Jasper warned before he poured hydrogen peroxide all over the cut.

I just bit down on my lips as hard as I could without breaking the skin. Jasper wrapped my finger tightly in gauze and then clenched his fist around my finger, and raised my hand above my head.

"This is the fastest way to get the bleeding to stop. I'll help you hold it up." Jasper smiled warmly at me and I wanted to smile back, but my tears just wouldn't stop.

Alice joined us in the bathroom and directed the caterer to pick up where I left off with the fruit. When we were alone, she updated us on her plan for my dress.

"Edward didn't answer his phone, but I knew Rose and Emmett were in that neck of the woods, so I called them. Rose says she has the keys to your place and she'll stop and grab you a dress. I told her the exact one and which shoes too. She thinks she can make it here in a half hour."

"Thank you, Alice." Her words brought me some relief and I began to breathe regularly again. "Should I just put on my jeans until she gets here? People are going to start arriving soon."

"No! God, no! Just stay back here and I will go out there and make excuses for you." Alice looked mortified that I might attend my own party in something as faux pas as denim.

Alice turned to leave and I caught her arm with my good hand. "Please send Edward in when he gets here. He should be back any minute." Alice nodded and left the bathroom.

A few minutes later Jasper and I checked the bleeding again and saw that it had slowed significantly. Gently, he washed it again and applied three butterfly bandages as well as some absorbent medical tape. "I know you want to stay for your party, but you may want to get this looked at by a doctor," Jasper recommended before leaving to go help Alice host my party. I sat on the bed to wait.

I played my stupid puzzle game on my phone, one handed, and after about ten minutes there was a knock on the door. Relief at Edward's arrival washed through me.

"Come in!"

"Are you decent? Am I even allowed in your bedroom?" Jacob walked in with his hand over his eyes.

I rolled my eyes and told him to sit down with me. But where the hell is Edward? He left like an hour and a half ago.

Jacob gawked at my bloody dress and I told him the whole story. Of course, he reminded me of the time when I had cut myself shaving as a teenager. Charlie came home to find a bloody mess in the bathroom and thought I had died.

"Is Leah here with you tonight?" I asked him.

"Nah. She's on duty at the hospital."

"Are things going well for you two?" Talking about something else helped me get my mind off of my own worries.

He shrugged. "As well as can be expected. She doesn't have much time for me; she's just so busy with her residency."

"And you swear you're not doing anything to fuck it up?"

"Scouts honor." He held up his fingers in the Vulcan 'Live Long and Prosper' sign. I laughed for the first time in what felt like a while and punched him in the shoulder with my good hand. Beside me on the bed my phone rang. Rosalie.

"Hey, Rose. Where are you? Did you get the dress?"

"No, Bella." Her voice was terse like she was in a courtroom. "We're on our way to Northwest Hospital. You need to meet us there. It's Edward."

"Oh my God, Rose! What happened?"

She hesitated for a moment before answering. "He's going to be okay, Bella, but you need to get to the hospital. We'll meet you in the emergency room. Is there someone there who can drive you?"

XOXOXOX

Jacob drove like a bat out of hell, but it wasn't fast enough. Rose wouldn't tell me anything. Had he been in an accident? How badly was he hurt? What on earth happened? It had to be something horrific if Rose refused to tell me until I was in her presence. I wrung my good hand in the skirt of my ruined, bloody dress. My other hand throbbed to the tempo of my elevated heart rate.

Jacob and I had run out of the house as quickly as we could. Jacob took long enough to ask Alice to stay and basically host the party for us. I hoped he hadn't alarmed her, but he could only share the few scary details we knew.

"Drive faster, Jacob!"

"I can't or I'll kill us both." His tone was sharp; he was focused on his driving. "Tell me again what Rosalie said."

"She just said she and Emmett were driving to Northwest hospital and that something was wrong with Edward."

"Why would Rose and Emmett be the ones to find out something was wrong with Edward?" Jacob was trying to help me make a complete picture with very few pieces of a puzzle. "They were headed to your apartment. Isn't that where Edward was too?"

"How would Edward get hurt at the apartment?" As soon as the question was out of my mouth I felt a terrible lurch in my stomach. I contemplated asking Jacob to pull over, but that would just delay me further from seeing Edward.

James.

"But Rose said Edward was going to be okay. She wouldn't have said that if it wasn't the truth." Jacob's calming words were barely able to cut through my cloud of panic. I had to listen to him though. I had to cling to something hopeful.

XOXOXOX

My bloody dress made for quite the dramatic entrance into the bright lights of the emergency room. I could feel all eyes on me as we walked into the waiting area and two nurses ran out from behind their station when they caught sight of me. I only had eyes for someone familiar, though. Finally, my sights landed on Rose and Emmett, who were off to the side, dressed to the nines, and talking to two uniformed police officers. Ignoring the nurses, I ran towards Rose.

"Bella! Thank God you made it. Officers, this is Mr. Cullen's fiancé, Isabella Swan."

I glared at Rose for a millisecond before I realized what she was doing. They might not let me see Edward if I wasn't related to him closely.

"Ms. Swan, you look like you need medical attention," one of the officers said.

"I'm fine!" I cried, holding up my bandaged hand.

"We're going to find a room where we can have some privacy. We need to ask you a few questions."

"What?" I looked at Rose for some kind of explanation. "I need to see Edward. I need to know what's going on! I'm the one with questions!"

A door opened behind the officers and a nurse beckoned us in. I pushed through the officers to follow her. Instead of leading us to Edward, we were shown into a small room that held a table and a few chairs. I refused to enter and Rose grabbed my arm. "Bella, you need to follow their instructions. The sooner they get their questions answered, the sooner we can try to get you to Edward."

"Try?" I was completely bewildered, but followed everyone else into the room. Rose, the officers and I sat. Emmett stood next to the door with his arms crossed, as though he was the one with the most authority in the room.

As soon as we were seated, the officer who hadn't spoken yet began. "Ms. Swan, before I let Ms. Hale here explain what happened, I need to ask you about your interactions with Mr. Cullen this evening."

I felt tears welling in my eyes as I thought of the extreme intimacy I had experienced with Edward just minutes before I last laid eyes on him. Please, God, let him be okay.

"When did you last see Mr. Cullen?"

"He was leaving our house to go to our apartment and get his suit for our New Year's party. He forgot it there this morning."

The officer looked a little confused, so Rose clarified. "They just bought a new house and haven't fully moved in yet." The other policeman was taking notes.

"What time was that?"

"About 5:30."

"What was his demeanor like when he left?"

"He was fine. We were both in a hurry to be ready for the party." Why does it feel like Edward is in trouble?

"Does Mr. Cullen have a history with your neighbor, Mr. Ravel?"

"Who?"

"This is unfair, officers. You are asking Ms. Swan to potentially incriminate Mr. Cullen without knowing anything regarding the circumstances of the incident this evening." Rosalie was in full-on attorney mode. Edward really is in trouble.

"What!? Will someone please tell me what is going on?" I wasn't fighting tears anymore. "Who the hell is Mr. Ravel?"

"James," Rosalie whispered.

"Tell me what happened to Edward. NOW!"

"Officers, please excuse us." Rosalie was dismissing them from the room, but they didn't move. "Ms. Swan is not in your custody and, as a witness, I am not allowed to represent Mr. Cullen. The least you can do is give me a few moments alone with my friend."

I swear I heard the sound of knuckles cracking behind me and when I turned to look at Emmett he was nodding and smirking at the officers. They stood to leave.

"Please don't leave the premises before we can ask you a few more questions, Ms. Swan," one of them said from the doorway. I nodded and turned to Rose for answers.

"James and Edward got into a fight?" I had put that much together.

"Bella, when we got there it didn't look like much of a fight. We walked into the building and heard this awful maniacal laughter. On our way up the stairs the laughing stopped. Emmett ran the rest of the way up, but I couldn't run," she said, clutching her stomach where she was still healing from her hysterectomy. "When I got upstairs finally, Emmett was trying to calm Edward down and James seemed to be unconscious on the floor."

"I'd say it wasn't a fair fight, but Edward got cut up pretty good," Emmett chimed in and I gasped.

"James had a knife, but, Bella, he's okay. I think they're just stitching him up back there. He's fine."

"And James is the one pressing charges?"

"James never regained consciousness. He's in critical condition. Some neighbors called the police and we couldn't get any information out of Edward before they arrived."

"Edward totally stonewalled us. He was kind of scary." Emmett's pallor was ashen as he recounted what he saw. I felt my stomach knot. Emmett looks scared of Edward.

"Even when the police asked him questions, he refused to say anything. With one person silent and the other unconscious, they have no choice but to hold Edward until they get answers. His injuries were bad enough that they took him here instead of taking him directly to the police station. We followed both the ambulances the whole way here."

"He said something to me," Emmett muttered.

"What?" Rose and I said in the exact same moment.

"Edward told me not to let you out of my sight."

"Why would he say that?" Rose asked. "Edward beat the man senseless. Why would Bella be in any danger?"

Emmett shrugged. "Edward has told me some crazy shit about this James character before. He must know something we don't."

Emmett is right. There has to be a reasonable explanation. Just like there was with the Jacob incident. Edward wouldn't do this without a reason.

"Bella, Emmett and I told the police everything we saw. There was another couple from the building who came forward as witnesses too, saying they saw Edward running out of the building. Edward didn't speak up to defend himself or explain anything. There are a lot of unanswered questions. I don't even know if Edward is under arrest or not. He was unarmed and James had a knife, but Edward knocked the guy out and put him in critical condition."

I was suddenly incredibly angry. "It doesn't sound like you were helping Edward at all! Why would you tell the police all of that?"

"I said it all right in front of Edward. I hoped that if I had misinterpreted something, he would speak up and defend himself. He just sat there." Rose couldn't look me in the eyes anymore. "Bella, I've seen Edward's police record. You know I looked him up as soon as you started dating him. All signs point to the fact that he just added another violent incident to a growing list."

"Will you help him? As…as an attorney? Will you do that for me?"

"Bella, you heard what I told the officers. I'm a witness to this incident. I don't think I can get involved any other way. Besides, Edward's silence is only pointing towards his guilt. I tried to get him to let me help him before the police arrived."

Why, Edward? Why? What happened?

The officers came back into the room and said that they were ready to take each of our statements. They would be making a determination about letting me see Edward after they spoke to the three of us. Emmett and I were asked to stand in the hallway while they spoke to Rosalie first. I stood near Emmett, who was constantly scanning the hallway. After a few minutes, a nurse approached me.

"Ms. Swan? Your friend in the waiting room suggested I take a look at your finger. Do you want to come with me for just a few minutes?"

Jacob! I said a silent thank you to him. He was waiting out there by himself, not knowing what was going on back here.

"May I go with her?" Emmett asked.

"If it's okay with Ms. Swan."

I nodded and we followed her to an exam room. Twenty minutes and four stitches later, I was given some pain meds and promised to visit my doctor for a follow up. This made me think of Carlisle and, of course, Esme.

"Should we call Edward's parents?" I asked Emmett and he shrugged. When Rosalie came out after giving her statement to the cops, I asked her too.

"You probably should. I wonder what everyone is thinking at the party."

The last thing I could worry about right now was how successful our party was…or wasn't. I nervously dug in my purse and pulled out my phone, trying to formulate what I would say to them over the phone. I tried Esme first, but she didn't answer. She might not be carrying a purse at the party. I tried Carlisle next.

"This is Doctor Cullen," Carlisle answered in his brusque medical professional voice. It made me burst into fresh tears. Rosalie moved to put her arm around me and pulled me close to her. I couldn't really feel any sympathy in the gesture. It felt like she was only here in my best interest and not necessarily Edward's.

"Carlisle…," I managed, "it's Bella. We're here at the hospital with Edward. They're telling me he's okay but we haven't seen him yet. He got into a fight and he…he may be in trouble."

"I see." He didn't sound surprised. At all.

"Edward isn't saying anything to anyone. The police are here taking statements from Rosalie, Emmett, and me. I don't know what's going to happen next, but I think Edward may need an attorney."

"Is he under arrest?"

"Not yet." I gave Carlisle the briefest synopsis of what we knew so far. It still didn't feel like much.

"Stay put and we'll be there shortly."

"I'm not going anywhere," I said and hung up.

A few minutes later it was my turn to speak to the police officers. Rosalie stayed with me, as I didn't feel comfortable speaking without some kind of legal representation. This whole 'hospital interrogation' was off-putting; there didn't seem to be enough information yet to determine what had happened, or what kind of police involvement would be really necessary, until James woke up or until Edward started talking. I tried to think about why he would go completely silent and the only thing I could think of was that he wanted to be precautious, given his history, before saying anything that could get him into any kind of trouble. The other, more frightening reason I could think of was that James had gotten to him enough to break him and make the violent, reactionary side of him come out…and stay out.

Edward isn't a bad person, deep down inside. Is he?

I felt a pang of guilt that I would question him and his motives. After the incident with Jacob I promised him I would never do that again. But I couldn't help myself.

Damnit, Edward! Why won't you say anything and defend yourself!? I hated that Rosalie was right. His silence implies guilt.

"Ms. Swan…?"

"Yes?" I had gotten lost in my thoughts and hadn't heard the question.

"I was asking you about your knowledge of Mr. Ravel and his previous interactions with Mr. Cullen."

I looked at Rosalie and she solemnly nodded in encouragement. I told them everything I knew about James and Victoria, which wasn't much. I told them about James attending all of my cooking classes. Then I told them about how things took a turn for the worse when Edward and I started dating. I made sure to emphasize how there were a few very rare verbal exchanges between them, but never anything physical.

"Are you aware of Mr. Cullen's track record of violent outbursts?"

"He very candidly shared the details of the two unfortunate incidents when we first began dating. And before you even ask, I have never once felt threatened by Edward."

"I don't think there's anything else we need to ask right now. That will very likely change when we get more information, so please make yourselves available to us… Ah, here's the nurse. Perhaps we have some news."

I jerked around in my seat to see a nurse waving through the small window in the door. Both officers went into the hall to speak with her and when they left, Esme, Carlisle, and Emmett rushed in. I hugged Edward's parents and hated seeing the strained look on their faces. I couldn't imagine going through this multiple times with your child and having to doubt yourself as a parent.

We barely had any time to catch the Cullens up to speed when the officers returned.

"You must be Mr. Cullen's parents?"

"Yes!" Esme exclaimed with so much worry in her voice.

"We're going to speed up the discharge of Mr. Cullen from the hospital now…"

"Oh, thank God," Esme interrupted. "Can we please take him home and sort this mess out in the morning?"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Cullen. We're taking your son into custody. James Ravel is dead."


A/N: To the best of my researching abilities, I couldn't find a last name from SM for James, so I made one up, knowing he was French. Not that his last name matters with all that's going on!

The next chapter will pick back up with Bella at Sue's. We'll have to fill in the rest of the details as they unfold for Bella, so we'll probably stay in her POV. I am thinking there are about two more chapters left. 30 is a nice round number - and it's also the age I just turned. Happy birthday to Mrs. SWS! Your reviews are the best possible gifts.