Disclaimer: The characters of Twilight are owned by Stephenie Meyer. The original characters, content and ideas of this story are mine.
Chapter 28
Treading Water
EPOV
"Come on love, don't give up on me like this." I said swallowing the lump in my throat as the paramedics used the defibrillator to restart Bella's heart after she flat lined twice.
"Okay we've got her back, call into the hospital to let them know they will need to intubate her." One of the paramedics said as we rounded the corner to where the hospital's emergency entrance was located.
I could hear the pounding of my heart inside my head and the pain associated with the migraine I had made it hard to get my thoughts together. I jumped out of the ambulance as soon as they came to a stop and rushed into the hospital to quickly change into a pair of scrubs and sanitize my hands so that I could work on Bella.
"Dr. Cullen are you okay, what's wrong…?" one of the ER nurses asked me as I ran pass her.
Once changed I quickly ran to find what room they had put Bella in and when I walked in I was grateful to see Garrett as the attending physician. He had already ordered for her to be sedated to get her vitals under control and they had begun to insert the tube to intubate her. As I stood back and watched them put the love of my life on a breathing machine, I felt as if my lungs would collapse. Once they stabilized her she was moved to the ICU floor.
I stood by Bella's bedside watching the rise and fall of her chest as the machine pumped oxygen into her. I placed my hand on her swollen belly and one of our babies responded with a soft kick and at that moment I couldn't hold back anymore. The tears flowed down my face like a young child that had been denied his favorite toy. I slowly lowered myself into the chair at her bedside and kept my hand on her stomach waiting for another movement. I placed my other arm on the edge of the bed and put my head down and let the tears continue to fall.
"Bella please love, please don't leave me, I need you too much. Baby we have so many things we need to do and see, like the grand opening of your book store and Alice and Jasper's over the top wedding. Oh and I almost forgot, Jacob's coming to town to surprise you, he was going to eat dinner with us tomorrow night and I know you miss him. And then our new house, well if you leave me to decorate it, it won't look anything like what you want. I just don't have that special touch that you do love, I mean after all my mom had to come decorate my apartment for me. We need to talk about our babies' names and colors of their rooms; I know you said you don't want to go with the traditional blue or pink, that you wanted more originality than that especially if all our babies are the same gender. But if they are not, two of them will be upset that they will have to share a room just because they are the same sex or maybe we could just give all three of them their own rooms."
I went on talking to her for only God knows how long and I'd give anything for her to wake up, to look into her mesmerizing brown eyes, to see her smile and to hear her voice. I need her, we need her, our children need their mother, and I can't do this without her and this family just does not work without her! My head was pounding and the only one who could stop the pain was Bella.
"Edward buddy, how are you holding up?" I looked up to see Garrett standing at the door of Bella's room and when he took in my appearance his expression went from a small smile to worried. "She is stable for now Edward and from what we can see from the ultrasound so far, your little ones in there are doing just fine, no signs of serious distress." He said pointing to Bella's stomach.
"Thanks Garrett, I appreciate all that you're doing."
"Further test showed that Bella suffered a mild heart attack and her red blood cells did plummet. We have started her on Dobutamine Hydrochloride to strengthen her heart. We are also giving her steroids in an effort to strengthen the babies' lungs and I have contacted Neo-Natal just in case we have to do an emergency C-section, but I am not convinced that she will not wake up on her own, her vitals right now are good. If she remains stable throughout the night I will take her off the sedatives so she can wake up."
"You know, with all the schooling and training I have been through, hundreds of patients I've seen, diagnosed, treated and even lost a few, none of it, and I mean absolutely none of it could ever prepare you for when the life you're trying to save is one of your love ones."
"I know Edward, but what you are looking for you will not find in any medical book. Faith is only found inside of you and you have to grab it and hold onto it. I'll be in my office if you need." Garrett said placing a hand on my shoulder before exiting the room.
I sat back in the chair and mulled over Garrett's words and realized he was absolutely correct. Yes this was a setback for us, but it was our faith that had gotten us this far. Bella and I had faced betrayal from those she thought were her friends, an unexpected pregnancy of three children, an illness that has turned our world upside down and we even faced the death of her parents which almost broke her, but the one thing we have never lost through all of this is our faith. I know she will come back to me, I will marry her, we will have and raise our children together and have more children, and we will sit on the front porch of our home one day and watch our grandchildren run around our front yard.
There was a soft knock on Bella's room door and then Jessica stepped into the room.
"Hey, how is she doing?" she said stepping closer to the bed.
"She's doing well, her vitals are stable and it's just a matter of time before she wakes up." I said offering her a small smile.
"I am so glad to hear that, I was so worried and so is Jake, he is going crazy right now. His flight lands in two hours and I will be picking him up. Is it okay if I bring him straight to the hospital?"
"Yes, of course Jessica, he's her best friend, I'm sure he's very worried. I'll make sure the ICU nurse's station has his name as an approved visitor. Would you mind sitting in here with her, I need to call Emmett and my family?"
"Sure no problem, take your time."
"Thanks Jessica, I won't be long." I said and then walked into the hall way.
I dialed Emmett and Rosalie first and Emmett informed me they would leave the boys with his in laws and catch the first flight that they could to New York and I offered for them to stay at our apartment. I then contacted my parents and Alice and they pretty much said the same, but they would stay at Alice's apartment.
As I turned to walk back into Bella's room I heard a female voice calling my name and I turned to see who it was and saw a short very attractive African American woman walking towards me. She had caramel colored skin, with black wavy hair pulled back into a neat ponytail and the most striking hazel colored eyes. I think I may have almost been attracted to her, if my heart still belonged to me that is.
"Dr. Cullen, I am sorry to disturb you, but on Ms. Swan's chart you are her emergency contact."
"Yes I am and how can I help you…um?" I searched for a name tag.
"Nancy, I'm from patient services and I needed to speak with you about Ms. Swan's hospital bill."
"Her bill? She has medical insurance." I said rather surprised at the nature of our conversation.
"Yes sir, she had medical insurance, but according to the insurance company her coverage lapsed two months ago."
"What? How is that possible?"
"Evidently sir, she was covered under her father's insurance and the coverage was only good for six months after his death date."
Now it made sense, Bella was a fulltime student and her father was still covering her on his insurance. The city of Forks continued to cover his dependent for six months after death per their contract and it has been eight months since Mr. Swan passed away. I ran my fingers through my hair because this is just a whole other issue I was not prepared to deal with and I cannot add her to my insurance because we are not married yet. I placed both my hands on my waist and threw my head back in exasperation letting out a huff of breath before looking back at Nancy who was waiting patiently for an answer. Rubbing the back of my neck with one hand and my other still at my waist, I looked down at the floor and blew out another breathe through my nose.
"Alright Nancy, what do I need to do to get Ms. Swan's medical bills squared away so I can get back to more important things, like her."
"Well Dr. Cullen if you could follow me back to patient services I could give you a printout of an itemized bill and payment options."
I turned to look down the hall at Bella's room and then decided it was better to deal with this now while she was not awake than to allow them to bring this to her attention.
"Let's get this over with as quickly as possible please." I said as I followed Nancy to patient services.
When it was all said and done Bella had been racking up a medical bill averaging about fifteen thousand a month including all tests, office visits, her home nurse and her meds for a grand total of twenty nine thousand four hundred seventy six dollars. I charged the balance to my American Express and counted my blessings that we were even in a financial position to pay this kind of money, because so many people aren't. After signing the credit card receipt and getting a hospital receipt marked "Paid" I headed back to Bella's room. When I arrived Jessica had turned the TV on to a classical music station and had the speaker positioned right above Bella's head. I smiled at the gesture for two reasons, 1) classical music had been know n to stimulate positive brain activity and 2) Bella loves classical music.
"Okay I'm back." I said making my presence known "Thank you so much for sitting with her."
"No problem, well I'd better head out to the airport to pick up Jake and after we drop off his luggage I will bring him back to the hospital."
"Sounds good, see you in a bit Jessica."
I sat down again and grabbed Bella's hand closing my eyes and enjoying the classical music.
BPOV
Oh God my chest really hurts and for some reason I can't see or move. I can hear voices all around me, once male voice is very familiar and it's like a melody in my head. What is he saying and why can't I see him. I can't talk because there is something down my throat and though my chest feels as if it will cave at any moment I am able to breathe. I wonder where I am the scent of this place is familiar, like I have smelled it several times. I am so exhausted I just want to rest, but I need to wake up and see where I am and find…Edward. That's it…that's the voice I hear, Edward, my Edward.
He sounds funny…sad…but why is Edward sad? Why does he sound so broken, so miserable?
Edward what are you talking about, I would never leave you. Why would you ever think that and I need you too?
"Baby we have so many things we need to do and see, like the grand opening of your book store and Alice and Jasper's over the top wedding."
I know Edward, I am so looking forward to the opening of the bookstore next summer, but I can't say I feel the same about Alice's wedding, I know she is your sister, but she is driving me nuts! Where are you and why can't I see you, Edward?
"Oh and I almost forgot, Jacob's coming to town to surprise you, he was going to eat dinner with us tomorrow night and I know you miss him."
See Edward, I told you, you would warm up to Jake, he is a great friend and of course I miss him. Dinner sounds great tomorrow.
"And then our new house, well if you leave me to decorate it, it won't look anything like what you want. I just don't have that special touch that you do love, I mean after all my mom had to come decorate my apartment for me."
Edward do you really think I would care what the house looks like when all that matters to me is that we are together and I think Esme did a fantastic job on the apartment. In fact I plan to use her to help with the new house. Now would you please come where I can see you this is getting rather annoying?
"We need to talk about our babies' names and colors of their rooms; I know you said you don't want to go with the traditional blue or pink, that you wanted more originality than that especially if all our babies are the same gender. But if they are not, two of them will be upset that they will have to share a room just because they are the same sex or maybe we could just give all three of them their own rooms."
Yes we do need to pick names and soon and as far as room colors, for girls we could do lavender with a little pink and for boys tan with a little blue. I think that will work and as far as sharing rooms I think you are jumping ahead of yourself, dad, I don't think three infants will be arguing about which room they get or who's sleeping in that room with them.
"Edward buddy, how are you holding up? She is stable for now Edward and from what we can see from the ultrasound so far, your little ones in there are doing just fine, no signs of serious distress."
Wait Edward, who is that and who is stable for now? Who is he talking about? Ultrasound? Little ones, my little ones?
"Thanks Garrett, I appreciate all that you're doing."
Garrett? As in your colleague and mentor Garrett? Why is he here and what is it exactly you appreciate him doing? And why the hell are you talking to every fucking one but me!
"Further test showed that Bella suffered a mild heart attack and her red blood cells did plummet. We have started her on Dobutamine Hydrochloride to strengthen her heart. We are also giving her steroids in an effort to strengthen the babies' lungs and I have contacted Neo-Natal just in case we have to do an emergency C-section, but I am not convinced that she will not wake up on her own, her vitals right now are good. If she remains stable throughout the night I will take her off the sedatives so she can wake up."
A heart attack, I had a heart attack? Who is that babe that you're talking to? Emergency c-section, why would I need an emergency c-section babe? Wake up on my own? Wait a minute, am I unconscious? Is that why I can hear and not see you? Oh my God, am I in a coma? That's what the smell is, the hospital, I knew I had been here before. Okay Bella don't panic, stay calm. At least the doctor said my vitals are good and he did say that my babies were fine and Edward would never let them do anything to me that was not good for me, right? God I'm so exhausted and I just wish I could see Edward, but I have to stay calm and then they will wake me.
A/N: I want to thank everyone who took the time to leave me a review I appreciate you guys soooo much! I also want to thank those who signed up for alerts I see you too, but I am getting way more alerts than reviews and I need reviews so please take the time to leave your thought even if the review is very short, thanks again and I will try to post again in a couple of days.
