Chapter 29

"I'm impressed it took you this long to trip and really hurt yourself. I thought you would've done it on day one or two up here. So let's get you to the kitchen and put some ice on your cheek." Edward and Jake helped me get up and slowly guided me back to the kitchen.

While I was icing my face, Edward's phone rang, "Yes, Seth."

"Seth, put her on the phone."

"Alice, you have to be fucking kidding me. You couldn't have called and asked."

"Alice, hold on Jake and Bella are staring at me."

"Bella, your brothers and my sisters are here with the plan to stay for the rest of the week to keep you company."

"Great. Do we have to entertain them?"

"No. Alice thought they could help you pass the time."

"What's the chances that we could convince them to go back home?" Then my phone rang.

"Hello," I said. "Oh, hi Jasper!"

He said, "I knew this was a bad idea. I really wanted to call and tell you; but you know Emmett and his surprises and then you add Alice to the mix; there was no stopping them. Please let us all stay and I'll try my damnedest to keep them at bay."

"Thanks Jasper. I knew you were always my favorite brother. Tell mom and dad, I love them and will see you all soon."

"You're welcome, little sister. I love you."

I looked at Jake and said, "I guess you'll get to enjoy more time with your wife since I'll have plenty of company."

"Thanks, but only if my boss says that it's okay."

Thirty minutes later everyone arrived. I had already arranged with Edward that he would help me say hello to everyone except for Alice and Emmett. I said hello and shared hugs with everyone including meeting Leah, Jake's wife, my parents and Carlisle and Esme. After Edward passed me off to the doctor and I said hi to her, she took my arm and said, "Come on, Bella. Let's go find a bathroom to check your eyes."

Edward said, "Look at her left cheek, as well. She took a nasty spill this morning off the treadmill and we just finished icing it."

"Come on klutz," she said.

Emmett then got a hold of my other arm to stop me and said, "I don't even get a hello, Bella."

"And what about me, Bella," Alice chirped in.

I stopped with my arm still wrapped around the doctor's elbow and said, "Hi Emmett and Alice. Edward must be blind, too; and missed you guys. I obviously couldn't see you, so I didn't know you were there. Please forgive me." Then I turned to the doctor and giggling said, "Let's go. You might want to check Edward's eyes,too."

"Cute little sister, but you got me. I promise I'll make our surprise visit up to you later."

We walked back into the house with her escorting me as I told her where the bathroom was. She said, "You know, I'm just kidding. I would've thought you'd have more bruises by now." Once in the bathroom, she had me sit down. First, she closed the blinds; then turned off the lights. "Okay, I'm going to take your bandages off and shine my light in your eyes. I expect you to be able to see the light in your eyes. So don't think that'll mean you can see for next week. Do you understand me, Bella?"

I just nodded to say I understood her comments because I just couldn't wait for another week to go by to wait for the final results. "I'm going to ask you to follow my light. I'm going to dilate your eyes so that I can look into them as well. So are you ready?"

"I guess."

She slowly undid my bandages and examined my eyes for the next 30 minutes. I could see a small amount of color and light; but she was so close and the light was so bright, so I couldn't make much out around me. Once she was done, the pads went back on and so did the gauze.

"Well?" I finally asked almost pleading for something.

She turned on the lights and said, "The minor scratches are pretty much healed in your eyes. The big scratch is pretty much closed. The stitch is dissolved and the seams have lined up perfectly. I'll up your odds that you'll see again to 60% yes and 40% no. Now let me see your red cheek." She poked and prodded at my cheek; I whimpered and whined as she pressed on my cheek some more. I kept saying ouch.

Finally she said, "I don't think you broke it. You're just going to have an ugly bruise." Next she looked at my teeth and said, "No broken or chipped teeth. You're a very lucky young lady."

"Good, now let's go have lunch. Thank you for flying up here to check on me, doctor."

"You're welcome and your fiancé can be very convincing."

So she escorted me back to the dining room and everyone was waiting. I announced as cheerfully as I could, "She has raised my chances to 60/40."

"And she'll have a nice bruise on her cheek, but it's not broken."

"Good, now come here, My Principessa. You get to sit next to me." So we sat down to chicken, rice, vegetables, salad and fresh bread. Lastly, we had a fruit and vanilla custard desert.

"Edward, you're a wonderful chef," the doctor announced.

"Thank you."

"Yes, he is. He's used it as a way of relaxing as he got famous," Esme stated.

I added, "His guards love it. They protect him and he feeds them."

"It's a great trade off," Seth said.

"Robert, what are they saying about us in the tabloids?" I asked.

"That you're scarred for life and Edward is nursing you back to health. But no pictures of you were leaked and no one up here is talking. What is even better is that no one knows the two of you are engaged?"

"Good and even better."

I went and sat in the kitchen while the moms cleaned up the kitchen. My mom hugged my shoulders and said, "How are you really doing?"

"I'm getting by. Edward was trying to keep me so busy and planning everything for me to do every day, but that was where we fought and came to a standoff."

Esme said, "I'm sorry he hurt you; everyone told him to give you your independence."

"Well that didn't work out very well for him."

"Good, does he allow you to pick and plan the activities now?"

"Yes, after I got over a killer hangover and he groveled for forgiveness; he allowed me to make my own choices. He even suggested planning the wedding again and I knocked him down with a karate move."

Esme and my mother giggled and said, "I would've liked to see that." Once lunch was cleaned up, my mother led me back to the living room with everyone else and I said, "Before you leave can we show you the barn? I want to introduce you all to the horses."

Carlisle said, "That would be great. May I take one of your arms to act as a guide."

"Only, if my father acts as the other guide and Edward get's me a bag of carrots."

My dad said, "Sounds good to me. Let's go everyone that includes you four other kids, too."

We all went for a walk because I wanted to show my parents the barn and all the horses. I finally said goodbye to my mom and dad, Edward's parents, Seth and the doctor. In six days, I was flying to Vegas for the night and then to LA the next day.

Edward picked up a box and led me to the family room. I sat down in his lap and asked, "What is in the box you were carrying?"

"Poetry books. I thought I could read them to you."

"Good idea." He started reading them to me. Then Jasper and Rose came into the living room and asked, "We're keeping Emmett and Alice away from you for right now, unless you tell us it is okay to let them in here."

"Yes, it's okay to let them in," I said.

They both came running in and said, "Thank you."

Then I felt Edward chuckling in my ear and I turned and whispered, "What's so funny?"

"They are each really a couple, Bella. They are hugging and kissing each other," Edward whispered back.

I loudly cleared my throat and Emmett said, "What Bella?"

"Do I need to ask your intentions, Rosalie and Alice?" I asked sternly.

Edward then asked, "Jasper and Emmett, do I need to ask your intentions?"

Edward and I both started laughing. Then my face lit up and I said, "Alice, this was your plan all alone. You wanted an excuse to see Jasper for a whole week away from your regular work lives. So you decided you could come take care of your brother and future sister-in-law. To help you plan it and get away with it, you didn't call Jasper; you called Emmett knowing he would want the same thing with Rosalie. Come on tell me the truth?"

"Alright, I'm busted," Emmett said. "I love you, Rosie and it was the perfect plan."

Alice spoke next and said, "You're so right, Bella. It was the perfect excuse. I needed an excuse to take off work to see Jasper and nursing his sister back to health gave me the excuse."

I stood up and commanded their attention. "Now here's the deal. The master wing is ours and Edward will provide you with our schedule and we'll share one meal a day with you all. Matt and Mary are wonderful caretakers, but they didn't sign on for four guests. You need to be respectful of that. If we want to share other time with you, you'll see it on our schedule; and then you can decide if you want to join us, otherwise but out. I'm doing okay for the most part after a rough couple of days, so I don't need your help. I already have all the help I need," and I wrapped my arms around Edward. "So please the four of you enjoy the natural beauty that is up here since I cannot. Please excuse us Edward and I are going back to our room."

As we left, I heard Jasper say, "Let her go, Alice; she really is okay. I can see it part of her old self coming back. She is back to standing up for herself. Bella is right; let's enjoy the countryside and share time with her when we can."

Back in our room, I curled into Edward and pleaded, "Love me please."

Without another word, I was in Edward's arms and being laid down on our bed. He slowly peeled away my clothes. And just as I started to undo his jeans, there was a knock at our door.

I groaned, "Get the fuck away, Alice or Emmett. Didn't you understand, this is our wing?"

Then I heard, "Sorry, Bella. It's Jake."

I cried into Edward's shoulder as he pulled the covers up around us and I mumbled, "They found us."

"Jake, can you give us fifteen minutes and then come back? Please bring the leftover wine from lunch as well?"

"No problem, boss. I'm so sorry, Bella."

Edward helped me up to get dressed. He whispered in my ear, "I'm sorry and I love you. I'll make it up to you tonight."

"It's not your fault, Edward." We sat down on the couch next to each other and were still cuddling when Jake returned. Edward got up and let him in. Edward opened the wine and poured the three of us each a glass. After Edward got me to finish about half of my glass, he said, "Alright, what do we do, Jake?"

Jake asked, "Do you really want my opinion?"

I said, "Go ahead, Jake."

"I recommend that you two stay indoors or use the patio and patio cover out back. Pre-dawn or after sunset you can venture farther outside. Susan's father and Robert suspect they have a helicopter and small plane at their disposal. There are at least three photographers up here."

I got up and threw a pillow around the room. "I was just starting to feel a little at ease and now this fucking happens. I'm back in a fucking prison without any control again. Even in fucking no man's land, there are more cattle here than people. I want a fucking Corona; I want to get drunk again. If I can't have any control, then I'll give up all my control, as well." I just continued ranting and raving and getting louder and making no sense at all.

Jasper was soon in the room holding me gently against him and humming to me a melody. Jasper whispered, "Emmett, it's starting to work. Help me and Edward join in if you want."

Edward looked at Jasper and started mimicking his sounds. Emmett was too. I finally started settling down. Jasper whispered, "Bella, it's okay. We won't let them keep you trapped inside if you don't want to. You can take control of this situation; however, you want. It's not like the Monsoon's that scared you as a kid. We have the control here. Don't let the photographers rule you."

Emmett said, "Bella, you were scared of the Monsoon storms; I didn't know."

Jasper kept me close and said, "My room was closer to hers than yours. The direction that the wind blew in from hit on her window and scared her to death. Tree branches would hit the glass. One night while you were out, a tree branch shattered her window. She was really scared of those storms for a long time. I think she finally started growing out of it when she started flying with dad, but every once in a while, a bad one would blow in and she would get really scared."

Edward walked up to Jasper and asked, "May I have my fiancé back?"

"Of course."

I settled into Edward's arms he said, "I love you."

"I love you, too. I'm sorry we have never talked about monsoon storms; but I' sure this summer you might have gotten to experience my fear. I'm better; but I've been known to sit in the bathroom in the middle of my condo and talk to Jasper until the storm was over."

Edward then said, "I'll protect you if you'll let me; but if you need Jasper, I'm okay with that too. But now back to the current situation; you call all the shots. Screw the paparazzi. I'll get Robert back up here if I have, too."

"No, that won't be necessary. Besides the poetry you brought, I just came up with another idea. You can teach me how to cook without steak knives though. They say cooking is all in the smelling anyway."

Jake said, "Alright, another week of amazing cooking."

I smiled and said, "If we decide to share!"

"Come on, Bella."

"Jake, I'm kidding, of course; we will cook for everyone."

"Jasper, thanks for calming me. I haven't heard that melody in so long. Now all of you get out, Edward has his own promise to keep."

"Good night, little sister. Just keep the noise down in this wing of the house, please," Emmett said.

A/N- Maybe a review or two. Please.