Chapter Fifty Three.

Bella

He seemed mollified when I allowed him to lay beside me and sing me to sleep but I

hated his closeness, it felt alien to me. I couldn't stop thinking about the times I'd

lain in Jaspers arms feeling safe and secure and I'd given it up, for what? Emily had

told me I was crazy when I told her what I'd done and why...She'd almost persuaded

me to ring Jasper and ask his forgiveness when I'd heard about the vampire at the

Cullens and jumped to the wrong conclusion. I should have known better, Jasper

was the most honourable of them all. No one gave him credit for his good points not even me it seemed. He'd always been treated as the weak link by the Cullen's and I'd done the same thing. I

just hoped I'd have a chance to beg his forgiveness and feel his arms around me

again. Next time I'd never let go.

I fell asleep eventually but it was disturbed over and over by nightmares. In them

Edward was dragging me away and Jasper couldn't reach us, every time he got a

little further away and my heart broke a little more. When I woke at last in the early

hours Edward was still singing and stroking my hair. He put his lips to mine and

kissed me tenderly. I froze but luckily he put it down to my not being fully awake

and fearing it was the dastardly Jasper, if only! I allowed him to kiss my cheek

before leaving to get breakfast ready. I struggled to the bathroom on my ass

because my crutches were still missing. I wondered if he'd hidden them to make me

totally reliant on him. If he thought that, he was in for a big surprise.. I'd rather drag

myself from room to room than give him the satisfaction of asking. I made my way

slowly to the kitchen having washed my underwear out and dried it as best I could

with a hair dryer laid out for me on the wash stand, then he appeared.

"Bella why didn't you call. I'd have carried you. There's no need for you to crawl".

"Well, as my crutches have vanished I had no choice".

He bent to pick me up but I stopped him with a glare.

"No Edward you don't get to pick me up unless I ask. I'm not a doll to

be carried around, I told you that last night".

My crushed mobile was in pieces on the counter top with Edwards mobile beside it.

"I salvaged your Sim card Bella. Sorry about the phone, I will replace it for you. By the way who is Alice knight?"

That confused me for a moment.

"Oh, the message. So you were checking up on me. It's the name of a friend of Angela's. Ben had asked for it to invite her to Angela's. party next month. I said I'd look it up and I forgot. I just remembered it last night so I text him with it".

"So" he said slowly. "If I ring this number it will go to Ben?"

I looked at him, my eyes bright with challenge.

"Well, why don't you do just that. Funny how it's you not believing in me when you're the one who lied".

He gazed at me and flashed that crooked smile I used to love so much.

"Sorry Bella. I just get jealous. Forgive me".

He turned away and for what must be the millionth time I thanked God that

Edward couldn't read my mind.

"I've made you breakfast" he said pointing to the counter top.

"Just coffee please" I said.

"You've got to eat, Bella. You haven't had anything since we got here".

"What? You going to force feed me now?" I snapped.

He looked hurt,

"Of course not. I just worry about you" he snapped back.

"Yeah, I noticed that when you left me in the woods".

I grabbed one of the thankfully substantial bar stools and hauled myself up to sit on it. He was getting frustrated again, his eyes were noticeably darker than usual.

"Why don't you go hunt a grizzly or something. You're obviously hungry".

"Trying to get rid of me Bella.?"

I threw my hands in the air.

"Forget it, starve Edward. I really don't care either way".

He moved beside me.

"I know you find it hard being in this cabin with me. I know it reminds you of the time you were trapped with 'him' but I'm not the same. I would never do anything like that to you. You're safe now".

I shrugged and drank my coffee.

What the hell had Rosalie told Edward about Jasper? I had to do something. I didn't know if

my message had got through to Jasper or if Alice was doing anything, I just hoped

she wasn't so wrapped up in Charlie that she forgot about me. I still felt that the

Cullen family didn't care enough about me to come to my rescue. Carlisle and

Emmett had turned up before it was true, but that was to help Jasper, one of their

own and that was something I would never be. In fact I no longer wanted to, betrayal

seemed to run deep in their family and I didn't like it one bit.

There must be some way I could get out of this prison. My gaoler had to hunt at

some point and I'm sure he felt confident I had nowhere to run. I had to think of

something.

"I need to hunt tonight love. Will you be OK on your own for a while. I

promise I wont go until you are asleep and I'll be back before you wake. There's

plenty of game close by but I must be careful. I don't want to cause trouble for

Tanya's coven so I will have to travel a bit".

He looked at me with concern. Too little too late in my eyes.

"I'll be fine Edward. I'm used to being on my own".

I couldn't help the dig but he hardly seemed to notice and we spent the day doing very little. I watched endless DVD's while trying desperately to come up with a plan. Edward sat beside

me on the sofa, his arm around me reading a book. He seemed content to have me

near and as long as he was reading I didn't care. A couple of times he bent to kiss

my hair but I just ignored him. He made sandwiches at lunch time which I picked at,

much to his annoyance, then I went for a lay down.

During the afternoon the spasms started again and I couldn't help but cry out in pain. Edward flew into the room and

tried to gather me in his arms but I pushed him away.

"That wont help, I need my tablets Edward".

He sighed

"OK love I'll pop in and see if Carlisle has anything that will help as I go hunting".

Good, that meant he'd be away longer. As long as he didn't send one of the others to keep an eye on me. I didn't think so though, not while he was still unsure about me.

If only I had some way of calling for help, I wasn't sure who to call, Emily was too

far away and anyway I didn't know how to contact her or Sam. I couldn't speak to

Billy, he'd just put the phone down on me. Jake...he would come, I knew that but

how to get hold of him. That gave me an idea, if I could get word to Annie I had a

chance but how the hell could I do that? I wondered if I could persuade Edward

that I needed to stop Charlie looking for me. I could get hold of him at Annie's, he

wouldn't know Charlie wasn't there, I'd just have to be careful what I said. It was

worth a try.

"Before you go Edward, do you think I could try phoning Charlie so he doesn't worry and send out a search party?"

He was suspicious, looking for an angle.

"I told you the signal is very weak."

"I know, but if I could just try, or even send a text I'd be much happier. He would stop worrying then. Unless of course you've already thought to let my father know where I am?"

I knew he hadn't but I had to give him a chance. He pursed his lips.

"How about you send a text?"

I agreed quickly. I remembered Annie's number and reeled it off to him.

"Who's is it?"

"The lady who helped me when I moved up here. She runs a small B&B and Charlie

stayed on with his new "girlfriend" when I left".

I made myself sound a little bitter and he pulled me to his chest.

"Love, you have nothing to feel bitter about. You'll always have me."

"Thanks Edward I appreciate that".

I thought playing nice might allay his suspicions.

"I just don't want him causing any trouble for us".

He smiled at me

"Good thinking Bella. Then we can really relax and start a new life together".

Over my dead and rotting corpse I thought but I tried to smile with some enthusiasm. He put the

number in then handed me the phone, I noticed the signal was very weak. Had my

text got to Jasper? I had to think the worst so I thought for a second then began the text.

'Annie, little bird OK. Please tell Charlie. Izzy x'.

As I finished he took it from me and read the message. His brow furrowed.

"What does it mean?".

"Oh Annie always called me little bird, I don't know why. I'm just asking her to tell Charlie, Is that a problem?"

"Who's Izzy?"

"That was the name I was known by up here. God if it worries you that much delete the damn message".

I crossed my fingers and hoped he wouldn't do just that. He smiled at me.

"Don't be silly love"

and pressed send. Well, that was it, I'd done all I could. If my knight failed to materialize

I'd be doomed to months with Edward playing happy families before he'd let me

near anyone else. I had a horrible feeling that he would want more than kisses and

hugs this time round. I'd have to play up the traumatized woman role and hope I

could hold him off there was no way he was going to be my first sexual experience if I had any

say in it.