As always, none of this is mine. This belongs to Stephenie Meyer. I just like to dabble in the playground she created.
Renee has a one-way ticket on the crazy train. I never liked her as a character in canon. She was too flighty and tried to be Bella's friend, when she should have been a mother. This Renee is just fucking evil, a conniving, back-stabbing, or arm-stabbing, bitch.
Up next will be … well, hold onto your butts.
Chapter Twenty-One
Edward
I ran in the darkness, soaked to the skin from the deluge that rained down on us. I had my gun at the ready. I heard some harsh comments in Spanish. Men were gathering near the side entrance of the warehouse. I heard them give an order to kill anyone approaching the warehouse. I didn't give them a chance to carry out those orders. With silent hand signs, I ordered my own men to kill them.
Six men fell into a mud puddle. They never even saw us coming.
"They looked as high as a kite," Felix grumbled, pushing one of the bodies onto its back.
"Probably, because they are," I snorted, replacing my clip. "Eyes open. No one walks out of here alive except my wife." We plastered ourselves to the wall, making our way to the door. Just as I was going to open the door, more of Ricardo's men poured out of it. They didn't even get a chance to react to our presence. They were picked off quickly, blocking the door as they fell to their death, cut down with the bullets from our guns.
We pushed our way into the warehouse. It was dark and dingy with the distinct odor of cocaine, with an undercurrent of body odor and terror. It was flowery and metallic with a chemical burn to our nostrils. Bricks of it were stacked, marked with a modified brand mark of Los Muertos. This appeared to be a home base for the newly allied gangs.
"Boss, should we …?" Felix asked, blinking to the drug stash. I knew he wanted to take it into our possession, using it to pad our wallets. Any other time, I'd agree to seizing the drugs but we had other things to attend to. Now was not the time to focus on profits. My wife was out there. She needed me. I needed her. Charlie needed his mother.
Period.
"No," I answered curtly. "Our focus is Bella. We need to find her and recover her." I shook my head. "If I had my way, this place would go up in smoke."
Over my earpiece, my father chimed in, "We entered the building at the rear. We have about ten DOA's."
"Did you see Ricardo? Renee?" I asked.
"No," he responded. "This building is easily the size of three football fields."
"More like five," Esteban grunted. "This used to be a hub for Los Muertos. A processing station for …" He trailed off as he made the shape of a woman with his hands. It indicated that it was a stop for their human trafficking ring. "It's also used as storage for drugs and weaponry before distribution. Lots of locked rooms."
"God damn it," I snapped, looking to the right and trying to see if there were any approaching men. "Partner up and spread out. Kill anyone you see." I blinked to Jasper. He nodded and we separated from Felix, Emmett and Esteban's team. On our phones, Felipe had sent an infrared overview of the warehouse. Jasper turned off his earpiece and told me to do the same. "What, Jas?"
"I don't trust Esteban or this alliance. This place is too big and too obvious for Renee and Ricardo," Jasper said, his voice tense.
"I agree, but it's the only lead we have at this point," I muttered. "With the security footage, we found the van that they used to take my wife away, but lost it in traffic."
"Have you seen it? Is it here?" Jasper pressed, walking in front of me.
"No, but we've only seen a handful of cars," I sighed. "Look, this alliance is shaky as it is, thanks to Roberto's attack on us at our initial meeting. We were both injured, severely. I get your wariness. I'm just as hesitant, but we need their help. We need to find Bella before Ricardo has his way with her … that's my wife, Jasper. Do you remember how you felt when Alice was … sexually assaulted?"
"Yes," he whispered. The pain in his eyes was clearly evident.
"I do not want that for my wife. Never … Now, we need to cover more ground," I said, holding up my gun and opening the door to my left. It was empty of any human beings, but filled with kilos of crack cocaine. Shaking my head, I backed out and we made our way further into the warehouse.
As we made our way through the building, we killed any man we saw, not wanting them to alert Ricardo or anyone else in charge. Our silencers prevented any unwanted attention. I would have liked to talk to someone, but they were also more eager in killing us.
Turning the corner, I ran into a scrawny teenaged boy. He began prattling in a combination of Spanish, English and fear holding up his hands in surrender. I lowered my weapon, trying to calm him down. "Take a breath," I said, speaking in Spanish. "I won't hurt you."
The boy gulped and shook his head. "Please," he choked out in English. "Help …"
"We'll try, buddy," I said. He looked at me in confusion. I repeated what I said in Spanish. "My name is Edward and this is Jasper. What's your name?"
He looked at me with wide eyes. He was too skinny and it was obvious he was terrified. "Miguel."
"It's nice to meet you, Miguel. We'll help get you out of here, if that's what you want," I said softly. "But, we need your help. Can you do that?"
Miguel's eyes deadened as he reached for his jeans and began unbuttoning them.
"No, Miguel, not that," I said, stopping his hands and sickened by what he was offering. "We don't want that from you." Miguel gave us a suspicious look. "Please, we're not like that. We will help you."
"And my sisters and mama?" he asked.
"Anything to help you, Miguel," I breathed. "I promise."
"What do you want to know?" Miguel shrugged, adjusting his pants.
"Have you seen Ricardo? The leader?" I questioned.
Miguel blanched and shaking his head fearfully. He began mumbling under his breath about that demon. I could barely understand his utterances in Spanish, but from what I heard, Ricardo had had his way with Miguel, tearing him apart. He began backing away, terror replacing suspicion. "You work for him!" Miguel yelled.
"Shhhhh, no," I hissed. "Ricardo took my wife. He's hurting her like he may have hurt you. I need to find her."
In broken English, Miguel snapped, "Ricardo is not here."
"Do you know where?" Jasper pressed. "Miguel, this is important, son."
Esteban walked in with his partner, a squirrely man with stringy hair and dirty jeans, with my father and Liam behind him. "From what we were told, on a train, heading south. They left here shortly before we arrived."
"How shortly?" I hissed.
"Within ten minutes," Esteban said. "We were stopped by a freight train. If I'd had to guess, that was the train that had Ricardo, Renee and your wife."
"How did you get this information?" Jasper asked.
My father slipped a knife back into a sheath at his ankle. "A little persuasive conversation," he smirked. "We were told that they were gone, but not where they were going."
"Just south," Esteban sighed, blinking to Miguel. He asked him where his parents were.
Miguel responded and said that he was taken from his family, smuggled across the border. He was detained in one of the detention facilities when he was placed into foster care. However, the foster family was not a good placement and they'd sold him to Los Muertos as a sex slave. Esteban's hard gaze softened as looked at Miguel. "We'll help you, Miguel. I'm Esteban and this is Antonio. That part of your life is over. I promise you," Esteban said gently to the frightened teenaged boy in Spanish. Switching to English, he said, "We'll need to reexamine our approach and find out the destination of that train."
xx MOTM:FFF xx
Bella
I awoke with a start, groggy and disoriented. I was not on the table, but handcuffed to metal bar. My arms were covered in haphazardly wrapped bandages and they ached terribly. I was still in my bra and panties, stuck in a dark, dank, and smelly moving box. It was also very, very hot.
A train?
I tried to shift, moving to get more comfortable but I gasped in agony, pain ripping through every centimeter of my body. A light flickered on and I saw another woman sitting across from me. There was not an inch of her caramel colored skin that wasn't covered in bruises, scars, or open wounds. She wore a shapeless dress, with no shoes. Her eyes were vacant as she stared at me.
In the faint light, I looked at my own body. Whoever attended my arms had done an awful job. The bandages were soaked through with blood. I was also covered in bruises and scrapes, but the most disgusting one of my injuries was my left ankle. It was bent at an awkward angle, bruised and throbbing in pain. My right wrist was also misshapen. The cuffs were cutting into the skin, causing it to bleed.
"You were drugged," the girl said with a heavy accent. "You tried to run when you were taken from the warehouse. Ricardo closed the door on your foot. You passed out and were tossed in here with me. I'm being transported … to my new owner."
"What's your name?" I croaked out.
"Ana," she whispered. "And you're Isabella. I heard the woman sneer it when you were locked inside. Not like you can go anywhere. I can't either." She shifted and showed me a large shackle around her ankle.
"Did you say you're being transported to a new owner?" I asked.
"I was bought … Ricardo handled the sale," she shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Anything has to be better than what I was dealing with in El Salvador. My family is dead, slaughtered in front of me. I ran and made my way to the states. I had to pay back the coyote who smuggled me over the border. That payment came from being sold into slavery. I have no choice. Perhaps my new owner will be kinder than Ricardo. He was cruel."
I grimaced at her story. People were such assholes. Cruel and evil monsters, but we both were in trouble. We needed to figure out what was going on and where we were heading. "Where are we going?" I pressed.
"I do not know, but we've been on the move for an hour or so," Ana replied. "I did the best I could in wrapping your arms. They need to be stitched. Obviously, I'm unable to do so. I'm not a doctor."
"Thank you for your help," I whispered, leaning my head back against the rough wooden slats of the train car. "I hope that we can get out of this. I want to help you."
"I'm beyond help," Ana said, her voice distant. "Maybe I should have died with my family. There are days where I wish was dead." She didn't wait for me to respond. She clicked off the lantern and ended our communication.
I turned and tried to see any sort of landmark through the slats. The air was fresher outside and I could smell rain, diesel from the train and a hint of manure. However, I think the latter was from the train car I was chained to. I squinted and saw, in the distance and in the light of the rising sun, I saw wind turbines.
There was a jolt and I gasped at the radiating pain zinging through my body. I had to stay awake. I needed to be aware of where I was if I managed to get away. If I got out of this situation, I needed to be aware enough to call my husband and give him my location. My wedding band was gone and with that, so was my tracking device. Edward did not know where I was. Hell … I didn't know where I was. All I knew was that I was chained in a train, beat to hell, wearing nothing but my underwear.
I wanted my husband. I wanted my son. I wanted to be safe and secure, away from this nightmare. I wanted to scour my body for days, washing away my mother's blows and Ricardo's disgusting paws from my skin. I wanted to be home, safe in the warmth of Edward's arms and locked away from this pain.
"Help me," I sobbed quietly, leaning my cheek against the roughly hewn wood. "Edward … please …"
xx MOTM:FFF xx
Edward
We'd set up in a small home in Joliet, near a local Catholic high school. It was an outpost for Los Muertos, used as a stash house for drugs and weaponry. We'd gone there shortly after Esteban told us about the train. We did go through the warehouse, killing any remaining members of the faction that had broken away from the original gang. After we'd finished that task, we started a fire to coincide with a splintering lightning bolt that had hit a nearby tree. It was still going, nearly four hours later, closing the nearby train station and calling in several local fire departments to douse the flames.
"We've tracked the train," Felipe said from his Skype call.
"Are you certain?" Anthony asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "You were certain about the warehouse."
"He was right about the warehouse," Esteban snapped, sipping some coffee. It was early morning and it was still raining. The storm had not abated. In fact, it had only gotten worse. The wind was whipping and the rain was coming down in buckets. He put the coffee down and sneered at my cousin. "We found the faction of Los Muertos and successfully ended them. We missed Ricardo, Renee and Bella by a few moments."
"And those few moments are the key to the successful recovery of my wife and not," I growled. "Where's the train? Where is it heading?"
"Southwest," Felipe answered. "Jose hacked into the department of transportation. The freight train with the call number Esteban shared with us is making its way to Bloomington/Normal before heading toward to Lincoln, Nebraska."
"Where is it now?" Jasper asked.
"Just outside of Peoria," we heard over the Skype call. "It's stopped because of mechanical error with engine."
"Emmett," I barked. "Helicopter … now."
"Already on it, Boss," Emmett nodded, holding his phone to his ear. "Where's a place we can land it?"
"Plainfield," Jasper mentioned, looking up from his own cell phone. "There is a bunch of farmland about twenty minutes west of here. The weather may pose a problem."
"It's clearing up," Felipe muttered. "According to the map, the rain should be out of here within the hour. It's going to stay cloudy, but no more rain. We'll send you the transponder signal from the freight train. I'll be in touch." He ended the call.
"Boss, we have a slight problem," Emmett said, hanging up the phone.
"What?" I asked.
"Liam is one of two helicopter pilots and he's here," Emmett explained. "He'd have to drive back to Chicago Executive Airport and fly the copter back down here."
"What's the other option?" I hissed.
"Jake," Emmett answered. "I know you're pissed at him. I'm pissed at him, too. He should have focused his attention Bella and Charlie …"
"Have Alice let him out of his confinement and make the arrangements," I spat. "Perhaps, he can atone for his actions. It doesn't mean I trust him. Not after …"
"Understood," Emmett nodded. He dialed Alice and they spoke quickly. When we got the go-ahead, we all clambered into our various vehicles parked around the house. Driving to Plainfield, we found the abandoned farm just off Route 126. The helicopter came into view about twenty minutes later. I could see Jake at the controls, slowly descending onto a hardened patch of dirt.
Liam, Emmett, Esteban, Felix, Jasper and my father were flying on the helicopter with me. The rest of our team would follow in the cars in case we needed them. According to Jose, the train was still outside of Peoria and would stay there until later this afternoon. However, the delay was due to mechanical issues in the engine. They were waiting for another engine to arrive. Their mechanical issues were a notch in our favor.
I prayed that we got to her in time.
The flight took an hour. Jake had called in our flight in and we landed on a pad just off the river. One of my lieutenants, Jared, in central Illinois was waiting for us. We got into the three cars Jared had gotten for us.
"I did some checking and the train you were tracking is still in the yard. I noticed that they did unload some cargo," Jared said as he drove us through downtown Peoria. In a separate car, Liam drove behind us. We made our way west, about twenty minutes outside of the city until we reached the train yard. There were a few passenger trains and one freight train in the yard.
We walked to the freight train. The engine was quiet and the only sound we heard was a distant train horn. There were about forty cars on the train. We split up, trying to find my Dolce. About halfway down the train, we heard some moaning. Our guns flew up and we found a woman beaten inside. Her face was bloody and it was clear that she'd been … fuck!
I hopped into the train car with Jasper and Emmett on my heels. I walked to the woman, pressing my fingers to her neck. Her eyes flew open and she began scrambling back. "It's okay," I said softly, holding my palms up. "We're here to help you. I'm Edward. What's your name?"
"I'm Ana. You're Edward?" she asked, her words slurring. "Bella's husband?"
"You've seen her?" I breathed. "Is she okay?"
The woman nodded. "They took her from the train. Ricardo and the woman," she said. "After he …"
"Shhhh, you don't need to say anything," I finished for her. I saw the damage to her body and the blood from her. "We'll try to help you." I blinked to Jared. "Can you …?"
"Got it, Boss," Jared nodded. "I've got a doctor on staff at OSF St. Francis Medical Center."
"When did they leave?" I asked, turning back to the broken woman lying in front of me.
"I don't know. There was a car and they mentioned Decatur," she muttered, her eyes glazing over and her speech more slurred. Her fingers gripped my vest as she cried in pain. "Mama …" A tear trickled down her bruised face and she fell back onto the disgusting floor. A ragged breath escaped her lips. Her chest stopped moving. She was gone.
I reached up and closed her eyes. "Jared … we need to give this woman a proper burial. She suffered too much."
"I'll take care of it, Boss," Jared said. He handed me the keys. "You find your wife. Take I-155 South."
"We don't even know what he's driving," I growled. Esteban cleared his throat. I blinked back to him. "Let me guess … Jose and Felipe can tell us."
"You're correct," Esteban said, handing me his phone. There was a photo from a security camera of Renee and Ricardo walking to an older van. My wife, clad in only a bra and panties and bleeding, was slung over his shoulder. "They left here a half hour ago, heading toward Decatur. We can catch up to them, Edward."
"Go, Boss," Jared said. "My guys and I will take care of Ana, give her the respect she deserved." He covered her body with his coat.
I nodded, taking the keys and leaving Jared behind in the train yard. Jasper took over driving responsibilities and we used the information provided to us by Jose and his hacking skills. The van they'd procured was old and could not go faster than sixty miles per hour. They were not that far ahead of us.
We managed to catch up to them, following the van to an exit outside of Chestervale. They pulled into an abandoned gas station. Jasper boxed in the van with Liam parking behind them. I got out of the car, releasing the safety of my weapon. Ricardo was sitting in the driver's seat, his eyes wide. Renee was glaring at me. She held up a gun and shot at me. I fell to the ground as my brother covered me.
"This is over, Renee," I shouted. I heard Ricardo screaming at her. "Both of you are going down. You will both pay."
The gun shots stopped. Emmett got off my body and we stood up. Ricardo was dead, a gunshot between his eyes and it was obviously point blank. Renee was standing outside of the van, holding her gun to my wife's head. Every inch of her pale skin was covered in bruises, cuts, scrapes and two awful stab wounds in her arms. Bella was not fully aware, leaning heavily against her mother.
"Pay? Pay? The only one who will pay is you, Cullen," Renee screamed. "You can have her back, broken and bruised as she is, for a small fee of $20 million dollars a year until I die."
"That can be arranged," I smirked, holding up my gun and aiming for her head.
"You're going to pay me?" Renee asked, arching a brow.
"No, I'm going to kill you," I answered, cocking the hammer. "You're not getting shit. My wife is going to come home with me. And you're going to burn in hell, where you belong."
Renee moved Bella so I couldn't get a clear shot. It was very reminiscent of when my father shot me in order to save me, killing Stephan. I couldn't shoot my own wife. She'd never forgive me.
In the distance, I heard a couple of gunshots and Renee let go of Bella. Renee's eyes were wide and she fell to the ground. I sprinted, catching Bella before she could hit the pavement. I looked at Renee and her back was riddled with bullet holes. Blinking up, I saw Jacob. He was wedged between two of the gas pumps, holding up his weapon. Slowly, he lowered it and walked toward us. When he got to Renee, his eyes, black with rage and fury, locked onto her sightless gaze. He shot her once more, in the face. "Burn in Hell, bitch."
"We need to get out of here," Emmett said. "This place is not really well hidden. Yes, it's abandoned, but not really a hotbed of crime activity."
"Stage it as a murder-suicide," I growled, picking up my wife. She was unconscious and so fragile. My father covered her with his jacket, hiding her injuries. I held her closer and kissed her temple. "Put your gun into Ricardo's hands, Jacob and move Renee."
"No, move the van. She's already bleeding," Esteban said. "We'll handle this. You get back to the helicopter and take care of your wife."
"Felix, help Esteban," I muttered, walking back to the car. Cradling her in my lap, I blinked to Jacob, who slid into the front seat. "Thank you, Jake."
"I had to make it right," Jake choked out. "It's my fault she's …" He looked at my Dolce in my arms. She was shivering, bleeding heavily and so shattered. "After today, you won't see me again."
"No, Jacob. You don't get to walk away," Jasper sneered. "You have to face the Boss's wife. You have to atone for what you did and thinking with your dick. If she orders you away, then you go. Until then, you have to live with this."
"We'll discuss this later," I snapped. "We just need to get her back to Chicago. Alice is waiting for us. Call in the flight and get us home."
xx MOTM:FFF xx
Three hours after we saved Bella from Ricardo and Renee, we were flown back at the Consortium building. The helicopter was on the helipad on the roof. My wife was in surgery, repairing the damage from the stab wounds in her arms. Her left arm wasn't as bad with damage to the fleshy part of her shoulder, but the right arm had significant damage to her bicep, completely tearing it from her elbow. She also had a broken right wrist and severely sprained ankle on top of various scrapes, cuts and bruises littering her entire body.
The one thing I didn't know was that if she'd been violated. From what I saw, she had bruising on her thighs and it caused me anxiety. My wife, my sweet, loving wife didn't deserve this.
No one did.
I was sitting in the private room that Alice and Dr. Moretti had set up for my wife once she was out of surgery. I was trying to calm down. My body was exhausted, drained from being up for almost two days straight. My brain, on the other hand, would not stop spinning.
I'd received calls from Jared, explaining that Ana was brought to a local funeral home and would be buried in his family plot, giving a final resting place. When I spoke to Jared, I told him that I'd pay for her funeral and any other costs it incurred. She'd been an innocent victim in all of this, dying in the most gruesome and horrific of ways. At least she wasn't alone when she passed. Yes, she was surrounded by strangers, but she wasn't discovered in that disgusting train car after the engine had reached its final destination and placed into a morgue as a Jane Doe.
Ricardo and Renee were 'discovered' by the state police. There would be a formal investigation, but the murder-suicide, as explained to the cops by Felix, an innocent passerby, a man driving from Peoria to Decatur and pulling over to seemingly to get gas. It seemed like a plausible reason for their deaths. With Felix's involvement, he was staying down in Peoria, living with Jared and his wife until the investigation was closed.
"Edward?"
I looked up and saw Alice. She was still in her scrubs and her hair was covered by a surgeons cap. Her eyes were bleary and drawn. "How is she?" I asked.
"In recovery," she responded. "She'll need to have a lot of rehabilitation, especially in her right arm. The damage to the muscle in her bicep was extensive and we had to rebreak her arm to set it correctly."
"Was she …?" I trailed off, blanching at the mere thought of what could have happened.
"No. She wasn't sexually assaulted. The bruises were from hits and kicks from Renee and Ricardo," Alice explained, sitting down and taking my hand. "But, I couldn't really talk to her. She was unconscious when she was brought into the OR. I'll be with her when she wakes up."
I blew out a breath, swiping my cheeks and walking over to the window. "I'm … I …" I choked out. I leaned against the cool window and allowed my emotions to bubble over. Alice ran over to me and enfolded me into her arms. My body just collapsed. We slid to the floor as I cried, sobbing for the ordeal that my wife endured. I'd never been emotional. I was always able to keep my emotions in check, relying on anger and instinct. Alice held me tightly, allowing me to shatter over what had happened to my wife. I don't know how long I was in held together by Alice, but I managed to calm down. "My apologies."
"Don't even think that," Alice chided, hopping up and grabbing a tissue box. She handed it to me. "You've been through hell. Who have you had to lose it with? No one. I get it." She arched a brow. "When was the last time you slept?"
"Two days ago?" I shrugged. "I'll sleep when I see Bella in that bed, safe and secure."
Alice pressed her lips into a firm line. "You need to take care of yourself, Edward. Bella will need you. A lot. It wasn't that long ago that you were shot. You also are dealing with your own anxiety."
"I know, Alice," I snapped, leaning back against the wall. I removed my glasses, pinching my nose. "Bella is the priority." I put my glasses back on and saw that Alice was looking at the floor. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap."
"I know you're overtired and stressed. We'll help you with Bella and Charlie," she muttered. "Have you checked on him?"
"I talked to my mom when we got back to the building, settled inside. I saw him and told him that Mommy was okay. He was too enthralled with his cereal and fresh fruit," I snorted.
"And Nessie? Jake?" Alice asked.
"I can't even think about that right now," I replied.
"Okay, that's fair," Alice nodded. She got up and wiped her hands on her scrubs. "I'm going to check on Bella. She should be in here in a half hour or so. I just wanted to let you know. I'll be there for her and for you. You're family." She kissed my forehead, walking out of the room.
I blew out a few breaths, trying to soothe my ragged emotions. About ten minutes later, Bella was rolled into the room. She was still sedated, but breathing on her own. Her pale skin was littered with bruises and her face was swollen from the blows from Ricardo and Renee. Her right arm was encased in gauze and plaster. Her other arm was covered wrapped in gauze as well, but no plaster. "Dolce," I murmured, sitting down on a stool. I picked up her left hand, kissing her knuckles. "I'm here. I'm sorry. Come back to me."
"We're keeping her sedated," Dr. Moretti explained. "I'm certain that Alice told you the procedures we performed on Bella, but we had to reattach her bicep on her right arm along with breaking her right wrist to set it properly. The other arm was a simple stitch job, but we had thoroughly cleaned it because of the unknown origin of the weapon that caused the injury. We also addressed the cuts and scrapes over her body. A few required sutures, but a majority will heal on their own."
"How long will you keep her sedated?" I asked, brushing her hair from her face. She had a nasal cannula and was unaware of our conversation, due to her sedation.
"A couple of days," Moretti answered. "Her body is exhausted and battered. She needs to remain still so she doesn't pull at her stitches."
"When can I take her home?"
"A week," Alice answered, walking in and checking on her best friend. "But, she can't lift anything, obviously and she will need physical therapy. Dr. Moretti has a few connections to help with that."
"Let's just get her home first," I sighed.
"I know you want to be with her, Edward," Alice said. "As your doctor and your friend, I think you need to go home."
"Alice," I argued. "I need to be with her."
"I get that, but you're exhausted. Your son needs you," Alice murmured.
"I agree, Boss," Moretti said, arching a brow. "We'll be with her. She's going to be sleeping until at least tomorrow. You can't help her if you're exhausted and sick. I know you want to be by her side. You're dead on your feet, mentally, physically and emotionally drained."
When Moretti said that, I drooped and leaned my cheek against the cool metal of the hospital gurney. I was beyond tired. I'd been up for forty-eight hours. I had a son I needed to check on. "You're both right." Blowing out a breath, I blinked to Alice and then to Moretti. "Someone is staying with her besides the two of you."
"Jasper said he would," Alice said. "Emmett's going to drive you home."
I nodded. "Can I get a few moments with my wife alone? I know she's sedated, but I have to … I need to … I've missed her so fucking much."
"Got it, Boss," Moretti nodded. He and Alice stepped out of the room. I picked up Bella's left hand, pressing a kiss to her bare ring finger. As soon as possible, I'd rectify that.
If she still wanted me.
After this, I wouldn't be surprised if she took Charlie and left me. I don't know what I'd do if that happened. I caressed her bruised cheek. "Stay with me, dolce. Never leave me. I'm sorry I didn't get to you sooner. I love you so much. You are my everything." I leaned down, kissing her lips. They were dry and cracked, not feeling the soft, pliant lips of my wife. "I love you. Come back to me. Charlie loves you. He misses his mommy." I stood up, wiping a tear away.
It physically hurt me to take the first few steps away from my wife. Emmett was waiting outside with an understanding look on his face. Alice skirted past me, hugging me tightly before going back into Bella's room. "Come on, bro," Emmett said softly. "A shower, some food, and a good night's sleep will do you some good. She's safe."
Woodenly, I nodded and allowed my brother to guide me out of the office. We rode down to the basement and Emmett drove us to my condo. I didn't say anything. I just stared sightlessly out the window. It was still raining. The entire city was grey and damp. Emmett parked the car on the street. I thanked him, getting out of the car and walking stiffly to the door. I didn't wait for my brother. I rode up to my floor, moving like a zombie to the door.
My mother opened it up, pulling me into a hug. Weakly, I returned it. She started talking, but I shook my head. I was a man on a mission. I made my way into the nursery. Charlie was standing in his crib. I gave him a crooked smile. He reached for me. I picked him up, cradling him to my chest. "Dada! Dada!"
"Dada's here," I said, sitting down on the couch in the nursery. Charlie patted my cheeks before snuggling against my chest. I kissed his curls and rocked us. He grew heavy in my arms, safe in my hold. Tears streaked down my face as I let the emotions of the past few days washed over me. "Dada's here, Charlie," I whispered. "I love you." I repeated that over and over until my voice gave away. Exhaustion covered me like a wet, heavy blanket. I drifted off, holding my son to my chest.
My rest, no matter how much it was needed, was not peaceful.
And it wouldn't be for some time. Not until my wife was back home.
A/N: To be honest, I struggled with this chapter. It took me nearly three weeks to write it. I also need to work on the aftermath. What will happen with Jake? Maas? Bella? Leave me your thoughts. Thank you so much for your patience.
Pictures for this chapter are on my blog. You can access it through a link in my profile. I'm also on Facebook: Tufano79's Twilight Fanfiction Appreciation. I'm on twitter: tufano79.
Up next will be a new POV, at least for the first part of the chapter. We'll also find out what will happen with Maas and discuss Bella's recovery. How will she fare? How will this impact Edward and Bella's marriage? I appreciate every single review and every thought. See you soon!