EPOV

Turning my head to the north, I hear the change in his direction and shift my body accordingly. This is the first mountain lion I've smelled in months and I'm not going to let it get away. Quietly and quickly, I move from tree to tree until I'm right above it. Staying downwind, I let myself drop silently from the tree. Only a few feet away, I can almost taste him already. I'm ready to pounce on him, crouched down and teeth bared when I'm pulled into Alice's vision.

Bella is lying in a hospital bed as doctors scurry around her. It looks like she's in the ER of a hospital. Her eyes flicker open and I can see the panic in them.

"Please my phone. I need my phone." She calls out

"Lay down miss, we need to assess your injuries" a doctor responds.

"Please my father in law is a doctor. I need you to call him. Please. Carlisle Cullen."

"Okay just calm down. Doctor Cullen does frequent visits here for special cases. We will call him. I need you to stay calm and take deep breaths for me."

The doctor puts the oxygen mask on her face, and when she tries to breathe I see her wince in pain.

"I'm going to give you something for the pain and it might make you sleepy. It's okay to fall asleep. Your body needs to heal." He tells her as he puts a needle into her arm. She winces when he touches her and then again when he inserts the needle. As her eyes fall closed the vision fades away.

I don't even think before I'm running in the direction of home. I'm about two hours away even running as fast as I can. All I can think about is my Bella. What happened? I will kill whoever did this to her.

After about an hour of running, my phone starts to ring. My stomach drops when I see that it's Carlisle calling.

"Hello" I answer not bothering to stop or even slow down.

Son I need you to come to the hospital in Port Angeles. Alice called me so I know you're on your way home. I'm here with Bella. She was attacked.

The air completely leaves my lungs.

"How bad is it, dad?"

He breathes out a sigh before answering.

Just get here, Edward. How far away are you?

"I'm about an hour from Forks and about thirty minutes from the Port Angeles Hospital."

Okay I will talk to you when you get here.

"Dad just…can you tell me…is she going to be okay?"

Yes, son she will be fine. She has some injuries and she'll have to talk to the police, but she will recover.

"Okay thank you. I will see you in a few minutes." I tell him before I hang up.

I don't think I've ever run so fast in my life. I barely register that I need to slow down when I make it to the hospital parking lot. I don't care about keeping up appearances or the Volturi, I just need to get to my mate.

"Carlisle" I say in a normal voice as I walk in the ER entrance of the hospital. I don't know where he is, but I know he'll hear me.

"Stay there Edward. I'll be there in a minute." I hear him think to me.

I can't sit down, so I just pace in the waiting room until he comes around the corner. He pulls me into a hug that I gratefully let myself fall into.

"Dad" I whimper.

"It's okay Edward. She's okay. Come on." He says putting an arm around my shoulders and leading me into a private meeting room.

"Okay tell me everything." I say once the door's shut.

"From what I can gather from the police and the doctors, it seems she was outside of a rare bookstore in Port Angeles when she was attacked by a group of men. The store owner called the police and scared them away. The police are searching for the men now. She has a laceration on her forehead that had five stitches, a concussion, bruised ribs, a fractured cheekbone, a broken tail bone, and lots of other bruises." He cuts off when I start growling. "Do you want to hear the rest of this or do you need a minute?" he asks me in his professional doctor voice.

"Go ahead" I say through my teeth.

"Okay. I got a call from a Dr. Fox here at the hospital. I know him from a few trips I've made here to help with some special cases. He said that my daughter in law had just been brought into the ER and she begged him to call me. I assumed he was talking about Bella because Alice and Rosalie would have no reason to be in the hospital. She was smart to tell him that I was related because now I can have access to her medical information and information about the police's case. She was given pain medication in the ER which seems to have knocked her out. She has been admitted and is in a private room on the second floor. I called Charlie and he is with her now. She should wake up anytime."

"Can I see her?" I ask immediately. I don't need all of the details right now. Now that I know she's okay and in this hospital somewhere, I have to see her. I'm in pain being away from her.

"Yes she's on the second floor, room 202. I can show-"

I don't wait for him to finish before I'm out the door. Concentrating, I find her scent and follow it. Once I get to the second floor, I try to find Charlie's thoughts. It's very hard to concentrate because there are so many people in the hospital and some of them are in such grief that their thoughts are screaming at me.

I should call John at the station. I want him to light a fire under the boys in Port Angeles. I want them down here getting a statement from Bells as soon as she wakes up, and I want a portrait artist to sketch these men. I will catch those bastards if it's the last thing I do.

There he is, and it seems like his thoughts are right in line with mine, although I plan to catch and kill these men myself. No jail time for them.

Finally I'm standing in front of room 202. The door is slightly ajar so I knock softly before letting myself in. Charlie is sitting by Bella's bed holding her hand and staring at the floor. His eyes snap up to mine when he hears me knock and I can see the anguish there. I nod at him before turning my gaze to my love. All of the air leaves me when I see her. Her perfect alabaster skin is completely black and blue. Her face is swollen and contorted because of her broken cheekbone. I can smell the antiseptic they must have used on her stitches, and the blood their transfusing into her. Walking slowly over to her, I want to touch her but I'm struggling to find a place that isn't bruised. Finally, I run my finger down her uninjured cheek.

"How is she?" I ask Charlie. My voice sounds gravelly to my ears.

"Same. Nothing's changed since I got here. Did you talk to your father?"

"Yes, she's going to be fine and he said she should wake soon."

"Good." He croaks. "She's my world. I couldn't survive if something happened to her."

Charlie Swan is not a man who talks about his emotions or even shows them, so I'm shocked at the tears running down his face. His hands are shaking as he holds one of hers between them.

"She'll be okay Charlie. She has to be." I whisper.

"Yeah" he says softly.

"Do you mind if I wait with you?" I ask him.

"Sure." He says and gestures towards the chair on the other side of her bed.

"Thank you" I whisper.

Pulling the chair up to the edge of her bed, I take her other hand in mine. Watching her face for any sign of awareness, I sit here waiting for the center of my universe to come back to me.