Stepping into what was now Bella's room, Carlisle laid a hand on his wife's shoulder. "It is time," was all he said.
Worried, Esme questioned, "Are you sure she's strong enough dear?"
Squeezing, he replied, "I would not risk her health for the sake of her hand if I thought otherwise. As far as her ribs, that is minimal and must be accomplished. But yes Love, she is ready and will continue to receive plenty of good food and rest afterwards." Smiling, he said, "I happen to know this hospital has the best nurse in its employ."
His other hand held several items. Releasing Esme, he laid these on the bed and began to prepare Bella.
Gently picking her arm up, he cleaned her elbow with an alcohol wipe, and expertly injected her with the sedative. She didn't even stir when the needle slipped into her skin. That accomplished he stepped around to her right side, pulled the covers off her leg before pulling her pant up past the knee.
Happy with what he found, he spoke as he worked, "the swelling has finally receded enough to put the braces on both joints."
Once he had her knee and ankle supported, he replaced her pant leg then looked up at Esme. "Dear, would you mind changing her into the hospital gown I placed on the bed? You may keep the pajama bottoms on her, I only require free access to her ribs. I will wait down in the dining room."
"Certainly Carlisle."
Leaning down, Carlisle placed a kiss on Bella's brow and tucked an errant lock behind her ear. Then, heading out of the room, he paused by Esme and dropping a kiss on his wife's head, said, "She will be alright Esme. I will not permit any other outcome."
Esme nodded, then stood up as Carlisle left the room. Pulling the blankets down, Esme set about the task of swapping Bella into the gown. Once done, she carefully scooped her up into her arms.
Flitting down to the dining room, Esme pressed Bella close to her chest and eyed the medical equipment. Her maternal instincts demanded that she not hand her over, hadn't her daughter already been through enough?
Carlisle was there, and decades spent with his beautiful wife made it easy for him to know what she was thinking. He walked over to where she stood with Bella in her arms and laid his palm on Esme's cheek.
"She needs this Love." Then he placed his arms under hers and waited for Esme to release Bella.
Esme tightened her arms at first, then sighed and allowed Carlisle to take her, knowing he was right.
Still, if it had been any doctor other than Carlisle, Esme didn't think she could have forced herself to walk away.
Carlisle gently laid Bella on the table and got to work. He quickly and efficiently prepped Bella for the dual surgeries. Laying out sterile fields over her ribs and hand before cleaning her chest in the two locations he intended to cut. Picking up a scalpel, he made two incisions across her ribs. Then he traded tools for a pair of hemostats and carefully negotiated the splinters from her chest. That task complete, he swabbed the blood that had leaked from the wounds before closing them with surgical glue.
Turning to her right hand, he began the fight to restore as much of her function as he could. He listened to the sound of Esme's ruler and pencil scraping over the paper as she sat at her architectural table through the long hours as he rebroke, drilled, pinned and wired Bella's delicate bones.
Old Quil Ateara had spent the past week doing constant research. With his long gray hair braided down his back and deep circles under his eyes from sleepless nights he was certainly living up to his nickname. He had been through all the written tribal records involving the Quileute wolf packs and found not a single instance of a wolf being bitten by a Cold One and surviving. On every occasion the wolf died within the first twenty four hours.
The Quileutes simply had no history to utilize in guiding them to help Sam and Jake or even what to expect. They were truly in uncharted territory. In his opinion, it boded well for the boys that they had both survived this long. Clearly Bella's fast action in sucking the venom out had successfully removed enough to prevent the certain death they should have suffered. The only question was would the wolves' powerful healing ability be enough to defeat whatever damage the venom had done?
Old Quil had also been sorting through the tribal documents for a solution to the Paul situation. Within the records he found several instances of the Alpha either dying or being injured enough that the Beta had become the new temporary or permanent Alpha. However, there were no instances when that Beta needed to be removed by force or had challenged the Alpha for control upon their return. And in the cases where the original Alpha had died, the remaining pack members accepted the Beta as their new Alpha without issue.
This pack just kept making tribal history: the largest by far to exist; the first female wolf; Sam, Quil and Jared all had imprinted – a supposedly rare occurrence. Heck maybe they should parade eligible woman in front of Paul in the hopes he would imprint and mellow out.
Old Quil snorted at the silly thought and closed the record book in front of him. It was time he headed over to Emily's house. They must figure out how to protect Charlie.
The council meeting was well under way when Charlie finally hung the phone up in his kitchen.
Replacing his credit card in his wallet, he then swiped the tears off his cheeks and let his deep anger stemming from the seeds of bitter betrayal take hold. He now knew he had been lied to.
Walking upstairs to his bedroom, he opened his closet door and pulled out a duffle bag from the top shelf. Quickly, he packed what he would need for a week on the road. If he was gone longer then he would buy anything else he needed. That task completed, Charlie zipped the bag shut and left it on the bed, all set for his morning departure.
Charlie headed back down the stairs, straight out the front door and hopped into the cruiser. He made excellent time to the reservation. If necessary, he would spend all night beating the truth out of his 'best friends' before he left to find his daughter.