A/N: Thanks so much for all your wonderful thoughts.
Most characters belong to S. Meyer. The rest belong to me. So do all mistakes.
Only one update this week, but it's a long one!
Broken – Chapter 3
In the midst of the bedlam in that lobby, the NYPD handcuffed Bella, read her rights, and all while she sobbed incoherently, uncontrollably, and obviously without any focus on a single word they said to her.
"Do you understand these rights, Miss?" one of the officers, the male of the two, asked. "Do you understand?"
"I hate them! I hate them both!"
"Jesus." I breathed in deeply and with a sickeningly rattling sound rising up my nasal passages. Nonetheless, bracing myself for what I knew would be excruciating pain, I pinched the bridge of my nose to stem the blood flow.
"Fuck," I hissed through clenched teeth as a wave of pain radiated throughout my face, cheek to cheek, and hairline to jawline. My eyes watered and stung. But I needed to be able to speak.
"Be careful with her. She's upset," I spat as the pair of officers hauled her up by her bound wrists. "I mean, is that really necessary?"
"By the looks of this lobby, I'd say it is. This pretty lady here took a left turn at Upset and ended up right at the main thoroughfare to Cray-"
"Hey, Cheney, why don't you stop being such a condescending, misogynistic dick and let me take over?"
The female officer must've seen something in my expression because her eyes were on me as she spoke to her partner and simultaneously stretched a palm out in my direction, moving it around in a 'Take it down a notch' sort of gesture.
"Fine, Weber." Officer Cheney threw his free hand up in surrender. "You try to get a coherent reply from her."
"Miss, do you understand the rights we've just read you?" the female officer, Officer Weber, repeated, though in a much more empathetic tone. Yet, Bella simply kept crying.
"Damn it," I hissed shakily, taking a step forward, pinching my nose harder despite the pain. "She's obviously in no condition to be Mirandized and thrown in jail. Just let her go. Look, I'll pay for the damage, and I'll take full responsibility for-"
"No, officers! Don't let her go! I'm pregnant," Alice said, flinging the words out once again, "and she threatened me and my baby, and she attacked her own husband!"
Bella's head shot up. The tears stopped, and the anger flared once again. "You goddamn bitch! You whore! That's my baby! I hate you! I hate you both!"
"Damn it, Alice, shut the hell up!"
"Go to hell, Edward! She broke your damn nose! And she broke the lobby window!"
"And she threatened my son and broke his phone! She's obviously deranged and dangerous!"
"She's neither deranged nor goddamn dangerous! What was your son doing when he had his phone broken, anyway?"
The woman made no reply and having no time to waste, I turned back to the female officer, who appeared to at least understand the meaning of compassion.
"Look, officer, she's had a horrible shock, that's all."
Still, Bella's various accusers continued, and all the while, the officers attempted to obtain some sort of acknowledgment from Bella.
"Ma'am, do you understand me? I've just read you your rights. Do you understand?" Officer Cheney sighed and shook his head impatiently, pulling his transmitter close to his mouth. "I'm calling EMTs. Officers requesting EMT assistance at-"
As he spoke into his transmitter, I spoke quietly to Officer Weber. "Officer, she caught her husband cheating."
Officer Weber frowned. "She caught you cheating?"
"No! No, not me. Her husband."
Her frown deepened. "Aren't you her…you're the one here defending her. Who the hell's her husband?"
I jerked my jaw toward the fucker, who hadn't even approached his wife. Instead, he stood beside Alice, looking like a lost, confused fucking puppy.
"Hey fucker," I spat furiously, "how about you get your ass over here and take care of your wife?"
The fucker stared at me through large, bewildered eyes, mouth hanging agape. "Uhm…I…"
"Sir, are you this woman's husband?" As she took in the way Alice clung to him, surprise and more than a little disgust was evident in Officer Weber's tone.
"Uhm…yes."
He lifted an unsure foot and prepared to step forward when Alice tugged him back hard against her side.
"Yes, he's her husband, but she attacked him! Look at the bruises on his face and the welts on his arms!"
"Is that true, sir?" Officer Weber asked. "Did your wife attack you?"
The fucker's Adam's apple bobbed, and slowly, he nodded. In my periphery, I saw Officer Cheney pull out a notepad.
"She attacked him because she found out he loves me," Alice continued without an ounce of shame. Instead, knowing I was related to her, I felt my cheeks burn. "He loves me, and we're going to have a baby," she shrugged brazenly, "and none of that is illegal; it's just life. But she lost her damn mind and-"
"You fucking bitch!" Bella shrieked.
"Alice, you goddamn-" I snapped and turned toward the bastard next to her. "Asshole, this woman here is your wife!"
"She attacked my brother too! Look at his nose!"
Now, Officer Weber turned her attention back toward me. "Is that true, sir? Did this woman-"
"She did not attack me," I seethed, dropping my hand from my nose and turning an irrepressible glare of warning toward her male counterpart. The rest, I enunciated slowly and clearly. "I received this when I accidentally walked into a fucking wall, and if anyone, anyone here tries to say I didn't, or if anyone tries to write something other than that in their official report…"
Cheney stopped writing, looked up at me, and quirked an eyebrow.
"…I will beat the ever-living-"
"All right, sir, we get it, we get it." Officer Weber put up a hand to cut me off. "Cheney, Eighty-six anything regarding this man's nose from your report."
"But it's obvious-"
"Now, Cheney!" She exhaled in obvious exasperation before returning her attention to me. "Sir, you walked into a wall. We get it. Now, do me a favor and get a grip on yourself before we're forced to arrest you too. Yeah, it's a fucked up situation but sometimes, unfortunately…" – she flashed her eyes toward Alice, and toward Bella's husband, then rolled them and sighed – "the law is the law."
"Cheating assholes!" Bella bellowed.
"You're going to arrest her because she caught her husband cheating on her?" I asked in bewilderment.
"No, sir. We're going to arrest her for destruction of public and private property, for physical assault, and for making a whole lot of threats – and all of it in front of a whole lot of witnesses. I'm sorry," she said much more quietly to me before turning back to Bella. "Calm down, ma'am. Now, where are those damn…?"
At that moment, the FDNY EMTs arrived, equipment in hand, side-stepping shards of broken glass without blinking an eye. In their profession, much as in mine, part of their prep entailed observing and evaluating a scene of interest in a matter of seconds. In this case, the scene consisted of a screaming, struggling, and cursing woman. The determination was handed down by the EMT in charge while he was still approaching.
"She needs to be sedated and taken to the ER before she can be processed at the precinct."
"Aww, come on," Cheney complained, sucking his teeth. "That's even more paperwork."
"I swear to God, Cheney, I'll beat you myself if you don't shut it," Weber threatened.
The EMT in charge pulled his walkie-talkie toward his mouth as he set down his bag.
"Leave me alone!" Bella screamed, struggling against her handcuffs.
"She's in shock," I said. "Blood pressure and pulse are probably through the roof. Check her vitals before you do anything."
The EMT flashed his eyes to me as he knelt on one knee and opened his bag. "I plan to."
"Don't touch me! I'm going to kill them!"
"Relax, ma'am. We're here to help."
With a sickening sense of helplessness, I stood behind Bella. Leaning close to her ear, I reached for her handcuffed hand and lightly brushed her fingers.
"Bella, please," I whispered, "please try to stop saying that."
She hung her head…and cried.
"Shh," I murmured in her ear. "It's okay. It'll be okay, I promise you. I-"
"Thanks for keeping her relatively calm while I took her vitals," the EMT said as he straightened, long needle in hand. "We're going to take your wife to Midtown Medical and-"
"She's not my wife," I said, startled by the same assumption Officer Weber had just made.
He frowned. "Then, I'm going to have to ask you to step back."
"I'm a doctor."
"Are you her doctor?"
"No."
"Then, step back, sir."
With brick-laden feet, I begrudgingly stepped back, and the EMT stepped closer. Bella screamed, and I squeezed my hands into tight, useless fists. In a matter of seconds, Bella went still, quiet…and swayed. They laid her out on the waiting stretcher, and in a few seconds more, they had her loaded and on her way.
OOOOO
"Julia, hi, it's Edward," I said from the back seat of a yellow cab.
"Edward, hi! I haven't heard your voice in so long, hon!" Julia replied enthusiastically.
I'd known Julia Hammond, my father's administrative assistant since I was about ten. Even then, she'd been in her early fifties – an efficient, intelligent, capable…and older woman whom I'd later figured out my father hired to replace his much younger admin assistant as yet another step in reassuring my mother of his continued efforts to walk a straight line. I snorted at the memory, even as I spoke to Julia.
"Yeah, it's been a while," I agreed hastily. "Julia, is my father still at the hospital?"
"He's here, yes," she said. "Although, he's in a meeting. Would you like me to page him for you?"
"Yes. Actually, no. No, that's fine, thanks. I'm on my way to the hospital now, and I'll speak to him in person when I get there."
"All right," she agreed. "Everything okay, Edward? Your sister called right before you and had me page your dad."
"Fuck, of course," I spat under my breath. Unfortunately, in my mental upheaval, I must've not spat under my breath as quietly as I thought.
"Well, you know your sister. She called here sounding all teary, but that's nothing new for her, is it? She's always known how to work your father. Edward? Are you sure you're okay, hon? You sound a bit strange yourself - and you sound like you have a bad cold or something. Are you taking care of yourself, hon? It wouldn't do at all for you to catch one of those viruses you chase around the world."
"I'm fine, thanks, Julia. Actually, Julia, can you do me a huge favor?"
"Sure, Edward, if I can. It's not like you ever ask for much. What is it?"
"A young woman is about to be brought into the ER by the EMTs and the cops."
"Oh my goodness!"
"Can you please…" I shut my eyes for a moment and swallowed, "can you please find out where they put her and call me back and let me know?"
OOOOO
"Excuse me, sir, but you'll have to sign in before you can go back there."
The young nurse at triage stopped me and offered me an apologetic smile as I'd tried to walk past her unnoticed.
"Is it broken?"
"Excuse me?"
"I guess that's what you're here to find out, right?" She giggled. "Silly me. Well, if it is broken," she said softly, "you've got a couple of weeks to get it realigned before it sets that way. Either way," she smiled broadly, "no need to panic. You still have an extremely handsome..."
As she spoke, I glanced down at my bloodied, button-down shirt and recalled the throbbing coming from my nose which had become background pain over the past half hour, while I tried to figure out how to get to Bella. The cab driver's wary looks as he visually scanned his back seat while I paid the fare now made sense.
"No, I'm not here for my nose. I mean-" I sighed impatiently as I pulled out my wallet and from the wallet, my credentials – something I knew could wind me up in deep shit for flashing them while not on official business.
"Oh, CDC," the nurse said, eyes growing wide as she looked back up at me with less flirtatious intentions overtaking her features. "Is there somebody infectious back there?" She leaned in closer. "Should I be worried?"
"Massively worried," I lied, "unless you stay out here and calmly do your job while I go back there and check it out."
"Oh, okay. Thanks." She exhaled in relief. "I'll just stay right here then."
"Good."
Officer Cheney was spread out on one of the plastic chairs, typing his report. I passed him and turned the corner as calmly as possible, trying to radiate an air of authority despite my bloodied appearance. I expelled a breath of relief when I was out of his view…until I saw Officer Weber right outside the door to the room where Julia had told me they'd taken Bella.
She quirked an eyebrow, hand wrapping around the ball of her police stick as she languidly sauntered to meet me.
"I sure hope you're here to get that nose looked at and nothing else."
We held one another's gaze.
"I don't understand what's going on here. You're not Mrs. Hale's husband; you're her husband's lover's brother. And you obviously don't want to be mentioned in the police report and you don't want to add to Mrs. Hale's wealth of charges – hence, that invisible wall you claim you walked into. So, what the hell are you doing here, man?"
When I made no reply, she sighed.
"Were you and she carrying on your own little affair while her husband and your sister-"
I scowled indignantly. "Officer Weber, before today, I didn't even know of Mrs. Hale's or her husband's existence." Yeah, it was a bit of a lie, but at that moment, I wasn't even sure myself what the truth was. "And if you knew me at all, you'd know I'm not the type of man to fuck around behind someone's back."
She nodded slowly throughout my speech, then shrugged.
"Still doesn't tell me what the fuck you're doing here?"
"I'm a doctor."
"She's already got a doctor in there."
"Look, can I just-?"
"No, you can't. And for what?"
My nostrils instinctively flared and then my eyes watered from the fucking pain of flaring my nostrils.
"Will you go get that nose checked out?" she chastised.
I shut my eyes and saw Bella behind my lids – furious…desolate.
"Just let me see her for a minute and make sure she's okay. I just can't…I can't shake these images out of my head until I see her."
She shook her head from side to side. "You are one masochistic fucker, you know that? First, that nose looks like it's throbbing, and second…" – she exhaled – "that poor woman in there is in a hell of a lot of trouble. Why are you involving yourself in it?"
Again, I made no reply.
For a few, long moments, she scrutinized me silently.
"I said no. Now, I'm going to go find my partner," – she gestured down the hallway with her thumb – "and make sure he's writing out that police report properly, cuz that dude's a dense one. It'll probably take me about ten minutes or so…and then I'll be back. If you're still here when I return, all you'll have accomplished is warming the cell next to your friend's tonight down at the tenth. Understood?"
"Understood."
When she walked away, and I turned the doorknob and walked into the room, I stopped short. After such a long and bewildering fucking day, I didn't trust myself to keep my voice level, so I shut the door before I hissed.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Carlisle, who stood by Bella's hospital bed, took me in over his shoulder. "Your sister called me."
"Of course she did."
In three strides I was next to Bella's bed, nudging Carlisle aside.
Bella eyes were closed yet her head shifted restlessly from side to side. She was covered tightly in a white, hospital-grade blanket, her dark hair splayed out wildly over the flat pillow, dry tears streaking her pale cheeks. She had one wrist handcuffed to the hospital bed's metal, collapsible side.
"What the…what's wrong with her?"
"They had to sedate her, but she was too worked up, so they're delivering a stronger dosage intravenously."
"They're what?" I spat.
"Edward, it's for her own good. She was overwhelmed, to say the least. I'm told when she arrived at the ER she kept yelling something about a stranger. It was the only way to calm her. The police are aware. It's all being documented."
"The only way to…?"
My nostrils flared, which instantly sent a stabbing, white-hot pain shooting up the center of my forehead and all the way to my crown. Grunting, I dropped my head and stood perfectly still for a few moments.
"Edward? Your sister told me what happened. You should really have that-"
I looked back up at my father. "She's fucking handcuffed to the hospital bed like she's a goddamn- I mean, what the hell do you expect? She caught her husband cheating on her, bare ass to the window, from what I gathered, with your goddamn daughter!"
"Shh," my father hissed sharply. "Yes. Yes, I've…I've got the story. Now, calm down before you wake up Mrs. Hale and get her all riled again. You're not even supposed to be in here."
"And you are?" I retorted heatedly. "What the hell is the Chief-of-Staff of Cardiology doing in here?"
"I wanted to make sure she'd calmed down. The woman's in enough trouble as it is."
"And whose damn fault is that?"
"I'm sure there's plenty of fault to go around."
I shook my head slowly, snarling in disgust. "Oh, I don't think so," I growled through clenched teeth. "Not this fucking time. She's not getting off the hook that easily. That's bullshit, and you know it. There's only one person at fault here – fine; two because you fathered her. Make that three because the bastard husband who took vows to protect his wife fucked her friend instead."
"Jesus, Edward." In my periphery, I saw Carlisle scrub a hand down his face and exhale heavily, and then I looked at him squarely.
"I warned you. For years, I warned you that Alice was a spoiled, self-centered, self-absorbed, narcissistic-"
"Edward, stop. That's your sister you're talking about."
I shut my eyes and clenched my jaw. My shoulders felt stiff and heavy, hands rigid as I curled and uncurled them at my sides. Through a heaving chest, I attempted to regulate my breaths for one reason only; my father was right about one thing: this woman…Bella…was in enough trouble. The last thing I wanted was to get her into more by losing my shit.
"Since Alice was a kid, you let her run wild, let her have whatever she wanted without ever saying no to her."
"Do you think I knew something like this would happen," he retorted defensively, "that she'd do something like this?"
"Why not? Her mother did."
"Edward-"
"What?" I snapped, crossing my arms against my chest as I sneered at him. "Did you honestly think, considering the example she grew up with, that Alice would stop herself before she took someone else's husband? Did you think she'd learn self-control from Elizabeth of all people?"
He raked a hand through his hair and swept his eyes away from me, but I saw the momentary flash of shame that flickered behind them. Unfortunately, that shame had never been enough to get him to stand strong with Alice.
"The issue right now, Edward, is that your sister is pregnant, and this woman assaulted her." He pivoted back toward me, gesturing with his jaw toward my bloodied, swollen nose. "And apparently, from what I hear, she assaulted you as well."
"That's the story that pain in the ass came to you with?" I spat. "It's bullshit; much like every other story she's ever told you. And if I hear her spreading that shit around, I'll give her the tongue-lashing you never did."
"Edward, the cops are right outside the door!"
I rounded on him. "I had her! Bella…I was holding her…holding her back. I had her calmed; yeah, upset, of course, but she'd calmed down."
"She attacked her husband, correct?" Carlisle said with a detached, clinical tone that merely incensed me all the more. "Alice says he couldn't even pull her off-"
"More bullshit. I pulled her off her bastard husband even though he deserved all the jabs she was giving him. I had her calm because I knew the police had been called, and I didn't want her getting into any more trouble than she was already going to be in."
"Then, how did you end up with-"
"Your heartless witch of a daughter kept taunting her! Instead of staying the fuck shut after what she did, instead of cowering in shame at being caught bare-assed with another woman's husband-"
"Edward," my father whispered shakily, "I know this must bring up bad memories-"
I chuckled humorlessly at that one. "Your mistakes are yours to live with, old man, but when they affect an innocent woman, the only innocent party in this entire mess…yeah, that brings up rotten shit."
His face went pale, and he held my gaze for a handful of seconds before he turned away.
"It was her elbow that hit me," I said. "Because your daughter kept taunting her, and then Bella's elbow…it was Alice's fault."
My father sighed. "Look, yes, Alice was wrong in sleeping with a married man."
"And getting pregnant from him."
"Yes," he breathed tiredly. "Yes, and in getting pregnant from him. But what's done is done, Edward. She's my daughter, and she's pregnant with my grandchild – with your niece or nephew."
"I'm done with her," I said, without sparing him a backward glance, "and with everything and anything to do with her."
"You can't mean that," he said behind me.
"I totally mean it. I've fucking…" I raked a hand through my hair – a goddamn nervous tick inherited from him, "I've tried, Dad, to be a good brother to her even though her mother was the reason you broke my mother's heart."
"Edward, you can't blame your sister-"
"I don't blame her. That's what I'm saying. I don't blame her, not for that, and I've tried to be there for her since we were kids. I've tried to build a relationship, fucking feeling guilty, thinking that maybe because we grew up separately, and then with all my traveling…maybe if I tried harder with her…tried to stay in touch a bit more even though she never showed interest. Why the hell do you think I was even in her building today? I wanted to say 'bye' to her before I left on my next assignment since you were too busy…remind her to call me if she needed anything, but after the clusterfuck I witnessed today?" I scoffed. "After I saw how deprived of any sense of decency and every bit of human sympathy she is," my top lip curled in disgust, but even that action hurt my entire face, "I'm done with her."
"Edward, you're angry."
"I'm fucking furious! And you should be too!" I spat accusingly at him over my shoulder, determined to bear the physical pain if it got my point across. Then, I snorted. "But, I guess you get Alice's motivations a lot better than I do."
"Edward, that's not fair. This has nothing to do with- look, I am angry at your sister. Of course, I am! Jesus, do you think I don't see how horrible this situation she's created is? Of course, I'm furious at her." He paused. "But…the OB has confirmed the pregnancy, and the law is on her side. She was attacked, and she's my daughter, Edward. I can't just cut her off because of mistakes she's made, especially now. Someday, if you have children of your own-"
"Don't tell me if I ever have children of my own, I'll understand," I seethed. "Because if I ever do have children, it'll be with a woman who'll help me raise our children to know that you respect your partner; you respect what belongs to others."
I heard Carlisle swallow. "I'm glad to hear that, Edward. Nevertheless, regardless of what she's done and her lack of respect, Alice is still my daughter. And if you do ever have kids, you will understand. What's more, she's your sister, too."
"Pfft."
"And she's going to have a child, which will be your niece or nephew."
"I feel sorry for that kid already."
"Edward, I've asked Alice to wait in my office. The three of us need to have a family meeting."
"First of all, I'm not meeting with her. Second…where's Mom?"
He didn't reply right away. "I haven't told her."
Again, I chuckled. "You asked Mom to practically raise her, yet you've never included her in the decisions that matter."
He said nothing.
"Regardless, I can't even look at Alice," I said with complete finality.
"Edward…if you want to try to convince Alice to drop or at least minimize the charges she's planning to file against this poor woman, then you'll join me in my office."
I craned my neck around.
"You think I don't feel horrible about what's happened? I do," he hissed. "Edward, just as you acknowledged that Alice isn't to blame for the mistakes her mother and I made, Alice's baby won't be to blame for the mistakes she and…the father made. This child is going to need our support, Edward."
"Speak to her and tell her to drop the charges against Bella, and I'll consider involving myself in that kid's life if only to try to keep it from growing up and becoming an asshole like its parents."
"I don't know that she'd listen to only me, Edward. Alice is furious as well."
"Unfuckingbelievable," I scowled, shaking my head. "So Bella is going to wake up from being sedated and then go to jail for God knows how long because the great Dr. Carlisle Cullen is an expert at saving lives, but he never quite learned how to stand up to his brat of a daughter."
Carlisle's green eyes flashed in fury. For an immeasurable moment, we stood face to face, shoulder to shoulder. But…Carlisle looked exhausted. Dark circles rung his eyes. His blond hair, just like his daughter's hair, looked more silver than usual. His shoulders slumped in defeat.
If the erudite of the world could see him now.
He raked a hand through his hair and turned toward the door of the small, windowless room.
"You can't turn your back on this baby, Edward; neither of us can. Now, I'll expect you upstairs in five minutes."
For a while, after he left, I stared at the door, willing my legs to move in its direction. I was done with this mess; no longer caught in the middle of screams and glass shards and…
And there was nothing more I could do. It was time to go. I had a flight to catch – a nose to have realigned beforehand. My head knew all this…yet my legs were having a hard time obeying my head.
"Come on, Edward. Just go," I whispered to myself. Then, squeezing my eyes shut, I turned and headed for the door.
Behind me, the woman…Bella…shifted. She whimpered quietly.
"Don't turn around," I breathed. "You're done with this. You did all you could. Don't turn around."
Another whimper, softer yet somehow all the more painful. Slowly, exhaling through narrowed lips, I turned and walked back to the hospital bed, where Bella shifted restlessly, eyes still closed, dark hair splayed wildly across a pitiful, hospital-grade excuse for a pillow.
"Where am I?" she murmured groggily, eyes shut. "Where…?"
"Shh." With no conscious thought, I reached a hand out toward her, toward the damp, tangled strands which were matted to her face. I blinked myself out of the wayward action and pulled back my hand before I could touch them.
"Shh. It's okay…Bella," I murmured instead while keeping my hands to myself. "You're in the hospital. It's okay. I mean…it'll be okay again one day. I promise you."
Her left cheek fell against the pillow, head angled sideways so that I looked down at her right-side profile. Her lips were pouted, slightly agape due to the drugged state in which they had her. She had long, dark eyelashes that swept against undereye circles almost as pronounced as my father's. Her skin was an unhealthy pallor, ashen, pale all the more in contrast to her long, auburn hair.
"When was the last time you slept well?" I mused under my breath.
When she turned her head, slowly blinking open heavy-lids, her coffee-toned pupils, glassy and glazed, met my eyes.
"Where…who…?"
Before I could reply, she shuttered her eyes again.
"Bella…you're in the hospital, and I'm Edward. From the lobby. Remember me?"
She didn't reply, not right away, and I assumed she'd fallen under the effects of the sedative...
…until she breathed my name.
"Edward…"
Something deep inside of me expanded; filled every space and crevice between my ribcage and my lungs. I flinched in bewilderment, and her eyes opened again. She stared at me, or through me, her eyes rendering me immobile until she shut them yet again.
"Yes, Bella. I'm here now."
She went quiet again. Still.
"Can't...focus…"
I swallowed back the bile of outrage at the sight of her hooked up to an IV and a line for the sedative.
"It's okay, Bella. It'll be okay. I promise you."
Her eyes opened for a fraction of a second, drowsily, dark pupils dilated.
"Jas…Jasper?"
"No," I shook my head. That fucking bastard, if I had him here… "No. It's not… It's Edward. From the lobby."
Again, she reopened her eyes, managed to keep them open for two heartbeats before they shuttered again.
"Ed…ward…from the…what…what happened…to your nose?"
Despite the riot in my head, her innocuous inquiry made me chuckle.
"It doesn't matter, Bella."
"Is it…broken?"
"Yeah, I think it's broken, but don't worry about it. It doesn't matter."
Again, she was quiet.
"I'm frightened." The words were punctuated by a series of broken sighs. "…lobby…you helped…stranger…I'm frightened." Eyes still closed, she began crying.
"God, Bella. Don't be frightened. Everything will be okay again. I promise you. You were so brave, Bella; so…strong, and they'll never break you…"
Something moved in my periphery. I looked downward…her fingers fluttered, the hand not handcuffed lifted off the bed as if she was searching…reaching...
"Ed…"
I met her fingers with my own, weaved and intertwined them; soft, warm, and strong ones with mine, rough and callused. Her wedding band scraped my knuckles, but…
But her breathing evened out, her features relaxed…and the sedative took hold. Bella's nightmare, at least for the time being…was over.
I tightened my hold on her hand.
"They will never break you again."
OOOOO
Emmett Face-timed me as I rounded the corner to Carlisle's office.
"Fuck," I spat as I answered. "Emmett, I'm in the middle of a shit-fest here."
"Yeah, you and me both. Good news, though. Wait, what the hell happened to your nose?"
Before I could reply, I opened the door to my father's office, and my vision literally went scarlet.
"Em, gotta go."
I wasn't even sure how I reached him, but I held Bella's bastard of a husband by the collar and up against the wall. His head hit the space between Carlisle Cullen's medical degrees. One shook, fell, and shattered.
From somewhere in the room, Alice screamed.
"You dirty bastard. You've been here in the hospital all along, and you haven't even checked on your wife?"
"My wife's insane," the bastard retorted. "You see the scratches and bruises on me! And your damn nose!"
"She had nothing to do with my nose," I said through barely moving lips.
The fucker snorted. "You want to tell the cops that, that's your business. But I was there, dude."
The fucker grunted as all air expelled itself from his lungs.
"Edward, stop!" Alice shrieked.
"Son, please," Carlisle pleaded with false calm.
When I finally managed to speak, my words seeped through gritted teeth, vision tunneled on the fucker's beady, blue eyes.
"Asshole, I'm going to tell you this once and once only. If you ever…ever mention my nose and Bella in the same sentence, I'm going to beat you to a bloody pulp. Am I clear?"
"Edward, stop!"
I shoved him again.
"Mph," he grunted, mouth curled in a snarl.
"I said am I clear?"
"Jesus. Son, come on," my father chastised. "Your sister doesn't need to see this in her condition."
I blinked a handful of times, for a moment thinking I must've misheard him. But this was Carlisle, in regards to Alice. Of course, I hadn't misheard. Shoving him one last time before I released him, I scowled at Bella's husband.
"You're not even worth it."
Then, I turned my attention to the other two, shaking my head in disgust. My father stood behind his desk as if this was a typical office visit, while Alice sat on one of the leather chairs on the other side.
"After the shit your daughter just pulled, after the shit she just did and said to the poor woman in triage downstairs," I said, pointing toward the shut door, "the woman who's married to this prick, who's handcuffed to a hospital bed, waiting for her forced sedation to wear off so that she can be transported to the tenth precinct, you're worried about this one seeing her baby daddy roughed up a bit?"
"Fuck you, Edward!" Alice shouted. "Why are you defending her? Why are you always against me?"
"Because you're a fucking NIGHTMARE!" I bellowed. "Because the shit you've pulled over the past twenty-five years – and some of them have been fucking doozies – pale in comparison to the shit you pulled today!"
"Edward, that's your sister," my father said.
"You know what, old man? The hell with you too. I'm done with you both."
"Edward…" my father sighed as I rushed toward the door. "Your mother will be here soon. I've called her to join us. This is a family meeting."
My footsteps came to a halt. When I turned again, Alice glowered at me furiously, and when I snorted, her expression grew darker. The snort morphed into chuckles, and then…the chuckles into full-on laughter.
"Do you see what just happened in this office, Alice?" I asked calmly once my laughter dissipated. "Matter of fact, try using that head on your shoulders for rational thought rather than for devious planning-"
"Oh, go to hell, you son of a-"
"Careful there. You of all people don't want to go there," I warned. Oh yeah; all attempts to maintain peace with my sister were out the window. "But as I was saying, think back to that lobby this afternoon. Throughout all that yelling and screaming which went on there, throughout all the yelling and screaming that just went on here between us…" I waved a finger between the two of us. Then, I pointed that same finger at the bastard who was still up against the wall. "Did that motherfucker open his mouth once to defend you?"
Alice's chest heaved.
"Never mind to defend you; to choose you?"
"He did choose me!"
"No, Alice, darling," I said coolly. "Think carefully. You were quick to speak up and choose for him…but he said nothing."
Chest heaving all the harder, Alice shifted her attention to the asshole.
"Jasper?"
The asshole held her gaze…and said nothing.
"Jasper, you chose me, didn't you?"
He rubbed the back of his neck.
Carlisle sighed.
"Jasper, tell him. Tell him, Jasper."
Again, I snorted. "You see what he just did to his wife? Little sister, one day soon, that's going to be you."
"That will never be me!"
"Oh, mark my words. It will. You know why? Because you're toxic; you're a virus, just like your mother – your real mother, not mine, not the one you've always gone around pretending is yours yet you treat her like shit. But you know what? I'm done feeling sorry for you and trying to help you."
"Thank God," she expelled. "Seriously, thank God you've finally realized I don't want or need your damn help or pity. Do you think I ever wanted your nose in my business? Maybe if you'd kept it out of there, it wouldn't have ended up broken at Jasper's delusional, psychotic wife's hand."
"The only delusion that woman suffered from was ever believing you were capable of being someone's friend. You're just like your mother."
"Edward, get the fuck out of my face!" she shrieked.
I snorted, shaking my head. "Jasper's delusional, psychotic wife," I echoed in disgust and then glared at the bastard, who still stood off to the side like a fucking doe in headlights. "And you, asshole, you just stand there while she says that shit about your wife?"
He glared at me but said nothing.
"Do you speak?" I asked.
"Listen, man," he began.
"You want to do one decent, fucking thing, one last fucking favor for your wife before you completely abandon her to her fate? Convince this one here," I waved a hand wildly in Alice's general direction "to show a shred of decency and shame for what you two have done, and drop those damn charges against her."
I turned back to my sister, whose chest heaved in fury.
"Do one decent thing, Alice. You're bringing a kid into the world. Do one. decent. thing."
I turned back toward the door.
"Now, I'm done with all of you."
I rushed down the hallways blindly.
"Edward? Edward!"
Squeezing my eyes shut, I turned around, unsure how much more of this day I could take.
My mother sprinted toward me. "Your father called and told me what happened."
"The real version or his bullshit version?" I sneered.
"I can read between the lines," she said softly. "I feel horrible. That poor woman."
"That poor woman is going to rot in jail because she has no one, no one," I seethed, "to stand up for her. And there's nothing I can do," I added miserably, hanging my head and shaking it. "There's nothing I can do."
For a few, long moments, Esme and I stood silently in the empty hallway. Then, she reached up and cupped my cheek, offering me a wistful smile.
"Edward, I'll take care of it. This is all my fault. From the very beginning, I handled this situation wrong. I should've never…" she looked away, "I should've…" Without finishing her thought, Esme drew in a deep breath.
"Mom-"
"You have a flight to catch tonight, correct?"
"Yes, but I don't know if I can leave-"
"Go clean yourself up, and do what you have to do, son. I'll speak to Alice, and I'll do whatever I have to in order to make sure that woman doesn't go to jail."
A/N: Thoughts?
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