A/N: Thanks so much for all your wonderful thoughts.

Also, hmm. I do mean it when I say we're almost done, but then…the chapters just keep coming. Oh well. The intent is there. ;)

Most characters belong to S. Meyer. The rest belong to me. All mistakes are mine.

Broken – Chapter 27

"Dad. Good morning." I greeted my father as calmly and evenly as my internal fury would allow.

"Edward…good morning, son. I was just thinking about you. I'm glad you called."

"Are you?"

Standing outside of the downtown skyscraper where the CDC offices were located, I glared up at the sliver of golden sun which peeked from beyond the left-hand side of the building. Considering the skyscraper eclipsed most of them, the mid-November rays felt bolder than usual that morning, their warmth prickling my neck and shoulders. There was a brisk wind in the air as well, fully expected for this time of year, and the contrast between both the seasonal breeze and the unseasonal rays caused goosebumps to rise under my shirt and jacket. For a second, the sensations were weak though potent reminders of the long and still-hard-to-believe night I'd just experienced – the best night of my life by far, when it was Bella's mouth causing those alternating sensations of flaming heat and quivering shivers…

With a deep breath, I set those thoughts aside – for now. Without a doubt, they'd be taking up a large portion of my mind later that morning, but at the moment, with my cell phone gripped tightly in my hand after having dialed a number I never particularly enjoyed dialing, I couldn't give them the focus they rightly deserved. Unfortunately, I hadn't been left much of a choice because as they said, 'The fucker had some explaining to do.'

Nonetheless, as much of an asshole as Carlisle Cullen could be, he wasn't stupid, and I didn't need him on the defensive off the bat, not before I could get some answers.

"Yes, I…had an unexpected visitor to my office yesterday afternoon."

"Did you? Who might that have been?"

He didn't reply right away. "Edward, not that I'm not glad to hear from you, but I am unaccustomed to receiving calls from you out of the blue or so early in the morning. It all makes me suspect-"

"Fine. Let's cut to the chase," I hissed into the phone. "Where the fuck do you get off accusing her of using me?"

"It was a question, Edward, not an accusation, and you can't blame me for-"

"Oh yes, I fucking can," I growled, gripping the phone tighter. "After all the shit Alice pulled because she's rarely heard the word 'No,' from you, I can blame you for plenty, especially when you accuse the innocent party in this mess of something so underhanded."

"Edward-"

"You had no right to go around accusing Bella of-"

"First of all, Edward, as I said, I didn't go around accusing anyone of anything. The young lady came to me; she sought me out, not the other way around. Second of all, it was a natural conclusion."

"Only a man who never reined in his offspring, and who still refuses to see the damage he caused by it, would consider it a natural conclusion to accuse the victim of wrongdoing."

"Jesus, Edward," my father breathed. "I do see the damage I caused…the damage your sister caused and the hurt she caused not only Miss Swan…but you as well. I see the part I played in it, which is why I asked Miss Swan the question I asked. Perhaps I'm late to do so, but if you're involved with her, I need to make sure-"

I chuckled bitterly and shook my head in disbelief at the sky as if the unfortunate heavens were somehow to blame for the idiocy that was my father.

"You're right, Dad; your efforts at fatherly concern on my behalf are a day late and a dollar short. You don't need to make sure of a damn thing when it comes to me. I'm a grown man."

"Why did she seek me out then, Edward? It wasn't regarding her ex-husband, or Alice, or JJ. I asked her point-blank, and she confirmed she wasn't interested in knowing anything about any of them. That left you."

"Don't worry about it, Dad. What you should be worried about is your daughter, who's a grown woman as well, yet not only hasn't she learned to be responsible for herself, I'm not confident at all that she's doing the job she should for her own son, not while that piece of shit boyfriend of hers continues to be her main focus."

"I try, Edward." He sighed heavily, and I could almost see him raking a hand through his graying hair. "You don't even know the complete picture of the mess Alice has made of her life."

"You think I don't?" I scoffed, watching my furious breaths swirl in the chill of the morning air. "You may not see me around much, Dad, not while you're locked in your office, hiding behind your responsibilities as a world-renowned surgeon, but I'm there enough to see how JJ spends more and more time with Mom, and I try to spend time with him too despite my schedule. All the while, Alice fights with that bastard, and he stays out all night, without a care in the world."

"Jesus," he expelled, "you do know."

"Yeah, I do, and I warned her, more than once, and from the very beginning, what a piece of garbage a man like that would end up being. No matter what, she's my sister, and I warned her that a man who would do what that fucker did to his ex-wife would eventually end up fucking her over as well. But as usual, Alice told me to fuck off. So, you see? Your focus needs to be on your grandson's well-being now because he's the one who got the short end of the stick here. That's what you should be watching – that and your mouth," I warned, "if you ever happen to unexpectedly meet up with Bella again."

"As I told Miss Swan when she was in my office, I do apologize if I offended her," he said, sounding genuinely contrite. "I promise you, it wasn't my intent. Edward…" he hesitated, "I see the difference between her and Alice, and our short discussion weighed on me all night. Please pass that on to her if…Edward, should I expect to meet with her again?"

"You're missing the point of this conversation."

"She came to see me, and yes, I told her of how you came to her defense, time and time again, how you stood against your own family to protect her. And yes, I asked a question I probably shouldn't have asked, not if she was a woman who you respected and trusted because…your respect and trust aren't easily earned, and I bear full responsibility for that."

"Dad, I didn't call to discuss our-"

"Afterward, all she asked for was your address, and obviously, she at least spoke with you last evening. So, what does all this mean, son?"

"It means this conversation is over. I said what I needed to say, and I don't know that you'll ever meet with Bella again."

It was a purposely vague and misleading statement, but I'd made the mistake of trusting my father regarding Bella once, the last time she and I were at the cusp of a relationship. That ended in disaster, through my fault more than anything. Nevertheless, I wouldn't be making the same mistakes again. What was more, if I had to keep my father away from Bella, if I had to resort to keeping our relationship unknown to him indefinitely as a way to guard her against the dangers of his blinding love for his daughter, I'd do it without a second's hesitation.

"As I said, Dad, put your belated efforts at fatherly concern where they're needed, and they're not needed in my life. I don't mean that combatively, just as a fact. Focus on the one who still needs fucking guidance, and the one who has a young life depending on her to get her shit together."

"Edward, whatever I've done in regards to Miss Swan and you…I've meant well."

I chuckled mirthlessly. "Yeah, Dad; we all know what the road to hell is paved with. Take care, old man."

OOOOO

I was still in a foul mood as I got off the elevator. As luck would have it, Emmett was in the office bright and early, and he happened to pass by as I stepped off the elevator. When he spotted me, he stopped in his tracks and whistled low through his teeth.

"That's not at all the expression I expected to see you wearing first thing this morning of all mornings."

I offered him a smirk and nothing more as I strode toward my office. Of course, he followed and fell in step with me, checking his watch.

"And I sure as hell wasn't expecting you in this early."

"Why not?" I asked dryly, keeping my eyes ahead of me. "I'm usually in at this time."

"Yeah, but that was before."

With my anger fading at the reminder of Bella, I offered him a grin as I opened the door to my office.

"Before what?"

Emmett was quiet as I walked around my desk, pulled open the window shades, and let the daylight in. Then, I set down my laptop bag atop the slew of papers crowding my desk. When I finally looked at him again, he stood by the door, his brow furrowed.

"I didn't imagine it all…did I?" he asked. "It wasn't part of a hangover…was it?"

Taking a seat behind my desk, I pulled out my laptop and kept my eyes on it as I powered it on.

"I don't know. How much did you drink last night? Maybe you blacked out."

When I looked up at him again, he stood stiffly by the door, his frown deepening.

"Has that been happening a lot lately, Em? Have you been blacking out? Has your Latino half abandoned you and you've found yourself recently…you know, unable to account for lost time?"

For another handful of seconds, he continued staring at me, that baffled expression growing until abruptly, a broad grin spread across his face.

He barked a laugh. "Hah! Eff you, Ed!"

With a chuckle, I returned to my laptop. "I almost had you."

"The hell you did. I was just worried for a sec there that you'd screwed it up again almost as fast as you did last time."

"Asshole," I snorted.

He snickered shamelessly and plopped himself on the chair across from me.

"I mean, when you stepped off that elevator just now, you did not have the look of a guy who just spent the night making up for lost time in the arms of the woman he loves, if you know what I mean." He gyrated his hips wildly and grinned lasciviously.

"A blind man would know what you meant," I scowled.

He kept laughing as he lifted his feet on my desk and folded his hands behind his head.

"With the way you looked, I didn't want to send you into complete fucking despondency and uselessness – at least not until after this morning's meeting with the FDA – by asking you how your night went."

I shot him a glare while replying to morning emails.

"So…how did it go?"

"I thought you didn't want to ask?"

"I know it wasn't Bella that had you looking so pissed off just now. I could practically feel your elation through the laptop a few hours ago while we skyped."

With a deep breath, I finished my email, took a deep breath, and sat back against my chair.

"I can't even play it off. She is…a dream come true, in every way."

Emmett chuckled heartily, but then he quickly sobered. "I'm glad for you. Truly. If anyone deserves that shit, it's you."

"Yeah, well, I don't know about it being shit, or about deserving her, but I'm sure as hell going to do my best to keep her happy from here on in. She deserves happiness. She deserves the world. She deserves everything I can give her…and even those things I can't."

I swallowed hard, and my mind returned to my father and his bullshit, which caused a heavy breath of frustration to escape me. Emmett, of course, caught it.

"So, what is that about then? Because you look at turns thrilled and at turns, like you're ready to wring a neck."

"It's about my father."

"Ahh," he nodded as if those four words explained all my strife, which I suppose they did.

"Just…interference from him again where and when it's not needed; nothing changes." I rubbed my fingers hard against my jaw in lingering aggravation. "But I took care of him this morning."

"That explains the 'I'm-ready-to-bash-a-face-in' look you stepped off the elevator with, the one that had everyone on the floor scattering in a thousand different directions."

I chuckled and quirked a brow. "Everyone except you."

Emmett sighed dramatically. "Yeah, well, that's long-suffering me for you. Like I said, for a sec there, I thought you'd screwed it all up again, or that maybe you'd dreamed her up once more," he teased.

"Not this time, no," I said quietly.

"You sure?" Emmett kept taunting. "You sure you weren't just relieving all that…built-up tension into a pillow last night?" Now, he pretended to thrust against my desk, roaring with laughter and lunging out of the chair as I flung a paperweight at him.

"I won't believe it 'til I see her, Ed!"

"Go do some work 'til it's time for the meeting," I growled.

Emmett was unfazed, as usual. "Fine, fine. But we're scheduled for our H5N2 boosters this afternoon after lunch. It's the batch prepped as part of the sample we sent the FDA, and there's just enough for our team."

"There are no extras?"

"Unfortunately not, and there won't be any more until the first batch for the general public is out, and that won't be for a couple of weeks. But you know what we're taught: 'You have to protect yourself before you protect others.'"

"Yeah. Yeah, that's what they say," I agreed thoughtfully.

"Seriously, Ed, if you plan on disappearing after the meeting to meet up with your imaginary novia," – he thrust against the air – "make sure you return in time to get your shot, or I guarantee you, someone else 'll try to finagle it for themselves."

This time, my stapler missed him by millimeters, hitting the wall behind him instead and cracking the plaster.

"Hah! I hope you had better aim than that last night!" His ensuing laughter echoed down the halls.

With a quiet chuckle of my own, I got to work, driven by new and unfamiliar inducements.

The first inducement was that in a few, short hours, I'd be with Bella again, and the time we spent together might be precious time indeed. Soon, with her new book deal, she'd most likely be traveling, and we'd be separated once again.

And the second inducement was the almost-certain knowledge that Bella was going to be traveling around the country…and the west coast, while an H5N2 virus still remained at large. Thankfully, there was a dose of the booster waiting for me, and as soon as I met her for lunch this afternoon...I'd be ensuring Bella received it.

A/N: Thoughts?

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