Bella eventually started to come around and she squirmed in Rosalie's grasp. "Rose, what are you doing?"
"You passed out, Bella." Rosalie readjusted her arms so that Bella couldn't escape the hold. "You need to stay still. You've been out for a few minutes and your pulse rate is extremely worrying."
Recognition drew on Bella's face and the only colour she had drained from her face. "Rose… I need…"
Rose thrust her forward on her lap just as Esme shoved the trash can into Bella's waiting hands.
Bella's stomach contents were empty so she retched for a few moments with bile. She wiped her mouth and slowly leaned back into Rose's grasp.
Esme moved the trash can out of the way and reassuringly massaged Bella's clammy hands. "It's okay, Bella. Carlisle and Edward are on their way, just rest." She rushed off to the kitchen to get a glass of ice cold water.
Rosalie kept a close eye on Bella's heart rate; monitoring her face for any signs of pains or discomfort.
Bella's eyes were fighting to stay open and her breathing was becoming shallow. Carlisle needed to arrive swiftly but Rosalie knew it would take at least an hour now.
"Esme," She grabbed Esme's attention softly before she could come back into the bedroom. "Can you get Carlisle's bag?"
Esme stopped, turning to head back to Carlisle's study. She grabbed his black medical bag and made her way back to Rosalie.
Rosalie leaned over the bed and pulled an oxygen mask out of the bag and connected it to the oxygen canister. "Bella, I'm going to give you some oxygen. Your body is fighting very hard for air; I'm going to make it a little easier for you."
Bella resisted Rosalie's attempts to hold the oxygen mask against her mouth. Her whimpers were heart-breaking but Rosalie couldn't risk Bella's breathing worsening. "It's okay; it's going to make it much easier, I promise."
Bella's resistance started to falter sluggishly; Rosalie put it down to exhaustion. She didn't have the energy to fight anymore.
"Please not Carlisle." Bella whimpered lifelessly. It was hard to hear her over the noise of the breathing mask but Rosalie's vampire hearing heard it just fine.
"Hush Bella, don't worry about anything. Just rest." Rosalie didn't have the words to make Bella feel better. She didn't think there were any words that could make her feel better; not in this situation anyway.
Esme perched herself on the edge of Rosalie's bed, taking Bella's hands in her own. She seemed to want to say something but couldn't figure out what. It was hard for her to see her youngest daughter struggling. She wanted to take all her pain away.
"Her pulse is stabilising." Rosalie murmured to her lightly; readjusting Bella in her arms so that she was more comfortable.
"What happened?" Esme already knew Bella had vomited in the bathroom but she was confused as to how ill she had become so quickly.
"When your body starves for a while, you lose muscle mass, both the skeletal and cardiac type. Essentially, the heart weakens which increases the chances of heart failure. A weakened heart makes breathing difficult." Rosalie spoke as those she was completely detached from the situation. She didn't want to associate these words with Bella, but it was the truth.
"So this has been going on for a while?" Esme couldn't stand to comprehend the situation. Venom stabbed at her eyes and she knew if she were human she'd be crying. She chided herself for not being more observant. How could she not notice Bella's failing health?
"Don't blame yourself, Esme." Rosalie started as though she could read every thought. "People with eating disorders are incredibly secretive. They go above and beyond to ensure no one finds out their secret. If you don't know what to look for, you often don't see it. If anyone is to blame for this; its me. I saw the signs; I just didn't piece them together. Just last night I said to Emmett something was off. If only i'd have-"
Esme cut Rosalie off quickly. "Stop." Her voice was stern. "It's no one's fault. Let's just focus on Bella."
By now, Bella's situation had stabilised. Her breathing was weak but normal and she slept soundly in Rosalie's arms. Her body was cool although her face held some signs of fever.
"Can I hold her?" Esme asked. She knew Rosalie's arms wouldn't tire from holding Bella for so long but she felt helpless just sat there watching.
Rosalie seemed to understand and handed Bella over quietly. "I'm going to dampen the wash cloth again; she should be okay now."
Esme didn't look up as Rosalie left the room. She just concentrated on Bella's peaceful face. Her eyelids were a light purple and you could see the veins pulsating. She looked so small lying there. Esme could almost feel her heart breaking.
She hadn't seen Bella in over a week but she thought she surely should have noticed something even then. Bella had been losing this weight weeks before that.
Looking down at Bella's body resting against her own was startling. Bella's skin was almost paler than hers. You could see her ribs protruding even from underneath the vest top Rosalie had dressed her in.
"Oh Bella," Esme found herself murmuring to herself. "You don't need to hurt anymore. I'm right here, I promise."
As Rosalie brought a fresh washcloth into the room, Esme heard Carlisle's Mercedes pull up into the driveway.
Before the car stopped, Edward was already rushing into the house and up the stairs to Rosalie's room.
"Edward," Rosalie began, standing at the doorway to block his entry momentarily. "She's sleeping. She's okay."
Edward had read both their minds. He'd seen the images Rosalie had seen when she found Bella in the bathroom. He'd seen how she'd undressed her and given her oxygen. He pushed
past her at the door and stood in front of Esme.
"Please," He whispered. "Let me hold her now."
Esme handed Bella over to Edward and stood from the bed to let him sit down. Carlisle had arrived and was stood in the doorway so Esme moved to be near him.
"Bella, Bella, Bella," Edward's voice was breaking. His jaw was set tightly and his hands almost grasped at Bella's body.
"Son," Carlisle's voice was cool; collected. "You're going to hurt her; you need to loosen your grip a little."
Edward released Bella quickly and settled for stroking her face.
"What are we going to do, Carlisle?" Esme asked sadly.
"Nothing until Bella wakes up." He started, pulling her to his side. "I need to confirm that this is an eating disorder and I cannot do that without Bella's confirmation. I'll need to speak with her and also examine her with her consent. For now, we should let her get some rest. Rosalie did a good job at stabilising her condition."
"Are you kidding?" Rosalie was starting to get irritated. "This is definitely an eating disorder. All you need to do is look at her. All you need to do is observe the fact that she made herself sick; she hid food; she's lost a tremendous amount of weight. She-"
Carlisle held up a steady hand. "That's enough, Rosalie. We'll let Bella sleep in peace for now. I'll come back and check on her when she awakens." With that, he and Esme left the room.
"Edward?" Rosalie asked hopefully when they were gone. "You believe me right? Bella needs us to help her."
"She's sick, Rose." Edward replied quietly and Rosalie thought he agreed with her. He didn't, because moments later he spoke again. "I think she's been working herself too hard and stressed herself out. When she wakes, I know she'll be back to her normal self. She's got a stomach bug, you said so yourself."
Rosalie was too angry to say anything. There was no point arguing with him; not when he was in such denial. She clenched and unclenched her fists at her side before turning her back. She needed to run; to get air; to think about the situation. She needed to get away.
When she got to the edge of the yard, she ran towards the forest as if she'd never ran before. She ran and she never stopped.