"Rose." Edward met the Cullen girls at the door to Charlie's as soon as they arrived. His face seemed paler than usual; something was wrong.
"Edward? What's the matter?" Rosalie pushed past him at the doorway; pointing a questioning look towards Alice to see why she had not seen a vision.
"Bella's future has been uncertain for weeks. Her future is clouded." Alice looked down at her feet, guiltily.
"It's Bella, she's not breathing properly." Before Edward could finish his sentence, Rosalie was pounding up the stairs to Bella's bedroom.
Bella was led across her bed, curled onto her side. Her hand was clutching her stomach and she was drenched in sweat. Her breathing was extremely laboured.
Rosalie rushed to her side; Esme on the other. "Bella? Bella, look at me?"
Bella moaned softly but made no other indication whether she could hear Rosalie or Esme.
"Bella." Rose tried to be stern this time. When there was no response, she pulled Bella onto her back and pressed her cheek towards Bella's pale lips.
Her breaths were slow and catching in her throat. Slowly, they began to decrease. "Bella, I need you to keep breathing. Come on Bella, come on." Rose shook her head quietly. "Bradypnea," She murmured under her breath.
In an instant, the room became silent. Bella's laboured breaths stopped; her body grew still.
"Goddammit Bella." Rose cursed, pulling Bella's t-shirt up to expose her chest. "Alice, calm Edward down; he's about to break down the door. Esme, I need rescue breaths."
As Rosalie and Esme began CPR, Alice held Edward on the bedroom floor.
Edward gaped at Bella's still form on the bed with a detached expression. Alice hugged him tight to her chest; without the deep pressure she feared he'd lose touch with reality completely.
After what seemed like a lifetime, the silence of the room was finally filled by shallow breathing.
Rosalie scooped Bella into her arms and raced to the cars in the driveway. "Alice, keep Edward here. I'll take Bella to the house with Esme; I can access the medical supplies there. We'll call Carlisle on the way."
With Alice's sound of approval, Rosalie wasted no time pulling the car into drive and heading towards the Cullen mansion.
Esme clutched Bella's limp body in her arms; constantly reassuring her it was going to be okay.
When they pulled up in the driveway, Emmett met them at the door and took Bella from Esme's grip. "What's happened?"
"Bella's heart stopped. We need to get her up to Carlisle's office immediately." Rosalie was seconds behind Emmett as he carried Bella into Carlisle's office and laid her on the bed.
Rosalie grabbed the wires of the cardiac monitor and began attaching them to Bella's skin. "Keep your eyes open, Bella, stay with me."
Bella groaned but was still quite groggy. She tried to swat the wires away but Rosalie held her arms gently. "I'm going to give you some oxygen, Bella. I don't want you giving out on me again."
Bella made a moan of protest but relaxed against Emmett's restraint as he took over from Rosalie. Her skin was pale and clammy; her lips and eyelids pale in the fluorescent light.
As Rosalie secured the oxygen mask over Bella's head, Bella's chest gave a sigh of protest and for a few seconds she fought for air.
"Bella, just keep breathing. Nice gentle breaths; that's it." Rosalie's calming voice soon got Bella to settle and the breathing monitor evened out.
Emmett loosened his grip and pulled up a chair to sit on. "What do we do now?"
"She's stable," Rosalie murmured gently; brushing a hair from Bella's ashen face. "We just need to watch her carefully until Carlisle comes back."
"Is she going to be okay?" Emmett looked at Bella questionably.
Rosalie took a seat beside him and reached for his hand. "She's put a lot of strain on her body and her heart is very weak because of it. Without food, the body eats the muscles instead, which has drastically weakened her ability to function and breathe."
"Oh Bella." Emmett muttered under his breath.
20 minutes passed, and Bella still remained semi-conscious. Esme brought up blankets and tried to get Bella to drink some warm tea without any luck.
Bella was still curled on her side, her arms tight around her torso. Her lips had lost their blue colour and were now a pale grey. Her hair was drenched in sweat.
Emmett had moved to the window to watch the outside world, and Rosalie sat on edge in her seat; ready to move and assist Bella if necessary.
A few minutes later, the repetitive beep of the heart monitor picked up pace and Bella stirred on the bed.
Her chest began contracting quickly and her face was becoming slightly red.
"Bella, don't you do this to me." Rosalie fled to Bella's side quickly, rolling her onto her back and removing the oxygen mask. She watched for breath and when there was none, she pulled a resuscitator from Carlisle's bag and began rescue breaths. "Emmett, chest compression's now. She's in ventricular fibrillation."
Emmett stood frozen for a few seconds before helping Rosalie.
Minutes passed with no improvements. "Emmett, look for a defibrillator. I think there's one in the cupboard."
Emmett nodded, bringing the defibrillator over to Rosalie at vampire speed.
"One, two, three, shocking." Bella's body rose from the bed momentarily, but nothing else happened.
"God damn it, Bella." Rosalie cursed, once again delivering a shock to Bella's heart. "Come on."
As the third shock was about to hit, Carlisle came through the office door. He took in the scene before him in seconds; heading for Bella. "Rose, keep going with the resuscitator for the moment. How long has she been without breaths?"
"Just over 5 minutes." Rosalie reported.
"I'm going to intubate her; I don't want to risk any brain damage." Once Carlisle had all the equipment he needed, he moved to replace Rosalie at the head of the bed. "Rosalie, insert the anaesthetic into her vein for me." He lifted Bella's chin towards him and placed the laryngoscope down her airway.
Once the anaesthetic was done, Rosalie handed over the tube and Carlisle carefully lowered it down Bella's windpipe.
When the tube was secured in the right place, Carlisle attached it to the ventilator Emmett had moved from the other side of the room. "Her condition should begin to stabilise now."
"Well done, Bella." Rosalie softly stroked Bella's now warm cheek. She sat down next to the bed and took Bella's hand in hers. "What are we going to do with you?"