EPOV
I sit watching Bella's chest rise and fall while the machines around her beep. She shouldn't be in this hospital at all, let alone in fucking Florida of all places.
After her dad shot Aro, I was a little mystified by his actions after spending days in close quarters with Doc's father.
He asked questions but reminded me we were on a need-to-know basis. He didn't want to know anything about Aro or his family; he just wanted to help keep his daughter safe.
And that he did, he didn't even hesitate when he pulled the trigger.
I look down feeling drool seep through my shirt.
Coco has refused to let go of me since we arrived at the hospital, and with all the news crews catching wind of Bella being brought into the hospital with a gunshot wound, it has been a media circus.
I sigh.
"Need a break, kid," Charlie asks from the chair he's been sitting in for the past hour.
"I think we all need a vacation," I tell him dryly.
Charlie is a very reasonable man but I could see all reason flying out the door in regards to Bella. She was his child and the way he took charge in Miami is something I will never forget.
"Fucking Carmen," I snap dropping my phone into the cup holder.
With how evasive she's being I guarantee she's with Bella and Emmett.
"Problem, kid?" Charlie asks while he drives.
"An ally isn't cooperating," I tell him.
"Does it have anything to do with that sunny demeanor of yours?" he asks as his mustache twitches.
I glare.
"You and Bella seem like an odd pair—"
"What?"
"Just remembering how me and Bella's mother had an unconventional relationship," he muses.
"Doc doesn't talk much about her mother," I supply, but my interest is more than a little piqued.
"I suppose she wouldn't, they're not close," he says. "Bella takes more after me than her mom, though she can be as stubborn as Renee."
"You say we're an odd pair, what's your assessment of me?" I ask curiously.
"Well, I haven't seen the two of you together, but I know how much of a bleeding heart my daughter has. You seem like a control freak and maybe like someone who is used to getting what they want," he offers, giving me a sideways glance.
He isn't wrong.
"I started out as her patient," I confess quietly, talking to Doc's dad is a lot like talking to Doc, easy. "I have an anxiety disorder and panic attacks."
He nods but no judgment comes from him.
"Were you a patient when you started dating?"
I shake my head opting to not verbalize a lie.
"Doc is incredible, like just one of a kind," I tell him honestly.
Charlie was right Doc did have a bleeding heart, it bled for me and Coco, hell, maybe it bled for the whole Cullen family. The girl just threw herself into the chaos without an ounce of regret, she did what she needed to do.
I didn't want this to be the way we got Coco back. This was my opportunity to do things legit, this didn't have to end in a blood bath, but I got the feeling with Bella going after Aro that would be the outcome.
"What's your niece like?" Charlie asks.
"She's three," I say confused.
"I know that, but she obviously has a personality," he says with a laugh.
I think about Coco and how she thinks she knows everything.
"She's a lot like my sister was at that age… she marches to the beat of her own drum. Hung on every word Alice would say, her mama always knew best according to her. She's like that with Bella, though Bella encourages her confidence. They both grew attached to each other quickly," I say thoughtfully, understanding why Bella went after her.
"Your sister was gone longer than a week, wasn't she?" Charlie asks, already knowing the answer.
Aro found us almost two weeks after we left Martha's Vineyard. Between the women hiding out at Emmett's and then us staying at the hotel, Bella and Coco were together twenty-four, seven for those two weeks.
I turn to look at him. "I thought all of this was a need-to-know with you," I say with a sigh.
"Just want to know what I'm getting myself into," he tells me. "Bella isn't one to hunt someone down, she is usually rational."
I nod.
Hours pass and it's dark when we arrive in Miami, Liam is parked down the street from the gate.
"Have you seen them?" I ask.
He shakes his head.
I look both ways down the street when I catch a clunker sedan sticking out like a sore thumb. I jog toward it with Charlie following me.
I spot Emmett immediately slumping down in his seat, his window down.
"Where is she?" I ask impatiently.
He stares straight ahead.
"Where is my daughter, son?" Charlie asks, stepping beside me.
"Your B's pop?" Emmett asks, surprised.
Charlie nods.
"They went to the southeast edge of the gate where there is an opening," he squeals.
I take off already knowing the specifics of the property Aro was hiding at. I had Liam running surveillance since they got there.
When we get to the house the front door is cracked open, Charlie steps in first.
I can see Carmen grasping the staircase near the top of the stairs holding onto her arm . She sees me and crooks her head to the side where we can hear Aro blathering away.
He's close.
I turn my head to see Aro with his Glock aimed into a room, when he starts to pull the trigger Charlie doesn't even hesitate.
Bella emerged from the room with Coco clinging to her. I stepped forward taking both of them into my arms when I noticed the blood on her right shoulder.
We took Bella to the closest hospital and had Liam take Carmen to get her arm looked at. The doctors said that Bella had been running on pure adrenaline when she fainted. She was finally giving in to the shock her body was feeling.
Coco has been incoherently babbling about her angel mama which I assume was Alice and her Bella. Part of me hopes this night doesn't stick with her and that it's exhaustion making her delirious.
Emmett has even been admitted into a room because of his pain. They shouldn't have left Boston, but who knows how this would have panned out if we had stuck to Carlisle's plan.
Bella starts to move but I notice her wince.
"Edward?" she asks in a raspy voice.
"Take it easy, Doc," I murmur, shifting Coco slightly in my arms.
She blinks a couple of times before bringing her hand on her good side up to rub Coco's back. Her tears start to flow.
"Hey, she's okay," I assure her.
She shakes her head.
"She is," I reaffirm.
Charlie stands coming to stand on her other side.
"Dad?" she says much as she did back at that house.
"I'm here, kiddo," he says, giving her hand a squeeze.
"You came with Edward?" she asks, confused looking between the two of us.
"I can admit this was an interesting way of getting to know my son-in-law," he teases, giving me a wary look.
I want to tell him it's done. All of the need-to-know stuff is over with, it died with Aro.
That is the truth.
"You kill—" she starts before Charlie carefully interrupts her.
"I stopped that man from harming you and little Coco here," he tells her. "I couldn't get a hold of you and then you were all over the news, Bells. I got on the first flight out to Boston I could get."
She nods wiping at her face.
"My shoulder," she whimpers.
"You were lucky it didn't shatter anything but the bullet grazed you pretty good," I tell her.
"Carmen?" she asks.
"Hers went through her arm but the nurse said it was a pretty clean shot, didn't even hit the bone," I tell her brushing her hair back.
"Emmett?"
"His ass is back in a hospital bed, but he'll live," I say with a shrug.
She glares at me.
I hold Coco's sleeping form close when I lean down giving Doc's pout a peck.
"You still salty with me?" I ask when I pull back only slightly.
"You came after me," she says, frowning.
"Did you honestly think I wouldn't?" I ask with a snort.
"I thought you'd be pissed," she mumbles.
Charlie clears his throat.
"I'm going to grab a coffee," he says leaving the room.
"So my dad knows?"
"Your dad has established a need-to-know policy with me, which truly, he probably knows enough but doesn't want anything confirmed," I explain, coming around on her good side to lay Coco down beside her.
"Are you pissed?" she asks while her fingers run through Coco's curls.
"I think we're even," I say, letting out a breath. "You were pissed, I was pissed, now it's all said and done."
"Is it though?" she whispers, still stroking Coco's blonde locks.
I heave out another sigh.
"I asked for the lies to stop and maybe I should have been more clear that secret plans were included in that promise, but you deliberately kept me out because you knew I wouldn't approve," she says, keeping eye contact with me. "What is it going to be like when we have children?"
I look down at Coco briefly before I hold Doc's gaze again.
"We already do," I say quietly because Coco is now ours.
"You let him take her, Edward," she says, her voice breaking.
I feel what she's feeling when I look at both of them.
Tonight I could have lost everything.
I run my hand roughly over my face feeling moisture hit my skin.
"I know that I will need to work to earn your trust back, Doc, but I want to be clear we are fifty-fifty partners in this marriage, in this life," I tell her, taking her hand in mine.
She plays with my fingers looking up at me.
"Tonight was scary," she confesses.
"Oh, yeah?" I say gently, taking a seat beside her on the bed.
"I heard Coco screaming for Alice and then me… Maria told her we were gone, but she wouldn't listen, then she ran out into the hall and saw me—" she stops giving Coco a squeeze.
The pain in her beautiful brown eyes squeezes my heart.
I brush her hair back and sigh because Doc is the person I know I can't live without. We spent months in this warzone and I hoped that this was truly the other side of it. No more death, no more carnage. I just wanted to live my life with her.
"We don't need to rehash everything, Doc."
It's her turn to sigh.
"How bad is the damage?" she asks me tiredly.
"Miami P.D. wants to get a statement. Aro had one of his men kidnap you," I tell her hoping this is the last lie for us. "Your dad is the hero."
"Will Aro's men come after him?"
"All his top Capo's have been arrested. It's doubtful that any will get out. Garrett is their new boss. They answer to him," I explain.
All the logistics were in the contract the remaining families signed with Carlisle.
Doc moves ever so slightly when I catch her wince.
"You have twelve stitches, champ," I tell her, hating the fact that she had to get stitches at all.
She looks up through her lashes at me.
"You were right," she tells me before looking back down at Coco.
"About what?"
"Your plan, I worry that she's now scarred because I wouldn't listen," she says quietly.
"She's scarred because Aro chased you both with a fucking Glock. You were hurt in front of her, she's still too young to comprehend what happened tonight," I say, trying to reassure her even though I was right.
I wasn't about trying to look like a know it all.
Bella threw caution to the wind once, where I've done it my whole life. I can't fault her for going after what she wanted also, I was thankful she was giving me the time of day right now. I knew if she wanted to she could now leave my ass with the help of her father.
Though Charlie and I have slightly bonded, he would always side with Doc. She was his kid and after today he would sure as hell take a life for her if it was to keep her safe.
"Are we good now, Doc?" I ask hoping she'll say yes.
She bites her lip.
"I think we need to work on communication and trust," she says honestly.
I nod.
At least she was giving me an inch, it was more than I could have asked for.
I lean down, she fists my t-shirt pulling me gently down to her lips.
We might not be perfect but we will survive this.
I pull away. "Bell?" I ask softly wanting to ask her the one question I needed an answer for since we found her at Aro's safe house.
"Edward," she murmurs sleepily.
"Why the hell were you wearing a Yankees cap?" I ask finally since it was bugging the hell out of me.
Her answering laugh suddenly breaks all the tension.