7

My head ached. That was the first thought I had as I felt the darkness begin to pull away from me. I tried to lift my hand up to my head, but someone pulled it down. Snapping my eyes open, I looked around frantically, finding Carlisle sitting next to my bed, my hand clutched tightly in his. He had tears in his eyes, and based on the puffiness around them, he had been crying a lot.

"Hey," he whispered as another tear slid down his face.

"Hey," I murmured, wincing as my throat hurt. "Can I have some water?"

He nodded as he reached over and picked up the small, foam cup sitting on the rolling table. He brought the straw up to my lips, letting me take a small sip. "Better?"

"Yeah," I said, shifting my eyes around the room. I was in the hospital, a private room from the looks of it. On a small couch along the far wall, laid the boys. They were asleep, and my heart broke as I thought about Renee pushing Michael, about her calling him such a horrible name. He was a little boy, he shouldn't have had to deal with her. I looked over at Carlisle. "Are they okay?"

Carlisle's gaze shifted over his shoulder at his sons. "Scared, but okay. They refused to leave."

"Good," I said, causing him to look back at me. "I want them here. Where I know they're safe."

He nodded, bringing my hand up to his lips. Another tear slipped down his face, falling onto my knuckle. "Baby," I whispered.

"I was so scared," he whimpered. "You hit your head so hard, and there was so much blood. The boy were screaming, and . . ." He looked up at me. "She left before I could stop her, Isabella."

I inhaled a sharp breath. "Figures."

"You have to press charges against her," he said.

But before either of us could say anything else, the door to my room opened and we looked over, finding Dr. Edward Masen walking in. Tall, he had dark auburn hair and deep, emerald green eyes. He'd been working at Forks Memorial Hospital for almost three years, which of course coincided with Jasper's arrival at Forks High School.

"Bella," he said, shaking his head. "I thought I told you I didn't want you to see you in here anymore?"

"Wasn't my fault this time," I said.

"No, I know it wasn't," he muttered, before looking over at Carlisle. "Dr. Cullen."

"Cut the formality, Edward. She knows everything," he snickered.

When Edward shifted his attention back to me, I nodded. "Oh," he said. "Jasper didn't say anything."

"Not surprising," I laughed, then winced when my head began to throb worse.

"That hurt?" he asked, and I nodded. "You have a pretty severe concussion."

"I assumed as much," I grumbled. "Guess I'm stuck here for a while?"

Thought he tried to hide it, he smiled. "At last overnight. Maybe a day or two, depending."

"On?" I asked.

"On, if the MRI shows the small brain bleed has stopped tomorrow," Carlisle said, causing me to look over at him. "It's minor, but we don't want to take any chances."

"Yeah, makes sense," I whispered.

"Bella," Edward said, drawing my attention back to him. "Sam Uley and Jacob Black are waiting to speak to you." His eyes shifted to Carlisle. "And they want to do it alone."

"No," I said, immediately. "Carlisle stays."

From the corner of my eye, I saw him smile, but I couldn't face them again, not alone. Last time they'd made me feel like I was a fool, an idiotic child getting swept away in a fairy tale romance with a predator. I'd been humiliated.

Edward nodded, before he turned and walked out of my room. Taking a deep breath, I pushed myself up in my bed, wincing again. Carlisle inhaled sharply and I looked over at him, finding him staring at my arm. I followed his gaze and saw bruises left behind my mother. Perfect handprints, just another reminder of how much my mother hated me.

The door to my room opened once again, and I looked over as Jacob, Sam, and Edward walked back inside. Jacob and Sam stopped next to my bed, while Edward walked over and leaned against the wall next to where Michael and Tyler were sleeping.

"Bella," Jacob said, his tone soft and somber.

"What do you want?" I asked. "Did you come here just to harass us again?"

"No," Sam mumbled, looking thoroughly embarrassed. "We realize now that we acted hastily before."

"Gee, you think?" Carlisle snarled, causing both men to glare at him.

I tightened my grip on his hand, hoping that he would keep his cool. The last thing we needed right now was for him to get into trouble. Turning my attention back to Jacob and Sam, I said, "What do you want?"

"We need to know if you want to press charges against her," Jacob said, shifting uneasily from one foot to the other.

I sighed. "I won't want to," I admitted, feeling Carlisle tense next to me. I looked over at him. "But I will." He relaxed, though I knew he was still worried. I turned back to Jacob and Sam. "She's out of control. It's one thing to lash out at me, but to hurt Michael is too much for me to ignore."

Sam and Jacob snapped their attention over to where the boys lay, and I realized that Carlisle hadn't told them about how Renee had pushed him down, how she'd called him a fucking little brat.

"I think you both need to tell us exactly what happened today," Jacob said, grabbing a chair and pulling it up to sit next to my bed while Sam pulled out a small note pad and pen.

Sighing, I told them about my mother. While I spoke, I noticed that Edward had inched closer and closer to the boys, almost like he was trying to protect them. Maybe he was, maybe he saw my mother as a threat to them, too. I still couldn't believe that she had disregarded them so nonchalantly. She wasn't the person who had raised me, the mother who would sit on my bed and brush my hair as a little girl. No, the Renee Swan I knew was long gone, lost to her grief and the booze she used to ease it.

"Okay," Sam said, blowing out a heavy breath. "So, the bruise from the other day. That was from her, too?"

I nodded.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Jacob asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Would you have believed me? If I had told you that my mother, the woman who was sobbing in the hallway, had struck me, would you have believed me?"

"Probably not," he admitted. "But you should have told us, Bella."

"Why? You two had already made up your minds, hadn't you? I was just the naïve little girl being lured into having an affair with an older, depraved man? Isn't that why you dragged me into Mr. Greene's office and humiliated me?"

"We had to talk to you, we had to ask," Sam rambled.

"No, you didn't," I argued. "Look, Carlisle and I are the first to admit that our relationship is unusual, but I love him, and he loves me. I sat there, and damn near begged you to believe me, but you didn't. You treated me like the victim of a child molester."

"We're sorry," Sam said, "but we had a job to do, and that meant asking the hard questions."

"If you say so," I replied, coolly.

"So what happens now?" Carlisle asked, trying to change the subject.

"Well, we have an APB out on Renee. So far, she hasn't returned to the house, or the diner. We've already put in a request for a restraining order against her, stopping her from coming near you, Bella. We'll call the judge in the morning and add Dr. Cullen, Michael, and Tyler to the list, as well."

"I appreciate that," Carlisle said.

"Sure, sure," Jacob mumbled, not really meaning it. But my head hurt too much to argue with him about his sour attitude. "We'll be in touch in the morning, okay?"

I nodded, and he and Sam left. Bringing my hand up, I patted against the gauze covering the wound dug into my forehead. I let my hand fall back onto the bed as I looked over at Carlisle, who had his eyes locked on me, a frown etched on his lips.

"Hey, smile for me," I whispered. Though his lips curved upward, it didn't reach his eyes. I sighed. "You're impossible."

"It's why you love me so much, right?"

"Just one of the reasons," I said.

Edward laughed, reminding us of his presence.

"Shut up," I groused.

"So rude," he teased. Pushing away from the wall, he walked up and stood next to Carlisle. "Why don't I take the boys home with me? My shift is almost over and Jas can bring them up tomorrow. They can get a real night's sleep."

"Sure, that'd be great. Thanks," Carlisle said, looking up at me. "You can stop by my house and grab them some clothes, if you want."

"Jas still has some of his nephew's clothes at the house. They should fit until we can get over there tomorrow," he said.

Carlisle nodded.

Edward turned to me. "Rest. If your headache gets worse, call the nurse. They'll give you something. Any shooting pain, or double vision, call the nurse. They will call me immediately. Don't be strong, Bella."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, Dr. Masen," I muttered, waving him off.

"Call me Edward," he said, winking at me.

Carlisle stood up and walked over to the couch, kneeling next to it and shaking the boys awake. They whined as they sat up, rubbing their eyes and looking past their father and over at me. Their eyes widened as they traveled to the bandage on my forehead.

"Bella," Tyler cried, running over and trying to climb onto my bed.

Carlisle picked him up and set him on the side. Immediately, Tyler had his body wrapped around mine, his tears seeping through the thin hospital gown I was wearing. Michael had attached himself to Carlisle's leg, looking up at me with wide, fearful eyes. Frowning, I opened my other arm up to him, causing him to cry when Carlisle lifted him onto the bed and he curled himself around me.

"I'm sorry, Bella," he wept.

"Oh, sweetheart, you didn't do anything wrong," I whispered, trying to sooth them.

"Uh huh," he cried. "If hadn't been so loud, she wouldn't have grabbed you and tried to take you away from us."

"Michael, look at me," I said, and he leaned up. "You and Tyler did nothing wrong. Your daddy didn't do anything wrong, and I didn't do anything wrong. Okay? My mom, she needs help. And I really hope she'll get better one day, but nothing you said or did caused her to grab me."

"Come on, boys," Carlisle said, lifting Tyler off the bed first and then reaching for Michael. "You're going to stay with Edward and Jasper, okay?"

"No," Michael cried, clutching onto me. "We want to stay with Bella!"

"Yeah," Tyler whined, trying to climb back onto the bed.

My heart broke, because I didn't want them to go, either, but they couldn't stay with us. The hospital wasn't the place for them, and I didn't want Carlisle to leave me, either. It was selfish, but I needed him to hold me, to protect me incase Renee showed up again.

"Boys," I croaked, causing them to look over at me. "I know you want to stay, but I need you to be big boys and go with Edward, okay? Please?"

With trembling lips, they nodded. Michael climbed off the bed and walked over to Edward, sliding his tiny hand into his bigger one. Tyler rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand as he followed his brother's example.

Edward frowned as he looked from them and up to me and Carlisle. "I'll be in sometime in the morning."

"Okay, thank you," I whispered.

"You have my cell, right?" Carlisle asked.

Edward nodded before he led the boys out of my room, closing the door behind him. Carlisle closed his eyes for a moment, running his hands through his hair before turning back to me. I smiled and patted the bed next to me. He narrowed his eyes before he came over and sat down, causing me to pout.

"I want you here," I griped.

"If I get on the bed with you, I will smother you in kisses, Isabella," he told me.

"I don't see the bad in that," I admitted, causing him to laugh softly. "You okay?"

"You're asking if I'm okay? When you're laid up in this bed?" he asked.

I nodded.

Carlisle sighed. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me," he muttered.

I wasn't sure what to say, so instead I just laid there, staring at him.

"No, I'm not okay," he admitted. "I'm terrified, Isabella."

"So am I," I whimpered.

He slid off his chair and onto the side of my bed, draping his arm over my legs while bringing his other hand up to my face. "I thought you were dead. You wouldn't wake up, and . . ."

"Why didn't you tell the police about her pushing Michael?"

Carlisle tensed. "Because I didn't want him to have to talk to them, to tell them what she had done, what she had said. I hoped like hell that you would agree about pressing charges, that you would be enough. He's just a little boy."

"Makes sense," I said.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"For what?" I asked.

His lips trembled. "For protecting my son."

"Oh, love," I murmured, my eyes filling with tears. "You're welcome, I guess."

I grabbed his hand, pulling gently and silently begging him to lay with me. Smiling softly, he shifted and laid down next to me, keeping his fingers wrapped around mine. Yawning, I leaned my head against his shoulder, allowing my eyes to drift closed. Sleep found me quickly.

I was shaken away the next morning when I heard the door to my room close. Startled, I looked over, almost expecting my mother to be standing there. However, she wasn't. Instead, Dr. Gerandy was standing there, his eyes shifting from the man sleeping next to me, to me, and a look of disgust spread across his face.

"Carlisle," I whispered, shaking his arm. He grunted, but didn't wake up. "Carlisle, wake up."

"What?" he grumbled, trying to roll over. However, he seemed to have forgotten that he was in my hospital bed and nearly fell out. "Oh, shit!"

"Carlisle!" I exclaimed.

He turned to look at me, but his attention landed on his boss, causing him to tense. "Oh."

"Yeah," I muttered, really wishing I could leave. The room was filled with tension, and I hadn't slept well all night. Seemed like there was someone in my room every five minutes, checking my blood pressure, temperature, and pulse.

"Well," Dr. Gerandy said, ending the silence. "I see no point in exchanging pleasantries." He walked over to my bed. "I'm afraid we have a problem."

"You mean, you have a problem," Carlisle said. "With me, staying by the bedside of my girlfriend, who was injured yesterday."

"Girl is a fairly accurate term when referring to Miss Swan," Dr. Gerandy sneered, and I flinched. The venom in his voice was shocking. "I made myself clear, Dr. Cullen. You have chosen to ignore me, ignore the hospital."

Carlisle climbed off the bed and placed his hands on his hips. "And I made myself clear when I told you that I refuse to allow you or the board to tell me how to live my life, or who I am supposed to love."

Dr. Gerandy opened his mouth to offer a quick witted retort, but before he could, Carlisle held his hand up. "I'll save you the effort. I quit."

My mouth fell open as I looked at him. "Carlisle."

He shook his head. "No, I've made up my mind. I quit, effective immediately."

Dr. Gerandy flew out a harsh breath. "You have a contract."

"I do, and I don't care," he said. "But I'm sure if you take a good look at my contract, that you will find that by scheduling me to work more than sixty hours a week that you're in direct violation of said contract. And the stack of pay stubs I have proving that I've been working close to eighty hours a week, will make my attorney extremely happy."

Dr. Gerandy looked flabbergasted. He opened his mouth several times before he turned and walked out of my room. I shifted my attention to Carlisle, who released a deep breath and met my gaze.

"What did you do?"

"I just quit my job," he muttered, his eyes wide. "Shit, I just quit my job."

"Why? Why would you do that?" I demanded.

"I don't know," he exclaimed. "I just . . . and he . . . Oh, my fuck."

"Hey, calm down," I said, reaching for his hand. He clasped mine as he sat down on the side of my bed. "We knew that you were going to have to look for something new soon anyway, right?"

He nodded. "But I was thinking I'd still have this job while I search for a new one."

"Yeah, well, you don't," I scoffed. "I bet if you go find him, he'll let you stay."

Carlisle frowned. "Yeah, maybe."

"Talk to me," I said, pulling on his hand.

"I — I don't want this job. Not anymore. I hate it here," he grumbled. "But I have two little boys to take care of." He looked over at me. "And now you."

"Well, if you need money, I can always babysit," I teased.

He laughed, but shook his head. "I have savings, but I don't really want to use it."

"Hopefully, you won't have to," I said. "At least not much of it."

"I guess I'd better get my resume cleaned up," he mentioned. "Think he'd write me a letter of recommendation?"

I smiled. "Somehow, I doubt it."

"No shit," he snickered.

The door to my room opened once again, this time two security guards came charging in with Dr. Gerandy leading the way. He smirked as he pointed to Carlisle and said, "Remove him from the premises."

"What?" he exclaimed, standing up.

"You're no longer welcome here, Dr. Cullen," Dr. Gerandy snarled. "You gave up that right when you chose to quit."

"You can't kick me out of here. I have every right to stay here with her," Carlisle yelled as the guards grabbed his arms and started dragging him out of my room.

"Carlisle!" I screamed, reaching for him.

However, the IV in my hand and the wires watching my heart rate stopped me from being able to get out bed before he was out of my sight. The door to my room slammed shut as Dr. Gerandy left, taking the man I loved with him.

Thank you for all the reviews. I have to admit to being pleased by the response to the last chapter. I am an evil cliffie leaver, and as you can tell, I can't stop.