8

The sound of the door closing behind them echoed throughout my head as I slipped out of the bed, dizzy from being off my feet for so long. I had just taken a step when I felt a tug on my hand and looked back to see the tubing on my IV pulling. Tears sprinkled down my cheeks as I gripped the IV. I was just about to yank it out of my hand when the door to my room opened and I looked over, finding Edward walking in. He had a smile on his face until he noticed the moisture on my face.

"Bella, what's wrong? Why are you out of bed?" he asked, rushing over and grabbing my arm.

"They took him away," I cried. "Made him leave."

"What are you talking about?" He nudged me backward, forcing me to sit on the bed.

"Dr. Gerandy came in this morning, pissed because Carlisle was in here with me. They started arguing and Carlisle quit. Dr. Gerandy left, but then he came back with two security guards and forced Carlisle out of my room," I blabbered on, still trying to tear my IV out.

"Stop it, Bella," he exclaimed, grabbing my hands. I looked up at him. "You're going to hurt yourself if you don't stop."

"Take it out, please. I need to find him," I wept.

"Bella," he said, warily. "I don't know that you're ready to leave the hospital."

"I don't care," I snapped. "I need to find him. Please!"

Edward sighed and stood up. He dug into the pockets of his doctor's coat, pulling out a small pen light. He shined it into both eyes before peeling the bandage on my head back, grimacing. "I'd really rather wait and do an MRI. Just to be safe."

"I am not staying here," I cried. "Edward, I need him. Please. He's everything to me."

Edward pressed his lips together before he grabbed the back of his neck. "Okay, just give me a minute. Please?"

I nodded, and tried to calm down as Edward pulled his cell phone from his pocket and made a phone call. He shifted his eyes to mine and said, "Carlisle, its Edward . . . No, no, she's not okay . . . She's very upset . . . So I've heard. Look, she's demanding that I release her . . . She's an adult, I can't very well force her to stay . . . Mmhmm . . . Okay, just a second." He paused and held his phone out to me. "He wants to talk to you."

I nearly ripped it from his hand, and brought it to my ear. "Carlisle, where are you?"

"Isabella, I'm in the coffee shop across from the hospital and trying to get ahold of my attorney," he murmured. "Baby, you need to calm down."

"I can't stay here. Please don't make me," I wept, wrapping my free arm around my torso.

He sighed.

"Please," I whispered.

"Fine, let me talk to Edward again," he murmured.

I held the phone out to him. He sighed as he took it. He didn't say much. Just nodded and hummed before closing it and dropping it into his coat pocket. Washing his hands, he dried them, grabbed a pair of gloves, and settled on a chair in front of me. He grabbed my hand and slowly eased the IV out, tossing it onto the table next to us.

"Your clothes are in the bag on top of the cabinet. I'm going to take to Carlisle, who is waiting for us across the street," he said.

"Thank you," I whispered.

Edward nodded and stood up, grabbing the bag with my clothes and tossing it onto the bed. "I'll be waiting outside."

He turned and walked out of the room. Slowly, I stood up and stripped off the hospital gown, grabbing the shorts, bra, and T-shirt from the bag and put them back on. I didn't like the way they felt against my skin. I walked over to the door and opened it, causing Edward to turn and look at me. He reached out and gripped my arm, helping me out into the hallway. Just then, the elevator opened and Dr. Gerandy stepped out, his attention falling immediately on me and Edward.

"Get back in bed, young lady," Dr. Gerandy snarled, storming over to us, drawing the attention of every other doctor and nurse on the floor.

"No," I argued, my voice shaking. "I'm leaving."

"You haven't been released," he seethed, reaching for my arm.

I flinched away from him just as Edward grabbed him and pushed him against the wall, holding him with one hand, while he shifted me behind him. "That girl has been manhandled enough lately. Let it be, Dr. Gerandy."

"Get your fucking hand off me," he spat, pushing Edward's hand away. "You have no right to stop me from protecting the wellbeing of one my patients."

"First of all, I am her doctor, and she's fine to go home. Secondly, you don't want to get into a discussion of who had the right to do what, or you would know that by forcibly removing Dr. Cullen from the hospital, while he was here visiting his girlfriend, on his own time, you've violated his rights. If I were you, I'd get the hospital attorney on the phone and do what you can to defuse this entire situation before it blows up in your face."

Dr. Gerandy's face was red with anger as he looked around, noticing how everyone was watching him. He looked back at me, shaking his head before he turned and walked back to the elevator, slamming his finger onto the button, and stepping on when the doors opened. As the doors closed, he shifted his attention back to me, and I shuddered from the pure disgust and hatred etched on his and I couldn't understand why he objected to my relationship with Carlisle, and I didn't care. I knew Carlisle loved me, that he was where my future lay.

Edward turned and looked at me. "You okay?"

I nodded, though I couldn't be sure if I was lying or not. "Can we go now?"

"Sure," he replied, gesturing for me to go.

I wrapped my arms around my torso as we walked down the hallway. Edward reached over and called for the elevator. And while we waited for the doors to slide open, I looked over my shoulder, noticing that everyone was still staring at me. Edward cleared his throat, and I turned back to him, noticing him holding the doors open for me.

"Sorry," I whispered.

"Don't be," he said, following me inside and pressing the lobby button. "Bella, can I give you some advice?"

"Um, can I stop you?" I countered.

He laughed. "No. I know that you love Carlisle, and it's clear that he loves you, too. I've known the man since just after his ex-wife left. In the last three years, I've never seen him like he is with you."

"Okay," I said, slowly. "Do you have a point?"

"I do," he chuckled as the elevator stopped. However, before the doors could open, he reached out and stopped them. "People aren't going to understand. They're going to judge you, judge him because of the age difference. There's a reason Jasper and I haven't disclosed our personal relationship to those we work with."

I frowned. "But you shouldn't have to hide who you are just because the people in this town are too narrow-minded to think outside of the box."

"If only more people felt that way," he scoffed "I love him, Bella. He's the love of my life, and I won't give him up for anything. All I'm saying, is if you love Carlisle like that, don't give him up. He deserves you, and you deserve him."

"I have no intention of ever letting him go," I declared. "He's . . ." I trailed off, unable to keep my tears from flooding my eyes.

"It's okay, I get it," he whispered, releasing the button and allowing the doors to open.

I followed Edward out of the hospital and to his car. When I questioned why he was driving us across the street, he rolled his eyes and told me Carlisle insisted. Somehow, I wasn't surprised. He loved me, and worried about my safety, especially with my mother still on the loose. I shuddered as I grabbed my seatbelt and pulled it on. Who knows what my mother would do next?

Edward drove through the parking lot and across the street, parking next to Carlisle's Mercedes. Carlisle was out of the diner and pulling open my door before I even had a chance to unbuckle my seatbelt. I climbed out and threw myself in his arms, unable to keep my tears from falling as he held me.

"Shh, love, it's okay," he whispered, placing one hand on the back of my head while the other was wrapped around my back.

"Did they hurt you?" I cried.

"What?" he asked

I leaned back and looked up at him. "When they forced you out, did they hurt you?"

"No," he said, bringing his hand up and wiping away my tears. "They just escorted me to my car and told me I had to leave hospital grounds. I came here and called my attorney. I'm just waiting for him to call me back."

I nodded and released a deep breath.

"Well, I should get back to work," Edward said, drawing our attention to him. He looked over at me. "Rest, Bella. If you start to feel nauseous, dizzy, any shooting pain, you tell Carlisle immediately, or call me. I'm serious."

"I promise," I told him. "Thank you, Edward."

"You're welcome," he said, smiling and looking over at Carlisle. "Take care of her."

"I will," he replied, hugging me to his chest.

After Edward left, Carlisle and I headed home. I had a headache and I wanted to lay down. It had been an emotionally draining weekend. Carlisle ordered me to go upstairs to our bed while he made us some lunch. I wasn't very hungry, but I knew better than to argue with him. When I walked into our room, I stripped off my clothes and grabbed one of his scrub tops from the hamper, needing him to be close to me. I had just climbed into bed when he walked into the room carrying a wooden tray with two sandwiches, an apple, a banana, and two bottles of water.

"Jesus fucking Christ," Carlisle groaned, setting the tray onto the bed and pulling the blankets off of me. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"No," I laughed. "Why would you think that?"

"Um, because you're wearing my scrub top," he scoffed, shaking his head as he covered my legs with the blanket again.

"Want me to take it off?" I suggested, wigging my eyebrows.

"More than you want to know," he said. "But don't. We can't have sex right now."

"I know," I sighed leaning against the pillows.

Carlisle kicked his shoes off and changed into a pair of pajama pants and a T-shirt. He climbed onto the bed next to me and handed me one of the sandwiches. "PB and J. The boys don't eat anything else, so I don't have any ham or turkey. But I can go get some if you want."

"No, it's fine. I love peanut butter and jelly," I replied before taking a big bite, making a point of licking my lips.

"Tease," he grumbled, grabbing his sandwich.

"Love, I am many things, but a tease is not one of them."

"No, you're not," he murmured, leaning over and kissing me. "Now eat."

We ate in silence, and even though I wasn't very hungry, I managed to eat my sandwich and the banana. Carlisle had just finished removing our dishes from the bed when I heard the front door open. I looked over at him, feeling my body tense and knew we were afraid of the same thing: Renee was back. However, the sound of the boys' laughter trickling upstairs caused us to relax and a moment later, they ran into our bedroom.

They stopped and looked over at me, smiles spreading over their faces. I opened my arms to them, and they nearly leapt onto the bed. Carlisle laughed as he joined us, wrapping his arm around Tyler and pulling him into his lap.

"Careful, guys," he warned. "Bella needs to rest, and we're all going to have to take care of her."

"Okay, Daddy," Tyler whispered, leaning his head against his father's chest.

I looked over and saw Jasper standing in the doorway of our room, a soft smile on his face. "Hey, Mr. Whitlock."

"We're not at school, Bella. You can call me Jasper," he said. "You okay?"

I shook my head. "No. But I will be. Do me a favor?"

"Depends," he snickered.

"Well, I figure this guy isn't going to release me from bed rest for a couple more days, so I don't think I'll be going to school," I explained, gesturing to Carlisle.

"Damn right you're not," he mumbled under his breath.

"I'd really appreciate it if you'd get Rose, Alice, or even Emmett to gather my missed work. With just a couple weeks left, I don't want to risk not graduating."

"Sure, no problem," he replied, grinning.

"And thank you," I said, feeling my eyes filling up with tears.

"For?" Jasper asked as Michael leaned up and looked at me.

"For taking care of the boys. I worried about them, but knowing they were with someone we trust, means a lot. So thank you."

"Bella," he murmured, shaking his head. "You're welcome. Now, I'd better get going. I have papers to grade, and I'd really like to be done before Edward gets home. If you need anything, please call. Night or day, okay?"

"We will, thank you," Carlisle said, sliding his hand over mine. "Lock the door on the way out?"

Jasper nodded before he turned and walked downstairs. A few minutes later, we heard the front door close and the sound of his car driving away.

"Okay, boys, let's go," Carlisle said, climbing off the bed.

"Where are we going, Dad?" Michael asked, frowning.

"We need to get some laundry in the washer, and there is a mess in the playroom that I believe two little boys need to clean up."

They groaned, but knew better than to argue with him. Climbing off the bed, they walked out of our room. Carlisle walked over to the hamper and began sorting the laundry, but when he reached the clothes I'd taken off, I stopped him from adding them to the dirty piles.

"Toss them," I said, causing him to look over at me. "I don't want them."

"Okay," he said, tossing them into the trash. "I'll be right back."

I nodded and watched as he grabbed the pile of whites and carried them out of our room. Laying back on the bed, I curled myself up on my side and closed my eyes.

"Isabella," Carlisle whispered, gently shaking my shoulder.

Groggily, I opened my eyes, looking over at him. "Hey."

"Hey," he laughed. "I've got to take the boys to school, but I'll be back in like ten minutes, okay?"

Sitting up, I looked over at the clock, surprised that it was almost eight in the morning. "How long was I asleep?"

"About sixteen hours or so. You woke up a few times, mumbled in your sleep about thinking outside the box."

"Hmm," I hummed, unsure how I feel about having slept the half day.

"Don't overthink it, Isabella. You were tired. I know you didn't really sleep in the hospital, and you've been through a trauma. Your body is telling you that you need to rest," he said. "Do you want anything out?"

"No, thanks," I said, grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling his lips to mine. "Just hurry, okay?"

"I promise," he whispered. "I love you."

Smiling against his lips, I said, "I love you, too."

Groaning, he pulled himself away from me and walked out of our room. A moment later, I heard the boys yell, "Bye, Bella."

"Bye," I yelled back, wincing when my head hurt.

I made my way into the bathroom, used the toilet, and washed my hands before brushing my teeth. Looking up at myself in the mirror, I cringed when I noticed the smidge of red on the bandage on my forehead. I pulled at the edge, peeling it backward and looked at the cut. It was at least four inches long, red and angry.

"Isabella?" Carlisle called.

"In here," I replied, and a moment later, he was standing behind me in the bathroom.

"What are you doing?" he asked, leaning his chin against my shoulder.

"Just looking at it," I whispered. "It's ugly."

"It is," he admitted. "But you're beautiful."

"Do you think she'll come after me again?"

He tensed, inhaling a sharp breath. "I don't know. I hope not." He turned and kissed the side of my neck. "Go sit on the bed. I'll put a new dressing on it."

"Okay," I murmured.

I scooted out from in front of him and walked back into our bedroom, sitting on the bed. He came in a few minutes later with an armful of supplies. He sat next to me as he cleaned the wound and bandaged it. Just as he was packing away his supplies, his cell phone rang. He dug it out of his back pocket and smiled as he opened it. "Hello . . . yes . . . Um," he said, looking down at his watch, "Yeah, we can be there in an hour and half or so . . . we will. Thanks." Closing his phone, he looked over at me. "That was my attorney. He'd like us to come in and talk to him."

"What about?" I asked.

Carlisle moved over and sat down on the bed. "I'm suing the hospital and Dr. Gerandy."

"Oh," I whispered.

"I'm not looking for a quick buck, but Dr. Gerandy can't get away with treating me like a thug. There was no reason for him to have me removed from your room yesterday."

"I know," I replied.

"Will you come with me?" he asked. "He's in Port Angeles, but he's leaving today for L.A."

"Of course I will," I said, smiling.

An hour and fifteen minutes later, Carlisle parked in front of a small, red-bricked building in the heart of Port Angeles and cut the engine. Rushing around the car, he opened the door for me and helped me out, wrapping his arm around my waist. There was a young blond woman sitting behind an oak desk. She looked over at us, a huge smile spreading across her face as she stood up and walked over and hugged Carlisle. Clearing my throat, I reminded him that I was standing right there while he embraced another woman.

Smiling, Carlisle stepped back and slid his arm around my waist again. "Isabella, I'd like you to meet Kate Mitchell. Kate, this is my girlfriend, Isabella Swan."

"It's nice to meet you, Isabella," she said, holding her hand out to me.

I took it. "Call me Bella."

She nodded, while Carlisle frowned. "Why have you never asked me to call you Bella?" he asked.

I felt my cheeks warm. "I like the way Isabella sounds when you say it."

His mouth opened and closed before he smiled and nodded. "Good to know."

"Ugh," Kate grimaced as she walked back over to her desk. "I really didn't need to hear that."

"I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not." Carlisle smirked. "Let him know we're here, okay?"

"He already knows. It'll be a few minutes. He's on the phone with Marcus." Kate gave Carlisle a look before she sat back down.

Carlisle snorted, but didn't say anything as he gestured for me to take on one of the small sofas. But before we could sit down the door to the back opened and a tall, broad-shouldered man came out. He had light brown hair and dark gray eyes. He looked from me to Carlisle before he smiled and strode across the room, shaking his hand and pulling him into an awkward one-arm embrace that men always seem to do.

"How are you, Carlisle?" the man murmured.

"Been better," he admitted before leaning away. He looked over at me. "She helps."

"I bet she does," the man snickered, holding his hand out to me. "Garrett Cullen. Nice to meet you, Isabella. I've heard so much about you."

"You have?" I asked. He nodded. "Hmm, funny because I haven't heard anything about you."

"Why would you?" Garrett scoffed. "I'm the lawyer in the family. He's the doctor. I know where I rank."

"Ah, that explains it," I laughed. "Brothers?"

"Yep," Carlisle said. "He's older."

"And wiser," Garrett added.

"And modest, by the sound of it," I added.

Garett smiled. "I knew I was going to like you."

"Stop flirting with her," Carlisle grumbled.

"Yeah. Especially when I'm sitting right here," Kate added, causing both men to laugh.

"Kate and Garrett are engaged. It's been what? Three years since he popped the question?" he asked.

"Almost four," Kate chortled. "One day, we might actually set a date."

"So you keep saying, woman," Garrett chuckled before motioning for me and Carlisle to follow him into his office. "Hold my calls, babe."

"Sure thing," she called before turning back to her computer.

He walked around his desk, sitting in a big, black leather chair, while Carlisle and I settled into a couple of smaller chairs. Pulling out a yellow legal pad and picking up a pen, he looked at Carlisle, and said, "Tell me everything."

I leaned back in my chair while Carlisle told his brother everything. From how we started seeing each other to how Dr. Gerandy had him removed from the hospital the day before. While he spoke, Garrett made a few notes, nodded his head, but didn't ask any question, didn't interrupt. I wasn't familiar with how lawyers worked, but it seemed like he should be asking more than he was. Finally, Carlisle leaned back in his chair and fell silent.

Garrett placed his pen on his desk and picked up his notepad, reading over the notes he had made. "Well, I think you've got an ironclad case. You weren't scheduled to work, you weren't causing a scene or being violent in any way, so he really had no reason to remove you."

"But?" Carlisle asked, causing Garrett to smile.

"But it's going to be tricky because of her," he said, tilting his head in my direction. "Bella, this is going to sound much harsher than I mean it to, so please forgive me. You're barely an adult. You've never even voted, you're still in high school. In the eyes of most people, you're a child. So, I can understand why people would look at you two and question your relationship."

I shifted my eyes to the floor, unsure of what I was supposed to say. I was getting tired of my age being such an issue. It wasn't like I was twelve, like he was some dirty old man who was fondling me and telling me not to tell my parents.

"Bella," Garrett said, and I looked up at him. "I don't have a problem with you being with my brother, but I know him. And if he tells me that you're in love with his skinny ass, then I believe him. Now, I'm willing to pursue this case, but I need you to understand that it could get nasty."

"What do you want me to say?" I asked. "You think I don't know how people look at me? I'm sure the first time he told you about me, about his feelings toward me, you teased him about fucking the babysitter, about how it's every father's dream, right?"

He didn't say anything, but then again, he didn't have to.

"I'm not an idiot, Garrett. I don't fall in love with every man who tells me I'm pretty. I certainly don't spread my legs for them. I needed him and Dr. Gerandy took him away. My mother had assaulted me, and for all I knew, she was waiting in the hallway for him to leave before she came in and killed me. Can you imagine how scared I was?"

"No," he admitted.

I brought my hand up and wiped the tears off my cheeks. "I've been humiliated by the police, by my principal, the councilor, stared at by my classmates, my teachers, and called a whore, slut, tramp, gold-digger. Trust me when I say that I can handle it if it gets nasty."

Garrett pressed his lips together and looked from me to Carlisle and down to his notes. "Okay. I'll get the paperwork filed. May take a day or two, but I should be able to have them served by Wednesday. Since we're closing the office down here, I'll be in and out for the next couple of days, but if you need anything call me or Kate, okay?"

"We will. Thanks, Gar," Carlisle said.

He nodded, looking up. "Call Dad, okay? He's worried."

Carlisle tensed. "Yeah, sure."

After bidding Garrett and Kate goodbye, we loaded back into the car and headed back to Forks. Once we were home, I headed up to our room and laid down on the bed. Carlisle came in a few minutes later with another bottle of water and two aspirins.

"Here, baby," he said, offering them to me.

"Thanks," I whispered, shifting so that I was sitting with my knees pulled up to my chest. I swallowed the aspirins down with more than half the water.

"You're welcome. I could tell your head was hurting," he replied, kicking his shoes off and climbing onto the bed next to me. "You okay? You were really quiet on the way home."

"No, I'm not okay," I admitted. "I'm really tired of constantly having to defend our relationship to be people."

"Me too," he added. "But Garrett really doesn't have a problem with us, Isabella. He just wants you to be prepared for what could happen. However, I don't think this will go that far. I think the board will settle because they aren't going to want the publicity that a big suit will be bring."

I nodded. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course you can," he chuckled.

"You seem to get upset when he told you to call your dad," I said.

Once again, his shoulders tensed. "My dad and I don't really get along."

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because he's an asshole," he scoffed, shifting his eyes to mine. "My mom got sick while I was in medical school. Breast Cancer. And, um, I wasn't there the way I should have been. Medical school was kicking my ass. My mom kept telling me to stay, that I needed to focus on my studies. So I did. She passed away just before I graduated. I never got to say goodbye. My father never forgave me for not being there."

"Marcus is your father?" I asked.

Carlisle laughed. "No, Marcus is our oldest brother. He, um, lives in L.A. Big time plastic surgeon."

"Ah, so Garrett's comment about him being a lowly lawyer suddenly make sense."

"Yeah," he laughed. "Only lawyer in a family full of doctors. Pretty sure he's adopted."

I smiled. "You're close to him? To Marcus?"

"Yeah," he murmured. "I mean, we don't get to see each other as much as we used to, and with Garrett joining Marcus in L.A., I'll see him even less, but I know that if I need them, they'll be here."

"You're lucky," I told him. "It's hard being alone all the time."

"You're not alone anymore, Isabella."

"No, I know," I whispered, sliding my hand over his. "But when my dad died, I didn't have anyone to hold me and tell me it was okay to cry. My mom just lost herself into her grief, and I had to be there for her. Alice is probably the only person I could turn to." I paused and looked up at him. "Until you."

He smiled. "You mean that, don't you? You really trust me."

"With my life," I whimpered, shocked by the emotions welling up inside me. "You see me, the real me."

"I love you," he murmured.

"I love you, too."

And closing the distance between our lips, praying that I would never lose him.

Thank you for all the reviews. The response to this story has been amazing.