I DREAM OF RAINBOWS

Disclaimer: The Cullen's, the Swans, and most of the characters mentioned in the story that are known from Stephanie Meyer's beloved Twilight Saga, are all hers and hers alone. I neither have nor wish to pass them off as mine. I do appreciate the fact that she did bring them to life and allows us to play with them in our imaginations. The only thing I will claim is the current storyline.

The awesome and talented dowlingnana searched out my errors and corrected them.

She remembered backing into something that was hard, and the force of that impact had pitched her forward into the wall, but, that was where she had no further memory.

CHAPTER 17: OPEN MOUTH INSERT FOOT

Groans were coming from the two people that were in the living area of the suite; one set from the woman and one set from the man. Each hearing the other seemed to jerk both to full awareness, but, not without each nursing a headache. Mark was the first to speak as he looked over at Bella as he asked, "How the hell did I get back here and why are you here?" And, as he asked that question, he noticed the large lump that was surrounded by bruising. "Bella, what the hell happened to you?'

"I'm not really sure." Bella answered him before starting to explain to him what she did remember. And, as she was speaking she absentmindedly reached up to rub her throbbing temple and forehead, not remembering the bruising that was appearing around the lump on her forehead right at the beginning of her hairline.

"So, you got me up to my room and was leaving when something or someone launched you into the wall? Do you have any idea who or what it was that caused you to go head first into the wall? Did you have a chance to even catch a quick glance at the who or what caused it?" He asked with an incredulous tone in his voice. "Well, I think we need to get you to a doctor to have your head checked out to make sure no damage has been done. And, I'm suggesting this because of how long you seemed to have been unconscious. Better to be safe than sorry."

"All right, but, do you really think that it's necessary?" Bella agreed and then asked without really seeing any point to taking up someone else's time over what she considered to be a minor thing.

With Bella agreeing to allow Mark to take her in to the emergency room for a checkup, he immediately got up and quickly began to get ready to take her. But, before taking a quick shower and changing into different clothes, he did get a hold of some Aleve and a bottle of water for each of them. Bella took two of the pills he offered to her with a silent smile of thanks as she downed them with the offered water.

"Mark, I really need to go back to Rosalie's to take a quick shower and change my clothes also."

"I really think we need to go ahead and get you to the ER first."

"Then why in the hell are you taking the time to shower and change?"

"Because we're already here at my temporary place and what I need is here. But, that isn't the case for you; you have nothing here to change into before going out." He reasoned with her just before he disappeared into his bedroom.

While he was getting ready, Bella didn't move from where she was seated. All she did was lean her head back as she waited for two things to happen: the pounding in her head to quieten down and for Mark to finish getting ready. As the pain began to ease, she was slowly starting to slip back into a quiet, relaxed sleep without realizing it. She was displaying all the signs of a concussion.

XXXXXX

Edward had stayed on tether hooks as he had quietly left the hotel last night, praying that no one would notice him. He had been lucky that no one had seen the incident that had occurred between him and Ms. Swan in the hallway as they were both leaving the two different rooms. And, he was even more astounded that he had been able to leave the hotel suite and make it all the way to the elevator without anyone showing up. His getaway had been quiet, but, clean. Then his nerves really tightened up as he was leaving the hotel hoping that the paps weren't paying any attention to him as he walked out to grab a cab to take him home.

All night long Edward had expected to hear from someone, media or family, about some slip-up he had made on his way out of the hotel. But, nothing happened. He was still amazed that even this morning rising from bed and listening to the news as he got ready to go to the office, that nothing was being broadcasted about what he had done the night before.

But, Edward wasn't going to relax and breathe a sigh of relief until he made it through this day and nothing happens. His luck never seemed to run in the direction of him being able to get by with anything in this damn busybody town: Hollywood.

Edward got into his car and was backing out of his driveway when he heard the ringtone for his mother. He chose not to answer at that moment and then it rang again with him still not answering since he wasn't that far from emerging into the heavy morning traffic which always annoyed the hell out of him. However, the constant ringing of the phone, on and off, was slowly getting on his nerves, but, he still didn't feel comfortable answering the phone. The fear of what Esme Cullen might be calling about had him completely tensed up.

XXXXXX

After the excitement of the phone calls began to calm down, Rosalie was the first to realize that neither she nor Alice had heard anything from Bella. She went to check in the bedroom that Bella was using and noticed that the bed wasn't messed up. Bella wasn't an early riser and there should still be a lump in the bed, but, there wasn't. Even, if Bella had gone to use the en suite, the bed should have been a mess and sounds should be coming from the bathroom, but, there wasn't. Conclusion: Bella never came home last night.

This thought started a multitude of questions to begin running around in Rosalie's mind. However, the one thing that began to take over from all of the questions was a worried concern about where Bella was. Next, why hadn't she come home last night? And, with that last question crossing her mind, Rosalie quickly rushed back to where she had placed her phone to check for any missed calls, any possible texts or, perhaps, any voicemail from her.

There was nothing, so, she tossed the phone down onto the sofa and yelled for Alice. "Alice, do you have any missed calls, any text messages or voicemail from Bella?"

"I don't know. Why?" Alice replied as she came back into the living room after taking the time to freshen up a bit before heading back to her place.

"Will you check? She didn't come in last night and I'm worried. I don't have anything on my phone indicating that she tried reaching me, or, was trying to let me know that she wouldn't be in." Rosalie explained to her cousin. So, Alice did reach out and checked her phone to see if there was anything from Bella.

"I don't see anything from her." Alice told her, she paused to look at Rosalie closely and then asked, "What exactly were Bella's plans for last night?"

"She and her agent, Mark, were going out for dinner and to talk business during that time. Afterwards, I'm not sure, they may have decided to relax a bit at some club, but, she still would have let us know if she wasn't going to be coming back.

"Seriously, have you ever known Bella not to let someone know about any big changes to her plans? She knows that we would be worried if she didn't call or come back. That with no call we would know that something would have happened to her."

"What are you wanting to do, Rosie, call the police?"

"I don't know what to do. All I do know is that something happened to her and Mark last night; something that stopped either one of them from calling us to let us know."

The two women continued to discuss what they should do, call the police, the hospitals, or, just wait for a while to see if Bella will show up on her own. It was decided to give Bella the time to get in touch with them because a person has to be missing for forty-eight hours before the police will start to take any action. But, nothing was stopping them from checking with the hospitals, however, Alice brought some sanity back to the situation by reasoning that if Bella or Mark had had an accident and had been taken to a hospital the police would have been by to let them know.

"Okay, I guess we wait to see what happens. But, I don't promise to be the 'life of the party' once she does appear." Rosalie promised to no one in particular.

XXXXXX

Mark was leaving the hospital after getting Bella settled. It turned out that she did have some bruising of her brain and a concussion, so, the doctor attending her wanted her to stay for a day or two, so they could keep a close watch on her. It was just in case things got a bit more severe. Now, he had to inform Bella's cousins and postpone any further contact with the movie project. At least, that had to be put on the back burner until Bella was feeling a hell of a lot better.

She wasn't happy about having to stay, but, finally agreed to it.

Mark walked out to grab a cab and head over to Rosalie Hale's place. He was hoping that he could fully explain what had happened and let them know about Bella without them doing serious damage to him in any region of his body, especially in the nether region. At least, his head, or, rather, headache, was gone. The Aleve that he had taken earlier had finally kicked in and was doing wonders. Even, the tension he felt surrounding the guilt he had been feeling concerning what had happened to Bella was lessening. However, in its place and taking very firm hold is the fear of what Bella's cousins are going to do to him. He knew that he was responsible for Bella being in the condition she was in, despite how much she protested otherwise. And, he knew he was the cause for her present stay in the hospital.

After a short wait, a cab dropped off its last fare and Mark was able to use it to get to his destination. And, the closer he got, the worse his guilt and fear became. But, he gave himself a mental pep talk, while wishing that he had time to have a taste of some 'Dutch courage', before facing Bella's cousins. These thoughts stayed with him all the way to the house, but, once the cab came to a halt in front of the door and he had to accept that he had arrived at his destination, all Mark could do was pay the driver and get out and prepare himself to face his fate. So, with the cab gone, Mark stood before the door all alone, he heaved a big sigh, raised his hand and knocked.

It didn't take long for the door to be answered and Mark found himself facing what he considered to be the more mild-mannered cousin, Alice. And, all she did was stand there looking at him before trying to look behind him as if she was seeking something. The time had arrived more quickly than he had wished to confess to them what had happened.

Alice did move to one side so Mark could step on into the house. Once she had closed the door, she led the way for him to follow her into the living room where Rosalie was waiting. When she saw that only Mark had returned, she looked at him with a frightening stare letting him know that he was about to be dealt with severely if they didn't get an explanation as to where Bella was.

XXXXXX

Edward arrived at his office with no mention of last night's incident. And, with the day progressing with no mishaps, or, any mention of anything out of the ordinary, he began to relax and let his guard down. In fact, he had got so comfortable knowing that no one knew anything that his brain didn't catch up to his mouth quick enough when his mother surprised him with a call and the comment, "You should be ashamed of yourself, Edward Anthony, for treating Ms. Swan the way you did last night."

"Mom, I didn't mean to knock her into the wall. It was an accident. I didn't even know that anyone was behind me when I was leaving."

"Edward, what did you just say? What are you talking about? Damn, son what did you do? I want the full story. NOW!"

That was when Edward realized that his mother wasn't speaking about the accident, but, possibly his behavior. Shit, due to his own fault he was in deep trouble.

A/N: Poor Mark, he's having to face Rosalie and Alice to confess what had happened to Bella and to let them know that she was in the hospital. And, Edward, due to his own mistake, ended up confessing his guilt to his mother. What's going to happen to both men after they get through talking?

Your thoughts and comments as always are welcomed.