Emmett and Bella waited on the driveway while Carlisle backed his car out of the garage. Bella still feared she would throw up and Emmett kept looking back at the house. Neither one of them wanted to go to the hospital but both felt the need to get an answer to their questions. Was Edward Prince Edward or was it all a crazy coincidence?
Emmett looked at the living room window and frowned. He could see Jasper laying on the couch with his face in a pillow. Alice was sitting next to him gently rubbing his back. While Bella couldn't hear what she was saying, she was certain it had something to do with his mother. Now was about the time the twins got a text from their mother saying she couldn't make it this time. Jasper would go catatonic and Rose would spend the rest of the weekend locked in her room. It was then Bella made a decision. Rose may have been rude, uptight, and an all-around pain to be around but she didn't deserve to be alone on her birthday.
"I think you should go back inside," Bella said to Emmett. "Rose needs you."
"But what about Edward?" Emmett said. "You can't face him alone."
"I won't be alone. I'll have Carlisle and an entire hospital of doctors and nurses. Rose has no one right now. She needs you."
In times like these, Emmett was the only one who had so much as a chance of getting through to Rose. Jasper, who'd had his head bitten by his angry sister on countless occasions, called it Emmett's superpower. While Emmett struggled in English class, he had a knack for finding the exact words Rose needed to hear. Give him an hour and he'd have her laughing over cat pictures and off-color jokes.
"And so do you. You're my little sister." Emmett said, crossing his arms. "I'm not letting you face a monster alone."
It was time for Bella to put her lying skills to the test against the master.
"I've been thinking about the whole monster thing. I don't think Edward is a monster or a prince." Bella said, maintaining perfect eye-contact. "I think he's an actor."
Emmett raised an eyebrow. "An actor?"
"Yep. The castle has been struggling for the last few years. I heard they may even have to close it down. I bet they hired an actor, probably a poor college student, to pretend to be Prince Edward. It makes perfect sense, who in their right might would find a dead body and put it on display instead of calling the police?"
Emmett didn't seem to buy it. "What about his eyes. How did they get glued closed?"
"It was probably some lunatic visitor." Bella shrugged. "You've worked retail. You know how awful customers can be."
Emmett spent two weeks working at Gamestop. It was all going well until he lost his cool and had a fistfight with a rude customer in the parking lot. Emmett lost his job and earned a year of legally mandated sessions with Dr. James. "I guess that's possible," Emmett admitted. "People can be pretty awful."
"So you'll stay here then?"
Emmett nodded.
Bella smiled. "Good. There are two wrapped gifts, books for Jasper and a Hermes scarf for Rose, under my bed."
Emmett opened his mouth to protest but Bella cut him off. "Don't worry about me. I'll find something else to give the twins."
One thing Bella learned from her late Grandmother was to always have a few spare gifts tucked away. One never knew when a distant cousin might decide to show up for Christmas dinner. Bella was glad she had a stash of gift cards hidden in her nightstand. Rose would kill Emmett if she found out he'd forgotten to buy her a gift.
Emmett looked up at Rose's bedroom window. "You'll call if anything goes wrong?"
Bella nodded even though she didn't mean it. For once in her life, she needed to man up and handle the fallout of a 'Bella disaster' on her own. Besides, maybe Edward was harmless. Bella had learned long ago that not all monsters had fangs and claws.
"So how did you get Edward's eyes open?" Bella asked Carlisle as they pulled into the hospital parking lot.
Carlisle parked in his reserved spot near the back of the building. "We didn't. We're not sure what is on his eyes and we can't get it off. Right now, surgery seems to be the best option but the ophthalmological surgeon has been called to a case in La Push. Someone had an accident involving fireworks."
Bella rolled her eyes. There were at least five guys in La Push she could imagine ending up with a face full of firework. She'd have to ask Jacob for the details later.
"Edward seems to be rather agitated. He's been begging to leave since he arrived." Carlisle continued. "I'm hoping coming home with us for the night will help calm him down. Things will go much more smoothly if he's compliant with his surgical aftercare."
Bella didn't need any further explanation. She'd once been alone and afraid in the hospital facing major surgery. She wanted nothing more than for someone to swoop in and take her somewhere where life hadn't come crashing down around her. When that someone finally came, Bella cried tears of joy. Now it was Bella's turn to be that someone for Edward.
The elevator pinged letting them out on the second floor. As always, the children's ward was an explosion of color. It was like a bag of skittles threw up on the walls. Since Bella's visit three months ago, someone had added a rainbow mural and a herd of cartoon unicorns. If Edward was able to see, he'd want out even more than he already did.
Nurse Victoria, the head nurse, sighed when she saw them coming. "Oh, Bella. Back again so soon? What have you done to yourself this time?"
Carlisle tensed up. "We're not here Bella this time. We're here to pick up Edward."
"Good. I'll get the discharge papers started right now." Nurse Victoria tapped a few keys on her computer. "We moved him to room 0. Some of the parents were complaining about the noise. I trust you remember where it is?"
Carlisle rubbed his temples. "Yes."
This wasn't the first time he'd retrieved one of his children from room 0 and it probably won't be the last. He'd never been one to take the easy route when it came to foster children.
Carlisle and Bella headed off to room 0. Located in the back corner of the children's ward, room 0 was the go-to destination for children prone to tantrums, biting, and any other unacceptable behavior. It was a dark and gloomy room with all the furniture bolted to the floor. Carlisle had petitioned the board countless times to remove room zero but was never able to secure enough votes. While unfortunate, the board felt room 0 was a necessary evil. It wasn't going away any time soon.
Carlisle knocked on the heavy metal door. "Edward, can I come in?"
There was a muffled voice inside.
Carlisle swiped his ID in front of the scanner. The light turned green and the door unlocked. Carlisle entered the room with Bella following close as a shadow. Bella gasped when she saw the figure strapped to the bed. She felt her pocket to make sure her phone was there. She had a feeling she'd be needing to call Emmett soon.
