AN: Thanks to all who reviewed. I love reading them!
He cursed and let me go. I didn't even hesitate. I ran out the door to see why my mom was screaming.
I had just made it out the door when I heard a thump that scared me more then the thought of James. I nearly screamed when I turned a corner to find my mother on the floor, conscious, but just barely. She had fallen backwards after screaming and was now sitting down the phone only a few feet away, I could hear the shrill chirp of a voice calling out to my mother from it. I ignored the phone and went over to her, but she was completely non-responsive. It was like she had just had her brain removed. Unable to get a response, I reached for the phone, fumbled it, picked it up again, and pressed it to my ear demanding to know who was on the line.
"Dr. Cutlass' assistant…who is this? Renee?" replied a timid voice. If it was a doctor calling nothing good could have happened. I felt a lump form in my throat.
"No, this is her daughter, Bella. What's going on?" I could hear my voice crack as I spoke.
"Daughter?" she said as if contemplating whether or not to believe me. "Well, we have your step-father, Phil – "
"Phil!" I nearly yelled into the phone.
"Yes, you see he was in an accident and we have him down here – "
"Where? What's wrong? Can we see him?" All of there questions came out machine gun style and the woman on the phone had obviously never dealt with this kind of situation before.
"Um, yes. He's here at Salvation Hospital and – " This woman obviously didn't know how to answer question's quickly.
"How is he? Will he make it?" Once again is seemed like she was never going to answer.
"Well, he's in ICU. He isn't doing very well, we'd like to see you – " More useless banter, I needed to help my mom, I needed to get to the hospital. Couldn't she talk faster?
"Will he make it?" I demanded trying to make my voice firm.
"Well." There was a long pause. "We're not sure – " I hung up.
"Mom." She was gazing at me.
"How is he?" she sounded like she'd just gotten over a dose of morphine, her voice slow and deep.
"I don't know." I replied honestly. "We need to go, now." And with that I hoisted her up and with her somewhat garbled directions managed to get to the hospital.
She rushed in with new energy that sitting in the car seemed to have given her.
"How is he?" she yelled at a nurse. The nurse made wide eyes at my mother as if she was waiting for another nurse with a big needle to come in after her. She pointed to a desk and disappeared quickly inside a room.
"How is he?" she was even more frantic.
"If your looking for someone I can give you a room number or – "
I cut her off; apparently I was not very patient when it came to nurses and their stall tactics.
"Can we see Dr. Cutlass?" I was trying to be calm, but it wasn't working. She glared at me apparently not happy about my interrupting her.
"Ask the third floor nurses station." She huffed and turned away, I felt the burn of anger and weariness rising up, searing in my throat, and in order to save a scene I turned on my heel and charged at the elevator, dragging my now spent mother behind me.
At the third floor the nurses seemed better prepared for frazzled guests; they kindly – and quickly – showed us to Dr. Cutlass. He was surprisingly tall, maybe Emmett's height with thick grey hair and a thick mustache. By looking at him, I wouldn't have guessed him for more than 50 years old.
"You must be Renee Swan." He shook her hand and looked to me.
"Bella Swan, I'm her daughter." He nodded and explained Phil's situation quickly. Apparently Phil had been out and had gotten into a major head on collision. Thankfully, it wasn't his fault. However, it appeared the other driver only suffered minor injuries, like bruises. That for some reason only made me angrier, he crashed into Phil and nothing happened to him.
Dr. Cutlass was amazingly kind to me and my mother, he showed us to where Phil was – he wouldn't let us in thought – and explained what was wrong and what was needed in his deep, booming voice.
"His heart seems to be okay, not great, but okay. He broke some ribs and it appears as though that damaged his lungs. One of them has collapsed and we are monitoring the other." By this time my mom was gripping my arm so hard her knuckles were turning white.
"Will he live?" she asked timidly.
"We're not sure." He sure was blunt, but right now I found that to be more of a comfort then a grievance.
"Is that all?" I asked, I was wishing I had Edward to hold onto, right now I had no one.
"No, he has a broken collar bone and a fractured wrist. His face took a little beating so he has a broken nose."
He stopped and took a deep breath.
"We need to do immediate surgery. It's risky, but without it he won't survive much longer."
She started shaking and looked at me for help. This, however only served to confuse me; I was supposed to look to her, not the other way around. Plus, I was about to start shaking myself, I didn't know if I could handle this.
Even so, I nodded and she managed a small nod. The doctor handed her a pen and some forms. She dutifully took them and started to head for the waiting room; still attached to my arm.
"Wait!" she called suddenly.
"Yes?" he was trying to go for the surgery but didn't seem to mind the intrusion.
"Will you tell me what's going on?" It was a stupid question, because everyone has seen in movies where the doctor walks out solemn faced to tell the family that things are or are not going well.
"Of course." He said simply and walked in the door, leaving us alone to fret.
It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be waiting, it was worse. Sitting in the waiting room my mother clutching my arm as though I was her only lifeline now, which I suppose I was. She was sobbing and shaking and mumbling under her breath. I listened closely, wondering what she was saying, and when I heard I lost my breath.
"My fault. My fault. W-why? I'm so sorry." She was mumbling over and over again like a CD track put on repeat. I felt my eyes water and pushed hard to keep it back.
"Mom?" I whispered and looked at her frantic eyes.
"Huh?" she raised her eyebrows, which only served to make her look more pitiful.
"It's not your fault." I don't know what I was expecting when I said these words, maybe a breakdown. Maybe screaming. Maybe I even expected an explanation. Instead, she shook her head and went back to mumbling with even more fervor than before.
"Mom?"
"Huh?" Maybe this hospital was on repeat, I felt my head spin and forced myself to talk.
"Why is it your fault?" Again she shook her head and mumbled. No, not the hospital, it was definitely just my mother on repeat.
"Tell me." I commanded, but my voice broke in the middle of my command.
She raised her eyebrows and then her eyes filled with tears and she realized I wouldn't give up, and she began, "I was in a snacking mood. I wanted ice cream, a certain kind." She sobbed. "B-but we didn't have any left. I asked him to run down to the store. We fought over it and he (like the great guy he is) ended up leaving to get the ice cream. That was right after you went upstairs for bed. And then the phone call, I was terrified that he was gone. And now he's alive and I can't see him." She was sobbing hysterically. I knew that people were watching and it made me angry but I just held me mother tighter for about an hour until she drifted into a sleep. I hadn't known what to say, I had told her it wasn't her fault but she only seemed to get more hysterical after that. I managed to disentangle my arms without waking her up.
I got up and went to make a call in the payphone. It rang once before I heard the voice I love so much. "Hello? Bella?" he sounded a little worried for me.
"Y-yes." I stammered, now he had me worried. Alice, I thought, Alice could see the future. Oh my god!
"Are you okay? How's Phil? I heard the woman on the phone after your mother screamed, how is he?"
I was shocked at his question. "You don't know?" I hiccupped and I could hear his confusion.
"No. Are you hiccupping?" he seemed even more confused.
"Yes, but you have Alice…" I trailed off and he understood.
"She's one a trip with Jasper. I can't reach her. Do you need me to come over there?"
"Yes." I whispered. I needed him now.
"Okay. How long should it take me?" He knew that if I hung up the phone after he got there that my mom would find that a little strange.
"It doesn't matter. She's asleep she won't notice."
"Bye." And he hung up.
"Bye, I love you." I said to no one, but I didn't want to put down the phone. Not until he came, I could myself breaking down. No sleep and a horrible night didn't add up well. It was nearly one and I could feel just how tired I was, and I thought I would collapse at the phone booth.
Then I felt his solid, cold arms around me. I crumpled into his arms. He picked me up like a baby and sat in the chair next to my mother.
He felt the stares from the few people left in the waiting room, and he looked up at them with a fierceness I thought would have scared a blind man. They all turned away and some even left, all of them looking ashamed at themselves.
"I love you." I mumbled just so he could hear. And I reached up to him; I wanted to touch his face. That always seemed to calm me, and I gently but suddenly put my hand to his cool face and traced his jaw bone. He seemed a little surprised but happy.
He cradled me in his arms and slowly rocked me while humming my lullaby. I felt better for the first time since he had left me. I felt myself drift into sleep.
I woke later when I felt Edward's body tense under mine. For a blissful second I forgot where I was, I forgot the accident and the hospital. Then I remembered, I was confused until I realized he was listening to the mind of the doctor. I was instantly tense and scared too, and I looked up towards his topaz eyes. They were unreadable. His grip around me tightened and his face turned painful I began to tremble and he noticed.
"Bella." He whispered. I gave him a quizzical look to which he shook his head and looked away to concentrate. After the longest ten seconds of my life, I felt him relax and look back down at me.
"Go to sleep, he's doing fine now." I couldn't stop myself from falling asleep again in his arms.
I woke this time to my mother's whispering. "…thank you for coming."
Then Edward, "It's okay, she needed me. So I came." He said simply and I could feel my mother's awe. She didn't realize just how much we loved each other.
I adjusted myself a little bit so that I could hear them better, I was too tired to open my eyes and besides I wanted to hear what was being said. He began stroking my hair, almost making me fall asleep again. Almost. I listened intently.
"Well, I'm glad she has you." She seemed to get choked up remembering how she was close to having no one.
"Bella told me his injuries from the accident." He said placing a slight emphasis on the word accident. "I think he'll pull through, my father is a doctor."
Had she truly paid attention to his words she would've realized that they held no hope for her. He wasn't the doctor, his father was, he didn't know anything about medicine (as far as she knew). But I knew that these words relieved her, especially him reinforcing that it was truly and accident. I loved that he could read her mind and help her in ways I couldn't.
I stirred a little and looked into his eyes. I saw him give a slight nod and I knew that Phil had lived. Had I not been so exhausted I would've jumped for joy. Instead I hugged him hard and then adjusted myself so that I was facing my mother. I leaned over and kissed her and she smiled weakly. I stood up and Edward moved to the chair on my other side and I sat down next to my mother. She grabbed my hand and we sat like that for about five minutes until the doctor came out. I felt a smile creep onto my face but I fought it back, I wasn't supposed to know that he'd lived yet.
"I have good news and bad news." Was how he started and I looked at Edward, who had also put on a solemn face while waiting for the news.
"He lived," and with that my mother burst into fresh tears; tears of joy. "But, he'll need to be monitored for a day or two, and even then it'll be hard getting him home again with his broken bones."
We were so happy that he'd lived that the bad news hadn't seemed so bad. He was alive.
"When can we see him?" my mother asked breathing so fast it could almost be called panting. She her face was excited and still the silent tears rushed down her cheeks and dropped off her jaw onto her lap.
"Now if you'd like. But," he said stopping my mother from jumping up and running into the room. "don't encourage him to talk, if he's even awake. We don't want to strain his lungs."
We nodded and filed into his room. The nurse almost didn't let Edward in but I insisted and Edward stared deeply at her and asked her again in his deep musical voice and she finally relented, seemingly charmed by him. It was enough to make me smile and give him a small slap on the arm.
"What? I'm in aren't I?" he asked teasing me for my jealousy.
"The only person you get to stare at like that is me." I whispered in fake anger. He laughed and pulled me up into his arms. Mom didn't notice because she was busy holding Phil's hand and repeating the words, "I'm sorry."
He put me down and I rushed over and grabbed his other hand. We sat like that for an hour and then my mother told me to go home. It was nearly 3 in the morning and I needed sleep. I protested a little, but then Edward agreed and placed a hand on my back while he tried to persuade me. I felt like jell-o. Wobbling I let him lead me out of the room and nearly fell over when he removed his hand.
"Do you need me to carry you?" he said with a smile.
"No. I can do just fine." However, I was having trouble standing still and he noticed. Suddenly I was lifted into his arms and he was carrying me to the car. I didn't even try to get out, partly because this meant I got the lean my head against his shoulder and stare at him while he walked me to the car, and partly because it reminded me so much of that day at Santa Cruz.
He kissed me and led me into and elevator where we bumped into the one person I had been hoping we wouldn't see.
Keith was standing in the elevator watching us walk in. Edward tensed and gripped me tighter.
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