A/N: Trigger warning: you all know Bella's past, and what has happened in the last couple chapters. If those are triggering subjects to you, please proceed with caution.

And, again, remember that I am not a doctor and know basically nothing about the medical system. Please take all medical situations with a grain of salt and don't feel the need to tell me if I got something wrong. Trust me. I already know. This is a fiction story for a reason.

Also… grab the tissues.

So, take my pockets, take me whole

Take my life and take my soul

Wrap me in a wedding ring

You know I swear I'd give you anything

~ Halsey, Ya'aburnee

EPOV

"Mr. Cullen?"

I tore my gaze away from Bella, my neck cracking at the sudden movement after hours of sitting in the same position. Leaving her here alone wasn't an option, the thought of even walking down the hall sending a knot of dread into the pit on my stomach. Sleep wasn't an option either, because with so much as a blink my mind filled with unwanted images of just how Bella ended up lying unconscious in the hospital bed in front of me. So, I sat there, her hand in mine, and waited patiently for the sun to rise.

A nurse walked in, a few different clipboards in her hands. "There's some paperwork we need signed for Ms. Swan, if you don't mind."

I frowned. I didn't know much about hospital protocol, but I knew I wasn't in any position to be signing medical forms for her. We were as good as married in my mind, but not on paper. Not yet.

"We're not married."

It was the nurse's turn to frown at me. "Ms. Swan filled out a form months ago that made you her healthcare proxy. According to her records, she's had one since she was nineteen. You replaced a… Rosalie Hale," she said, flipping through a few pages of her paperwork.

My throat constricted, my mind taking longer than it should have to process what the nurse was telling me. Bella had a healthcare proxy since she was nineteen… had given someone other than her parents the ability to control her medical decisions if she was unable to do so herself. If she'd made Rosalie her proxy when she was nineteen, she had probably known her less than a year and still trusted her more than her own mother and father.

And she had since given the title to me. I wasn't sure what the process was for doing it, but I had a vague memory of her telling me she had gone to the doctor for a check-up a while ago. It was right before she thanked me for never giving her any sexually transmitted diseases. The memory brought me a quick instant of happiness before reality set in once again.

"We can wait for Ms. Swan to wake up. It's just some consent forms. I'll come back – "

"I can do it," I grunted out, clearing my throat to get rid of the hoarseness. I reached for her clipboards, scanning every form over before I signed it. My chest constricted, tighter and tighter, with every flick of the pen. I handed the nurse the papers and she quietly left the room.

I had spent hours sitting here, studying every bruise and cut and stitch on her face until I was numb to it all, sometimes wishing for the haze that had consumed my thoughts as I was waiting for her surgery to end. Those foggy, disjointed thoughts were easier to handle than the reality of the situation.

And the reality was that I didn't know just how bad Bella's childhood had been. She told me bits and pieces, but she never gave too much away and I didn't want to push. I told myself it was because I didn't want her to have to think about it, didn't want to unknowingly trigger an old memory or make her hurt any more than she already did. The truth was I was fucking petrified of knowing just how much trauma she had experienced. The few times I allowed myself to truly sit and think about her as a small child, scared and alone and having no one looking out for her… the scenarios my brain came up with made me sick.

But, Christ, how fucking bad did it have to be for her to move across the country just to get away from her family? To be so fucking scared of them to give someone else the power to make life saving decisions for her?

The pain that had been waiting in the recesses of my mind all night squeezed at my chest until I couldn't breathe. I had spent the last ten hours fighting against the gravity of the situation, focused solely on Bella and praying to every God out there that she would be okay.

Now that she was in front of me, that I could touch her and listen to her even breaths and know she was okay, all things considered, I had the mental capacity to be fucking furious at the whole thing.

Her parents were revolting. Letting Bella grow up never feeling safe or loved, thinking that crying made her weak and that she was an imposition to everyone around her should have been enough to land them both in a padded cell. Choosing the vile monster that her step-brother had become over her after years of Bella trying to tell them what was happening was repulsive.

The most fucked up part was they would probably still try and make excuses for the prick. Say he was the victim because he got his career taken away or whatever other thin fucking explanation they could come up with.

Shit like this happened all the time, and a lot of the time the abusers walked away without so much as a slap on the wrist. The thought of Tyler walking out of this unscathed made my stomach churn.

"I won't let them get away with it," I told her quietly. "I promise."

…Closure…

I thought I had imagined it, the slight twitch of her finger against my palm. I had been sitting beside her for over six hours, hadn't slept in about twenty-four, so hallucinations wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility. I felt it again, though, and saw her pinky flinch slightly against my fingers.

"Bella?" I asked quietly, too afraid to get my hopes up.

I knew she needed her rest, knew she was probably not feeling any pain as she slept, but I really fucking missed her. Even as she slept in front of me I missed her smile and her laugh and the way she never failed to squeeze my hand back if I was holding hers.

My eyes scanned her face, watching as her eyelids started to flutter. It took her a couple minutes before she was finally able to lift them open.

Warm, chocolate eyes met mine. The relief I had been expecting to feel once she woke up was short lived, given the fear very obviously swimming in her eyes.

"You're okay," I told her quickly. I stood over her, brushing her hair out of her face while carefully avoiding the stitches on her forehead. "You're in the hospital, but you're okay."

Bella kept her eyes on me for a few minutes, neither of us saying a word until she broke the silence with a question asked with more resignation and sadness than anyone at twenty-three should ever have.

"How bad is it?"

I should have gone to get her doctor to have him explain everything to her. She looked so small in the hospital bed, though. Every bit the young twenty-three-year-old she was, every bit the scared and broken and confused woman her abusive parents raised. And I didn't want to leave her alone, or have a doctor she didn't know telling her just how badly she was hurt.

I sat back down, gripping her hand tightly between both of mine. I had gone over her list of injuries a hundred times throughout the night, every scratch unfortunately engrained in my memory.

"You have a deep cut on your forehead," I started, my throat tightening against the words as I forced them out. "It's got three stitches. Your right wrist is sprained, and you have four fractured ribs. You, ah, you had a lot of internal bleeding. The surgeon said it was pretty severe, you needed a few blood transfusions."

I stopped, taking a deep breath and not knowing exactly how to tell her she'd had a total hip replacement.

"What else?"

I pressed my lips together, leaning over to brush my fingers through her hair. She didn't look shocked, didn't look sad. She knew just how badly she was injured, and that made the whole thing more heartbreaking.

"Your right hip was in pretty bad shape," I said slowly. "They had to do a total hip replacement."

Bella was quiet, her eyes never leaving mine. For minutes we sat there while my words hovered in the room. Again, there was no shock or emotion on her face. Just silent, heart breaking resignation.

Eventually she took a deep breath, wincing as her ribs probably shot pain throughout her chest. Her eyes stayed on me, some of the fear that had been tainting them since she had woken up evaporating.

"And I always assumed I'd be the one helping you with a hip replacement eventually."

I let out a quick, shocked gasp at her joke before admitting, "Me too."

She smiled up at me. Her face was swollen and bruised, she had just found out that she had a total hip replacement, and she laid there smiling up at me like none of that mattered.

I leaned over her, gently pressing my lips to her hairline in an attempt to find a spot that wasn't bruised or sore. "I love you," I breathed against her skin.

"Even though I have a bunch of metal in my hip now?"

I nodded. "Even with all of the metal in your hip."

…Closure…

"Do you have any questions?"

Bella shook her head, eyes down on the paperwork the surgeon had given her. Her voice was soft and quiet as she answered, "I don't think so."

Doctor Roberts had talked to her for about half an hour about her hip. I had done some of my own research in the hours I waited for her to wake up and most of it was lining up with what the doctor had to say. The bottom line being that there was a lot of physical therapy in Bella's future.

He gave Bella a kind smile. "I'll be back to check on you later this afternoon if you think of any. A physical therapist will be up soon to help get you moving around. Now, you've got quite the crowd waiting for you outside if you're up for visitors?"

The look of surprise on Bella's face made me frown.

"Oh, um, sure," she mumbled, attempting to sit up straighter with a wince. As soon as Doctor Roberts was out of the room she turned to me. "Who's here?"

"Everybody," I told her with a confused frown, realization that she assumed no one else was here worried about her settling in my stomach. "My parents have been here all night, so have Rosalie and Jasper. Alice only left a couple hours ago to get some stuff for you from home, and bring the kids back. Irina took them home late last night."

The confusion on her face was nothing short of heart breaking. My lack of knowledge of just how bad her childhood was, was staring back at me with confused chocolate eyes because no one had ever bothered to care when she was hurt before.

She had always told me she was awkward in social situations, but I had never seen it until the room started to fill up with our family, and she didn't quite know what to do with herself. Awkward didn't seem to be the right word for it, though. Confused, maybe.

Most everyone else in the room was oblivious to it. Both of my parents caught my eye, though. They stood across the room, deep, concerned frowns on their faces as they looked at Bella.

…Closure…

"Oh, I'm not using that," Bella said quickly, the moment her physical therapist put an aluminum walker beside her bed. She was slightly out of breath after managing to get her legs over the side of her bed.

I did my best not to stare at the bruises covering her calves.

Her physical therapist was a woman we were both instructed to simply call Lexi. She seemed young to be a doctor, but she was probably a few years older than Bella. She reminded me of my sister, with the constant smiling and chipperness. Bella's refusal of the walker had her stopping in her tracks, though the smile never fell off of her face.

"And why not?" Lexi asked calmly.

"Because I'm not eighty. I'm fine. I know how to walk."

Neither Lexi nor I were expecting it, but thankfully I was standing close enough to Bella that I was able to catch her when she tried to stand up on her own. She gasped, the pain evident on her face as she lost her balance. I was sure my sudden grip around her waist only added to the pain thanks to her broken ribs, but in the moment it was hard to think of a place to catch her that didn't run the risk of hurting her. After the moment I still couldn't think of a place that wasn't covered in bruises.

"Bella," I sighed quietly to myself, helping her sit back down on the bed.

I thought the drive to the hospital was bad. The fear of the dozens of unknowns I was suddenly facing crippling. Then, I thought the hours waiting for her surgery to be done were worse. Knowing that she was in the building, being cut open and exposed and probably scared even through the anesthesia, and that there was nothing I could do to help her was excruciating. And, again, once that was over, sitting beside her and seeing just how broken and bruised she was… it was equally as agonizing as every other part of the night.

All of it was fucking awful. But, watching her not even be able to stand up on her own, knowing she was in that much pain and there wasn't a single thing I could do to help her through it, it was insufferable.

Once I had her situated back on her bed, I pulled away slowly only to see her eyes squeezed shut and lips pressed together.

"Can we have a minute?" I asked Lexi quietly. She nodded, leaving the room.

Bella's head fell, defeated as her hands gripping the end of the bed tightly. I knelt in front of her, mindful to avoid her right leg. It took a moment, but eventually my fingers were able to pry hers away from the sheets.

"Hey," I said quietly, rubbing my thumb across her knuckles. I watched her squeeze her eyes tighter, something I had seen her do too many times to keep herself from crying.

"I'm sorry," she sighed.

For a moment, I was glad she had her eyes closed off to me. It meant she couldn't see how appalled I was at her apology.

"I'm sorry for making everything difficult. I – "

"Isabella," I interrupted, my voice harsher than I intended, but it got her to open her eyes to me. Her sad, chocolate eyes. "You have absolutely no reason to apologize. You have every right to be angry and sad and upset, but you – " I shook my head, the absurdity that she was apologizing for anything making my head spin. "You do not need to apologize. Do you understand?"

She gave me a small nod, but I knew she still didn't. Understand. She was smart as hell, but she had a lifetime of neglect and abuse that had scarred her and made her surprised anyone had shown up to the hospital in the first place. So, I knew she didn't really understand that she didn't have to apologize for being angry about using a walker or upset about her new hip or broken ribs.

I reached up, brushing my thumb carefully over her cheekbone. "I know you don't want to use the walker, but it's only for a little while. If you try to do too much too soon you're just going to end up needing another surgery. And I really don't want you to need another surgery."

Maybe it was an underhanded tactic, but if she wasn't going to take care of herself for herself, I was selfish enough to ask her to do it for me.

She watched me for a few minutes, her eyes seeming to study every inch of my face as I knelt in front of her. Eventually, her eyes softened. The fear and sadness that had been behind them since she woke up disappeared for a quick moment before she gave me another small nod, which I took as my cue to go get Lexi.

…Closure…

"Shower?" I asked Bella, holding my hands out to her with a smile.

I saw her eying the shower every time she slowly walked past it during her physical therapy. Once Lexi was gone, leaving behind packets of information and lists of mundane movements Bella wasn't allowed to do for the time being, I thought she might like to wash away the last twenty-four hours.

She opened her mouth, probably to tell me she didn't need help, but quickly thought better of it. With a small nod, I helped her toss the blankets out of her way and carefully get her legs over the side of the bed.

I shook my head when Bella went to reach for the walker, holding out my own hands instead. Maybe it wasn't the smartest plan, but I knew she hated the walker and didn't want her to have to use it right now. "I've got you."

Her eyes flashed to mine, the wall that had been put up nearly the moment she woke up starting to crumble. She put her hands in mine, carefully aligning her feet as Lexi had instructed and standing up.

The simple movement brought a smile to my face. She was already moving better than she had been an hour ago, more used to what her hip was capable of for now. We took our time getting to the attached bathroom, Bella's steps only moving her forward a couple inches at a time.

Once we made it to the bathroom, I kicked the door shut behind her. She tensed when I reached for the ties holding her hospital gown together.

"I, um," she mumbled, squeezing the one hand she still had in hers. "I'm pretty sure I'm just a walking bruise. And I – I have all of these bandages and I don't want you to have to see them."

I swallowed back the lump that formed in my throat.

Isabella Swan was the most beautiful woman I had ever known. She had a beauty that surpassed physical attractiveness and bled into everything she did. While I would have done anything to have been able to keep her from ever getting another bruise on her body, even the dark purple splotches and surgical bandages marring her once perfectly smooth skin couldn't take away from that innate beauty.

Once I was sure I could speak without my voice cracking, I cupped her cheek to lift her attention to me. "In sickness and in health, Bella."

She frowned, chocolate eyes swimming with unshed tears. "We're not married yet."

"No," I agreed. "But, just because we haven't said our vows doesn't mean I'm not already following them."

Bella had put on a brave front all day. From the moment she opened her eyes I had seen her try and either keep her face neutral or force a small smile. Usually when other people were around, especially for the hour or so her room had been filled with our family.

Everyone had a breaking point, though. A limit to how much pain and suffering and fucked up hands of cards from life they could take before they broke. It would never be fair that someone as pure and kind and good as Bella had hit her breaking point so soon.

"To have and to hold from this day forward," I started, gently tugging loose the tie of her gown. "For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer." I guided her the last couple steps into the shower, turning the water on and waiting a moment before it was warm enough for her. "In sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, 'til death do us part."

The first sob rippled through her body as soon as the warm water hit her bare skin. The sound shredding the last of my own self-control as I felt tears stream down my cheeks. Her forehead rested against my chest, angled so she wasn't putting pressure on her stitches. Her fingers gripped my shirt at my sides, her body shaking with each cry that she let out.

My arms wrapped around her. Not nearly as tight as I would have liked, but she had been right. She was a walking bruise, and I knew her sobs were probably painful enough without me adding any extra pressure to her. At the same time, I was mindful to make sure she didn't fall.

"I'm so sorry," I breathed out against her hair. The top of her head, thankfully, seemed to be one of the only places that didn't hurt her. "I'm so sorry, Bella."

Her sobs continued, each strangled cry more painful than the last. I had never felt as helpless as I did in that moment, holding the woman who had saved me in a dozen different ways as she cried and knowing there was absolutely nothing I could do to make any of it better.

I regulated my uneven breaths as her cries eventually slowed, hoping she would match them. Once the gentle fall of the shower spray was the loudest noise in the room, I pressed a kiss to the top of her head and pulled away to look down at her.

"Do you want to sit?" I asked, nodding to the plastic seat in the shower behind her.

She shook her head.

I nodded, squeezing her hands against my sides where her fingers had my soaked button down in a tight grip. "Hold on to me, okay? Don't let go."

I was probably breaking a dozen rules, but I knew I'd be able to catch her before she fell if necessary. If she wanted the small sense of normalcy that standing for a shower gave her, I'd give it to her.

Alice had already stocked the bathroom. I saw her sneak in while Bella was distracted by Rosalie. The scent of her strawberry shampoo made me smile, the one normal part of our day so far.

Once every inch of her skin was clean, I saw the first, genuine smile on her face all day. I could see her cheeks burn, even underneath the bruising on her face, as I helped her get dressed in the sweatpants and Tonight Show t-shirt Alice had stashed in here. She didn't put up a fight, though I knew she probably wanted to.

After spending a good five minutes brushing her teeth, I helped her back out to her bed. Right when I had her situated, there was a tentative knock at the door.

"Can we come in?" Lucy's voice sounded through the small crack.

Bella's answer was immediate. "Yeah."

Lucy and Masen barreled in, arms overflowing.

"We got you some food," Lucy said with a smile, carrying a bright red tray over. "And a coffee that's more sugar than anything else."

I left them on their own for a moment as I went to change out of my wet clothing and into the jeans and t-shirt that had been waiting for me in the bathroom. When I got back out, Bella was frowning down at a gaming device while Masen leaned over her shoulder and pointed at something on the screen.

"Grandma and Grandpa wanted to talk to you," he said absently before focusing back on the game.

I nodded, walking over to brush a few strands of damp hair off of Bella's cheek. "Will you be okay for a few minutes?"

She nodded. "Masen bought me my own island," she said, holding up the gaming system in her hand. When I took my first step away from her, the small smile on her lips fell. "Just… don't be gone too long, okay?"

"I won't," I promised, forcing myself out of the room before I could change my mind.

I frowned at the door, left half open by Masen and Lucy. It would have been a harmless mistake had it not been for the man standing across the hall, not-so-subtly peeking in to catch a glimpse of Bella in her bed, Masen and Lucy on either side of her. It took every ounce of willpower I had to gently close it behind me before I turned toward him.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" I grunted, forcing myself to keep my voice low.

Charlie Swan had the audacity to frown at me. He stood against the far wall, dressed in wrinkled jeans and a plaid flannel that easily gave away that he wasn't from Los Angeles. He was an unimposing man, would have what I considered a kind face if I didn't know better.

His mustache twitched as he pressed his lips together. "Checking on my daughter."

"No," I snapped, taking two quick steps so I was away from Bella's door. "You don't get to talk about her like you know her. Like you aren't the reason she's here in the first place."

I had never been a violent man, but my fists were itching to inflict a fraction of the damage Bella had suffered through on the man in front of me. She had spent a lifetime trying to get his love and attention and was finally moving on. He had no right to show up now and try to play the role of her father.

"I didn't know," he seethed, though there was obvious anguish under his frustration. Anguish that was ten years too late.

"Bullshit," I scoffed, fists tense at my side. "She could have died. Because you couldn't be bothered to listen to a single fucking word she ever said, she could have died!"

"Edward," my father's voice was suddenly beside me, a firm hand on my shoulder keeping me from giving into the overwhelming anger flooding my veins.

Before anyone could say another word, the squeak of a door opening caught everyone's attention. All eyes ended up on Bella, hands gripping the walker in front of her as she took in the scene in the hallway. Masen and Lucy stood beside her, both eying her like they were waiting for her to topple over.

"Bella, sweetheart – " Charlie started, moving to take a step in Bella's direction.

Carlisle's hand reached out, gripping Charlie's bicep before he could make a move. "Just because I don't want my son to get arrested for assault, doesn't mean I have a problem spending a night in jail myself."

My eyes were trained on Bella, watching as her throat tensed with a swallow and her eyes narrowed on her father. "You need to leave."

"Bella, I – "

"No. No. Every breath I take is excruciating. I can't walk without this fucking walker like I'm ninety years old. I can't even get myself dressed. Nothing you can say is going to fix any of that, so I don't want to hear it. Now, please, leave."

Charlie looked over Bella for a moment, his eyes growing hollow as he took in every bruise and stitch. I gave him thirty seconds. Half a minute to look over his daughter one last time before I made sure he was never anywhere near her again. He had three seconds remaining by the time he turned and left.

I took three deep breaths before shaking off my father's hand and approaching Bella. My palm cupped her cheek as my thumb wiped away the single tear that had spilled over.

"Let's get you back in bed."

Every time she stood up, it seemed she was getting better at walking. Even as she shuffled her way back to her bed, she looked steadier on her feet than she had on her walk to the shower.

I could see how much effort the short walk took, though. She tried to hide it, but she was exhausted by the time we got her back in bed.

"I know this isn't a great time," my mother started, walking into the room with my father. "But, there's a detective here that wants to talk to you."

No one had brought it up. The event that led to Bella ending up in that hospital bed. Since she had woken up my only priority was making sure she was okay. Between the doctors and physical therapy there hadn't been much time to talk about anything else. I was a coward for wishing I could have a few more moments of blissful ignorance on the subject.

"Not now."

"Okay."

My refusal came out at the same time as Bella's agreement. I looked down at her with a frown. "You don't need to talk to them now. They can wait."

She shrugged, wincing slightly at the movement. "I'd rather get it over with."

My lips pressed into a hard line. "Are you sure?"

Bella nodded. My father left the room quietly, my mother inviting Masen and Lucy down to the cafeteria for lunch.

Bella and I sat in silence until a woman walked into the room. She wore a practical pant suit, her blonde hair pulled back and her eyes pale blue as they looked over Bella.

"Ms. Swan?" she asked, walking further into the room. "I'm Detective Sloane. I have a few questions for you about last night, if that's alright?" At Bella's nod, she pulled out a small notebook and pen. Then her eyes drifted over to me. "Could we speak alone?"

"No," Bella said quickly, before I could. There was a twinge of panic in her voice, fear glowing behind her eyes as she looked quickly between where the detective stood and I sat. "I don't – can he stay?"

I squeezed her hand to try and calm her down, even when I could feel a shot of panic run through my own veins. My stomach twisted uncomfortably at the thought of hearing what she had to say to the detective.

Detective Sloane nodded. "If you're comfortable with it."

Bella nodded, her eyes flashing over to me for a moment. I gave her as reassuring of a smile as I could manage.

"Do you remember what happened last night?"

"Bits and pieces," Bella admitted quietly. "Not everything. I'm good at repressing things, though. I don't know if I did that on purpose or not."

Detective Sloane nodded. "That's okay. Anything you remember is helpful."

"I, um, I dropped my keys. At my old house, I was going to pick something up and I dropped my keys and when I went to pick them up he was there."

"He?"

"My step-brother. Tyler Dwyer."

"Could you pick him out of a lineup?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Go on."

"I don't know where he came from, he just kind of appeared. And started yelling at me about him getting blacklisted from the MLB. He was drunk, smelled like a bar. I told him he needed to leave, that I had a restraining order, and that was when he got his first hit in." Bella frowned, taking a few seconds to think before starting again. "We ended up on the side of the house, I don't know how. That's when my memory gets kind of fuzzy. But, he, uh, shoved me down I think. At some point. There are rocks lining some flower beds on the side of the house and I think I fell on one and that's how my hip…"

Bella went quiet, her eyes focused on the cream wall in front of her but obviously seeing a much more horrifying picture in its place.

"He would have killed me," she whispered. "If I hadn't… he would have killed me."

"If you hadn't, what?"

"I take a self-defense class every six months at my friends' gym. Last time, he gave everyone these keychains that turn into a knife. I had dropped my keys in the grass but I – I found them eventually. He leaned down and grabbed my neck and I stabbed him."

Fucking hell.

"Where?"

Bella's words started coming out faster, a tell-tale sign of her panic. "His, um, stomach. A couple times. He was going to kill me."

"You're not in any trouble, Ms. Swan. You've got obvious defensive wounds, and Tyler Dwyer's DNA matched evidence collected underneath your nails when you got to the hospital last night. Even with the stab wounds, he is in much better shape than you are. You did nothing wrong."

"You caught him?" I interrupted.

Detective Sloane nodded. "He ended up at a hospital across town. He needed surgery, but he's got officers stationed outside his door and will be taken into custody as soon as he's discharged."

It was hard to take much comfort in her news as I felt Bella's hand trembling in mine.

"Is there anything else you remember?"

Bella shook her head. "The next thing I remember is being in the hospital."

Detective Sloane closed her notebook and pulled out a card, setting it on the spare table beside Bella's bed. "If you think of anything else, or have any questions, don't hesitate to call. Thank you for talking to me today. I know it's not easy, but the sooner we have all of the information, the sooner we can lock him up."

Once the detective left, Bella and I sat in silence. The last thirty-six hours would forever be engrained in my memory. Listening to Bella admit that Tyler would have killed her given the chance was a moment that would haunt me for the rest of my life. But, as I sat here next to her, all I could feel was a surge of undiluted pride in the woman beside me.

She never gave up. From the time she was eight-years-old she had been put in unimaginable circumstances for a child. She could have easily let her family win, gotten stuck in a cycle of abuse and been too scared to get herself out of it.

Instead, she picked herself up time and time again. She moved across the country on her own, got herself out of college debt free, and won.

"Bella?" I sighed, turning toward her and waiting until her eyes met mine. "You are… the most remarkable person I have ever met."

Silence fell over the room again, but so did a layer of peace. An ending that no one was sad to see that seemed to linger in the air. Until there was a soft knock on the door and Rosalie peaked her head in.

"Can I come in?"

Bella nodded. "Sure."

I gave Bella's hand a squeeze as I stood. Her eyes shot up to me, more panic in them than I ever would have liked. Leaning down, I pressed my lips to her hair.

"Just giving you two some time alone. I'll be right outside."

"Oh, okay."

Rosalie gave me a small smile as I left. I had monopolized most of Bella's time since she had gotten out of surgery, and I knew I wasn't the only one who had spent all night worried about her. Rosalie hadn't left the hospital since last night, either.

There was a small waiting room just down the hall from Bella's room. It had been taken over by our family since last night. My parents and the kids were gone for the time being, probably still in the cafeteria. I saw Alice's bag in a chair and assumed she was somewhere with Jasper. Emmett was the only one around for now.

I took a seat beside him, leaning my elbows on my knees and turning my face toward him.

"You gave her a keychain," I stated, my voice tight and rough.

Emmett cocked his head to the side. "What?"

"She took a self-defense class with you and you gave her a keychain that doubled as a knife."

Realized covered his features. "Yeah."

"That knife is the reason she's not dead. You finding her when you did is why she's not dead." I swallowed back a lump in my throat. "If you ever need… anything, I…" I shook my head. There was absolutely nothing I could repay him with that would come close to making us even. That wouldn't stop me from trying, though.

Emmett shook his head. "You don't owe me anything. Bella… she's the little sister I never had. I started that self-defense class because I wanted her and Rosalie to take it. That was before I knew just how badly she needed it."

I nodded, knowing that even if he didn't see it that way, I owed him everything.

…Closure…

"You can go home to sleep," Bella repeated, frowning over at me.

I was in the chair I had spent more time in the last twenty-four hours that not. The night was still fairly young, but all of our family had left for the evening. My parents were staying at our house with Masen and Lucy, Alice had left with the promise of returning with fresh clothes and coffee in the morning, and Rosalie and Emmett had taken to their books to try and help Bella along with her hip.

I made a mental note to figure out how to pay for both of their tuitions.

"I'm not going home," I said simply, my eyes tracing every inch of her face as she stared at me, catching the flash of relief as I refused her offer.

It didn't take long for me to realize she got nervous when I wasn't around. Even if someone else was with her, even if I was only gone for a minute or two, as soon as I was back I saw her muscles relax and that flash of worry in her eyes disappear.

It made me just as uneasy being away from her, so going home was a moot point.

I frowned at her as she started fumbling around on her bed. "What are you doing?"

"Making room."

"Bella – "

I winced, watching her attempt to situate herself on her side, resting on her good hip in the way her physical therapist told her she could sleep. It would have been much easier on her if she did it in the middle of the bed, but she had scooted herself over to the right.

Her eyes met mine, molten chocolate pleading with me to not treat her as a patient. With a sigh, I got in the bed beside her as carefully as I could. A peaceful smile spread across her face. Her right arm rested across my chest, her wrist covered in a black brace. I buried my nose in the hair on top of her head, breathing in her scent that, twenty-four hours ago, I was worried I'd lost forever.

Bella's voice was quiet, hesitant, when she spoke. "Are you okay?"

"I'm pretty sure that's my line," I told her with a kiss to her hair.

With a crane of her neck, her eyes were back on me. Worried about me when she should be focused on herself.

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding and relished in the minutes passing. We hadn't had more than a few moments alone together all day before someone else was looking for her. I was grateful for the reprieve, for the time to finally collect my thoughts for the first time all day.

"I don't think I handled the situation very well," I admitted eventually. "I saw you. For just a couple seconds right before they took you to surgery. It was just the back of your head, but I knew it was you. They were wheeling you down the hall and you were throwing up blood and I – I was terrified that was going to be the last time I ever saw you."

A shaky breath left my lungs as Bella nuzzled herself closer to my side. "We have a lot left to do together, you and I. And I let the fear of all of that getting torn away from us send me into a bit of a tailspin."

"What do we have to do?"

I smiled, mostly to myself. "We have to get married. I need to see you in that dress you can't talk about without smiling. I want to live with you, just the two of us. I want to take you on weekend trips up to New York because that's always going to be our place. I want to spend every single birthday I have left taking dance classes with you. I…"

I stopped myself, getting too carried away. Bella didn't need the burden of my own anxieties weighing her down.

Soft lips pressed against my jaw. "I'm sorry you were so worried."

I smiled down at her, my fingers brushing through her hair as any remaining adrenaline and panic dissipated. "I love you."

Bella's lips twitched with a smile, her eyelids drooping as she relaxed against my chest. "Love you."

A/N: I am so sorry about the delay. This chapter has been in my head for probably a year, and when that happens I tend to have such high expectations for the chapter that I write and rewrite and rewrite. Anyway, I hope it was worth the wait. Thank you for your patience, you guys mean the world to me.