Author's Note: Omg this chapter was so frustrating to write; I apologise for the massive delay in updates. It's holidays now so I promise you at least one chapter a week (I'll probably regret this later because I can be quite lazy, but I've said it now.). I put an update on my current writing progress at the top of my profile page, so you can check there to see where I'm at. I re-wrote this chapter three times because my word crashed twice, and I hadn't saved it. The good side is that I learnt my lesson and now know to save the document frequently hehe. Anyway enjoy and please review, they mean a lot to me and motivate me so much!
Please keep in mind that I write in Australian (British) English, so for me, it's 'colour' not 'color' 'mum' not 'mom' 'organise' not 'organize' etc. :)
Bella's POV
I woke up on a very uncomfortable bed, my mind was fuzzy and most of my memories were blurry. Loud beeps sounded throughout the room, hurting my head.
"Beeping- off, hurt-," I managed to mumble.
"I'm sorry Isabella, it has to stay on."
I opened my eyes a fraction and saw a man with brown hair and blue eyes looking down at me. I gasped loudly and struggled within the confines of the sheets. Jim, he looked far too much like Jim. I screamed and started yelling for help.
"Isabella, calm down. I'm a doctor I'm here to help you, I won't hurt you," the firm voice stated.
Jim started to reach down to contain me and my thrashing arms. I screamed louder. He couldn't be trusted, especially not after what he'd already done to me. His face twisted with pain as I started punching him in the shoulder. And he ran out of the room yelling something that sounded like 'Backup please! Room number 13, bring the sedatives, as a precaution' into a small machine on his coat.
I stared after him. He'd hurt me once before and he'd come so close to doing it again.
Memories that seemed like they were from merely hours ago filled my head. Men, a group of them grabbing at my wrists and pressing their faces against my body, restraining my arms and preventing me from screaming for help. I shuddered, my lungs were struggling to bring air in and out of them and it was becoming incredibly hard to breathe. I started hyperventilating and, looking down at my battered hands I realised that I was visibly shaking. Painful sobs tore from my body and my lips trembled, everything hurt, my legs and arms all felt as if they were on fire and my head throbbed against my skull painfully. I whimpered as the pain increased suddenly, my breaths coming in harsh sounds.
A band of nurses came through the open door then, a doctor following. My ability to breath was torn from me as my mind filled with panic and my body spasmed with fear. I tried to move away from the nurse's arms holding me down, but my body was too weak to move. They pushed me back from my sitting position until my head was lying against the hard pillows.
A different man with golden hair and strange golden eyes slowly walked over to me holding his hands in front of him as a gesture of peace. The man was strangely familiar, though I couldn't exactly remember why.
"Isabella, I need you to breathe for me, please. Take a deep breath and then we can talk," he whispered in a soft melodic voice.
I glanced at him warily through my eyelashes. He looked back at me with kind eyes and I took a breath, my lungs welcoming the air. The nurses surrounding me seemed to be heavily relieved, as did the doctor, though I couldn't wonder why, and the tension slowly vacated the room.
"Do you remember what happened?" he asked quietly, clearly monitoring both my heart rate and breathing.
The question though, was not what I wanted to hear. I remembered it. I didn't want to remember it, but I did, and in far too much detail. I wished that more than anything I could just forget, forget all about it, or even better, it not even happening in the first place.
He waited patiently for my answer and I hesitantly nodded. The strange man sighed, and a flash of anger was shown across his face. 'Is he angry at me? Did he think I was a burden for carrying on like a child?' The thought of this kind man being angry at me brought tears to my eyes. If he was angry at me there surely wouldn't be any reason for the whole of Forks to be angry, or disappointed, or annoyed…
I sobbed quietly the tears openly streaming down my face, and I turned my head slightly into my pillow in shame. If only I hadn't been so stupid. If only I'd have screamed for help or ran or done something, I could have prevented so much pain from falling upon my family and this kind doctor.
The door opened again then and a familiar woman with brown hair rushed into the room.
"Mum," I breathed.
She nodded her head and came rushing to my side, wrapping her arms around me. My broken and painful body screamed silently in process and my muscles stiffened.
Her arms were too tight around me. Her face too close. Her body was pressed against mine… all of which resembled the way those men had been holding me. Protesting, I tried to break from her grasp, the nurses straining to hold me back.
"Get away," I sobbed. "Please."
She pulled back slightly then and looked at me in shock, the doctor took a hesitant step forward.
"Mrs Swan, I think she needs her own space right now, it'll be best if you stepped away."
My mother looked at the man in surprise. She continued by looking him up and down and spat, "How dare you try and tell me how to treat my own daughter."
The blonde doctor flinched back, just as my mother turned to look at me again and held me tighter, planting a kiss on my cheek.
Loud beeps filled the room and my heart was pounding against my chest. I thrashed wildly, using the very last of my energy to try and escape her grip. I didn't mean to hurt her, but she was too close. I couldn't handle it 'too much,' my mind screamed at me. 'Get away, she'll hurt you'. I gasped wildly and yet again; my breathing sped up until I was fighting for air.
Young nurses looked around at each other wildly. The strange man ducked behind him and reached for an item on a small table. He rushed towards me and I caught a glimpse of an evil looking needle.
"No, don't touch me!" an uneven voice echoed throughout the room, it sounded foreign to me. It held too much pain, too much misery. 'It's your voice stupid, you deserve this pain. The people you love and care about don't deserve pain, you do, so stop complaining and deal with it.' I struggled to mute the raging voice in the back of my mind that criticised me, but I feared that it was right, that I was hurting everyone I knew and that I deserved the agony it brought me.
The doctor was looking at me and I realised he had a startlingly beautiful face. It was perfect, almost unnatural, like Edwards. He smiled at me sadly as he carefully prepared a swab of alcohol and placed it on my wrist, moving all the other tubes that I had only just realised were there aside. "I'm sorry, Isabella. It'll be easier for you there for the moment." And with that he slipped the needle into my arm expertly, my body relaxing and my heart slowing down as I drifted off into a restful sleep.
Carlisle's POV
I looked down on the young girl, her face etched with pain even as she slept. She didn't deserve this. Those men had broken her, and I was worried that even with time; she might never fully heal from the trauma, Rosalie hadn't yet. I didn't know what to do, I could mend her physically, but I could only help or comfort her- if she allowed it- to try and ease her mental pain. The situation was very similar to Rosalie's, apart from the fact that Bella could be saved, which I was incredibly grateful for. If the paramedics had arrived even minutes later, she wouldn't have made it.
I laughed weakly as my mind concluded that I thought of this girl as one of my own.
I hardly knew the girl, yet I cared for her, as did Edward. The thought of Edward made me worry, he was, at this very moment, at home frantic, with Esme trying to calm him down and stop him from running here on his own. Alice was also very distraught, and Rosalie was boiling with rage, as was I and all the rest of the family, at those men who had hurt a human- in the same way Rose had been hurt- even if she barely knew Bella. The young human girl knew what we were, Edward had told her yet when I had stepped into the room earlier, she didn't seem to recognise me. Though it was normal after such an event, it worried me that her thoughts and memories were clearly very distant from her conscious mind.
Thinking back to earlier today I recalled that I had only heard about the chief's daughter through rumours in the hospital this morning, and up until now I hadn't been the doctor to be assigned to this patient. Dr Mitchell's was assigned to Bella at first, yet their first encounter hadn't gone down very well when she'd woken up and had a panic attack. I had met Bella before, and with Edward and Alice being rather close with the human, Edward especially, I was assigned as Bella's new doctor. Had it not been for the young girl's mother rushing in and causing her to have an episode of panic so severe that she had to be sedated, I would have hoped to be able to speak to Bella about the situation and formally introduce myself.
I sighed quietly and looked down at the unconscious girl. Bella's mother had to have been removed from the room, yet only after yelling some rather disgusting words at me that I had tried my best to ignore. Her father, Charlie had heard about the news very late, having been far away on a fishing trip with a friend. He left as soon as he heard but Renee had happened to be closer to Forks than him at the moment and had made it here before he had.
I drifted from my daze and lifted my head to look at the shocked nurses surrounding me. "Thank you for your help, you can go and check on any other patients for now, I'll check Isabella's injuries and update her chart."
The room went dead silent as the nurses walked out of the room, closing the door behind them.
I was just about to dispose of the sedative but was interrupted from a very human-sounding painful gasp as Bella stirred restlessly. I frowned worriedly, the sedation I gave should've been strong enough to let her rest peacefully, that being without movement, for a good few hours. Considering how weary she would have been already, and the substantial amount of damage done to her body it would have to take a lot of distress for her to be moving around that wildly in her drug-induced state. 'Maybe she is much worse than I feared' The thought was so incredibly painful. To even think that somebody else I cared about should have to go through such a horrendous experience, just as Rosalie did, made my jaw clench in anguish.
My unbeating heart throbbed painfully for the girl, and the medical side of me switched back on as I moved to check her heart rate. I could hear it perfectly; it was a bit too fast, but just for good measure and more out of habit than anything I pulled the stethoscope from around my neck and placed it on her chest. I winced, the stethoscope bringing out more faults in her heartbeat and breathing. It would've been incredibly hard for a human to hear but her lungs were clearly struggling to suck air in and out, and her heart was beating unevenly.
I ducked to the end of the bed and pulled out her chart; My enhanced senses could spot some of her injuries, but I hadn't had time to read and study them all. My eyes skimmed the page quickly. Two broken ribs, which gave me some insight into why her lungs were working so hard. A shattered hand, damage to her groin and surrounding areas and a concussion. Her skin was covered in scratches, lacerations and bruises and I couldn't help but wonder what those men had done to her to cause such serious gashes, hoping that she hadn't been awake to experience the added pain.
I smiled sadly, holding back a sob as I yet again felt sorry for what the girl had to experience. I felt a soft buzz from within my lab coat and I pulled out my phone, answering my mate's incoming call.
"Hello love," I spoke sadly, painfully as I couldn't help but feel incredibly dejected for the young girl lying in front of me.
"Carlisle, what's wrong? Did something happen?"
I exhaled; my wife knew of Bella's condition but had not been updated since. Not wanting to worry my wife and also not wanting to lie, I took a deep and completely unnecessary breath as I recounted the earlier events to Esme.
"Is she alright?" Esme asked passionately. She would take every possible step to make sure that everybody in the family was okay, she hadn't met Bella but knew that Edward loved her, and Alice found her a great friend. She also knew that I cared for her, it was obvious in which the way I spoke about Bella. That was good enough for Esme, whoever I cared about, she cared about and whoever the family cared about, I cared about.
"She's far worse than I ever thought, but there's got to be some way to help," I spoke.
I could hear the rest of the family talking rather loudly in the background through the small phone and I heard Rosalie come up to Esme and ask to speak with me. A pained voice tentatively called out to me.
"Carlisle let me come up there and see her, please," Rosalie asked.
I breathed quietly; it wouldn't do Bella any good to be swarmed by people. Men, in particular, were often found very threatening to female rape victims, though Bella seemed to be alright so far with myself and I wondered if that was because she was suffering a concussion and her thoughts were sure to be very muddled. I didn't have much of a problem with Rosalie coming, she understood Bella's hurt, more than anyone. But I also feared that Bella would have another episode. The young girl knew what we were, Edward had told her, yet when I had stepped into the room earlier, she didn't seem to recognise me.
"Of course, only you though, it won't go down well at all if she wakes up and the whole family is here."
I heard Edward protesting in the background and I smiled hesitantly at his determination. 'They'll make a good couple," I thought lovingly.
"I'm coming now." And with that, the phone was shut off and it was silent again.
Walking out of the room quietly, sparing one last glance back at Bella I went to go check on any other patients before Rosalie came…
Rosalie's POV:
I walked into the hospital and spoke to the lady at the reception desk.
"I'd like to see doctor Cullen," I said, maybe a bit too harshly. I was angered at the group of men that had hurt this human and I often unintentionally snapped at others when I was stressed or worried.
She looked me up and down and I had to use all my restraint to stop impatient self from running up there.
"And who are you?" The lady asked unkindly, shooting me a scowl.
A familiar scent struck me and I turned to look at Carlisle, exasperation about this woman shown plain on my face.
"That'll be quite alright Stephanie, Rosalie is my daughter and she can come to speak to me if she'd like," he stated.
The receptionist, Stephanie was practically swooning at this point, yet she made no move to conceal it. She looked up at Carlisle, fluttering her eyelashes and said "My, of course, doctor. I didn't mean to inconvenience you."
Carlisle sighed quietly, a quick flash of annoyance shown on his face, too quick for a human to notice before he reigned it in and curtly nodded his head to the woman. He turned to look at me and I hurried to his side, the man quickly wrapped an arm around my side and offered me a kind smile.
It was such a Carlisle thing to do really. To offer comfort and support to anybody else even when he was hurting. I admired him for that, though I would never tell anyone. I longed to be as selfless and compassionate as Carlisle and I wished that I was able to accept love more easily at times.
Sensing my discomfort and knowing that I never really liked physical touch with anyone but Emmett he released his arm from around me.
"Are you alright Rosalie?" He asked in concern.
Yet again, he was being selfless. And I huffed a short little laugh before turning my head to stare blatantly at the ground.
"Yes," It was honestly all I could afford to say right now, and I struggled to hold back a sob.
"You can talk to me if you'd like. I know this doesn't bring up many good memories for you but it's not too late to turn back. The girl isn't awake yet and nobody would blame you if it were too much."
No, I wouldn't be the weak link, I would speak to the girl if she allowed it or even just offer her comfort if that were all she needed. I didn't offer comfort to anybody very openly, but I found that the thought of helping somebody who experienced the same pain as I did and feared the same thing, would be much easier than offering comfort to anybody else.
"I'm honestly alright," I replied, and I considered it to be a half-truth.
He seemed to put it aside for now, knowing that I was rather stubborn and that it would be hard for him to change my mind once I had it set on something.
We walked down a few corridors and into a rather small and very plain hospital room, where the scent of blood; both fresh from wounds and coursing through the veins of the girl hit me. I took a few deep breaths, adjusting to the smell and Carlisle looked at me in concern. I shook him off, once I had started to get used to it, the constant burn in my throat became more bearable and I took a few steps closer to look at the girl on the bed.
She looked fragile, even for a human and she never stayed completely still. Her body would move often and she was constantly shaking… noticeable enough for a human to see.
"Is she cold?" I asked.
Carlisle moved to step beside me and exhaled slowly, his eyes sad.
"No, her temperature is fine, she's just so broken Rosalie, too broken…" He trailed off sadly.
I looked at him and felt my chest being weighed down with heaviness. I looked at the girl once more and a sob escaped my lips. I wanted to hurt those men that had done this to her, I wanted them to suffer and I wanted Bella to be okay.
"Carlisle, what do we do?" A very genuine and uncontrollable fear started to surge through me, Carlisle's hard arm that he had put around me doing little to help.
"It'll be okay Rose; we'll get through this. The family can help her, yet only once she's comfortable being around them. You can talk with her and offer her comfort, Jasper can ease her pain, I can help her physical troubles and Edward, she loves Edward, he'll support her. We all will."
I looked at my adoptive father and tried to reign in my emotions, slowly nodding my head.
Carlisle planted a soft kiss on my head, in typical Carlisle manner. Just as the beeping machine started to speed up a fraction. Carlisle told me to step back and I followed Carlisle in hurrying backwards to put distance between ourselves and the human, so as not to frighten her.
Bella's eyes slowly opened, and she turned her head to look at the side of which we were standing, tears streaming silently down her face. I hadn't realised she'd been crying… I whimpered painfully at the thought.
She squinted slightly and jumped a little when she saw the two figures just standing there, horror plain on her face.
To be continued…
I hope you enjoyed it; I'll update by mid next week. Constructive criticism is appreciated, and I was wondering if you thought the characters were OOC at all? Especially Rosalie, I have little experience with writing her as I didn't realise until now that she'd be such a big part of this story… I may have to change the main characters that are stated.
