Welcome to another chapter! Last we left Edward and his crew, they had just pulled a frightened little boy and mysterious woman from a turned over car. Lets see what else we'll learn about these two victims.
*Note: This Chapter is a lot longer than the others two. I wasn't planning on that, but I wanted this chapter to end a certain way. You'll see why*
Chapter 3
We raced down the freeway, sirens blaring and lights flashing to warn drivers to pull off to the side and let us pass through. All the while, I held a small, frightened little boy on my lap. Although, no longer crying and screaming, he was still very shaken up and whimpering, so I tried to calm him down the best I could. With his face burrowing into my chest, trying to seek comfort and security, I turned him a bit so he would be facing his mother.
"Hey buddy, look." I said to him, pointing at the young woman, who was still passed out and fastened safely on the gurney.
"Momma!" The little boy cheered. "Momma, O-tay! Momma O-tay!" His eyes suddenly beamed with such happiness and finally smiled, for the first time since I've come to know this special boy. A smile so big and so full of glee, that you couldn't help but smile and feel happy yourself. His smile was just that gravitating.
I could suddenly feel the boy trying to slip from his seat on my lap and try to move towards his mother, I had to quickly grab him and place him back on top of my legs. However, being restricted and kept from his mother, brought a new round of tears and shrieking once again.
"Shh…" I tried to quiet him down. "It's okay, buddy, it's okay. Momma is safe, but you have to be careful. You can't touch momma, but you can look at her and talk to her". I gently ran my fingers through his soft, wavy dark-blonde hair. As I continued to soothe him, I was able to get a closer look at the child in my lap. He had dark-blonde locks and was wearing, what looked to be, a Paw-Patrol t-shirt and khaki shorts with Spider-man light up sneakers. I only knew it was Paw-Patrol because one of my co-worker's, Garrett, son brought Paw-Patrol cupcakes to the center for National Heroes Day. I also took the opportunity to get a quick visual scan of the boy's injuries as well. He had a some-what large gash on his forehead and a few minor scrapes covering his arms and down his legs. Overall, though, nothing too severe, and I couldn't help but feel a little grateful, just knowing how bad it could have been, given the seriousness of the accident.
The sound of muttering and moaning instantly brought me out of my observation of the kid and my attention was on the woman, who was beginning to wake up. Hearing the sound of her child screaming must have brought her out of her fog.
"Isaac…." She seemed to whisper, breathlessly.
"Momma!" The little boy called out, trying to reach for her once more.
"Wait, remember what I said" I reminded him, pulling him back. "We have to be gentle with Momma. Momma's hurt, kiddo" I explained.
"Mommy, boo-boo?" He asked me, looking up at me with those big, chestnut eyes.
"Yes, mommy has a big boo-boo. So, we have to be careful" I gently set him down on the floor of the truck so he could sit next to his mother. The little boy then gently laid his hand on top of his mother's shoulder.
I think she sensed her son was near, as he laid his hand down, the woman's eyes began to flutter and she mumbled again.
"Isaac." The woman repeated, but this time she was much more at ease. She knew that she and her son were safe.
"Momma, here" The little boy said. I guess it's safe to say that I shouldn't call him "little guy" or "buddy" anymore; it seemed his proper name was Isaac.
"Safe?" The woman mumbled again, this time as a question, more than likely addressed towards me.
"Yes ma'am." I lend over to tell her. "You're safe now. We're on our way to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. We'll be there soon."
"Isaac...keep...safe...Can't...can't get...him" She continued to say.
What she was trying to say, I have no clue. It was muffled and so hushed, I couldn't even be sure I heard her correctly.
Before I could dwell on our passenger's strange and cryptic messages, Jasper called to me from the front.
"Dude, we're pulling in right now. Make sure they're ready to go" Jasper informed, as we pulled into the hospital.
When we got to the bay entrance, there was a team already waiting for us. Two doctors and several nurses were ready for us to hand the patients off to them. "Time to go man", Alec told me, throwing the bus into park. "Make sure she's secured and check her vitals one more time."
I picked Isaac up once more and set him on my hip while I gave his mother a once over to check the status of her health. By the time I was finished, the back doors were opened and the boys were preparing to bring the woman out of the ambulance.
"Heart rate is 73 beats per minute. Blood pressure is slightly elevated; 140 over 90. Oxygen saturation is at 92% and pulse rate at 100. I didn't get a chance to get her temperature, but the patient did regain consciousness in the ride over for a few moments." I explained to the nurses while I watched the guys lift her out.
"Great, thanks." the nurse said, as the rest of her team wheeled the gurney into the E.R. "You can just hand me the baby, and we'll get him checked out" She offered as she lifted her arms in my direction. But as I went to hand Isaac off her, his grip on me began to tighten. Suddenly he squeezed my arm so tight it felt like a teeny, tiny vise grip. His little nails dug into my skin and it was actually a bit painful, I knew I would have marks on my arm for a bit of time.
I still tried to hand him off the nurse, but Isaac still continued to fight me on it. Wrapping his little legs around me and holding onto me for dear life. "NO!", He screamed out, a new round of tears starting to fall down his cheeks.
"It's okay, Isaac," I said to him. "You just have to go with the nice lady for a little bit and then you'll see your mommy." The nurse then tried again to get a hold of the boy.
"No! No! No! Stay!" Isaac told me, or screamed at me. Burrowing his little face into my neck, indicating he had no intention of being separated from me.
The nurse groaned, she obviously had no time to fight with the three year-old. "Look, Edward, just bring him in and sit with him while I look him over. Once we're done, hopefully he will have calmed down some and we can get a better handle on him", trying to resolve the situation.
"I can't Sasha" I explained. "I've got to get back to work. Aro will kill me if I don't return to the center".
"I'll call over and explain. But Edward, we have to get this boy looked at. We don't have time to argue."
I looked over at Jasper and Alec, they were loading up the bus and getting ready to bring it back. They nodded over at me, giving me the go-ahead and I knew they would be cool with me skipping out. With a sigh, I settled Isaac back in my arms and headed into the E.R.
Sasha guided us to one of the observation rooms in the E.R. I placed Isaac on my lap while we sat on the exam table to have her look him over. With a gentle hand, and excellent bedside manner, Sasha was able to check the little boy's heart rate, check his breathing and examine his injuries more closely.
"Well", Sasha began her evaluation. "Overall, he's in good health for a little boy. Heart rate is normal and his breathing is okay. There does seem to be some glass embedded in some of the scratches he has, so we'll get a pair of tweezers to remove them. He's a tough little guy", she continued.
"You hear that buddy?" I looked down at Isaac. "Ms. Sasha says you're strong and healthy", smiling at him in excitement and a little bit of pride.
Isaac must have been proud to hear the news as well, as I complimented how strong he was, he then went to show me how strong by puffing out his little chest and flexing his arms at me.
"Big-n-stong" He said in a not very deep voice, trying to sound like big man. His little show off brought a fit of giggles to Sasha and myself. Isaac was seriously the sweetest and most awesome kid I'd ever met.
"However", Sasha warned, "The gash on his forehead is relatively deep and we'll need to stitch it up."
That was a little alarming to hear. The idea of having to subject this little guy to that kind of thing was almost too much to even think about. He was so small and the needles needed to do the stitching were so large and thick, it terrified me. Since he was so young they would need to have someone hold him down so the doctor could stitch him up. Just thinking about him being so scared, frightened me to no end.
"Relax Cullen," Sasha said, trying to soothe my anxiety. I guess my fear of thinking about Isaac with the stitches showed through my eyes. "We're not going to give him actual stitches. He's much too young for that. We're going to apply wound closure tape; We'll apply strips to both sides of the gash. One side will have zip ties attached and the others will be connected to the opposite end. Once they're properly set we will pull the zip ties out, sealing the wound. We'll cover the gash with some surgical tape and he'll be fine in a couple of days".
Giving me the rundown and explaining step by step of the process set my mind at ease. Sasha then exited the room, informing us the doctor would be in shortly. Isaac and I were in the middle of a very amusing game of "patty-cake" when Dr. Laurent came in. After greeting us, he took a pair tweezers and started removing the pieces of glass from Isaac's arms and legs. He tried to squirm from Laurent at first, but stopped when I started talking to him. I gently shushed him and caressed his hair and simply talked to him, telling him he was a strong boy and singing a handful of children's songs that my mother sang to me. That was enough to keep calm while the doctor finished cleaning the scrapes and then administered the bandages. I then laid Isaac down on the table, so Dr. Laurent could place the wound closure strips on his forehead. I gently ran my fingers through Isaac's hair as he began to slowly doze off a little bit and by the time the surgical tape had been placed over the wound he had pretty much fallen asleep.
"Well, that should do it" Dr. Laurent said, with his thick South African accent. "The tape can be removed tomorrow and tell his mother the wound should be healed in a week or so."
"Will do." I confirmed.
"Great. I'll send Sasha in to collect Mr. Man here and you can go back to work" Laurent told me as he made his exit. By the time Sasha returned to the room Isaac had been deep asleep for about ten minutes, but when I tried to stand from my position in the adjacent chair, the legs scraped at the floor and Isaac's eyes flew open. He saw that I was about to leave him once again, and all but flew directly into my arms, encompassing me in a tight bear hug, with his little arms squeezing my neck.
"No! No go! Stay!" He cried to me. Clearly this boy was in no hurry to see me go. I wrapped my arms around and turned to Sasha with a worrisome, pleading look.
"Sasha…" I strained.
"I'll call down to Aro and let him know you'll be a while longer" She answered my unspoken question.
"Thank you, I appreciate it."
"No problem. I also just got word from his mother's doctor that she's in recovery on the third floor. Room 317." Sasha informed me.
I nodded as she left the room. I was collecting Isaac in my arms when my back pocket started to ring. I pulled out my phone and recognized the number that appeared, hitting "answer" I lifted the phone to my ear.
"This is Edward," I answered.
"Edward, it's Sam," he informed me.
"What's up?" I asked.
"I just wanted to give an update on the accident", he explained. "We've got the accident pretty much cleaned up. I just thought I'd let you know what we found so far."
"Go ahead" I told him, while I carried Isaac to the elevator to make our way to his mother's room.
"Well, we found the woman's wallet wedged into the side of the driver's seat. Apparently, her name is Isabella Hunter. She's 31 years-old, from Columbus, Ohio and has a son Isaac. I'm assuming that's the boy you found in the car with her."
"Yeah it is. The little guy has some serious separation anxiety."
"Well, it looks like they were heading for a trip. We found some suitcases thrown about a mile from where the accident happened. We also found some cash in the glove compartment" he continued to debrief.
"How much cash?" I asked as we made our way to the third floor.
"About two thousand dollars, give or take" he answered.
That is a bit more money than needed for a vacation. This whole thing was becoming more and more mysterious.
"Anyway", Sam continued. "We've contacted Mrs. Hunter's husband. He said his wife and kid had left yesterday. I told him where you guys were, he should be there in the next several hours or so."
"Great, Sam. I'm bringing Isaac up to see his mom now. I'll talk to him when he gets here." I replied.
"Okay, talk to you later Cullen" Sam finished the call and hung up.
We were heading to Isaac's mother's, whose name is Isabella apparently, room just when the doctor was coming out of the room. I recognized the doctor as Leah Uley and called for her attention.
"Hey Doc" I called out and she turned around.
"Hey Ed," Leah greeted. "What's up?" She asked as she placed her pen in the pocket of her lab coat.
"That's Isabella Hunter's room, right?"
"It is. We just received her information, I had to change the name on her charts." She explained.
"How bad is it?" I asked, adjusting Issac in my hold.
She took a quick look over the Ipad in her arms before answering me.
"We ran a full health scan. There seems to be no internal bleeding or any severe damage to any organs. Thankfully it appears she was wearing her seatbelt when the car crashed. She does, however, have mild concussion, two broken ribs and a hair-line fracture to her right wrist. Along with some bumps, bruises, and scrapes around her body. Considering how bad of a wreck I heard it was, she could have been in far worse shape."
I took all this information as best I could. I couldn't help but feel incredibly sad for this young woman. Even though I've only just met this girl, if you could call it that, and know next to nothing about her, I felt drawn to her in a way I can't explain. So, just hearing the list of mild injuries she sustained, made me compelled to want to see her and just be there for her.
"Okay" I spoke to the doctor. "Well, her husband has been notified and should be here in a few hours to see her and their son. Do you mind if I just bring him in and wait in there for the guy to go up?"
"That's fine. We gave her a sedative to help her sleep, so she'll probably still be out by the time he gets here. Just try and stay quiet as best you can." she advised.
"No problem. I have a feeling he'll probably be out for a while too." I told her as I made my way into the room.
It was the same as any other hospital room in the building. There was a small bathroom off to the side, a little closet opposite of it , windows, curtains facing the far left side of the room and a television that was facing the hospital bed. In that bed, was the petite angel sleeping. I cradled Isaac in my arms as I grabbed the adjoining chair and took a seat next to her bedside. I rocked him in my arms as I looked over at his injured mother. Even with the scratches marking the skin of her face, she still looked radiant to me. She seemed so peaceful and at ease, it almost reminded me of sleeping beauty, lying in her bed as she waited for prince charming to wake her.
And yes, I do know Sleeping Beauty as well, I have a sister, what can I say? But, given the fact that Isabella had an abundance of mahogany hair currently fanning around her pillow and down her shoulders, she was more like Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and again I have a sister so I know my Disney Princesses. I began to study her appearance more closely and noticed the stunning features of this sleeping belle. First there was her pouty lips, with the bottom lip being a little bit larger than the top, which makes me think she probably bites on it from time to time. She had flawless cheekbones, well as flawless as one could look after an accident. I looked down at her hands and took notice at how soft, but strong at the same time. They looked like a mother's hands.
As I continued to study and memorize every strain of hair, every freckle, and every part of young Isabella I felt myself drifting further and further into sleep. It had been quite an exhausting day. When I awoke, it seemed quite a bit of time had passed as the sun was beginning to set. I looked down in my arms and saw Isaac was still cradled in my arms, fast asleep. I looked to the bed next to us and saw Isabella was blissfully at rest as well.
I wondered about her name; Isabella. It was a wonderful name, don't get me wrong, but I wondered if she even liked it. Did she go by that name, or possibly a nickname? Iz? Maybe Izzy? Or Bella?
As I continued to ponder the aspect of her name, I noticed Isabella's sleeping form begin to stir. Her eyes moved rapidly beneath her lids, also noticing her legs and arms twitching as well. Finally her eyes did open and she blinked a few times, trying to wake her brain and take in her environment. She then looked over in my direction.
"Where...where am I?" she breathed.
"It's alright. It's okay ma'am" I told her. "You're in the hospital. You were in an accident, but you're okay."
"An accident? What?" she said, confused. "Wait. Where's Isaac? Is he okay?"
"He's fine, he's fine. He's right here" I lifted my arm a bit to let her get a better look at her son.
The second she saw him, Isabella's eyes filled with tears of joys. She reached over as best she could with her good hand and was able to let the tips of her fingers graze his blondish hair.
"He's really okay?" She sniffled, her little, nose turning a bit red.
"Yes, he's just fine. A little banged up, but he's okay," I told her. "You might have to stay another day or so, but then you'll be able to leave. We've already contacted your husband, and he'll be here soon to get Isaac so yo-"
"WHAT?" she asked, suddenly terrified.
"Your husband. He'll be here soon and he can take Isaac so you can rest and get better" I explained.
"No. He can't be here." she said, shaking her head. The beeping on the monitor started to become louder, indicating her heart rate was increasing.
"No, it's going to be okay. Isaac will be okay and you'll get better" I tried to ease her down.
"NO!" she screamed at me, suddenly sitting straight up out of the bed, gripping my arm with the nails of her fingers. "You don't understand. You have to listen to me", she continued to say, showing signs of panic.
"He cannot get Isaac. You have to get him out of here. NOW!"
DUN! DUN! DUN!
Don't hit me! Relax, this story is just getting started. I'll be posting the next chapter, hopefully by next week. Believe me, there's a whole lot more to come.
Don't forget to review this story, I really want to get your guys' opinions. I hope you all are enjoying the story so far, Have a Good weekend!
-Olivia
