STRUGGLES

Disclaimer: The Cullens, the Swans, and most of the characters mentioned in the story that are known from Stephanie Meyer's beloved Twilight Saga, are all hers and hers alone. I neither have nor wish to pass them off as mine. I do appreciate the fact that she did bring them to life and allows us to play with them in our imaginations. The only thing I will claim is the current storyline.

The awesome and talented dowlingnana searched out my errors and corrected them. She also makes the banners for each of my stories.

He walked over to the book laying close to the phone and opened the book to the information the detective had asked for to show him the necessary information. With that done Jasper walked out the front door, going straight to his car so he can go on to the hospital. He knew that he needed to call Charlie, but, he thought he might need to wait until he could more information about Bella's condition. To say that he was scared for his cousin would be an understatement after the way Det. Asher had said that her attorney needed to be contacted.

'Attorney? What kind of attorney? Why would the detective advise getting an attorney?" Question after question kept running through his mind as he drove to the hospital.

CHAPTER 3: THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

"—llo?" A sleepy voice answered the phone just to stop the damn ass constant ringing.

"Edward."

"Huh?"

"Edward Anthony Cullen, wake your ass up and listen to me."

That tone of voice snapped the man that had been awakened from a peaceful sleep by the ringing of the phone into a full awareness. "Shit, Dad, what's wrong? Something happen to Mom? I'll get a hold of Alice and we'll be on our way immediately. What did happen to Mom?" Edward kept rambling on without stop so Carlisle just let him until he had to stop to draw a breath.

"Edward, I didn't say that anything was wrong with your mother and no you don't need to get a hold of Alice to upset her over nothing. However, I do need for you to get on the first flight that you can and get out here."

With puzzlement sound in his voice, Edward starts to ask Carlisle what was going on, "Dad, what's happened that you need me out there before time?"

"Do you remember Charlie Swan?"

"Yeah, he's a friend of yours and Mom's, but, is also the Chief of Police in Forks. Why?"

"Do you remember his daughter, Bella?"

"Barely. I believe she started high school as I was a senior, so, she wasn't ever of our group, but, her cousin Jasper was a friend."

"Yes, well, she is going to need your professional help in the near future if things go the way her father and I believe it will. I promised Charlie, when he asked me to ask you for help for her, that you would be here to represent her and help in whatever way you could. So, get up, get ready and get on the first flight that you can and I'll meet you at the airport since I'm getting ready to head to Seattle myself to help the young woman."

"But, Dad,-"

"Don't, Edward. I very seldom as for your help, but, now it is important to a lot of people. People that you mother and I care about."

"Okay, Dad. I need to handle a few things at the office before I can leave since it's before time, but, I'll be there by tomorrow evening. I'll call you to let you know the time I'll be arriving in Seattle."

"Thanks, son, I knew I could count on you."

"One more thing before you hang up; Dad, can you give me some kind of idea what might be on the horizon in regards to Bella Swan?"

"Edward, I don't have anything definite to support what Charlie and I suspect has been happening to Bella, but, we believe that she had been abused for a period of time by her husband. But, for some reason something devastating happened tonight that has us on the way to Seattle to help her. That is the extent of my knowledge until I hear more from Charlie.

"With him being a police officer and I being a doctor we have seen how domestic violence cases have gone in the past and most of the time it doesn't go well for the woman. So, Charlie asked for me to ask you to be prepared to represent his daughter to protect her interests and in any other way that might arise. He's wanting to be prepared ahead of time with the best attorney we know and that's you."

"Domestic violence, huh? Okay, I'll be there as quickly as I can. Tell her and Chief Swan to speak with no one until I can be present. Not one word, Dad, is to be volunteered until I can be with her.

"Also, when I call back to give you my flight information you might be able to fill me in more fully as to what happened and what is the condition of things at that moment."

As phone call between father and son finished Carlisle quickly got dressed while Esme was busy in the kitchen getting something fixed so he could eat a bite before getting on the road towards Seattle. She knew that her husband wasn't going to wait to hear from Charlie, but, would be on the road while waiting for more information as to where to meet.

She wanted to go as well, but, didn't have the time to get everything in order for any extended stay in Seattle at such short notice, so, she would be following in a few hours' time. And, she also knew that Carlisle needed to let the hospital know that he was going to be out of town for several days before he got on the road for Seattle.

Time passed and Carlisle was ready to leave with the understanding that Esme wouldn't be far behind. He still hadn't heard anything from Charlie, but, that didn't concern him very much as he knew that his friend still had a ways to drive before getting into Seattle. However, it didn't stop him from wondering if he had heard anything from his nephew as to what Bella's condition or circumstances might be at the moment.

About halfway to Seattle Carlisle was concerned because he still hadn't heard a word from Charlie. He was afraid that things might be worse than first thought with Bella which made him anxious to floor the pedal and act like a speed demon to get to his friend and his family in Seattle. And, the closer he got with no word the more worried he became as he still didn't know where to go.

Finally as he was nearing the outer limits of Seattle Carlisle's phone started ringing and he answered without hesitation. "Charlie, what's going on?" And, with that one question he listened as his friend described what was known at the moment and the condition that Bella was in at Mercy Hospital.

He heard the sorrowful catch in Charlie's voice as his friend told him that his baby girl might not make it through the night. "Hold on, Charlie. I'll be there very shortly as I'm just now hitting the city limits of Seattle. I did get a hold of Edward and he'll be here tomorrow night.

"And, Charlie, Edward said to tell all of you not to answer any questions until he could be there with you. He was very definite about that fact."

XXXXXXX

Charlie still hadn't heard anything from Jasper as he was nearing the Seattle city limits, so, he decided to try to get a hold of him to see what was happening and where Bella was. Charlie was getting very impatient about the silence that seem to be surrounding what was happening to his baby girl and he had expected to hear something from someone before now. It didn't take long before Jasper answered the phone and Charlie demanded to know what was wrong and where his daughter was.

"Uncle Charlie, I don't know much at the moment except for the fact that Frank is dead and Bella is at Mercy Hospital in critical condition; they have her in surgery right and then she will be going into ICU. Frank had been shot and declared dead at the scene. Bella had been stabbed and was in bad shape. It seems that Frank bled out at the house and due to her wound Bella had almost done the same before help arrived."

"Oh, my God!" Charlie exclaimed with great agony. "What has that man done to my little girl? How could I have been so blind as to not see and do something about it before she ended up in this shape?" Charlie wailed and felt the acute pain deep within his chest because of his guilt for not protecting her better when he had the chance. "Jasper, why didn't she do something about the abuse? Why didn't she trust us enough to allow us to know and to help her before now?

"We all suspected it, but, didn't do anything. We buried our heads in the sand and made believe that all was well because she never confirmed any of it. And, any time we asked her about the bruises or the problems, even, asking if she was being abused by him she passed it of as if it was her clumsiness. Why?"

"Uncle Charlie, I can't answer that question. I don't even know how she put up with it. The only thing she ever mentioned to me about any problems was quite a ways back when Frank was wanting to have say and control of her profit shares and investments and she refused to allow him access. She told him that she was quite happy with the way I was handling things and that the arrangements would remain the way she had them setup.

"Of course, he was pissed, but, said nothing in front of me and after he left she told me to never allow him any say into her affairs. And, that was the only time I knew for sure that one sort of problem did exist, but, I thought since nothing else was ever said that it had smoothed over.

"But, come to think back she did arrive at work the next day moving a bit slowly. When I asked about she passed it off as she fell due to her clumsiness and I didn't push any further. So, Uncle Charlie, I'm just as guilty for not checking further into the situation and so is everyone else that is in her group of friends.

"No one, not a single one of us, called her on the excuses she handed out to us all of the time; we just allowed her to get away with continuing to hand them and we all acted like she was telling us the truth." Jasper concluded and then asked how much longer before Charlie would be arriving.

"I'm almost there now, but, I need to get more information about Bella before calling Carlisle Cullen. He's coming up to act as her personal doctor."

"Oh, that reminds me that the Officer in charge at the scene did advise for me to contact Bella's attorney. He wouldn't tell me any more than that, but, did say that from the look of things it couldn't hurt. Why would he even say anything like that?"

"I've already taken care of an attorney for Bella. I asked Carlisle to get a hold of his son, Edward, since he is a very successful attorney in Chicago and he is concerned one of the best in the country by his peers so I'm informed. I'm waiting to hear about that as well, so, don't be concerned. It's best in cases of this sort since the woman ends up with some legal matters being attached to her, especially, where there is further violence than just the abuse." Charlie explained.

There wasn't much more for the two men to discuss so the call was finished and Charlie continued towards the hospital and hoping for further news concerning his daughter. He wasn't worried about calling Carlisle just yet since he didn't really have any medical news to report concerning Bella's conditions. That he would receive once he got to the hospital and could speak one on one with the doctor. But, that plan was interrupted by a call from his friend asking for an update and a location of where Charlie was.

During the call Charlie wasn't able to give much information to Carlisle as he hadn't really had the time to ask questions of either the police or the doctors attending Bella at the moment. Carlisle confirmed that he was just at the city limits of Seattle and would be arriving at the hospital very shortly and the fact that he had spoken with Edward. He relayed the message of what Edward had instructed and the fact that his son would be arriving the following evening.

Charlie thanked him for all of his help and told him that he'd be glad to see him shortly. He believed that Carlisle would be better able to get more accurate information about Bella's condition while he would be able to focus on getting the necessary information from his friend on the SPD. All of that would be needed to decide the correct course of action that would need to be taken on his daughter's behalf.

Little did anyone realize that they were in the calm before the breaking of hell washing over them very, very shortly.

A/N: Everyone on the way and arriving at the hospital where Bella had been taken. Edward has been contacted and is making arrangements to arrive in Seattle to help Bella. Esme is getting ready to head to Seattle to be there for everyone. What will the doctors tell Carlisle and then Charlie about Bella's condition? What will the police tell Charlie about the circumstances of what will be coming at them?

Thanks for reading the new story and hope you will enjoy it. Your reviews, ideas and comments are always welcomed.