STRUGGLES

Disclaimer: The Cullen's, 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.

"Then it seems we've got a team formed to start getting all of this cleared up. Don't worry, Charlie, Bella will come out of this just fine and she'll be cleared of any accusations of wrong doing or murder.

"I made a promise to that little lady in there and I'm going to make sure it's one promise that is kept."

CHAPTER 8: FORMING UNIONS

Charlie wasn't quite sure how to respond to that cryptic remark of Edward's, but, maintained his silence and just nodded his head in acknowledgment of Edward's comment.

After that everyone seemed to settle into small groups or got off by themselves from time to time, but, what they all had in common was the concern they each had for Bella and what was coming towards her at the speed of a fast moving train. A fast moving train that was about to crash with possibly no survivors which they were determined to try and find a way to stop it from happening.

And, secondly, they were all very much aware of how slowly time seemed to be moving, but, each was refusing to call it quits to go find someplace to rest for a while, or, get some kind of sleep for the night. They were afraid of what might happen or change while they weren't there to watch over her.

No, they each wanted to be there to give the love and support that was needed at the moment for the lady that was just across the hall fighting for her life even at that moment.

Charlie was staying because he feared that if he left he would lose Bella permanently, but, also, he had told Emmett, Rosalie, Angela and Ben that he would be waiting for them at the hospital. So far, they were on their way, but, hadn't gotten there as yet.

It was at that moment that Charlie's mind seemed to call forth the conversation he had had with Renee and the ass chewing she had given him for waiting so long to call. He knew that once she got to Seattle more questions would be flying; questions he knew he didn't have any satisfying answers to offer her. At least none that she would accept. Hell, he was even having a hard time accepting them now himself.

Charlie keeps going over and over in his mind all of the signs he saw that his Bella was being abused. All of the questions that he had allowed himself to accept her flimsy answers without doing anything further to make sure she was telling him the truth. He thought back to all the different times he had doubted that Frank was the right man for his little girl.

Of course, there wasn't anything he could have put his finger on to back up his suspicions, but, the doubts lingered, no matter how much he tried to accept Bella's choice and then decision to marry him. And while thinking back to all of this he wishes that he had expressed his doubts and opinions to Bella earlier because maybe, just maybe, it might have prevented the current set of circumstances from happening.

The whole time that Charlie was remembering things from the past concerning Frank Harrison he was unaware that Carlisle's mind was running along the same type of path. All of the visits to the hospital for this or that injury and the lousy excuses of how she had received them. It was funny he thought of how Bella would always wait until his two days a week to be helping out in his Seattle clinic for her to show up to receive treatment from him. Only from him as she didn't trust too many people and knew that Carlisle was a strict follower of maintaining a patient's privacy and that was why she would only go to him. In fact, a lot of the time Frank never knew about most of the times Bella did go to see Carlisle to receive treatment for some of the more serious injuries. That was also the reason why Bella would only see him as she knew she could forestall any steps he might take to interfere in the problem at home.

Esme knew about how concerned her husband had been and was about the number of times Bella had been to see him. She also knew that both Carlisle and Charlie allowed themselves to be persuaded that nothing out of the normal was wrong other than Bella being clumsy. She was concerned also about how far the situation might go before both her husband and their friend would begin to carry a heavier load of guilt than what they did each time they saw Bella. Well, now it seems that she has found out how far the situation would go, or, rather, is going since she is now realizing that things are going to get a lot worse.

Two couples are now rushing to the hospital after receiving the distressful news of what had happened to their beloved friend. When Charlie had called to tell him and Rosalie about what had happened to Bella and what little he knew surrounding the incident, Emmett didn't waste any time telling Charlie that he would do all he could to help Bella.

The one problem he had experienced came when he told Rosalie about Charlie's call and the reason behind it. She went absolutely stupid; well, berserk would be more of the correct term. Her temper flared and Emmett was the one sporting the black eye from her right hook. Her explanation for delivering that surprise was because he hadn't done enough, if anything, to keep this from happening.

But, truth be told he didn't get the black eye until he responded back to her that she hadn't either when she had accused him of not doing enough to keep Bella safe. It was then that Rosie got quiet, took a step back, twisted her body slightly and launched her fist out of the ever-loving blue. That was the first time she had ever hit him like that; usually, it was a pop to the back of his head when he did or said something wrong in her opinion.

Things were a lot different with Angela and Ben, but, with the same tension and guilt as what everyone else was feeling in regards to their fear for Bella and what she had been through and might be facing once she recovered a bit more. And, they too were playing the blame game of believing that they should have done more to help Bella to put a stop to things before it had gotten this far.

The first ones to arrive were Angela and Ben with Emmett and Rosalie coming in right behind with the four unintentionally meeting up at the set of elevators. All four rode up together, but, uttered no words; there wasn't anything they could think of to say about what had brought them to the hospital and being presented with the current set of circumstances. But, each of their thoughts were still traveling the same path with thinking of questions that didn't seems to have any acceptable answers to account for their actions of allowing this to happen to Bella.

All members of both the Cullen and Swan families were in the ICU waiting room when the two expected couples arrived at the door. Every head swung towards the door giving it their full attention when the new arrivals appeared. Charlie and Jasper were the first to move and welcomed the four new arrivals before introducing them to everyone else in the room. The main person that Charlie wanted to introduce to Emmett was Edward Cullen since those two were going to be working closely together to help his Bella.

Before Edward could say anything other than a polite greeting, Emmett was the first to address the coming association being formed between the two. "I'm yours for as long as needed to get Bella through this mess and getting it resolved to the satisfaction of her being free." And, as he said it unshed tears were heard in his voice as well as seen in his eyes.

Edward once again shook hands with Emmett and thanked him for his commitment towards clearing Bella's name and in finding help and resolution for her future. Then he told Emmett, but, the other three new arrivals were listening as well, "I'm determined to make sure that Mrs. Harrison is completely cleared of any and all charges that might be levelled at her in the coming days."

But, before Edward or anyone else could say anything else Rosalie spoke up to let her thoughts be known as she figured that what she had to say was running through the minds of her other three friends as well. So, she addressed Edward saying, "Before any of us form a mutual admiration society here, there are a few things I'd like to know so that we all can be reassured that Bella is going to have the best of defenses and that she is in capable hands." Edward along with Carlisle, Charlie and Alice all started to speak, but, never got to utter a sound before Rosalie started speaking again.

"We all know that Chief Swan will do whatever is necessary for Bella and that he will act swiftly. However, how do any of us know how good you really are? I mean what are your qualifications to be able to deal with a case like this? What type of experience do you have handling cases of this sort, let alone any kind of criminal cases? Where did you get your education? What ranking did you have in your class and what sort of GPA did you have? And, finally how do we know that you're qualified to practice in Washington State?"

"Rosalie, I know that you're upset about all of this and the circumstances that we all are now in surrounding what has happened to Bella. I understand that all of us, including you four, her friends, carry the same kind of guilt that Carlisle and I do about not doing something before now, but, what is it that you're wanting to accomplish by demanding answers to all of these unnecessary questions you've just asked?" Charlie spoke in a firm voice that carried a ring of steel in it as he responded to Bella's friend.

"Chief Swan, no disrespected intended, but, we know nothing about this man or his credentials. I know that you want the best for Bella under the circumstances the same as the rest of us do. I'm just trying to make sure that that is going to be the case."

Charlie started to respond once more, but, was forestalled by Edward answering instead. "Ms. Hale, I do understand your concern as it's the same for all of us. And, before you ask me to clarify that statement, my answer will simply be it's none of your business.

"But, to the matter at hand, I'm more than qualified to handle this case. Yes, I've got a lot of experience handling criminal cases and do have a very high success rate in acquittals.

"Now, the only other issue that matters here is that I'm licensed to practice in the State of Washington and passed the Bar examine as one of the highest persons to every do so.

"In Chicago, I'm a senior, not a junior, partner in a law firm that handles client cases the world over. I'm good, damn good in fact, at what I do and I take on a case being fully committed to it. This case will be no different others than the fact that it concerns a person that is very dear to my parents and their close friend, Chief Swan.

"So, anything else other than what I've just told you is none of you damn business."

That statement left Rosalie as well as Emmett, Angela and Ben a bit stunned by the force that he delivered it. No one usually stands up to Rosalie in that manner and manages to leave unscathed by her.

A/N: Well, did Edward give Rosalie the necessary information that was important? Did Rosalie have a right to even be asking all that she did?

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