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.

The nurse didn't stay any longer, but, as she close the door behind her, she didn't hear the sound that started out as a low moan, but, began to gain in volume as the moan turned into an all out banshee wail.

CHAPTER 27: THE BEGINNING OF THE TRUTH

The wailing that was coming from Bella's room could be heard all up and down the hallway. It caused the hairs to stand up on the back of the police officer's neck that had been stationed outside of the Harrison woman's hospital room as soon as he heard the first sound coming from the occupant.

He rose to rush to the door at the same time as two nurses were running towards him from the nurse's station to check on what might be the problem. Also, Phil was wanting to know what was wrong, but, didn't know how to go about finding out, so, he kept his body out of the way. However, that didn't stop him from calling Renee to inform her of the complication. And, that phone call caused both Renee and Esme to forget about everything else except the rush to return to Bella's room.

On the way back up to Bella's room, Esme called Carlisle to let him know that Bella had a problem, but, she was unaware at that point, to be able to tell him as to what it might be. And, no sooner had he hung up from talking with his wife that he answered another call from hospital concerning the same situation. The nurse mentioned that she had been trying to reach him for the last few moments. He told the nurse that he was on his way and should be there in about twenty minutes.

While Esme was calling her husband, Renee was busy calling Charlie to let him know about what was happening. Both women had made their calls as they were in the elevator heading up to the floor where Bella's room was. And, as soon as the elevator approached the floor the wailing could heard by them before the elevator doors ever opened. "What the hell has happened?" Renee demanded aloud of no one in particular as she and Esme quickly made their way to Bella's room.

XXXXXX

"Damn, can you believe how quickly the tide seems to be turning?" Edward asked in wonderment as he stood with Charlie and Emmett watching Capt. Jenkins and the investigative team leaving the Harrison home.

"Does all of this really mean that Bella is cleared of all charges?" Charles questioned his two companions. And, while he was asking, he knew in his heart of hearts the answer, and it was causing him to have a hard time believing it due to all of the experience he had gained as a police officer himself. He truly knew things were never that easy. There was always something that had to be brought full circle before it could be declared closed, finished, cleared and over.

Edward was quick to answer Charlie's question by saying, "No. No, it's never that easy and we still have a long way to go. The blood samples found have to be matched. And, we can only hope that it can be matched to someone we're aware of being involved in this case.

"We have to remember that the person we are hoping was here might not have been. It could be an entirely different person, an unknown, that isn't even in CORDIS. If that happens to be the case, then we're still at square one.

"My client is still going to be considered the number one suspect until we can prove that she isn't guilty of killing her husband. Even though, I hate to admit it, we still have some ways to go. However, thanks to Emmett's brilliant work today that road just possibly got a hell of a lot shorter."

"That last statement I can definitely agree with you. Job well done, Emmett. Thank you." Charlie commented with a smile and was about to add more when his phone rang, and he pulled it from his pocket to answer. He didn't say anything for a minute or two and then he exploded with, "What the hell happened? I'm on my way now!"

Both Edward and Emmett couldn't help hearing what Charlie said since he hadn't walked away to achieve any sort of privacy. The same as they couldn't help to observe the loss of color that was quickly draining from Charlie's face while he was listening to the caller; he had turned a pale white from whatever he had been told.

Emmett was the first to speak and asked Charlie what was wrong. And, the answer that was forthcoming was an unexpected one. Charlie explained what Renee had told him and then added that Esme had called Carlisle who was on his way up to the hospital. All three men moved at the same time to get to the car and to be on their way to the hospital as well.

XXXXXX

Pushing passed the guard and Phil, the nurses quickly entered Bella's room to see what was wrong. They were surprised to find the comatose woman awake and nearly screaming as loud as she could. She was sitting up with knees drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped around her legs, rocking back and forth while shaking her head from side to side.

Rushing over to each side of the bed the two nurses began to check to see if they could find out what was causing Bella's discomfort. And, it was during their extensive examination that Carlisle walked in to begin his questioning of the nurses and to conduct his own examination. Both Renee and Esme were also crowded around Bella, getting in the way, but, still trying to calm Bella down while the medical team was trying to find the cause of her upset, or, at some reason for it.

But, finding nothing that immediately stands out as to the cause of Bella's distress, Carlisle motioned for the nurses to back away and he did as well to give Renee and his wife room to get closer to his patient. He was hoping that they might be able to calm her down enough, so she could answer their questions of what the problem was.

When nothing seemed to be having an effect in getting Bella to settle down enough to answer their questions, Renee unexpectedly turned on Phil, "What the hell did you do?" She angrily demanded of her husband who had been left behind to stay with Bella. Even the look he was receiving from Renee made him want to be someplace else than where he was. Also, because of the look she was giving him made him want to reach down to cover the most sensitive area of his body, but, sheer willpower prevented him from making a move to follow through with that impulse. She had a murderous look on her face and her hands were busily clenching and unclenching.

"I didn't do a damn thing. You can ask the guard. I was standing outside talking with him while the nurse was busy checking Bella's vitals and her wounds. Then as the nurse closed the door after leaving the room, Bella began her screaming."

All eyes swung to look at the guard seeking confirmation of what Phil had just told them. The young officer nodded his head to affirm what they had just been told.

And, before anyone could ask another question or make any type of comment or remark, the nurse that was in charge of Bella's case looked at the guard and stated, "I wasn't down here checking upon Mrs. Harrison. Why didn't you do your job and stop any other nurse from coming in here until you checked at the nurse's station?"

"Because this nurse had been in once before to attend to Mrs. Harrison's needs, so, I had no reason to question her appearance this time." Was the answer he gave.

"You say this nurse was here once before?! Didn't you stop to think that something might be wrong since she had only been here once before and nothing else until now?" Renee demanded of the guard in a tone of voice that sounded like she was making every effort to keep her temper under tight control. The guard felt that all it would take is one wrong word, action, or movement on his side that would cause this older woman to commit a violent act against someone; mainly against him, but, for what reason she was reacting that way he had no idea.

While Renee was confronting the police guard, Esme was still trying to get Bella to calm down, but, she was having little results. Bella was continuing with her wailing, or, screaming, whichever a person chose to call it, and was still steadily rocking back and forth while still maintaining her fetal type pose that had been observed by everyone when they had first entered her room.

"Ma'am, I don't understand what all the fuss is about. I've done nothing wrong that I can see. I wasn't told to stop any of the medical team that was attending to Mrs. Harrison and this nurse had been here once before to attend to the patient. So, what did I do wrong? I've followed the orders I had been given."

It was as the officer was answering Renee's verbal attack that three men entered the room listening to what the officer had to say. And, as the officer finished speaking he found himself slammed up against the wall which drew everyone's attention to the three newcomers.

XXXXXX

Listening to such nonsense coming out of the young man's mouth caused Charlie to lose control and to make a beeline straight for the officer. "You were just following orders? YOU WERE JUST FOLLOWING ORDERS! But, you never thought to question the fact of why that nurse had only appeared once before and not at any other time before reappearing again now. What kind of police officer do you expect to be if you don't use the brain that God gave you? An ignorant, robotic asshole isn't of any use to any police force." Charlie continued to rage at the young guard while at the same time slowly increasing the pressure he had been applying to the guard's throat.

Phil and Emmett had quickly followed after Charlie and were trying to get him to loosen the hold he had on the police guard's neck. However, all of their efforts of talking, pulling and trying to pry him loose were having very little effect since Bella's father was an enraged man. All of the pent-up feelings and tensions that he had been suppressing all of this time were finally spilling out of control. His emotions were strongly in control of the moment that nothing that was being tried by anyone else was able to get through the cloud of rage that Charlie was feeling.

Two things happened at the same time, but, on different sides of the room and involving different people. First, Renee rapidly walked over to Charlie and told him to let go of the guard. At first, he didn't respond, but, eventually, he did and began to loosen his hold on the young officer without uttering a single apology for his actions.

The young man didn't say a single word to anyone, but, chances were that with having such pressure applied to his throat he wasn't able to get a one word pass his lips at the moment. And, of course, there was the fact that he was coughing and trying, at the same time, to pull air back into his lungs.

And, the second thing that did happen was when Edward walked over to Bella's bedside, opposite from his mother, reached out and took Bella's hand as he spoke very softly to her asking, "What has caused you so much stress?" It seemed his touch and the sound of his voice which she recognized as the voice that made her feel loved and safe, was enough to cause the volume of the noise she was making to begin to decrease and to start to get quieter.

Her rocking back and forth seemed to settle, although, not visibly at first. Edward did continue to talk with her until she was seen to be relaxing at last and to fall back into her original position. Even, the hollering finally stops, and she was seen to slowly turn her head towards the quiet, sexy, reassuring voice that was an anchor in the storm that she was caught up in.

She took one look at Edward, smiled a little and then regained her comatose state once more. It was at that point that Edward realized that Charlie had let go of the police officer.

Edward reached for his phone and dialed Capt. Jenkins's number to bring him up to date as to the current happening at the hospital. And, Carlisle takes the opportunity to examine his patient once more. What he found was reassuring to him, but, he was hesitant about telling anyone else while the police guard was in the room.

A/N: It seems that Edward was the only one that could have the desired effect to get Bella to relax once more. Charlie was fed up with the offhanded way the young guard seemed to have in regards to doing his duty. What is going to happen next?

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