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.

"Edward, would you like to explain why you didn't want anyone to come in here to check on Bella? As you can see, the nurse seems to have been mistaken." Carlisle commented as he gestured toward the young woman lying in the hospital bed.

"He didn't let anyone in because I requested it, Carlisle."

CHAPTER 30: REVEALING THE TRUTH

The sound of her voice had Carlisle spinning around so quickly that he nearly lost his balance. When he had first entered the room, he noticed that Bella had her eyes closed with no signs of consciousness. Then suddenly, as he turns to talk to Edward, she was speaking.

"Would someone care to explain exactly what is happening here?" Carlisle demanded as he looked from Bella to Edward and back again.

"There's really nothing to explain at the moment except that Mrs. Harrison didn't feel up to everyone barging in here only to start demanding answers to their questions. Or having to listen to anyone's reprimands as to her actions that have brought her to this point.

"Also, I didn't want the guard outside to find out and call down to headquarters before I had a chance to talk with my client and advise her as to her rights before she was questioned as to the happenings of that night by the police." Edward explained to his father.

"That I understand, but, don't you think that Charlie and Renee should be made aware of the fact that their daughter is awake and talking?"

"Dad, if they knew at this moment then so would the officer in the hallway. It has to be this way for now; not for long, but, just for now. Just give us enough time for Mrs. Harrison and me to talk and for me to explain things to her."

"Do what you need to do, but, make sure that you at least tell Charlie and Emmett about this before too much time has passed. Charlie will need to make a call to his friend, Capt. Jenkins, and Emmett can be of help finding any other evidence that might be needed for your case." Carlisle advised his son before turning back to Bella.

"And, you, young lady, I need to know how you're feeling." Carlisle remarked to Bella as he began walking over to her and reached for her chart to see what the nurse had recorded from moments before.

After glancing down at the chart and doing a flip through a time or two, Carlisle looked up at Edward and remarked, "I thought the nurse had been in here to check Bella's vitals."

"She was, but, the woman got so carried away with seeing that her patient was awake that she left without making any notations on the chart. She felt she had to get the doctor without taking care of anything else." Edward told his father with a slight chuckle as he pictured the surprise of the nurse in his mind once more.

But, before either father or son, doctor or lawyer, could make another comment, Bella spoke up. "I don't care what she did or didn't do. Carlisle, Mr. Cullen here says that he's my attorney. And, if that is truly the case then I think I really need to talk with him about some legal issues before anyone else decides to crash in here with a bunch of questions I'm not exactly ready to answer."

"You're correct, my dear. But, before I go, would you mind answering just one question, one question only, for me?"

"All right, but, what would that question be?"

"Why in the hell didn't you do something about removing yourself from Frank's abuse before it got this far?"

"All I'll say right now is that I had my reasons. Some very valid reasons." And, before she could continue speaking she saw that Carlisle had opened his mouth to say or ask something else. So, she held up her hand to forestall him and commented, "I need to speak with my lawyer first before answering that question. Besides, Dr. Cullen, you did say you wanted to ask just one question. I do believe you have asked that question and I've given you the only answer that I can at the moment." Bella concluded saying which left Carlisle with no reason to ask anything else.

So, with Bella's reminder hanging in the air, Carlisle was faced with the fact there wasn't anything else he could ask and expect an answer. Also, there wasn't really anything else that he could do. So, in an effort to relieve any further tension, he walked over to Bella to check her vitals, himself and noted them on her chart since the nurse had forgotten. That also reminded Carlisle to have a word with the nurse about forgetting to do her duty in spite of any surprises that might occur involving a patient.

Both, Edward and Bella, watched the good doctor going about his checks and noting everything in the chart, and, then watched as Carlisle walked to the door in preparation to leave the room. But, once at the door, he did pause long enough to turn to face both young people. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but, instead, he only shook his head once, pulled open the door and left.

Being a bit curious about what else Carlisle was wanting to say, caused the two occupants of the hospital room to continue to look at the door for a moment longer before turning back toward each other with each realizing that it was time to begin a conversation between each other. Edward didn't hesitate to ask Bella to begin at the beginning and to tell him everything she knew about Frank and Norma Harrison.

"I want to know how you met him. Why did you marry him? Why you stayed with him? What was your marriage like? How did he treat others in your presence and how he treated you, personally, around outsiders? What was his relationship like with his sister or any other family members that you might know or know of?

"As you see, I need to know everything that led up to the night that brought everything crashing down that would have led to you having no other choice than to shoot your husband. And, as you reach that point, I need to know what you remember about that night as well fatal night. I'll need for you to tell me everything that occurred that day, and, I do mean everything; leave nothing out no matter how big or small of a detail."

When Edward had finished talking and informing Bella about all of the information he needed for her to tell him, she only looked at him with a look of being overwhelmed by what he was asking of her. He could see that she was mentally weighing about how much she should or shouldn't say. He knew that he couldn't allow her to withhold any information that could be helpful in resolving this mess. So, he didn't hesitate in telling her, "I can see that you're considering what you should and shouldn't reveal, but, let me warn you, Mrs. Harrison, that I can't allow you to withhold anything. All of the information that I asked you to tell me must be brought into the light of day for me to be able to help you through the shit storm that is threatening you."

After a bit more hesitation, Bella finally began telling Edward everything. She began talking, and as she started talking it was as if a dam broke and the water was gushing forth. All of the details that Edward demanded to know were provided. And, during the whole narrative, Bella added how her father felt about certain aspects as they talked.

"When I first met Frank, he seemed to be caring, compassionate and attentive. It was as if nothing was too much or too good for me. He kept saying that he wanted to give his princess everything.

"Dad wasn't very comfortable with him, but, still tried to make Frank feel at home. And, I have to admit that my father did that because he wanted me to be happy. So, with that in mind, he really kept his opinion of Frank to himself.

"But, after we married, it was like a switch had been flipped. It went from day to night suddenly, faster than a blink of the eye. He became more demanding about everything, even to the point of demanding to have a voice in how ISABELLA was going to run." She paused, and it was right at that point that Edward asked her why Frank felt that he should have a say about the restaurant.

"He said that since he was the man of the house, he was more about to make decisions of that sort than she was. I kept explaining to him that I handled the kitchen section of the business and my partner, Jasper who also is my cousin, handled the business end and the books. And, before you ask, no, Jasper didn't make all of the decisions without consulting me or asking my opinion about things. He always kept me fully up to date as to the facts that were needed to make rational business decisions

"Jasper also invested his and my profits from the restaurant into solid stocks that would make us even more money. He was the financial whiz about things like that. Even, Charlie, my father, would ask Jasper's advice about investing in certain stocks.

"But, as all of this was explained and repeated time and again, along with my refusal to allow him a say in my business, he turned nastier and nastier. And, his demands about me keeping up our home as well as the time I was putting in at work made no difference to him. If I mentioned something about it being too much he would always respond, 'that a woman's place was taking care of home first and anything on the outside second.' That I needed to get my priorities straight. Then, he would say, 'that is why you need to turn over your side of decision making for the restaurant to me.'

"Finally, I got to the point that I couldn't take it anymore and I told him so. I told him that things were going to have to change or I was going to file for a divorce. All he did was look at me for a long moment before lifting his hand and backhanding me across my face so hard that I fell to the floor. Then he grabbed me by my hair and pulled me up from the floor and told me that never again would I consider a divorce or even mention getting one after the lesson he was about to teach me." Bella paused once more and reached for the cup filled with water to try to refresh her throat. Her mouth was kind of dry and her throat a bit scratchy due to non-use.

Edward asked her, "What lesson was he talking about? And, I'm guessing that it was severe enough that you never considered leaving him again.

"And, I'm also a bit puzzled about another situation; didn't you have any daily help around the house to take some of the burdens off of your shoulders?"

"No. He refused to have anyone in the house, saying that it was my responsibility to take care of everything. And, to answer your question about the lesson he taught me, yes, it was that bad that I never considered leaving him again. I was afraid of what he might do if I did.

"You see, Frank explained to me in detail, that through family ties and business ventures, he had associates that would handle any type of problem he might encounter. That all it would take was one phone call.

"And that is what he did as he still had a fistful of my hair. He made a phone call and he requested that my mother have an accident. At first, I thought that he was just trying to be an ass and was trying to scare me. So, even though, he had hit me and made out like he had made the request he did about my mother, I didn't really put any stock into it. However, a few hours later I got a phone call telling me that my mother had been hit by a car that had left the scene of the accident.

"For a while, no one was sure if she would make it, but, she did. And, Frank refused to allow me to go to Florida to be with her, but, did tell me that the same or worse could happen to my father or friends. That he could have just as easily have had my mother killed and no one would lead it back to him.

"He explained that his father ruled his household in the same manner and the women were taught very quickly their proper place; both his mother and his sister, Norma.

"That was when his demands about taking control of my half of ISABELLA starting to become more often and with my refusal each time, the beatings started. Never on my face or any place that could be seen, but, the places that were normally covered with clothing.

"He even started telling me what I could and couldn't wear. Demanded for me to account for every minute of my day. Trying to take over every part of my life, but, I still refused to let him take over anything that had to do with my business or my personal finances.

"Some of his treatment had created injuries that were bad enough that I needed medical attention, so, I went to see Carlisle, but, refused to tell him what had caused the problem.

"Times I would see my dad, and he would ask me why I was moving a bit cautiously and I would pass it off by saying that he knew how klutzy I was." And, once more Bella paused to take another drink of water.

However, Edward wasn't saying anything, it was as if he was in a state of shock. He knew that things had been bad, but, not to the point of what he was now learning and how trapped Bella felt after what had happened to her mother. And, with all of this information, it, also, told him why the cops wanted to charge her with murder instead of self-defense after the lies Norma Harrison had told them.

It also indicated just how fortunate they were that Emmett had discovered the evidence he had at Bella's and Frank's home. This evidence fell in line with the coroner's report about what had happened to Frank Harrison.

Now all he needed to do was to get the facts of what had happened on that fatal day that brought the couple to the ends that faced them in those final hours.

A/N: Bella is now telling her story. And, Edward is realizing that what Bella had to deal with was way worse than what any of them had truly realized. But, what is going to be Edward's reaction when Bella tells him about all that happened that last day?

Thanks for reading and looking forward to your reviews and thoughts.