When I woke up I was worried for a few seconds that I was dead. I could see only bright white light, and the soft musical murmuring of angelic voices. When I took my first inhale of breath and felt the sharp stab of pain, I knew that I was definitely alive. The pain helped to bring my mind back into sharp relief. I blinked a few times at the brightness above me, and shapes began to form themselves. An awful, slightly greyed, rectangular fluorescent light was almost directly above me. There was also a small brown water stain in the plaster ceiling tiles above me. Institution like. By the pain in my chest, I'd say probably a hospital. I tried breathing again and the pain sharpened my senses a second time. Stainless steel. Disinfectant. Hospital.
I lifted my head a little, to gain my bearings, and I had to rest it back down immediately. My tiny cleat-donning army was trampling around on my brain.
A dark pair of eyes appeared over my face. I blinked in surprise and focused on them. Charlie's worried face was drawn, looking more tired than usual, harried and even frantic. Oops. What had happened? I thought back to what I could remember. A baseball game. Jacob. Driving to... Port Angeles for my phone…
"I broke my phone." I stated sadly. Charlie's face lit up with humour and relief.
"You broke a lot of things Bella."
Suddenly I remembered the reason I hurt. Dizzying speeds, leaping haphazardly through the forests, into the mountains. Fiery red hair, golden hair, red eyes, black eyes, blackness, brightness. I had so many confusing memories, and they didn't seem to blend together very clearly.
"Oh good." I closed my eyes again. It was a few moments before a cold hand touched my face and I flinched, opening my eyes.
This time it was a pair of calm golden eyes. Carlisle smiled down at me.
"Good evening Bella. How are you feeling?"
"Fine." I said, smiling nervously. "How are you?"
He raised an eyebrow gently, as he smiled, and prodded gently up and down my ribs. "We were all worried about you Bella. Do you remember what happened?"
"Yes." I said quietly, looking around. The room was empty, aside from us. I had a private suite. Yikes. I guess it helped if you were sort of related to the head doctor. "I think I remember most of it. I'm not really sure about a lot of it…"
"His name was James. He detected your scent at our house, and found it an irresistible draw." Carlisle began to explain.
"He didn't track me to Angela's? Or Jacob's?" I interrupted worried. How many people had he hurt trying to find me?
"No one else was injured Bella." Carlisle assured me, his lips still moving slowly and clearly. He was talking with enough force that I was being bombarded with a heavenly scent from his breath. I tried not to think about that, and focus on what had happened.
"Where is Edward?" I asked.
"He is with your father, fetching you food. Alice saw you waking, and suggested that Edward fetch you something. He's halfway down the hallway now, talking amicably with your father."
I looked down at myself. I had a sling on one arm, and a cast wrapped around my other hand. My writing and signing days would be done for a while. He'd taken away a means of communication for me. Half of me wondered if that had been an intentional act on his behalf. Playing with his food, so to say.
"Can you help me sit up a little please?" I asked. I did not want to look weak if I could help it. I supposed my hair was a mess, and I didn't want to think about how pasty I usually looked under hospital lights. Carlisle nodded, and helped prop me up with an extra pillow. It was a painful process but I breathed through it. Carlisle wasn't fooled. At that point, Edward, and Charlie came through the door. Carlisle stared at Edward for a long, meaningful amount of time, undoubtedly transferring him my diagnoses mentally. After a brief silence I looked at Charlie.
"Wow Dad, being nice to the boyfriend? I must have really scared you."
Charlie shuffled uncomfortably, looking determinedly at Carlisle.
"What's the - doc?" I had missed a word, but this conversation was one I was not so interested in. I was alive, I would be fine. I focused on my saviour, the beautiful and terrifying angel that had descended over me in a fierce rage.
Edward looked sad, thoughtful, and relieved. I smiled at him.
"Hi." I whispered. My fingers twitched in their cages. What I wouldn't give to have a silent, private conversation here. Edward looked over to Carlisle and Charlie, and suddenly the two were leaving the room.
Better? He asked.
"Much." I whispered. "How did you do that?"
"Carlisle is no fool, and Charlie didn't feel like seeing us kiss." Edward smiled at me. There was still something there in his eyes. Something dark that looked an awful lot as though Edward felt this was his fault.
"Sooooo…. What exactly happened according to everyone else?"
"You hit a wolf in your truck. You probably thought it was a dog, and followed it into the woods. There happened to be an excellent escarpment nearby." Edward said, nonchalantly, watching my reaction carefully.
"You killed a wolf for my cover story?" I asked, slightly disturbed. Edward rolled his eyes.
We'll get to that. He signed.
"Do we have time?" I asked, looking furtively at the door – would Charlie come back in?
"Carlisle knows how to occupy Charlie. He's got diversionary tactics like paperwork, and your mother is flying into town to see you."
I cringed at that. My mother would be undoubtedly frantic. I'd spend hours reassuring her I was fine. I watched a flicker of amusement cross Edward's face.
"Most people would be happy to see their mother."
"I am happy to see her. I'm not looking forward to the whole caring thing. I'm sick of being taken care of like I'm breakable and disabled."
"You are breakable, and you are currently disabled." He pointed out, emphasising his speech with signs.
I sighed forcefully and winced slightly. "Just tell me everything you know."
Edward settled down on my bed, barely ruffling sheets as he sat. He rested a cool hand on my cheek for a moment, and then began speaking, and signing.
"Our visitors showed up shortly after my phone call with you. We managed to talk all night, but bringing them back to our house was a mistake. Their leader, James, caught your scent and was entranced by it. Alice somehow missed your decision to head to Port Angeles. I thought you were safe in Forks. We sent them north after we were done with them."
"And they ran into me." I stated. I only remembered one, at best two. How many had there been? I decided I didn't want to know. I was safe and they were dealt with. The Cullen family had been victorious.
"We were no more than a half an hour behind you by the time he had you. He led us on a crazed chase, through mountains, into a cave…." Edward trailed off again. His eyes darkened and he smirked. "He kept severely underestimating the abilities of my family. Jasper, Alice, Carlisle and I, tailed you and James. Jasper is by far the best tracker I know, Alice was invaluable with enabling us to cut corners in the chase, and as soon as he was within my mental range I could hone in on him. Emmett was originally with us, but split off earlier to follow the female when she took a different route. He lost her in the ocean. Rosalie and Esme stopped to hide your truck, and followed Emmett's scent when they were finished."
"And when you caught up to me?" I asked.
"It was moments after he dislocated your shoulder." Edward sank his head into his hands and I worried he'd keep speaking and I wouldn't catch it. He pulled his head up quickly though. "I thought he was going to roll you off of the cliff."
"How did you stop him?"
"I went for the obvious kill. I'd like to pretend I was intending on it, but I was so desperate to get to you that I don't think I particularly thought it through. Alice and Jasper were one step ahead of me. Jasper…" Edward paused, searching for words. "Launched Alice." He fingerspelled to make sure I caught the word.
"He threw her at him?" I smiled. It seemed a funny picture.
"She darted in, straight as an arrow. Knocked the two of them flat off of the cliff."
"Is she alright?" I sat up, straighter, concerned, and pain flared in my ribs. Edward stood, easing me back down slightly.
"She's fine Bella. She kept out of his reach for the few seconds it took Jasper to jump over with them. They both took him out. Burned the body. He's gone. Carlisle caught up, and we tended to you. He rolled your shoulder back into place, bound your leg, set your wrist. I carried you back straight to the house, where we got into Carlisle's car. We drove you to the hospital under the premise of having found you and your truck at the side of the road."
"And I can guess the rest. Stitches, casts, x-rays… the usual." I sighed. It sounded like a surreal tale. Too much panic, and too much fear involved. "I'm so sorry your family had to –"
"No, Bella. They're your family too now. Any one of them would take the same course, go through the same effort to help you again."
"I'm sorry." Tears were welling up in my eyes.
"Are you in pain?" He asked, worriedly. I was, but that wasn't the issue.
"I'm sorry I cause such a fuss. I'm so inconvenient. Everywhere I go I cause chaos and worry. I'm sorry I brought that upon you all. I'm sorry." My eyes blurred as I talked. I tried to blink away the tears, but it wasn't working. Edward gently nestled me into his chest, hugging me, stroking my hair.
When I stopped the momentary lapse of reasoning, I pulled back again, determined to face him.
"Go on. Go home. I'm fine here." I said.
"Bella. Bella. Bella." Edward chanted, signing my name as 'beauty' rather than 'bells'. "I love you. I will stay with you as long as I can. As long as I can keep you safe. As long as I can keep you happy."
"I love you too." I whispered. I was so tired. "You know you're talking about forever right?"