Chapter beta'd by leggylover03
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As awareness found Bella this time, she expected the slight burn in her side and the pounding rhythm in her head. She still felt so very tired, yet she desired to be awake for a bit. Feeling the gentle rub of a cold thumb across her palm, Bella forced her eyes open.
She felt her aching body relax as her gaze settled on the reassuring sight of Carlisle. Her fatigued brain slowly processed the slightly cheery look he wore. She surmised she must be doing well then. She looked around the room, slightly disappointed to note they were alone.
Carlisle followed her gaze when it landed on the water glass. Correctly deducing she was thirsty, he helped her to lean up, adding supportive pillows behind her before presenting the glass to her mouth.
"Slow sips Bella."
Abiding by his reminder to take it easy, Bella took several small sips to wet her lips. Then she asked, "Edward isn't here yet?"
Carlisle could hear the slight disappointment in her voice and gave her a gentle smile. "No, Sweetheart. It's just approaching dawn, they still have several hours to go yet."
Bella nodded, then winced with instant regret as her forehead disagreed with the movement. She squeezed her eyes shut as an, 'oww,' slipped from her lips.
Carlisle laid his palm against her forehead knowing the cold temperature of his hand would help.
When Bella began to relax as the pain eased, he asked, "Do you think you can stomach another meal Sweetheart?"
Careful not to move her head this time, Bella opened her eyes and asked, "Filet mignon and asparagus?"
Smiling, Carlisle's response was, 'I'm afraid not. How does rice a la broth sound instead?"
Bella crinkled her nose and said, "Well, if that's all the chef is capable of…"
Laughing now, Carlisle assured her, "Oh the chef is capable of far more and he will prove it when you're on the mend. For now, the doctor's prescription is rice a la broth." Carlisle was truly heartened to see Bella joking with him.
Knowing she had been close to waking, Carlisle already had Bella's meal warmed and waiting beside the bed. Draping a napkin over her chest, he picked the bowl up and ladled a small serving of broth. As Bella did well with the first few sips of warm liquid, he added some rice to each spoonful.
Bella successfully consumed half the bowl before she indicated she was full. The warmth of the food felt good going down her throat, but the activity of eating had tired her out. That surprised her as Carlisle had done all the work.
"Why am I so exhausted Carlisle?"
Turning serious, Carlisle sat on the edge of the bed and took Bella's hand in his. He wasn't surprised Bella was caught off guard by her weakness. The girl was used to clumsy injuries and life threatening situations but she had never experienced an injury this severe before. Even in Phoenix she lost far less blood.
"Do you remember what I told you of your injuries earlier?"
"Yes, you had to remove my spleen to stop the bleeding?"
"Correct. Bella, so much trauma to your body combined with all the blood loss means your body is using every bit of energy it can to repair itself right now. It will be some time before you find yourself able to stay awake for long."
Bella heard something in Carlisle's voice during that explanation that caused her to focus on his face. What she saw surprised her, "You were scared?"
Squeezing her hand gently, he asked, "That shocks you?"
"Umm…kinda, yeah. I didn't think you guys were afraid of anything except the Volturi," Bella said. "Oh! I understand. You were worried about Edward's reaction."
Rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand he corrected her misassumption, "My daughter came very close to dying last night. I wasn't worried for my son, I was terrified to lose my newest child."
"I'm not…" Bella started to deny but Carlisle stopped her with a gentle finger over her lips.
"Yes, you are. Esme feels exactly the same way. I'd planned to use this weekend to discuss that with you, since our departure has surely given you the opposite impression." Reaching up, Carlisle smoothed away a tear that escaped Bella's eye at this statement.
Bella found herself unable to deny what she was hearing when she considered the open and honest expressions Carlisle was sharing with her.
So instead she asked, "It was really that close?"
Never one to sugarcoat the truth to a patient, Carlisle answered, "Yes, Bella. It was really that close."
Bella seemed like she wanted to talk further, but Carlisle could see how fully exhausted she was. "We can discuss this more later, for now your body needs that rest."
Bella couldn't argue with that. And she knew Carlisle would still be there when she was ready to speak more. So she closed her eyes and left him to the work of adjusting her pillows. Yet she thought of one more thing as she drifted off to sleep.
"Edward's going to ground me, isn't he?"
Carlisle was confused at this change in topic, "Ground you Bella? I'm afraid I don't understand?"
"He isn't going to let me go even five minutes without one of you around is he?" Bella explained.
Carlisle laughed so hard it took him a moment to respond, "No Bella, I don't suppose he will."
As Bella drifted off to sleep Carlisle was still silently chuckling.
Taking care to adjust the curtains closed, so the rising sun would not hinder Bella's rest, Carlisle turned his attention to her medical needs. Once again gathering the appropriate supplies from his office, he administered her next dose of pain and antibiotic medication.
Then Carlisle carefully changed the bandages on both of Bella's injuries, taking the time to examine the wounds for any signs of infection. Both looked to be healing normally, and he tucked his still sleeping daughter back into the blankets.
Picking up the used bowl, he returned them to the kitchen where he proceeded to wash the dishes at a human pace. His thoughts turned to the conversation he had had with Bella and her surprise that he had feared her death. He hadn't really expected any different. Actions often speak louder than words and their departure had screamed at Bella that she was nothing more than Edward's girlfriend to the Cullen family.
That was far from the truth, but it was also exactly the impact their move had been designed to leave with her. When they had returned everyone was focused on the decree of the Volturi and threat of Victoria. Carlisle had intended this weekend to ensure Bella wasn't still operating under such misapprehension.
Well, Carlisle figured he now knew where he needed to pick up with their conversation when Bella had the energy for a heart to heart.
Eight am found two cars packed with vampires racing around the northern edge of the Olympic Peninsula. Driving at well over 100 miles per hour, the Cullen's had made excellent time on their return from Glacier National Park. That fact combined with frequent updates from both Alice and Carlisle was all that prevented Edward from loosing his mind. As it was, he was working hard to tamp down the desire to turn Bella the moment he entered the Cullen home.
Feeling the guilt rolling off Edward, an exasperated Jasper looked at him and once again said, "You're not to blame."
Edward gritted out, "I should have foreseen this possibility."
Alice rolled her eyes and demanded, "When did you become a seer Edward?"
Latching on to the topic for a distraction, Edward explained, "Given our nature, we've never bothered alarming the houses. I should have thought of Bella being alone. They may have never made it in, if we'd just had an alarm. Or Bella would have known it wasn't Carlisle!"
Quietly, Esme spoke, "Or she may not have survived Edward. Did that occur to you? Carlisle said she only made it because he was able to get to her immediately and perform the surgery without delay. An alarm system would have brought human witnesses, police, an ambulance…"
Edward balled his fist and made to hit the dash, but Esme caught his arm mid swing, "Destroying your car won't help Bella nor change the situation."
Letting out a sigh, Edward instead raked his hand through his hair.
Emmett, seeking to help, said, "Ya know…an alarm isn't a bad idea…We could go with a silent alarm that sends an alert to us all and Bella. And build the girl a panic room." Tapping his fingers on his thigh, he continued to think out loud, "Of course it would have to be fire proof…maybe put it in the basement with 'Bella shoots' on each floor so she can get to it from anywhere…"
Esme shook her head wondering if she was going to have to stop Emmett from 'redesigning' her house.
As Carlisle worked on closing the window curtains in the bedroom to prevent the rising sun from awakening his patient, he thought about the logistics for the days ahead.
With the family due home shortly, there was no concern about having the house set to rights before Charlie arrived. Rosalie should have plenty of time to break the truck apart in one night and the pieces would be very easy to hide until they could be reduced to unrecognizable powder.
That then left one concern. How to explain Bella's condition to Charlie…not telling him anything was not an option. Bella simply wouldn't be on her feet fast enough.
The head injury would be easy enough to explain away as Bella's normal clumsiness. The weakness and general lack of energy she would be suffering from could be explained as a bad case of the flu. Perhaps even she had fainted due to the flu and struck her head.
The surgical scar and bullet wounds were another matter. They could not pass them off as an emergency appendectomy (a somewhat common emergency in young adults) given the two organs were not located nearby. They could choose to not tell Charlie about them at all, but if Bella suffered complications at home, a can of worms would be opened.
While Carlisle wasn't usually a proponent of tattoo's, in Bella's case the tattoo would only remain until she was changed. Emmett's idea did have merit if Bella managed her recovery without Charlie finding out about the scars or the surgery. His eyebrow still raised at the thought of Bella liking the idea – it would take a large tattoo to cover her scar. And Charlie would certainly be no happy father…
Carlisle wondered if they could create a cover story of an accident that resulted in both the head wound and spleen removal. Said accident would have had to occur outside of Fork's though…the Cullen's were experts at falsifying records. The memories of real people? Not so much… They would also still have the problem of Charlie ever seeing the actual scarring…
He continued to ruminate on the problem as Bella slept peacefully on.