I am so sorry for the long wait so here are two chapters! I had originally written 4000 words for these chapters but I deleted half by accident so it has taken ages to rewrite it and make it fit again. So without further ado, let chapter ten commence!
Scarlett's POV
I was back at my old house with Janice and Dad, Janice was smirking at me whilst Dad sat quietly in the corner. Janice came towards me and started re-enacting my mother's death with a big grin on her face. She mocked my anger and blamed me for her death. I looked at my Dad for support, shocked that he allowed this to continue. I was shocked to find that he was actually smirking as well. I started to cry and he looked straight at me and said that I was not so innocent and that by accepting the Cullen's love I was betraying my mother. Dad and Janice broke into a fit of horrid laughter and everything went black, but over everything I could hear my mother crying and calling my name. I screamed.
I felt a pair of cold arms wrap around me and gently rock me; I continued to sob as I came back to full consciousness. I opened my eyes to see who was holding me and saw Esme's concerned face looking down at me worriedly. My first instinct was to hug her back and accept her love and comfort as she held me but my dream was fresh in my mind and I started to question my loyalty to my mother. I pulled away from Esme's hug and she looked shocked and slightly hurt but quickly masked her feelings. I noticed Carlisle at the foot of the bed and he too looked confused about why I had uncharacteristically pulled away.
"Are you okay darling?" Esme asked gently, perching on the edge of my bed.
"I'm fine" I said as I wriggled to sit up and then winced as I put pressure on my ribs and a fresh burst of pain sprung up.
"Easy" Carlisle said flitting to my side and lifting me into a comfortable position.
I tensed as he touched me and I avoided eye contact between the pair of them. I felt so gritty and wrong being so close to them, all I could feel was guilt as I heard my mother's scream play over and over in my head like a broken record. Carlisle and Esme both knew that there was something wrong and I noticed them share a concerned glance but they did not push the matter any further. I think they just assumed that I was tired and shaken from my nightmare.
"How do you feel today?" Carlisle asked kindly.
"Fine" I mumbled, focusing my gaze on my hands.
"How would you like to be able to get out of bed?" He enquired, smiling at me like he had a secret.
This perked me up a bit, I was desperate to be able to get out of this bed and move around.
"I would really like that" I said looking up at Carlisle.
"Then I think you'll like what I brought home from the hospital for you" He said smiling as he walked out of the room.
Esme grinned knowingly at me and I knew that she was in on the surprise too. Carlisle entered almost immediately pushing a brand new wheelchair. He rolled it over to my bed and stood to the side of it.
"What do you think?" Esme asked.
"It's great" I said happily, momentarily forgetting my mother and the guilt welling up inside of me.
"Well how about Esme helps you take a shower and get dressed, then we'll give it a try?" Carlisle suggested.
"I would love a shower!" I exclaimed feeling grubby after being bed bound.
Esme laughed. "I'll go get you some fresh towels and sort you out some toiletries" she said smiling happily before disappearing from the room.
"Here, let me help you stand. I'll see if you are okay to walk but you must be careful of your ribs because they may not be properly fused at the breaks. You must tell me if you feel any pain when I stand you up. Do you understand?" Carlisle said in his 'doctor' tone.
I just sighed and tried to wriggle out from under the covers, I was certain that I could do it alone and I hated people helping me. Carlisle put his hands firmly on my shoulders and stopped me from trying to stand.
"Scarlett." He said sternly when I didn't answer his request.
"Okay fine, I'll let you move me" I said grumpily.
"And?" He said more gently, encouraging me to answer.
"And I will tell you if I feel any pain" I said rolling my eyes.
"Outta girl" he said softly before proceeding to put my arms around his neck and lift me up from the bed.
As I was set on my feet I felt a slight pain but I ignored it and it subsided.
"Okay, now do you think you could try taking a step for me?" Carlisle asked, keeping his hands firmly under my arms so that I did not have all my weight on my ribs.
I stepped a tiny step towards him and felt okay. I took another tiny shuffle and then grew more confident so I took an average sized step. Immediately pain flushed my ribcage and I gasped loudly. Carlisle immediately lifted me off of my feet and held me like you would a baby, the pain quickly left my ribs.
"Looks like your ribs are still too tender to walk properly yet but it seems that you can stand okay which means as long as you don't move around too much, you will be fine to take a shower" He said informatively.
By now Esme had returned and was watching us from the doorway.
"Don't worry darling, I'm sure you will be able to walk properly soon" she said walking over to Carlisle and taking me from him.
"See you soon then" Carlisle said as Esme carried me off to the bathroom.
She set me down gently on the bath mat and I looked around me. The bathroom was beautiful! It was huge and was white tiled with an aqua tiled pattern across the middle of the walls. The floor was carpeted white with a large aqua rug by the bath and a smaller matching rug by the shower. The bath was humongous and could probably fit about 10 people in it and there was a pristine glass walk in shower in the corner.
"I found a selection of shampoos and body washes for you to choose from and Rosalie bought you a shower buff of your own" Esme said indicating the selection of bottles laid on the edge of the bath and the light pink body wash shower buff next to them.
"Thank you" I said gratefully as I chose a red bottle of strawberry scented shampoo and conditioner in one and a green bottle of lemon and lime body wash.
Esme showed me a razor and some shaving foam, which I was grateful for, before putting everything I needed on the shower shelf for me. She then handed me a toothbrush and toothpaste and I happily brushed my teeth over the sink, I was already starting to feel a lot better!
"Now then, how about I help you undress and we get you in the shower?" She asked.
I nodded and felt slightly embarrassed as I unbuttoned my pyjama top and allowed Esme to help me pull my arms out, next I pulled down my bottoms and allowed them to fall to my ankles before Esme gently lifted each leg out and took the clothes to the wash bin in the corner. She then came back and wrapped a fluffy towel around me.
"Just slip your underwear off under the towel honey" She said kindly turning around and giving me some privacy. I was grateful about that and I quickly slipped off my bra and knickers and wrapped the towel over myself again.
"Okay I'm ready" I said quietly and Esme turned around and added my underwear to the wash bin. I was then lifted into the shower and shown how it works.
"The door is smoky so I won't be able to see you sweetheart so when you're ready just shut the door and hand me your towel over the top of the shower" Esme said happily.
I quickly did as she said and thanked her.
"I'll be right outside if you need me" She said kindly before leaving and closing the door behind her.
I turned the glorious water onto hot and felt it cascade through my hair and down my face. The heat soothed my ribs and I took my time scrubbing and cleaning every last inch of myself. As I washed the shampoo out of my hair, my thoughts drifted back to my mother and I felt a pang of guilt again. She should be the one here helping me. I should have been there to help her.
I switched off the shower and called Esme back in.
"Did you have a nice shower?" She asked happily, handing me my towel.
"Yes, thank you, it was really refreshing" I replied smiling slightly.
Esme carried me into her and Carlisle's bedroom and helped me dry off before helping me into an oversized dressing-gown, drying and straightening my hair, painting my nails and doing a basic make over to make me feel better. I felt a lot more comfortable afterwards and this helped ease my internal feelings about the dream.
"Alice teamed up with Edward to suss out what clothes you like and have bought you a few new items. I told them to wait until you are well enough to go out shopping with them before they bought you a whole new wardrobe so that you could choose what you would like" Esme explained, bringing a bag out of her walk-in wardrobe.
She laid out the clothes in the bag for me on the bed to see. There was a pair of black skinny jeans, a fitted white t-shirt with my favourite band's logo on it, a dark green boyfriend hoodie, a matching bra and knickers set, a pair of matching green socks and a pair of checked high-top Converses. I was shocked at the accuracy of my fashion sense and immediately got Esme to help me put it all on. I looked and felt great as Esme carried me back to Carlisle's study.
"Wow, look at you!" Carlisle exclaimed, taking me from Esme. "Do you feel better?"
"Much!" I said grinning back at him "Thank you so much for your help Esme"
"My pleasure darling!" Esme replied cheerfully.
"Now shall we try the wheelchair out?" he asked.
I nodded and he carried me over to the wheelchair and placed me down gently in it. Carlisle knelt down in front of me and moved my legs into place before producing Velcro straps. My eyes widened at the sight of them and I instinctively tried to back up a bit, I never liked being held down. Carlisle noticed this and looked up at me.
"It's okay Scarlett" he said soothingly "These straps are simply for making sure you don't fall out. We have added some steep ramps around the house and you don't have the upper body strength to keep yourself upright since your ribs are so sore"
I saw the truth in what he said and I relaxed and nodded, allowing him to fix the straps to the edges of the wheel chair. A strap went around my shins, another attached to the seat and went up between my legs and around my waist which connected to the two which criss-crossed across my shoulders and over my torso like a child's car seat. Carlisle pulled the straps fairly tight to make sure I was securely strapped in.
"There, now how does that feel?" He asked standing back up and smiling.
"Feels good, thanks for getting this for me" I responded, looking down at the straps across my chest.
"You're very welcome" he said before moving behind me to push me out of the door.
"Everyone has been dying to see you" Esme said as we descended the stairs on the temporary wheelchair ramp.
As we reached the bottom of the stairs and entered the living room, I saw the rest of the Cullens sitting occupying themselves. Edward was at his piano, Jasper and Alice were in a chess game, Rosalie was reading a magazine and Emmett was playing an Xbox game. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up at me excitedly. Alice was the first to rush at me and give me a hug, she had a huge grin on her face.
"You're looking good! How are you feeling? You look great in those clothes! I chose them myself obviously! Do you like the wheelchair?" She said in an excited rush.
"Give her a chance to answer Alice!" Rosalie said rolling her eyes jokingly at her sister's excitement. She came over and gave me a hug too.
"I feel a lot better thanks, the wheelchair is great and yes I love the clothes! Thank you for picking them out with Edward for me" I replied politely with a smile.
"No problem" Edward said coming over and smiling crookedly at me.
"I'm glad you're feeling better dude!" Emmett boomed high fiving me with a laugh.
"I'm glad you're on the mend Scarlett" I heard Jasper say quietly, coming to stand beside Alice.
"Thank you Jasper" I responded happily with a nod.
I looked around at everyone who was there. They all cared for me very much and in the back of my mind, I heard my mother's desperate scream. Immediately the guilt started to seep back and I bowed my head, staring at the floor. I fought back my thoughts from Edward and tried to cover my emotions from Jasper, it seemed to work for the time being. There was an awkward silence before Edward spoke up.
"How about we take Scarlett on a tour of the house?" He said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Yeah, good idea!" Alice said.
I quickly nodded in agreement just wanting to get out of the crowd of Cullens.
"Who would you like to take you on tour?" Esme asked kindly.
"Rosalie please" I said quickly, I knew I would feel comfortable if I was away from the gifted Cullens and Emmett was too cheerful to be around whilst I was feeling gloomy.
"I don't mind doing it" Rosalie said "You guys can finish your games off and by then we'll be finished"
"Okay. But Scarlett if you feel drowsy or in any pain at all, get Rosalie to bring you to me" Carlisle said looking at me with firmness.
"Will do Carlisle" I said.
Everyone went back to what they were doing and Rosalie wheeled me out of the room. I was finally grateful for some space. I needed to clear my mind. The dream was still fresh and as we started upstairs it became increasingly difficult to drown out my worried thoughts and ignore my churning stomach. My mother's scream was on constant repeat and I didn't know how I was going to cope…
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