Author's Note:

Hope everyone had a pleasant Mother's Day. Thank you for the reviews.

I.Michela brought up the following point, "But Edward didn't have to change her to save her. He could have just sucked the poison from her body, like he did the James venom in Twilight," and I wanted to address it. This is my fault, because I did not explain it well enough in the chapter. Bella was going to die regardless of whether or not the men injected the poison. She was too badly beaten and broken from the attack. She lost tremendous amounts of blood. The men only gave her the poison because they wanted to make sure she did not live another minute or so to tell the "invaders" what they did to her. The men wanted to not have to wait till she died. Even if the men did not inject the poison, Edward would still have to have changed her. She would have died before they even had reached the Cullen's house for treatment. Her injuries were too far beyond repair.

Music: 9 Crimes by Damien Rice. One of the saddest songs I have ever heard.

Enjoy, and please review.

Twirl

"9 Crimes"

The past two days, except for the men that tortured my love, time was my sole enemy. I was fighting time, just like Bella had within that room. And time I was fighting as I carried Bella out of that hellion prison. I turned around and headed towards the door, not glancing back again at the bed that held her captive, not back at the men, who broke her, and not back at the place, which caused her death. I would never look back. This was our time now… the past was over.

People when they feel completely overwhelmed with emotions, when feelings get too big for just one individual to handle want to simply collapse under the weight. Sometimes humanity is a weight too heavy for one person to carry. And throughout my entire life, I had never felt the amount of pain that I was feeling now. But, this was not physical pain. And I wish it was. I was that it was damn physical pain. I wish it was physical pain that hurt me, so much compared to this… At least with physical pain, you narrow it down on a region of your body. With this, this type of pain has no central location. It just is. And as much as I wished to collapse from the weight of humanity upon my shoulders at this moment, I have to be even stronger for Bella…

I cradled her in my chest as I raced home. I slowed down as I reached the door as I did just a while ago. I continued to glare down at Bella in confusion. Currently, one should be withering in pain. Yet, she lied there, almost dead in my arms. Maybe, it really was too late. Once again, time…only time would tell.

Edward, I think she needs help. I turned towards my adoptive father and raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Of course, she needed help. What type of help?

"Edward, I think it would be best to clean up Bella now. It will make her more comfortable, especially if-when she wakes up," Carlisle corrected himself.

Edward, I will do it, if you would rather not. We would all understand. Alice reassured me. I understand what she was thinking. Would Bella be angry with me that I saw her in this position? But, I wanted to help, to care for her, now more than ever. She was suffering due to my error. I caused this pain.

"If you think it is best Carlisle?" I questioned Carlisle.

"Yes, it will be." I am not sure the state in which she will wake up in. There are no usual reactions to this. I do not her how she will take it, either. He continued. How could there be normal reactions to this? Was it normal to be raped and tortured? Was it a normal pastime? The anger had never left my body, yet new waves of guilt and sadness continued to overshadow the pure hate. Every glance upon her skin caused those waves to recover every other emotion. I nodded towards Carlisle, letting him know.

"Afterwards, take her to your room. Let me know, and I will be up." He reported. Edward, it will be alright.

Edward, I see her. Alice began. Pure delight filled my being. She would wake up. She will be alive again… She will wake up in about a day and a half. I cannot see her reactions, but she will wake up. Her words continued to cause my broken spirits to soar.

As I walked up the steps in the house holding Bella, I could not help but feeling as though I was breaking boundaries. I felt as though I was letting Bella down. I had never seen her body before, and I was now going to help wash her body. Even now, even after all the horrendous actions, she still was the most beautiful woman in the world. She was and will always be absolutely perfect. My perfect angel banished to Hell.

I walked into the bathroom near my room and supported her as I turned the water on in the tub. This was going to be challenging then I believed. Perhaps, the shower would be better. Turning off the water, I walked into the shower while supporting her weight. I grabbed a soft washcloth, body soap, and other showering necessities in addition to removing the coat that was shielding her body. When the coat was removed, I could not help but gasp. The damage they did to her body was astounding. Her blood was more pronounce as I witnessed that her body was coated in dried blood. I did not have hold my breath, as I had to earlier. For no ounce of my body loathed her blood, a combination of her current state and my venom racing through her veins. Yet, regardless of the damage to her body, it was still beautiful. She was still absolutely beautiful…perfect.

I carefully turned on the water to luke-warm and helped to wash the blood off her body. I made careful smooth motions against her skin, to not hurt her anymore. The blood eventually relented till all the blood was gone from her body. Underneath the blood, huge bruises and evidence of the attack remained. A new wave of pain and guilt ripped through my body. I could not help by blame myself for every second, for every ounce of pain I caused her. I directed the water to her hair and washed her lovely, brown hair using her favorite strawberry shampoo. My clothes, by this point, were completely soaked from the shower.

I was sure to avoid looking at her except for her eyes. Careful and soft I washed her body till all remained of her attack were the physical scars… I wrapped a towel around her body, and picked her back up in my arms. On the counter of the bathroom was a set of new clothes, pajamas, for Bella to wear, thanks for Alice obviously. I would need to thank her at a later date.

After I helped her into the pajamas and carried her onto the bed, I whispered for Carlisle. I lay upon the bed next to Bella, cradling her in my arms. I would not leave her side till she woke, and even then I never wanted to leave her side again for the rest of eternity, if she would have me. As Carlisle walked into the room, he nodded at me in both a sign of admiration and acknowledging my location for the next two days.

Carlisle walked up along side her frail body and moved up to check on her current condition.

"Edward, Alice said she will wake up, which is the best news we could have hoped to happen." Carlisle whispered as he continued his examination.

"Why isn't she awake then?" I questioned. Even though it was unusual for transformations to be done well the human was completely unconscious, it would make her not feel the pain, not wither in the agony.

"I think it was to her current position. Even if they did not inject the poison into her body, she was still seconds away from death. Her body was too badly injured during the attack. Even without the poison…" he trailed off taking a long glance upon her face, covered with scars.

"The transformation actually has already helped heal some of her wounds. Her body lost tremendous amounts of blood, which should make her transformation faster. Also, her first year as a newborn should be shorter and easier, hopefully." Carlisle finished. Hopefully, it would be easier…anything easier for her.

--

The next two days passed slowly as though every second was being carefully examined before the next could come. Every second was another moment for my body to be racked with guilt and sorrow. I knew in my mind I did the correct thing. Everyone reassured me of that. But, how can one not be filled with guilt? Bella experienced the absolute worst of the earth. She experienced the worst of human kind. She was destined to go to Heaven, away from these people, away from those sins. Would she still want to be on this planet after seeing the worst in man kind?

Throughout the two days, my family members came and sat with me and Bella for period of times. Rosalie always made her opinion on Bella's turning obvious. She found Bella's choice to be changed almost unfathomable. However, whenever, she came up during the morning of the second day, her opinion was vastly different. After one glance from Bella's body to my face, she nodded and her thoughts, I noticed for the first time changed. She too believed in the choice that I made. Bella and I were made for each other. And we could not be apart. Bella was going to be changed anyway in a few weeks. Bella wanted this. All of my family members had reassured me within the past hours of my choice. Yet, it was at this moment, when the only other family member besides me who thought Bella should remain human changed her opinion, that I felt assurance in mine. Rosalie in that moment gave me the biggest gift she could… her acceptance.

On the afternoon of the second day, I heard a new type of silence. I was unable to hear her heartbeat at all, but Carlisle believed that either it was too weak for us to hear it (which I did not believe) or she was already changed. Yet, this silence was ear-splitting. Bella's body was different…healed. My eyes were always concentrated on her face, on her beautiful closed eyes that I did not notice the slow changes in her appearance. All the scars of her attack faded away during the past two days. Her silenced skin was repaired, and her face, her magnificent face, was free of all the appalling wounds the men had afflicted. Along with the healing, her skin was a new shade of pale, if that was possible… the shade of mine and mine family.

Edward, she will be waking up in ten minutes. Alice thought. Ten more minutes… For someone that lives forever, time was awfully critical to my survival. Finally, in ten minutes, I would be done raging this battle against time. I could see Bella again, and be with her…

Too often throughout the past five days have my thoughts trailed to the possibilities of losing her, of her imminent death from Alice's first phone call to even after I bit her. Now, finally, she would be awake. Now, finally, in ten minutes, she would be mine for eternity, and I loved her more than anything in the universe. My life was meaningless without her.

As the last few minutes before she woke up, my mind fluttered to all the possibilities of things I would do to make up for her lost. I would make up for the protection I failed to give her. I would do everything in my power to trust me again, and I would do everything in my power to make her happy… make her happy for eternity.

And finally, after the countless hours of guilt and sorrow, after the countless of minutes debating her reactions, and after the countless seconds of feeling I lost her for ever, she woke up.

A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger. I will update very, very soon. Expect by Wednesday a very long chapter. I tend to go between short and long chapters to allow for some updates between the days I have more time. After this week, I will have a lot more time… thus better updates.

Next chapter: What happens after Bella wakes up? What memories does she have from her previous "life?" What will her reaction be?