As always, I don't own it.
Ch 6
My life has been a whirlwind since arriving to Richmond. Of course that has everything to do with meeting Bella. After some back and forth between my lawyer and Emmett, along with countless interrogations from him, the plans were made for Bella's moving day.
And now it's here.
I'd suggested we hire movers to take care of everything and even offered to pay for the service, but the ever proud Bella wouldn't think of it. Even Emmett thought it might be a good idea. Neither of us want her straining herself too much so we've called in every guy we know, well that Emmett knows, to help out. It turns out she really doesn't have many belongings so in the end it was just Emmett, his friend Paul and myself doing the heavy lifting.
We're already half way done. The cars and trucks have been loading and all we need to do now is get everything moved in to my place. I can tell Bella is antsy to help but she's only been allowed to carry small, light things. Her condition can make her easily tired and cause serious joint and muscle pain so there is no way I'm letting her hurt herself. Of course that doesn't mean she always listens to our requests. Ever willful and proud, she's obviously not used to someone taking care of her. That is going to change.
"Bells, what the hell are you trying to do now?" I could here Emmett shouting from outside even though I was up in Bella's room dropping off a stack of boxes. I raced downstairs to find a giant box with legs walking toward me. How she can even see where she's going I have no idea.
"It's not heavy, Em it's just awkward." She managed to say that right before slamming into me. I fell over backwards and thankfully the box rolled to the side before crushing me. The forward motion had caused Bella to fall half on me and half on the box.
I'd be upset if her bright red blushing face wasn't so damn cute.
"Sorry, Edward," she squeaked and clamored to get off me as quickly as possible.
"No worries, but maybe you should stick with slightly smaller boxes, like something you can see over?"
"Not you too! This is my move and you all are treating me like some damsel in distress. It's really irritating! I may not be as tough as you guys but I can still hold my own."
"And I don't doubt that but the truth is, you're going to pay for all this heavy lifting later and I really don't want you to hurt. Not if I can avoid it."
I watched as she stomped off in a huff up the stairs to her room, and I can't say I didn't enjoy the view.
"She's as stubborn as our dad was. There's no talking sense into her but I have to try. She overdoes it and then ends up in misery or too tired to leave her bed for days. Man if I could donate a kidney or a lung or something to make her better I'd do it in a minute." Emmett shook his head in frustration.
I patted him on the back and told him sincerely, "I'll take good care of her. I promise you, Emmett."
Narrowing his eyes in suspicion I was sure I was about to get nailed but his look suddenly shifted to a jovial smile. "I believe you, Edward. Ya know I think you two are good for each other." And with that he left me gaping as he returned to the truck.
–
Some hours later, Emmett and Paul said their goodbyes and headed out with promises of meeting up again soon this week. We were told we had an open invite for dinner at Em & Rose's house and given how pitiful Bella looked hugging her brother, I'd imagine will be over there a lot before their move. Well, at least Bella will. I don't want to totally intrude on their time together but I can't help but want to spend time with her whenever I can. I'd like to say it was the psychiatrist in me, intrigued by her case, but that's far from reality. In reality I'm already far too close to her to ever treat her as a patient but she will need some form of counseling. Once she's settled in I'll discuss it with her. I'm not looking forward to telling her my specialty. So far she knows I'm a doctor and I may or may not have lead her to believe I'm a general practitioner merely by not telling her otherwise when that's what she guessed. I'm afraid she'll question my motives once she knows but of course she'll find out eventually so I have to confess it at some point. Plus once I do tell her I can hopefully get her in to see one of my new colleagues.
My thoughts on Bella's current mental health swam around my head as I started to drift off on top of the covers on my bed. It's far too early for sleep but the exhaustion of moving has done me in. Maybe I'll just rest my eyes for a moment.
Suddenly I was ripped from the depths of sleep by a crashing sound coming from our shared bathroom. Without a moment's thought I leaped out of bed and began pounding on the locked bathroom door. No response.
Getting nervous I began shouting Bella's name, pausing occasionally in the hopes of even a quiet answer from the other side of that door.
"Bella if you don't answer me in the next 5 seconds I'm busting through this door! 5 – 4 – 3 – 2..."
I knew there was a good likelihood that she'd be pissed at me but I rather see a pissed off uninjured Bella any day of the week than one in potential harm. I went to work using my shoulder as a battering ram. Finally the wood surrounding the lock split and I barreled into the room. The sight before me stopped my heart dead.
Floating naked in a tub of pink tinged water was my Bella, unconscious and drowning.
I bolted over to her, immediately pulling her head above water. After a lightening speed assessment I saw what had happened. She'd tried getting out of the tub, collapsed, either from slipping or possibly exhaustion. She must have reached out as she was fall, catching the edge of the shelf holding all our bath products as there was a gash on her hand and arm. It looked like a fairly shallow cut so I focused first on getting her breathing. A quick check of the pulse showed a week beat but still there was something.
Once I realized it was safe to move her I had her out of the tub and on the shag bathmat in a heartbeat. I tilted her head back and began to administer CPR. When the first round didn't immediately produce I started losing my patience.
"Come on Bella, wake up for me, sweetheart." Compress, compress, blow blow.
I kept it up for what felt like eternity but was probably on minutes until she began sputtering and gasping for air. I swear it was the most beautiful sound in the world.
Tilting her head to the side so she could get out the water she'd swallowed, I finally took a moment to realize just how horrified I was in that moment.
This was not a suicide attempt but it could have been. What if she'd passed out before getting up. There would have been no sound to warn me. I would have woken up hours later to Bella... God I can't think of that.
Once her sputtering was complete I tilted her head back to me, still keeping my hand under her head. Just as I was thinking the worst was finally over I saw the look of sheer terror on her face. My first thought was that she realized she had almost died and was frightened but then I noticed her arms moving to cover herself. Oh crap. I hadn't even thought about the fact that she's naked. I'd been so eager to save her the thought of her state of undress had honestly not been a factor I'd considered, other than it making my assessment easier in that instant when she was drowning.
I hastily grabbed a large towel from the rack above her head and spread it over her trembling body. Tears were now streaking her cheeks and the moment the terry cloth touched her skin she began screaming and trashing below me.
"Bella, shhh... it's okay. You're fine now. I'm a doct..." I didn't get a chance to finish the statement as she smacked me upside the head. What the hell, does she think I was trying to take advantage of her or something? Does she even realize what happened? But then I saw her eyes, wild and unfocused, glazed over and looking at some apparition of her past that wasn't there.
"No please STOP! God please don't .. NO James!" My vision turned red. If not for the injured and panic attack ridden woman below me I would've punched a whole in the wall just to feel some release from this encompassing rage. No, I must stay calm and help her through this. With gentle pressure I used my body to restrain her. I'm sure this wasn't going to help release her from her flashback but at least she wouldn't hurt herself further. I carefully held her pinned her arms with my hands, seeing for the first time a myriad of scars from small lines to thick jagged gashes covering both her arms and legs. I know she's clumsy but it's clear the majority of her scars are not from any accident. Again I had to swallow my fury. I can't even imagine the horrors she's experienced. How anyone could hurt this beautiful and pure woman was a thought so completely inconceivable to me. Okay, gotta focus.
"Bella, it's me, Edward. You're in the bathroom of our house in Richmond. No one is going to hurt you. You're safe here. SAFE. I'm not going to ever hurt you, sweetheart." The screaming had turned into a sort of keening noise most likely because she's hoarse. Her eyes remained unfocused and unchanged. I have to do something to bring her out of this hell.
Leaning over her, something that cause the pulse points in her wrists speed up their thrumming instantly. I knew this must be scaring her but I had to try. I put my lips withing an inch of her right ear and began humming. It wasn't any specific song, just a random tune, but it seemed to be working. Her struggling tapered off gradually and she went silent. After a moment of quiet I pulled back to look at her. Her red rimmed eyes stared into mine and I swear the chocolate depths of those orbs could see straight into my soul.
"Bella," I breathed her name in relief, "talk to me, tell me you're back to me."
"Edward," her hoarse whisper gave a lusty overtone to her voice. How I can think of lusty fricking overtones at a time like this I have no idea. Well, then again it may have something to do with the mostly naked woman you're currently pinning to the ground a rather precarious and suggestive position. That realization made me jump back, and get as far as possible from her body as I could without leaving the bathroom entirely.
"I'm sorry, Bella, you were drowning and then you had a panic attack. I was just trying to help." God she must think I'm such a perv, hovering over her like that.
"No, thank you." She made to sit up which had me rushing right back to her. I swear she's like this magnetic force.
"Here, let me help you." I put my hand between her shoulder blades on her back and slowly raised her to a seated position. Her hands were the only thing keeping her towel up.
Even after allowing me to help her she came back with a snarky remark. "Oh I do believe you've helped enough." This caused me to release her back like I'd suddenly been burned. Did she think I overstepped some boundary? I'd hate for her to think of me like that.
"Stop, that's not what I mean." What? She can read my mind now too? "I mean you've lived with me for less than a day and you're already playing nurse maid. You must be seriously reconsidering this decision."
"Bella, don't ever think that. Asking you to live here is one of the best decisions of my life. I just hope you don't think I was trying to hurt you. This is your home too and I want you to feel safe here."
She looked down to her lap and blushed. "Thanks again."
"Do you need help getting up or .. I mean, I could carry you to your room if you need help."
"Um, I'm feeling more awake now, but thanks. I think you got enough of a free show today as is." she smirked and her eyes looked amused so I'd know she was only kidding.
"Okay, well I'll let you get dressed. I'll be just on the other side of the door. When you're done, let me know. I'm not 100% certain you're not concussed so I'm going to help you to bed or the living room, wherever you want to go. If you want we can order a pizza and watch a movie. I think it would be best if we kept you awake for a while so I can make sure there's no signs of danger."
She nodded and her face was so red it practically glowed. Yeah, guess I should probably let her put clothes on now.
–
Once we were settled on the couch, stomach full of pizza and half way through "The Hangover", I asked Bella what had been my mind since the whole bathroom incident had occurred.
"Would you like to talk about it? The panic attack I mean."
"Not really." She almost seemed to shrink up into herself, hugging her knees to her chest and burying her head between her arms.
"I thought we'd agreed it helps to get this stuff off your chest." Damnit, don't think of her chest. She didn't respond so I continued. "Listen, I know he hurt you, and even though he's not around anymore that doesn't mean you're somehow magically healed. The only way you can really let the past go is to face your fears and deal with them head on."
Her whole body started quivering in fear, and after everything she'd gone through tonight I couldn't possibly bring myself to cause another panic attack so I relented.
"It's okay, you don't need to talk about it now." I wrapped an arm around her shoulders in what I hoped was a comforting gesture. "Just know that I'm here for you if you ever want to talk about it."
After that there was no further mention of the 'bathroom incident' for the rest of the evening. After a while she calmed down again and started enjoying the movie. She even laughed, softly but I'll take what I can get. As the credits rolled, I took in her sleeping form on the couch next to me. We weren't touching but her whole body seemed to be turned toward me. I'll have to take the good signs when I see them. Hopefully she's beginning to at least somewhat trust me at this point.
I carried her to bed and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. This beautiful, frail, broken angel was brought into my life for a reason. I will do everything in my power to save her, both from her past and from herself. She's already capturing my heart, and in the process I feel this almost primal urge to protect her at all costs.
–
A/N - That's it for tonight. I'm trying to post as often as possible. Thanks to all of you who have added this story to your favorites list or story alert :)
I'm a first time writer so...
Please Review! I promise if you suggest a cool plot twist I'll do my best to add it in :)
Hugs to all,
Bridget