AN: Beta'd by lisa89, thanks again.


Flight of the Phoenix

Chapter Four – Hospital


I walked over to the nearest ambulance, and a paramedic in his mid twenties headed towards me with a stretcher. "What happened to her?"

"I managed to get her off the plane, but the explosion threw us clear across the runway. She has a few broken ribs, most likely a cracked skull and a concussion." I laid her on the stretcher, Bella's fingers holding on to my shirt.

"How about you?" the paramedic asked. I shook my head, trying to detach Bella's tiny fingers from my shirt. As soon I removed her fingers, she whimpered.

"Don't leave me, Edward. I don't know anyone else here." Bella's eyes opened and looked at me, pleading with her eyes glistening. The paramedic started working on her, checking her vitals and the rest of her body for broken bones.

"I'm not going anywhere." I took her hand in one of my own. "Is anything else broken?" I asked the paramedic.

"Maybe her right ankle, but it might just be sprained. There's bruising on her abdomen. Did something fall on her?" I nodded.

"Miss, does your stomach hurt?" He placed his hand on her abdomen and pressed lightly, and Bella grimaced in pain. "We need to get her to the hospital, she may have internal bleeding."

The Marshall's "voice" was frantically looking for Bella. I called out to him a few times. He made it over to us, his chest wrapped and slightly limping to Bella's side.

"Miss Swan, thank God. When Megan said that you might still be on the plane, I thought we'd lost you. You helped save a lot of people today. Uhh… how did you get me off the plane?" he asked, slightly grimacing from the pain along his ribs.

"Bella and I helped you, the flight attendants, the passengers of first class, and the pilots. I thought Bella had gotten off the plane, but she hadn't. She went to help those in the back, too." I shook my head in disapproval.

"I take it you're the friend that was sitting with her and saved her from the man that was trying to hurt her." The Marshall looked over at me with a questioning glaze.

"Yes. It's my fault the compartment depressurized. A large container was loosened from its restraints during our struggle, causing the door to buckle. After a few moments, the container and her assailant flew out the hole. I managed to make it to the manual override to seal the compartment and closed that door. It took me a while to make sure that Bella was no longer in the area before I came back to my seat." I looked at the Marshall's eyes, my voice dripping with truth.

The Marshall appeared to believe me and chose not to really question me. His only concern now was Bella.

"Good thing you were there to watch her. Do you know why that guy went after her?" the Marshall asked, still slightly confused.

"I don't know, sir," I lied.

Bella watched the entire exchange and just nodded when the Marshall looked at her to confirm my story, she simply nodded. The paramedic informed us that he needed to get Bella to the hospital. This placated the Marshall, for now. Another paramedic joined him and helped put the stretcher in the back of the ambulance.

I watched the pained look on Bella's face as they jostled her slightly. She tried to hide it by biting her lower lip. After a moment she lay there, taking deep breaths through her nose, her eyes clenched shut. Her eyes fluttered open moments after composing herself.

"Edward, where did you go?" Bella looked frantically for me, her hand reaching for my touch. The paramedic said I could ride with her to help keep her calm. The Marshall shook my hand and said that he'd check on us later.

I took Bella's hand in my own. The warmth she usually had was leaving her body. I told the paramedic, and he grabbed a blanket from a small cabinet overhead.

"Where are we?" Bella whispered in a barely audible whisper. Her fingers were trying to keep me from letting her go.

"We're in Chicago, Bella," I answered. She nodded, her eyes drooping. I looked over at the paramedic, who shook his head no. In his mind he worried that if lost consciousness, she might slip into a coma.

"Bella, you need to keep your eyes open. You need to keep talking." I searched my thoughts for something to help keep her alert. "Umm… what are you majoring in at Dartmouth?"

"English Literature," she gasped, her whole body tensed for a moment. "I'm taking night courses because I need to work during the day to pay for my house," Bella answered, still barely audible and in one laborious breath.

"You bought a house. Didn't you want to stay on campus?" I asked, hoping that she'd continue.

"No, I like being alone. I wanted my own place...."

The ambulance bounced a little too hard over a pothole and Bella screamed in pain, the sound cutting through me. The paramedic hovered over her to check her injuries. He pulled up her shirt more, and the bruising on her abdomen was larger more pronounced and. My fingers circled just a little tighter around her delicate fingers.

Fear – it was an emotion I'd overlooked. Being a member of the species that was on the top of the food chain, we had nothing to fear but ourselves. I feared for my family from time to time when we lost track of each other or when we met other vampires that feared us. Fear did dangerous things to creatures like us.

Now I feared for Bella's life. I knew that she was hanging on the precipice of death. It was something all humans had to endure. Bella wasn't just any human to me, and I feared that I would never see her beautiful brown eyes again.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I placed it against my ear, knowing who it was.

"Edward, we're on the way over there. Carlisle and Esme are with me. Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie are behind us. We already called Charlie and Renee, and they are going to be flying there soon. We need to get you out of there. It's going to be sunny tomorrow."

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying with Bella."

"You can't. Her parents will be with her soon. She'll be fine, Edward. She won't be waking up for a few days."

"I want to be there when she wakes up."

"You will be, but I suggest we find out where James went. He'll just start looking for her again. Esme and I will stay with her while you look for him."

"Of course, James, he would've survived the fall," I sighed, my last sentence only audible to those of my kind. Bella's eyes were open and watching at me.

"Fine, we'll see you soon." I put the phone back in my pocket and looked at Bella.

"That was Alice. Your parents are on flights on the way here." Bella's eyes glistened with unshed tears. I leaned closer to her ear, not wanting the paramedic to hear. I swallowed the venom pooling at the base of the throat due to the close proximity of her thudding pulse point.

"Alice says you're going to fine." She blinked, and a tear fell from the corner of her eye.

A few minutes later, we made to the hospital, and I exited the ambulance. There was a team of doctors, first-year residents and nurses awaiting the oncoming onslaught of injured victims. Bella's stretcher was the first to touch the ground, and a team came to her side while the paramedic told them all that was necessary.

They rushed her through the hall into an emergency room. Two doctors started assessing her injuries. Suddenly, Bella started to cough up blood. I watched in horror as she gasped for breath.

My mind was barely registering everything that was happening all around me. My eyes were locked on Bella's pale figure. My eyes fell on the dark red blood against the pale skin of her chin and lips.

"One of her lungs is punctured from a broken rib," a doctor said as the other placed a hand to her stomach.

"We need to get her to surgery now!" the other doctor indicated.

A nurse tried to push me out of the room, but the scent of Bella's blood was making me immobile, and I wanted nothing more than to snap her neck. I stalked forward, all the while my mind wanting nothing more than to run away, but the bloodlust was pulling me forward.

"Edward, get out of here NOW!" Bella gasped, noticing my stance and glare. Her scream and eyes brought me out of my blood-induced trance. I took a step back, keeping my eyes locked with hers. Her lips trembled, not from the pain but from fear. She feared me.

As soon as my back came into contact with door, I ran faster than I'd ever ran. Once I reached the exit into the darkening sky outside, I filled my lungs with fresh air.

The flames that engulfed my throat decreased with every cleansed breath I took, but the memory of the scent did nothing to dispel my desire for it.

I knew I could not go back inside the building. Another breath full of blood-tainted air would weaken my resolve to spare Bella's life. I wanted to go back. Not for the blood that called me forth, but because I wanted to know if she was alright.

I chanted to myself, she'll be fine, she'll be fine.

Then I heard and felt two things. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and one of the doctors with Bella screamed, "Code Blue."

Her heart had stopped.

I picked up my phone. "What changed? You said she was going to be fine, Alice!"

"When she screamed at you, she lifted her body slightly and caused a rib to further puncture her lung."

"Is she going to live, or do I have to go in there and save her?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"No! You can't go in there. Your desire for her blood will overpower your other desires. You won't save her, you'll kill her and expose yourself! Stay out of there, and don't look into their minds. It will just make things worse."

"Will she live?!" I screamed in my phone.

"Yes, she will." There was a pause. "Yes, she will live, but…"

"But what, Alice? Will she be fine?"

"Her future is still too hazy." Another pause. "They will get her breathing again, they are going to take her into surgery in about thirty seconds." I flipped my phone off and listened in on the doctors treating Bella.

"She's breathing. Her heart rate and blood pressure are steady. Are they ready for her?" one of the doctors asked.

"Yes, they're ready," a nurse said as she hung up a phone on the wall.

The doctor returned her attention to Bella. "Miss, we're taking you into surgery. You have a punctured lung and bleeding in your abdomen. We need to know your name."

Bella's voice was barely a whisper. "Bella Swan. Edward, don't watch, don't listen… too much blood." She knew I was watching. The doctor looked confused and shook his head as Bella slipped out of consciousness. I stopped listening to the doctor's mind then.

Just the thought of watching them operate was causing my muscles to strain as I focused on staying immobile. I focused on not killing her and tried to focus on other than her blood.

Two hours later, I was pacing the waiting room. Frustration was not something I'd had to deal with in a long time. If there was something that I wanted, I got it. If something frustrated me, I did everything in my power to combat the problem – even take a swipe at my unsuspecting, tormenting brother. But now...

Bella had brought on an onslaught of new frustrations. Her blood called to me like no one before her. Her mind was hidden from me. Her thoughts and expressions had left me perplexed more than once. Now I could not care for her because I was a danger to her. I could do nothing because of what I was.

I paced the damn waiting room. Not having any news from her doctors was driving me insane. I continued to pace, unable to stay still. I heard Marshall David Cortez approach me in a wheelchair. His foot was in a cast, having broken it in several places.

"I guess I have you to thank for getting me out of the plane." David extended his hand to me, and I took it for a moment with a firm grip by human standards. I nodded stiffly, watching the red doors that led to the operation room.

"Have they given any news about her condition yet?" David asked me worriedly.

"No, it's been two hours already. I wish my father were here," I expressed. I ran my fingers through my hair again.

David nodded with a slight look of confusion on his facial features.

"He's a doctor. My family is on the way here. They were taking the cross-country route for me with my car and the rest of my things for school before this happened. They should be here in thirty minutes," I lied easily.

Alice would see how I'd answered David's question and would make sure the family knew "the story" before their arrival.

"Miss Swan's father and mother should be here soon. The airline had them both on the first flight available in their areas. I'm sure she'll be fine. She saved a lot of people today. Not many people would go try to help so many," David said thoughtfully before continuing.

"According to one of the flight attendants, Bella noticed that it was only her helping out because the other flight attendants were seriously injured. She started helping those still in their seats. Miss Swan helped those who were injured, and she told Megan that she was just double-checking to make sure no one was left and that she would be right behind her. She must've gotten hurt then." David sighed. "She's a good person and one of a kind."

"I know," I stated. He didn't know how true those words were. She was one of a kind in more ways than one.

Just then, a doctor in green scrubs came through the red doors. He approached the Marshall and me.

"You must be Edward. Miss Swan said something about you and that you'd be waiting. Are her parents here yet?" The doctor extended his hand. "Dr. Michaels." This doctor was thinking about Bella, but not enough to me make out what was wrong.

"No. Her father is coming in from Seattle. I'm not sure about her mother." I extended my own hand and shook his – he was surprised by the coldness of my hand. Most humans were.

"Her mother is coming in from Florida. She won't be here for a few more hours, but her father should be here soon," David answered for me. "I'm Marshall David Cortez, I was on the flight. Can you tell us what has happened to Miss Swan?"

"I won't be able to tell you everything. She's lost a lot of blood but… maybe I should finish discussing this with her parents." The doctor was only thinking about her parents and not what he needed to say. Damn it.

"Just tell us if she's going to be fine, doctor," I hissed. The doctor's eyes narrowed, but he quickly composed himself.

"She's stable right now, but we'll know in the next twelve hours the extent of her condition," Dr. Michaels indicated. I heard someone approaching us from behind, but the mind was slower than usual. I ignored it.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for Marshall Cortez?" I recognized the voice. Chief Charlie Swan was standing just behind us.

"I'm Marshall David Cortez, and you are?" David looked up to Charlie.

"I'm Charlie Swan, my daughter was on the plane. They said I could find you here until the doctor comes out of surgery." Charlie held out his hand to the Marshall. The doctor interrupted their introduction.

"Mr. Swan, I'm Dr. Michaels. I was one of the doctors working on your daughter when she had to be taken into surgery. Please come with me, and we'll discuss your daughter's injuries." The doctor gestured to some chairs on the other side of the waiting room. They both took a seat as the doctor composed his face.

"Your daughter's injuries were quite extensive. She suffered a few skull fractures, a concussion, a punctured lung, four broken ribs, a sprained ankle, and internal bleeding. From the bruising, we can see that something quite heavy must've landed on her and caused her internal injuries. We had to remove her gall bladder, her liver sustained some injury but we were able to save it, but her uterus and her ovaries hemorrhaged. We managed to salvage her uterus and one of her ovaries. There is going to be a lot of scar tissue. Sir –"

"Are you trying to tell me my daughter will not be able to have kids, Dr.?" Bella's father asked quietly.

"The chances are not good, less than one percent. Since she is so young, we chose to salvage what we can. Maybe later she can try other types of procedures. Though even then, it's likely she'd lose the child." The doctor sighed.

"I'm sorry. She'll be in the recovery room in an hour, and you'll be able to see her then. We have to wait to see the extent of her head injuries tomorrow morning. I'm sure she'll be fine, she was coherent when we took her into surgery." Charlie nodded.

The doctor left and went back through the red doors. Charlie sighed and put his face in his hands. Sadness was overwhelming him.

Pictures slowly passed through his head of Bella in an arm cast, Bella smiling sweetly, holding up her blue cast. I noticed that Charlie's mind was different from other, a little quieter and slower. Mostly I could see pictures and emotions, but not single thoughts. I snapped out of my revere when the Marshall approached Charlie.

"Mr. Swan, the doctor didn't tell me, is Bella going to be fine?" he asked nervously.

"He said we'll know for sure in the morning. Were you with her when the plane crashed?"

"No, sir, I knew something was wrong and I went to check, but the plane hit before I could get back to my seat. She had a friend there that helped her and some of the injured. Edward Cullen." David motioned with his head for me to join him. I took a deep breath and walked over to Charlie and David.

"Cullen? You're one of Carlisle's boys?" Charlie looked at me, confused.

"Yes, sir, I'm also going to Dartmouth. I met Bella on the plane, but my sister Alice and my mother Esme met her before in Forks." I held out my hand, which Charlie took without the usual surprise of the cold grasp. He was used to it. He had met Carlisle on many occasions at the hospital and at the police station. Carlisle was the town's coroner.

"Edward here was the one that saved Bella before the plane exploded," David informed Chief Swan.

"You saved my daughter?" Charlie asked while I nodded. "Thank you. My daughter can be quite a handful when it comes to her personal safety." He chuckled.

"Your daughter is pretty stubborn. I told her to get off the plane while I helped the Marshall here, but she took it upon herself to save everyone else." I shook my head in disbelief.

"That's my Bells. She always put others first." Charlie sighed.

'We're here, Edward. Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie are waiting for you.'

"Edward." Carlisle approached us from the exit. His eyes were the color of dark honey, and an expression of relief was on his features. He gave me a hug, followed by Esme, who looked like if she could be crying, she would be. They were followed by the tiny Alice, a touch of sadness in her eyes.

They all had the same thoughts. They were worried about my attachment to Bella and what would happen to me if she died. Alice had apparently filled them in about the events that had taken place on the plane.

"Charlie, I'm sorry about your daughter. I'm just happy that she and Edward had each other in this crisis." Carlisle put a hand on Charlie's shoulder.

"I'm just glad that your son took the chance to save her. I owe him one." Charlie smiled at my father and then at me.

"You don't owe me anything, sir," I stated simply.

"Nonsense, and call me Charlie." Charlie got up from his chair. "Carlisle, can you see if they'll let you take a look at her charts and see if they would give you more information?"

"Of course I can, Charlie." Carlisle went to a nurse's station. Esme placed her arm around me.

"Edward, we're staying at the Hilton that is just down the street. Go and get cleaned up, and you can come back later. We'll call if her condition changes."

'The others are waiting for you. Alice told them where you can find the trail for James.'

"She's right, son. You should go get yourself cleaned up and get some sleep. We'll be here," Charlie said as he patted my back. I sighed. I wasn't going to win this one. I didn't want to leave.

I "looked" for Carlisle and found that he was in Bella's room. He looked at Bella; her small body looked even more fragile. Her skin was paler than usual, a tube was under her nose, her head was wrapped in bandages and she had some light bruising on her face. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was slow. She was connected to a heart monitor and an IV, where her sedatives and pain medication were being fed to her intravenously. She'll be fine, Edward. We'll call if there is a problem, Carlisle thought, knowing that I'd be listening.

Alice put one of her tiny hands in my own. 'Just go. You have to find James. I still see her dying from a vampire attack. It's not you, because you look so upset.'

She showed me the vision, and I gasped at the clouded image of me holding Bella in my arms as I cried out in misery. Bella's hand was bitten, her body cold and pale. James was laughing in the background. My own face twisted in anger and grief.

I nodded. I said my goodbyes to Esme, the Marshall and Charlie. I walked out into the night sky and thought to myself that James would no longer taint the air with his breath.


AN: Please review.