A/N: I am sorry it took me so long for the update. This chapter was really rough on me. So enjoy......
I couldn't remember how I made it into my car, but I found myself driving home. It was clear to me that I needed to occupy my head. Speed was the answer. My drive home was along a forested ravine, with many twists and turns.
I took the curves of the road increasing in speed to feel the rush. It was late. I was alone on the road. I decided to ride the center line as I took the curves. The trees that lined the road on one side were a blur as I sped by. I pushed my foot down harder. Feeling the power of the engine as I moved faster along the street. The exhilaration was really getting to me.
Rounding the corner, still on the center line, a truck came straight toward me. I swerved to avoid the truck, sending my car over the edge of the ravine. The car flew toward the ground. I felt the panic set in. There was no way I could survive this. No! There was much more I wanted to achieve. I'll never have a family. I'll never make partner.
I felt the impact as the car crashed into the floor of the valley. I felt pain burn through my body. Then a peace washed over me. The pain and fear just seemed to fade away. I sat in my car wondering when help would arrive. I tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. So now I had no choice but to sit here and wait. I expected to feel cold, pain or a sense of panic. But I wasn't. I knew help was on the way. The driver of the truck saw me go over the edge. I sat in silence for what seemed like hours. I went in and out of consciousness.
I heard sirens, then a man propelled down the cliff edge on a rope. He reached the car and looked in on me. He shook his head gravely. Did I look that bad? He began to cut the car open with what I would assume to be the jaws of life. When there was enough of an opening, he pulled me out, strapped me to a board, then tugged on the rope to left me up. I felt myself slowly ascend the cliff to be brought up to the top. Once I reached the top, a familiar face, covered in tears, leaned over me. Bella! What was she doing here?
"Is he going to be ok? She sobbed. Looking at the paramedic, who was taking my vitals.
"We are doing our best. But it doesn't look good," was his answer. Even hearing that, I felt no fear.
"Ok, you've seen him," Black leaned over Bella. "It is time for us to leave." He grabbed Bella by the arm, pulling her away from me.
"I am staying by his side until I know he is ok," Bella answered him as she broke free of his grasp.
Black whispered in Bella's ear. "You don't have a say in the matter." He looked her in the eyes. "Remember, I am the one with all the cards. You do as I say." His tone was harsh. Not one of a man with the woman he loves, but with the one he controls.
"You think his reputation matters now that he's dying?' She glared at him. "Go ahead Jake, make this situation worse. Show what kind of a dog you really are."
I felt myself being moved into the ambulance. Bella crawled in beside me.
"If you go with him, you'll be sorry," Black yelled after her.
"If you play your cards now Jake, then it will truly be over. You will have nothing left to control me with. So go ahead. Let me off the hook." Bella caressed my arm. I couldn't feel it. The doors of the ambulance closed.
"We're going to sedate him while we work to stabilize him," the paramedic told Bella.
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I awoke in a new place. It was then that I felt pain. There wasn't an area of my body that was free of it. I had been out for a while. Everything seemed blurry, fuzzy and out of focus. Now matter how hard I tried, I couldn't make any sense out of what I was feeling.
"Edward, are you waking up?" her soft voiced whispered into my ear. She had been laying on my pillow beside me. Now she leaned over me.
"Bella?" I blinked my eyes. What the hell was she doing here? Of all the people who could be by my bedside, she was the last I expected. Shouldn't she be off with Black somewhere?
"Thank God! He's awake. He woke up. Alice go get his mom." Bella called out the door of my room. Then she walked over to the side of the bed. "Edward, we have been so worried about you. For a while they didn't know if you would wake up. Your parents just went to get something to eat. They will be so happy."
"What happened?" I reached up to hold my head. It hurt. The light was blinding. I felt motion sickness. My legs felt like they were bound. The bed was shifting my weight back and forth ever couple of minutes. I was in a hospital bed.
"You were in a car accident," Bella held my hand. "It was bad. You went off a cliff when you almost hit my truck." Her fingers brushed a hair off of my forehead.
"What's wrong with me?" The pain just seemed to intensify. But when she spoke I had something else to focus on. I wanted to keep her talking to ease my pain.
"You have a compound fracture of your left leg. They think that in the time it took to rescue you that you got a blood clot. Anyway, now you have a pulmonary embolism. You had a concussion, and several broken ribs. You know Edward, if you didn't want to go to my welcome dinner you could have said so. You didn't need to drive off a cliff." She smiled, though it seemed strained.
"Ha Ha. I am almost dead and you choose now to give me a hard time?" I chuckled. But the sore feeling pain in my chest turned into a sharp stab. So I stopped.
"Captive audience," she stuck her tongue out at me. "I'll go so your family can come in here. And I'm sure the nurse will want to check you out."
"Bella wait," I tried to sit up. The room began to spin and the pains in my body grew more intense. I opted to just reach my hand out. "It doesn't sound like I am out of the woods just yet. How long was I out?"
"Three days," Bella answered.
I closed my eyes, "How long have you been here?"
"The whole time." Bella practically whispered.
"Why?" I was shocked. The mixed signals she was sending off had me bewildered.
"Where's Black?" I really wanted to be angry with her. But right now, her voice felt comforting.
"I'm not leaving until I know you are ok." That sounded familiar. I had heard her say that before. Then the conversation she had with Black at the accident site came back to me.
"Something is amiss with Black. What cards does he think he has?" I wanted to understand what was going on.
"You don't need to worry about that now," she wouldn't look at me as she walked toward the end of the bed.
"I've got nothing else to do. Bella tell me." She was hiding even more. Why didn't that surprise me?
Bella looked around. "Later, your family wants to see you."
Just then my mom walked into the room. "Bella, go get something to eat. I will sit with my son."
"No, not yet mom. Bella and I were in the middle of something."
"No really, I should go," she turned to leave.
"Bella, stop," I looked at my mom. "Could you just give us five minutes."
"Ok five minutes. And then I want to make sure you are alright for myself." Esme walked out of the room.
"Tell me now," I couldn't see Bella, but I knew she was still in the room.
"Jacob is blackmailing me," she said it so fast that I barely understood. I had to repeat it to myself to let it sink in.
"What has he got on you?" Bella walked into my view.
"Us. He has something on us." Bella sat in the chair beside my bed.
"What?" I turned to look at her. It hurt. But she was finally opening up and I wanted to see her face.
"There is a video of us in the courthouse." She looked at me pointedly. "And Jake has it. He says he'll give it to the bar if I don't stay with him." Her eyes dropped to her hands.
"Oh that's a healthy relationship." I leaned back on my pillow and closed my eyes.
"He loves me and doesn't want to let me go." Did she really believe that? It was bullshit.
"No, he wants to possess you. Love involves acceptance. Even if it is accepting that you choose someone else. Where did he get this video?" If I remember correctly all we did was make out. Not something to be blackmailed about.
"From the security guard at the courthouse."
"I'm going to look into that. Bella, I will help you out of this. That is if you want out of it."
"It's not his bedside that I didn't leave." She smiled at me.
"Is the blackmail the reason that you went back to him?" I had to hear her say it, out loud.
"Yes, I would never have gone back to your place with you if I still had feelings for Jake." Her eyes darted from me to the blanket and then back to my eyes. I felt like she was on the verge of telling me something. But I couldn't fathom what. I waited a few moments, but she didn't continue.
"Why are you here at my bedside?" My bed shifted and a wave of nausea washed over me. I closed my eyes and breathed in slow to calm the sensation.
"Ok, you aren't feeling well. I will go. We can plan later." Bella stood.
I reached out to grab her hand. "Bella, you didn't answer me."
"Edward, I feel something for you. I can't stay away. The thought of even leaving the room is painful to imagine. I don't know why I have let you affect me like this. It is beyond explanation. I know, I made you hate me. But that doesn't matter to me now. You almost died. I am not going to sit around being afraid of how this might turn out. I'm going to be here for you in whatever capacity you let me."
Fuck! I was not expecting that. "Bella, I don't know.."
"I know Edward. I am going to have to earn your trust. But, I know it is worth it. You'll see." Her eyes glowed.
I saw a flash of the woman I met in the courthouse. In my head, I didn't want to trust what she was saying. But in my heart, I wanted to give her the opportunity to at least try. She had made some choices that I could not condone. Even under duress, there are ways around being secretive. This was going to be an issue, if I let her near me.
"Hey, Edward. Your family is waiting. And they only let one person at a time in here. I'll be around. Now that I know you are awake, I am going to go home for a while and get some rest." She leaned in to kiss me on the cheek. "I'll be back tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow, Bella." I was looking forward to it.
"Emmett, not yet!" I heard my mother say, as Emmett rushed passed Bella in the doorway into my room.
"Man, it is near impossible to get some face time with you. Bella seemed to have the upper hand on that issue, " Emmett grinned. "I didn't want your hands to dry out. I doubt they have to good stuff like you do here." He held up a tube of hand lotion.
"Shit Emmett, even now you are giving me a hard time?" I chuckled and again was met with a sharp pain. I started coughing. Then gasping for breath.
"Sorry, I guess I should wait until the clot passes." He grimaced. "No one would forgive me if I killed you."
"Most of all me," I watched as he walked toward the door. I waved a hand toward him as my coughing subsided.
"It's your mom's turn." Emmett waved his hand at me.
"It would seem that your friends are very pushy Edward," my mom smiled as she sat beside my bed.
"It's good to see you, mom."
"So tell me about Bella," she raised her eyebrow.