Chapter 2 - Doctor
I became aware of myself again sometime later. I didn't know how long I'd been out, and frankly, I didn't care. I cracked my eyes open. I was in a different room, and laying flat now, instead of inclined. I reached up to wipe my hair out of my eyes, only to find that my wrists were tied down to my sides. So were my ankles. The heart rate monitor next to me began to speed up as my claustrophobic side started to take over.
I strained with all of my might against the restraints, but it was no good. They were buckled, and impossible to break through or slip out of. I gave up, and my entire body went slack. My breathing labored, I didn't notice the door open, and a man in a white lab coat enter.
"You know," a voice said, causing my heart to jump. "If we weren't so afraid you would rip out your IV again, we wouldn't have to restrain you." I turned my head to the blonde-haired man and stared at him, saying nothing. "Isabella, is it?"
I turned my head back to it's original position and closed my eyes. "Bella," I said shortly. I heard the sound of a chair scraping across the tile floor.
"Bella? Well, Bella, for someone who wants to die so badly, I hardly think it matters what I call you. But no matter. Allow me to introduce myself, for I believe that no matter how long someone might be on this earth, it is my job to attempt to leave some sort of impact on them. My name is Dr. Cullen. I am the doctor assigned to your case, so you may call me Carlisle. Now tell me a little about yourself, Bella. Why are you here?"
I opened my eyes and turned my head slowly, until I met his eyes. "I don't know, doc. You tell me. I was supposed to be dead. Next thing I know, I'm here. So how about you fill me in on all the details?" I spat. Carlisle smiled sadly.
"Someone found you in time. It's as simple as that. You received several transfusions on the way here, and a few more while you were here. You needed another after you tore out your last IV." I looked down at my arms to see that the IV that had the red liquid in it, blood, was gone, replaced by a cotton ball and gauze. The other arm still had a steady flow of a clear liquid flowing in.
"Where is here?" I asked quietly. Carlisle hesitated.
"You're in a mental facility just outside of Seattle. The EMT that arrived at your home made the call when he found the razors next to you. The right call, I believe, as a normal hospital couldn't have handled the little situation you put us in upon your first awakening."
I closed my eyes again, remembering the young nurse I had shoved down. "Is the nurse okay? The one I pushed?" Carlisle chuckled.
"She was a little shocked at your strength after so much blood loss, but it's nothing uncommon here. You're lucky Edward got to you before you tried to go through the window."
"Edward?"
"My son. A nurse here, doctor-in-training. He managed to restrain and sedate you before you caused more damage to yourself."
"But what if I wanted to cause more damage to myself? Obviously I didn't cause enough the first time around. How does that make me lucky? You don't know how it feels to see images of the people you love the most lying in pools of their own blood with each and every breath you take. You don't know what it feels like to know it's your fault they died."
"Bella, you have no idea what my life is like. I want to tell you a little story. My first year here, I took on a case. A young girl, in a situation similar to yours. Her stepbrother had been raping her for years, and she had just found out she was pregnant. She was only thirteen years old.
"She, too, slit her wrists. Her mother found her, and got her to her local hospital in time, where they stitched her up, gave her some transfusions, and sent her here. She'd lost the baby from all the blood loss. She was only four weeks along, but a life is a life.
"Two weeks into her time here, I got her to open up to everything. And then, suddenly, my oldest son's wife had a miscarriage, and I was needed there. I had to leave for the weekend. I got a phone call Sunday evening from one of the doctor's on call that she had managed to strangle herself with the cord of her IV.
"It took me a while, but I finally managed to forgive myself, and admit that there was nothing I could have done to prevent her death. And I believe that, in time, you can learn to do the same." Carlisle finished his story and sat in silence for a few moments. Then he stood, returning the chair to its original position. "I don't expect you to say anything right now. But I do want you to reconsider your choices. Give me a chance, Bella, you may just be surprised with what you find within yourself."
With that, he left, clicking the door behind him. Carlisle didn't understand at all. He may have lost someone, but he didn't have to watch her die, like I did. He didn't have to watch the blood drip onto the floor, watch the light fade from her eyes. Maybe if I played along with the doctor's games, made them believe I wouldn't kill myself... Maybe they'd let me go, and I could finally finish the job I had started.
I closed my eyes and drifted back into dreamless sleep.
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It was kind of a slow chapter, I know, but it is only here to set up the storyline. Bear with me, guys. You'll learn of Bella's past little by little. PLEASE REVIEW! Otherwise I don't believe I have any reason to post more. :)