Previously

Bella POV

I didn't even see the gun move; not the flash of the gun, the shot of the bullet. Only the pain, the hurt that burned within me. For Edward. I had already had this before. I had already felt this. Every time. Every time he found me this is how it ended. But it never ended. I never died. And I wouldn't die now. He wouldn't kill me, me. He would kill me. He would pick off everyone that mattered to me until I had nothing, was nothing. It was my death without peace. My death of deaths would never come because he would never let it.

Jasper POV

The sound of a gunshot, one single shot, resonated through the house, through the forest. "No!" Bella's voice, agonized, cut off abruptly.

The entire house seemed to silence, like a thick blanket of nothingness had settled over all of us.

My hand wrapped over Alice's mouth, holding in her scream. I needn't worry about Rosalie or Esme screaming. We had all been trained when we took Bella into our family. The FBI had made sure we had everything covered.

"Alice, love, you need to stay as quiet as possible. Climb into the closet. There's a loose floor board under the big plastic box. Stay down there. Do not come back up. Do you hear me? Do not come back up. I will come to get you. Take my watch. If five hours pass and I don't come back, you climb down through my window. There's a rope and a belt to repel down the side of the house under the floor," I whispered my instructions as fast as I could. "You need to stay…"

A second bang, another gun shot. Bella. My stomach dropped to my toes, tears dancing at the edges of my eyes. Not my baby sister. Not my little girl.

"Go Alice," I whispered brokenly. "Hide. Call 911. I love you." I pressed my lips to hers gently, before pushing her into my closet.

I pulled the drawer on my bedside table open, pulling the H&K Compact 45 from it. Esme had gotten a liscense for a gun after she adopted Bella. Last year I had gotten one too. The FBI taught us how to use them. Even Rosalie who got one with the fierce protectiveness she always held when it came to Bella.

Esme and Rosalie were waiting at the side of my door, both holding their guns. A few tears had streaked down Rosalie's face, but Esme held strong. She had something none of us had. The drive to protect her children. She held a mother's instinct.

I slammed the front door open, firing at James. He looked up, the glimmer of a smirk still upon his lips. My first shot missed. The second however, buried deeply in his thigh, my third in his arm.

Despite the wounds, he bolted, flying out of sight in mere seconds, disappearing into the forest.

"We can't move them," I barked, already stripping off my tee-shirt and pressing it to Bella's side. Blood soaked through it in mere seconds, coating my hands. He must have hit at least one major artery.

Bella's beautiful, angelic face was pale, nearing blue. "Bella, sweetie, come on," I murmured gently, sweeping a few wisps of hair from her forehead. "Hold on. You'll be alright. Alice called 911. They're coming. Please hold on Bells."

"Jazz," her voice, hoarse, tired, cracked. Her eyes, a thick dull brown, had already lost most of its light. She was loosing too much blood, fading too quickly.

My heart sank faster than the Titanic, sliced brutally in half, seeing just around the corner, my baby sister's death. She had mere minutes left if he had hit anything major, which, from all the blood pooling from her side, was obvious he had.

"I'm sorry," she groaned tiredly, coughing. Blood spurted from her lips, dribbling down her chin. "I love you Jazzy." More blood dripped from the corner of her mouth. I wiped it away with feathery light fingers.

"Don't be like that Bells," I bit back a sob with difficulty. "You're gonna be okay."

"It's okay Jazzy," she breathed softly, too softly, another cough choking her. "I… want this. It's… all… over. No one… else… gets hurt now." Her eyelids flickered, but she forced them back open. "Thank… you… Jazz."

A gasping, empty sob tore from my chest, tears flooding down my face like a dam, bursting forth after years off tension.

"Bella, no, please!" I sobbed, cradling her limp body in my lap, my arms around her. "Bella please! No! Bella!"

I could hear the sirens wailing down the long drive way, I could see Carlisle taking my baby sister from my arms, saying something to Emmett who nodded fiercely. Esme held Rosalie tightly, the two crying into each other. Alice. My beautiful Alice stood, frozen in horror at the front door, staring at the two bloodied and broken bodies in front of us.

She flew to me like a fairy, wrapping her gentle arms around me as I cried. I buried my face into her hair, sobbing uncontrollably, as did she.

Carlisle climbed into the back of the ambulence with Bella. I guessed Edward wasn't as bad. Esme, squeezing Rose's hand once more, hopped in with Edward.

The rest of us, Alice's hand pulling my blind body, loaded into two squad cars.

We waited in silence in the waiting room. I felt numb to the world. I was sure that people passed me, sure that they stared, pointed even, whispering about the blood soaked boy. Nurses and Doctors must have gone past, barking orders to each other, pushing patients as they did. This was a hospital. But I didn't see any of it. I couldn't hear it either.

It was like a slideshow in my mind, playing in front of my eyes. Starting at the day I first met Bella. She had only been ten at the time she had walked through the front door of our house. He hair, short and poorly cropped, had been brushed but it flowed over, hiding her face in shyness. It had taken a while for Rose to warm up to her. Rose was always worried. But Bella, she had been through so much, had lived life so hard, that I couldn't reject her. The second Esme smiled at her, she broke down sobbing. It was too hard to just leave her out in the cold. She had been skinny, far too skinny, and her face held none of the childlike innocence most children carried. She was a battle-hardened veteran, haunted by anything and everything of her past.

Over the years, slowly at first, but more willingly later on, her shell fell away and she began to smile again, laugh even.

Every memory of her I had ever made, stored subconsciously in the back of my mind, flooded through me.

Esme POV

Carlisle, pacing in front of all of us, ran his bloodied hand through his blonde hair. His face was twisted in distress, his hand shaking. It was tearing him up inside that he couldn't be in there, treating Edward or Bella. No, he was family. He was held back, told no, told to go sit in the waiting room and that other doctors would take care of them.

During the beginning of the wait, he had told me everything that had happened. Bella's pulmonary artery had been severed by the passing bullet that had lodged in her lung. Edward's right kidney had been punctured.

"Esme!"

I jumped at the sound of my name being called, searching frantically for whoever had called me.

"Roger?" I gasped in disbelief. I threw my arms around him, hugging him fiercely.

"Oh god how bad is she?" he murmured softly, hugging me back. Roger was like a brother; he had handled my sister's case for years and Bella considered him an uncle.

"C… Carlisle," I choked, wiping the tears away from my face for what felt like the millionth time in the past hour.

He quickly began explaining the situation to Roger, who nodded, his face growing stonier and stonier by the minute.

"I'm going to go to the FBI, they called me up here," he said impassively. "I'm heading the case again."

"Please you have to catch him," I begged tearfully. My hands clenched into fists around his shirt, my eyes widening madly. "You have to Roger. He'll kill her. He'll kill my baby. He killed her! Oh my God! He killed her! He… Oh my God… He…" I released Roger suddenly, stumbling backwards like I had been smashed in the chest with a hammer.

"Esme, darling, love, she's not dead," Carlisle whispered soothingly, pulling me to him and holding me firmly. "She could still be fine. She could be fine. She's not dead yet love. It's alright. I promise."

"Oh god," was all I could sob. My poor baby girl. It had taken so long to nurse her back to health, both mentally and physically. She was just better. She could have gotten married. She could have realized she loved Edward. She could have had children, been happy, become a grandmother. She couldn't have that now. She would even breathe again. My poor, poor baby girl. "Oh god," I sobbed, burrowing into Carlisle's sold chest.

"Carlisle," Dr. Snow's voice called. "Esme."

I felt faint, the world growing black around the edges of my vision.

"Esme, love, come on," he murmured urgently but still softly.

"You'll both be happy to know Edward is wonderful," Dr. Snow said immediately.

I let out a gust of air, relaxing against Carlisle's arm around me.

"We were able to stitch up the puncture in his kidney and the bleeding stopped relatively easily. Believe me, his wound looked much worse from the outside. He will be awake by next morning."

"What about Bella?" Carlisle asked quickly, his blue eyes alight with worry.

Dr. Snow pursed his lips slightly, sorrow crossing his face. "I'm sorry Carlisle," he breathed, his eyes closing. He squeezed his temples hard before rubbing his eyes firmly. "There was nothing I could do. I tried everything. She had lost too much blood by the time she got here. I couldn't get it to stop. She just stopped responding. I'm sorry Carlisle, Esme. She didn't wake up."

So do you like it? Don't worry this isn't the end of the story. There is so much more to come so don't just delete it because Bella didn't wake up. Sleep is a whole new world.

Love

Sea of Topaz