Previously

Edward POV

I hadn't realized I had fallen asleep until I was brought back to awareness by a soft pressure on my hand.

I groaned softly, tightening my hand, assuring that yes, her hand was still in mine, that it was still warm. A gasp slipped from my lips, my eyes flashing open wide.

Dazed chocolate orbs gazed at me from their place on the fluffy white pillow.

Edward POV

"Bella, angel," I sighed, wanting to cry in relief. My head spun, my heart pounding in my chest. My breath caught in my throat and I felt like I was suffocating. But it was a good suffocating, if that were at all possible. My fingers fumbled for the remote, shaking in my joy. I pressed the button to call for Carlisle, pressing it again and again until he came bursting through the door.

"What's wrong?" he asked, bewildered.

"She's awake," I choked out, tears spilling down my cheeks.

He nodded, but I could see the tears in his eyes as well. "Edward, hold her hand," he instructed, in doctor mode. "I need to get the tube out of her throat before she chokes on it."

As it was, Bella was already retching and gagging. "Bella, love, hold still," I said soothingly, stroking her hand with my thumb. "It'll be okay. Carlisle is going to take the tube out."

Carlisle was messing with some things, pulling at some tubes before turning back to Bella. "Okay, honey, on three, you're going to breathe out as hard as you can. I'm going to pull the tube out, okay?"

She just gagged.

"Carlisle," I all but shouted.

"One, two, three," he counted, ignoring me.

Bella gagged the tube up as he pulled it from her throat. "Edward, run to Judy at the desk and get Bella some ice chips and a glass of water."

I nodded, my head still spinning as I stumbled out of the room.

"Edward?" Judy asked, stunned at my dumbstruck grin as I tumbled into the desk. "Edward, dear, what's wrong?"

"Bella," was all I could say, feeling tongue tied and giddy. "Awake. Bella."

Judy, knowing exactly why Carlisle had sent me, although I hadn't told her, immediately filled up a cup of water, and another of ice chips. "Hurry," she urged.

I tripped once as I hurried back to Bella's room, setting the cups on the table beside her bed to help Carlisle sit her up.

"Give her the ice chips," he said, pulling a flashlight from his pocket to shine it in her eyes. She blinked, looking away from the sudden brightness. "Pupil reaction is to be expected," he noted quietly.

I pushed the cup of ice chips into her hands. I was trying to help her tip the contents into her mouth, but I was having just as much trouble with my shaking hands.

It was several moments before she managed to whisper hoarsely, "Who are you?" Her warm brown eyes stared at me, wide and scared. "Where am I? James… Oh God, where is Roger?"

"Bella, love, it's me," I said, feeling bile rise in my throat. "It's Edward. You don't remember me?"

She shrank away from me, shaking her head. She was curled in on herself, like a small mouse facing a tiger. Her shoulders shook as tears leaked from her eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm trying. I am! Please! I'm so sorry," she cried softly, trying to hide her tears. "I'm really trying." I raised a hand, reaching for the arms she had in a death grip around her chest, worried that she would hurt herself.

"Bella, love, I'm not going to hurt you," I said, feeling the hot tears on my cheeks as she flinched wildly away from me. I could taste the fear radiating off of her in waves.

"Edward," Carlisle said softly, gesturing for me to move away from the bed. "Bella, do remember anything? You remember Roger, right?"

She nodded, sounding like she was choking as she bit back a sob.

"Bella, honey, I'm a doctor. My name is Carlisle," he said. I could hear the pain in his voice. He had been specially attached to Bella. Alice was so… independent. She had had no one to take care of her and she didn't need anyone to. Rose was tenacious, to say the least. She didn't want to be taken care of by anyone but Esme or Bella. Emmett was resilient. He had quickly gotten over his mother. She hadn't been good to him anyway. Jasper was… not cold, but he didn't accept Carlisle as readily as Bella had. He didn't trust easily. He usually only shared in superficial hobbies. He kept to himself. Bella… Bella had been different. She needed a father. She wanted a father. She laughed and played, lived and celebrated, and she seemed to light the room she walked into. She would come to Carlisle whenever she fell, or when she was sad, or to tell him a story from her day. He was the dad she didn't remember having. She was the daughter he had always wanted. But now, she didn't remember anything, none of us, none of the memories, nothing. She didn't remember me.

I stumbled, falling against the wall, gripping my face in my hands as I tried to hide the tears. Bella didn't remember me. It was like a kick in the face. Bella didn't remember me.

"Honey, I need you to tell me what you remember," Carlisle said, sitting on the edge of her bed. "I promise I would never hurt you, Bella," he reassured her, taking her hand between both of his. It was shaking like a leaf in the wind.

"He was coming for us," she whispered, so quietly that I almost missed it. "Roger and I were hiding in New Mexico. John, Roger's second, was out getting us lunch. He kicked in the door. I was hiding. Roger knew he was coming for us. He saw him in the window. He… he shot Roger!" she cried out, wrapping her arms around herself. Her face fell into her knees as she sobbed.

Carlisle reached forward, rubbing her back gently.

"He was trying to shoot me but Roger… he saved me… Oh his wife must hate me! Roger! I'm so sorry. So, so, so sorry." She rocked herself back and forth and back and forth.

I wanted to listen to Carlisle, to stay away, but I couldn't. I couldn't just stand by and watch while Bella was in pain. I lifted her gently, cradling her to my chest as she cried. She was thin and light, much more so than when we first met. She clung to my shirt, crumpling it in her frail hand, like it was the only thing keeping her alive. I settled myself onto the bed, tucking her head beneath my chin. I leaned back so she could rest against me more comfortably, whispering soothing words to her. It didn't take long for Bella to slip into unconsciousness, aided by Carlisle and his morphine.

"She should be out pretty deeply for a while," Carlisle told me at last.

I nodded.

"We need to talk as a family," he hinted. "I called them. I'm sure you didn't notice. They're all waiting in my office. Roger's there, too." I nodded again. Roger had flown in two nights before. He flew in once a month for three days, to sit with Bella and talk to her. He would tell her about Liesel and Dave, and about Kiana, and their new house, or really anything.

"I think you should be there."

I bit my lip, wanting to growl at him. How could he miss how very much Bella needed me right now?

"Edward, the family is being split up," he said at last, knowing that would get my attention.

My head snapped up, my eyes growing wide. "What?" I gasped. I stared, open mouthed at Carlisle, as a tear slipped from his eye.

"Come to my office and I'll explain everything."

"What do you mean the family is being split up?" I demanded, as soon as the door to his office swung shut. I looked around. Esme hung her head. Alice buried herself into Jasper's chest, his face in her hair. Rose cried silently into Emmett's broad arm. "Am I the only one that didn't know?"

"We didn't want to tell you until it was absolutely necessary," Carlisle sighed. "We see that it's been hardest on you… with what's happened."

"Why is it necessary?" I spat. "What can we possibly gain by splitting up?"

"We make more targets," Roger said, sounding far older and much more tired than the first time I had met him at the reception of Carlisle and Esme's wedding. "If we everyone up, there's a greater chance for survival. He's after Bella, but he won't hesitate to come after everyone that means the world to her." He looked pointedly at me. "You took a bullet for her. He'll save you for last."

"How do you…"

"I've spent years trailing James all across the world, then years after studying human psychology, trying to figure out how and why he could do something to someone so helpless."

"Why… Did you ever find out why?" I couldn't think straight.

"She smiled at him. When she was six, she went to a carnival. She and her mom were walking past a balloon clown. He gave her a balloon dog and she smiled at him. That was it! That was fucking it! She smiled at him, like any God damned normal person would have and he went off the edge. He started stalking her. The murders, they stopped for a year! Everyone on the force thought he died, until her parents." He stared out of the window, looking at the already black night sky. "It was my fault. I should have known he wasn't dead. It was my case but I moved on after eleven months. I was six days off. If I kept on the case, for just six more days, I could have done something…"

"You couldn't have…" Alice started softly.

"I'm not going to let it happen this time," he interrupted. "If everyone splits up, it'll be much easier for the force to hide you all. We can transport you much faster, hide you much easier, and protect you as a smaller target. We can keep you alive this way."

"What about you and your wife? Your kids?" Esme asked gently. "You know how much they mean to Bella."

"They've already gone underground," Roger said, his voice shaking with tears but his body stone stiff. "They have been the moment Anderson reappeared. I've been living at Quantico and I haven't spoken to my children in months."

"Oh, Roger," Esme gasped, she set a hand on his arm.

"You need to do as I say," he sighed. "I can't keep anyone alive if you don't listen to me."

"So what do we need to do?" Carlisle asked, clasping his hands over his desk.