So here is chapter 7, we will probably not post again until next week. We hoped to have this whole story completed by the end of the month, but it has gotten away from us. We first assumed it would be around 10 chapters in full, but now it will be 13. So there will be 6 chapters starting with this one in Edward's POV and then the epilogue yet to post. We may still make it by month's end, but I am guessing it will wrap in June. Hope you enjoy the reading ...
SIS Chapter 7
EDWARD'S POV
I am starting to detest the weekends when I need to work. I have been a fireman since I was twenty, so for thirteen years now it has been my life. I have worked many weekends in my career, but now working on the weekends sucks. I've never had someone to miss while working before. Now that I have someone to miss, I find that my mind is constantly watching, waiting and counting down every second until I get to see her. I need to see her face, hold her close, tell her she's beautiful, hear her say my name, and to see her sign my name.
It was almost six months ago when Charlie called to tell me his Captain was leaving. He knew I was looking for a change. He also knew I missed my family, so he wondered if I would be interested in the position. I was, of course. Not only did I miss my brother and parents, but I didn't love my lonely life in Chicago. I only had Emmett, and he was moving to the Seattle area for a job promotion as well. When Jasper met Alice, my parents knew he'd never leave Seattle. So, in order to be close to him, and his future wife, they moved to Seattle. My parents are hoping that Jasper and Alice will soon give them grandchildren. So, knowing it would at least make me physically close to family, I applied, had an interview, and got the job. I was happy we would all be back in the same area soon. Everything was set in motion for my move, and I was planning to drive across the country.
The week before I left to head out, Jasper called asking if I would stop in Vegas. He told me his mother-in-law to be was taking his Alice to a strip joint that our uncle owned. I knew the place well; it was owned by Emmett's father. I had no issue with this, as I had put myself through college without student loans, due to working for my uncle. I was laughing my ass off at Jasper, but he explained Alice's shyness. He begged me and Emmett to be there, and to be the ones that pulled someone from Alice's party up onto stage. After teasing the piss out of him for almost an hour I agreed. Both Emmett and I spent the year after graduation from high school in that very strip joint dancing. Our family has plenty of money, but we both wanted to make it on our own and also have some fun along the way.
When we went on stage, I tried to see if I could detect where Jasper's wife-to-be was sitting, but there was more than one party at the club. I knew what Alice looked like as I had seen photographs of her. He also described two blondes, one being the mother, and the other as Alice's friend Rosalie. The third person he told me to look was for a girl dressed in combat pants, an army shirt, and boots. He said she always looks more dressed down than up. According to Jasper, Alice's best friend, Isabella was more tom-boyish, and also the daughter of my friend and soon-to-be boss, Charlie. Where I could see many hungry blonde girls, I couldn't see Alice or this best friend who was a tomboy.
I smiled at two women as I helped them onto the stage; the woman who was the bride- to-be was one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. Her friend called her Bella, which seemed fitting as I directed her to the chair. I quickly figured out she was deaf, and there was a part of my brain yelling that she had to be Isabella. This woman was not tomboyish at all, and she looked stunning. Nothing about this woman was like Jasper or even Charlie had described.
Every time I touched her during the dance, my whole body zipped with electric tingles. All I wanted to do was to carry her off somewhere private and bury myself deep inside. I wanted to make her mine, so she would never want to leave me.
I went backstage, and received a text from Jasper telling me that Alice had gone home, and thanked me for keeping her off the stage.
I texted him back as Emmett went back out to find the blonde he was dancing with. When I went outside, I was hit with a range of emotions seeing the girl who was with me being bothered by a man. The asshole of a doorman was making moves on her. I quickly and quite harshly shot him down while texting my uncle, to inform him of what I had seen.
I sat with Bella and her friend who I realized was my brother's wife-to-be, Alice. I asked Bella to join me, and Alice agreed to it. It was almost as if Alice was pushing Bella to go out with me. It was then that it hit me that Bella was in fact, Charlie's daughter. Charlie was not only my boss-to-be, but he is also my good friend. Even with those thoughts crossing my mind, I still selfishly wanted to spend more time with her. I knew that I would be willing to say fuck it, and not care that I was going to be her boss, but it didn't mean she would. So I kept who I was a secret from her, and I still have no regrets about that. However, if the night took a turn into a physical situation, I had every intention of telling her first.
Leaving her the next morning was harder than anything I had ever done. The days passed by without a phone call from her. I didn't want to call her, afraid she wasn't interested. Knowing we had to work together, I felt it best to bury my feelings and let it go. I knew it would freak her out, and I didn't want to jeopardize my position or hers because of my stupidity. Besides, I may not be able to tell who I was before she ran to the police thinking she had some stalker on her case.
When the third day came without hearing from her, I had had enough and went to the station hoping that I would see her there. When she came in late after that ass-hat of a cop fucked her around, she was upset. Being upset quickly turned into anger at me when she found out that I was 'Bigs' and not Emmett. I knew she would be angry, but as we talked, I could see that she was fighting to keep her anger at bay.
It was only days later when she walked in on me while I was taking a shower. The guys had warned me that she sometimes took a shower in the mornings when they were asleep. I also knew Charlie has warned them all within an inch of their life, not to just walk in, and call out, knowing full well she takes off her implant before going in. She normally came in at half past five to shower. I knew if I walked in on her I may not be able to leave, so I had been getting up earlier each morning hoping I could be in and out before she arrived.
I am still not sure if I was late, or she was early, but when I saw her standing there, I knew I had to get out of there. But I didn't leave; for some reason I couldn't walk away. I touched her and took her against the shower wall. When we were finished, all I wanted to do was to lay her down anywhere I could and start all over again. I knew that was not possible because any of the other crew could come in at any time. Making Bella mine was not something I cared to share with anyone else. I walked out leaving her to shower alone. I went to my office, where I handled my still hard cock by myself, remembering how it felt to be buried inside her tight core.
That was us; we kissed, and I almost fucked her on her desk when I went to talk with her about what happened. I knew then that I needed more, so I asked her to spend the weekend with me. That weekend was great, and every chance afterward we've spent together as well. We've talked, fucked, made love, and just enjoyed being together.
When my brother's wedding came around, and I walked her down the aisle, my brain was yelling for it to be me—to be us—who were getting married. At the end of the day, she showed off what Tanya, Alice's mom had given her. She dressed up for me, and we had wild sex that was by far the best I've ever had. That night, I knew I wanted everything with her, in every way possible.
Our time together was spent with her teaching more sign language to me, and I loved it. It meant a lot to me because I could see in her eyes how much it meant to her, too. I loved going to that shop and having the dildo of my cock made for her. I was hard just thinking of how she would use it to be with me when I was at the station. I was fucking pissed when Jake pulled us over the day we picked it up. To make matters worse, he arrested me for nothing. I was fucking angry when he felt me up and seemed to keep touching my cock. My anger intensified when I saw him placing his palms on Bella's breasts. I may not be a cop, but my brother is, and I know that was not proper procedure, nor did he have a right to do the search in the first place. It killed me to see her looking humiliated when he pulled out our new dildo and swung it around. If it had just been me, I wouldn't have given a rat's ass, but for Bella, I was and still am angry. He took us in, and the fucker left her in a cell on her own. I could hear her crying. She was yelling, begging, and pleading for them to just go to the door, speak directly to her or get her an interpreter. But they wouldn't help her at all, and she couldn't hear or see me talking to her. When I was finally allowed to make a call, I called Emmett and told him I had been booked hours ago and could he come down right away.
The officer just grinned at me, saying I had to go back to my cell until my lawyer showed up. When I told him I hadn't called a lawyer, he asked me who I had called. Just as I said my cousin's name, Emmett walked through the door. The officer asked him if everything was all right and Emmett looked at me. I shook my head and told him what happened, and what his officers had done. The look on Emmett's face was pure anger, especially when he found out about Bella.
Emmett demanded that Jake be called back in right away, and the officer just gulped when he told him to get the surveillance feed from the cell block, Jake's car and personal cam to him immediately. Emmett then turned on the officer and informed him that if there was one time that Bella asked for him to get help and he did not do it, he was in a boatload of trouble.
It took only a short time for Bella to be in my arms. I took us straight home holding her to me the whole time. I was still angry and wanted so much to hit Jake hard, but I had to take care of her first and foremost. It took some time for her to fall asleep, but once she did, I called Emmett. He was still pissed off but said he was getting it all sorted out. He told me that all charges had been dropped and he would make sure everything, and everyone was handled accordingly.
By the time we woke up in the morning, Charlie knew what had happened and came right over. I could see in his face, and I'm sure he could see in mine as well, that Bella and I were more than friends, but he let it be.
But here I am—in love with her. I know I need to tell her and we need to tell the crew what's going on between us. I just hope the crew understands, because there is no way I will give her up, ever. I'm not sure where we will end up, but I know in my heart I want to be with her forever. If anyone has worries or thinks that our being together is a complication, I'm not sure what or how we will handle it; I just know I'll do anything I can to make it all work. I hope we can deal with everything, so both Bella and I can remain at the same station.
The ringing bell snaps me out of my mental thoughts of my time so far with Bella, and I jump up putting on my gear and getting into the rig.
I read the information out to the rest of the crew. "The restaurant in the Pioneer Building has had an explosion; the building is being evacuated." I run through some other information, and just finish when we reach the building. I jump out and we start to get geared up as Jasper is ordered to see if anyone is still in the building.
"They said there are only a few more people; the first, second, third and fourth floors have been cleared as has the ground. That leaves the lower floors to be cleared."
Just as I get to the door of the building, I am surprised to see that dickhead Jake carrying an unconscious woman, and I move to him.
"She fell," he says.
"That's Heidi, she's in charge of the underground tour," a man says.
I look to the man who spoke and nod at him. "Do you know if anyone else is down there?" I ask him, knowing he is the building manager, but he shakes his head at me
"I don't know," he says.
"Here," Jake says holding out what looks like a checklist. I see that the party of fourteen has been checked in and out.
"Was she the only staff member down there?" I ask the manager.
"Yes," he says.
"Okay, we need three people to go down to the lower levels to double check," I yell out.
"The roof or wall ... something fell. You'll only be able to get to the bottom of the stairs," Jake tells me, making me look to him.
"Were you on the tour?"
He nods at me.
"Was there anyone left down there?" I ask again.
This time he looks to the building. "I had to climb over the wall to get out, no one came out after me, and then the opening closed."
I sigh knowing he is in shock, so I touch his arm to see if he can calm down.
"Was there anyone else in there? Did you see anyone else that may be still down there?"
Jake just looks at the sheet that shows Heidi had signed everyone back out. I look at the sheet, too. "Jake, sometimes people go back; sometimes they are signed out before they have actually left. I just need to know, was anyone else down there still before you left?"
"No," he says and I nod at him.
"Okay, the building looks to be clear," I call as my eyes fall on Jake who's pulling at his hair.
"Well done," I tell him and he just looks at me. "You saved this woman's life, not everyone would stop to help in a case of emergency."
Jake looks away from me and nods. I move away from him knowing that we need to get the fire under control.
The fire has wiped out the entire kitchen. As I clean up the hose, I frown looking at the ground seeing that there doesn't seem to be much water. I shrug it off carrying on helping with the cleanup. There's also the falling wall and structural issues we need to deal with.
I get out some equipment and set a team to take with me.
"This is Dispatch calling crew twenty-six, come in," I hear Alice over the radio.
"Crew twenty-six here, Dispatch," Jasper replies.
"Copy, twenty-six, just had a call from a person who says they are in the building with one adult who has a broken leg and six children. They are all trapped underground in the Pioneer Building."
I hiss out a 'fuck' as Dispatch carries on. "There is water coming in and the place is flooding. They have moved to a bunker, but can't get past a gate that's been padlocked. Their location is ..." as she rhymes off the coordinates and look toward where they should be. My eyes go back to the radio as Dispatch has gone quiet. "Chief Swan," a male voice says, "I'm sorry," he carries on, "But Bella is one of the people trapped."
When he says my girl's name my heart just about leaps out of my chest. "She is talking with Alice, but her implant is not working. She told Alice the water is rising fast about a foot every ten minutes and sitting at about seven feet. They are about three feet above it right now."
I just look at Charlie who seems to be having trouble comprehending what has just been said. "Okay, let's move, crew," I yell grabbing the bolt cutters and my Halligan bar. When I turn back, all the whole crew seems to be just staring at me. "Now men, this is one of our own crew, and she needs us!" I yell at them making them all look at me. I can see that they know this, but just like me they never thought of her as someone that needs to be rescued.
"I've got Alice on my cell," Jasper states. "Alice told her we are coming; we need to get to her ASAP."
"Jasper, hurry!" I hear Alice sob over the speaker of his phone.
We all run down to the street as another engine, and the EMTs follow in their units. I come to the manhole, pull it up with my Halligan and go down the ladder. Paul, Jasper, and Seth follow behind with ropes and their Halligan bars. I run all the way down listening for noise that will tell me they are nearby.
"How the hell are we going to find them down here? I wish she had a GPS or PASS," Seth says and I stop looking at him, quickly pulling out my cell.
"She does, on her phone," I pull up my screen and see she is some feet down from where we are. "This way," I say.
Jasper tells Alice to tell her we are using an app on her phone to find her; if she starts to yell, it would help.
"Jasper, I told her, but now I've lost her, her cell died!" Alice yells out, but I can hear her and kids yelling.
"Bella!" I yell back. I hold up my hand to tell the crew to quiet down. I place my hand on the pipe, and I can feel the vibration that someone is hitting it.
"This way," I yell following the pipe line.
It takes us only a few minutes of running to see a tunnel. I move along seeing the gate and as I look down, I see Bella's head.
"Hi," I say holding back the tears in my eyes. She looks tired, and her lips are blue. I'm sure she is not even aware her teeth are chattering. My eyes scan her body only seeing a gash on her forehead. She never told Alice she was hurt, too.
I look and then glare that the gate is too small for me to get through it. The guys set about using the spreader to open it up wider, and Bella quickly starts passing me the children one at time.
When I have the last one, I look at the platform and hear it make a creaking noise. Everything in me wants to tell her to forget being an adult and to get herself out, but I can't. Besides, I know she wouldn't do it. I bite my tongue, knowing we need to move fast.
I turn back to see she has an adult on her shoulder as the guys get the gate fully opened. We pass the woman up and I see the look of happiness that Bella has now that the woman is safe. The pride I feel in my heart quickly changes to fear when the creaking noise gets loud enough that everyone can hear it.
"Come on, Bella, get out of there!" I yell holding out my hand to her. She reaches up to grab it just as the groaning and creaking hit a new level. I watch in horror, unable to do anything as the platform crashes half off the wall.
"Bella!" I yell as she dangles holding on to the rail. The creaking is loud as both the platform and Bella fall to the water below. I move back from the gate and attach a rope.
I turn to see the children are all scared, I know that I need to stay calm and just get down there. I strip out of my turnout gear and go down the rope. "Be ready to pull me up," I yell before entering the water below.
When I get to the bottom, I see that her foot is trapped by the rail. I move to her pressing my lips to hers, passing her some air. I swim to the rail using everything I have to move Bella. I feel it move, and thankfully, it is just enough to free her foot.
I look at her but I know she been down here too long. Her eyes close just as I wrap my arms around her pulling her back up to the top.
"Come on, Bitsy," I say even though I know right now she can't hear me. I still feel the need to talk to her. I lay her on the top of the fallen platform so I can start CPR.
"Edward," I hear getting yelled just as Paul appears and flings down a rope with a harness on it. I grab it and wrap it around my waist and hold Bella to me.
Paul and the others pull both of us up, and they take her from me. Laying her flat on my jacket, I move quickly needing to do this. I breathe in to her and then start chest compressions.
"Come on, Bitsy; don't leave me, not like this!" I yell at her unresponsive body. "We're meant to die after we've lived a full life together. I haven't even been able to tell you that I love you," I cry to her before breathing in to her mouth again.
A small cough bursts from her mouth as my face is hit with water. I look at her seeing that her eyes are open, but I know she's still not fully with us. I feel her heartbeat and her pulse. It's slow, and she's cold, but she's breathing.
"Bitsy, it's time to get out of here," I say and pull my fire turnout pants back on. Seth takes this time to check her over and wraps her in my jacket and picking up her small body.
I move to him again holding open my arms. Seth nods at me and hands her over. We walk out and I see that Jasper is standing with the children and the lady with the injured leg.
"Is she okay?" a little boy asks.
"She will be," I tell them. "Time for us to leave; the ambulance workers will help you guys." Jasper picks up the teacher and we walk fast out of the tunnel. Seth leads the way then Jasper takes the teacher out followed by the children. When each of them leaves, I can hear the cheering of the crowd that must have been watching.
I make my way to the ambulance, holding her in a way to give her the best body heat possible. When I get to the ambulance Charlie is standing there looking heartbroken and scared.
I place her on a gurney kissing her head before moving back.
"Edward, she's my baby ... I need—" I give him a nod and watch as he jumps into the ambulance with her. I feel my heart tighten as it moves off and all I can do is watch.
"Edward!" I turn to look at Jasper who's looking upset, too.
"We need to find out why that place is flooding. There's too much water for it to just be a burst pipe."
I agree, while trying hard to get my mind back to work.
"I have another team ready to head down, and we still need to check to see if there is anyone else down there," Jasper says.
I nod as I look around for the manager. It takes almost ten minutes for me to find him enjoying a coffee at Starbucks.
"You mind telling me why your records were inaccurate?" I ask as he lifts his coffee to his lips. He stops and just looks at me.
"It showed that everyone was recorded as leaving, yet there were eight people, six of those who were children still down there?"
"I ... I ... don't know what to say," he stutters.
I can't stop the glare that comes across my face. "You don't know what to say? Well, my crew is down there now, and at this point they could very well be finding bodies. Parents could be getting told later that their babies aren't coming home, and all you have to say is 'I don't know what to say'?"
"Look, Mister, Heidi's job as the tour guide is to record people coming in and out. It's not my fault that she signed them out before they left."
"But it's your job as the manager, to make sure she does her job, so the responsibility falls on your plate. You had better know that the fire marshal will be investigating this intensely, especially since one of our own was down there trapped with a group of kids. You better make sure all your i's are dotted and your t's are crossed, because you're looking at some pretty hefty fines, and possibly liability lawsuits to boot."
He sits there looking dumbfounded.
"Right now!" I yell.
"Edward," Jasper says as the manager gets a clue and stands up. "We're at the collapsed wall, there's some water coming through. We've also recovered two bodies."
I close my eyes, wishing that I had just checked down there myself. I shouldn't have taken Jake's word. If I find out he knew they were down there; I will have his ass in a sling so fast he won't know what hit him. "We're not sure who they are; they're still under the fallen debris."
My eyes lock with the manager who heard what Jasper said, and he now looks more panicked than he was before.
"But ... but—"
I move away before I become more enraged, and run back to the building. I head down to where the crew is and start to help move the stones. We make a gap and start to pump the water out.
"Do we know where the water is coming from?"
"Yeah, it looks like the fire set off a second explosion; that burst the pipes running under the building. Not only the fresh water pipes, but the building still had a working Cistern system. All the water that was stored is flooding the area, too. The underground was once separated from the Cistern, but the explosion must have weakened or broken a wall between the two.
"We're trying to get the wall blocked off to stop the flooding. We're also pumping water to the sewer now."
We are working at one end and another crew is at the other. It takes us two hours to get the water low enough to get rid of the debris. As we slowly move everything, it's clear that the couple died as soon as the wall fell. Both had been impaled with a pipe that had torn loose.
I move in and start to look around, double checking each room in the bunker as I pass. I'm almost at the bunker where Bella was when I see a jacket. I pick it up and I know right away that it's Bella's.
"Bitsy," I mutter to myself. I have no idea how the hell she did it. How she managed to get herself, six kids, and the teacher to safety. This place must have been freezing. It's freezing even now with only two feet of water left. She is so lucky that she never lost any of them. I can't help but remember the image of her still body lying on the hard cold ground. I close my eyes. "She's alive, she's alive," I repeat out loud. Even with my saying it all over again, I can't get rid of the need and want to run to her. I need to hold her just to be sure she is okay.
I perform a full lap of the area, and then walk back to check it again. Finally happy that no else is down here, I let out a deep breath. Knowing Bella, I didn't expect to see anyone else. I know my girl and she wouldn't have left anyone, if she had a choice. I know it would have been the first thing she would have told me. Even with that in mind, I know when she finds out two people were under the rubble she's going to take it hard. I am sure that she didn't know that they were there.
I am also hit again with wonder. "Did Jake know she was down there? I mean, he was on the same tour as she was; he would have said she was there. He had to have known she wasn't outside. Would he really leave her to die? They've known each other for years. At one time, they even dated. He may be pissed that she is no longer his, and angry that his behavior has gotten him suspended, but would that be enough for him to leave her to die? Why was he on the tour, anyway? Was he following and harassing her?" These questions are boggling my brain.
We all arrive back at the station, and I head to the shower room. After showering and changing into my street clothes, I walk into the kitchen. I see the rest of the crew looking glum.
"Has Charlie called?" I ask needing to get information about her, but they just shake their heads.
"We're thinking of going for take-out—Rita's sounds good," Seth says and I look at him because it's right next to the hospital.
"I agree," I say as we gear up and head over there. The guys jump out and I wave at them as I run toward the hospital.
"Isabella Swan," I say to the receptionist.
"Are you family?"
"Yes, she's my fiancée," I say, and she merely looks at me.
"Sir, another man claimed he was her spouse to be, and I already sent him up there," she says.
"He is lying. I am her fiancé; what room is she in?"
"I'll have to have security take you up; one of you is lying," she says.
"Fine!" I answer.
"Edward?" I hear my father's voice and I turn to him.
"Dad, Bella's here, and she was hurt, I need to see her," I tell him and he nods at me.
"I was just heading up there, come on," he says.
"Dr. Cullen, Sir," the woman says again. "There was another man claiming to be her fiancé and he is already there; he is up there now."
"Call security, he is not her fiancé. Have him removed immediately," my father orders.
When I get up to her room, I see Jake sitting with his head in his hands. The anger that I have been trying and failing to keep a lid on comes out and I have him pinned to the wall with my hand around his throat. The best thing I could hear right now would be my Bitsy's voice, but I settle for the sickening crunch of his nose as I throw my fist against his face.
A/N: So now we hear more from Edward, and we hope any lingering questions people had about did he know Bella wasn't the bride before the dance, and why he was stripping have been answered fully. We are interested to see what you think of his outburst of things he said as he was trying to revive Bella. How do you think things will play out from here? What do you think of Jake? Did anyone else find joy in Edward's breaking his nose? See you all soon with another chapter, but it will likely be first of the week ... maybe before, if I get 10 done today like I plan. Nikky is working on 11, and we're waiting for 8 and 9 from the beta team. Hope you're all enjoying this, leave us your thoughts.