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Out of the Shadows

Chapter 15: Wake Up Your Saints

BPOV

Once the plane completed it's bumpy landing, I grabbed my bags and waited for the door to open. It was a short walk across the tarmac. Just beyond a small building was a parking lot. The sun had not set yet, but there was a figure silhouetted up against a car. My heart jumped thinking that it was Edward. I knew I was wrong before the thought fully formed but my heart was longing for him to be here, just to hold me.

As I walked towards the parking lot, the lone person starting walking towards me. It was not Angela, as I suspected, but it was Esme. When I reached her, she enveloped me in a hug. There was something about being held by a mother, even if it's not your own, that made crying out loud acceptable. She rubbed my back while making soothing sounds. I just let it all out, all the emotions that I had held back while in transit.

"Bella, let's get you to the hospital." She took my bags, loaded them into the trunk of the car, and slipped into the passenger seat.

"Esme, thank you very much for coming to get me."

"Angela called me after she spoke with you from Seattle. She wanted to be here for you but her schedule was just too much for her today. " She gave my shoulder a gentle rub, as I looked out the window on our drive to the hospital. I rummaged through my purse for a tissue to clean myself up. If Dad was awake I didn't want to show him my tears.

"How did it happen? Angela said something about a drunk driver while Dad was on the 101." My voice hitched as I asked the question. I wanted to know what wasn't sure if I was ready for the details yet. "How bad is my Dad?"

"Bella, I'll let Carlisle tell you the details of your Dad's injuries when we get the hospital. As far as how it happens, it's still a little spotty. Your Dad had pulled over one of the local kids speeding on the 101. He was out of his vehicle, and walking towards the other vehicle when another car sideswiped your father and the other vehicle. The impact knocked your father to the ground in front of the vehicle. The car that hit him just kept going. The kid that your Dad pulled over is a real hero. He immediately called 911, managed to get a bit of a description of the other car, and helped your Dad until the ambulance arrived." Esme looked over at me. The tears were silently falling now; I couldn't stop them if I tried.

"Have they caught the other driver yet?

"Yes, they did. Once the force knew what happened, they put every officer on the search for the car. It was a local man, and when they found him he was still drunk, 3 hours after the accident. He doesn't even remember it. He's now in custody." Silence filled the car for the remainder of the drive.

Esme pulled to the front doors of the hospital. "Bella, your Dad is in room ICU 1. Do you want me to come in with you?" I stood there for a moment thinking about her question. I'd only ever had my Dad for support, but I knew that I wasn't strong enough at the moment to tackle this alone. "Yes, please Esme."

"You wait here. I'll park the car and give Carlisle a call to let him know you've arrived." I went through the front doors. I quickly realized that everyone who saw me knew what had happened. As they passed me, they gave me sympathy filled smiles and words of encouragement. I wanted out of here. Where was Esme? I started to pace back and forth when I felt a strong hand on my shoulder.

"Bella." I turned around to see piercing green eyes, the same color as his son's. Dr. Cullen was standing there, and Esme was coming in through the doors. It felt like I had family but I knew that the only family I had now was lying in a coma down the hall.

"Dr. Cullen, how is my father?" Esme had her arm around my shoulder now.

"Bella, why don't we go down to his room so you can see him. We can talk there, in private."

We reached ICU 1 quickly. Carlisle walked into the room first. I stopped short of the threshold, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. Once inside the room, the sight that assaulted me made my knees buckle. Esme caught me as I stumbled towards the bed. Carlisle helped her to get me into a chair beside my Dad.

He looked so small in the bed, nothing like the strong father I was used to. There were so many machines surrounding the bed, all blinking or beeping. It had been less than 2 weeks since I'd seen him, but our worlds had changed so quickly. There were some abrasions on his face, nothing deep, and he was hooked up to a breathing tube but that was all I could see. How could he be in coma from only a few cuts.

"So Bella, how much of what happened do you know?" Dr. Cullen was standing on the other side of the bed now.

"Esme, uh Mrs. Cullen, told me how it happened, and that the drunk driver had been caught but that's all." I couldn't take my eyes off my Dad.

"Well, most of your Dad's injuries are internal injuries. The car hit him at an angle that ruptured his spleen and broken his pelvic bone. He did injury his head when he hit the pavement, so that is why he was put into a drug-induced coma. The swelling is starting to come down so we should be able to bring him out of it soon. We did surgery early this morning to repair his spleen, and set his pelvic bone." It took me a moment to realize that he had stopped talking.

"How long will he be in the hospital?" I was numb, so my mind was just asking the questions that were expected from me.

"We anticipate that he will be here for a couple of weeks at least, as with all injuries, it depends on the patient and if any complications arise. We will do our absolute best for him. There isn't a person in the hospital that doesn't owe your father for something. Most of the town and the Quilettes have been asking what they can do for him so he'll have a lot of help during his recovery. For now we can only keep an eye on his injuries, and help him recover." Carlisle had come around the bed and was kneeling beside me. "Bella, if there is anything that we can do for you just ask. We realize that you will probably be staying here for a while, and we want to help you anyway we can. Esme is going to leave her car here for you to use."

"Oh, you don't have to do that. I pretty sure that I won't be leaving the hospital for a while, or at least until he wakes up." I couldn't imagine leaving my Dad right now, and I couldn't imagine imposing on Edward's family.

"Here are the keys, Bella. I've left your bags in the trunk, so even if you just want to freshen up. Please don't run yourself down right now. Charlie wouldn't want that."

"Thank you again, for everything." Esme gave me a quick kiss on my cheek before she left the room.

"If you need anything please let the nurses know. They can get a hold of me quickly." Carlisle gave me a quick smile and nod as he left the room.

Once they had left the room, I sat there silently staring at my father, my champion. If there was anything I ever needed he was there as soon as possible. Now it was my turn to be his champion, to make sure that he had everything that he would need to recover because he was going to recover. I picked up his hand and held it between both of mine, resting my head on them I started to cry again.

"Dad, I just don't know what do to without you so you better pull through this. I can't, I can't imagine you gone yet. All the TV shows say that people can hear when they are in a coma, so I hope that you hear me now. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere until you're home and better." I sat there talking with him like that, but it's hard to have a one-way conversation so I ran out of small talk quickly.

A nurse came in to check on him, and did this every hour to confirm that there was no change, good or bad. Shortly before midnight, I decided to get my bags from Esme's car and to get some fresh air. Back in my Dad's room, I pulled out my laptop to distract myself from the situation for a moment or two. There was a quiet knock at the door as a nurse was bringing in a reclining chair for me.

"Excuse me, Isabella. I thought that you would like to have one of these chairs instead so you might get some sleep. Your dad was such a huge help to me recently that I can't believe that he's here." She maneuvered the chair next to the bed, and showed me how to work it.

"I'm sorry. I didn't catch your name." My exhaustion was catching up with me, and I wasn't thinking straight anymore.

"Katherine. I'll be the night nurse for the next few weeks so if you need anything from me please just come out to the desk and see me." She was busy checking on my dad again so I moved my bag from one chair to the other. I was very thankful for the new chair because there was no way I was going to get any rest in the other one.

"Thank you, Katherine. Is there somewhere that I might get some coffee?"

"I'll show the area that we have our patients and their families. It's not much but you can get some coffee, juice and some food."

I followed her out of the room and down a small hallway. There, near the end, was a small kitchenette with some food and drinks. I'd been traveling all day and couldn't eat because of the stress of the situation, so my stomach was putting up quite a protest now. I grabbed some juice and made up a bagel with cream cheese for myself. I settled back into the room, and my new chair, ate my bagel and tried to read a bit.

The next morning I woke up to the sound of the nurse coming into my dad's room with a doctor. It was 7 am and I'd slept for most of the night. I had a quick conversation with the doctor, but there was no change to my dad yet. He suggested that they may be checking on the swelling later today to see whether they wanted to start the process to bring him out of his coma.

I used the washroom to freshen myself up because I knew that Angela would be by shortly, and I'm sure that there would be more visitors.

Angela showed up around 9, with breakfast, and she stayed with me until lunchtime. Most of our conversations in the room were centered on dad's condition, the circumstances of the accident and what I would be doing for the next few weeks. I was debating when I should go to the house to shower and change. I knew that I would be useless to my dad if I fell sick while sitting around his room. Dr. Cullen was coming by again in the evening so I figured that I would leave after talking with him.

At lunchtime, we went to the cafeteria for a change of scenery and to get some fresh air. Once we were outside on a picnic table eating, Angela changed the subject to Edward.

"So have you spoken to Edward since you left Forks?" Angela was leaning into me so she wanted to hear it all.

I told her about all of the letters, the drawings, the flowers and the incident with Tanya. She stared at me for most of the tale in disbelief. "So I haven't heard from him since Wednesday but then again I haven't been home since then. It's only Friday afternoon, and I don't expect to hear from him at all. He finishes filming this evening and won't be leaving Vancouver until Saturday. Maybe Alice will tell him what's happened when he gets back to LA. I was really hoping to speak to him by then but I just don't know now."

"I'm sure he'll come here once he hears about your dad. I still can't believe that he did drawings of you back in high school. I knew he wasn't a bad guy back then but I never thought that he was interested in you, no offence."

"Non taken. I had no idea either, obviously, but it just seems so strange to me. Why would the most popular guy at school be interested in me and not do anything about it." If only I could bring the subject up to Alice some time. Maybe she would be able to enlighten me on the circumstances.

Angela had to leave to get back to work. She had taken the morning off so she could be with me. Everyone in town knew the situation so it was not a problem for her. I made my way back to the ICU and my dad.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with people checking in on dad and me; people from the town, officers, and nurses. Mid-afternoon Dr. Cullen and the other doctor came back in.

"Bella, we are going to take your father down to do some testing on the swelling on his brain. If the results are what we are hoping for, we can start to bring him out of the coma. We can't guarantee you anything but we hope that he is awake by tomorrow."

"Thanks, Dr. Cullen." I stepped out of the room to allow them more room to move dad. I was trying to feel hopeful but it was so hard. I've always been a pessimist, ever since mom left us, so I wouldn't believe it until it happened. This was one of the few times, since I was 8 years old, that I wanted my mom around. I had no way to even let her know what had happened to dad. I leaned against the corridor wall, hugging myself, as they wheeled down out of the room.

The day nurse, Emma, came up to me. "Isabella, did you want to come down with us?" I nodded my agreement, and we walked behind them. "It's a really good thing that Dr. Cullen is at this hospital. If he weren't here then your dad would have been moved to Seattle by now. The whole Cullen family has been really great to the hospital. Did you know that his son, Edward, donated a large sum to get most of the new technology that we have. Being able to recuperate in your own town is huge for most of our patients."

Emma left me outside the room as they wheeled my dad in. Even during this stressful situation, I was reminded of Edward and how much I wish he were here for me to lean on.

I followed my dad back to his room with Emma. Dr. Cullen came back in shortly after that.

"Bella, the scans look very promising. I believe that we will be able to pull him out of the coma tomorrow morning. For now, I would suggest that you go home and get some sleep. There won't be any changes tonight, and if something comes up I will make sure that they call you right away."

"Thank you, Dr. Cullen."

"Carlisle, please call me Carlisle. If you like, please join Esme tonight for dinner. Without the kids in town, our house is very quiet."

"Please thank her for me but I'm not very good company right now."

"I understand." He gave me a reassuring smile, and left the room.

I spent another hour or so with my dad before I packed up to go home. I didn't want to leave him but I knew that tomorrow would be a stressful day. On my way home I picked up some groceries to see me through the next few days. It took me twice as long to get the groceries for all the people who stopped me to express their concern for my dad. I never realized how many people he really helped in our community.

The house felt strange as I entered, so quiet. It was a difficult night with a few more tears. I planned on being back at the hospital by 7am so I tried to go to bed early. I didn't get much rest but it was better than none at all.

I was up by 4 because I didn't see the point in lying in bed any longer. I tried to eat breakfast but ended up staring out the window for most of the time. I gave up on breakfast and went upstairs to shower and dress. It took me twice a long because I was so exhausted from the stress and lack of sleep.

A couple of hours later, I was ready to go to the hospital. I was trying to be optimistic about my dad's condition but it wasn't working. I got my bag and coat, and was just heading to the door when there was a knock. Not thinking about the hour, I opened the door and was assaulted by the most beautiful green eyes ever.

I have no medical training, so please forgive any mistakes that I have made. Please let me know what you think.