This is dedicated to Viper003! She has reviewed every chapter and forgiven me for the huge gap in between. This whole chapter is in Bella's POV. :D Hope you all like it!
Carlisle carted Gabriel into a ward and put him on an I.V drip to help keep him stable. I held his hand the whole time. I don't know why but we had formed an instant bond.
"Okay, Gabriel is it?" Carlisle asked.
"Yes" he moaned through gritted teeth. He didn't like the needles.
"Hey Gabriel I'm Carlisle. Now I'm going to try and make you feel better, but first I need you to try and answer some questions while the nice nurses get you prepped up for a blood transfusion."
"What's a blood transfusion?"
"What happens is we get the blood from someone else and give it to you so that your body can work properly. You've lost a lot of blood and we need to replace that. Now, how old are you Gabriel?"
"Eleven"
"Okay. Do you have anyone we can contact?"
"Just my dad, but he doesn't want me"
"What's your last name?"
"Hampton. My name is Gabriel Charles Hampton"
After asking him a string of medical questions to check he was okay to go through with the transfusion. It was awful watching his eyes as the needle was put into his skin his tried to keep it together but he was just eleven. I squeezed his hand and he smiled slightly. Edward was with me, his arm supportively around my waist. I lay my head against his chest and looked up at him. He looked down at me with a look in his eyes that told me he understood why I was doing this, that he knew it was for my own self control as well as helping the poor child who felt he had no reason to live.
About an hour later Carlisle and the nurses managed to seal the artery and stitch up the wound while the I.V fluids and blood transfusion got working. Emmett and Alice had gone back home to tell the others what was happening and the reason for our absence. Edward and I had decided to stay with Gabe to make sure he was okay, and because of our acute hearing we could hear if anything went wrong to notify one of the nurses quicker than a machine.
"So what made you stop? I mean Alice saw you lose control, and when I heard Emmett think you needed me I could only presume you were feeding from him." He pointed to the small boy sleeping in the hospital bed. I was sat in Edwards lap in the chair next to the bed, playing with his fingers.
"His eyes" I answered truthfully "They reminded me of yours when you were human" I smiled up at him.
"Huh"
"What?"
"If it was me I wouldn't have stopped. I would have done it anyway" he looked down and frowned.
"Don't beat yourself up over nothing Edward. You're blaming yourself for something you didn't even do" I honestly don't know how he does it. He always managed to bring the blame round to himself one way or another. I kissed him softly on the lips to sooth him.
We both heard a soft rustle of sheets as Gabriel began to wake. I smiled at him as his eyes turned to face me. His eyes widened and he sat bolt upright.
"Gabriel what is it?"
"Who are you? Where am I? What's happened?" he almost screamed. He looked around and started panicking. I held his hand and tried to calm him down.
"Gabe honey, don't you remember me?" he shook his head.
"He's still half asleep, his mind is foggy" Edward informed me. I walked over to a little table by his bed and poured him a glass of water. He took it without complaint and drank. I hoped he would remember me soon; it had worried me.
"You okay?" I asked when he finished off the glass. He nodded his head.
"I'm sorry, I had a bad dream"
"That's okay Gabriel. How are you feeling? Better?" Edward asked.
"Err, I feel a little light headed but other than that I feel a lot better. Did you guys stay here all night?" I smiled and nodded my head.
"You gave us a scare! It was lucky Emmett and I found you when we did"
"Oh yeah I forgot to ask! How did you find me?" Edward stiffened behind me before coolly explaining.
"We were playing tennis in the front yard when we heard you cry out. Bella and Emmett went to investigate while Alice and I told our parents we heard something"
"But you were running really fast Bella, how did you do it?" it was my turn to stiffen up.
"Well I was scared someone was in trouble. I had an adrenaline rush, it makes your body work much faster then it's supposed to"
"But you ran fast even after you found me, and you growled at the big guy. You sounded like a lion!" I laughed at his comparison. He looked really bemused. He eyed the little bandage on his wrist and grimaced.
"Look, Dr. Cullen said once you're feeling better we can take you home" Edward said, but before he could say anymore his big green eyes got wider yet again.
"NO! You can't make me go back there! He doesn't want me! He knows what I am! He tells me off for it every day and I don't like it!"
"What are you?"
"I'm a bad boy! I don't deserve to live there. I should live on the streets like mom used to" he said the words like he was reciting a poem. I nearly snarled with rage. Some idiot actually brainwashed a tiny little kid into believing he was horrible! I wanted to rip his throat out.
"Bella…" Edward warned me. I calmed myself and smiled at the poor little boy.
"Sweetie you're not bad. You're good, and nobody deserves to live on the streets hon." I suddenly had an idea and turned to Edward after making sure I kept my thoughts blocked like Alice had taught me. "Can we go outside for a second? We need to talk."
"Sure" he said as I grabbed his hand and started to walk through the door.
"Edward. We can't leave the poor kid with his father. And we are certainly not putting him into care."
"What are you suggesting?"
"I say we let him live with us. If we find any relatives other than his father then yes we can see if they will take him in. But I'm not leaving him with anybody like that. Look what he has the poor kid doing to himself!"
"Bella you can't be serious!? He's human! You are just starting to get into being a vegetarian!"
"Hey! I think I've proved I can control myself! I've been in a hospital all night and haven't hunted for five days, not once have I even thought about feeding!" he looked into my eyes for one long second before sighing.
"Talk to Carlisle, see what he thinks, I'm with whatever Carlisle says. I need to talk to the rest of them about what we're going to tell people" I smiled and kissed him before going back to Gabriel while Edward went home. If I could get Carlisle to agree then I wouldn't have to worry about him being in the care of his father or some adoption centre where other kids would torment him. For twenty minutes Gabriel and talked about what his father did. The poor kid was seriously damaged. He made me promise not to tell anyone. I decided that if it could get Carlisle to agree then I would use it, but other than that his secret was safe with me.
Carlisle came into the room to check on Gabriel. He decided that he was well enough to recover at home.
"Yeah Carlisle, about that, can I talk to you for a second outside?"
"Of course Bella" he answered, following me outside Gabe's room.
"I want to keep Gabriel with us" I notified, I looked fiercely into his eyes. I was determined to get my way. "His dad is so mean to him! Want to know what those bruises on his arms and legs are? His dad, who, by the way, managed to somehow brainwash the kid into believing he was the spawn of the devil" Carlisle's eyes widened before looking earnestly into mine.
"Okay Bella, if you think that it's the right thing to do. Just think about how much strain this would put you and Jasper under though. It might help your control, or it might push you over the limit. Think of how you would feel if something happened." I had thought of those things. I had managed to stay in control here and this was the worse it could get. Jasper I wasn't so sure about, but if he did lose control we would help both of them.
"I am sure Carlisle. It just feels right" he nodded. I smiled and hugged before running, at human pace, into Gabriel's room.
"Hey Gabe, how would like to go home with me and Dr. Cullen?" he looked at me skeptically before he realized I was serious and beamed broadly at me. He practically jumped out of bed to put his clothes on which thankfully weren't bloodstained. I took him to Carlisle's car after signing his discharge papers. He had been working overtime anyway so he took an hour break. He sat on my knee talking animatedly to me about meeting the others and hoping they were as nice as me and Edward and Carlisle. I told him about Esme, Emmett, Alice and Jasper. I couldn't really tell him a lot about Rosalie as I didn't know her well enough, but from what I did know she was sort of nice. He fell asleep in my arms. I sat absent mindedly stroking his hair.
"Bella, is he going to know?" Carlisle asked from the front of the car.
"I don't know. I think I might wait a few days to let him settle in first. I think if we're open about it he won't be so frightened"
"Hmm, I think you're right" he replied, smiling through the unnecessary rearview mirror. I smiled back warmly. I knew Carlisle would support me through this.
After a few more silent minutes in the car we were outside the house. I was nervous for the little guy. I wondered whether they would be okay with him being here. Jasper and I would have to hunt more regularly now. I looked down at the pale little creature in my arms and smiled. He looked like an angel. His long lashes touched his cheeks while his eyes were closed. He looked exhausted. Alice came out of the house with a huge grin plastered to her face.
"He's ours!?"
"Alice he isn't a doll, but yes he's staying with us"
"Esme, Rosalie and I prepared a room for him. You can take him up now to sleep if you want"
"Thanks Alice" I smiled as I took little Gabe into room. It was painted white with black sheets, it had a red rug and a small black chair. He had a little white lamp on a desk. I gasped and Edward appeared with his arms wrapped around my waist.
"They did all this? It looks beautiful!"
"I know. That's the girls for you" he laughed.
I realized then that I was now whole. I was complete. I had my own little family right here in this room.
Okay, I know what I'm gonna do next, but I don't know how Gabriel is going to react to the family. Any suggestions are welcome
fortune-telling-pixie
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