Chapter 22 - #122 Agent down. I repeat, agent down!
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Biotech billionaire in heated argument over breach of privacy
ByNew York Times | Published: August 27, 2010 | Filed at 2:37 p.m. ET
The first block of Grand State Street was shut down temporarily this morning as the New York Police Department was called to the home of Emmett McCarthy Cullen over a heated argument between the homeowner and a 20 year old female believed to be the babysitter.
The incident began about 7:40 a.m. when neighbors reported hearing a domestic disturbance next door with yelling and items being thrown. Eyewitnesses report that Emmett, the oldest son of biotech mogul Carlisle Cullen, was seen restraining the still unidentified female in wait for the police arrive to the site.
A NYPD spokeswoman has confirmed that a mentally unstable woman was taken into custody, but can not disclose what role, if any, the 28 year old gym owner and biotech heir played in the dispute.
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The next time Bella opened her eyes, she was in a hospital bed with many layers of bandages wrapped around her skull. Every inch of her head hurt, ached. Her face itched. She tried to move her hand to scratch, but couldn't. Someone squeezed her hand reassuringly.
That's when she realized she wasn't alone in the room. Edward sat to her right, holding her hand, and Seth stood by the window with his back to the bed.
"Water… need water," she managed to croak, her voice broken and faint.
"Hey, there" Edward said with a smile. "Glad to see you awake! You gave us quite a scare." Visibly relieved, he moved his chair even closer to the bed and offered her a sip of something cool and sweet and soothing.
"How long…? How long have I've been out?" Her throat was raw and painful though she didn't remember screaming."
"It's past 11 o'clock now so four hours." Edward brushed an errant strand of hair from her face.
"What…" Bella licked her dry lips. "What happened?" she asked directing it at her colleague on the other side of the room.
"Head injury, Bella," Seth explained as he walked over to her bed. "I know how you feel about hospitals, but it's standard procedure. You took a nasty blow to your head and passed out. We had to bring you in. "
"Yes of course… but I don't recall a head injury. How did THAT happen?"
"Baby, don't you remember?" Edward asked gently. "Someone broke into the apartment and…"
"The stalker," Bella interjected, "Angela Weber, is she… did she….? "
"Don't worry. Cheney and McCarthy caught her, she's in custody. "
"Is she talking?"
"No, not yet, but she will… We'll make sure of that," Seth promised just as the door opened and a man with obligatory white coat and dangling stethoscope stepped into the room.
"Ms. Swan, hello. Good to see you up and alert. I'm Dr. Svensson. I treated you when you were first brought into the ER, " the doctor introduced himself and shook hands with not only Bella, but her two visitors as well.
"I'd like do another examination now that you're awake. I know your head must hurt so I'll try to be quick. Is that alright with you, Ms. Swan?"
"Okay," Bella agreed, clearing her throat somewhat nervously. She really hated doctors and hospitals.
"Gentlemen, you can stay in the room if Ms. Swan doesn't mind, but I must ask you to take a step back and give me some space to work with."
Both men nodded in agreement and did as the doctor had asked.
Turning his attention back to his patient, Dr. Svensson brought out a pen and small flashlight. "First I'd like to see if you can move your fingers for me."
Bella fisted her hands, careful not to move the IV on her wrist.
"Good. Now your toes…"
"Excellent! Look straight ahead please," Dr. Svensson said, taking hold of her chin. "This might feel a little bit uncomfortable, but I need to check if your pupils are even and responsive to light."
Bella blinked rapidly, then focused her eyes on the shiny stethoscope slung around the man's neck.
"Good, now follow the light…"
Up, down, left and right… Bella's wincing slightly as her head protested at the movements.
"Excellent! Let's move on. I'm going to ask you a few questions, just normal procedure when dealing with concussions. Okay?
"Sure."
"Do you know what year it is, Ms. Swan?"
"2010" The answer was a knee jerk reaction, it slipped over her tongue without any need for thought.
"And the date?"
"August 26th… no wait 27th". It took a little more thought than the previous one, but the doctor seemed pleased.
"That's right and do you know where you are and why you're here?"
Bella chewed her bottom lip slightly before answering."Let's see… this is a hospital and my friends just told me I have a head injury. Judging by the throbbing pain and the black hole of nothingness where my brain used to be. I'd say they are right. "
The doctor smiled, putting her more at ease. "I can assure you, your brain is still in there," he said and scribbled something on his clipboard. "Now can you tell me your full name?"
"Oh, that's an easy one. It's Isabella Marie Bl-… err Swan. It's Isabella Swan," she corrected herself with a faint smile. "But please call me Bella."
"Alright Bella, next question. It's actually two questions. Who is your next of kind and when was your last hospital visit or medical exam?"
"Right, my parents are my closest blood relatives. I don't know who filled out my forms when they brought me here, but my mother, Renee, should be the one listed in my paperwork. "
"Don't worry about the paperwork. You're doing good, Bella. There was a second question. Do you remember it or do you need me to repeat it?"
"No, I remember. I'm required by my employer to get a full physical check-up twice a year. The last one was four months ago."
"That's a good policy. I have one final question for you. What's the last thing you remember before waking up here in this bed?"
"Okay, lets see… My memory is kind of blurry. I remember waking up this morning. I remember going into the bathroom and getting into the shower.. after that…I don't know…," she trailed off, glancing quickly at Seth whowas leaning against the rear wall of the box-shaped room.
"We think you slipped and banged your head on the rim of the tub," her colleague hurried to explain.
"Oh?" Bella blinked confused for a moment before she realized it was a cover story to keep the good doctor from asking too many questions. "Right, that sounds like me. It's all fuzzy right now."
"That's to be expected," the doctor nodded. "The 'fuzziness', or 'short term memory loss' which is the medical term for it, is normal with this kind of head injuries. Your long term memory seems to be intact, so I don't think it's anything we need to worry about. But just to make sure everything is alright, one of the neurologists will be down here shortly for a full evaluation."
Bella took a deep, anxious breath, "A full evaluation, how long does that take?"
"About half an hour or so. The neurologist will be checking your reflexes, your balance and your coordination skills and aft-… "
"…after that I'll be released, right?"
"I'd like to keep you here overnight for observation. All head injuries are potentially very serious and should be monitored closely."
She couldn't help but shudder involuntarily at the thought of spending the night in the hospital.
Sensing her distress, Edward pushed his chair closer to the bed. "I'll be here for as long as you need me, Bella. I'll even spend the night in this very chair if I have to. And besides, you'll be in good hands, right doc?"
"Of course. You have nothing to worry about," Dr Svensson replied looking up from the chart he was scribbling on. "We're almost done here, but there is one more issue I'd like to address before I leave," he said, his voice taking on a somewhat more serious tone. "I need to know what medications you are currently taking so that I can prescribe you appropriate pain relief."
"That wont be necessary," Bella quickly interjected. "I'm good, thank you. No meds needed and no potential drug interactions to be concerned about."
"Alright, but the swelling will get worse before it gets better. You might want something later to help you get you through the night."
"I doubt it will come to that," Bella shook her head, instantly regretting it as pain made spots appear behind her eyes, but even so, her word was clear when she spoke. "I'd like to stay drug free if possible."
Dr. Svensson cleared his throat. "The reason I brought this up is because we did some standard blood work when you were first brought in here and found traces of fluoxetine hydrochloride, which is a common substance in certain kinds of prescribed drugs."
"Well, I was taking antibiotics a few months ago… that would show up in your tests, right?"
"Right, but no, that's not the kind of drugs I'm talking about."
"Maybe we should finish this conversation in private," Bella replied, giving him a pointed look.
"Of course, I'm sorry," he apologized immediately upon realizing his error. "Gentlemen, I'll have to ask you to leave the room."
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The remainder of the day passed in a haze of test results and medical mumbo jumbo. Thankfully, the neurologist didn't find anything too alarming and he did a pretty lenghtly exam.
Bella's memory remained fuzzy, but at least she had managed to put some of the pieces together. She recalled an ashtray, a solid heavy glass ashtray. She recalled seeing it in the hands of the stalker, in the hands of Angela, before her head exploded into pain and everything went black..
The gash had been shallow, but the stitch count ended up being rather high, leaving Bella with another 21 stitches to add to her already long list of battle scars. She had a concussion, that was a given. It was graded moderate, but they still insisted on keeping her overnight as a precaution. Apparently it was possible, likely even, that she was suffering from some slight internal bleeding just under the surface bones of the skull. It would clear up on it's own with no long lasting damage.
She was to stay in hospital for at least 24 hours and then take it easy for another week or so. Bella did not like the sound of that one single bit. Not when she had a case to close and a suspect to interrogate. The fact that she had to go through Seth to get any information from her FBI superiors did nothing to soothe her headache... especially when her colleague had turned uncharacteristically quiet, uncooperative even.
"Geez Seth, yell at me some more why don't you," she snarled at him as he returned to her hospital room after yet another one of his seemingly endless phone calls.
"Excuse me? I haven't said a word," he answered her calmly.
"Precisely, you have been quiet all day. Spit it out already! I know I made a mistake. I'm a big girl I can take it."
"Not here. Cullen will be back any minute. You should try and some rest. We can talk tomorrow."
"I won't get any sleep until we settle this. I say we talk now," she insisted staring him down in a battle of wills. "You are mad at me, I can tell. "
Seth was the first to look away. "Okay fine! You're right, I'm mad at you," he finally admitted. "Look, I'm not stupid. I know what happened between you and Cullen. I saw it coming MILES away. I even encouraged it… but this, THIS, I can't overlook."
"WHAT?"
"THIS!"
Bella watched cautiously as Seth pulled something up from his pocket, but flinched in surprise when she saw what it was.
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She still had the pill bottle in her hand when Edward returned from his food run about fifteen minutes later.
The label read 'M. Miller'. M for Marie, her middle name, and Miller after her grandmothers maiden name. Misplacing such a personal item had been a big mistake but lying about it when the pill bottle had turned up in the investigation had undoubtedly been an even bigger one. Seth was threatening to have her reported for endangering the assignment. She'd be back to desk duty in no time… or worse…
No, she didn't want to deal with those thoughts right now.
She also didn't want to deal with Edward, but it was hardly like she could put it off much longer. He wanted answers and he wouldn't settle for just any answers – of that much she was certain.
She just didn't know what to say to him or how to say it.
Finally she settled for the direct approach and held out her hand offering him a better look at the medicine container. "They are antidepressants. I have been taking them for a while… Err…for about a year actually, but I have been gradually cutting down on the dosa-..."
Before she could finish, Edward stopped her with a shake of his head.
"I figured that much," he stated abruptly, but calmly. "You should have told me. You're playing a very dangerous game here Swan. I wasn't the only one being kept in the dark about this, was I? Your co worker's reaction was very telling"
"I need you to know that those pills haven't affected my ability to work and function normally, not even in high pressured situations."
"Sure honey…. and that bandage around your head is just a fashion statement."
"Gawd, who am I kidding. I'm gonna lose my job for sure, aren't I?"
Her chin trembled as if she might cry.
"Maybe, but let's cross that bridge when we get to it." Dropping to a seat on the edge of the bed Edward pulled her up into his arms. "You're strong, you'll get through this."
"I don't feel all that strong right now. I can't even get out of the bed without passing out or puking or both."
"You should let them give you something for the pain," he murmured wiping a stray tear off her cheek with his thumb.
"No!"
"I'm sure the doctor can suggest something that will take the edge off without knocking you out. You need to get some rest before you deal with your boss."
"Gah! I cant think straight, my head hurts so bad," she whimpered pitifully.
AN: Thank you for reading and reviewing!