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Chapter Two: Waking up in Hell

Blackness…

Everything was black. It was all that registered in my brain.

At first, I thought I was dead. But slowly sounds began to cut through the darkness, and I realized that was not the case. I had assumed death to be a peaceful state, not filled with beeping sounds and frantic voices. I fought to break free of the darkness, and when I did I was blinded by the bright lights of the emergency room.

I was in a sterile looking cubicle with curtains on all sides of me. A doctor was frantically pulling medical supplies out of drawers and cupboards to my right and a second later a nurse rushed in carrying even more supplies. I wanted ask what was going on, but I couldn't get my mouth to work. I needed to know if Edward was alright, but the words just wouldn't form.

I tried to sit up, jostling my arm in the process. The blinding pain that followed caused me to gasp in pain, alerting the medical staff to my consciousness. The doctor turned immediately to me and began speaking in a reassuring tone.

"Everything is going to be okay," he assured me. "We are going to take care of your arm, but first I am going to give you something for the pain." I watched as he pulled a syringe out from behind his back. Normally I hated needles, but I couldn't even find the strength to argue as he plunged it into my good arm. Whatever he gave me must have been strong, because a few seconds later I was pulled into the darkness once more. This time I welcomed it.

When I awoke for the second time, the first thing I noticed was the quiet. There was still a beeping sound from the heart monitor I was hooked up to, but other than that it was silent. My eyelids felt heavy, but I managed to keep them open long enough to take in my surroundings. I had been moved from the emergency room to a private room. It was a pretty standard hospital room; bed, TV mounted in the corner, a door which I assumed led to a bathroom, and chair next to my bed which was occupied by my sleeping father.

"Dad," I whispered, causing him to stir. I watched as he his eyes blinked open and he slowly sat up straighter. When he glance at me and noticed I was awake he quickly came and sat on my bed.

"Bells," he whispered as he gently stroked my hair, "How are you feeling, sweetheart?"

"Tired," I replied, knowing the drugs hadn't completely worn off yet.

"How about your arm? Are you in pain?" he asked.

"The drugs must be working, because it doesn't hurt," I answered as I looked down at my now bandaged arm.

"God Bella, I don't think I have ever been as scared as I was today," Charlie said as he fought back tears.

"Yeah, me too," I replied.

"We got the call at the station that shots had been fired at the high school, and everything in me just froze. All I could think about was getting there and getting to you. We got there and all I wanted to do was run into that building and find my baby. Two of my deputies actually had to hold me back. When it ended and they started wheeling people out on stretchers, I saw you and all the blood on you and I went numb. I thought… I thought you were gone."

"I'm not," I said quietly.

"When they told me you had a pulse, I cried. They wouldn't let me ride in the ambulance with you because there wasn't enough room with all the paramedics. I panicked all the way to hospital thinking that something would go wrong and I could still lose you. I didn't though, and I have never been more grateful for anything in my life. I love you so much Bells."

The sight of my dad in tears combined with the memories of the afternoon had tears falling from my own eyes. "I know Daddy," I replied, suddenly feeling less like a teenager and more like a kid, "I love you, too." We sat there for I don't know how long as tears flowed and we took comfort in each other. I broke up the moment when my fear for Edward resurfaced.

"Dad, is he okay?" I asked.

"He was taken into custody," Charlie answered.

"What, why?" I asked confused.

"He shot four people Bella," Charlie said looking equally confused. Fortunately his answer cleared up my confusion as I realized he was talking about Mike.

"Not Mike, Dad. Edward. How is Edward?" I asked in desperation.

"Well, he is stable now, but it was touch and go there for a while," Charlie said and I felt myself go pale.

"What happened?" I whispered.

"Mike got distracted when you collapsed, and Edward tackled him and tried to get the gun away," Charlie explained, "While they were fighting, the gun went off and Edward got shot in the leg."

"Oh God," I sobbed.

"I can stop," Charlie said sensing my distress.

"No, I want to know everything," I persisted.

"Well, I guess the bullet hit his femoral artery and they had a hard time controlling the bleeding," he concluded.

"But they did, right?" I asked.

"Yes. Like I said, it was touch and go for a while but he is going to be fine," Charlie answered.

"Will he be able to walk again?" I asked.

"I think he will have to go through some major physical therapy, but yes he should be able to walk," Charlie said.

"What about my arm?" I asked, suddenly scared I may not be able to use it again.

"The doctor said that you have some nerve damage and you are going to need physical therapy as well," Charlie explained and I nodded in understanding. While that news wasn't great, I knew it could have been much worse so I wasn't going to complain.

"Bells, there is something else you should know," Charlie said, suddenly looking even more uncomfortable than I thought was possible.

"Remember how I said Mike shot four people?" he asked and I nodded.

"Well, there was you and Edward, and your science teacher, Mr. Banner," he continued and I was surprised because I honestly didn't even remember seeing Mr. Banner.

"Is Mr. Banner okay?" I asked, but judging by the look on my dad's face the answer was no.

"He didn't make it Bells," he answered, confirming my suspicion. I started sobbing again, because even though Mr. Banner wasn't my favorite teacher it was heartbreaking to know I would never see him again.

"I'm sorry Bells," Charlie said as he sat next to me on the bed and held me close.

"Who was the other person who was shot?" I asked when I was somewhat under control.

"Well…," Charlie began, but he was cut off when the door burst open and my mom hurried in.

"Bella, oh my God!" My mom was in hysterics as she sat on the other side of my bed "My baby girl, are you okay?"

"Yes," I whimpered as the tears started up again. Having both my parents here made me realize just how much I needed them right now.

"Oh sweetie, I've never been as scared as was today when your dad called and told me you had been shot," my mom explained as she worked on calming her breathing.

"I am sorry I scared you," I whispered.

"You're okay, and that's all that matters," my mom said as she gently kissed my forehead. My tears were beginning to slow and I was suddenly finding it very hard to keep my eyes open. I didn't want to sleep but my dad noticed my struggle.

"Bells, go to sleep honey," he said.

"Will you guys stay?" I asked.

"Of course," Charlie answered.

"We aren't going anywhere," my mom added. My dad sat back down in the chair next to my bed and gently held my hand, while my mom sat next to me on the bed and stroked my hair. The soothing feel of my mom's fingers, combined with the drugs that were still being pumped into me through the IV in my hand, had me asleep in seconds.

I was sitting next to Edward in Biology; we were working on a lab assignment and everything was blissfully normal. Edward was writing down the answer to one of our lab questions so I decided to get started on the next. I picked up a slide on put in under the microscope.

I looked into the microscope and when I looked up again Mike was there, standing next to Edward with a gun in his hand. I watched in horror as he raised the gun and pointed the gun at Edward. Edward noticed my look of horror and started to turn. Mike shot him in the back before he could.

I screamed as Edward fell to the ground and blood began to pool around him. I didn't care that Mike was still standing over me with a gun; I dropped to the floor next to Edward and tried to help him.

"Edward stay with me!" I said as I grabbed a sweater off of my chair and used it to try and stop the bleeding.

"Bell…a," Edward croaked before his eyes slide shut.

"NO!" I yelled before another gunshot filled the air and everything went black.

I woke with a start and looked around frantically as I took in the still unfamiliar surroundings of the hospital room. My breathing was ragged, I was covered in a cold sweat and my heart monitor was going crazy. I quickly worked on calming myself down because the last thing I wanted was for a nurse to come in here or for my parents to wake up. I couldn't deal with other people at the moment.

It took a minute, but I finally settled down. Once I was fully in control again I looked at my now sleeping parents. My dad was slumped in the chair and mom was in a chair on the other side of the bed. I sighed as I thought back to the nightmare I had just had. Seeing Edward lying there was horrifying and I wanted nothing more than to run to his room to make sure he was okay. I knew that wasn't possible at the moment because I couldn't get out of bed, and according to the clock on the wall it was 5 in the morning.

My dad had said Edward was fine, but until I saw him with my own eyes I knew I wasn't going to be able to believe it. I was going to have to see if I could get someone to bring me to his room later.

My dad grunted in his sleep and I turned to look at him. I knew his neck was going to be sore in the morning with the way was slumped in the chair, and I knew I should feel bad about that but I just couldn't because I needed him here.

My mom looked a little more comfortable with her head tipped back and her feet resting up on the end of my bed. I needed her too.

I didn't know what was going too happen now or how we were going to get through this, but I knew we were all going to need each other more than ever. I shifted to try and get more comfortable and when I did the IV in my arm got pulled the wrong way. I looked down to make sure it was ok and when I did I happened to notice my other hand. It was sticking out of the sling and in the darkened room I could just barely see the fading black letters.

E-Mail MOM

The sight of this overwhelmed me, and when I thought of everything that had happened in the twenty four hours since I had wrote I started sobbing. It was hard to believe everything had gone wrong so fast, and it was even harder to believe that anything would ever be normal again.

AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn!

Hi everyone! I know that I usually reply to all of your reviews and then thank each of you in my author's note but I didn't have time this time, please don't hate me. I just didn't have a lot of time and I really wanted to put up the new chapter and give you guys something read. Please know that I love each of you for taking the time to read and review my story :)

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