Thanks to Lilbitbookish82 for prereading and being the advisor of this story.
The Mare Program
Chapter 5
Isabella was loaded into the ambulance, a scared and desperate Tanya joined her. Isabella was unconscious and she'd had a second seizure.
"Her pulse is weak, we're losing her!" The paramedic shouted.
"She's six weeks pregnant!" Tanya exclaimed.
The paramedics looked at the pool of blood between Bella's legs and then looked between them. There was way too much blood.
"I don't think she's pregnant anymore," they whispered.
Ten minutes later they made it to the hospital, they rushed Isabella into an exam room. Edward was there waiting for them. She hurried towards him, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," she said over and over.
"What's going on? What did you do to Bella?" Edward asked her roughly.
"Me? I didn't do anything to her, I was taking care of her as you asked. She had a seizure and then she started bleeding, they think... they said that..." she couldn't finish.
Edward gave her an irritated look; she'd never seen him so angry or upset with her. For the first time, she feared her husband.
She breathed and continued, "They said she wasn't pregnant anymore."
"But they have to be lying, she has to be okay. Our baby has to be okay!" She said desperately.
Edward looked at her in a way she'd never seen before, he was worried and angry.
"Edward, I swear I didn't do anything, I was going to get her up to give her a quick shower and see if she would have some chicken broth and I noticed the bleeding," she explained.
"I called you and then the ambulance came," she added.
"I was with her the whole time I swear, I didn't leave her side, I even brought the girls to your room so that I could take off all of them together," she told him.
"That's what I've been doing for three days, Edward, you have to believe me!" She added.
He knew Tanya, she was too kind, too gentle. She had also been very happy that Isabella was pregnant. She didn't have a malicious bone in her body.
Edward noticed her bloody hands as she was fidgeting with them.
"Let's go get you cleaned up," he said grabbing her forearm and taking her to the nearest bathroom.
An hour after returning to the waiting room from washing Tanya's hands, the doctor came to talk to them.
"Why wasn't Mrs. Cullen brought in before?" The doctor asked.
"Why what's going on?" Edward asked.
"She's having a bad miscarriage," she said.
"Is the baby..." Edward couldn't finish the question. The despair he felt in the pit of his stomach intensified.
"There's no baby, it's gone. It was completely expelled from her body." He exclaimed.
Both Edward and the doctor were startled by Tanya's blood-curdling scream.
"NO, NO, NO! NOT OUR BABY, NOT OUR BABY," she yelled frantically.
"NO, IT CAN'T BE DEAD! NOT AGAIN, PLEASE YOU'RE LYING!" She said as she lunged towards the doctor.
Edward grabbed her before she hurt anyone, "Tanya darling, calm down!" He said.
She turned to look at him, "She's lying right darling, Bella's fine, and the baby too, right?" she looked at her husband for reassurance.
"I'm sorry Tanya, it's true," he said.
Tanya started crying loudly and trying to get away from Edward's stronghold. She started clawing at her hair and face, she grabbed the skirt of her bohemian dress and started ripping the fabric. Right then the doctor returned with two nurses, Edward hadn't even noticed she had been gone. The nurse to his left went behind Tanya and injected her with a sedative, quickly her body slumped against Edward's, and her eyelids drooped. She was taken to a small room where she was laid down on a gurney and hooked to an IV drip.
After he made sure Tanya was taken care of Edward went to talk to the doctor again.
"What's going on with my wife?" He asked.
"Why wasn't Mrs. Cullen brought in before?" The doctor asked again.
"She had morning sickness all day, she couldn't keep anything down so Tanya suggested she take some tea to settle her stomach. That worked for one day, then she just started sleeping all day and barely eating anything but the tea and chicken broth," Edward explained.
"Mr. Cullen your wife was poisoned, that tea she was given was not to settle her stomach," the doctor explained.
"What's going on? What do you mean?" Edward demanded.
"After a few tests we discovered that she was given what we call the abortive tea," she said.
Edward looked at her confused, "It's a combination of herbs that causes the uterus to contract and relax. For it to be effective you need to take a big amount at a time, she was given the herbs in small doses. How often was she given the tea, do you know?" The doctor explained.
"Tanya, said four times a day for about three days," he replied.
"She overdosed on the tea, unsuspectingly of course," she said.
"Is she okay?" He asked breathlessly.
"No, her kidney function lowered. She will now have to go to the bathroom more often as a result. Her platelets, red, and white cells diminished so we need to transfuse her," she said.
"She almost went into cardiac arrest too," the doctor continued to explain.
In the distance, he saw his parents Carlisle and Esme Cullen coming towards him.
His mother rushed to hug him, "what happened dear?" she asked.
"It's Bella, Tanya called me and told me that she was bleeding. We brought her here to get checked out, she lost the baby," he said as the ache in his chest deepened.
"Oh sweetheart I'm so sorry," Esme said.
"Another miscarriage?" Carlisle said his tone skeptical.
"Dad please, I would like your support on this, do you think I like to go through this over and over again? How many children have I lost already? That doesn't make it less painful," Edward said exasperated.
He'd lost count already of all the children he had lost, he thought it would be different with Bella.
"It wasn't a natural miscarriage Mr. Cullen, Isabella Cullen was poisoned," the doctor informed them.
"Poisoned?" Esme cried.
"Yes, someone mixed various herbs used for abortion and gave it to her in small doses," she said.
"Who would do such a thing?" Esme asked.
"I have no idea Mother, Tanya was with her all the time she never left her side." He said.
"Where is she by the way?" Carlisle asked.
"She had a nervous breakdown and we had to sedate her," the doctor said to him.
The doctor turned to talk to Edward again, "As I was explaining, we also had to give her anti-seizure medication and a coagulant to stop the bleeding. She's sedated right now; we want to keep her under so that her body can heal. She should wake up sometime tomorrow," she said.
"Will she have any other repercussions?" Edward asked.
"If your question is if she can still have children the answer is yes, she will be able to have more children. Her uterus wasn't damaged; some of the herbs in the tea are used during menstruation to relieve cramps. Essentially the embryo simply detached and came out of her like a bad period," She added.
"We still have to transfuse her, but we only have one bag of her blood type available, there was a car crash this morning that used all the O- we had," she told them.
"That's my blood type, I can donate," Esme said and Edward sighed relieved.
A nurse came to take Esme to start the procedure, and Carlisle stayed with Edward.
"She was poisoned, who did it? Do you know?" Carlisle asked.
"I don't know Dad," Edward said.
"Could it have been Tanya?" he proposed.
"No, she was with her the whole time, someone from the main kitchen was making the tea," he explained what Tanya had told him.
"So it's someone from the house, an employee. But why would they do that?" he questioned his son.
Edward pinched the bridge of his nose, "I don't know Dad okay! I just want Bella to be okay, she could've died I could've...lost her," he whispered the last part.
Edward sat down on a nearby chair and went through his messages as they waited for Esme. Finally, about twenty minutes later she was back, "All done! She's being transfused as we speak, I managed to donate two pints," she said proudly.
"Thanks, Mom," Edward hugged her.
Edward asked his parents to pick up the twins and take care of them for the night as Tanya had to stay in the hospital. A nurse had told him that she had to have a psych evaluation before she could be released. He went to the room she was in and looked at her sleeping form, her cheeks were tear-stained; she was suffering too.
Edward pulled the chair closer to Tanya's bed and laid his head on the side, soon enough he let the sobs he had been holding escape, and his body shook with grief. He couldn't take it anymore, he felt he was being punished. His eyelids drooped after an hour and he fell asleep too.
~MP~
The next day he woke up to the feeling of fingers running through his hair. He looked up, Tanya was awake.
"Darling, what are you doing sleeping there? Where are we?" She asked.
"In the hospital," he replied.
Then she remembered the events of the previous day and tears formed in her eyes again.
"It's true then, Bella's baby, your baby is gone," she cried.
"I'm so sorry darling!" she sobbed.
"I'm sorry I didn't take good care of her, please don't send me away, don't leave me," she pleaded frantically.
"Why would I send you away? You have done nothing wrong, or did you lie to me?" He asked.
"No, no, I swear I didn't do anything to harm her or the baby," she said.
A nurse then came to check on Tanya and brought her some breakfast, she checked her vitals and removed the IV. The psychiatrist would come to see her soon, she settled on the bed and started eating when all of a sudden they heard a commotion.
"NO, NO, NO! MY BABY, MY BABY!" Edward recognized Bella's voice. They rushed out of the room and went into Bella's.
She had dark circles under her eyes and looked very pale, she had a cannula in her nose and was hooked to various machines. She was squirming and writhing on the bed as she cried in desperation at the devastating news.
"Let me go! Let me GO!" she yelled.
Edward and Tanya stepped into the room, and Bella noticed them.
"YOU!" she raised her voice, "GET OUT, GET OUT! YOU KILLED MY BABY,"
Yes, another cliffy... I'm not evil I swear.
So, we met Carlisle and Esme, any thoughts on them? Are they stern, supportive, easygoing, or evil? Is Tanya being truthful about what happened with Bella? What do you think?
Is Edward's frustration with the miscarriages valid? What will Bella do now? Who's truly behind all of this?
Let me hear you, I want to know your theories.
Thanks for reading!