ASL Chapter 4

Old Friends

Emmett POV:

When it rains, it pours crap for Edward and his family right now. Just when one thing started going right, it all went to hell again fast. Edward woke up thinking he was only sixteen. He didn't know Tanya, his own son…. hell, he wouldn't even remember me. I thought about everything that had happened that he had forgotten and I didn't know how Tanya was going to survive this. There is no way that I would be ok if Rose forgot me.

Rose and I had agreed to watch Ethan for Tanya while she ran home for the photo albums to show Edward to jog his memory. We had been trying to help her out as much as possible whether it was watching Ethan, running to the store, or some housework. I was put in charge of taking care of Jacob's tank since it was my idea to get him. Honestly though, it was the best idea I had ever had. It was so easy to distract Ethan by getting him interested in something that fish was doing.

Rose's sister, Alice, felt bad that she couldn't be more help or come to the hospital more, but she had a newborn at home to take care of. Not to mention she keeps blaming herself for Edward's accident. Jasper told me that she felt like it is her fault because he was tired from waiting up all night for her to have the baby. She thought that if she had just hurried it along a little he wouldn't have been so tired. We all kept telling her that it was no one's fault. All of us could take some blame for not doing more that day. Hell, I could have insisted on driving him to his office and picking him up again. But he told us he was fine and we believed him.

Rose came back from going into his room and told me that it hadn't worked. Alice and Jasper showed up at the hospital a few minutes later with their kids in tow. We sent Alice in right away. I followed her because I just could not sit in that waiting room a minute longer. I waited in the hall where Edward couldn't see me. All of a sudden, I heard someone screaming for help in Edward's room and I ran in to see what was going on. I found some brunette woman attempting to keep Edward in his bed. I ran into the room the same time as a nurse did. I helped hold him down while they gave Edward a sedative to calm him. As the fight left Edward and he closed his eyes, I looked up at the woman I had found restraining him. Fuck me if it wasn't Little Bella Swan. Damn! I hadn't seen her since high school.

"Little Bella Swan? Is that really you?"

"Emmy? Oh my God!"

I ran around the bed and grabbed her into a big hug, "I missed you peanut!"

I sat Bella down right at the same time that Rose ran into the room, "Rose, this is Bella Swan from Forks. I've told you about her. Bella, this is my wife, Rose."

Rose stepped forward to greet Bella, "It's so nice to finally meet you. Emmett told me that he never would have graduated high school if you hadn't agreed to tutor him. He has always spoken so highly of you."

"He only needed someone to hold a mirror in front of him and let him see for himself that he was smart. All I did was show him that he had it in him to be more than just the class clown." That wasn't quite true. Bella was amazing at figuring out what someone needed to be able to learn and overcome obstacles that were in the way of that person's success.

"I didn't know you were even in Seattle. I thought you went to college in Florida to be closer to your mother. How long have you been in Seattle? Are you are nurse or something?"

"I've only been back a few months and I am a physical and occupational therapist."

"I bet the Chief is thrilled to have you to closer to him again."

"Uh. He wishes I'd take a job in Forks or at least come down to visit a lot more."

"I know he missed you when you left. I always take time to visit him whenever I make it home. He and I always had a special relationship."

"Is that what you call it? I think he calls it something else. I believe he told me that he wished he could use you for target practice, more than once."

"I wasn't that bad."

"Yes you were. How many times did they have to replace the stop sign in town?"

"That was all in good fun."

"What about the time you tried to teach that group of Boy Scouts how to start a fire."

"It was on the list of things they were supposed to learn. I still don't understand why they thought it was a good idea for me to take over that troop."

"But you did it on the school football field! You were lucky no one got hurt or killed!"

"It sounded like a good idea at the time. No one in their right mind would have allowed to children to wander off into the woods with me. Besides, it wasn't that bad and the damage was minimal."

"Your bonfire was so large you could see the smoke for miles. That is how they found you."

"But all of them knew how to start a fire and how to put one out properly when I was done."

"And they got to watch their scout leader get arrested for vandalism."

"I never actually got arrested."

"You were cuffed and hauled down to the station. That is one of Dad's top ten favorite days at work."

"I wasn't actually arrested. I was only detained until my parents could come pick me up."

"How are your parents anyway? They're still in Forks right?"

"Oh yes. Mom will never leave there."

"Dad is the same way. He loves it too much and takes his job protecting the town quite seriously."

"How long have the two of you been married?" Bella questioned. Rose and I launched into the quick version of our relationship. Rose was my life. I would give her anything her heart desired if I could. This afternoon I was giving her the dream house she wanted. We had an appointment to sign papers on the house we were buying and I could not wait to be able to move in.

Rose moved forward and offered her hand to Bella with a smile, "Well, I can certainly see why Emmett is so fond of you and I am happy that you are going to be helping my brother. Maybe you can come over for dinner and tell me more about Emmett's high school adventures."

"I'd like that a lot. I really haven't made any friends here. I work so much. But I'd better go. I need to catch Dr. Snow and tell her about what happened with Edward." I hugged Bella as she went on her way.

"She is just as sweet as you always said she was. I think I'm going to really like her. We better not be in here when Edward wakes up." She looked down at her watch, "Care to escort your wife to the bank and buy her a house?"

"Where's Ethan?"

"With Mom. They are taking him home to go swimming and spend the afternoon away from the hospital."

"Good. He needs that." I kissed her forehead as I took her hand in mine and walked her out to our car. If Bella was helping Edward everything would be back to normal in no time. I was positive about that.

TPOV:

I walked into the house that I had lived in with my husband since he graduated from medical school. It was nice, more than we could really afford at the time, but that was okay. We both knew that even if we had to scrimp and save for a few years that it would be all right in the end. It was big enough for a family to grow into and in a neighborhood with good schools. I never cared about the things that I wanted that I couldn't afford to get myself because the mortgage was so expensive. I have a wall that has lines etched into it that mark Ethan's growth.

We started marking his height on his first birthday; we do it every year on that day, and will continue to do it until he is eighteen. I always thought that we would eventually add marks for the other children that Edward and I would have. It made the miscarriage that much harder to get over. I wanted more marks on that wall. I wanted it so bad. Just thinking about losing my baby made me want to throw something at the wall. Instead, I sank to the ground and cried in the middle of my living room.

My sister Kate always had this sixth sense about knowing when I needed someone to talk to. It was no surprise then, when she called my cell phone a few minutes after my crying jag started. "I swear you have my house bugged," I attempted to joke with her while trying to halt my tears.

"I just had this feeling something was wrong. What happened?" I went into the whole story with her and she let me cry on her shoulder, figuratively speaking. I felt a little better by the time I got off the phone with her. She was always a believer in positive thinking and believed that we all were confident that Edward would get back his memories soon and everything would go back to the way it was before the accident. The only problem with that, no amount of positive thinking would give me my baby back. But she didn't know about that. Only Carlisle, Esme, and I knew about that and at this point probably those only ones that ever would.

I dragged myself off the floor and started collecting every photo album and home movie that I could find. I was never so glad that Edward insisted that we record everything. Especially when he was doing his residency and would be gone for days at a time, I would tape Ethan for him and that way he wouldn't miss out on anything. It also meant that we had just about every first of Ethan's caught on tape.

When I returned to the hospital I found out the attempts made by his sisters had not garnished much in the way of positive results. Instead, it caused him to get upset and they needed to sedate him. The doctor and that Bella woman were waiting at the hospital to talk to him when he woke up. Carlisle and Esme had taken a cranky Ethan back to their house for a nap while I was gone so I was the only one sitting with Edward for a while.

At first, I pulled the chair over next to his bed, stroked his face, and smoothed out his hair, "I love you Edward. You and Ethan are not just my life; the two of you are my soul. I need you to remember us sweetheart. Please wake up and remember us." Then I sat there is silence until I grew tired. I moved the chair over by the window and curled up in the hopes that I could doze for a bit.

EdwardPOV:

I opened my eyes and started looking around the hospital room that I was in. This time I wasn't so disoriented. I knew where I was and I was pretty sure I knew what was going on. I could tell by the soft light coming through the window that the sun was starting to go down. I sighed as I took in the sight of the blonde sitting in the chair by the window. It was the first one that had been in my room that I made cry. I knew I should apologize to her but she was sleeping so soundly that I couldn't bring myself to disturb her.

I sat there quietly in the quickly darkening room and let myself get lost in my thoughts. Had I really been in a coma for years? Damn. How old am I? How much of life did I miss out on?

I was still lying there lost in my thoughts when a nurse came into the room, "Look who's awake."

"How much did I miss? How long was I out?"

"I'm sorry. I can't answer that."

"Please. I need to know."

"I'm sorry, but the doctor needs to be the one to talk to you. I'll call him down as soon as I am done here. Ok?"

"Fine. Can you at least tell me who she is?" I asked pointing to the lady sleeping in my room.

"I'm sorry. The doct-"

"The doctor will tell me. I get it."

"I am sorry. I know it must be very frustrating but it is better to let the doctor answer your questions."

"I get it. Thanks. What about some food?" I asked hopefully.

"I can have the kitchen bring something up."

"Can I get a burger and fries? Maybe a milkshake?"

"How about we start with something a little lighter, huh? Maybe some toast and scrambled eggs? If you hold that down all right I'll see about getting you that burger and fries tomorrow. Ok?"

"Fine. I guess," I pouted, making the nurse laugh.

"I'll go call Dr. Snow and the kitchen."

The nurse quickly finished getting my vitals taken and recorded, then she helped me use this jug thing to go to the bathroom. That was damn embarrassing, but as she put it, it was better than having a catheter shoved up there. Just the thought of that had me wincing in pain. She told me that the harder I work with Bella the sooner I would be able to get up and use the bathroom. She left the room a minute later with the promise that the doctor would be down soon.

I turned to watch the lady sleeping in the chair again. She was pretty. Surely she had a husband and maybe some kids to go home to. So I wondered why she was still here. Why would she choose to sit in my room while I slept? Maybe she was the police and I was under arrest for drunk driving and being a minor. Then why would she start crying when I didn't know who she was. The longer I sat there lost in my thoughts, the more confused and frustrated I became.

A half an hour later, the doctor still hadn't come down to my room to talk to me and I wondered what the hold-up was. I was tempted to call the nurse and ask what was taking so long but didn't. I didn't want to be any more trouble than probably already had been.

When I couldn't take the silence any longer I grabbed the remote to turn on the TV that was mounted to the wall. It was a strange one though. It was completely flat. I guessed that a lot of things were going to seem strange to me for awhile while I caught up with everything that I had missed.

I aimed the remote at the TV and hit the power button but nothing happened. I kept trying but still nothing happened. I finally gave up when I looked closer at the TV and noticed that someone had unplugged it. I sighed and sagged back into the bed. Now I was really restless. I look over at the table next to my bed, hoping that someone had left something that I could read. The only thing there was a pitcher of water and a couple of cups.

Another twenty minutes went by and I was about to call for the nurse, when my parents walked into the room. So that is what they were waiting for. They wanted my parents to be in the room when they talked to me. I didn't really care who was in the room with me as long as some one gave me some answers.

A/N:

Hey there! Ffn is finally letting me update. The next chapter is going off to Sweetpea123 tonight betaing and then some edits. So the next update will be next weekend. I did a lot of editing and rewriting of this chapter after Sweetpea sent it back to me so all errors are my fault. I appreciate the time she takes out of her very busy schedule to beta this for me. Reviews will get a teaser of Chapter 5!