ASL Chapter 7

Ethan

EPOV

I looked up when Bella entered the room. Tanya, who had only been back for a few minutes, was just moving my breakfast tray away from my bed. She smiled when Bella walked in and greeted us, "Good Morning to you too, Bella." She seemed to like Bella as much as I did.

"I hear you got quite a bit of information last night. How are you doing with that?"

"I'm overwhelmed by it all yet I feel like the information I did get is not enough."

"I'm sure. Do you have any questions for me?"

"I had about a million questions last night. But the more I've thought about everything the list of question grew to, oh I don't know, about a zillion. I just don't know what to ask first, how to ask it, or if I really want more answers right now."

"I get that. Just ask what you want to know when you're ready to know. We'll let you take the lead on that. I'm not guaranteeing that you will get answers or even answers that you'll like but we'll try. Ok?"

"Ok."

"Now, I was also told that you want to have your sisters and your son brought in to see you. The sisters I am not so worried about, but when it comes to that adorable little boy I just met in the elevator a few minutes ago, I want to be overcautious."

"They're here?" Tanya interrupted.

"Yes, Toyland is being built in the waiting room as we speak."

"Excuse me," Tanya said as she slipped out of the room obviously anxious to see her baby.

"Anyways, after your reaction to seeing your sister yesterday, if we bring him in here, I need to be sure that I am not going to be forced to restrain you in front of him until the doctor can sedate you. Now neither of us can be positive of anything at this point. So this is the plan that your Dad, Dr. Snow, and I came up with. Your parents and Dr. Snow will be in here the whole time. Your parents plus your wife will stand by him ready to block his view and get him out of here in a heartbeat. Ok?"

"Yes. Of course. I don't want to upset him. I just feel this need to actually see him and not just in some pictures of times that I don't remember."

"If you start feeling overwhelmed, try to let us know, if possible." I nodded my head to her. "Now it's time for the fun part of my visit, well, fun for me and painful for you. I need to work the leg muscles of your leg that is not broken. You have been stationary for weeks and I need to get those muscles in good condition to support your weight for when we do get you out of that bed."

She grabbed the remote and positioned the bed so that I was lying flat and went to work on my leg. We talked a bit while she was working on my leg. Well, she talked and I bit my tongue and tried not to cry…too much.

Pain would shoot up my back and down my leg that was in the cast every time she would move what was supposed to be my good leg. She tried to distract me while she worked by telling me stories and asking me questions. It mostly was her talking because there wasn't much about my life that I remembered to be able to be able to hold a decent conversation about. She told me about her parents and growing up bouncing between them. Her father, being the chief of police in a small town down the coast, was extremely overprotective of her when she would visit. Then she went into how she ended up moving in with her father in high school and how close she is to her father now.

"Do you need some pain medicine?" But thank God she was done. I don't think I would have been able to take much more of that torture.

"No. I'm fine."

"No you're not. I can see it in your face. Don't try that with me and don't try to be the tough guy. It will only slow down your progress."

"Ok. How about I don't want any right now, but maybe later?"

"That's better. Thank you."

"Yeah, thanks for making me cry like a girl."

"Ha! We haven't even gotten to the hard stuff yet. That was just the warm up." I groaned at that revelation, "But, that is all we are doing for today. You still up to meeting your son?"

"Yes." She picked up the bed remote, called the nurses' station, and told them to send everyone down. Then she reset the bed so that I was sitting up. It seemed like forever before they appeared in the doorway. The little boy holding Tanya's hand looked up at her and then at me before smiling and breaking loose from her and running for my bed.

TanyaPOV:

As soon as Bella told me that Ethan was here, I was out the door to see him. I had been separated from him more in the last three weeks than I think I had been in the three years since he was born.

I stood there watching him play with his grandparents. He ran at me the moment that he looked up and saw me standing there.

"Mama!" He yelled and I scooped him up and hugged him hard until he started squirming to get down. He ran back to his spot on his blanket and started playing with his cars again. With Ethan thoroughly distracted Carlisle was able to tell me the plan they came up with for taking Ethan to see Edward.

I sat with Ethan and Esme and we played cars with him until Dr. Snow came into the waiting room and nodded at us. Bella was done working with Edward and we could now bring Ethan in.

"Sweetheart," I said taking the car from his hand to get his attention, "Guess what! Daddy woke up and he's waiting to see you."

"Really!" He got to his feet and started jumping around the room.

"Wow! You are really hyper today." I said looking up at my in-laws.

They looked down at me looking contrite. "Sorry," they said unison. I would have to ask them later what that was about because right now I had to attempt to calm my son down before I took him into his father's room.

It only took me a couple minutes to realize that my son was on some kind of major sugar high and the only thing I could do was let him burn off the excess energy.

Unfortunately there was no putting off taking him to see Edward now. I took his hand and led him down the hall. Esme stood on the other side of him and Carlisle was right behind us.

As soon as we walked in the door, Ethan pulled his hand from mine and ran for Edward before I could catch him. Bella caught him before he could climb onto the bed. I came up next to Ethan and squatted down so I was on his level, "Whoa there Ethan. You have to be careful of Daddy's owies."

"I just wanted to hug 'im". I looked up to see Edward trying to peer over the edge of the bed. I looked from Edward to Bella to Dr. Snow. We were all trying to gauge if it would be alright to put him on the bed.

"Please." Edward whispered looking at me. I sighed and nodded.

Bella came down to our level and got Ethan's attention, "Ok. We'll put you on the bed, but you have to try to sit still, okay? Do you think you can do that?" Ethan nodded at her and smiled while trying to scale the bed, but Bella picked him up and placed him on the bed next to Edward on his good side. We were all staring at the two of them like we were expecting this instantaneous miracle to happen. When nothing happened but Edward giving his son a hug the best he could with his casts, we all let out a collective breath.

We all sat around the room watching TV and talking. Ethan was trying to fill Edward in on everything he'd done while Edward was sleeping. Ethan snuggled into Edward's side and before long they fell asleep together on the bed.

"At least he didn't panic like he did with Alice yesterday." Carlisle mused.

"Maybe it was because he was prepared for it. Yesterday we sprung Alice on him with no warning or explanation."

"That could very well be, we'll know more later, after I've had the chance to talk with him about it." Bella spoke up from her chair in the corner. She had been trying to stay out of the way as much as possible while she observed the visit.

Eventually Carlisle and Esme decided to go down for some coffee. Dr. Snow was the next to leave saying that he had other patients to check in on. Bella stayed awhile longer, but eventually had to leave for other patients as well. I asked her about her work while getting to know her a little more. She told me about some of the things that she was trained to handle. She was such a remarkable person with such a kind nature to be able to work with children with autism and learning disorders. She had to leave around lunchtime to make it to appointments with other patients, but promised that she would be back later to look in on Edward.

I spent the remaining time I had alone watching my husband and my son cuddled up on the bed together. I gave myself a little hope that things would be back to normal one day. I was still sitting there watching them when Edward woke up. We sat there staring at each other. I was almost trying to will him remember us with my mind; "You don't remember anything, do you?"

"No. Nothing."

"Alice and Rose called. They will be here later this afternoon. Your lunch should be here soon." He nodded at me. "When Ethan wakes up, I'm going to take him to the park for the rest of the afternoon. I need to spend time with him. I feel like I've been neglecting him lately."

"That's fine."

I reached into my purse and grabbed my phone so I could check for message and missed calls.

"What is that?"

I looked up at him perplexed, "What?"

"That thing in your hand, what is it?"

"My cell phone?"

"What is a cell phone?"

"It's a phone that you can take with you. As long as you're in a place that gets a signal, it will work."

"Can I see it?" I handed him my phone and he turned it over in his hand a few times before asking how it worked. It was then that I realized that Edward didn't just forget the people in his life, but things in his life. The little things, like an I-phone, were new and foreign to him. He jumped when he accidentally turned on the music player and I grabbed it and turned it off before it could wake Ethan. This was something that I was going to have to bring up to Bella and Dr. Snow.

We had to wake Ethan when Edward's lunch arrived so we could situate the table in front of Edward and so that he could have his good arm back to eat. Edward tried to offer Ethan some of his lunch thinking he might be hungry but Ethan refused, it saying he was tired of the 'yucky food' they have here. I promised to take him for pizza for lunch. When we left a few minutes later, Ethan didn't want to leave Edward. I finally promised Ethan that we would be back later in the afternoon and he relented, but not before giving Edward a kiss and hug and making him promise that he wouldn't go back to sleep until he came back.

EPOV:

The nurse was just leaving with my lunch tray when Mom and Dad returned to my room. They had raided the gift shop looking for things to keep my mind occupied. I wanted to roll my eyes and tell them that doing crossword puzzles wasn't going to help me regain my memories any faster. But I was already getting bored just sitting here so at least they'd give me something to do.

It was late afternoon when Rose and Emmett appeared in my doorway. Mom and Dad had filled me in a little on Rose and Emmett. They hadn't been married too long and they did not have any kids yet. I was trying to keep that straight in my head. Alice had two kids, I had one, and Rose had none. You would think that would be easy to remember. Rose came in and sat next me for awhile. It was painfully uncomfortable at first. The last memory I had of her she was a twelve year old girl, and here she was a full grown woman who was married. I didn't know this person at all. I mean, I knew her, but I really knew nothing about who she was as a person now.

After almost a half hour of everyone sitting in silence the room phone rang, making us all jump. Rose reached over to table next to me and answered because of course, it was on the side with my broken arm.

"That was Tanya. Ethan is not feeling well so they won't be able to come back today. She said she'll be here in the morning. She needs a good night's sleep in her own bed anyway." I knew that was my fault.

Mom turned to Dad, "I'll call her later and see if she needs us to bring her anything," He nodded at her but kept his eyes on me.

Rose sat back down in her chair and everyone fell silent again until finally Rose spoke up again, "Did you get to see the pictures of my wedding?" I shook my head no. I had not looked at any pictures other than the two I was shown the night before.

"It was a true spectacle that was pure Rose," Dad grimaced.

"I remember you always being a drama queen and throwing fits when things didn't go your way."

"She hasn't outgrown that. Every one of her bridesmaids tried to strangle her at some point. I was even tempted to a couple times," Mom laughed while shaking her head.

"Two bridesmaids actually smacked her," Emmett spoke up with a laugh.

"So what you're saying is that she is the same Rose now that I remember her being at twelve?"

"Yes!" They all answered and Rose just shrugged it off. Now that was the Rose that I remembered. She never cared what anyone thought of her, she just did whatever she wanted to as long as it made her happy.

Alice showed up not long before dinnertime. She came in carrying a baby carrier, but other than that she was alone. "Where's Jasper?" I asked, getting a round of surprised looks from my family, "That is his name, right? Tanya told me you're married to a guy name Jasper when she showed me a picture of Ethan last night. He was in the background." I muttered.

"Oh. He's in the waiting room with Kara. We weren't sure about bringing her in here…whether it was ok or not."

"They let Ethan come in this morning. I behaved myself."

"We don't want to completely overwhelm you, Edward." I knew Dad meant well with that but it didn't make sense.

"What else besides the fact that I have a wife and a kid that are complete strangers to me could you possibly have to tell me?" I snapped.

"Ok. Fair enough. You also need to remember that you have a lot of physical injuries that you are still recovering from and you shouldn't try to do too much."

"I'm stuck in this bed, it's not like I'm going to try to run a marathon or get up and play hide and seek with her, or anything like that. Everyone just needs to stop tip-toeing around me!"

"Your sixteen-year-old attitude is one thing that I most definitely have not missed." The baby in the carrier chose that moment to let everyone know that he was still there and wide awake so Dad offered to go get Jasper while she tended to the baby, and walked out of the room.

Again with the damn silence. They didn't seem to know how to be around me and act normal. The silent tension was amazingly irritating and I was relieved when they left when my dinner was brought in. Mom offered to come back after she and dad had their dinner but I told her that I was tired and probably going to fall asleep soon. It had been a really long day. Dinner was just as bad as breakfast and lunch had been. I was tempted to hide most of it in my empty coffee cup, but decided that would be too childish. I was still picking at it when the nurse from last night came back in.

"Feeling sick?"

"No. It's gross. I can't get myself to eat anymore of this"

"One day awake and you're already complaining about the food!" she teased me. "I saw in your chart that you didn't have any trouble keeping down your breakfast or lunch. Do you still want that burger you asked for last night?"

"Please!" I was not above begging for edible food. She nodded and kept on doing her work. Before she left she asked me if there was anything else I need, so I had her hand me the box of photo albums that Tanya had left behind. I felt the need to try to see what, if anything, I could remember.

An hour later, I was sitting there with one of the books in front of me while watching TV. Everything on there was so foreign to me. I finally started blocking it all out and allowed myself to get lost in my own head. There had been so much thrown at me and I really hadn't sat back and thought any of it through.

I had a wife and a son that obviously relied on me. Tanya told me that she didn't work so I must be the sole income earner of the family. What was going to happen if I didn't get my memories back? How was I going to take care of them? That was what I was supposed to do, right, take care of them?

My musings were interrupted by a knock on the door, "Hey there, Edward! I called to check on you and your nurse told me that you were begging for edible food," Bella said, holding up the bag. "I don't blame you. I can't stand the food here either."

"You didn't have to go out of your way to bring me anything."

"That's ok. I haven't had a chance to get dinner either. Do you mind if I eat with you? I was thinking maybe we could take advantage of the rare opportunity to be alone to talk a bit."

"Yeah. Sure." I grabbed the burger from her and started eating.

"Edward, I want you to remember that my job isn't just about helping you through your physical recovery, but I am also here to help you through the emotional aspects as well. I can be an impartial ear to vent to when things get tough for you. Ok?"

"Yeah. I think today is one of those days."

"What's going on?"

"I don't really know where to start. I get what I'm being told, but it's like unreal most of the time."

"Anything in particular making you feel that way?"

"It's all just crazy. To me, it was like last night I was in high school and partying with my friends, and suddenly I'm sucked through this time warp and being told these two strangers are my wife and son. I don't know anything about them. Am I expected to just go home with them at some point and go on like we're one big happy family? They tell me that she's my wife. I've been telling myself that all day but I just don't get that connection."

"It's only been a day, Edward. Give yourself time to process everything. We are going to take everything one day at a time and we will worry about going home later. You are going to be here with us for a while. Alright?"

"Yeah. This is going to sound crazy, but even though I can't remember anything about Ethan….it was almost like I felt some connection to him."

"I don't think that it's crazy. It's the same concept as love at first sight. Even adoptive parents just know that they love their child just as much as if they were related by blood. Sometimes your heart just knows who you love and sometimes it takes time and patience to realize that you love a person."

Bella and I talked for awhile longer about everything I was feeling; it felt strange to confide in a stranger like that. Mom had always been the one that I turned to when I was confused about things like this. I fell asleep soon after she left, more relaxed than I had been all day.

A/N:

All I can really say about being fail last week is I'm sorry. Those of you that read Living Life have heard my excuses but for those that haven't it boils down to the fact that my son didn't get placed in either high school he wanted but into the most violent in town and we both freaked out and then the conductor for his orchestra was fired one week before their final two concerts. So it was a busy and highly stressful week that left me unable to write. again, I am sorry for skipping an update without warning.I will send a teaser with review replies and I have one rec for this week. Its only on chapter 2 but that chapter was hilarious:

Quickie Mart Cupid by prettykittyartist: (take out the spaces)

http:/www . fanfiction . net/s/7834639/1/

Quickie Marts, flat tires, expensive suits, gangster rap, g-strings and velvet roses. Valentines' Day wasn't going as planned.