A/N: I would just like to let all of my readers know that this story GENTLE TOUCHES is the very same as author ANIMAL8. As I adopted it from her earlier on this year, most of the chapters that ANIMAL8 had already created are being posted the same as I do not want to ruin the amazing work she has worked so hard on. I will be setting up a link to ANIMAL8 page so it will be accessible to new and old readers. I do hope that I can do this story as much justice as ANIMAL8 and I do hope that you enjoy the old and new chapters of GENTLE TOUCHES.

Disclaimer: I Own Nothing Twilight

Gentle Touches

Chapter 14 – Turnabout (RPOV)

I stood outside the room after Carlisle had left. I didn't want to admit it, but I was curious about the girl, which was unusual for my usually cold front towards others. But there was something about her, possibly how innocent and childlike she seemed, that drew me to her.

She seemed just like a lost and frightened child and I swore that if I ever found out who had hurt her, they would regret ever laying a hand on her. The others didn't know how I felt about her, except maybe Edward, and I wanted to keep it that way for now. I knew Edward would never reveal my private thoughts, so I wasn't worried about that ever happening.

But I couldn't help wanting to see her again. I hadn't seen anything of her other than the brief glimpse I caught as Edward carried her into the house with Emmett and Jasper following behind. Of course, Emmett had told me about how they found her. Even if he thought I wasn't interested, he could never resist telling me something like this and for once I was glad of it. I wanted to know about this girl.

The poor girl had been a mess when we first saw her, but I had nothing to compare it to now in my own mind. The only information I had to go by was what Edward, Alice and Carlisle had told us, seeing as no one else had seen her. They didn't think she would take to having others around her so soon.

Which is why I was waiting outside the room and listening as Edward hummed the tune I recognised from the piano piece he had been composing. I smirked as I realised that she must have been the inspiration for it. He was already very attached to her, and though I was curious of the girl, this realisation made me nervous. If something happened to her, or if she had to leave, then what would happen to him?

It was inevitable that she would leave eventually. She probably had a family out there who were worried sick about her, and as soon as she was better she would have to return to them. And even if she didn't, we were vampires so it wasn't safe for her to live with us. Not forgetting that, with her being human, she would age and die while we remained.

At least we didn't have to think about that just yet. The girl was still in poor shape and needed a lot of help, and as much as I disagreed at first, I knew that Carlisle was the best at what he did. If anyone could help her, it was him.

I waited a moment longer, until I was sure the girl was asleep, before gripping the door handle firmly and turning it. When I was inside, I took in the sight of Edward lying on the bed with the girl curled up, eyes closed and peacefully asleep.

The door closed quietly behind me, but Edward didn't look up. I was certain that he knew I was here, but I didn't mind the lack of acknowledgement to my arrival. It gave me the opportunity to observe the girl I had been fighting myself about seeing.

I stood to the side of the room, facing the end of the bed, so I had a perfect view of how close Edward and the girl were lying and how his hand held hers delicately, as if he was afraid he would break it. It was unusual for him, but I could see how much he cared for her; more than I had thought possible, in fact.

Edward watched the girl carefully for a moment and then slowly leaned over her to grab the blue blanket Esme had given him to take to her. Gently, he spread it out over her, making sure she was covered and even tucking it in around her. I stared, fascinated, at the apparent caring and tenderness in his interaction with her.

The girl stirred in her sleep and one of her arms moved up until her hand could grip the top edge of the blanket tightly in her fist. Edward smiled tenderly down at her, his eyes brimming with emotion as his hand softly stroked her cheek with a gentle caress.

I don't think I had ever seen Edward as sensitive to someone else as he was to this unknown girl, not even with his own family. He had been alone for the last ninety years of his life and now it seemed like he could finally be truly happy. And I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

Don't get me wrong, I was happy for my brother. But she was a human. Eventually, complications would arise. Most likely from the Volturi if she was to remain with us, for she would certainly have to be told of our secret. Of course, we could always change her... I cut that thought off. I wasn't ready to accept her into the family yet and we had other problems to deal with now, like getting her better and finding her real family. Besides, she should be allowed to live a normal human life, to find a husband and have children and grow old and eventually die. That was the way of things.

I brushed my concerns off for now and continued watching Edward with the girl. As he stared at her, I decided it was time that I say something. "You care for her," I spoke as a statement. I already knew the answer, but I wanted to hear it from him.

"I do," my brother said softly, brushing a lock of brown hair back from her face, "I just want to see her get better."

"Don't we all," I muttered under my breath. He could hear me well enough, obviously, but he didn't comment on my remark. Either he wasn't going to waste the time to make a snarky come back, or he heard something from my mind that assuaged him. Both were likely possibilities.

I turned to the girl again, noting how, despite the rest, she still looked exhausted. Her cheeks were drawn, dark circles resided under her eyes and her skin was pale and translucent. Not as pale as us, but still pale for a human. And I saw the state of her body before Edward had placed the blanket over her. She was underweight as well, but I had no idea how bad it was.

Edward sighed sadly at my observation. I could almost feel the helplessness radiating off of him and I sought a different line of conversation as a distraction. Emmett would be so jealous of me right now, I thought, smirking.

It worked and he looked up at me questioningly. I gave him a small smile as I explained. "He's been dying to see the girl again, but Alice and Carlisle keep telling him no. He hasn't stopped complaining all the time you've been up here," I said quietly. I smiled slightly, remembering his annoying whining. I knew it was only because he cared for her, though, so I couldn't complain. Emmett wanted to protect her and take her under his wing, as much as the rest of the family seemed to.

He laughed lightly and glanced down at the girl, thoughtfully. "I wonder what she'll think of him," he mused, "She'll probably be terrified of his size at first. Anyone would be. But he can be such a softie and he has his blunt way of easing the tension of any situation. It would be interesting, in the least. I don't know how she would react."

He was most likely right. But my husband had already taken this girl to his heart and I knew if he ever hurt her then it wouldn't be intentional. He might even be some good to her. Part of me really hoped so.

"Carlisle wanted to call another meeting," I said, suddenly remembering what he'd said on the stairs as he passed me. "He wants to discuss her condition and what he wants to do now. He told me to bring you down once you'd gotten her settled," I nodded my head to the girl.

Edward nodded in acceptance, but he gazed longingly down at the small, sleeping girl tucked up in her ball beside him. She'll be fine, Edward, I thought to him, understanding that he didn't want to leave her alone. She's asleep for now and I'm sure she can rest more peacefully if we aren't here to bother her.

He sighed, but nodded again as he gingerly moved off the bed, careful not to jostle her sleeping form. I left the room, knowing that he would follow and not wanting to intrude when I sensed that he wanted privacy. I may be a bitch sometimes, but I wasn't oblivious and I could take care of others' needs when I wanted, I thought to myself as I walked down to meet the rest of the family.

(EPOV)

I lingered by the girl as Rosalie left the room. To say I had been surprised by her visit was an understatement, but her thoughts showed me that despite her reservations she was starting to care for her as we all were. Though I doubted she would admit it to any of the others just yet.

I was hesitant to leave the girl, even though I knew that Rosalie was right and she would still be safe and asleep without me there. It just didn't feel right for me to leave her. The need to protect her had only grown stronger with knowing how badly she had been hurt.

I couldn't let her get hurt again, though I knew that desire was irrational. She was safe with my family. Well, as safe as any human can be in a house full of vampires, but at least I could be sure that no one would intentionally try to hurt her.

That thought calmed me and eased some of the tension in my muscles. Still, I bent down to her once more to lightly press my palm to her cheek, brushing my thumb across her cheekbone. With a last glance to her sleeping face, I turned and followed my sister from the room.

Everyone was gathered and waiting when I arrived downstairs and joined them. Carlisle's thoughts questioned me and I nodded, telling him that she was sound asleep upstairs. He nodded in return, satisfied with my answer.

Carlisle cleared his throat unnecessarily to gain our attention and we all looked to him. "So, c'mon Doc. Tell us how bad it was," Emmett asked solemnly. He knew this was going to be bad, but was trying to make it easier on everyone. Carlisle gave him a small smile before starting talking.

"Well, overall she seems to be fine," he started cautiously, "The cuts and abrasions on her wrists and feet are clear, though for some reason she doesn't seem to be healing. But that could just be a result of her malnourishment and her body's way of not wasting energy." That was only a theory, but it worked for now, I noted.

"Otherwise, it seems that Alice was right," he continued, frowning sadly, "She has some pretty bad bruising over her ribs and abdomen, though thankfully no internal damage or damage to the ribs. But the most concerning find is probably her back." He looked at everyone seriously for a moment before he spoke. "The bruises and lacerations on her back are in the clear shape of boot prints."

My hands convulsed into fists on my lap as I remembered the marks and her whimpers of fear as she cringed from us. My anger burned in my chest, rising to my throat as I suppressed a growl. Several shocked gasps went around the room at this news; even Alice was surprised, apparently not having seen this earlier. Esme looked appalled, while Emmett's expression matched my own furious one.

"You mean some bastard beat her up and left her like an unwanted puppy?" He seethed, teeth gritted and fists clenched as his muscles rippled. I flinched at his phrasing and looked to my father for his response.

Carlisle shook his head. "I'm afraid it's much worse than that," he added darkly, "There are multiple bruises, some older than others, with newer ones overlapping the older ones. That means that the beatings happened over a long period of time and probably on a regular basis. The newer bruises were inflicted before the older ones had had a chance to heal sufficiently, which would have taken a heavy toll on her already fragile body. Combined with the rope burns on her wrists that show she was bound, someone obviously wanted to inflict a large amount of pain on her."

"My God," Jasper muttered, his thoughts tinged with disgust towards the monster that did this to my angel. His arm tightened protectively around Alice at his side in an instinctive reaction to the stress he was feeling, both from himself and everyone else in the room.

"Well, some good news is that she's not as severely underweight as I'd originally thought," Carlisle went on, trying to lift the dark atmosphere that had settled over our group. "She's still underweight, of course, and we'll still need to get her to eat something soon, but it shouldn't be as difficult as I predicted. Hopefully, she won't have to be under as strict a dieting as I had planned."

He turned to Esme then. "Do you think you could cook something easy for her to eat?" He asked, "Just something light, like some broth that won't be heavy on her stomach. We need to get her body used to having food again."

Esme smiled brightly at him. "Of course," she agreed, happy to be able to help.

Carlisle nodded in thanks. "Good. I think we should try to get her to eat something when she wakes up," he looked to me for confirmation and I nodded in acquiescence without glancing up from my folded hands.

I needed to get out of here for a bit. There was too much tension, too much to think about and all of my thoughts constantly swirling in my head, revolving around the girl, were coming close to giving me the first vampire headache. I needed to clear my head and the best way for me to do that was to go for a run.

But I wanted to be here in case the angel woke up. She had been alone in her room before and my family wouldn't intrude on her, but still I wanted to be close to her when she woke. Don't worry, Edward, Alice's thoughts assured me, she'll be asleep for a couple of hours still. That's plenty of time for you to get back to her.

I smiled my thanks to my sister and made my excuses to the rest of them before swiftly darting from the house into the dense, cool cover of the forest canopy.

A/N: I make no promises as to when I post new chapters…but I will do my best to make them as closed together as possible. Please remember to review as more reviews will get a faster posting of the next chapter.