Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Warning: this chapter contains strong abuse; physical, emotional and mental. Some scenes may be hard to read but it is fiction although if this is a trigger I would suggest missing this chapter. If you or anyone else is experiencing something like this - it isn't a healthy relationship - trust me- please seek out a friend to talk too.

Chapter Two

Part two: Awakening

It took Bella a moment to register everything this man had said in the minuscule time he had been in her room. When it suddenly occurred to her, this boy no- man had called her 'Bells', she physically baulked; there had only ever been two people who had called her that, even her mother never used that name. One had been her father, Charlie, who had recently died, and ultimately led to Bella finally snapping at Edward's behaviour, and giving her the courage to leave him. The other person, had been her childhood best friend, Jacob Black, whom she hadn't seen since she was seventeen and even that had been a brief encounter due to Edward again. The man noticed her reaction and halted mid-step, freezing, lifting his hands slowly, to reassure her. His actions reminded Bella of someone trying to appease a startled animal or child.

Bella, stared at the giant in front of her in shock, trying to work out whether it was her childhood best friend, actually her only real best friend, or if he just knew Charlie's nickname for her. After all that's how Jake had picked up the moniker for her as a little boy.

"Bells, honey, are you ok?" He spoke slowly and softly so he wouldn't startle her gain, yet his voice pulled Bella out of her thoughts, and she realised she was still blatantly staring at him, and blushed deeply.

He smiled at her gently, "It's okay. It's me... It's..."

His voice had a husky tone that sounded comforting and oddly familiar. But at that same moment an acute awareness of the state she would look like currently hit her and made her visibly cringe.

"Bells?" Panic replaced the worry that had been etched across his beautiful face, his voice however had gone up slightly before he looked to the door and back at Bella's pain stricken face, not waiting for a reply he raced out of door, calling for Lori.

Returning seconds later dragging a surprised Lori back in with him. He was talking so quickly, Bella couldn't make out anything except her name and the word pain.

Lori asked Bella if she was in pain, watching her thumb, and nodding; she checked the machines to appease a worried-looking Jacob, patting Bella's arm as she did.

"Bella is just fine, aren't you, lovely? See, you're such a worrier, Jake!" she shook her head affectionately at him, and brushed his arm with her hand as she passed him leaving Bella's room, laughing lightly at the scowl he gave her in return.

"So uh," he looked at her briefly, rubbing his hand through his hair and rubbing his the crack of his neck, in a shy manner. "Lori says I'm not allowed to make you talk, or stress you out." He said, nodding in answer to himself, "but apparently if I'm lucky and you're not too tired you can give a thumbs up for yes, is that right Bells?"

Bella lifted her thumb as far as she could and was overcome by the most dazzling smile she received return. "Great. Great!"

"Jake?" She whispered, unsure if this beautiful mountain of a man was indeed her friend. He didn't have to lean in like Lori, so Bella guessed her voice must be getting stronger, even though it sounded just as weak to her, as it had earlier.

"Hey, you remember me!" A sunny smile lit up his face, taking Bella's breath away. She tried to speak, but he interrupted her quickly, "Bells, no talking, remember! Lori will throw me out; she is very protective of her patients, you especially. I wasn't sure you would remember who I was! But, you have no idea how glad I am too see you or how glad I am you remember me," smiling widely as he spoke. His smile reached his eyes and made Bella noticed how his almost-black eyes sparkled when he smiled and the corner of his eyes creased like he spent a lot of time laughing and smiling. The thought made Bella envious and curious.

"How... could I... For... Get you? You... ate mud... for me," she managed to croak, trying to return his smile.

She couldn't believe this man, enormous in every way, was little Jacob Black, the same little boy who used to follow her and his twin sisters around. The same one she had once made eat a pie, not telling him it wasn't chocolate, but mud. Rachel had wanted to see if he would eat a worm, if Bella asked, but Bella had refused and started to cry. Becca had ran in to get their parents.

Bella was speechless as she took in the image of Jake, all grown up. He had grown into a beautiful young man. He ducked his tall frame again to walk into her room fully and sat down in the chair Lori had occupied minutes earlier. He placed a bunch of wildflowers on her bed beside her hand. His skin was more bronzed than she remembered, and his long hair was now short and spiky, sticking up like he had slept oddly, as if he'd been in a hurry and hadn't bothered to do anything with it, almost like he had been in a hurry. His uniform seemed to be stretched to full capacity by his muscled frame, but it was his wide, toothy smile that made Bella catch her breath every time he looked at her, he was waiting for her to finish appraising him, and chuckled as she blushed when she realised he knew what that was what she had been doing. Clearly someone this good looking would be used to people checking them out all the time, Bella came to the unsettling thought that someone this good looking was rarely single, and if they were it was mainly because they liked too many women to settle down. Plus, she had noted that Jacob called her nurse by her name, and she had done the same back; they clearly knew each other, and very well it would seem, especially since she had been the one to allow Jacob into her room. Part of Bella kicked herself, her internal voice berating her because she had always thought, hoped, that maybe Jacob, had liked her as more than a friend, or maybe one day he would. He had been the one and only person she had ever had any glimmer of attraction or any stirrings of feelings for; sure, she had grown to love Edward over time, or she had thought she had. She realised that in the beginning, she had been more envious of his close family. She had quickly grown to love his siblings, Alice and Emmett, and his mother Esme was how she had been the type of mother she wished hers could have been. Now, she realised she had loved them more than she had loved Edward. She had recently begun to wonder if her feelings for him had even been real or if he had manipulated her into believing she loved him, The way he had been in her head on a daily basis, turning and twisting everything until it suited him, that seemed the more likely conclusion

.

Bella was lost inside her head, thinking if she had only acted that day back on the beach. It was not long after she had started 'dating' Edward, and they had all gone to First Beach in La Push with a group of friends from school. They had been met by a group of teenagers from the Quileute tribe, setting up for a bonfire. She hadn't realised Jake had been with them until he had clumsily bounded over and asked if she wanted to hang out with him; seeing Edward suddenly wrapping his arms around her, he quickly added a 'sometime, or when your dad comes down or something.' Edward had laughed so loudly at Jake, that everyone had turned around to look, and causing a blush to darken Jake's cheeks. Bella had wanted to shrug Edward's tight grip off, he was actually starting to hurt her. But Edward had only tightened his grip, exclaiming just as loudly that Jake should attempt to grow some muscles before he tried to get a girl. Edward used language she had never heard before, telling Jake to get lost and never speak to Bella again. The surprise and humiliation on Jake's face had made Bella feel sick to her stomach. She turned to tell Edward where he could get off, but he forcefully smashed his lips against Bella's, right in front of Jake. The more she tried to push him off, the more vigorous Edward got. Jake must have walked away before Emmett, Edward's older brother, had shoved Edward off her, slapping him around the back of the head and telling him to stop being such a jerk. Emmett had checked that Bella was okay and told her to join Rose and Alice, who had been paddling in the water with the boys. Like everyone else nearby, though, they were blatantly staring at the scene Edward had created. Edward had grabbed her by the wrist and said they were leaving. Pulling her away, he had left his first bruise that day, the second had come no later than twenty minutes later in the car. He had punched her in the leg, for annoying his brother and flirting with Jacob.

Internally, Bella shook her head at the whole scenario. Why had she even let Edward pull her away like that? Why didn't she scream or shout out? She knew Emmett would have helped, so would have Jasper, even Jacob, but she hadn't wanted to cause a scene or a fight and she knew that is what would have happened. She should have realised then and there what an ass Edward was.

Deep down, she had known but had never wanted to accept how badly she had messed everything up. She didn't think Jake would want to be her friend after that. She believed she had lost him that day. Instead, she had let Edward talk his way out of it all. She had always let him talk himself out of everything. He said all the right things - he was just jealous, he loved her already, he didn't want to lose her, he had meant to hit the seat, he didn't realise how strong he was. But that had just been the start. Soon, it was the first time he cheated, and with Lauren Mallory, of all people. The first slap, the next accidental punch, and all the ones after that he had definitely meant.

Jake cleared his throat quietly, dragging Bella back to the present. Bella jumped at the quiet noise, and Jake looked startled by her reaction. Her eyes raked over Jake, as he adjusted himself in the much too small chair; he had really grown some muscles since she'd last seen him. Bet Edward wouldn't want to piss him off now, Bella thought sardonically. Bella glanced at Jake, who looked like he was sitting in a child's chair.

Jake had the same look of sadness and pity that Lori had, when he looked at her. It was the same look Bella always received when she was in a hospital or anywhere outside the house after one of Edward's temper tantrums. They were hard to swallow at the best of times, but from Jake, it was more than she could bear. Bella's eyes begin to well up. She didn't want this beautiful man pitying her for how she looked, or what she had become, and all the foolish things she had done. She dipped her head, hiding her face from him, as the tears began to slowly trickle down her face.

"Hey, Bells, please don't turn away from me and please don't cry, Honey. This isn't your fault, none of it is. Please, look at me," he went to touch her face, but his hand froze inches from her chin, which only made her cry more.

"Bells please look at me."

"I-don't-want-your-pity-Jake." She managed to mumble incoherently.

"Bella Swan! Look at me. I do not pity you! I want to pick you up and make it all better, like when we were kids. But I can't run and get my dad or a plaster and make it all better, and that is killing me."

"Your-eyes."

"That wasn't pity, Bella. It's because I can't stand to see you in so much pain. I want to see you smiling and laughing, not like this. This is really killing me, it's killing all of us to see you like this." He sighed, slumping back in his chair, his head falling into his hands.

"Bells, when Paul rang me and told me they had a call out and it was at Charlie's, I knew. I just knew it must have been you. I don't know why or how, but I did. I literally flew there like a bat out of Hell. But… But I was too late. We all were. God, seeing you like that…" He gave what sounded like a cough or a snort of sarcastic laughter, before quickly rubbing his eye on the back of hand. Shaking his head, he continued, "The ride here in the ambulance, God, that has never taken so long. I nearly took the driver out because he wasn't going fast enough, even though I don't think he could have made the truck go faster. Bells, I can honestly say I have never been so scared in my whole life, and trust me, that is saying something. We've all been so worried since Dad rang you. He tried to ring back, but it was busy for hours, and then the number was disconnected. It was like you disappeared. Bells, you've always been like family to me, and seeing you like that on the floor…" The look of pain and anguish on Jake's face tore Bella apart, more than anything Edward had ever inflicted on her.

Jake ran his hands through his hair roughly and then jerked it violently, almost roaring in anger. Bella yelped in fright, startling Jake, who apologised over and over, "I'm so sorry, Bells."

Bella was speechless. She had no idea it was Jake who had found her, or who brought her in, but it explained the mystery of her name. Jake must have given her information to the doctor. Although, she was puzzled why he hadn't given Cullen or Swan; it wasn't like he would know she needed to stay under the radar. Or maybe he hadn't and Lori had chosen Black as an alias. Bella still had no recollection of the night before; in fact she had no memories after Edward had grabbed her by her hair and smashed her head into the mirror by the front door.

"I swear to God, Bella, I'm never letting you go back there again. Never. He should be tortured before he dies a grisly death for the way he has treated you, for what he's done to you. If I had my way, he'd already be dead. Coming here with you and making sure you were alright was more important, otherwise I would have gone after him and killed him myself. Instead, I had to have someone else to hunt him down," he spat venomously. "He is freaking lucky Paul was with Mark when they found him. If we had our way…."

"NO!"

"Bells, surely you can't still be defending him? You do realise he almost killed you, right?"

"No-Jake. You. He – dan-ger-ous." Talking was becoming more painful, and Bella could see the machine flashing red from her alarm at Jake admitting his desire to hunt Edward down. He had no idea how dangerous Edward was. She couldn't stand the idea of kind-hearted Jake getting hurt because of her.

Lori came rushing in, "Jake, I told you not to stress her out!" she chided him. Jake ignored her as she fiddled with the machine. "Bella, I need to give you some more morphine."

"Not yet," Bella whispered, knowing it would make her drowsy.

"Soon, okay?"

"Bella, please tell me you won't go back to him."

Lori raised the cup and straw to Bella's lips so she could take a sip. At Jake's words, Lori looked up, alarmed at his statement.

"Oh God, Bella, I should have thought to offer you a drink! God, I'm such a shit friend, sorry!" He looked ashamed of himself.

"This one is useless, I tell you, Bella! How he and Billy manage to survive is beyond me!" She looked at Jake fondly. Bella's heart dropped realising she knew Billy as well. Although Bella knew she was in no state to be worrying about Jake's relationship with this beautiful nurse, it did make her wish she had made different choices in her own life. Sadly, it seemed it took her father's death to realise life was too short to be putting up with the cheating, the derogatory remarks, and the constant beatings.

No, it had been the phone call from Billy that Jake had mentioned that had finally been the wake-up call she needed. Billy had informed her that Charlie had been shot while on duty, and he hadn't made it. Bella's world fell apart in that moment. She had cried, heartbroken, on the phone to her father's best friend. Unfortunately, Bella hadn't noticed the time, and Edward had arrived home. Hearing his wife crying to a soothing male voice over the telephone had set him off, demanding to know who it was and accusing Bella of cheating. Edward had grabbed the phone, slamming it down so harshly it had hit the cradle and bounced out and onto the floor.

Bella had backed against the wall trying to explain hurriedly, as Edward yelled and shouted so close she could feel his cool breath and spit blasting into her face, before he had lost his temper, accusing her of lying again. Punches rained into her stomach, over and over, as she slumped over, his hits only continued into her side and back. Eventually, she fell to the floor and with a final brutal kick, blacked out. She had come around hours later in a puddle of blood and vomit.

Edward was careful to never hit Bella in her face, except on the occasions when he was exceptionally furious and lost all control. Bella dreaded those days, not only because of the pain, but because of the attention the marks and bruises would cause. No matter how experienced she had grown with her makeup skills, she could never cover them well enough. People, even ones she didn't know would ask curious questions or just openly stare and whisper. Bella began to hide in the house until the bruises had faded enough that she could disguise them, only going out when it was absolutely necessary. However, even living like this wasn't enough for Bella to leave him.

Instead, the thing that finally made Bella realise what a monster Edward was had come the day he refused to allow her to return to Forks for Charlie's funeral. He had locked her in the house for over a fortnight, so Bella was forced to miss her own father's funeral. That had been her breaking point, so while he went out to work each day, or to socialise, not returning until the early hours if at all, Bella planned her escape. She played the dutiful wife every day, slowly biding her time, until he began to relax. He was still locking her in, but one day, a particularly hot day, Bella found one window had been left unlocked in his office. Edward had forgotten it in his hurry to get to his business lunch. On a Saturday, Bella snorted a laugh, he really did think she was stupid or naïve or both. The moment she found a window finally left unlocked, a small glimmer of hope raised in her. Grabbing the small overnight bag she had secretly packed and hidden, Bella ran. She had spent every day and night of her imprisonment planning just what she would do when she escaped. She knew she couldn't fly, Edward had locked her passport in his safety deposit box at the bank. She was also aware he had a tracking device on her car, which left Bella with only one option.

Normally, he controlled all the money. Bella had to keep all the shopping receipts to prove how much money she had spent and on what, as well as give him all of the change. But Bella had secretly thought of running on many occasions, she had thought about what she would do if she could. It wasn't until Rose and Alice had started sending her spontaneous presents, that she formed an idea, just in case. She had even wondered if Rose and Alice secretly knew exactly how controlling Edward was, or that he bought all of her clothes for her, because they began sending her the odd dress, or top here and there. Packages would always arrive when he was at work, with a note that one of the guys' had bought them and they were the wrong size, or not for them, and if she didn't care for the item, she could return it and get something more her style. That would never have been an option; Edward would have been suspicious of where the new clothes had come from. Instead, Bella hid them, returned them, and saved all the money. Bella had never been as grateful to her sisters' kindness, as she was at the moment she slipped out the window. She only took a meager bag of belongings, which consisted simply of a change of clothes, her photo album, and the letters from her parents. Bella ran as fast as she could, jumping on the first bus she saw, then swapping again, eventually making it to a big bus depot, to get a connection to Tacoma, and then another to Forks.

However, Bella had made the fatal error of going to the only place she could. She had no one to turn to and nowhere but Charlie's house to run to. So, after the long journey, when she finally reached the only place she had truly called home, she had been relieved to finally see Charlie's house. She jumped out of the cab and prayed that the key was still hidden above the door. It was, and hearing the door click open, Bella had sighed with relief; she was finally free, at long last.

Never did she expect to be grabbed by the hair and smashed into the mirror, before she had even managed to put her bag down.

"Bells?"

Jake's voice was a life-saver, yanking her back from the hell she was reliving inside her head.

Jake had been watching Bella carefully while Lori was hovering behind him, and putting the flowers he had brought her into a vase.

"Bells, what are you thinking so hard about? Please, tell me you won't go back to him, he doesn't deserve you." His voice sounded pained. Lori placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, as Jake reached out and gripped Bella's hand making her yelp in pain.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry Bells, I'm sorry. I'm no good at this. I can't. I'm sorry," He got up, racing from the room. Bella could only watch in surprise and regret, as she tried to call out. Only a strangled cry was heard. Bella felt like her heart had been ripped out with him. Again, the plastered machine went mad, and Lori run to quiet it.

"I think we can turn this off for now, don't you, Honey? Its okay, he'll be back, Bella. He just needs a minute. Seeing you like this, and finding you like that, well, it affected him much more than any of us thought possible. I've never seen him like that, it was like he... Well, it affected them all pretty badly, but Jake handled it the worst. He hasn't left your side, Sweetie. He only left this morning because they need him to work today, so we managed to get him to go and put a clean uniform on. Even then, I had to promise to ring him as soon as anything changed with you. I'm sorry to run out on you, but will you be okay, Honey? I just want to go check to see if he is okay?"

Bella didn't reply. She just allowed her head to flop to the side, as heartbroken tears spilled down her cheeks, while Lori's light steps faded.

A few minutes had passed before a light tap on the door surprised Bella. Turning her head too fast in the hope it was Jake, she cried out in pain.

"Bella, are you okay, Honey? Should I get Lori? She's just sitting with Embry and Jake." Worry was thick in his voice. Bella didn't respond and she noticed he was watching her hand. She stared at this man through blurry eyes, but she knew who he was. The resemblance between him and his son was too evident for her to miss.

"Billy" Bella whispered, she was at a loss for words, and so relieved to see him. He was the last link to Charlie, she had left. He gave her a weaker version of Jake's smile, as he rolled over towards her, moving the chair out of his way as best he could, before manoeuvring his chair alongside her bed. Reaching out, he rested his hand on hers, patting it gently. "Oh Bella. Why didn't you come to our house? Why did you go home?"