AN: Sorry for the wait on this chapter. Could some of you lovely people go check out my first edit on my YouTube channel? It's kinda trash but at the same time I kind of like it. My channel is Superxwonderlandx and my video is Wonder Woman || Dangerous Woman , I'd REALLY appreciate you checking it out :) Writing is still my top priority, I promise. Anyways; enjoy!
Carlisle POV
Doctor Bonner is true to his word and we aren't waiting for too long when we are finally able to see Rosalie. The Seattle chief of police was able to prove we were still liable guardians. Unfortunately kids are restricted from being in the ICU, so Esme and I decide we will take turns visiting Rose. Although my wife is just as desperate to be able to see our daughter again, she offers to let me visit first. When I open my mouth to thank her she shuts me up with a hug.
"Go look after our little girl." She whispers in my ear.
I follow the doctor anxiously as he leads me down several hallways. After waiting so long to see Rose again the moment that it's finally happening doesn't even feel real.
"Just a little further." Doctor Bonner tells me, as though he can sense the nerves coming off me in waves.
My anxiety peaks as I see a clearly distressed nurse explaining something to two police officers who nod their heads and examine a piece of paper of some sort while she speaks. I look at the doctor for an explanation, but he looks as confused as I do. As we get closer I start to hear what the group are saying.
"I was keeping an eye on them but I left for five minutes to check on Mr. James to see how he was reacting to the antibiotics and when I came back-" a nurse explains in a wobbly voice, trailing off when she sees us and the doctor walking towards her.
"I'm sorry! I watched them like you asked, I didn't realize this would happen!" She starts apologizing to doctor Bonner immediately. She's wearing a trainee name tag and I try and convince myself she's probably just overacting over something minor the way I did when I first became a resident in Forks hospital.
"Calm down Katie," the doctor soothed the young nurse. "You're not in trouble, just tell me what happened."
"Laura and Richard were just sitting there, and Rosalie was still sleeping, so I went to check up on another patient quickly. But when I got back- they were gone."
"They left a note, and didn't harm the little girl in any way." A police officer with a bushy moustache explains. He holds out a tiny piece of paper to me. "This make sense to you?"
The letter is short, and is written in cursive. I take the note carefully in my hands and read it.
Don't try and find us, because you never will. Take care of Rosalie and know we had no intention of any of this happening.
Scrawled beneath the short message are Laura and Richard Hale's elaborate signatures. My heart aches for Rosalie. What type of people had her parents been that they could abandon their child so easily?
"We'd like to talk to you when your ready Dr. Cullen; Rosalie too." The other police officer says as I hand them the note back.
I nod my head. I'd worry about that when the time came, all that mattered right now was seeing my little girl. The doctor must sense this because he leads me inside the hospital room. The walls are painted a pale blue, and there is large window looking out onto busy traffic. But nothing in the room matters but the sleeping little girl I so desperately need in my life.
She looks almost impossibly tiny in the hospital bed. I have to pause in the doorway to collect myself as I follow the doctor and nurse inside. My little girl is hooked up to a few machines I easily recognize that are commonly used on high risk patients. She was hurt, but she was alive. The fact Esme and I could see her again, hug her again, and hear her voice again. That was all that really mattered.
The doctor explains to me the extent of Rosalie's injuries, and I can't tear my eyes away from her. The knife barely missed Rosalie's left kidney, and it took thirty two stitches to stop the steady flow of blood from the wound. How could anyone stab an innocent child!? Her left shoulder was dislocated, and her arm was in a sling. As a trauma doctor in Seattle hospitals emergency room I'm able to stomach quite a few things, but the thought of Rosalie suffering through so much makes me feel sick to my stomach.
I felt useless being unable to help her myself, but it appeared as though she was in very good hands. She'd gotten a blood transfusion, and was being given antibiotics through an IV to prevent infection in her wound. I was assured she was healing very well.
Doctor Bonner excuses himself to tend to another patient, and after the nurse carefully checks over Rosalie she smiles at me kindly and tells me to call her if I need anything before leaving as well. I pull a chair up close to Rosalie's bed so I can hold her hand and keep a close eye on her while she sleeps. The hospital chair is old and stained and far from comfortable but sitting next to Rosalie I feel content.
-/-
Esme and I took turns being in the hospital room with Rosalie, and keeping our children occupied at the hotel. We'd checked into the closest hotel to the hospital as soon as we realized we'd be staying in Oregon for a while. I still know close to nothing about Rosalie's case, as the police want to hold off telling me until they've talked to Rose.
When I was with Alice, Jasper, Edward, and Emmett I spent my time trying to cheer them up. But all of them were too upset they couldn't see their sister to really enjoy any of the places I took them too. Although Rosalie had only been gone for a little over a week it took a big toll on us all.
My time at the hospital wasn't all that eventful either. Rose had slept for two days. Her body needed lots of rest to heal properly. Although I wanted to see her awake, I was glad she was recovering so well and that she was getting some much needed shut-eye. The doctor said her body was showing signs of starvation, and they'd had no choice but to give her a feeding tube in order for her to get some much needed nutrients back in her system.
I'd slept at the hospital last night. Gina (the night nurse looking after Rosalie) had done everything possible to try and make the rooms fold out bed comfortable for me, but when I woke up my back and neck still ached. Esme had been visiting Rosalie lots too, and she'd quickly become friends with almost all the staff in the hospital.
Esme would switch places with me around ten. I would be happy once Rosalie was fully healed and we could take her home with us. I had hardly gotten to spend anytime with my wife over the past couple days. Every time I saw her we only managed a quick peck on the lips before separating. When I was with the kids; she was at the hospital. When I was with Rosalie; she was with the kids at the hotel. I couldn't wait until we could all be together.
I look at the clock and sigh when I see its six in the morning. While my wife was quite an early bird- I had to drag myself out of bed most mornings in order to get to work on time. Recently my sleeping schedule was all over the place. Most nights this week I would stay up late worrying about Rose and wake up early; feeling un-rested.
I'm about to stand up to quickly use the bathroom when a cough causes me to freeze. My eyes widen in surprise as I turn around and see Rosalie awake. She doesn't notice me though, as she reaches towards her nose and begins trying to pull the tubes out of it. I carefully grab her hand, not wanting her to hurt herself. I immediately regret this action. When I grab Rosalie she freezes and turns an even paler colour. She looks at me, but I don't think my face is the face she sees.
"Please Royce; please let me go." She begs, still struggling as she tries to pull out the tubes.
I use my free hand to press the rooms call button. I feel a few tears roll down my face as Rosalie continues to cry out. This was all my fault. She had been doing so well, but now it seemed all the progress she'd made had been reversed.
A doctor wearing snoopy hospital scrubs rushes into the room, halting when she sees Rosalie in such a frantic state. She sticks her head out the door for a moment to say something to the nurse trailing behind her; and then re-enters the room.
"Rosalie?" She calls as she moves closer to the bed. "Rosalie, can you hear me?"
The red-headed Doctor gives me a encouraging smile. Letting me know she wants me to try and talk to Rose and calm her down. If I couldn't, they might have to medicate her to still her limbs. There was no way I was going to let that happen.
"Baby? It's Carlisle. You're safe, I promise you. The police saved you, your in the hospital but your okay. Everything is okay. Can you try and calm down sweetie?" Rosalie freezes, blinking her eyes slowly.
Slowly she turns to look at me. When her eyes meet mine, she begins to cry. The kind doctor gives me a sympathetic glance as a pang of guilt shoots through my chest like a bullet. I had caused this, I had let her down. It would be very hard to rebuild the trust Rosalie had in Esme and I, but we were willing to do whatever it took to restore the confidence she used to have in us.
"Hi Rosalie, how are you feeling sweetie?" Rosalie stops crying when the doctor speaks, and looks at her with wide scared eyes. She contemplates answering, and then looks back at me with a confused expression.
"Are you in any pain baby?" I ask softly; needing to know. Because I absolutely couldn't stand the thought of Rosalie being in any more pain after everything that had happened.
She shakes her head no, but doesn't speak. The kind doctor-who I learned was named Dr. Hill-tries to ask her a few questions, but gives up when she doesn't get a response. She checks Rosalie over a bit just to make sure she's telling the truth about feeling okay, and then she leaves to give the two of us some 'alone time.' Rosalie doesn't move for a solid ten minutes, I hold her hand but don't force her to talk. It's terrifying how much she reminds me of the emotionless shell of a little girl she'd been when I'd first met her.
"Is it really you?" Rosalie speaks for the first time since I've seen her. When I look at her she has sat up and has pulled her blanket down to her waist. Her eyes are locked on mine, as though I'll disappear into thin air if she so much as blinks. She lets out a raspy cough and I help her take a tiny sip of water.
"Yeah honey, it's me." I say, squeezing her hand reassuringly.
"I missed you," Rosalie says, leaning forward and pulling me into a one arm hug. "I missed you so much." She repeats. I'm happily surprised her voice is void of any bitterness or anger. Never has a hug felt so good. I feel her tears soak my shirt but I don't mind one bit.
"I missed you too baby, we all did. We never stopped looking for you, we aren't a family without you." My voice is thick with emotion I don't care enough to conceal.
"I thought you would forget about me." She whispers. "I didn't think I'd get to see you again."
"We could never forget you. Never." I say firmly. It takes a lot of my willpower to not tell her I had started to think I would never see her again too. The thought alone brings unwanted tears to my eyes.
Rosalie stares at the ceiling as she contemplates my words. Her right arm is in a mini sized brace and I pale at the nasty looking bruises on her shoulder that are peaking out of the edge of her hospital gown. Her doctor told me her arm had been overextended so far that her shoulder had dislocated. It would be a while before she regained proper movement in it. Luckily she was being given plenty of pain medication to make her as comfortable as possible. I hadn't heard details on anything about the people involved in taking Rosalie, but the police were supposed to talk to me within the hour so I was sure to find out soon.
"What happened to Royce? Are my parents here?" Rosalie's eyes flicker to the door nervously, and she subconsciously pulls the hospital blankets tighter to her body.
"You won't ever have to see him again, and your parents aren't here." The police would be putting away Royce for the rest of his life if I had anything to say about it.
"Esme-" Rosalie pauses, and her lip wobbles. "Is she-is she dead? I know Royce hurt her, she was trying to protect me. But she couldn't; Royce took me anyways because he's real mean."
"No baby. I'm so sorry you thought that. I promise you Esme is okay, she's in the waiting room with everyone else. She's been really worried about you. She'd like to come see you soon, everyone else would too; but they have to wait until you feel a little better."
"I thought Royce killed her, I thought it was all my fault." Rosalie begins to cry some more, but it's a nice change to see tears leave her pretty blue eyes that are caused by happiness and relief instead of pain.
Unable to help myself, I hug Rosalie again. Her tiny arm wraps around me and she buries her face in my shoulder, once again I am reminded of how very lucky I am.
Rosalie POV
I'm okay. Carlisle is here and he isn't mad and that makes me feel better than just okay. I'm not sure what happened to Royce, but for the time being I think I'm safe. I don't like hospitals at all-they smell funny, there is tons of scary looking machines, and they give you needles-but I can easily say I'm really happy to be where I am in this moment.
The only problem is I can't stop crying. I'm just so happy to see Carlisle again. We hug for a really long time and even then I don't think it's long enough. Better yet, Esme is okay. When I'd asked about her I had been absolutely terrified of what Carlisle would tell me. I had thought for sure she was dead; Royce wasn't the type of person to show mercy.
There is a two tubes up my nose and a tube on my arm. Carlisle explains to me the ones up my nose are feeding tubes, and that I need them since I hadn't been eating pretty much all week. The one in my arm Carlisle calls an IV, and it's giving me medicine so I'm not in pain. Even with the medicine, I'm still pretty sore.
The door to my room opens and I hide my face and use my good arm to clutch onto Carlisle. I'm able to relax when I see it's just a doctor. I think I recognize him as the doctor I'd seen when I'd first woke up. But my memory is a little fuzzy and I'm still a little wary of him.
"Hi Rosalie. It's so good to see you awake; is it okay if I ask you a few questions?" The doctor asks me. He seems nice.
I look at Carlisle and he gives me an encouraging smile. So I take a deep breath and nod at the doctor.
Some of the questions are hard for me to answer but Carlisle is there to hold my hand and he tells me if I'm too upset I don't have to continue. The doctor asks me if I was starved, and I tell him I wasn't I just didn't want to eat. He asks if I was hurt in any other way, I tell him Royce only hit me twice up until the day in the grocery store and that he mostly just ignored me. We go through lots of these types of questions until I'm so tired I think I'm going to fall asleep sitting up.
"Alright Rosalie. I think that's more then enough for today. I just have one more question for you." He pauses. "Do you feel safe Rose?"
I take one look at Carlisle and say "yes."
Chapters 1, 2, and 4 of this story have all been improved. I accidentally deleted chapter three (which I actually really liked *sigh*) so I've also been trying to rewrite that while still writing this. Also Suicide Squad was SO SO good. I'm complete Harley/Joker trash, and Will Smith did such a good job playing Dead-shot!