31
He fiddled with the velvet bag as he watched her sleep again. She really was so beautiful when she was asleep, not that she wasn't stunning awake, but her life had given her a guarded expression most of the time, hiding the hurt she felt. When she was awake you could see the burden she carried, her whole body hunched, as if expecting a blow… physical or verbal… her face a careful blank, trying to avoid expressions of hurt and managing to avoid showing much of anything in the process, but when she slept the weight lifted off her and she truly was the most beautiful person he had ever seen… and that included vampires with their supposed perfection. Carlisle had been pushing bag after bag of glucose into her system while she was unconscious and it had done her the world of good.
He stretched his mind. He had been 'listening in' to Renée since she woke up. It was no great stretch as she was staying less than ¼ mile away and once he had heard someone's mind he could usually connect at more than 8 times that distance. The woman wasn't just nasty, she was amoral. She blamed Bella for every little thing that had gone wrong in her life, even when it was patently obvious that it wasn't the girl's fault.
She really did not see Bella as a human being, as an equal. She was a means to an end and as such anything Renée did to her was justified in her mind, because Bella didn't count! It wasn't malicious in one way, Renée saw everyone in terms of how useful they could be to her and her comfort. In another way it was though, because from her point of view her life had had everything until she fell pregnant. According to history-according-to-Renée life had been a huge round of parties and fun, until she made a mistake one night and found herself with a problem she could not afford. When she had told Charlie, instead of him finding the money for an abortion as she expected he had persuaded her to marry him and have the child. Parties became nonexistent as they moved back to his home town. The wild, exciting life she was used to became drab suburban and small town and she resented every second of her marriage. The only reason she took Bella when she left was because she knew if she left her behind she would not get any money out of Charlie in future, and with Renée, her comfort was paramount.
She had spent the first few years of Bella's life abusing every kind heart she could find to ensure she not only didn't have to look after her daughter but also mostly got away with paying little to nothing for her care. She had blackmailed the headmaster at the school she was employed at so that she kept her job, no matter what she did, and spent the next decade sleeping around, trying to find someone who would keep her in the manner she wished to become accustomed to.
What she had in mind for her daughter now could have been the last straw for the girl's fragile ego. She planned to have her transferred to a hospital in Phoenix, so that she could get out of the trouble in Chicago. Several years ago she had seduced a judge and had had the foresight to take pictures, she planned to blackmail him into getting her off the charges, she was going to sue anyone she could think of to get the money to get herself out of trouble. And then she was going to lock Bella in her room and not allow her out unless it was to cook and clean for her mother.
She truly believed that Bella deserved this fate as punishment for screwing up her (Renée's) life.
{It won't happen.} Alice assured him as she stood by the window in the small room. {Charlie has got it covered.}
Jasper went to join Emmett in watching the hotel, if she moved towards the hospital they would have sufficient warning. Rose and Esme headed off to the cottage to put the finishing touches to it, from Alice's visions Bella would be released on Monday or Tuesday, depending on her obs.
He could see through his brothers' eyes as the woman he hated more than any other person headed towards him. He was pleased to note the look of defeat on her face when Charlie served her the TRO. He shot to his feet when defeat turned to absolute fury.
{Don't! This has to happen.} He stopped halfway out of the room as Renée attacked her ex-husband. Charlie's thoughts were all on Bella as he suffered the attack. This was planned, he knew what Renée would do and he had manoeuvred her into doing it.
The police were less than gentle as they bundled her into their car and he read the lawyers mind as it happened, pleased to note that he had no intention of helping his client at all. In fact he felt only slightly less disgust for her than the Cullen's did.
As the cruiser was pulling away though he caught the lawyer's thoughts, he had been investigating the family. He had been in touch with the man Jasper used and his office in Chicago to get backgrounds on all the Cullens as well as both Swans. He was worried that nothing had turned up, nothing as in no background at all, rather than nothing wrong.
Edward projected to Alice, who sent a text to her husband, the boys headed into the hotel to see what they could do as downstairs the trauma team worked on Bella's father.
Luckily for Charlie Swan, though his injury could have been fatal if he was anywhere else, being injured at the hospital door meant he got attention immediately. Edward had monitored the situation until he had heard from his father that Charlie was going to be Ok, and that they were putting him in a room on the floor below.
Bella, no longer needing ICU care, would also be transferred to the same ward, into the room next to her father, soon.
"You should go hunt." He told his sister. Everyone else had taken turns in leaving since Bella woke, but Alice, like Edward had been stubbornly present. His voice seemed to disturb Bella slightly, she turned in her sleep, the wires and drips pulling at her. He smoothed his fingers down her cheek.
"Edward…" she breathed, and her eyes fluttered open. Her eyes fixed on his and a softness that he had rarely seen appeared in them, "hi," she breathed.
"I love you," he kissed her. She grimaced. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"I have morning breath." She complained, trying to cover her mouth. He laughed.
"You smell as sweet as ever," he leant over and kissed again, deepening the kiss as his need for her swelled. Over the past days, as she lay injured, he had not thought at all about her in that way, but now the healthy blush was back in her cheeks and the life in her eyes was even more than it had been before, he found himself needing to be even closer.
Her hands travelled to his hair, he moaned as her tiny fingers massaged his scalp, she felt so good, even the heat of her fingers enhanced the sensation.
She hissed slightly and at the same time Alice gasped, reminding him she was still in the room. Slightly embarrassed that he had forgotten his sister's presence he pulled back. "What's wrong?" he asked as he noted her face had lost some of its colour.
"I pulled the… thingy," she said weakly as she held up her left hand and he could see the slightest drop of blood escaping from the site of the cannula, his eyes shot to Alice, who quickly left the room, though it was unlikely Alice would 'slip' they wouldn't take any chances.
Bella tried to grab the call switch for the nurse, but it just made the IV pull the cannula more, making her wince.
"Stop," he took her hand to stop her pulling it and making it worse, and carefully worked the IV tube free from where it had got trapped by the bed clothes and the side of the bed.
"I'm sorry!" her voice shook him and he realised he had been staring at the small drop of blood for several seconds, she covered the injury site with her other hand, she was shaking and her face had now lost every bit of colour. He turned her hands over and kissed the palms, trying to reassure her that everything was fine, wiping the drop of blood off her hand as he did so. But she stopped him. "You need to hunt, especially if you are going to be around me." She told him sadly. He wished he knew why she was so sad, was it because he had not hunted or because she didn't want him around? He dismissed that thought, the way she was looking at him he felt guilty for even considering that she did not want him.
"I don't want to leave." He told her. "It isn't urgent yet anyway."
"I know, but you have to." She insisted. "It's too dangerous for you, if I…"
She didn't have to continue. He knew she was right, he would never forgive himself if she was hurt because he had let his thirst build until he could no longer resist.
At that second Rose walked into the room.
"Go." She said simply. Alice had called her. He nodded and kissed Bella gently on her forehead.
"I won't be long." He told her.
"Don't rush, you need to hunt," she told him. He leant over and looked her right in the eye, he gave a crooked grin and kissed her again, this time on the lips and even deeper than earlier. "Well, maybe rush a little bit." She amended, blushing.
Rose gave her a smile and moved to watch out of the window. Edward smoothed his fingers down Bella's face a few times until she relaxed fully, her breathing deepened and when he was sure she was asleep again he nodded to his sister and left the room.
"My truck!" Bella came out of a deep sleep suddenly. She had been dreaming and as it faded from her mind all she could remember was a blue van skidding out of control and heading right for her beloved truck.
"I would like to say it was destroyed, but Rose assures me it will be fine with a bit of body work." Edward leant forward and smoothed the hair away from her face, she sighed, pleased that she had managed to sleep away the time he wasn't around. She hated to think she was so dependent on him already, but the ache in her chest had started to appear whenever he wasn't with her ever since she woke from the accident, was the bond getting stronger or was something wrong? She dare not ask him in case it was the latter, she would have to wait and ask Alice or Carlisle later.
"I would hate to lose it, Charlie bought it for me." She told him, he nodded even though she knew he knew it. For some reason she felt she had to elaborate and gave him the full history of the pull along wagon that she had had from the age of five right until she moved to Forks. She supposed it was still in the garage of the house in Phoenix. Tears filled her eyes as she imagined it abandoned. How silly of her, but she couldn't help it. For years she had seen the wagon as a symbol of her father's love, the only symbol that anyone had ever loved her, she could admit now. The truck had somewhat taken its place.
"It isn't going to last forever." He warned her, "Rose said parts aren't easy to find nowadays." She nodded, she knew that. "Why don't you let it retire, I promise we will keep it, but baby, I don't want you driving something that can break down at any time."
"Any car can break down at any time," she pointed out to him in a huff, hadn't he been listening when she had told him what the truck meant to her?
"True, but there's less chance of a brand new car going wrong than something that has been around as long as Emmett." He pointed out. She set her jaw stubbornly and glared at him. Eventually he raised his hands and backed away, though he seemed to have dropped it she had a feeling that the subject would be revisited later.
"Hi, I'm Jackie!" a blonde haired woman in her late forties wearing scrubs walked into the room, "I'm your nurse, I don't know if you remember me?"
"Sorry no." She was too busy glaring at Edward to be any more polite.
"No worries, I'm just here to get rid of some of this machinery, you will be moved downstairs later today, you will be pleased to hear." Bella watched as the woman turned off the heart monitoring machine, and the one that was attached to the clip thingy on her finger. She coiled the leads and wheeled each machine out of the room as she unplugged them.
"What about this?" Bella asked, pointing to the cannula in the back of her hand. Jackie picked up the notes from the end of the bed and smiled.
"Sure, Doctor Cullen said you could come off the drip when that bag was finished, and it's near enough." She carefully took the needle out of the back of Bella's hand. Bella went white as it was removed, and only deep breathing stopped her from either throwing up or fainting. "All done. Wow that is nice." Jackie was looking at the ring on her right hand as she put a small bandage onto the left to absorb the tiny drop of blood that had formed when the IV was detached.
"It was Edward's mothers." She blushed and looked at him, remembering that he was now her husband and not just her boyfriend.
"You are a very lucky girl." Jackie said, "it looks like an antique."
"It has been in the family since the 1890's," Edward smirked at Bella, "All the women of my family have worn it since then." That would be more impressive if it hadn't been just her and Edward's mother, Bella thought.
"Are they real diamonds?" Jackie looked at Bella for permission and she lifted her hand closer so the nurse could get a proper look.
"Yes." He said simply, he didn't seem to want to meet Bella's eye any more.
"How many?"
"65." He answered shortly.
"A very lucky girl!" Jackie smiled at Bella again and allowed her hand to lower, embarrassed.
"I like this one better," Bella blushed as she pointed to her plain wedding ring.
"I can't say I blame you, dear." Jackie smiled kindly and patted her hand. "My wedding ring is the only one I have never removed. My husband bought me a new ring every year for our anniversary," she said. "he would put the new one on my finger at breakfast on our anniversary and take it off again at supper the night before our next." She sighed. "Jerry always was a romantic."
"He died?" Bella asked softly, touched by the story.
"Two years ago. Cancer." She said simply, patting Bella's hand when she made an expression of sympathy. "Now I just wear my wedding ring. I took the last one off the day of his funeral, my daughter will get them all when I'm gone, but I can't bear to part with them. They are the last part of him I have beside our daughter Ruth. They mean more to me than anything I could ever buy, even if I became a millionaire." Bella smiled at the nurse and Edward moved up to take her other hand.
"I understand." Bella agreed. Edward looked rather abashed as he agreed. Maybe he could understand better now why Bella wanted to keep her truck? There were disadvantages to him not being able to read her mind. She wasn't the best in the world at articulating her feelings.
"You get some rest now, y'hear?" Jackie wound the tubing to the IV stand and rolled it to the door. "I'll be in later to make sure everything is still ok, and if it is we will move you down to orthopaedic tonight or tomorrow at the latest. You," she looked sternly at Edward, "You need to rest too or you will end up in a hospital bed as well, you've hardly left for a week. Why don't you go home and come back in the morning?" Edward just shook his head and the nurse left, muttering under her breath about stubborn, romantic fools who don't know what's good for them. Edward laughed softly at her retreating back and then his face sobered and he turned back to Bella.
"I'm sorry." He kissed her gently. Now her hand wasn't tethered to any machines or drips she raised it to his hair again. She loved his hair, it was so soft and fine and when she lightly scratched the back of his neck with her short fingernails he actually purred. She wasn't sure he knew he did it, and she didn't want to embarrass him or make him stop doing it so she didn't mention it.
The kiss deepened, she felt her body temperature rise and tried to get closer to him. The bedclothes were tucked in tightly and restricted her movements, small sounds of frustration sounded in the room and when she realised she was the one making them she blushed and pulled away from Edward.
"I love you." He was gasping. She felt extraordinarily proud of herself that she had that effect on him and as he stood and moved away from the bed slightly she couldn't help but notice another effect she had had. She quickly withdrew her eyes from his groin and buried herself in the covers, hoping he would not be able to tell just how affected she was by it all.
"I can't wait to get out of here." She said.
"Next week, don't rush it." He warned her.
She yawned and grimaced. She had only been awake for an hour tops. Surely she shouldn't feel tired already. "Charlie should be here soon," she told Edward, "Tell him to go get some rest and I'll see him tomorrow." Her eyes felt too heavy to stay open and before she could get an answer from Edward she was asleep.
She had gone, as the phrase nowadays was, ballistic, when she heard about Charlie. Carlisle had allowed her to visit him in his room as long as she promised not to try and get out of the wheelchair. She didn't seem to know whether to thank him for his sacrifice or to scream at him for his stupidity. Charlie was no better, never being a demonstrative man he was also hampered by the fact that he could not move to hold her when she broke down in tears. Edward lifted her from the wheelchair and carried her to the chair under the window, he sat and placed her on his knees.
"If… If I lost him!" she hiccupped through her tears, glaring at him, "I would… I… Edward!" she wailed.
"Shh, He's going to be ok, Alice said he will make a full recovery in less than 2 months."
Charlie, wisely, said nothing.
He rocked her in his arms. Though he didn't like her to be upset, he privately admitted to himself that with her in his arms like this his world was just about perfect. He looked deeply into her eyes, trying to reassure her that everything would be fine. If he could get her away for a while then things would be better for everyone. She needed a rest from all the strain. Maybe his father and mother could help, he knew they were both close by and spoke under his breath, explaining what he wanted and asking for their help.
"Two months?" she asked, looking at both men, both nodded. "I will have to stay at his house until he is recovered." She warned Edward. Charlie opened his mouth to object but one look at her face and he sank back into silence. Edward didn't seem happy with the idea either.
"Bella," Esme walked into the room, just her presence seemed to help calm Bella as if she had the same ability as Jasper. "When Charlie is discharged from the hospital we would like him to come and live with us until he can cope on his own… or for as long as he wants." A quick look passed between her father and her new mother-in-law.
"I would like that." Bella was astonished at how weak his voice sounded, which made her even more worried.
"There isn't room though!" Bella thought of the house. Though it was large, every space was utilised.
"He can have Edward's room." Edward nodded his head in agreement. Bella blushed violently.
"I… I thought that would be our room." She said in a low voice. He kissed her gently and smiled down at her.
"Don't worry about that." Edward told her. "I would like to take you on a holiday, a honeymoon to help you convalesce." She blushed again as she thought of having a honeymoon and all that would entail. But then she remembered her father and opened her mouth to object. He placed his fingers over her lips. "Hush, we will talk nearer the time for you getting out of here." He said.
She was tempted to bite his finger. Not too hard, as she would probably break her teeth on his stone hard skin, but enough to warn him not to shush her. However the tingling in her lips when skin to skin contact was made flooded her entire body. The bond was definitely getting stronger. She rubbed her legs together to stop the feeling flooding over her and Edward shifted her on his lap as she felt him start to swell and push against her. Esme grinned at her and she blushed again.
"I'm going to go to sleep." Whether her father knew what was happening with them or not, at least it gave Edward an excuse to leave the room with her. They had moved her to the room next door, so rather than putting her in the chair he risked the nurses' displeasure and just carried her into her new room. However he didn't put her in her bed, or even in her chair, he kept her in his arms as he stood near the window so she could see outside.
Snow had fallen heavily overnight. Drifts of more than her height piled against the side of the hospital wing she could see to the left of her room. The trees which grew right up to the car park of the building across the way were heavy with their white coating and as far as she could see into the forest the trees looked like something off of a Christmas card. She sighed, she missed the heat of Phoenix, but not much else.
"Would you like something to eat?" Edward asked. He had asked every hour or so since she had had breakfast that morning. She rolled her eyes, knowing he could not see her.
"Not yet thank you, I'm not hungry." She turned and looked deeply into his eyes. "You look better today, did you have a good hunt?"
"I worried about you every second I was gone." He admitted. She thought it was sweet of him to say so, but she thought it was the bond rather than him missing her. She was tempted to ask him if his too had intensified, but was afraid to worry him in case it hadn't.
"Well!" Bella jumped slightly as the nurse, Jackie, walked into her room, "Now as romantic as this looks young man, I think you should put Mrs. Cullen into her bed. If your arms get tired you will drop her."
"Never!" Edward said and the nurse smiled at him and gave a wistful sigh.
"As romantic as that declaration is, I very much doubt you could hold her for any length of time." Bella bit her lip and they shared a grin. "Now young lady, I need your blood pressure and temperature."
While Jackie was busy taking all the measurements that Edward could have filled in without half the fuss, Edward was busy doing something on his phone.
"How about Greece?" he asked.
"Greece?" Bella was puzzled, what was he talking about?
"Well, to start with I thought the UK, but it is the start of February." He pointed out.
"Sorry?" she felt particularly thick as he rolled his eyes at her.
"The honeymoon?" he said, "Is there anywhere you would like to go?" he asked. Her head was spinning, was he really offering to take her to Europe? She had never even been to Canada!
"I… I don't know!" she told him.
"Well, I thought that we could head somewhere warm."
"What about school?" she asked. "You know that stupid rule that even though we've both already graduated at our old school we still have to go here," she gave an exaggerated nod of the head to the nurse to explain why she was lying and then blushed, of course he would know why!
"That's if we are living here, but after the accident happened on their property because it wasn't adequately gritted they are offering you plenty of time to recover, and as I am your husband and have to look after you…" he grinned. "So, where would you like to go?"
"But Charlie!" she protested.
"Aunt Esme and Uncle Carlisle will look after him, they promise." She frowned for a second before she realised that Edward was supposed to be the orphan of Carlisle's brother.
"I…"
"Let him take you on honeymoon dear," the nurse whispered low enough so that if Edward had been human he wouldn't have heard her clearly from where he stood. "I wish I could get out of Forks when the weather is as bad as it's going to be. And you need to rest, not be worrying yourself badly over your pop, Dr. Cullen and his wife have said they will look after him; they are good people, so then let them, go enjoy yourself! Charlie won't mind as long as THAT woman hasn't got her claws into you. Be young, have fun, be in love, you will remember this time for the rest of your life. I honeymooned in Seattle, it was cold and wet and miserable, but we had the best holiday we ever had, just because we were together. Your young man needs this after the scare you gave him." She nodded her head meaningfully and Bella blushed.
Though he hadn't said anything to her about it, it was obvious that Edward had suffered because of her accident. The colour of his eyes and the deep shadows around them when she woke showed how much he had pushed his limits to make sure he would be there when she woke.
Bella thought about what the nurse had said. Jackie would never have the chance to go on another holiday with her husband, but she didn't seem to resent the fact that Bella had the chance to go.
"Somewhere warm." She said at last. The nurse gave her hand a light pat and smiled at her, tears in her eyes.
"Well done." She whispered and left the room.
"Greece then?" he asked.
"Somewhere closer to home?" she asked. "I don't want to be on the other side of the world if something happens to Charlie."
"Actually… What about Brazil? We can leave Europe until you are fully fit." he asked.
"That's a bit far too isn't it?" she bit her lip though because she had always wanted to go to visit Mexico and Brazil.
"Listen first," he sat on her bed and took her hand, "back in the late 40's Carlisle bought Esme a small island off the coast of Rio de Janeiro."
"A small island?" her jaw dropped. Who owned an island?… well Esme did it seemed.
"Yes, we like heat as much as some humans do, but can't go out in sunny weather as you know, so Carlisle bought an island from a family who had fallen on hard times after the war. It was just somewhere private so they could be out no matter what the weather with no one around to see. I'm certain that they will allow us to use it, it would be perfect."
"Is there a house?" she asked, he laughed and kissed her soundly.
"Yes there is a small house, not as large as the one here, but the family only usually go in pairs, like when Rose and Emmett wanted to get away for a while and stop going to school, they went to the isle for a couple of years."
She laughed at the thought of a holiday that lasted a couple of years. Then she reconsidered. If you were immortal… why shouldn't you take a year away here and there? The very rich amongst the humans spent a lot of time at leisure, they wouldn't call them the jet set otherwise. What would it be like? She wondered, to know that no matter how much time you spent doing something, you had still infinite time to do everything else.
Though she had balked at becoming a vampire just the other week, it was looking more and more attractive. Especially when the pain reminded her just how fragile she was compared to the others.
"Bella?" his fingers slowly stroked from her temple to her chin, the tingle spread again over all her body, "Bella? Are you ok love?"
"Yes." She said.
"You're ok?" he asked.
"No… I mean yes I'm Ok, but I was saying yes to Brazil."
"Oh my love, thank you!" he kissed her enthusiastically until both of them were gasping for breath. She wasn't sure what he was thanking her for, but she wouldn't break the kiss to ask.
"You will need new clothes!" Alice bounced into the room. Bella almost growled at her as Edward pulled back from her embrace.
"We aren't going until the weekend." Edward said.
"You bought me plenty of clothes Alice!" She really didn't want her spending any more on her.
"Oh yes, this is yours I believe." Alice laid the iPhone on the bedside table. "Ah ah ah!" she waggled her finger before Bella could protest. "It's on the family account, and we can't use it!" Oh yes, heat sensitive, Bella remembered.
"Wait. The iPhone 4 isn't out yet!" she suddenly remembered something she had been meaning to ask before.
"We own a few shares in Apple." Alice admitted. "So we got it ahead of the June release."
"How many shares? I can't see them giving every shareholder a phone before they are released."
"About 15% of the company." Alice said. "That's nothing, between us and the corporations we own, we have 32% of Microsoft!" she giggled. "and 17% of Agent Provocateur." Bella had no idea what that company was, but guessed it was also to do with technology.
She was so shocked at the wealth this all displayed (even though she had known the family was rich, this was more than she ever imagined… an ISLAND!) that she didn't hear Alice as she rambled on about something.
"Ok Bella?" Alice asked at last.
"What? Oh, yes Ok." Alice squealed and ran from the room. Bella looked at Edward who was smirking at her.
"You have no idea what Alice asked have you?" she frowned and shook her head. "You just gave her permission to do all your clothes shopping for our honeymoon." Bella groaned and lay back in the bed.
"Now, are you hungry? The 'Spoons Cafe' has burger and fries on the menu." He pulled a disgusted face, making her laugh.