End of Chapter 8
I heard the sounds of car doors from the garage, and heard my dad's car start up, and they were off. I flopped back onto my couch. I closed my eyes, and I realized that I could still smell Bella from where she was laying here earlier. Strawberries, and something floral. I let out a sigh, and let my mind drown for a moment in the images of her sleeping. Her long eyelashes almost tickling her cheekbones. Her soft hair a waterfall of chestnut all around her. Then, I focused in on her plump lips, slightly parted, and begging to be kissed. My eyes flew open at this thought. Friends, dick head. You guys are friends.
Chapter 9: Karma Police (BPOV)
The car ride home with Dr. Cullen was mostly quiet, until we were almost to my house.
"Bella," he started in, "we were so glad you could come over today. You and Edward have really done a fantastic job with your report."
"Thank-you, Dr. Cullen," I answered. "Your family was so kind to take time out of your schedules to help us...well, me practice."
"Please, call me Carlisle, and we were happy to do it," he said smiling down at me. "So how has your dad been."
"He's been really great lately," I said feeling lighter. "I think that supplement you gave him is really helping out."
"That's great to hear," he said as he pulled in front of my house. "Esme has sent home the leftovers from tonight for the two of you. They are in the trunk. Do you mind if I carry them in and say hi to one of my favorite patients?"
"Not at all," I said. "I'm sure my dad is in there watching the game."
"Which game?" He asked as he got the food out of the trunk.
"I don't know," I laughed, "but I am sure one is on."
Carlisle joined me laughing as we walked up to the door, and I opened it. We could hear the television from the other room spilling the sound of a basketball game into the room. Carlisle looked down and smiled at me as I gave him a 'told you so' look.
"Dad," I called out as I walked in, "I'm home, and Dr. Cullen came in to say hi."
I turned the corner and froze. There sat Charlie's favorite chair, still reclined, but no Charlie in it. There was a bowl of popcorn scattered across the floor like it had been dropped. Panic began to fill me as I started to call out.
"Dad!" I called as I walked hurriedly into the kitchen. He wasn't there.
"Charlie!" Carlisle called up the stairs. No answer. I pushed past Carlisle and ran up the stairs. I quickly peeked into his bedroom, and saw that his bed laid empty, still disheveled from this morning. I snapped my head toward the bathroom, and saw the light spilling out from under it. I pounded on the door.
"Dad? Dad!" I yelled at the door. "Dad, are you OK in there?"
I pushed open the door, and screamed. There on the floor, laying in a pool of vomit, unconscious, was Charlie. He looked deathly pale, and his breathing was shallow.
"CARLISLE!!!" I screamed, and he was beside me pushing me out of the way to get to Charlie. He checked his pulse and his eyes.
"Bella, I need you to call 911," he said to me. I sat there staring at my dad on the floor. "Bella, now!"
I snapped out of my daze, and pulled out my phone, my fingers tripping over the number, because they were shaking so completely. I gave the dispatcher my name and address, and what was going on. Carlisle gave me details on his stats to tell the dispatcher. We filled her in on his condition, and that Dr. Cullen was with us. Fifteen minutes later, the ambulance was pulling up to our house. I ran downstairs to let the EMTs in. Carlisle gave them his latest stats while he walked by their sides out to the ambulance. Carlisle said I could ride with him and we would meet them at the hospital.
I was vaguely aware of the words of comfort Carlisle was saying to me on the way there. That he had a fever, so he probably just had an infection. Or that he was dehydrated from the vomiting. After a few of his reasons, I realized he was thinking out loud more than trying to comfort me. This must be what an out of body experience feels like. I knew I was there, but I didn't feel like I was in the car any longer. It was like my mind was left behind in that bathroom still frozen there staring at my worst nightmare since this whole treatment process started. The empty shell of myself followed Carlisle out of the car when we got to the hospital, and he rushed into the ER leaving me in the waiting room.
I sat down in one of the plastic chairs to begin my long wait. Like everything else in Forks, it was green. Not a modern green, but a 70s green. There was a reason they stopped making things in this color. So I sat there, as the clock of the waiting room cruelly ticked off the minutes in slow motion. Every time the doors opened to the ER triage area, my eyes shot up, but it was never someone for me. Finally, four hours later, Carlisle came through the doors talking on his cell phone.
"Carlisle," I jumped up and ran to him, "is my dad alright?"
He held up a finger kindly entreating me with his eyes to wait a moment.
"I had an emergency with a patient, and am at the hospital," I heard him say. "Yes, I will call you in the morning. Have Edward call me in the morning, please....Yes....I love you too....Bye"
He hung up and turned his attention to me.
"He's stable now, Bella," he said running his hand through his hair just like Edward does when he is flustered. "They are taking him to a private room upstairs now. You can go up in just a minute."
"What is wrong?" I eked out.
"He was very dehydrated, and his white blood cell count is low," he muttered. "I think the supplement was not reacting well with his other medication. I am keeping him over-night for observation, and fluids."
"Can I stay with him?" I asked, tears silently running down my face.
"Of course, Bella," he said. "There was a double room available, so you can have a bed."
"Thank-you, Carlisle," I said.
"Please know that our family is here for you and Charlie," he said hugging me.
"I know," I said. "I am sorry I haven't been forthcoming with the rest of your family, and I appreciate your discretion. I guess I just feel that this is Charlie's business, and it is not my place to tell anyone what is going on unless he says it is OK."
"Bella, honey," Carlisle said taking my face in his hands, "this is your business too. The moment you committed to being your dad's caretaker through this, you made it your business. You might not be fighting this disease, but you are in the trenches. For years I have seen the caretakers of my patients become has frail and battered as the patients themselves with the work and strain that is involved. You don't have to do this alone. Charlie will not fault you for being human. For needing sleep. For needing a friend or two. You can't have friends without honesty and disclosure, Bella. I see how much Alice and Edward are already so attached to you, and I see the rest of my family following suit. They want to be there for you, Bella. Don't be afraid to tell them what that entails. They might just surprise you."
Carlisle showed me to where Charlie's room was. He looked so pale and weak laying in that hospital bed. His body was so much thinner these days. It had all been happening so gradually, that I hardly noticed until now. He looked to be swimming in his hospital gown. Carlisle must have sensed my apprehension, because he gentle nudged me into the room. I walked over to the side of Charlie's bed, and picked up his hand into mine. Carlisle read over some of the stats coming off of the various machines Charlie was hooked to, and made some notes in Charlie's chart.
"He'll rest well tonight," Carlisle said. "Why don't you try to get some rest yourself. You have help tonight, Bella. Take the night to take care of yourself."
"I'll try," I promised half-heartedly. I didn't know if I could get any sleep in the hospital. Oh well, if I can't sleep, I can always work on school work. SCHOOL!
"Carlisle!" I gasped quietly, and he jumped. "How am I going to get to school tomorrow? You drove me here. I have the presentation with Edward in biology. I can't miss that. He'll be so mad at me, if I am not there. We worked so hard on it, and I don't have my bag or my notes. I don't have a change of clothes. I can't leave my dad here alone. The puke in the bathroom! I need to go home and clean that up!"
"Bella, Bella, Bella..." he said holding up his hands. "Calm down, sweetheart. One thing at a time."
I stared at him wild eyed with a million thoughts pouring through my head. I must have looked half crazy as my mind was making lists and trying to process it all.
"First of all, if you would like a change of clothes, I can have one of the nurses bring you a set of scrubs," he said.
"I can't wear scrubs to school.." I started, but he cut me off.
"Secondly, I think, being that it is so very late, and your dad is unexpectedly in the hospital, you can afford to miss a day of school," he said. Once again I tried to talk, and he silenced me with his hand. "I will call the school myself in the {looking at his watch} later morning. I will even talk to your biology teacher directly. I am sure he will be fine with post-poning your presentation until Monday."
"Finally, don't worry about the state of the house. One of the nurses at work does house cleaning on the side to help make ends meet since she lost her husband last year. I will ask Sue tomorrow if she could help out at your place."
"Carlisle," I said despondently, "we can't afford a maid."
"Consider it an early Christmas present from Esme and I," he said with a smile. "I won't accept no as an answer."
"Thank-you," I said and the tears began to flow once more. Carlisle patted my arm.
"Can I ask one thing from you, Bella?" Carlisle asked now.
"Anything," I said.
"May I have permission to tell Esme about Charlie's condition?" He asked. "I will leave it to you to tell Edward and Alice, and whomever else. I just have a hard time keeping secrets from my wife. I'm afraid I can't keep things from her, and my facade on this one is cracking."
"Yes," I agreed. "Thank-you for asking. Will I see you tomorrow?"
"You will," he said. "I will be in early in the afternoon to check on Charlie and see if he is well enough to be released."
"Thank-you, Carlisle, again...for everything," I said giving him a weak smile.
"Like I said, Bella," he reminded me, "we are here for you." With that he headed out the door.
After months of being alone, I suddenly felt overwhelmed with people who cared about me...about us. I went over to the bed next to Charlie's, and curled up on it. I stared up at the moon that shown down through the blinds on the window, and thought about my isolation. Why was it that I had been pushing people away? Was it my pride? Maybe a little. I have always been so self-sufficient. With Renee as a mother, I had become the parent early on. I have never needed taken care of in any way. Now I was beginning to realize that leaning on someone else...having someone else share the weight on your shoulders was not being selfish. If they cared for you, it was a gift to allow them to help. If there was a God out there, tonight I thanked Him for the Cullens.
Before I knew it, the sunlight was streaming through the open blinds and urging me awake. For the first time in months, I didn't remember falling asleep, and I didn't wake up once in the night. I slept like a rock. I rolled over to look up at the clock on the wall to see it was around nine in the morning. I sat up and stretched, and turned to look over a Charlie. He was still asleep, or maybe still sedated. I went to get up, and felt my feet kick something at the end of the bed, and realized it was a set of scrubs. I picked them up and hugged them to my chest and smiled. Yes, it was good to have someone in your corner. I walked quickly over to the bathroom, and freshened up and changed into the new clothes. I found a plastic bag in the room and tossed my clothes from yesterday into it.
The nurses were so kind. They brought me breakfast and lunch. One of them even snagged me a book of crosswords from the gift shop. Of course, everyone recognized who Charlie was. He was going to be mortified when he woke up and realized where he was, and that people finally knew what was going on with him. Hopefully, he would swallow some of his pride, and accept the fact that this happens to many people, unfortunately, and it is not something to be ashamed of. That even though it has weakened his body for now, it doesn't make him less of a man.
"Bella?" Charlie's groggy voice cut through the silence in the room.
"Dad," I said softly coming over to his side and taking his hand, "you're awake."
"Where?" he started looking around.
"You are at Fork's Hospital, dad," I told him. "I came home from the Cullen's last night, and found you unconscious in the bathroom. Thank God Carlisle had driven me home, because he took control and got you here. You were dehydrated, and he said something about your new supplement was having a negative affect with your current drug treatment. He is going to come and check on you this afternoon, and he is pretty certain you can go home tonight."
"What time is it?" He asked.
"It's about one o'clock," I said looking up a the clock above the door.
"How was your presentation today?" He asked closing his eyes.
"I didn't have my presentation today," I said.
"I thought that is why you went over to the Cullen's. To practice some presentation with Edward for today. Big part of your grade or something," he continued.
"I was...it is," I stuttered out. "I didn't go to school today, though, dad. I stayed here with you."
"YOU DIDN'T GO TO SCHOOL TODAY?!" Charlie yelled, and I jumped.
"It's OK, dad," I said quickly. "They know I was here. I even talked to Mr. Banner myself this afternoon, and he said Edward and I can do our presentation on Monday. He totally understands."
"You should have gone to school!" He fumed. "This is exactly what I DIDN'T want to happen. You can't risk your future to play nursemaid to your father. I don't need a babysitter, Bella. You think I'm some helpless child that needs you every fucking second, don't you? Well, you know what...I don't need your pity. I DONT NEED YOU! You should just go back to your mother where you could only focus on being a student. Hell! I'd settle for you just being a regular kid."
I was sobbing uncontrollably now. I couldn't believe he was saying this to me. After all of these months, he still didn't believe that this is where I wanted to be. This is where I needed to be. That if something would happen to him, when I could be there helping, it would destroy me with guilt for the rest of my life. He was trying to push me away. He was sticking his head in the sand when help was being offered to him. I knew what he was doing. It's what I would do in his shoes. I wasn't going to let him.
"I know you don't mean half of what you just said. You are not feeling well, and you are angry. You are not less of a man for being here, dad. You are not the first strong, able man to have his legs kicked out from under him by cancer. But know this...you can't get rid of me. I'm staying."
Just then there was a light knock on the door, and Carlisle popped his head in the door. I quickly turned away from him and started trying to wipe away the evidence of our argument from my face.
"How are you feeling this afternoon, Charlie?" Carlisle asked walking over and checking his chart.
"Angry," Charlie said gruffly staring at me. I lowered my eyes, and tried to fight back the tears that were threatening to fall again. "I am sorry Bella let down your boy today by skipping school."
"She did nothing of the kind," Carlisle came to my defense. "She missed school at my encouragement, I am afraid. I am sorry if I over-stepped my bounds, but she was exhausted by the late hour, and she would have not had a productive day at school if she had gone. I called and talked to the school administration, and their biology teacher myself this morning. The school administration and Mr. Banner were all very understanding. My standing medical excuse is in her file. We knew this might happen, Charlie."
"I just hate her missing school because of me," Charlie mumbled taking my hand in his, and looking up at me apologetically.
"I assure you that the teachers had nothing but praise for what a model student Bella is, and how fantastically she is doing in her classes," Carlisle added. "They had no doubt that Bella would more than make up for what she missed today. She and Edward will get their chance to do their presentation on Monday."
Charlie nodded, and gave my hand a squeeze. I placed my other hand on top of his and smiled.
"Well, from the looks of things here, I think you guys can go home as soon as we finish these discharge papers," Carlisle added.
"Wait, Dr. Cullen," I said. "I rode with you here. We have no way to get home."
"I would be glad to give you both a ride," he said with a smile. "Charlie was my last stop on my rounds, so I am done for the day."
"I don't want to to have to go out of your way," Charlie began to object.
"Charlie, please," Carlisle started in, "Esme has taken a great liking to Bella here, and I would not hear the end of it if she finds out you guys took a cab home."
"Well, I wouldn't want to get you in trouble with the wife," Charlie chuckled. "I still remember what that is like, and it has been 14 years."
"OK, then," Carlisle said, "I'll meet you guys out front in about an hour."
"Thank-you, Dr. Cullen," Charlie and I said together.
On the way home, Carlisle mentioned Sue coming by to help out with housework. Charlie was reluctant at first, but Carlisle sold it as how he would be doing Sue a great service, Charlie agreed, but refused to let Carlisle pay. He insisted that he had enough set aside to pay her to come by once a week. I got her number from Carlisle, and told him that I would call her tomorrow and make the arrangements.
Carlisle got us home, and helped me get Charlie upstairs and into bed. Even though he was rehydrated and rested from his stay at the hospital, the whole ordeal had taken a lot out of him. After promising Carlisle to make sure he got plenty of fluids, he headed out telling us to call him if we needed anything. I showed Carlisle out, and then went to fill up Charlie's giant water mug from the hospital. By the time I got back upstairs, he was asleep. I set the mug down on his nightstand, and turned to clean up the mess from the other night.
I went into my room, and pulled my hair back in a ponytail, and then wrapped my hair up with one of my favorite 'do rags' as my mom called them. I was very thankful for the scrubs at this moment. They were comfortable and easy to move around in. No wonder medical professionals wear these. They must be easy to clean too I thought hopefully as I had a nasty job ahead of me. I cleaned up the puke in the bathroom first, since that was the more disgusting of the chores. I was glad it was all on the tile, and I didn't have to clean the rug. Once that was clean, I went to work cleaning up the popcorn that was still scattered around the living room. Just as I was finishing the vacuuming, I heard a knock at the door. I turned off the vacuum, and walked over to the front door and opened it.
There standing on my porch was Edward.
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A/N: My thanks, once again, to roxymar. She not only graciously shares her experiences, but she had some great ideas for this segment of the story! You rock lady!
Sorry that this is a bit of a cliff hanger, but as you can see, this is two days early, and I might just be able to get you the next chapter Thursday. The story is really flowing at the moment. I just can't type fast enough at times!
Reviews make me type faster...really...I'm not lying. They are magic!
