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.
I recommend that you listen to the song Call Your Name by Daughtry, I think it really fits this chapter.
So, more thanks is needed because you guys are just awesome! More people have put it in their favourites/alerts. But its you reviewers: tuckerjnp1, winternow, krazzy hopeless romantic, CharmLightLove, makki, Lizzie, jenn, Wicked Wordsmith, ConfusionPixie, Lori Duchess, tbonemom0512, Maruchan13, p, kayla paige, mommytwilight, Gabriels-girl5035, Akaalias, gabzCoatz, D-l0v3 oF uR Lif3, Troyis, cademan24, frankfart101, klcivinski, bull96 that really make my day. Thanks again for taking the time to tell me what you think.
This chapter did not come out exactly how I wanted it to, but I had to update :)
Enjoy!
Forever Bound
Chapter Nine – Call Your Name
"EDWARD ANTONY MASEN CULLEN COME DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!"
Edward sighed. Great, father was here. Heaving himself off his bed, he made his way downstairs once more.
Waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs was a furious looking Carlisle and quite a nervous looking Esme. Edward felt the guilt flare up inside him once more, but tried to push it aside and approached his parents with a neutral face.
"You called?" he spoke sarcastically.
"How DARE you speak to your mother the way you did! Did we not teach you any respect? Your mother came home in tears; it has taken me this long to get to the root of the problem, you." Edward looked towards the clock to see it was half past six in the evening, a whole seven hours since he had screamed at his mother. "What do you have to say for yourself?"
Edward moved passed his father and entered the living room, his parents trailing behind him. He sat down and motioned for his parents to sit on the opposite settee before he began.
"I sincerely apologise mother. I was out of line and took my anger out on you. It was not fair of me to speak that way to you or about my wife. Although there was some truth to my words, I admit that unfortunately I expressed them too harshly. Will you please permit me to explain?" Edward begged his parents.
The feeling of guilt had overcome him and was now too strong to hold back. His parents deserved the truth. He was finally about to come clean about his romance with Tanya.
Both Carlisle and Esme nodded. Taking a deep breath, Edward commenced with his tale. "In the summer of 1870, Tanya Denali and her family came to lunch at the house …"
An hour later, Edward had finished his story, Esme had tears streaming down her face as she held onto Edward's hand and Carlisle had risen from the settee and was looking into the mirror on the mantle piece, away from his wife and son.
"Why did you not tell us about Tanya son?" he asked quietly.
Edward looked down, embarrassed, "Because I knew how much this betrothal meant to you. By the time you had informed me about the arrangement it would have been too late to change anything, so I decided it would be easier for you not to know and kept my feelings to myself."
Esme let out a sob, threw herself across the room and embraced her son. "I'm so sorry Edward. We thought this was best for you! If we had known you were courting Tanya, we could have changed it, fixed it! Does Bella know you are in love with another woman, or have you given her hope that one day you may fall in love with her?" Esme questioned. Edward understood her concern for Bella; she already loved her like a daughter.
"Yes," Edward mumbled. For the first time since the wedding he felt ashamed of himself for the way he had treated his wife, "She definitely knows."
"Did you let her down gently?" Carlisle instantly asked, no doubt hearing the awkwardness in his son's voice.
"Not particularly, no," he muttered into his mother's shoulder.
Esme pushed him away from her and looked him dead in the eye, "Edward, what exactly did you say to her?" Edward could hear the warning underlining her tone, quietly warning him that he must have been civil to the poor girl.
"I believe I said something along the lines of if I had my choice the wedding would not have happened and –" Edward cut himself off there, knowing it only got worse from there on in.
Unfortunately, both his mother and father both had excellent hearing and had caught his slip up.
"And what Edward? Tell us this instant." Carlisle ordered.
"I told her that I did not want to be married to her at such a young age and that I only agreed to the marriage because you requested me to." Edward took another deep breath, while avoiding looking at either of his parents, "I told her that I only married her because I need an heir, and the only time we would come into physical contact was to conceive the child. I told her that once she had had the child, I would carry out an affair with Tanya." He finally raised his eyes and looked at his mother, who had tears streaming down her face. Edward could feel the pricks of tears brewing at the back of his eyeballs but fought to keep them at bay.
"What else did you do Edward? What else?" Esme whispered, she knew him well enough to know he had not finished,
"You invited Tanya to our party. I went onto the balcony to get some fresh air and she came up behind me. I was so overjoyed at seeing her once again that I did not truly think about where we were and embraced her. Bella saw us and ran from the ball. I followed her and found her under a tree crying, but I just watched and left her." Edward wanted to crawl up in a hole after admitting this to his parents. It was not such the fact that he had left Bella; it was the fact that his parents would finally know how poorly he treated and respected his wife.
He felt a sharp stinging sensation in his left cheek and gasped, looking up at his mother who had her hand raised, but was crying so much she was finding it hard to draw breath. "The poor girl. At her own party. She was so excited for it. Her first ever ball," was all Edward was able to distinguish from the moans that came out of his mother's mouth.
Ignoring the painful throbbing that still dominated the left side of his face, Edward buried his head in his hands and began to rock backwards and forwards on the settee. Though he did not care much for his wife, he had forgotten that she was only sixteen years old. That she still believed there was goodness in everything and looked for the best in everyone. He must have broken her spirit into so many pieces by now. No wonder she had run into the comfort of Jacob's arms; he was probably providing her with what he could not; love and tenderness.
At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Casting a disgusted look at Edward, Carlisle went to open the door. A damp Jacob Black was revealed.
"Excuse me Lord and Lady Cullen. Edward," the respect left Jacob's voice as he said Edward's name, not that Edward could blame him. "I did not mean to intrude. I was just wondering if any of you have seen Bella."
"Why should we have seen Bella?" Edward snapped, "She's been with you all day has she not?" He was back in his possessive mood. No matter the mistakes he had committed, he could not condone the fact his wife was carrying out an affair.
"No." Jacob replied back just as impolitely, "I had to leave her at an hour before midday to go into town. She informed me that she had plans with Esme at midday and was shortly going to head back to the house."
"Well, I have not seen her dear. I left here just before midday and she had still not arrived," Esme informed him quietly, glancing at Edward who bowed his head.
"Have you seen her Edward?" Carlisle asked his son, who shook his head.
"Not since breakfast this morning."
Carlisle turned back to Jacob, "Have you check the house Jacob? There are numerous rooms she could be in."
"I have sir yes. I could not find her in any of them." Jacob told them.
"Where could she be Edward?" Esme asked her son.
"The only place I could think of would be the library," Edward replied in a monotone voice.
"I've checked there twice."
"One moment," Carlisle walked out of the room.
"Oh I feel terrible," Esme spoke up in the silence, "I did not see her before I left. She was probably waiting for me for hours."
Carlisle re-entered the room, with Angela trailing behind him. She looked quite nervous at being in the same room as Edward and his parents and stood closer to Jacob.
"Angela," Angela blushed and looked down at the floor as Carlisle spoke directly to her, "have you seen Bella since an hour before midday? None of us can account for her where about." Carlisle informed the nervous maid.
"Yes my Lord," Angela answered quietly, still looking down, "I welcomed her into the house at half an hour before midday and took her shoes off her hands. They were soaking you see and had to be dried" Angela rushed through her explanation, afraid she had done something wrong.
"Did you see where she was heading before you left her?" Carlisle pressed on.
"Yes Sir. She was heading towards the living room. We could hear voices coming from there you see."
"Thank you Angela. You've been a great help." Carlisle smiled at his son's maid gently before she curtsied and hurried into the corner of the room.
"Well she never entered the room, did she mother?" Edward looked towards his mother from support, but she appeared to be deep in thought; her brows furrowed.
"What is it dear?" Carlisle finally asked the question they all wanted an answer for.
"Bella was outside the door half an hour before midday, yet I left not five minutes later and she was not there. Why did she not come in if she heard me here?" The men looked blank. Suddenly, Esme gasped and tear fell from her eyes once more. "Oh my goodness! The poor, poor child!"
"What? What is it Esme? Tell me please!" Jacob begged, sounding desperate to know what was upsetting Esme so.
"Edward, I left so soon because you yelled at me to get out," Carlisle glared at his son, clearly not forgiven for upsetting his mother, "Do you not remember what you previously said, no yelled, before you ordered me to leave?" Esme asked her son quietly.
Edward thought back and groaned, shutting his eyes and hitting his head on the backboard of the settee.
"What? What did you say Edward?!" Jacob yelled, panic clearly evident in his voice.
"I-I..." Edward could not bear to say it. Carlisle and Jacob looked towards Esme.
"He accused her of having an affair with Mr Black here, and, and ..." Esme could not go on, too ashamed of her son's words.
"And what dear?" Carlisle dug, wanting to know the reason for his family's distress. However, he could guess that he would not be pleased once he had heard it.
Esme looked towards the floor and whispered so quietly they had to strain their ears, "He called her a whore."
It would have been possible to hear a feather drop as Carlisle and Jacob reeled back in shock. The silence did not last for long.
Jacob roared and threw himself at Edward, punching him right in the nose, causing it to bleed. "HOW DARE YOU! YOU MONSTER!" he continued to hit Edward wherever he could reach, as Edward struggled to get out of his grip while controlling the bleeding. "HOW COULD YOU SAY SUCH A THING?"
Edward spat out the blood that was filling his mouth onto the carpet while he tried to block his face from Jacob's blows. "Because of all the time she has been spending with you!" he cried, "She has never dressed in her best dresses for me! She has never laughed with me! She has never planned to spend the day with me! What other conclusion am I meant to draw?"
"Oh I don't know," Jacob yelled, "Perhaps that she is happy to see someone she loves. Perhaps that I could comfort her and try to fix the hole you have made in her soul." Jacob has stopped hitting Edward now but was still sitting on top of him, forcing him to listen. "Did you know she has been writing to me ever since the ball, begging me to tell her how to fix her marriage. The page was so tear stained it took me a long time to decipher what she was even saying!"
Edward looked away, trying to block out his words, but they penetrated anyway. "I came here to provide her with company, as you do an excellent job of ignoring her. And, for your information, I'M MARRIED. Happily! My wife is one of Bella's best friends; of course we would never have an affair!" And he got off Edward, looking at him in disgust.
Edward sat up shakily, wiping away the remaining blood that was beginning to crust on his face. "If you're such great friends, why don't you know where she is?" he asked weakly.
"I did not know she was upset before did I?" Jacob spat at Edward before he turned towards Carlisle and Esme, "When we were younger, whenever her mother upset her, she would find comfort in the garden." Four pairs of eyes looked out of the window and into the garden, observing the terrible storm that was reigning outside.
"You cannot be talking sense surely?" Esme questioned, sounding quite desperate for Jacob to contradict himself, "She cannot be outside in weather like this! She'll freeze to death. Or drown!" Edward noticed his mother was beginning to get hysterical.
"Excuse me sir," Angela interrupted quietly. Carlisle nodded at her to begin speaking, "Mrs. Cullen did inform me only a few weeks ago that the only place she felt at home was in the garden."
Carlisle groaned, looking at the raging storm once more. "Then I guess we are to assume that she is somewhere in the garden. We must find her before she catches her death of cold; if she has not already." Carlisle whispered the last sentence, but everyone heard it.
-o-
Five minutes later, every person in the house, Cullen, guest or servant, was in the garden looking for Bella. Carlisle has advised them to all take different routes, therefore covering the most ground in the quickest time. They all went their separate ways, yelling Bella's name while trying to be heard over the howling wind.
Edward felt sick to his stomach, the guilt almost crippling him. He had been rash and jumped to conclusions, terrible conclusions. And Bella had heard; heard him insult her in the worst way possible. Although he was nowhere near loving her, he had never wanted to cause her to hate him or to be upset. He had just wanted them to co-exist, to have a child with her before they went their separate ways in the marriage. It was only now he began to realise that he did in fact care for his wife. She had surrendered so much and he had spat it back in her face like poison. They had to find her.
An hour later and there was still no sign of her. The group had congregated once more by the fountain, all without Bella in toe. They had all come to the conclusion that Bella had left. Jacob rushed back to the house to pack his bags, ready to saddle up Embry and ride into town looking for her. The others followed slowly behind, their sodden clothes causing them to walk slower than their normal speed. Edward was trailing even further behind them, skimming the garden for one last look, hoping that by some miracle Bella would appear.
The others had entered the house by the time Edward passed by the statue he had hidden behind just a few weeks ago. Edward stopped there once more and, ignoring the rain pelting down on his skin for he was already soaked, he slid down to the base. This was all his fault and he did not think he would ever be able to forgive himself. He has ruined his family's reputation and probably cost Bella her life in the terrible storm. He began to sob, the tears mixing in with the rain.
Five minutes later, he began to get his sobs under control. Standing up, he brushed the grass off his trousers and took one last look at the tree he had seen Bella under on that evening; she had looked beautiful that night.
As he began to walk away, he noticed a strange shape out of the corner of his eyes. Just at the base of the tree, almost invisible, was an odd silhouette. Moving a little closer, wiping the water away from his face and straining his eyes, Edward notice the shape was that of a human.
Gasping, Edward ran forwards but slipped on the soaked grass. Ignoring the new sting in his leg, Edward crawled forward until he had reached the tree. There at the base was a barefoot, soaked through Bella.
Edward's mind quickly kicked into doctor mode and he looked her over. Her face was whiter than Edward had ever seen it, but her lips were blue. He looked at her chest but saw no movement. Placing his ear by her mouth, his heart dropped like a piece of lead. Bella wasn't breathing.
Panicking, Edward placed two of his fingers on her wrist, begging God to let him find her heart beat. He could not find one. Quickly, he moved his fingers on to the pressure point in her neck. After a few seconds that passed like hours, Edward was able to find her pulse. It was faint, but it was there.
Crying out in relief, Edward placed his hands under her body, wrapped her arms around his neck and ran back into the house.
Ignoring his mother and father's desperate calls to know what was going on, Edward ran as fast as his legs would carry him up the stairs and into his chamber, quickly placing Bella on the bed. Crawling onto it himself, Edward quickly ripped the soaked dress from her body. At this point, Esme and Carlisle came bursting into the room.
"Oh Lord, how bad is she?" Esme cried. Edward did not have the time to answer.
"Mother, get a petticoat for Bella to wear, father please get a towel and dry her." Edward ordered while he tried to check her airways. She was still not breathing.
Edward began to pound on her chest. He knew that water must be filling her lungs and the only way for her to breathe again would be to remove it. "Come on Bella," he whispered to his wife as he struck her chest, "Come on. Breathe." Nothing was happening; her lips still blue. "Come on Bella! Breathe!" He yelled, and beat her chest again, harder than before.
Bella suddenly began to choke and cough the water out of her lungs.
"That's it," Edward soothed, rubbing her back, "Get it all out."
Bella was abruptly violently sick over the bed cover. Tears began to form in her eyes, and Edward knew that if she were able to talk she would be apologising for making a mess of the sheets. "It's alright. Do it again if you must. The sheets are not important."
Bella just shook her head a little before she slumped back onto the pillows; unconscious once more.
Edward stared at her face the entire time he spoke, "Mother, will you please inform Jacob that there is no need to leave. I am assuming he is not aware we have found Bella. Father, will you please make sure one of the guest rooms is prepared; we cannot sleep in here tonight.
His parents nodded and left the room silently; leaving their son to tend to his wife.
Slowly, Edward lifted Bella's body up from the pillows and, blushing a little, removed Bella's sodding petticoat. Looking at as little as he could, Edward quickly slid the dry one over her figure. Moving off the bed, Edward made his way over to the wardrobe and pulled out a nightgown, one of his thick jumpers and a large pair of socks. Bella was still as cold as ice, and could use every source of heat available.
As he was finishing, a knock on the door sounded through the room and Carlisle stuck his head in. "Edward, the third room on this corridor is ready."
"Thank you father." Carlisle nodded and opened the door wider before leaving.
Gently, Edward picked his unconscious wife off the bed and held her in a cradle in his arms. As smoothly as he could, trying not to wake her, though he was sure nothing could at this point, Edward made his way out of the chamber and into the room three doors down.
After he had placed his wife under the covers, Edward moved the chair that was located in the corner of the room to her beside and took his seat. He was determined to stay awake all night to make sure she was okay.
-o-
Two weeks had passed since the storm and Bella was in a comatose state. She was awake, but would never move or speak. Shoe would not eat and Edward had to force her to drink. She had not left the room they were in once. Edward had tried to speak to her but she had not responded. Jacob had tried and she did not answer him. Alice, Jasper, Esme and Carlisle also tried but to no avail. She just lay there day by day, staring into nothing.
Edward was extremely worried about her. She was still ill. Each and every morning, Bella would throw up throughout the morning, although never say what was wrong with her. Edward had tried to check over her to find out what was wrong but had discovered nothing. It had been two weeks now and nothing was changing. Edward went to his father.
Riding over to his parent's home, he rushed inside and into his father's study.
"Father, would you please examine Bella?" he requested, out of breath.
Carlisle put his quill down and gave his son his full attention. "Of course I will son. But why? You're the one training to be a doctor." Although Carlisle had basic medical knowledge, he was sure Edward knew more than he did.
"I know that father. It is just the fact that I cannot find anything wrong with her, yet she is ill every day. Unless it is an internal illness with no obvious symptoms, I am at loss." Edward admitted, ashamed that he could not figure out what was causing his wife such poor health.
"I will try my best Edward. Would you like me to go now?" Edward nodded; the sooner the better.
Less than five minutes later, both Cullen men were riding over to the younger Cullen's home.
Edward was waiting impatiently outside their current chamber as Carlisle examined Bella. Just as he was about to burst in, Carlisle came out and closed the door quietly behind him. He looked Edward in the eye with a sombre look across his face.
Edward felt an odd feeling rising in his stomach. "Well, what's wrong with her?" He asked quietly.
Carlisle moved forward and placed his hand on Edward's arm. "There is nothing I can do."
---
Dum dum duh! What's going to happen now?
Did Edward get what was coming to him? Punch and slapped in one night, not great.
By the way, have you seen Bella's Birthday scene? I think Emmett is great!
For all you who haven't, here is a link: www(dot)youtube(dot)com/watch?v=D57BYM8nL68&feature=player_embedded
Tell me what you think about that and this chapter.
Until next time. :)
