A/N: New chapter for you guys. I'm going away this weekend to SF to meet up with several friends and new friends in the fandom (if you've been over to ADF lately I'm sure you've seen the San Francisco post by my lovely beta) It's going to be a lot of fun and I'm glad I was able to get this chapter posted before then.

Thanks to my wonderful beta LittleLea05 – I love you bestie!

"Family quarrels are bitter things. They don't go by any rules. They're not like aches or wounds; they're more like splits in the skin that won't heal because there's not enough material."

- F. Scott Fitzgerald

Disclaimer: Plot mine, everything else, Stephenie Meyer

Chapter 18 – A little More Than That

Edward POV

I would like to say I spent the three days that Bella was unconscious right by her side, never leaving, but I can't. After two days Charlie came by and roughly pulled me from the chair and pushed me out the door.

"Go home, sleep, take a shower, change into clean clothes and then come back. I'll stay the night tonight, just come back tomorrow morning when they wake her up." I couldn't argue with him. I obeyed and went home for the evening. I still got little to no sleep from being constantly worried about her. But the restless night gave me enough time to rearrange the apartment and get it ready for her homecoming. I knew she was going to have to be with someone for her recovery and I much preferred her being here under my care then alone at home.

I decided to head back to the hospital around eight in the morning. The doctor was supposed to come by around nine to bring her out of her sedation. I knew she was going to be in a fair bit of pain and wouldn't be able to speak for the rest of the week. That's why it was decided that until she was in better condition, Charlie and I were the only ones that were supposed to be permitted in her room.

"How is she?" I asked as soon as I walked in the door. Charlie looked a little worse for wear after spending the night next to her bed side. The nurses had been very accommodating to us in the last few days. I didn't know if it had something to do with the fact that we were firefighters, or my love for her or the horrible crushes the nurses seemed to have on me. I wasn't stupid; I heard their whispers when they thought I was asleep. But regardless, I was grateful for their help and for letting me stay even though I was technically not allowed to since I was not her husband nor her blood family.

"She is doing okay. Doc seems optimistic and should be here soon." He swiveled around in the chair to get a better look at me. "Boy, I told you to get some rest."

"I did." He raised an eyebrow. "Okay…some. But I spent the time wisely and got my place ready for when she gets released." Charlie and I had discussed this the morning after Bella was admitted. We both didn't want her to be by herself but Charlie wasn't able to take any time off from work. Luckily, Carlisle is a saint and was able to pull some strings. After Bella gets released, I am permitted one week off paid. Carlisle was able to maneuver my vacation time, some of which I hadn't even earned yet, and give it to me early so I'd have a week paid off with Bella. But also, because of the family medical leave act, I decided to take a week off after without pay so that I would have two whole weeks off with Bella. She would have two full months off paid because she was injured while on the job. She also had all her medical bills paid by the city too.

"Charlie?" I sat in a chair across from him on the other side of Bella's bed. "Can…Um…can I ask you a question?" I grabbed a hold of Bella's hand for comfort, trying to calm my nerves.

"Edward…I know that look in your eyes. I remember when I would look at Bella's mom, Renee the same way. She is the center of your world isn't she?" I nodded my head. "And you'd never do anything to hurt her?"

"Never." My voice came out roughly, like I hadn't spoken for a couple of days.

"Good. So do right by her. Give her what she wants, even if its space. Worship her, but don't smoother her. Understand that she is always going to be a little too independent for her own good but she will need you to lean on. And above all else, love her for who she is and don't try to change her like her mother did."

"Yes sir."

"Then you have my blessing." My face broke out in a big goofy grin that didn't entirely fit given the circumstances we were in. But Bella was alive and eventually I was going to ask her to be my wife. I was excited. I had been trying to think up a way to approach Charlie with this, but never seemed like a right time. Now, almost losing her like I did, I had no idea why I was waiting any longer.

The door across the room opened and in walked Dr. Anderson and one of the nurses, though I honestly couldn't remember her name. "Oh well look at that, it's good to see some smiling faces in here." Dr. Anderson said as he swept across the room. "We are going to be waking Ms. Swan up today gentlemen and I do believe everything is going to be going good from here on out. Nurse?"

I stepped back from the bed to allow them to work. I didn't quite understand what they were doing but within a matter of minutes there was slight movement on the bed. I quickly moved over to Bella's side in time to see her dark chocolate eyes blink open and slowly look around the room. When her eyes met mine she opened her mouth like she was getting ready to speak. "Babe, babe, don't talk sweetie." I grabbed her hand and with my other hand I brushed away the hair from her forehead.

"Ms. Swan, can you look over at me?" Dr. Anderson asked. Bella reluctantly broke eye contact with me and looked over at him. "Good, good." He pulled out a pen light and brought it up her face. "Follow the light without moving your head please." Seconds later he put his pen light away. "Good. Equal and responsive. Bella, you were in a fire, do you remember? Please don't talk. Just slightly nodded or shake your head yes or no." She winced as she slowly nodded her head. "Good. You have a broken leg and will be in a cast for six to eight weeks. You lost a lot of blood from the break but we did a transfusion and your body seems to be reacting quite well to it. You had heat exhaustion but your okay from that. One of the bigger things to worry about right now is the smoke inhalation you got. That is why we are asking you not to talk right now. Your throat is severely swollen and talking will be painful as well as moving your neck too much right now. Do you understand?"

She winced again as she nodded yes and a tear rolled down her cheek. I quickly swiped a finger across her cheek to get rid of it. She looked over at me and she looked so young sitting there, so defeated looking. It felt like I was the one who was nearing their thirties not in the early twenties. Our roles were reversed. Charlie was right, she was far too independent for her own good but it was a good thing she had me to lean on.

"Bella, sweetie, you're fine. I'm here with you." She started shaking her head before I even finished what I was saying.

"What Bells?" Charlie asked.

"…oy?" She croaked out. She sounded horrible. I shook my head.

"Oy Bella? What's oy?"

"B-b…"

"I think she is trying to say boy?" I interjected and she started nodding her head. "You want to know if the boy made it?" I asked. She nodded and I smiled. "Yes babe, you saved his life. The only thing wrong with him is some smoke inhalation like you. He's fine." She seemed to relax back a little into her bed once she realized her actions weren't wasted.

"Well, I think we will step on out and let you guys…uh converse. A nurse will be back in an hour or so to check on you. And as long as things continue to progress accordingly I think we can discharge you in a few days." Dr. Anderson turned and walked out and as soon as the nurse was done checking her vitals, she left too.

I turned from Bella and quickly snatched a pen and paper that was sitting next to her bed. I turned and pulled the tray over in front of her while Charlie slowly raised the bed up for her. "Think you can write what you want to say? I'm sure you have a lot of question?" She looked rather grateful as she took the pen and immediately started to scribble across the page.

What all happened? Her hand writing was sloppier than normal, but I imagine it was kind of hard to write with an IV in the back of her hand.

"Well…" I cleared my throat and sat down next to her on the edge of the bed, careful to not jostle her leg. "After Seth called that you were trapped from the collapse, we all rushed to your aid. I was able to get in with Emmett to get you out from being pinned in. Once we got to the hospital is was nothing but a waiting game."

What about the fire?

"They lost the building. So much effort went into rescuing you that the chief called off the search and rescue in fear that more firefighters would get trapped. I guess they pretty much kept it contained as it went down."

How many lives lost?

"Just one. The boy's father didn't make it." She nodded her head and looked down in her lap. I could see a small tear slip down her cheek.

After a few minutes, and a few tears, she looked back up and began writing again. How many days have I been out?

"Only three Bells. You haven't missed much." Charlie hadn't really spoken until now. Bella seemed to realize that she hadn't been paying as close attention as she should have and reached for her father's hand, pulling him in for a small hug.

So what now? She scribbled on the pad of paper. Before I could get a chance to answer she also scribbled, I'm hungry, food? on there too.

"How about I go get you a strawberry shake from the cafeteria, think you can handle that Bells?" She nodded her head and he headed out the door.

"Now we recuperate." I said to answer her first question. She raised an eyebrow so I continued. "You're coming to stay at my place, no questions. You will need help for the first couple weeks to get use to moving around on a cast. You have the next couple months off paid and I have the next two weeks off to help you. From then on out, while I'm at work, Alice and Rose and even Charlie will only be a phone call away to come help you. By the end of May, you should be completely healed with even a few sessions of physical therapy done."

So, does that mean that I am moving in with you? What about my apartment and stuff?

I laughed a little before answering. "I wasn't going to force you to move in with me Bella. This was going to just be until you got better…that is…unless you want to move in with me."

She raised her hand to her face and put a finger on her lips and made this cute little face like she was seriously thinking about. She quickly wrote on the pad of paper in big texts. HELL YES! Sex all the time! I laughed while she started drawing little smiley faces on it. She had a smile on her face despite the pain she was probably in. I didn't think I could love her anymore than right now.

My laughter at Bella's enthusiastic smiley faces was interrupted by the door opening. I didn't think Charlie or the nurses would be back so soon. The smile from my face slipped off only a second after Bella's. Her whole body went rigid as she took in the women standing at the door. She was in her early forties at least with lighter hair than Bella's, probably a little bit taller than her too but it was obvious who she was. There was no mistaking that this was Renee, the mother of Bella's that had abandoned her. I was instantly incensed that she would come here. But I didn't quite know what to do now.

We were in a quiet stand-off for a few minutes before Renee finally made the first move. She stepped closer towards the bed as she said "Bella…" ever so softly. Bella immediately turned her face away from Renee to look at me. The look on her face clearly said something along the lines of 'save me'.

"What do you think you are doing here?" I asked, trying to get my voice from sounding less as menacing than it probably did.

"Excuse me?" She asked, taken aback.

"I asked, what you thought you were doing here? You think you can be gone for twelve years and then waltz back in here like nothing happened?" I had my arms around Bella because she had maneuvered herself enough to get her head buried in my chest. I could feel from the slight shaking of her shoulders that she was crying. I knew how she felt about her mother; I bet she thought it was ludicrous for her mother to even show up, as if she suddenly cared now. Well – that was at least how I was thinking. Bella probably couldn't even process this right now given everything that had happened to her in the last couple of days.

"I don't think that this is of any concern to you boy, now if you would please step out, I'd like to have a talk with my daughter."

I swear I actually growled at her. "No. For one, she ceased being your daughter the second you walked out on her for not being the perfect ideal vision you thought she would be. And two, everything about Bella is of my concern. And three, seriously? After everything she has been through in the last couple of days you pick NOW to come back?" My voice was getting louder then angrier I got with her. "How did you even know she was here?"

"The news. They featured a special on her, on your whole station. But I didn't know that another firefighter would be in here with her. They said she was the only injured one."

"I'm not in here as a patient. I'm in here as her boyfriend to love and support her…unlike some."

"Her boyfriend?" she let out a small snort. "I imagine you know about her? Do you not want children someday?" I had a hard time wrapping my head around the way she was acting. Did people really exist like her; that thought like she did?

"Honestly?" I know my voice sounded incredulous. Bella even pulled back from my chest to look at my face, like she was curious to know this answer too. As if I hadn't told her before. "I love Bella for who she is and what that entails. I'd rather not be a father if it means I can spend the rest of my life by her side. And if someday she decides she wants to adopt, then I'll gladly go that route with her, but if she doesn't, then that's fine by me too. It's Bella that I love, not her ability to produce a child. That's where you failed as a parent. I guarantee that had you not abandoned her, you'd get your grandchildren that you seem to hold in higher regard than your own daughter. Bella has so much love in her heart that adopting a child would have been her way of sharing that love with the world. But you had to go and be selfish and downright disgusting about how you handle things. You don't deserve to be called mom."

"And are you always her spokesperson or can she manage to have an opinion without you?" She crossed her arms and took a defensive posture.

"She can't talk right now from her injuries you pompous bitch!" I had never spoken to a woman that way before. My mom raised me better than that. But this woman was seriously starting to get on my nerves.

Bella lurched forward and hastily grabbed the pen and paper and started furiously writing on it. It was nearly a minute later before she pulled away and shoved the paper towards Renee.

Leave. I don't want you here, you are not welcome. I don't want to ever hear from you again. I've been fine these last twelve years without you and I will be fine for the next fifty. Edward's right – you don't deserve to be called mom. Goodbye Renee.

Renee stared at the paper for a few minutes and then looked back at her. "I drove all the way here from Arizona to make sure you were okay. I was hoping that we might be able to reconnect…" Her sentence was cut off by Bella furiously scribbling on the pad of paper again.

No. Fucking. Way. Not with the way you still think. Your love for me should not hinge on my ability to provide you with a grandchild. Go get that from your other child. We are done here.

"But…"

Bella scribbled on her note pad again. LEAVE! She even underlined it twice. Renee exited the room with a huff and soon as the door closed I enveloped Bella in a tight hug. The tears were free flowing down her cheeks and I knew that crying in her state right now wasn't going to help her recovery any. "Babe, I need you to calm down. I know everything is so overwhelming but you need to not get all choked up when your throat is trying to heal." She nodded her head as she sat back. "I'm sorry she came here today, that you had to go through with that. I didn't say anything to upset you did I?"

She shook her head and grabbed her pen. Seconds later I read what she had wrote.

No Edward, no. You are the sweetest man I know and I am so glad I get to call you mine. I would rather live with this problem in my life and have you, then give it all back to have her. You love me regardless of everything and that is what matters. You are my family, my future – not her.

I leaned in quickly and kissed her. I didn't care that she hadn't been able to brush her teeth in a couple of days, that she had inhaled an obscene amount of smoke or had just cried her eyes out. I loved this woman and I wanted to kiss her to show it.

"Oh come on guys…" I heard Charlie chuckle as he entered back in the room. "I know you guys are together and everything, but can we keep the lovey dovey stuff to an absolute minimum around me please?" I laughed and Bella even smiled. She quickly folded up the pieces of paper from our conversation with Renee and shoved them in my hand and pointed over to the trash can. I took that to mean that she didn't want to tell Charlie right now about our impromptu meeting with Renee. I'm sure she would end up telling him in due time.

Three days later I was finally able to bring Bella home – with some difficulty. She was having a hard time moving around. For right now she was using a wheel chair for long distance and she was unsteadily using crutches for short jaunts – with my help. I got her up and into my apartment shortly after one in the afternoon on Sunday, the fourteenth. I don't even think Bella realized it was Valentine's Day. She had been so out of it for this last week that I didn't want to remind her. This of course was not the original Valentine's day I had planned, but when life throws you lemons…

I had moved my bed into the living room before I brought Bella home. She would be bed bound for quite a while so I knew that she would like to have access to the TV. Plus, being out in the living room wouldn't make her feel cut off from the world. People could come by to visit and have other places to sit. Plus, once she starts getting up and around on her own – the living room was more crutch friendly than my bedroom was.

I easily got her settled in and went to the kitchen to make us something to eat. She was asleep within minutes. The painkillers they had her on where enough to knock out a horse. I made an easy meal of tomato soup and woke her so she could eat. She still wasn't talking if she could help it; her throat was still healing so the most she would say was one word at a time.

"Thanks." Oh, did I mention it was much deeper now too. It had this abrasive like effect to it, like her voice was thick with lust. Just the sound of it was making me hard. I had to wipe that thought from my head as quickly as possible.

We sat quietly as we watched TV and ate our soup. I knew as soon as she was done she'd be going back to sleep. I got up gently to not move the bed, and her leg, too much and walked over to the door. On the table was the little box that held my gift for her in it.

"Here babe, Happy Valentine's Day." I kissed her on the forehead and took a seat in the chair next to the bed.

Bella looked at the box for a few seconds before she sat it down and grabbed her, now trusty, pen and paper. I completely forgot, I'm sorry. I didn't get you anything.

"Bella, please. With everything you've been through this last week, I don't care if you forgot. This is just a little something to show that I love you."

I love you too. But, this isn't at all how I picture this day going. I'm not even going to get Valentine's Day sex. She drew a sad smiley face and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Don't worry; you can make it up to me in a few months when you are all better." She pouted again and I smiled. "Open your gift now, will you?"

She tore away the tiny wrapping paper to pull out a brand new shiny silver key on a new key ring. She looked up at me with big doe like eyes and smiled. "Yes, it's a new key to my apartment. Not very original, I know, but I thought it was fitting."

"Thank y-you." I leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. I took her bowl in the kitchen while she got as comfortable as she could to rest. I settled myself down on the couch. I kind of resigned to the fact that I wouldn't be sleeping in the same bed as her. I was too afraid I'd jostle her in my sleep and hurt her. I had just started to pull the blanket off the back of the couch to get comfortable when I heard her barely whispered "no". She grabbed her pen again and then threw me the pad when she was done writing.

Get over here. I want to be in the same bed as you.

"Bella, I'm afraid that I'll hurt you in our sleep." She shook her head and I continued. "Don't give me that. I see you wince when your leg moves from the bed moving."

"Please." She croaked and I felt my argument start to diminish. She gestured to the pad of paper in my hand so I brought back to her so she could write me another note.

With the horse tranquilizers they have me on, it'll be ok. I'd much rather have you beside me than not.

I nodded my head and gave in. I gently crawled into the bed next to her, on her good side. As tenderly as I could I pulled her against my side, careful not to move her too much. She let out a sigh as she rested her head on my shoulder. I turned the TV down and settled in. I wasn't as tired as her but I was sure I'd eventually nod off too. These next couple of weeks were going to be hell and would test our characters thoroughly. But I had no doubt that we would survive them together.

A/N: Yeah, Bella is recovering and doing just fine. So….Renee – the confrontation, was it what you thought? Better or worst?