A/N: Hey all! We're back, hopefully we didn't keep you waiting TOO long this time.

We've gotten lots of new readers in the past week. *waves* Thanks for reading! Hopefully you stick around with us.

Big thanks to Emmy415 and our brand new beta Susan (susayq). She makes our words look pretty. :-)

SM owns Twilight. We don't.

Chapter 15 (BPOV)

After I relayed the news to Edward about my father, he immediately sprung into action. He kissed my head, and scrambled to his laptop, booking us two airline tickets out of JFK. He then called Jasper and told him to hold down the fort at Masen's.

He picked my phone back up off the floor from where I dropped it, and fell to his knees in front of me where I was sitting on the edge of his bed. He brushed my damp hair out of my eyes, and pressed a kiss to my lips.

"Sweetheart, I need you to call Angela and tell her you won't be in for a few days. I'm going to put a bag together for me, and then we'll swing by your place to get some stuff together for you."

I nodded, tears still streaming down my face.

He crooked a finger under my chin, lifting my face to meet his eyes. "Hey-it's gonna be alright. Let's just concentrate on getting you to Charlie."

I nodded again, unable to really speak. I was in complete shock that this had happened to my father. Forks was a small town where the crime rate was next to nothing and I couldn't imagine any scenario that would involve my dad being shot on the job.

I wiped my face with my hands, and took my phone from Edward. I dialed Angela and quickly explained the situation to her, and told her I would keep in touch. She assured me that I could take as much time as I needed, and not to rush back to work.

Meanwhile, Edward was flying around his bedroom, stuffing clothes into a suitcase while I stood, still wrapped in the sheet, staring off into space. After he was packed, he wordlessly handed me my clothes to change into and ushered me off to the bathroom to shower. I climbed in, letting the hot water rush over my head and down my back. I choked back a sob when I thought of my father laying in the hospital, hooked up to God knows how many machines. He was always so full of life; I knew it was going to kill me to see him hurting. The tears rained down my face in endless streams again, mixing with the water from the shower head and flowing down the drain. I realized I hadn't even started washing my hair yet, but I was too upset to will my body to move.

I heard a quiet knock on the bathroom door, and then it opened a crack.

"Bella, are you alright?" Edward asked quietly.

I thought about lying, telling him I was fine so he wouldn't worry about me. But I couldn't. "Not really," I admitted. "I'm scared."

The door opened the rest of the way and he stepped into the bathroom, clad in just his boxers. I watched through the glass as he stripped out of them and pushed the glass door open. The cool air made me shiver, but I was instantly warmed when he shut the door and pulled me into his arms. I rested my forehead on his chest, watching the water droplets as they trickled down his stomach and legs. His arms left my body, but quickly took up residence in my hair, massaging my shampoo through it.

"That feels good," I said with a sigh. He gently tipped my head back, letting the water wash the suds from my hair, running his fingers languidly over my forehead and through the strands. Once it was all out, he repeated the same motions with my conditioner. Just the simple action of him washing my hair made me feel loved and cherished and wanted. Even though it was a tough time for me, I realized just how much I loved him. As soon as I had gotten off the phone with my mom, he sprung into action, completely taking care of me before even thinking about himself. I knew that I would do the same for him if the need would ever arise, and I knew that I didn't want him to be away from me...ever.

He grabbed a washcloth and poured some of my body wash in it, squeezing it under the water to create a lather. He began running it lazily down my arms, over my back, and over my torso, massaging it in small circles all over my body. I leaned back against the wall as he kneeled in front of me, dragging the washcloth down one leg, then up the other. His actions were not of a sexual nature, but of reverence.

After he was finished washing me and I had rinsed all of the bubbles away, he opened the shower door and grabbed a soft white towel from the towel rack and handed it to me as I stepped out. He shut the door and quickly showered while I dried myself off and dressed in a comfortable pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

I saw my phone blinking from it's spot on Edward's dresser and picked it up to see I had a text from Emmett.

Bells - I assume mom called you too? Me and Rosie are leaving for Forks tonight. See you there? - Emmett

I quickly sent him a text to let him know me and Edward would be on our way to the airport shortly and that we'd see them later. I wanted to still be angry at him for the way he behaved towards Edward the night before, but there were much more important things to worry about. Renee hadn't even told me how bad my dad's injuries were. She was too frantic on the phone and all I was able to decipher from our conversation was "Your father was shot", "blood", and "hospital" but it was all I needed to hear to know that it was necessary for me to fly home.

After Edward had gathered his belongings together, we made a quick stop at my apartment so that I could throw a bag of clothes and toiletries together, and then made our way to JFK airport. Edward parked his car in the long-term parking lot, and we made our way inside, my hand clasped tightly in his. Once we were through security, we still had about an hour until we had to board our plane, so we grabbed a couple of sandwiches and found a quiet corner in our gate area. I picked at my lunch, ripping small pieces off and chewing slowly, while Edward cast worried glances in my direction. I knew he was probably hurting inside since he didn't know how to make me feel better. He always had been a "fix-it" guy. There was nothing in this world that made him more aggravated than not knowing how to fix it when either me or his sister were upset. In this case, fixing my dad himself wasn't going to happen, so he settled for just keeping quiet and hugging or kissing me to let me know that he was there for me.

I had eaten about half of my turkey sandwich when I pushed it away from me, not able to stomach any more. Edward quickly stood up, discarding the leftovers, and came back to my side, wrapping his arm protectively around my shoulders. Once our row was called, we boarded the plane and took our seats beside each other.

The flight to Seattle was incredibly long. I tried to sleep, resting my head comfortably on Edward's shoulder, but my brain wouldn't turn off. I couldn't bear to think about Charlie, completely helpless, laid up in a hospital bed. My brain rifled through every possible outcome of this, both good and bad, and it was killing me to not know how he was doing.

Once we landed, we exited the plane, Edward towing me behind him towards the baggage claim area. We grabbed our bags as soon as we spotted them on the belt, and was on the road towards Forks in our rented sedan in less than 30 minutes.

There weren't words to describe how anxious I was to get to my dad. I was constantly fidgeting and moving around in the car because my brain just wouldn't shut off.

"Bells," Edward said, placing a hand on my knee to stop it from bouncing. "You've gotta sit still. You're making me nervous. I know you're worried, but I'm going as fast as legally possible. I'm sure if there were some kind of emergency, your mom would have called to let you know by now."

I sighed, leaning my head against the window. "I know...but I can't help but wonder what will happen if something bad does happen. I mean, I haven't exactly been a trophy daughter. I've barely even come home to see my family."

He slid his hand off of my knee and grasped my hand, pulling it up to his lips. He pressed a kiss to the back of my knuckles and then rested our joined hands on his thigh. "Love, Charlie knows that you love him. That's all that matters. Everything is going to be fine."

He took his eyes off the road momentarily and glanced at me, a smile pulling at his lips. He was trying to reassure me, and it worked. I rested my head against the back of the seat and let sleep take over for my thoughts.

"Bella?"

I groaned and stretched out my cramped limbs, opening my tired eyes to see Edward crouched down beside me. I was still seated in the car, but he had opened the door and was stroking my cheek with his fingers. The events from early this morning, and the concept of where we were all flooded back to me and I shot up in my seat, my eyes popping open. We were at the hospital.

I unbuckled my seat belt in a rush and all but fell out of the car. Edward caught me under the arms and lifted me to my feet, steadying me. I tried to escape his grasp and run towards the entrance, but his strong arms kept me stationary. My frantic eyes met his, and he smiled softly at me, holding me tightly around the waist.

"Relax, Sweetheart. You aren't going to do anyone any good if you run into the hospital all frantic and worried."

I nodded and took a deep breath, calming my frazzled nerves. He took my hand into his and together we walked across the parking lot and through the double-doors leading into the building. We stopped in the lobby, trying to figure out where to go, when we heard a voice calling our names from beside us.

We glanced down the corridor and saw Carlisle, Edward's dad, walking towards us. He was obviously on his shift. His white coat was open over perfectly pressed charcoal pants and a white dress shirt. His blond hair was cut short and pushed back slightly away from his face. He looked exactly the same as the last time I saw him, aside from a few gray hairs at his temples. He smiled as he approached, but it didn't reach his eyes completely.

When he got to us he yanked me out of Edward's grasp and engulfed me in a huge, fatherly hug. Carlisle was always like a second father to me. His hugs were familiar and very welcome. I suddenly needed reassurance from him. After all, he was a doctor, and probably was at the hospital when Charlie was brought in. I didn't say anything for a few moments, just buried my head into his crisp, white jacket and breathed in the scent of home.

"Is my dad going to be okay?" I asked softly, my voice breaking. I sniffed back a few tears that were threatening to escape and then picked my head up to look at his face.

He patted me on the back and then handed me over to Edward, who immediately wrapped his arms around me from behind. Carlisle gave us a knowing smile, but didn't say anything about our obvious change in relationship.

"He's in surgery right now. They are trying to repair as much of the damage as possible. The bullet severed an artery and did extensive nerve damage in his shoulder. He was unconscious when they brought him in," he paused and took a deep breath. His eyes met mine and I knew there was more bad news.

"Bella, there's a good chance he could lose all function of his left arm."

Edwards arms tightened around my waist as I gasped for air. I knew, with Dad being the Chief of Police, they would do everything in their power to fix him, but what if they couldn't?

"Both of your moms are in the waiting room. I can take you to them if you'd like."

I nodded and slipped out of Edwards grasp, clutching his hand as I numbly followed Carlisle down the hallway. Edward squeezed my hand in his, but stayed quiet, just letting me know that he was there. The tears started flowing again when we got to the waiting room and I saw my mom slumped over in a chair in the corner. Her eyes were puffy and ringed with redness, and she was staring at the second hand on the clock across from her.

The words 'It could be worse. He could be dead.' were on a constant loop in my head, but it didn't stop me from breaking down once me and Renee locked eyes across the waiting room. I stumbled across the room and threw myself down into the small loveseat with her, as we wrapped our arms around each other and sobbed.

I don't know how long we clung to each other, but when we surfaced and began to dry our tears, Edward was standing over us with two cups of coffee.

"Thank you, Edward," she said through her tear filled eyes as she took the Styrofoam cup out of his hands. She smiled weakly in our direction as he handed me my coffee and took the chair on the other side of me.

"It could be a lot worse," Edward said quietly, trying to keep both me and my mother calm and pacified. "I mean, be thankful he's still alive, yeah? I'm not trying to trivialize this or anything, I'm just saying that there is a little bit of a silver lining and...oh nevermind, I'm just going to shut up." He slumped down in his chair, his cheeks taking on a light pink hue. I leaned over and rested my head on his shoulder.

"No, you're right Edward. We are lucky and it could've been a lot worse. It's just shocking, ya know? Who would've thought that something like this would happen in Forks, of all places. We hear about stuff like this everyday in New York, but experiencing it is a completely different thing."

"Charlie is tough. I have no doubts that he will be back to work within a few weeks. You know he won't be able to stay away long," another voice said quietly from beside my mom. It was then that I realized that I had completely forgotten that Esme was in the room. I quickly flung myself out of my chair and over to her, throwing my arms around her neck. She gripped me tightly, smoothing down my hair with her free hand. I never realized how much I missed her...how much I missed their entire family. They really were a second family to me growing up, and it was nice to see that there was no awkwardness between any of us.

"Thank you," I mumbled into her shoulder. "You know, for being here. It means a lot."

She chuckled and pulled back to look at me. "Sweetie, who do you think drove scared, frantic, sobbing Renee to the hospital? There was no way I was letting her get behind the wheel of a car in that state. Besides, you guys are like family, I need to be here."

Her eyes went from mine, over to Edward, and back to me. She smiled gently.

"I really should be thanking you, anyways."

I looked at her curiously and her smile grew wider as she looked over my shoulder. I felt arms snake around my waist and soft lips press to my cheek.

"For making my son smile again."

"It's not like I never did, Mom," Edward said with a laugh. "It's just that now I have a better reason to."

I could feel the traitorous blush covering my entire face. I never liked being the center of attention.

We heard a throat clear and turned to see a doctor standing in the room in front of all of us. He shoved a piece of paper into the pocket of his blue scrubs and then turned to Renee.

"Mrs. Swan? I'm Dr. Gerandy. We just finished up with Charlie's surgery and he's headed into recovery." I stepped closer to them and sat down next to Mom, waiting for the doctor to elaborate on Charlie's condition.

"We were able to go in and repair most of the damage caused by the bullet. There are still some un-repairable muscle tissue and nerves, so we believe that he isn't going to have full function of his arm. We will know for sure when he wakes up. He's going to have an extensive physical therapy program after he gets out of the hospital, which will help with movement. He was very lucky. It was very close to severing an artery."

I felt myself tear up again, half in relief and half in sadness that we were even here in the first place. I leaned my head on my mom's shoulder as I felt her tremble slightly.

"When can we see him?" she asked shakily, squeezing my hand.

"A nurse will come out for you when he's ready to be seen. It shouldn't be long now. Sit tight," he said and then he was gone. Edward sat down next to me, taking my hand in his. We all sat in silence, just staring at the news that was playing on the TV across the waiting room.

It was Esme that broke the silence. "Well, thank God he's going to be okay. Carlisle can recommend a good physical therapist for him and he'll be like new in no time." she said, reassuringly.

We all nodded our heads in agreement, just as we heard loud, pounding footsteps coming down the corridor. A slightly out of breath Emmett came barreling into the waiting room moments later, firing off questions as soon as he saw us sitting there.

"How is he? Is he okay? Is he still in surgery? What did the doctors say?"

Renee beckoned him over and sat him down next to her, quietly replaying the conversation we just had with the doctor. I watched as his face went from sadness, to relief, and back to sadness as Mom told him everything. Rosalie perched herself on his knee, running her hands through his hair and down his back, comforting him in a way only she could. I gave him a small smile and a wave from my seat, not really knowing where I stood with him. He was angry last time we were together, and I didn't want to pretend like everything was okay when it really wasn't.

At my gesture, he scooted Rosalie off his knee and came over to me, crouching on the floor in front of my seat.

"Bells," he started, avoiding eye contact with me. "About last night, I...I'm sorry I was such a jerk. It wasn't fair to you. I won't do it again, I promise."

"It's okay, I just-"

He turned his head then, looking me in the eyes. "No, Bella. It's not okay. I need to apologize to both of you. I guess I didn't like the fact that I felt replaced. I used to fight your battles for you, and now you have someone else to do it, and I didn't like it. I'm sorry." He glanced from me, over to Edward, who was quietly sitting next to me.

"First of all," I started, "I can fight my own battles. I don't need anyone to do it for me." I looked in Edward's direction, and poked him in the chest with my finger. "That means you, too. Quit beating people up. Second of all, you aren't being replaced, Emmett. If you could just get along with Edward, maybe we could all go do things together and you wouldn't feel so left out."

Instead of answering me, Emmett turned to Edward, clearly intrigued. "Who else did you beat up?"

Edward smiled, but shrugged indifferently. "Jacob."

Emmett's answering grin stretched across his face as he raised his fist to Edward's. "Right on."

xxxx

The nurse finally came out into the waiting room and told us that Charlie was ready to have visitors. He was still sleeping, but we could go in two at a time to see him. I let my mom and Emmett go in first, and I sat in the waiting room with Edward, Esme, and Rosalie anxiously waiting my turn. I let them go first because I still wasn't prepared to see my father lying in a hospital bed. He had always been so tough...I don't think I had ever seen him even remotely hurt, so I knew it was going to shock me. I sat quietly, drumming my fingers on my knee as I kept a death grip on Edward's hand.

About 20 minutes after they went in, Mom and Emmett came out into the waiting room. They were both smiling softly, but Mom had fresh tear tracks on her cheeks, a sign that she had been crying again.

"He's awake, Honey. Go on back. Room 221," she said as she took a seat next to Esme.

I took a deep breath, and stood up, attempting to pull Edward up with me. When he didn't budge, I looked back at him, wondering why he wasn't moving. He seemed to be debating something in his head as he looked back and forth between me, my mom, and Emmett.

"You want me to go with you?" he asked shyly, still flitting his eyes around the room unsurely.

"Yes, I want you to go with me. I need you to go with me. Now get up," I said, yanking harder on his hand. He took one last glance over at my family, who smiled and gave him a nod. He relented then, following me down the narrow hospital corridor. I pushed open the door to my father's room and gasped when I saw him lying in the bed. He was pale, with wires and tubes strewn out over the bed, connected to various parts of his body. He turned when he heard the door open and smiled half-heartedly.

"Bella," he croaked out, his voice still hoarse from the surgery and lack of water. "What are you doing here?"

I laughed at his absurd question, dragging a chair over to his bedside while Edward hung out awkwardly in the doorway. "You were shot, Dad. I would've flown to Antartica to see you."

He smirked. "Just for me?" He was trying to lighten the mood, I could tell. He never liked to see me sad.

"Of course." I said, as I leaned over to hug him, being careful not to disturb any of the tubes or wires. "Don't scare me like that again, okay?" I mumbled into his shoulder, a few stray tears escaping my eyes.

I pulled away from him and his eyes shot over to Edward in the doorway. "Are you going to loiter over there all day or are you going to come say hello?" he said, trying to sit up. He grimaced and frowned when he couldn't sit up and flopped back down onto the bed with a huff. Edward pushed off the wall and came over, offering his hand to Charlie.

"It's nice to see you, Chief Swan. I wish it were under better circumstances."

"Nice to see you too, Edward. You keepin' an eye on my girl?" he asked, smiling wryly in my direction. "Renee tells me you two are datin'. I'm not going to give you the talk, but just know I have a whole rack of guns at home."

He laughed, as loud as he could with his injuries, when Edward's face paled, and I scowled in his direction. "Dad! Don't torment him like that. You seem to forget that Edward was the one scaring all of my potential dates away growing up. I don't think you need to worry."

The door swung open behind us as the doctor came through the door. Edward and I said goodbye to my father for the time-being, letting the doctor look over Charlie as we headed back out to the waiting room.

Renee and Esme all but banished all of us "kids" to go grab some food, so the four of us headed down to the hospital cafeteria.

"Bella, can't we go get some real food?" Emmett whined as we walked into the cafeteria.

"You know, Emmett, for a grown man you sure do bitch and moan a lot. You know as well as I do, that the closest fast food place isn't really that close at all. So this is as real as it's going to get for now. You'll eat it and you'll like it."

Rosalie let out a hearty laugh and nudged a pouting Emmett with her shoulder. "Guess she told you, Em."

I felt Edward slip his arm around my waist as he leaned over to whisper in my ear. "You're sexy when you're demanding."

My face turned toward his and I gave him the most incredulous look I could muster up. " Are you seriously coming on to me in a hospital cafeteria right now?" I whispered back, hoping neither Rose nor Emmett would hear our conversation.

He didn't answer. All he did was grin at me like the goddamn Cheshire Cat and placed a quick kiss on my lips. "Love you."

"You know, being all sweet and charming isn't going to get you out of the doghouse every time," I teased, nudging him in the ribs with my elbow.

He scoffed playfully, "I'm appalled that you think that. I'm just professing my love for you."

"After you hit on me in a hospital," I pointed out, as we got in line to order our food. He grinned and shrugged, clearly not ashamed.

"Love you too, ya perv," I said, grabbing his shirt sleeve and yanking him down to my lips.

A/N: So, Charlie is okay. Good, yeah? We aren't here to bring a bunch of angst. While I love a good angsty story now and again, I think everyone needs a little bit of lighthearted reading in their life. :-)

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