Chapter 21

EPOV

What the fuck is happening? I felt like I was floating in a wind storm, I couldn't open my eyes and what was that noise? I needed to calm myself down, I had gotten myself this far, I just needed to calm down and concentrate on what I remembered.

I dropped out of the window and started walking south. It was fine for the first 50 yards or so then it was as if forest just closed in on me. Without the moon it was hard to see and it is so dense with foliage and bushes, I was going much slower than I wanted to. I was trying not to trip over roots and vines when I heard the yelling, fuck they knew I was missing. They must not have been as drunk as I thought. Then I took off running and stumbling, praying I would run into someone looking for me before I was found by them.

I had barely thought about how they would surely kill me for this right before I heard a shot and felt something whiz by me much too close for comfort. I picked up my pace and heard something that sounded like it was in front of me now. How had they been able to get in front of me? I shook those thoughts out of my head, I needed to concentrate on evading whoever was out here with me. I don't know how much longer I ran before I heard two more shots and then, 'fuck' my shoulder was killing me and I was falling to the ground. My head hit the ground hard, I couldn't move my one arm and my head was killing me. I was sure I had been shot, I need to get up and move but I couldn't make my body respond. I felt myself fading into darkness.

That was all I remembered clearly. I thought I had I heard growling and different voices. I was almost positive I heard Bella's voice but I couldn't locate it again. She was here with me I was sure of it, I could feel her close by me. My body would hum, for lack of a better word, whenever she was close. It was like a twitch that didn't stop until I touched her and I was feeling that now, she was very close by me. I felt something drop on me and heard the voice again, it was Bella, I know it was. The last thing I remember was Bella holding my hand but it felt like she was slipping away from me so I grabbed on tighter, then nothing.

I felt a hard jolt and was brought out of my thoughts, there was a loud thumping sound. What the hell was that?

"Edward, can you hear me? Edward?" I heard Bella asking but it was like listening to her with cotton in my ears. Other people were poking and prodding at me and talking but I concentrated on her voice.

"Edward can you open your eyes for me?" She asked me. I tried but couldn't make my body do what I wanted it to.

"Edward, squeeze my hand, do something to let me know you hear me. Please Edward." Bella was pleading now and it took everything I had to squeeze her hand a little.

"He squeezed my hand, I felt it." I heard her say and she sounded very excited. "I love you Edward and you are going to be fine. We are at the hospital now and they need to get you ready for surgery. You got shot baby but you will be fine. I love you Edward."

I felt her hand leave mine and then I was moving again but this time it felt like I was being wheeled. Surgery! What she said finally filtered through my brain, I was on my way to surgery. Bella found me. I was safe.

CPOV

Listening to everything at the base camp was nerve wracking. We could hear the shots and the conversations over the radio, as soon as Bella called for the helicopter we loaded into the SUV's and started towards the hospital. We hoped to arrive before Edward did but knew we probably wouldn't. I think each of us spent the drive thanking God that Edward was okay. The worst part was knowing how close we came to losing him.

Knowing he would be okay allowed me to focus on other things that had happened over the last week. I knew Bella and Edward were serious but I had no idea how much she loved him until now. I am sure we now knew much more then she ever planned to share about some of the people she knew and easily interacted with. She immediately pulled out the big guns to get Edward back and the reaction people had when she mentioned he was important to her spoke volumes. She loved him deeply.

Upon reaching the hospital we immediately went to the surgical floor. When the elevator doors opened Bella was standing at the end of the hallway looking as if she was going to strangle the doctor she was arguing with, Joshua and his nurse were in scrubs standing behind her.

"The other doctor did not have a problem with Joshua performing the surgery. I do not understand what your objection is." Bella stated.

"He does not have privileges here and I do not even know his qualifications. If something were to go wrong in surgery..." We heard the doctor telling Bella.

Bella interrupted the doctor. "I have already stated that nothing will happen to the hospital if Joshua operates on Edward. He is Dr. Joshua Mann and he is one of the top trauma surgeons in the country, he is currently doing pro bono work in an inner city hospital in NYC. He sees more gun shot wounds in a day then you do in a month. I insist that he at least be allowed in the room."

"I am sorry Miss but that is not how we do things here. Are you his wife?" The doctor asked.

"No, but..." The doctor interrupted her.

"Then you have no say here, you are not his next of kin."

"I am though and I want Dr. Mann performing the surgery." I said as I approached them.

"And you are?" The pompous doctor asked.

"Carlisle Cullen, Edward's father. I insist that..."

He cut me off. "I have no idea who you people think you are but it will not get you anywhere here, I can tell you that."

I saw Bella make a hand gesture and her whole demeanor changed as William, Grey and Anthony stepped up behind the doctor. "I have tried to be nice with you, remember that. I am Isabella Sinclair and you are a self-serving pompous prick. You no longer decide what happens with Edward's care, I do and Dr. Mann is going to perform his surgery and the three gentlemen behind you will make sure he gets the treatment I want him to have."

The doctor, whose name I had yet to learn, looked as if he would need medical care soon. His face was red as a tomato and he looked to be shaking, he moved closer to Bella. Before I could register what happened he was on the floor, Anthony had his knee in the middle of his back with his hand holding his head down. "Don't" was the only word Anthony spoke. As Anthony helped the doctor to his feet Bella started giving instructions to the others.

"Grey, take Joshua and his nurse to the operating room Edward will be in. I want you in the room with them, do not let anyone force Joshua out, he is calling the shots in that room. Joshua I am trusting you with his life. If you have any problems let Grey know, he will make sure you have whatever you need." They both nodded and hurried to get Edward into surgery. "William, please take Carlisle, Emmett and Jasper to the viewing area. They can watch over Edward's surgery if they choose. I will stay in the waiting area with Anthony and Esme, no mother should their son being operated on."

I placed my hand on Bella's shoulder, "Thank you Bella."

"If there are any problems Carlisle let William know." William nodded and went to retrieve Emmett and Jasper. Bella looked at the doctor again, "I understand that it is hard for you to have people you don't know come in and take over but you need to understand that Edward is very important to me, I love him. I have the means to get him the best medical treatment available and the methods to ensure what I want done is done. This can go one of two ways from here. One you let things happen, without interference, the way Carlisle and I want them to. Edward is treated and released by who we want. You do not seek retribution against any of the medical staff that helps us and in a few months you receive a very generous grant of up to 5 million dollars for research or what ever equipment your department needs. Two, you continue to fight us on this and cause problems or report Joshua, his nurse and your own medical staff. At that point I will personally see that the only job you can secure is putting band aids on kids in a free clinic somewhere and the people you attempt to ruin will be able to continue on in the medical community unaffected. I will see they are hired at one of the finest hospitals in the country. I can guarantee this because I have controlling interest in several hospitals across the country. Before you decide what to do you should Google myself and the Cullen's, so you know exactly who we are. Then do what you believe to be in the best interest of the hospital and yourself."

Bella and Anthony went to the waiting room with Esme while Emmett, Jasper and I went to watch the surgery. Bella was right, I was glad Esme didn't see the surgery and in the end Joshua said it was relatively minor surgery for a bullet wound. What bothered me more than the surgery is when he removed the sheet to assess the rest of Edward's injuries. I never want to see my son covered in that many bruises again. Some were yellow, some were green but most were still a deep blue/purple color and it had been almost a week since he had been taken. It was hard to tell if some were fresher or just worse than others. He also had a few places that he had stitches. I am sure my expression mirrored Jasper's and Emmett's, 'what kind of hell had he endured'?

We returned to the waiting room, Joshua would be coming out to tell us about the surgery and the treatments Edward would require in the future. I surprised to see that Bella and Esme were on opposite sides of the room, I expected them to be comforting each other. I was explaining to Esme that Edward would go from recovery to a normal room, he wouldn't need to go to ICU when Joshua said there was a conference room available we could talk in.

"Just the family." Esme said in a hostile voice. I was shocked but Bella shook her head and remained seated. Emmett didn't move either, he and Edward were like brothers but not actually related not even by marriage like Jasper. "Are you coming Emmett?" Esme asked and then I understood. Esme blamed Bella for everything. I knew it was irrational but now was not the time to deal with this, I needed to hear how my son was first.

Once we were seated Joshua started to explain Edward's condition to us. "He got very lucky, the bullet didn't hit anything important. He should recover with full range of motion in his arm. He had some cuts that needed to be stitched before surgery. He is very bruised, some of the lesser bruises are from running in the woods but the worst ones look to be from when he was taken. His kidneys are bruised so we are keeping a close eye on those and for any infections. He hit his head when he fell from being shot and there is some bruising of the brain but it is going down and once again we will keep a close eye on it. I expect him to wake up in next several hours and be in pain, we will adjust his pain medication as needed. Don't be surprised if he is fuzzy on things for the first couple of hours after waking that is normal. Just keep in mind he should make a full recovery."

Esme was sobbing beside me saying 'thank god' under her breath over and over.

"When can we see him?" I asked Joshua.

"He should be moved to his room in an hour then you can sit with him."

"Thank you" I said and we left to return to the waiting room. Bella was talking to Mason, Stephen and another man that looked familiar but I couldn't place right away. Esme pulled away from me as Joshua approached Bella.

"No, she is not family and I do not want her told anything about Edward." Esme called out.

All of us were shocked by her outburst, except Bella. Joshua went to speak and she cut him off. "No, HIPPA laws say you can only give that information to certain people as his next of kin his father I decide who gets to know and she isn't one of them."

Joshua turned to Bella, who nodded her head sadly before saying goodbye to the man she was talking to. He took her face in his hands and kissed her forehead before assuring her everything would be fine. It was obvious they knew each other well and looked to be an intimate moment. Esme's anger went through the roof. "This is all our fault and you can't even wait until he is out of the hospital to find a replacement. Stay away from Edward."

The man stopped and looked at Esme. "I understand you are frightened and upset but Isabella does not deserve your anger, she deserves your thanks and for the record I have known Isabella her entire life, I am her Godfather."

BPOV

When I returned to the waiting room everything about Esme screamed that she blamed me for Edward not only being hurt but that he was taken in the first place. I knew she would lash out me and she did. I sat in silence as she unleashed all of her pent up anger and fear at me. I knew most of this was fueled by her fear of never seeing Edward again but I hoped she came to her senses soon so we could have a rational discussion.

While the Cullen's were in with Joshua; Stephen, Mason and Graham arrived at the hospital to update me on what they had found out. Quil was the one they had shot and killed because he was firing at Edward. After two hours Mason got Sam to confess that Jacob was behind the kidnapping but no one knew where he was now. He confessed to the private web link and everything. Stephen was in the process of trying to track Jacob and I reminded him that it is possible that Billy got to him first so they started checking treatment centers as well. I had placed a call to Graham, my godfather. He was here to help clean everything up and get Mason and his guys reinstated with their SEAL team.

I was shocked when Esme stopped Joshua from telling me Edward's condition and then when she said those things to my godfather I had no idea what to think. She was being unreasonable. "Esme I understand that you blame me for this happening but I love Edward."

"Does he have any idea the danger that surrounds you? Did he know this could happen?" Esme asked me.

"Edward was well aware of the Jacob problem, but just as Jacob's obsession with me began before Edward and I met so did his problems with Edward. I think Edward saw this, his kidnapping, as potentially happening. Him taking the watch from Stephen makes me think that anyway."

"I need to hear this from Edward Bella. I mean we don't know that much about you and shouldn't Edward have the choice to be involved in this or not. I don't think he realized..." At this point I cut her off.

"I gave Edward the choice Esme and he chose to be with me. Just because you aren't aware of everything doesn't mean that Edward isn't. Nothing I have left to tell him would have impacted this situation. As I said I understand you are upset and this has been a stressful situation but I won't walk away from Edward, I can't and I don't think he would appreciate you implying that I should." I understood Esme's feelings and I think now they were driven by the fact that he wasn't awake yet. I was fairly certain that this incident had shaken Esme to the core. Parents worry about their kids being taken when they are little, not 41. I am also sure she felt their wealth insulated them from things like this to a degree. Life had taught me that people would do anything if they had enough incentive.

Over the next 24 hours, while Edward was kept sedated, Esme kept me out of his room. I heard Carlisle trying to get her to see reason several times but I knew she wouldn't relent. I recognized the look in Esme's eyes, my mother had that look when I was returned to her from being taken. She was in her own personal hell, one that she would live in until she could look into her son's eyes. I caught her stealing glances at me a few times and knew she was wondering why I was not forcing myself on her, maybe one day I would explain it to her.

Edward woke up around lunch time the second day surrounded by his family, Rose and Alice had flown in this morning. He was groggy and disoriented as I stood in the hall and listened to him try to figure out what happened, 30 minutes passed before he asked about me. I couldn't hear what Esme was saying but I heard Carlisle's outburst.

"No, do not lie to him. She is here Edward, she hasn't left the hospital since she brought you in. She is waiting in the hallway."

"Why is she in the hallway?" Edward asked and the room fell silent.

"We can talk about that later Edward. Let me get her for you." I heard Carlisle say before he peeked his head out the door and waved for me to come in. I tentatively walked into the room, Esme was standing on one side of his bed but Alice moved back to make room for me. He looked like crap but there was no mistaking the love in his eyes as I cradled his face and leaned my forehead against his.

"I am so glad you are awake Edward." I said as my voice cracked. "I love you so much."

"I knew if I could keep myself alive you would come for me. You would heaven and earth to get to me. I love you Isabella and one day soon I am going to make you my wife." He said softly as I gasped. He reached his hand up to cradle my neck. "My wife Bella, I won't accept anything less."

"Your wife Edward, I won't accept anything less either." I gently kissed his lips before leaning into his ear and whispering soft enough that only he could hear. "My husband and father of my babies, nothing less."

"Nothing less." He responded with a big smile on his face.

Aro POV

I wasn't sure exactly what was happening with the Cullen's but the men had left almost a week ago. James informed me they hadn't been calling into the office either. Isabella Sinclair and Jacob Black had not been seen in a week either, maybe Jacob had finally made a move that would work to my benefit. It would be nice if Tanya was still in town to find out the gossip but she had screwed up one too many times and was now enjoying Felix's company at her father's and I insistence. When Alice and Rosalie were seen boarding a plane this morning I knew the time was right to move my last shipment. The buyers were not patient men and I was beginning to fear for my own safety. It felt like a weight had been lifted when I placed the call to tell them it was on its way.

I knew the Cullen's had been watching things very closely since the last board meeting, I just needed to get this last one out undetected and then I could move on to my new contact.

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.

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