Disclaimer: I own everything but their names.
August 16, 2001 – Santa Cruz, California
"Edward," I whispered, shaking his sleeping form at my side. "Edward, your phone is ringing."
His bleary eyes opened and he stared at me in confusion. He turned and looked at the clock. My eyes followed his: three fifty-four in the morning.
"What?" he asked groggily.
"The phone, Edward. The phone is ringing."
His eyes widened and he sat up quickly, grabbing the phone from his nightstand. He cleared his throat as he pressed the button to answer. "Hello?"
As Edward listened to whoever was on the line, I reached over and turned on the light so I could see his face. Only bad news came in the middle of the night, and that worried me.
What if it's my father?
"What did you do?"
His voice was sharp, angry, but when Edward looked at me, his eyes were wide and fearful. I wanted to scream at him for more information, but refrained from doing so – now wasn't the time.
"I'll be right there."
Edward ended his call and tossed the phone down on the bed, scrambling to stand up and fighting against the sheets wrapped around his legs.
"What's going on?" I asked as I watched him search the floor.
"Lisle," was all he said, voice choked and quiet.
My heart thundered around inside my chest as I watched him move frantically around the room. For some reason, I followed him out of bed and started searching for my own clothes, matching him move for move as he started pulling his jeans up his legs.
"What happened?"
"I don't know." He shook his head and looked at me, eyes glassy. "He was screaming…"
I had no idea what to say, how to behave. I wanted to comfort him, but I wasn't sure how. I wasn't even sure he could be comforted in that moment.
As I stood there dumbly, Edward continued to move around the room. "Do you know where my shirt is?"
Snapping out of it, I looked around and saw one, grabbing it up off the floor and walking it over to him as he searched the top of the dresser for his keys. "Here."
He pulled the shirt over his head and shoved his keys into his pocket. Sitting down on the bed, he started pulling on his shoes without even bothering to grab any socks.
"Please come with me."
Even though I was already dressed and sliding in to my flip-flops I paused, unsure. Going with him was more than just getting scoped out by Jasper in the back room of the shop. It meant Makenna and Edward and me all in the same room at four in the morning – which wasn't exactly the time a boss grabbed his employee.
Also, if everything Jasper said about Makenna were true, I was afraid to even start to think about what might happen.
"I'm not sure… I mean, is it a good idea?" I asked.
He stopped moving completely and stared at me. "Please," he said, tears in his voice. "I need you."
Saying no to him wasn't an option at that moment, so I nodded and sucked up my fears. I didn't bother with changing out of Edward's shirt, and I didn't care about a bra, either. He needed me, and the consequences be damned.
Edward drove like a maniac through the dark, quiet streets of Santa Cruz, and when we arrived at the hospital, he found the closest spot he could to the Emergency Room. I followed him out of the Jeep and we rushed toward the door together. Just before we stepped inside, he grabbed my hand and held on so tight it was painful.
I squeezed him right back, wanting him to know that I was there for him.
At the Nurse's Station, he tried to communicate what he needed, who he was looking for. Being so upset didn't help and I finally had to break in and tell the nurse we were there for Carlisle Cullen, and that Edward was his father.
He bounced on his feet as she smiled sweetly at us and typed on her computer. "Oh yes, he's in room four."
"Can we see him, please?" I asked, holding on tighter to a very anxious Edward. His neck craned this way and that searching around the waiting room for the way to his son. I had never seen him look so scared or nervous before.
Sensing Edward's hurry, the nurse stood and led us through the closed doors of the ward, down a hallway and into another. That's when we heard Lisle crying. The sound was heartbreaking, so loud and scared and pitiful that it broke my heart. My fear ratcheted up a thousand times more: if he sounded like that, whatever happened had to be bad.
Edward stopped in his tracks and his reaction to the noise was immediate. His face fell and worry visibly shook him. I tried to stay strong, for him, and pulled him forward to keep him moving.
"He's just through here, sir."
As soon as his eyes landed on Lisle, Edward let out a painful sounding breath. He headed straight for Lisle, tugging me along behind him and completely ignoring the fact that Makenna was in the same room.
I avoided looking at her, instead focusing on the little boy who had grown to mean so much to me. He looked tired, and his face was pinched in obvious pain as the doctor examined his arm – an arm twisted in a way that wasn't natural. He was all tiny and frail, seated on a gurney in a set of blue pajamas, hair twisted all over and face streaked with fresh tears.
Suddenly he cried out, begging them to stop as they began to pull and place his arm correctly. His legs kicked and he scrambled closer to us. The growl in Edward's chest as it registered that they were hurting Lisle was immediate.
He glared at the man touching his son. "Is that really necessary?"
The man shrank back at the venom in Edward's voice. "Sir, we need to set the bone if it's going to heal properly. It cannot be avoided, we're sorry."
"Dada, it hurts," Lisle cried, face bright red.
Edward, realizing there was nothing he could do except try and offer comfort and distraction, lifted his free hand to his son's cheek.
"I know, Baby Boy. I promise it'll be over soon. And then you'll have a cool cast that everyone can sign."
"I will?" he asked, sniffling as his eyes squeezed shut and he let out a huge whimper.
When they opened, Lisle's red rimmed, teary eyes focused on me. "Will you sign my cast, too, Bella?"
I smiled and nodded as I stepped forward and kissed his cheek. "Of course I will, Little Dude."
"Will you stay with him for a minute?" Edward whispered to me and I nodded. He turned back to Lisle. "Bud, I'll be right over there, okay? I'm just gonna go talk to Mommy."
To keep Lisle from watching, or overhearing, their discussion, I tried to distract him by making funny faces. Unfortunately, his lackluster giggled responses only managed to cover parts of it.
"What the fuck happened, Mak?" I heard Edward whisper harshly.
From the corner of my eye I saw them standing close. Makenna looked a mess. Her hair was everywhere, and it was clear she'd been crying. Her hands wrung together in guilt as she stared back at him.
"He fell out of bed; I don't even know what happened! All I heard was him screaming and when I went in there he was on the floor."
"Why didn't you have the bed guard on it? I told you that bed was too damn high."
"I forgot, okay?" she shouted back at him as the tech who had been sent in to finish Lisle's cast walked into the room.
"Sir, Ma'am, could you please take that outside?" he asked, looking back and forth between the two of them.
"I'm not leaving him," Edward insisted, turning away from Makenna and moving back to my side.
While they finished Lisle's cast, Edward and I continued laughing and joking around with him to get his mind off of the pain. Of course he chose purple, because it was daddy's favorite color. He was all smiles and sleepy grins when Edward was the first one to sign it.
I did my best to ignore the piercing glares Makenna was sending me across the room.
When the doctor had left and Lisle appeared to be resting comfortably, that's when she finally went in for the kill, making exactly what I feared a reality.
"I cannot believe you would bring one of your whores here," she hissed quietly.
Edward just looked at her like she was crazy and ignored the jab. She wasn't satisfied with that, though.
"I'm glad you could tear yourself out of bed with her to come and make sure our son was okay."
"Fuck you, Makenna," Edward growled, his voice angry and even a little bit scary. "Just keep your mouth shut."
"Why should I, Edward? What would you do if I brought a guy here with me?"
He shook his head and laughed without humor. "I wouldn't give a flying fuck. Something you seem to have a hard time forgetting is that we're not married anymore. What you do is your business, and what I do is mine. The only concern I have that even involves you is my son."
She looked hurt by his words, and I couldn't deny that I felt bad for her. She had to regret what she'd lost. As I watched them argue back and forth, I tried to convince myself that it was worth it. I prayed that Edward revealing his relationship with me now, when Makenna was so obviously already upset over Lisle being hurt, wasn't going to bite us in the ass.
It had already happened to us once with Jasper.
But there was no way I would have – or could have – denied coming to the hospital with him when he needed me. It could have been much worse than a broken arm.
After Lisle's discharge papers had been signed, Edward carried him out to Makenna's car and strapped him into his seat, kissing him over and over on the face to make him giggle, even in his sleepiness.
"I'll see you tomorrow, okay, Bud?"
Lisle nodded. "Night, Daddy," he responded sleepily, closing his eyes.
Edward shut the door softly and stood up. He looked absolutely exhausted.
"Yeah, about that. I think he should stay home with me this weekend," Makenna said.
"Absolutely not," Edward argued, shaking his head back and forth.
"I'm not asking your permission, Edward."
"The weekends are mine. Do we need to involve our lawyers in this? Because I can call mine right now." He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, and even though it was nearing six in the morning, I had no doubt he'd would make that call in a heartbeat if Makenna tried to stand in his way of seeing Lisle.
She smiled evilly. "No, that won't be necessary."
Please to be seeing cosmogirl7481 for your 'Makenna is a c*nt' t-shirt. Something tells me sales will be booming today.
Thank you all so much for reading and for making me feel like I don't suck. I hope you're still with me even if the road's a little bumpy.
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