Chambers of the Soul
Summary: Bella lives with her abusive father; Charlie, her older brother; Maxi and her younger sister; Harmony. She almost thinks there's no hope but what happens when the new family comes to town? Will she ever be happy? What if Bella and her siblings became happy and then someone came back to haunt them…
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. All characters and other twilight-related things belong to SM. I only own the storyline.
Edward Cullen POV
When I arrived to the hospital I sprinted to reception. I felt like something bad was going to happen. I waited restlessly for the receptionist to look up. "Please state your name." she smiled.
"Edward Cullen. Carlisle Cullen's son."
She nodded in understanding and scrolled through the computer system. "Who are you seeing today?"
"Isabella Marie Swan." I gave her Bella's full name and felt my knees grow weak as her faced showed sadness.
"She was moved to Intensive Care this morning after her heart has been giving her problems, sir. If you take the left corridor and take the elevator to the 2nd floor just ask the receptionist there to give you her room number." She smiled softly at me and I ran up the corridor, took the left turn and jumped into the crowded elevator seeing that 2nd floor had already been pressed.
When I got to the floor I rushed passed the waiting rooms and approached the desk. "Isabella Swan." I said; not really bothered if I was being rude.
The receptionist smiled and gave me Bella's room number. I passed each room slowly, being extra observant of the numbers and then found her room; 15. I pushed open the door and stepped inside quietly.
There was silence except for the hissing and beeping of monitors. I avoided the bed until the very last sweep of the room and my eyes landed on her pale face.
Her face was pale and sweaty and a ventilator was assisting her breathing. An IV was going into her left hand and there was various monitors attached to her stomach, chest and forehead.
"Bella" I whispered as I took a few steps towards her and sat down in the chair next to her bed. I slid my hand in hers and squeezed it tightly. "I'm here sweety. I'm here now." I whispered, not entirely sure she could actually hear my voice being carried through the small room from the state she was in but I heard it was more comforting for the patient if you talked to them when they were unconscious.
I ran my fingers lightly over her cold ones and stared at her face for half an hour before a nurse in teddy bear scrubs came in to check on Bella's breathing tube. "Oh, hello dear." She smiled kindly at me and I was surprised to see she wasn't thinking that I was hot or something along those lines. Wow.
"Hello. May you tell me what happened for Bella to be brought here?" I asked politely.
The nurse smiled. "Of course. Miss. Swan is severely underweight and a feeding tube will have to be inserted when she awakes instead of the IV. Fortunately Dr. Snow was able to find her before her heart failed. She was malnourished despite the food and drink she has been getting here and refusing. She was starving. Starving causes the body to turn to anything available as building blocks. Muscle and other tissue are broken down to use as energy since body fat does not provide for all of yournutritional needs. As a result you end up loosing critical muscle mass, such as heart, diaphragm and other critical tissue as your body attempts to provide for basic needs."
I gulped loudly and took an unnecessary deep breath. "So you mean she might have like…an eating disorder?"
She nodded sadly and then left the room to give me time to think.
"Oh Bella." I whispered, reaching up to trace her jaw.
How could she have been starving herself? Did she know that she was starving herself? Hadn't Charlie noticed? Her brother? She could've died. She still could die. She was so thin, so weak and vulnerable; how hadn't I noticed before? But then it came to me. Rosalie had noticed and I'd questioned Carlisle but otherwise we had ignored it. We had put Bella's life in danger because we failed to react when we had the chance. If she hadn't fell down those steps would her heart still be like this now?
I pulled my silver cell from my pocket and I called the family home. Carlisle picked up and informed me Charlie had dragged both Maxi and Harmony home before he could stop them but I wasn't worried about that right now. "Carlisle put the phone on speaker." I murmured and when he complied I took a deep breath and continued.
"Bella's heart weakened this morning and she's now in Intensive Care. She's on a ventilator and everything and the nurse just said that if Dr. Snow hadn't of found her she could've died or had a heart attack. She was starving herself. Her hearts too weak because she's not feeding herself. She probably has an eating disorder. I cannot believe we were so blind, Rosalie had noticed but yet we failed to react to it and now Bella's in danger. How didn't Charlie notice? What about Maxi?" I ranted on.
Carlisle cut me off from saying anymore. "We'll be right there but Edward I have a feeling this isn't just an eating disorder, this has to do with Charlie."
Before I could ask what he was on about he hung up the phone.
Half an hour later Carlisle and the family arrived and Alice's jaw dropped at the sight of Bella. I didn't turn my head from Bella's face but I could see their reactions from other family member's thoughts. They were all shocked. Carlisle was the only one who was able to compose him self and so he pulled a chair and sat down beside me; placing a hand on my shoulder. He had noticed my attachment to this human.
Eventually everyone else was able to sit down and remain quiet and let Carlisle speak. He flung himself right into his thoughts easily. "When I first saw Bella, Maxi was carrying her by the reception desk of the ER with Harmony by his side. At first he wouldn't let me examine her until he finally gave in and did. Bella wasn't in a very good state at that point and we had to call in more doctors and nurses to help.
About 2 hours later we were able to stabilize her and inform Maxi on her condition. He told me she fell down the steps and I pretended I believed him even though he really wasn't that convincible. Harmony was scared of anything or anyone that passed her and he said it was because she hardly ever socialized though I knew it was something more. When I was on duty looking after Bella as she was in the hospital Charlie never checked up on her until I called him and informed him about the chest tube to drain the fluid from Bella's chest and he didn't seem too happy that I had pulled him from his job.
When he got there he saw Bella and said that she was fine and that he'd visit again later. He wasn't very concerned at all. And then checking Maxi over at the house earlier he has a lot of old and new bruises exactly like Bella's with many being hand marks and I'm certain Harmony will have the same if I ever got to check her over."
"What are you trying to say?" Emmett asked quietly because he really didn't want to piece all the pieces together.
Carlisle sighed. "That this could be an abuse case. I've called and informed child services and they agree with me. They said they could get here by tomorrow morning"
Looking at Bella reality sunk in. Bella could or was an abuse victim. Her, Maxi and Harmony…sweet little Harmony. Charlie was a sick, sick man.
Rosalie was traumatized along with Alice and Esme. "You let him take them home…" She looked over at Carlisle slowly.
He nodded. "I know but if I had just blurted it out he would've done a runner and without revealing our secret we wouldn't have been able to stop him."
"He has them right now" She whispered and got up. "I need to call Maxi."
"You got his number?" I asked in surprise and she nodded; retrieving the hospital cell from Carlisle's hand. She dialed a number and then waited for someone to answer.
Maxi's labored breathing came through the receiver. "Hello?" He coughed heavily and I heard Harmony cry in the background.
"You need to come to the Intensive Care Unit for Bella right now." Rosalie began. "You and Harmony. We have an idea what's going on Maxi." She said seriously.
Maxi's breathing got heavier and then eventually they seemed further away and then a thud came through again. There was softer breathing now and the phone being picked up again since it had been dropped. "It's Harmony." She said in a whisper.
"Where are you sweety?" Rosalie whispered back.
"A bathroom. It's not daddy's bathroom." Harmony whispered in fear. "Daddy gone crazy again." She cried.
"Where's Maxi? Can you get Maxi?" Rosalie asked frantically.
Harmony took a deep breath. "Maxi unable too." She sighed. "Come find me….please!" She screamed and a loud thud broke out before the phone went dead.
We all looked at each other; Maxi and Harmony were in danger.
Well…things have been hectic…so sorry for the late update…my sis died…and i miss her so so much...she was only 14...
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Savannah
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