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.
Esme's POV
I held onto Maxi's limp hand as the sirens of the ambulance we were occupying wailed around us. Carlisle was treating him as best as he could with the other EMT's. Unfortunately Maxi wasn't only physically hurt; he was in shock too, but after this he would probably need therapy. All of them would need therapy.
We didn't even know how long these poor souls had been abused by their father. We didn't know where their mother was and we didn't know exactly what they'd been through.
All 3 of the siblings would be in the hospital at the same time now which was heartbreaking for any family, especially our family who had grown close to these humans.
I wasn't just going to abandon them and I wasn't going to let child services take them away from us. Of course I didn't tell Carlisle this; he would agree with child services and God knows where these kids would end up.
As soon as Harmony had told us they were in some restroom we thought of places throughout town that had restrooms. Unfortunately most places did. Luckily Jasper realized Charlie wouldn't do anything in a public place so we narrowed our options down to 4 buildings: the abandoned school, the warehouses, the football field and the old burnt out gas station. Fortunately the field was the 2nd place we checked and they were found just in time.
I couldn't believe that Charlie had drowned his own 5 year old daughter. Maxi had had to do CPR on her tiny body to bring her back and as soon as she was in the ambulance her heart failed again.
Rosalie quickly assured me over the phone that when they arrived at the hospital Harmony was breathing and being taken to the ICU.
Jasper, Emmett and Edward were following in the car behind us and Alice and Rosalie were at the hospital with Harmony. Once we got there Carlisle and I would be staying with Maxi, Alice and Rosalie would be staying with Harmony and Emmett, Edward and Jasper would be staying with Bella so all of the siblings could have someone with them all of the time.
When we pulled up at the hospital doctors and nurses came rushing out and began to take Maxi inside. They had been waiting. Unfortunately I wasn't able to go into the room as they settled him and awoke him from his unconscious state.
Carlisle promised to take care of him so I settled into a chair in the waiting room.
All the kids came in at that time and sat down.
"How's Harmony?" I asked quietly.
Rosalie shook her head sadly. "They had to restart her heart twice, she's in CCU with machines everywhere…"
I gasped quietly. That poor little girl…What did she do to deserve this?
Edward silently held my hand as we waited quietly in the waiting room with a tense and uncomfortable silence.
2 days later
Bella Swan POV
There was a massive lump in my throat and it was pushing against my skin. It was hurting really bad but when I lifted a hand to try and grab it, it was tugged back down by something. I felt movement by the side of me and a gasp as soon as I attempted to move.
"Bella?" I knew that voice. "Bella can you hear me? This is Edward. Can you open your eyes?"
I tried. I really did. I pushed with all my strength to open my eyes but they wouldn't budge, it was like something was stopping them.
Edward realized this and I heard someone move from the other side of me. How many people were in my room? Or wherever I was. "Okay, um…can you squeeze my hand?" he asked and I suddenly felt a cold hand wrap around mine.
I pushed with all my strength and I felt a little twitch run down to the tips of my fingers. I did it!
"Rock on Bella!" I heard a loud, booming voice yell.
I jumped just by hearing it! I knew who it was though: Emmett.
My thoughts were confirmed when Edward spoke up. "Emmett, gosh, why do you have to be so loud? You pulled the tubes."
Tubes? Tubes? Oh my god! I was in hospital! Damn!
"Oh right, sorry, I'll go get dad." Emmett was much quieter now. A chair was gently scraped back and then a door opened and shut. I guess it was Emmett leaving.
"It's alright Bella, I know what happened to you and you're going to be okay now." Edward whispered from the side of me, still holding my hand.
I couldn't take in what he had just said. He knew; he knew what Charlie had done.
Then the door opened again and I heard footsteps. And then I felt a tug on my hand. "Bella? Can you hear me?" a velvet voice asked. "Can you show me a sign that you can?" This sounded like Dr. Cullen.
I tried to squeeze down on Edward's hand again but it was like my body was locked. Just as one of my fingers moved a burn went through my whole body.
I felt like I was on fire.
My body tensed up in a way that I thought it couldn't in my state and I heard the monitors around me go crazy.
My whole body finally relaxed and then Mr. Darkness was stood in front of me, inviting me to his castle.
I took his invitation that night.
When I awoke the next time, I heard voices.
I could make out Dr. Cullen's voice. I had just caught the end of one of his sentences. "-which doesn't mean anything. Just because she squeezed your hand and then she was unresponsive, doesn't mean that she isn't okay. At first it's hard for the patient to stay awake. Stop worrying Edward."
There was a loud sigh from the side of me and then someone's hair was gently brushed across my hand. I knew that hair. By its spiky feel of messiness it was Edward's. I had never touched his hair before, but it was defiantly his hair.
I decided at that time that I needed to show I was awake. I couldn't stand the silence. I tried to move the hand that he was resting against, but it didn't move. I pushed all my focus into it and then I felt my fingers shift. They didn't suddenly stop moving, they kept going.
Edward's hair was gone and then one of his hands were wrapping around mine.
"Bella?" he whispered.
This time I put everything into opening my eyes. I really did. I pushed and squeezed Edward's hand and then I saw white.
I seemed to blink because everything suddenly became clearer. I had managed to open my eyes! Though the downer was, I was defiantly in a hospital room.
Dr. Cullen, Edward, Emmett and Jasper in the room with me and I felt embarrassed.
I was just led here – probably looking very stupid – whilst they all just looked at me, and I couldn't even say anything because of the stupid tube wedged down my throat!
Edward finally moved and smiled, giving me an awkward hug. Okay. Something was defiantly not right.
I didn't do anything. I simply couldn't, there were too many tubes and wires.
Dr. Cullen pursed his lips and grabbed a chair from the corner after a while. He moved the chair right in front of me - causing Edward to move his chair further away from me – and stared at me sadly.
I was starting to panic. The heart monitor speed up and Carlisle placed his hand on my shaking one; sending me some sort of comfort I guess. "Bella, can I call you Bella?" when I nodded he continued. "I don't want you to worry too much, I can assure you your siblings are in the best care possible, and so are you. 3 days ago your brother and sister were brought here in the afternoon; Maxi was badly beaten and shaken up. Unfortunately Harmony suffered much worse; her body is emotional and physically drained. She's currently in the CCU and unconscious. We know why you are all here, so don't try to deny it. I'm not here to just pass you on to Child Services, though they have been called. We want to make you as safe and comfortable as possible. Your dad drowned Harmony; she had to be brought back a number of times, and he physically and emotionally hurt Maxi that day. I know that you've suffered a lot too, and I want you to tell me – when I remove this tube – what exactly happened to bring you in here."
He wasn't demanding, his voice was soft and gentle and I felt the tears fall down my face. I wanted to see my brother; I wanted to make sure he was okay. I wanted to hold my little sister and tell her how precious she was, and apologize for not being there when she needed to be kept safe.
I didn't care if they all saw me crying. I just wanted my siblings; I needed to see them to know they were alright.
Dr. Cullen then looked over at Edward, Jasper and Emmett. "Boys, I want you to wait outside, go back to the waiting room with the girls or grab a drink or something. I want to speak to Bella alone."
Emmett and Jasper nodded and smiled at me before heading towards the door. Edward was the only one to hesitate. He gently took my hand and squeezed it before leaving.
Dr. Cullen stood and set his chair back, moving to stand beside me.
I knew exactly what he was going to do.
Having the tube removed was not the most pleasant experience. That part was in fact painful. They had to remove the mask first, which had actually been stuck to my face, so it wouldn't move or become dislodged when I slept. That part was uncomfortable to say the least. They had to remove the mask that was attached to my face without disturbing the tube that went down my throat. It wasn't as simple as it sounded. They had to cut the mask so they could remove it from where it connected to the tube. After that they had to actually remove the tube from my throat. I was absolutely scared to death when he explained this.
Somehow, one of the nurses had come into the room without me even realizing, and took my hand to reassure me as Dr. Cullen prepared to remove the tube.
When he grasped the tube and started sliding it out, I felt it moving from the bottom of my throat. I just focused hard on the soft pattern of my breathing and tried to block it all out. I really wanted him to just yank it out but I knew in doing so, it'd probably rip my throat open.
Eventually it came out and my throat was throbbing. It hurt to even breathe!
Thankfully the nurse was already holding a cup out for me with a straw and helped me take a sip. The relief I felt when the cold liquid slapped at my burning throat was Heaven! I just needed to keep sipping.
I did stop and the nurse set the drink on the side, saying I could get it whenever I wanted, and then departed.
Dr. Cullen smiled at me and pulled his chair back towards my bed, settling down into the hard plastic. "Well done Bella, I know your throat hurts extremely right now so I won't push you to say everything in detail. You just take your time." He reached over for my drink and held it in his lap. "I've got your drink if you need it."
I nodded and took an agonizing deep breath. "Tyler Crowley. He always gets to do things to me, like Charlie, he tells him too. He gets me for 2 hours whenever he wants. He beats me, rapes me, anything." I struggled to breathe for a moment from the pain but continued on. "That night, when Maxi brought me to you, Tyler had just finished with me. I couldn't breathe and just led their on the street until Maxi and Angela Webber came. She used her little brother's oxygen mask until Maxi took me inside. It was early morning when he realized I needed to go to the hospital, despite how much he got hurt after taking me."
Dr. Cullen sat there quietly before he nodded, holding the drink out to me.
My shaking hand reached out for it and I grasped it in my fingers, silently noting how black and blue they were. I managed to take a sip after my fingers settled their movements and Dr. Cullen patiently waited. "I want to see them." I whispered; it didn't hurt to whisper.
He knew immediately who I was talking about and nodded whilst smiling sadly. "Alright, I'll see what I can do; I'll just go ask one of your nurses, I'm sure they'll say yes though." He said, standing up and closing the door softly behind him.
I sat there in the lonely, small room and just stared at the white walls; not really seeing them. In my mind I saw Harmony's laughing face, the rare smile planted on her face. Her body swaying to the music I hummed to her every morning.
I felt the warm tears flowing down my face but didn't bother hiding them.
Eventually Dr. Cullen came back with a wheelchair and helped me into it – which took forever – and settled all the tubes and wires neatly in my lap after disconnecting them from the machines.
I visited Maxi first.
He was curled up on the hospital bed, looking very fragile, and sleeping gently. Mrs. Cullen was holding onto his hand and smiled at me when I entered.
I gave her a weak smile but then focused my attention on Maxi. He was bruised badly and had bandages everywhere with a cast around his leg. I smiled faintly because the cast was a light green; his favorite color.
I wanted him to be awake so I could see his eyes and talk to him but I knew he needed his sleep so I told Dr. Cullen I was ready to leave.
He wasn't surprised at this and gladly pushed me up to the CCU to see Harmony.
What I saw was not what I was expecting.
She looked like one of those premature babies in one of those open incubators, except this one was much bigger.
She was wearing only a diaper and had wires and tubes coming out of her from everywhere. Her breathing tube was much smaller than mine but was still too big for her small body. Her chest heaved in a light pattern, all down to the machines doing.
Her body was fully exposed apart from where the diaper was covering. Her skin was black and blue. She hadn't been this bad before I came into hospital.
Her fingers and toes were turning a light blue at the tips and her lips were a dark purple.
She wasn't well. She was defiantly a very sick little girl.
Dr. Cullen rolled me right up to the incubator and I reached out and held her small hand in mine. It was ice cold, cold enough to turn anything into ice.
I didn't like seeing her like this but I was afraid of leaving, afraid of what was going to happen if I did.
It was like she felt my presence, that she knew it was me, because the heart monitor jumped for a split second and deep down I held hope in that moment.
If she had sensed me, she was aware…
I had been so observant in her that I hadn't noticed Rosalie and Alice slightly behind me. They were staring at the two of us but giving me time to be with my sister without having to leave the room.
I didn't really focus my attention on them though; I didn't want their pity. I wanted my sister.
I truly didn't know how long it would take for her to be okay. I couldn't believe Charlie would even think about hurting such a small, innocent child in the first place.
She was the last person on the Earth to be treated this way.
I just held onto her small hand for as long as possible before Carlisle gently told me I needed my rest. And I agreed with him; I was already exhausted.
That night I didn't sleep so well. I was restless from the pain but also because of my worrying. I wanted to know and make sure my siblings would be safe. I cried myself to sleep that night but I kept waking up for some reason.
I woke up for the 100th time and sighed, looking over at the clock. 3:27am. Oh great, Dr. Cullen would be coming in to check on me soon. He did it throughout the night, always asking me each time if I needed any pain medication or sleep medicine but I kept denying; he could be saving lives with that stuff, not wasting it on me.
3 minutes later, right on cue, Dr. Cullen arrived with a small smile on his face. He was carrying some needles and a liquid. Err, great.
He settled himself into a chair by the side of me and gave my hand a comforting pat before he started to rummage around with the things in his hands.
I didn't mind Dr. Cullen; he was a really kind-hearted man who loved helping people. When he looked at me it was like I was his daughter, he was always full of a lot of love; you could literally feel it radiating off of him.
I squinted at him through my hazy vision and sighed tiredly. "Hey." I croaked.
He smiled softly. "Hello to you once again, Bella." He teased back.
"What's that?" I asked, pointing to the stuff in his hands with my gauze wrapped hand.
He followed my gaze. "It's sleep medicine."
My eyes widened slightly and I raised my eyes at him. "I don't want it."
"As a qualified doctor I say that you do." He replied.
I tore my eyes away from him and I felt my eyes bubble with tears. I couldn't go to sleep; I couldn't be plagued by those horrible memories…those evil eyes of Charlie. I couldn't.
"Bella?" Carlisle called softly with concern. I turned towards him again. "Is there something bothering you?"
"Uh…no." I stammered, my eyes trailing to the floor. I was a terrible liar.
He sighed quietly and reached for my hand. "Tell me."
The tears fell silently. "It's Charlie…he…he gets me, in my sleep…"
He pursed his lips. "You know they're just images. He isn't going to touch you again, Bella."
"We don't know that." I rubbed at my eyes.
Despite my pleas and cries, Carlisle prepared my hand for the needle. "It's for the best, Bella. It'll ware off in the morning and I promise I won't give you anymore unless you want it."
"Promise?" I had to know. No one kept promises, not with me.
"I promise." With that, he slid the mediation into the IV pump and waited until I drifted into sleep.
Awww…thank you all for being so patient with me! :) I left the internet for a little while…
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Savannah
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