"The broken clock is a comfort, it helps me sleep tonight
Maybe it can stop tomorrow, from stealing all my time
I am here still waiting, though I still have my doubts
I am damaged at best, like you've already figured out
I'm falling apart, I'm barely breathing
With a broken heart that's still beating
In the pain, there is healing
In your name, I find meaning
So I'm holdin' on, I'm holdin' on, I'm holdin' on
I'm barely holdin' on to you"
- Broken, by: Lifehouse
Hourglass
Chapter: 11
-Bella POV-
My body finally stops shaking, so Edward excuses himself to find me a change of clothes and to see if Emmett is okay. A couple of minutes later, they both stroll into the large restroom.
I shut the water off and reach for the towel Edward is holding out to me. Emmett stays close to the door and eyes me warily. It's amusing to say the least. Emmett is easily 6'5" and probably more than 250 pounds of bulk and muscle. He could easily overpower me, but it's obvious that I've frightened him a little.
I sigh heavily and roll my eyes. "When you keep holding me back and pulling me away from people, I'm going to want to kick your ass." My voice is light, but I'm serious.
He should have known better than to keep pulling me out of each situation. First when I wanted to go in the O.R. with Rose, and on and on right up to carrying me off after my altercation with Royce.
"Yeah, but you bit me!" he accuses with a look of horror upon his face.
I can't help but laugh at him and shake my head as I reach for my clothes. Deciding to ignore him for the time being, I direct my attention to Edward.
"You guys can go if you want. I'm going to get changed and see if your dad will let me sit in Rosalie's room."
"Hey, you may have scared Emmett away, but I'm not scared yet." Edward chuckles as Emmett huffs loudly and crosses his arms over his chest.
"Rude," Emmett mutters.
"Are you guys gonna get out, or do I have to change in front of you?" I ask.
Both of their faces turn red and they turn toward the door.
"We'll just be…" Emmett starts.
"Out here," Edward finishes.
I dress quickly in a fresh pair of scrubs and make my way back out to the hallway as I throw my hair up in a messy bun.
"You guys heading out?" I ask Emmett and Edward as they approach me.
"Emmett's gonna stick around, but I'm gonna head down to the station and make sure Charlie doesn't need any help booking Royce. I'd like to look at some of the evidence, too. See if he needs help with anything," Edward says.
I nod my head. "Okay, sounds good, I guess."
"Bella, you should know…Royce is maintaining that he didn't do this. He told Charlie that he's been gone all night and has an alibi. I'm assuming he was coming to scare Rosalie into staying quiet, or finish her off. Otherwise I have no idea why he would've come to the hospital." Edward looks angry.
"That's bullshit!" I sputter, getting ready to unleash a whole world of hurt on the next person that pisses me off. Emmett and Edward take a step back and throw their hands up in caution.
"I know," Edward cuts me off and continues. "I saw how he looked at you when he came in. I know he's guilty. He knows he's guilty. It really shouldn't be too hard to convince anyone else of that either."
I scrub my hands over my face and take a deep breath.
"Thanks for telling me," I say.
"I thought you'd wanna know," he responds.
"Well, Bella, let's go find Carlisle and see if he'll let us see your friend now." Emmett hesitantly wraps his hand around my shoulder and turns me in the opposite direction.
I glance back to see Edward leaving toward the E.R. "Thanks again," I call out to him. He spins around to face us briefly.
"No problem." He smiles and walks out.
I look up at Emmett and notice that even though his arm is around me, he's still got about a foot of distance between us.
"I don't bite, Emmett, I promise." I laugh a little at that.
"Bullshit you don't, I've got the marks to prove it," he grumbles, ..m,pulling me closer to him as he rubs his knuckles against the top of my head.
I chuckle and push him away from me, tucking my loose strands of hair behind my ear.
"Do you think Dr. Cullen will let us see her yet?" I ask worriedly.
"As long as we don't disrupt her sleep and she's been moved to her own room—I don't see why not."
We finally stumble on Carlisle near the coffee machine fifteen minutes later.
We ask him if we can see her, and he tells us we can go in as long as we're quiet. He also tells us that they've notified her parents, but they're out of town and can't return until next week.
Emmett is in total disbelief about how unconcerned her parents are, but I'm not surprised. Her parents haven't had an active role in her life for years. Rosalie and her older brother, Jasper, were practically raised by their housekeeper, Maria.
"Have you contacted her brother yet?" I ask. Jasper would want to know. Rosalie and he have always been pretty close; it wasn't until the last few years that they started to drift apart. It was right around the time Rosalie started dating Royce, now that I think about it.
"His last number has been disconnected; we have no way of reaching him," Carlisle replies.
"I can do it," I offer. "I have his number in my cell phone. I can see if Charlie can have someone stop by our house and pick it up for me," I offer.
"That would be great. Thank you, Bella." Carlisle's voice is warm and full of gratitude.
I nod and continue toward Rosalie's door, but before I reach it Emmett asks if I want to call Charlie quick, because he doesn't think I'll want to leave Rosalie's side once we go in there.
I agree and quickly make the call. It turns out that Charlie grabbed my phone earlier when he realized I left it at home. He tells me that he will sent Deputy McCall down to the hospital with it, and that he'll see me later, after he's finished with Royce's booking paperwork.
I make Emmett go into the room first, worried about how I'll handle seeing her. When he looks back at me, there's a deep sadness in his eyes, and I know that this is going to be extremely difficult.
If a guy like Emmett, who has never even met Rosalie before—and deals with injuries and such all the time, is this easily affected, this is going to kill me.
I step inside the room and my face immediately crumples as I take in her frail, battered form. She has tubes connected to her in various places, wires running in and out of the arms of her gown. Her head is bandaged and she has a cast on her arm.
Her face is swollen and bruised, and her nose is definitely broken. The sight of the tubing coming out of her mouth, feeding her oxygen to help her breathe, nearly brings me to my knees.
I rush to her side and gently pick up the hand that isn't in a cast. Tears flow down my cheeks and I sob as quietly as I can.
I bend over, resting my head against our joined hands as I close my eyes tightly and whisper brokenly, "Oh, Rose, what has he done to you?"
A/N: I thought this chapter was going to be late, but thankfully the awsome betas over at PTB are being absolutely amazeballs and got this back to me super fast! Thank you so much, Lyta7 and BelleDean!
Hope you all enjoy & thank you for reading!
xxoo,
Missy