Esme and Charlile moved to Forks when Bella was 17 and Alice was 10. Charlile had a new job at the hospital and was glad to be in a small town, tired of raising his girls in Seattle which was a city too big for his liking. Bella had been blind for 10 years. Esme and Charlile were her saviors, as well as Alice's. Without them Bella would not have survived. Carlile was working the night Bella was brought in. Her mother dropped her and Alice off at the doors to the emergency room and Bella sa outside in the cold, holding Alice and rocking quietly until a nurse who was leaving came outside and discovered the two. Bella was bleeding and her head hurt. She could not see. She asked the nurse if Dr. Cullen was working and he was paged immediately. Bella would not release Alice until Carlile's warm hands were on her shoulders, wrapping around her and asking what had happened. She spoke up over all the noise, telling Carlile that Alice needed changed. He assured the poor girl that he would take care of baby Alice and as soon as Bella handed her over she fell back on the hospital bed she was in and her pulse dwindled. Bella does not remember the fight for her life, or the extensive brain surgery that she had that night. She only remembers waking up to Esme's gentle hum one week later in the hospital.
Renne was nowhere to be found and Phil was long gone as well. Esme and Carlile took possession of Bella and Alice and they moved to Seattle a few weeks later. Seattle was where the only blind school was in Washington.
Bella had been declared fine by so many doctors that she did not remember any of their names. Yet she could not see, and her world was always dark. There were shadows every now and then, little shapes that she could make out. The doctors said this was a good sign, and that her vision should clear up very soon. The last doctor told her that when she was 10. Bella's vision never cleared up. Carlile told her that she hit her head when Phil threw her down the stairs and that was the cause of the darkness. Along with being blind, there had been bleeding in her brain which required the brain surgery. She has constant back pain from then on and sometimes getting out of bed was just too painful to consider. Walking was something Bella still did well, but not without aches.
The house that Carlile and Esme bought in Forks was huge. It was in the woods outside of the main street of town just away from gossiping people. Bella graduated high school when she was 17, a year ahead of the other blind kids. As soon as Bella was out of school Carlile decided that city life was not for them anymore and he accepted the job at Forks Hospital immediately.
Bella functioned better than all the other blind people she had met. She showered and dressed herself, she could cook her own means. She did housecleaning and dishes. She could take care of Alice all on her own. She could help her bathe and dress; she helped her with her homework and played games. Bella would like to think that she raised Alice all on her own but she knows that without Esme Bella would not have made it. Esme and Carlile's son was not very surprised to learn his parents had adopted the young children. There was no awkwardness at holidays and the girls were just accepted into the family without preamble.
Eric brought his wife Angela and their boys to Christmas every year, and Bella always had kids to play with around those times. Edward and Emmet were only a little older than Bella and Jasper was almost the same age as Alice.
However, whenever the boys were gone home after new years Bella kept to herself, her only friend a girl named Rosalie who worked at the bookstore with Bella. Bella worked the computers very well because she could feel the letters of the keys the same as brail and so she did all the record keeping and booking at the store while Rosalie worked with the people. Bella did not need a job, Carlile made plenty of money as a doctor for the family to live on, but she liked keeping busy while Alice was at school.
Bella loved her job. She usually walked to the store, except when Esme wouldn't let her because of rain or the cold. The walk was long, but Bella loved the outdoors the same as she had as a child. She could no longer play in the woods as she had as a child without worry, but she still loved to walk in the woods around her home. She showed Alice to love the outdoors, but Alice liked being inside with her dolls and play clothes more than she did playing in the dirt and leaves. Esme used to worry about Bella being in the woods alone, but Bella never came home hurt and she always came home when she was supposed to so Esme allowed it.
Bella and Alice lived in a small cottage that attached to the main house by a walkway that led through the woods. The main house was only a second away when Bella or Alice needed anything, but they had their privacy at the same time. Esme had deemed it acceptable for Bella and Alice to live in the little attachment because she knew that if they ever needed anything then Esme could get to them quickly. Besides, she told Bella that pricvacy for a teenager was normal. Bella had pointed out that normal teenagers were not blind, for did they have little sisters to raise, but Esme said that was what made her special, not different.
Esme had decorated the small cottage to Alice's liking, because Bella had told her with a laugh that she couldn't see it anyway so she wasn't concerned with the colors. Esme still included what she thought Bella would like in the décor. Alice told her that the walls were all greys and purple's, and that she had helped Esme pick out lot of pretty pictures to put on the walls. Bella's room was high tec. Everything written in her room was in braille and her clothing drawers were labeled. She loved her bedroom, but her favorite room in her small cottage was the library. There was a library in the main house as well, but Esme had dedicated one just to Bella to have in her own home. There were thousands and thousands of books, all in braille. Bella had school books in braille growing up in Seattle, but when Esme had surprised her with her own library where she could read all she wanted Bella had been speechless. Esme updated the collection sometimes, bringing more modern novels in to place on the shelves. Bella liked the classics best, but Esme insisted that the modern works were good to have around, so if Bella ever wanted to try something new she could.
Bella functioned much the same as a person who could see. She had methods to cook and methods to do laundry. Bella loved to cook, but sometimes even for her it was hard. Esme was always there to instruct her, never to take over. Esme let Bella learn on her own and didn't coddle her as she wanted. Bella wanted to trial and error and she didn't want to be treated like a baby just because she could not see.
The bookstore was called "Little Indian" and was located halfway between Forks main streets and the little reservation La Push. La push was a Quileute town, a Native American tribe who kept to themselves well and never caused any mischief. Carlile was one of the only white men who ever entered the reservation from Forks. He was the doctor whenever herbal remedies did not work in the village. Carlile respected their traditions and did not judge, but even he was not fully trusted.