AN ~ This chap is kinda short and a little bit fluffy (I just had to take a break between the Twilight and New Moon drama-fests!)
Sorry about the lack of updates on my other stories but I've been feeling kinda crappy lately so I don't want to think too hard. That's not to say I don't put time and effort into Stars, it's just that it's already written so I already know (at least in part) what I want to say. Although, I wrote this chapter from scratch just for this version, because I just couldn't help myself! Enjoy!
QUESTION: I use a few songs in some of my chaps, but I can't post the youtube links on this site. Would you like me to write out the link (eg www[dot]youtube etc) or just tell you the song and artist so you can look it up?
Reminder: Plz vote in the FreeWriters Musical Cues Oneshot Contest guys!
Happy 235th Birthday Jane Austen!
Disclaimer: Twilight and New Moon are not mine
Chapter Eighteen: Waiting
Carlisle:
Nobody relaxed completely until we had handed Bella over to a legion of competent medical staff. Jasper, Alice and Emmett were stuck outside, of course, but at least they had found something to do: they had elected to fabricate evidence for our cover story with worrying enthusiasm. Edward and I lingered in the foyer, waiting for news. Waiting, waiting, waiting. I'd never been on this end of the hospitalisation process. It was agonising.
We sat. We waited.
We stood. We waited.
We paced. We waited.
We sat again.
My cell rung and I eagerly flipped it open, only to have to lift it away from my ear.
"CARLISLE!"Esme shrieked. "Mon Dieu. Are you trying to kill me? The fire was you, wasn't it? And James, is he...? Oh God! Bella!"
"Esme, calm down," I whispered. "James has been taken care of, and Bella is going to be okay."
"Going to be?"
"James threw her around a bit, that's all. We're at Phoenix Medical Centre now."
"Oh, thank God, oh, Carlisle...Rose, they're okay...Is Edward there? Can I speak to him?"
I numbly handed over the cell, struck deeply by the worry and relief fighting each other in Esme's voice. I could imagine her pacing, raking her fingers through her hair. I couldn't wait to get back to her. I could hardly stand leaving her in danger like this. I wanted to wrap her in my arms and never, ever, ever let her go.
"Doctor Cullen?" one of the nurses stuck her head around the corner. Judging by the fact that Edward didn't bolt out of his seat, it wasn't particularly thrilling news. I went over to check, and found my theory correct: they would have to sedate Bella for a few days.
I reported back to Edward and we lingered some more, quite unsure what to do with ourselves. We couldn't leave: it was too sunny, and my car was not only ruined but also halfway across town, no doubt surrounded by firefighters. Nor was there much point in staying: it was getting more and more difficult for Edward in the hospital, and clearly Bella wouldn't be having any visitors for a while.
"Bella? Bella? Isabella Swan?" A panicked voice demanded as a woman burst through the doorway.
"It's Renee," he explained under his breath. The woman pulled a straw hat off her head and distractedly combed the disturbed wisps of hair with her fingers. Her heart hammered loudly as she looked around, flustered. She saw Edward and I and froze for an instant.
"Hello, I'm Doctor Cullen. I'm Edward's father." I held out my hand and she seemed to miss the objective.
"Edward?" She glanced at him, then back at me. "I thought those two had broken up! That's why Bella's here, right? Oh, dear..." Overwhelmed, Renee all but fell into the chair beside me. She put her face in her hands.
"We had...kind of," Edward started to explain. "Bella got mad and decided to come to Phoenix. Dad and Alice and I came down too, to try and talk her into going back to Forks, but when she came to see us, she...tripped."
Renee looked up. For a moment it seemed as though she didn't believe it, but then she smiled as if she couldn't help it.
"That's so classically Bella," she murmured, shaking her head.
"She fell down two flights of stairs, and went through a window," I finished solemnly. "She'll be sedated for a few days; probably won't wake up until Friday."
"Friday?" Renee repeated. "Oh...My girl, my Bella..." She shook her head and sniffed as she pulled out her cell. After she tapped a reply to the message it held, I offered her a handkerchief. Edward glanced over Renee's shoulder at me as if to say; "are you serious?" but Renee took my offering gratefully.
.o.o.o.
As I had anticipated, Bella woke up on Friday. Edward was, of course, waiting for her. Renee came as soon as she heard the news. Emmett and Jasper waited a few miles out, and Alice and I in the foyer. As soon as Bella was well enough, we were going to take her home.
It didn't take too long. For all the times Bella must have injured herself over the years, she was a fast healer. Of course, when Charlie set eyes on her he melted first and then steeled up, ready to protect his little girl no matter what the cost. We explained the whole story to him - the cover story, of course - and he might as well have been laying roses and sacrificial goats at my feet, the way he treated me. As for Edward: Charlie was as mad as a bull, determined to believe the whole thing was Edward's fault. It was all rather unsettling, and while I'm sure Edward at least partly enjoyed every moment - he did, after all, somehow manage to stay in contact with Bella at all times - I was getting restless.
I arrived home alone: Edward was once again staying to watch Bella sleep. Esme looked as weary as me as she dragged open the door, but the minute she set eyes on me, all the weariness disappeared. She rushed to meet me, took my coat and bag and, surprisingly, dropped them to the floor.
"You're back," she breathed with such delirious happiness that I felt dizzy for a moment. "I don't think a week has ever felt so long. I was so worried, just stuck here, waiting..."
I wrapped my arms around her, hugging her right against my chest, and buried my nose in her hair, breathing her scent in like drug I had gone far too long without.
"You don't have to wait any more," I whispered into her hair. She snaked her arms up and interlaced her fingers behind my neck, guiding me down to meet her. Her cool, sweet lips locked on mine and I shivered with the sensation, closing my eyes to savor it. Without warning, she pulled away. She smiled innocently up at me and batted her eyelids.
"The children are home," she murmured. "Looks like we have some more waiting to do."
We stepped a respectable distance apart and opened the door, but Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie grinned knowingly as they passed. Everyone contentedly dispersed to do their own things, and Esme and I huddled up on the lounge together. I stroked her hair calmly and she purred like a warm, well-fed house cat. I smiled. This time, the waiting wouldn't be nearly so bad.