Chapter 37: A Tough Day
Bella's POV
"Good morning!"
"Good morning Mrs. Bella!"
I smiled as I looked at my students.
"Now, I know I have been gone for most of the year. A lot of changes, a lot of substitute teachers, and I can't promise that it's the end of that. However, at this point I don't see me going anywhere for a while right now. So how about we get started?" I said.
They cheered. I walked over to the board and picked up a piece of chalk.
"So, how would you describe the weather today?" I asked.
Normally I would have a poster made up where they could stick the pictures of a sun, rain, snow, etc. up there themselves but I wasn't able to make one up yet.
"Chance?" I called.
"It's sunny out!" He said.
"Sunny! Awesome! What about the temperature?" I asked after I wrote sunny down.
"Abigail?"
"It's warm out Mrs. Bella!" She said politely.
"Very good manners Abigail! It is warm outside!" I said.
I didn't see Edward step inside the classroom and stand by the wall. The kids didn't seem to notice either.
"Okay, so it's warm and it's sunny. What other ways can we describe the weather? Aiden?"
"Would bright be a way?" He asked.
"Yes! Bright! Aiden you are so smart!" I said writing it on the chalk board.
"Any others? Miss Sarah! How I missed you! What other way can you describe the weather?"
"It's sort of cloudy." She said shyly.
"Cloudy," I wrote, "Very good Sarah!"
"So we look at the board and there are plenty of ways we can describe the weather." I said.
"Mrs. Bella?"
"Yes Chance?" I asked.
"Why is that man in the class room?" He asked.
My heart dropped, I instantly went into protective mode and went to stand in front of the children when I realized that it was Edward.
"Edward." I sighed.
He smiled.
"This is my husband Edward guys." I said.
They all said hello.
"Now, what do we do after the morning weather check?" I asked.
"SNACK TIME!" They cheered.
"Correct! Now I want to see each of you at that sink washing your hands okay?! No pushing or touching, and when you are finished I want each of your butts into chairs and waiting patiently for Miss Julie to get the snacks ready!" I said.
"Yes Mrs. Bella." They said.
I smiled at my assistant Julie as she followed the kids to the snack area.
"What's wrong?! Is Carlie okay?! I knew it was too soon for me to go back to work. Let me get my coat and I can tell them I have to go home early." I said rushing.
"Bella, Bella! Relax! Everything is okay; mom has her at the house. I just wanted to stop by and make sure you were doing okay." He said.
"Oh, yeah I'm fine. Do you work today?" I asked.
"Yeah, I'm on my way there now." He said.
"Okay, I'll see you when I get home?" I asked.
"Of course." He said.
We gave each other kisses and headed back to our jobs.
…
"Where are you guys going?" I asked.
"I don't know, probably just to the bar." Edward said.
"That's cool." I said.
"Hey." He said.
I looked up and he walked over to me rubbing the tops of my arms.
"Are you sure this is okay with you? I can tell Jasper and Emmett I have to stay home with my girls." He suggested.
"No, go have a good time. I'll be here when you guys get back." I said kissing him.
"You're the best." He said kissing back.
1:34 A.M.
I'm bringing your husband home, fair warning he's long gone.
Love you, Alice
Was the text I just received.
"Well, I better get you upstairs so daddy isn't scaring you, daddy got a little drunk. Something you will never do right?"
I looked down at Carlie who cooed at me.
"No, you will never drink in your life." I said.
I heard the door close while I was upstairs putting Carlie down. I walked downstairs to see Alice struggling to keep Edward standing.
"I-I didn't mean to puke in your car Ali." He stammered.
"For the millionth time Edward it's fine." She said.
"BELLA!" He shouted.
"That was my ear." Alice said.
I walked over to her and relieved her from the difficult task of holding up Edward.
"I had so much fun!" He said talking louder than necessary.
"I see that." I said.
"You good Bella?" Alice asked.
"Yes, thank you Ali." I said.
I gave her a quick hug before she left.
"Let's get you upstairs and into bed." I told him.
"I don't want to go to bed! I want to PARTY!" He shouted.
"Shh! Carlie is upstairs asleep!" I said.
"Sorry." He whispered and giggled.
I got him into our bedroom and onto the bed. I started to take his shirt off when he grabbed my hand.
"Whoa, whoa. I have a wife, what are you doing?" He asked.
I smiled, "Honey, I am your wife."
"I won't cheat on her." He said.
"I appreciate that, but I promise you that I'm your wife."
I slid his shirt off and managed to get him lying down.
…
I rubbed his back and grimaced as Edward threw up in the toilet.
"I hate this!" He groaned.
"I know." I said.
He sat up wiping his mouth.
I handed him some Aspirin for his head and a glass of water.
"Why did I go out last night?"
"Because you wanted a night of fun with your boys."
Just then Carlie started to cry, I helped Edward up and walked him to our bed.
"I have to go make sure she's okay." I told him.
He just fell back on the bed and groaned.
"I'm coming!" I said sprinting into the nursery.
I saw a guy standing there and my heart dropped.
"Wh-Who are you?" I stammered.
He turned around and I saw that he was holding Carlie; I slowly glanced up and saw his face. I gasped and backed up until I hit the wall.
"Miss me?" Jim asked.
"Pu-Put her down!" I snapped.
"Oh now why are you being like that?" He asked looking down at her.
I just looked at him like I just saw a ghost.
"She's so beautiful. I never imagined having a grandchild." He said.
"She's not your grandchild." I snapped finding my voice.
"Ouch! So angry! Say, where is your husband?" He asked.
"Oh we're doing this again? Why don't you just shoot me and get it over with?" I asked holding up my arms.
"Or I could just shoot her." Jim said looking at Carlie.
I woke up screaming and shaking with tears streaming down my cheeks. It felt like my heart was ripped out. Edward rushed into the room the best he could; he was still half drunk so moving fast was hard to do for him. I clutched my chest and cried out in pain.
"WHAT?! What is it?! Are you in pain?!" He gasped.
He wrapped his arms around me tightly.
"He's going to get Carlie! Carlie is dead!" I cried.
"What?! No! Carlie is safe in her crib! I just checked on her!"
I sobbed, "He shot her! Oh god! He shot her!"
"Who?!" Edward asked.
"Jim!" I cried.
He looked at me while all the color disappeared from his face. He pulled me into his chest and I cried into his shirt.
"He is not going to come anywhere near our baby, I will do everything in my power to protect my girls. He will never touch you again." He soothed me.
The next morning
I handed Edward his cup of coffee as he walked around the island. I felt emotionally and physically drained. It took Edward almost three hours to get me to calm down and to go back to sleep. I poured myself a cup of coffee, grabbed the baby monitor, and sat on a bar stool. He walked over to me and rubbed my arms.
"Are you feeling better?" He asked.
"No."
"What will make you feel safer?"
"A security system, and maybe one of those video baby monitors so I can see her at all times." I answered honestly.
He walked over to the drawer and pulled out the phone book and leafed through the pages.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm calling someone to come put a security system in." He said.
"Edward, we can't afford that. I was kidding; we don't have to get a security system."
"Yes we do, I don't care if I have to ear ramen soup for the rest of my life. I want my wife to feel safe in her own home." He said walking over to me and giving me a kiss on the forehead.
"It felt so real, like he had finally found us and was going to rip our family apart."
"That will never happen." He said trying to reassure me.
I just nodded.
The next week a security system was in and alarms were placed on every door and every window. Esme and Carlisle purchased one of those audio and video baby monitors for us as a gift. The whole family was spooked at my sudden dream of Jim coming back, but not as much as I was. Alice and Rosalie offered to stay with us for a few days, and I let them because I knew that no one really understood my fear quiet like them. They were there that day, along with Esme, so they knew everything that happened.
"She is so cute!" Rose gushed.
I smiled.
"That's my godchild! Yes you are! Yes you are!" Alice said in her baby voice.
"Oh lord." I laughed.
"Okay ladies, I'm afraid that the baby must escape the torture of Alice's baby talk. It is bed time." Edward said walking up.
"I'll help." I said starting to get up.
"No, stay with the girls, put in a chick flick or something. I'll come down and make you guys some pop corn to go with the sappy movie." He said.
I smiled, "Thank you."
"Our movies are not sappy by the way!" Alice shouted at him as he walked up the stairs.
We all giggled.
Edward's POV
I rubbed my face and growled.
"Dr. Cullen?"
I turned around.
"I brought you your coffee." April, one of the nurses, said.
"Thank you." I said grabbing the cup.
I turned back around and looked at the X-Ray that was in front of me.
"This woman," I said before April left, "This woman came in complaining of abdominal pain. She is seventy three years old with no family history of cancer."
She walked over to me.
"There's a dark spot here." I said pointing.
"No history of cancer?" She asked.
"No, why do you ask?" I asked.
"Well it kind of looks like a mass, the darkness and the size." She said.
I stood back and looked at it.
"Thank you nurse April, you may be right on this one. Have you ever thought of being a doctor?" I asked.
"I love being a nurse. My opinion may not matter as much, but I love my job." She smiled.
"You're opinion matters just as much as mine. Nurses may have been looked down on in the past but when it comes to me you are just as important!" I told her.
"Thank you doctor." She said before leaving.
…
"I would like to hand your wife's case to one of our best surgeons." I said.
"Surgery? Why do I need surgery?" Hailey Johnson, the patient, asked.
"I believe you have a mass in your stomach which is causing your abdominal pain. It may not be anything, but just in case it could be cancer-"
"Cancer?!" Her husband, Gary, gasped.
"I don't have any family history of cancer!" Mrs. Johnson argued.
"Mrs. Johnson that really doesn't have anything to do with it, you can get cancer if you do or do not have history. Now, like I was saying it could not even be cancer. Which is why I believe it is best for you to agree on this surgery." I said.
"This surgeon, he's good?" Mr. Johnson asked.
"One of the best." I said.
They looked at each other.
"Okay." Hailey whispered.
I nodded and exited the room.
After the surgery
"I- I did everything right."
"Tell me everything you did." I said checking her eyes.
"I was trying to wean her off the ventilator but then I realized she wasn't breathing on her own. So I put her back on her previous vent settings, but- Dr. Cullen what is happening?!" Dr. Simmons asked.
"She may have stroked out. Order a CT and get the scans to Dr. Harrison right away. Also run a EEG, we need to find out if there is any brain activity right away If there-"
"There she is!" Mr. Johnson said walking into the room.
Dr. Simmons and I looked at each other.
"The surgeon, Dr. Harrison, said he got the mass? He mentioned it wasn't cancer!"
He rushed over to the bed and stroked her face.
"Are you still sleeping? The doctor said you did great in there! Hailey?" He asked.
Dr. Simmons rushed out of the room with her hand over her mouth.
Fuck.
…
"She's in a coma. She suffered a stroke right after surgery and showed no signs of it. I'm afraid that she may not come out." I said.
"People come out of comas all the time! I've seen it happen!"
"I'm sorry. Your wife's coma is irreversible." I explained.
"That can-can't be! She pulled through fine!" He said.
"Mr. Johnson I understand how difficult what I am saying is but-"
"No you don't! You have no way of knowing what I am going through! You are basically telling me that my wife will never leave this hospital!"
"I normally don't do this because I like to keep my personal life separate from my job, but a few months ago I was standing in your shoes. My wife had a difficult pregnancy and bled out during delivery," I could feel my voice start to shake so I took a minute to gain control of it, "The loss of blood caused her body to go into shock and shut down. She was in a coma for two weeks when I was faced with the decision of whether or not to pull the plug."
"Did you?" He asked.
"I was fortunate not to have to make that decision because she came out of it." I told him.
"See! So it does happen!" He said.
I sighed and looked at Dr. Simmons.
"Mr. Johnson your wife's EEG showed minimal brain activity." Dr. Simmons said.
"Her heart is still beating and there is at least some brain activity, that's good right?" He asked.
"There is only a heart beat because the ventilators are breathing for her. When we turn the machines off her heart beat will stop and she will eventually pass away." She said.
"Wait. Turn it off?! Why would you turn it off! People come out of these comas all the time! Even if they have to live years on the machines!" He said getting angry.
"Mr. Johnson the records we have show your wife signed a DNR. This requests no ventilators or extreme measures be done to save her life." I explained carefully.
"What? She never told me about this!"
"Sir, it may have been done before you guys met. We've seen this happen before; it's not a topic people like to talk about. I am so sorry." Dr. Simmons said.
"You can't just unplug her!"
"Legally we don't have a choice." I explained.
"You said everything went fine! YOU recommended the surgeon! You said that he was the best!" He screamed at me.
"Sir he is one of the best." I said.
"NO! I'm done! Don't talk to me anymore! Get out of this room!" He shouted.
I went to say something else before closing my mouth. Dr. Simmons and I exited the room and shut the door behind us, we looked inside and Mr. Johnson was kissing his wife's hand.
Bella's POV
I walked into the hospital; Edward called and said that he had to work late so I thought that I would bring him supper. I left Carlie with Esme, figured she wouldn't mind spending some time with her granddaughter.
"Where's Edward?" I asked Jerry.
"In with a patient." He said pointing to a room.
I heard shouting before Edward and another doctor walked out of the room.
"Dr. Cullen there has to be something we could do!" She argued.
They walked to the front desk; they must have been focused because neither noticed I was standing there.
"I looked at the scans myself, she had a massive stroke. There is no way she will pull out of this." Edward signed.
"You said it yourself! Your wife was in a coma!" She said.
"My wife's case was different! And like I said she almost didn't make it! I almost lost her when her heart stopped! My world was this close to being exactly like his and that scares me! I know how he feels and I know what he has to go through. Her case is different, there is nothing more we can do. Now this is the last time my wife's case is going to be brought up, understand?" Edward snapped.
"Loud and clear." She said.
"Good." He said.
Edward got a page; he picked up the phone dialed the number and talked on the phone before hanging up and rubbing his eyes.
"What is it?" Dr. Simmons asked.
"Mr. Johnson has decided he is going to sue." He said.
…
Edward's POV
I walked out of the room after Mr. Johnson left. We went over everything for a third time with the head of the hospital. We showed him the DNR, and explained once again that we were going to be pulling her off the vent. We told him that he needed to call everyone to say their goodbyes because it wouldn't be long before she passes.
"If you are lucky, suing is the only thing I'll do."
I rubbed my face. That was the last thing Mr. Johnson said to us. Sure, we had angry patients, more than you would believe. But I had a bad feeling about this one.
"Edward."
I turned around to see Bella.
"Hey." I said hugging her.
She squeezed me.
"You have no clue how good it is to hold you." I whispered.
She looked up at me and smiled.
"Bad day?" She asked.
"Very." I said.
"Can you go home yet?" She asked.
"No, I have a few more patients to see." I told her.
She nodded.
"I'll see you at home." She said smiling.
"See you at home."
We gave each other kisses and went on with our night.
No matter how I tried, I couldn't shake this feeling that something bad was coming…
That was a long one!
I have to admit, I may have used some lines from Grey's Anatomy so I do not own some of the lines in this chapter! I'm not a doctor so I had to go to the only medical show I watch for some help! I apologize a head of time if I messed something up! Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!
Let me know what you think! =]