CH22
Alice sat on the edge of Bella's hospital bed, the breakfast table pulled across her lap, filled with nail polishes, eye shadows, and an array of brushes. She hummed to herself as she looked through all of her items, trying to match colors to Bella's skin before she woke up. Edward had given her distinct orders to let Bella rest, but she was really annoyed at that.
Bella had woken up nearly 15 minutes ago but pretended to be asleep because she didn't know what to tell Alice. She didn't want people to pity her…she didn't want to look into her friend's eyes and see sorrow. She didn't want to be here. She shouldn't be here. As she had explained to Edward, she had accepted death, welcomed it even. It was her time to go, but somehow she had gotten another chance. What would she do with it?
"I can tell you're awake you know." Alice's voice broke through Bella's thoughts, and she grinned slightly. "I'm choosing to ignore it until you're ready to talk about it." What an un-Alice like thing to say. Bella made a show of stretching, yawning loudly. Ignoring the pain in her heart when she realized just how much she didn't know Alice anymore.
"I don't know what…" Bella stopped mid-sentence, eyes widening at the set up in front of her. "All that isn't for me, right?" She pushed the button to raise the bed, her body slowly moving into a sitting position. "Come on Al, cut a girl a fashion break, I'm in the hospital you know."
Alice smirked, picking up a dark emerald nail polish. "Now there's the Bella I know and love." She shook the bottle in one hand, holding her other one out for Bella's. "I thought I lost you there for a minute."
Bella ignored the double meaning of that sentence, but Alice couldn't. While she had been feeling the loss of Bella for years, she hadn't felt it quite like she had on her wedding day. A lump formed in Alice's throat that she couldn't swallow, tears brimmed in her eyes. "Bella, I don't know if I can ever apologize enough for not coming after you," Her voice cracked and a few tears escaped. She dropped the polish onto the blanket and pushed the table aside, throwing herself onto her friend's body, hugging Bella so tightly that she could barely breathe. "I just don't know what I would have done if I'd lost you."
Bella drew in a shaky breath, willing herself not to cry. "I don't know what it is with this family, but it was never anyone's job to come after me."
Edward paced the length of the waiting room down the hall from the two girls as Jasper held a phone to his ear, whispering quietly about Florida and baseball. Edward was puzzled at the line of conversation, but chose to remain silent. Multiple times he had begun to ask Jasper questions and multiple times he was cut off with nothing more than a sharp look and the wave of a hand. Questions swarmed his mind. Would he tell the chief? Would he tell him? Should he? He ran his fingers through his too long a hair and huffed. Was Bella awake now? Was she wondering where he was? Did she think he too gave up on her? His eyes darted between Jasper and the door, not knowing what to do. Jasper caught his line of sight and nodded, assuring him that whether he was in the room or not, he'd find out everything he needed to know about Bella's mother.
Jasper wasn't at all aware of what happened to Bella as a child, he, like the others, had met her when she was just 15, but the look in Edward's eyes when he cornered him in the waiting room told him all he needed to know. As his contact spoke to him on the phone, he typed the information down, gathering everything he'd need to take her mother down. Bella was loveable, sweet, Bella was a part of this big dysfunctional family whether she liked it or not, and Jasper was certain that the Cullen's would never let her forget that again. Taking care of Alice when Edward had left was hard, holding her through the night when she cried over the loss of Bella's friendship had been worse, but none of it compared to that first night here in the hospital. While he loved Bella as much as the rest of them, he had to admit that he was doing this for his sweet Alice. He'd hurt anyone that hurt Bella, just so they could never hurt Alice.
"Are you listening to me, Hale?" Jenks asked, aggravated. "I said she'd married to a Phil Dwyer, ex-baseball player and now full time alcoholic. He's been arrested multiple times for assault, and it seems like he's on probation now." Jasper grinned, flexing his fingers. "I can give you the address listed on his license now if you'd like."
"That'd be perfect, Jenks." He said, plans forming in his mind. "Send me everything you have."
Let's hope the formatting holds up on this one!
What do you guys think Edward's going to do with this information?