Bella's POV
The hours drifted by. I was so overwhelmed that I couldn't think straight as they first allowed me time with Nessie to make sure that she was alright and to reassure her that she had done a good job, and then as they whisked us off to the hospital to examine us. When they tried to pull Nessie into a separate room, we both put up such a stink that they eventually decided to keep us together. But it was still too much, too soon. The day that I had prayed about and dreamt of was here… and yet… I couldn't even look at most of them. I knew who they were. I trusted them… or I thought I had… but it had been too long. And they had never found me before now.
"Hey Bella, can I come in?" He knocked lightly on the door and smiled in at us. Nessie was sitting on the bed beside me eating a pudding cup. Her eyes had lit up within the first bite, having never tasted anything chocolate before. Slowly I nodded my head and gestured to the chair on the opposite side of the room, watching like a hawk as he moved towards it, only flinching slightly. Thankfully, he looked better than earlier, changed out of his uniform and wearing a pair of blue-jeans and a grey t-shirt he resembled at least a little bit, the boy that I remembered. He had been my best friend.
"You're Edward. The helper policeman." Nessie spoke up first, pausing briefly in her devouring of the pudding cup to look over Edward. She seemed a little nervous with him there, but not too bad. It was dark in the room, only a small light on… both Nessie and I were sensitive to anything too bright still… and while the darker room should have scared me, I actually felt almost soothed. It was familiar.
"That's right. I'm Edward." He smiled lightly and then looked back to me.
"I know you've been questioned a lot today, so I won't ask you to tell me anything." He began nervously, looking down at the floor, and rubbing the palms of his hands along the arm rests on his chair.
"Thank you Edward." I responded quietly, still assessing the situation. It was strange and tense. I wanted to trust him, I wanted to be happy about being rescued but I was unsure of what to feel or how I should react after all of this time. He seemed so familiar… but strange all at once. His eyes. I kept looking back at his eyes.
"I just… I just wanted you to know…" He began to speak, and then swallowed, running his hand through the mess of copper hair. The same hair that I recognised in the first seconds that I saw him. "I never stopped looking for you." He blurted out suddenly, looking at me with such intensity that I could see the years of pain and torture hidden in his eyes. I wasn't angry. I was overcome with emotion though.
The room went silent. I could see Edward fidgeting and then he stood up, moving towards the door, muttering what sounded like 'I'm sorry' as he left the room. I didn't stop him.
"Momma?" Nessie's voice broke the silence and I smiled down at my daughter. She was the only good thing that I had from my years in captivity.
"Is Mr. Edward the helper, the same Edward that you used to tell me stories about?" She demanded curiously and I nodded my head, I had told Nessie so many stories about Edward and I – and the others, Jasper, Alice, Rosalie, and Emmett. We had all been inseparable until that day at the fair.
"Momma?" Nessie's voice interrupted my memories and I smiled down at her again. This entire world was new to her, and she was full of questions, excitement, and fear.
"Will we live in this room now?" She asked and I shook my head. It was going to be a difficult adjustment for her, the idea of freedom and the ability to go anywhere at all. She had been born and raised in a bunker… there was no bright light, there was no escape. We had always been in the same room, never before allowed to leave.
"No beautiful. Do you remember how I told you that Mr. Charlie the helper is actually your grandpa?" She nodded her head, I had explained this already but I knew it would be a bit of a shock to her system. "Once the doctors here at the hospital say that we are healthy enough to leave, then we are going to go and live in his house with him. But we don't have to stay inside anymore and he won't hurt either of us. We can go outside and play, you can go to school eventually… we can have friends…" I was crying again. I was more overwhelmed than Nessie was. For her, they were still ideas – something made up that we read about in books. But for me… it was different.
As the afternoon continued on in a blur of people coming in and out, most of them didn't know what to say to me, and I didn't know what to say to them. Nessie never spoke with the exception of asking me questions, and telling Esme thank you for being a good helper. Finally, dusk began to fall, and with the darkness, came the dreams.