Alice

Two days later, Carlisle wanted to get Rosalie moving. She'd been lying down for so long and he wanted her to start working on building her strength up.

Emmett was perched in the window, still refusing to leave Rose or take his eyes off her. I could tell he was struggling to be close to her, but he was terrified to leave. He'd fed a few days ago but he only had enough to keep going. He wasn't full. His eyes were dark and there were deep purple rings under his eyes. He looked paler than he usually did, if that was even possible. I was hoping that Jasper would be able to convince him to hunt properly now that Rosalie was awake.

Rosalie's violet eyes were wide open, but she seemed somewhere far away, somewhere distant. I knew it was partly down to the medication Carlisle had her on, but it broke me to see her so fragile.

I stayed close to her side as Carlisle removed her urinary catheter and I gently touched the top of her hand to comfort her. She gave me a small smile, but she seemed so lost.

When he was done, he gently lifted Rosalie's legs from the bed onto the floor. "We're going to try to stand, okay?" He said to her as he moved to take both her hands in his.

Rosalie didn't respond at first. She looked at him, but it was like she was seeing through him. Eventually, she took a shaky breath and nodded.

Carlisle pulled her slowly to her feet. He was supporting nearly all of her weight, but her body started to shake with weakness because of the new position. "It's okay, Rose. You've got this. Focus on standing. I won't let you fall."

Rosalie's legs buckled a few times, but Carlisle wasn't going to let her go. Tears were pooling in her eyes, and she looked so frustrated.

I moved closer to her, casing my nearest arm around her waist and taking her elbow in my other. The additional support of my body stilled her shaking as Carlisle and I held her entire weight. "It's okay," I told her softly.

Emmett watched us brokenly from his perch. I knew he wanted to be the one to help her, but he was really struggling with her scent and seeing her this way was tearing him apart. I smiled at him to let him know she was okay.

Carlisle let her go briefly to detach the leads from the ECG monitor and to clamp her feeding tube. I supported her weight fully until he came back to take her hands. "We'll try a few steps. It's important to try moving as soon as possible."

Carlisle stepped back slightly to see if Rosalie would follow him but she didn't. Her brows were creased in frustration and she was crying heavily now.

"She can't remember how to walk." Edward said from across the hallway. "She's trying, but her body isn't catching up with her brain."

Carlisle nodded in response, squeezing Rosalie's hand carefully. "Rose, it's not going to be easy. You've been asleep for a long time and you've been immobile. You've had two seizures and a cardiac arrest. It's okay that it's going to take time. Memory loss is to be expected."

Rosalie said nothing, but she continued to stand. I slowly let go of some of her weight to see if she would tolerate it. She did, and eventually she took a step towards Carlisle.

Carlisle, taking the opportunity, started to walk backwards. Rosalie moved with him – just slightly delayed – and Carlisle caught her after she'd taken a few steps.

She had done it, but I'd noticed she'd dragged the tops of her feet across the floor to take the steps. She wasn't walking properly and it seemed she'd forgotten how to do it.

Rosalie had clearly noticed this too because she was full on sobbing in Carlisle's arms.

"Let's go have a bath," I said then, picking up the oxygen cannister and moving to take Rosalie from Carlisle's arm. I hooked my arm around her waist and held the cannister in my other arm. I could easily support all her weight from this position. I could have carried her but I wasn't sure she would want that.

There was a couple of seconds delay but Rosalie dragged her feet with my movements to get to Esme and Carlisle's bathroom. She was trying so hard to walk and I knew she would get there in time.

I sat her down gently on the toilet seat as I filled the bath up. I made sure she held onto the side of the bath to support herself as I didn't want her falling if she lost the ability to support her weight.

When the bath was full, I picked her up effortlessly and lowered her into the water. I pulled the tubing of the nasal cannula so that the cannister was on the floor just outside of the bath. I had to be cautious of that and the feeding tube.

I knelt down on the bathroom floor and leaned over the bath. I picked up the washcloth and put some of Rosalie's favorite body wash on it. I pressed it to her hand but it took her nearly a minute to take it from mine. Her movements and her speech were very delayed and I was hoping it was a temporary effect and not permanent brain damage.

Rosalie sat there silently, staring down at the bubbles in the water. She was holding tight to the washcloth but hadn't made any attempt to wash herself.

I looked over her body with sadness. Her bones were clearly visible and she was so pale. There were so many bruises in various stages of healing all over her and the faint scars on her wrist and thigh were glistening in the water. Her arm had involuntary twitched a few times since she'd been in the bath. How had she become so broken when we were supposed to be looking after her? I felt so guilty. We had failed her.

When Rosalie still hadn't moved, I carefully removed the washcloth from her grip and started to wash her body. I made sure I was more gentle than usual and used the washcloth to wet her hair so I could wash it. I was worried about water going down onto her face and the tubes so I worked slowly to avoid this.

When we were done, I touched Rosalie lightly on her hand. She stopped staring at the water and turned to face me. "You ready to get out?"

She looked at me for a few seconds, her violet eyes staring at me lifelessly before she nodded.

I dried her and got her dressed into fresh clothes before blow-drying her hair. I didn't want her to get sick because her hair was wet. I then braided it and was about to pick her up but she pushed her hands at my arms to stop me. "You want to walk?" I asked her and she nodded gradually.

We walked slowly from the bathroom back to Esme and Carlisle's room. It was only a few steps, but Rosalie was relying heavily on my support to even stand. I wanted her to think she was supporting herself though because she needed the confidence. Her feet were still dragging but she wasn't as shaky as she had been before. I knew she'd be walking fine again soon.

When we got to the bed, Esme was finishing up changing the bed sheet and helped me settle Rosalie back against the pillow.

Carlisle came from where he was sitting with Emmett to hook Rosalie back up to the tubes and wires and I was about to leave but Rosalie pulled my wrist to stop me.

I sat on the other side of the bed with her so she could hold my hand. Esme joined me and Carlisle encouraged Emmett out of the room for a bit to try and give him a break. They didn't go far – Emmett refused to leave the house and settled for sitting in Carlisle's office where he could quickly come back to Rosalie.

Rosalie was clinging tightly to my hand and I was worried it was going to hurt her so I ran my fingers along the top of her hand to try to get her to loosen up. "I'm not going anywhere, Rose."

Rosalie smiled weakly at me and loosened her grip. "Thank…you…for…helping me." She spoke slowly as she tried to find the words.

"It's okay, I'll always help you. You don't need to thank me, I'm your sister." I put some TV on in the background but no one ever really paid much attention to it. It was more of a background noise.

Rosalie did glance at it occasionally and within 15 minutes, she was asleep.

I didn't want to leave her although she was asleep. She was obviously seeking some sort of comfort and I wanted to make sure she knew she was loved.

She was so, so loved by our family and I would do everything I could to show her that.