Chapter Fifteen
Alice glared at Edward while he waited for Bella. It was annoying, and it took every bit of strength he had not to tell her to fuck off. But she was important to Bella, and Bella was important to him. At the moment, having Bella in his life was his central priority, so rather than call Alice out on the nasty looks she was giving him, he simply leaned against the wall and tried to be patient.
Luckily, only ten minutes had passed before she and Carlisle emerged from her bedroom with Bella carrying an old scruffy duffle bag.
He shouldn't let her stay with him. It would be better if he let her go now, to save her the heartache of watching him waste away, but he couldn't. He needed as much time with this amazing woman as he could get, even if that weren't fair.
Especially to her…
"Are you ready?" Bella asked.
He nodded before reaching for her bag.
"Wait!" Alice screeched, causing Edward to wince.
His head was always a little more sensitive the day after an episode, and her screechy voice wasn't helping. All it did was make him want to claw the tumor out with his bare hands.
"Where are you going, Bella? Why do you have a bag?" The panic in her voice didn't go unnoticed by Edward, either.
She sighed, before looking over her shoulder. "I'm staying with Edward for a few days."
"You . . . No. No. No, Bella!" Alice all but yelled. "You don't even know him!"
"Yes, I do," Bella argued. "I know him better than you do, Al, so do me a favor and just shut the fuck up."
Alice gasped as she took a step backward. "When did you get so mean?"
"I'm not being mean, Al. I'm not. You're just mad because I'm standing up for myself. I am going with him. You can either learn to accept that he's my boyfriend, or you can go to hell. Your choice."
Alice's mouth flopped open. "Fine. Ruin your life. Your daddy was right about you being trash."
"What the fuck did you say?" Carlisle roared, causing Edward to wrap his arms around Bella and pull her backward. "Get her out of here, Edward. I'll handle this little stuck-up bitch."
As Edward swept Bella out of her apartment, they heard Carlisle ripping Alice a new one. He called her every name in the book, and then made up a few. Even from outside, they could hear Alice trying to defend herself and Carlisle making it clear that there was no excuse for ever saying Charlie Swan was right about abusing Bella.
Edward tossed her bag into the backseat of his truck before offering her his hand. "Are you sure you want to come home with me?"
"I am," she said, placing her hand on his chest. "If you don't want me, Edward —"
"I do," he said, interrupting her. "I do want you, baby."
"Then I'm yours."
—WSHB—
Half an hour later, they were parked in front of Dr. Emmett McCarty's office. Edward had been there so many times. Too many, if he were honest. When the pain first started, his primary doctor treated him for migraines or stress from trying to get the Bistro up and running. But when the meds didn't help, when the pain continued to get worse, he was referred to a neurologist.
Emmett McCarty said they should run some tests to see what was going on. After the results were back, he explained it was a brain tumor located between the frontal lobe and the parietal lobe. Terminal and inoperable, he said. Or the end of life as Edward knew it. At least it was until he walked into a bar and found himself facing a woman who made him want to live.
"I'm scared," Bella whispered, causing him to look at her. She was staring at the front of the large brick building. "Walking inside there is going to make this real."
"It is real."
She tilted her head toward him. "For you, yes. But for me? I just found you, Edward. I let you in. I . . . I told you about my father. And I don't tell anyone about him."
"I'm sorry I wasn't honest with you from the start, Bella. I should have been. I . . . I should have walked away after knocking that case of liquor off the bar. But then you looked up at me, and I just fell. Hard.
"Edward."
"You can wait here."
"No, I can't." She pushed open the door. "I told you I'm in this with you. Until the end."
"You shouldn't have to be, though."
"But I am."
Edward nodded and climbed out, meeting her in the front. He slipped his arm around her waist as the two walked across the parking lot and into the building. They took the elevator to the fifth floor. When they stepped off, they found themselves face to face with a tall, curvy woman with strawberry blond hair and bright blue eyes. She looked from Edward to Bella and back before her lips curled into a smile.
"Edward, I wasn't sure you had gotten my message," the woman said, and Bella recognized her voice from the day before. Tanya with the nasally voice.
"Clearly I did," he clipped.
"Clearly," she said, glaring at Bella. "Dr. McCarty wanted a minute with you in his office before you go down for your CAT scan."
"Thanks," he murmured, tightening his arm around Bella before he led her past Tanya, down a narrow hallway, and into a large office with a lot of windows.
The shelf behind the desk was filled with medical books, but one shelf had pictures of a large man with dark brown hair and blue eyes. He had his arm wrapped around a glamorous blond with perfect curves. They looked like the perfect American couple, the kind who were never told they were unlovable or that the man she'd fallen in love with was dying.
They had just sat down when the door opened, and they both turned as Dr. Emmett McCarty hurried in. He looked older than the picture on the shelf, his hair graying around the edges, delicate wrinkles caressing the corners of his blue eyes. He smiled as he looked from Edward to Bella and back before sitting on the other side of the desk.
"It's good to see you again, Edward. I was worried when you missed your last appointment."
Bella looked at Edward, raising an eyebrow. "You missed your last appointment?"
He sighed but nodded. "The day I took you to my folks' place."
"Oh."
"We haven't been introduced. I'm Emmett McCarty."
"Bella Swan."
"It's nice to meet you, Bella," Emmett said before opening the file in front of him and turning his attention to Edward. "How've you been feeling?"
"Great," he lied.
"No headaches?"
"Yes," Bella spoke before Edward could lie again. "He had a pretty bad one yesterday."
"Is that true, Edward?"
"Yes, but it wasn't any worse than the hundreds I've had before."
Emmett nodded and leaned back. "What if I told you we have options now?"
"I would call you a liar."
"Then you might need to change my name in your phone to Liar McCarty."
Edward sat straighter. "What are you talking about? You said . . . When you found my tumor, you said there was no way to go in and remove it . . . that the risks were too high. That's what you said!"
"I know," he told them, putting his hand up. "But I have a colleague who has been reviewing your case for me. He thinks he can use a laser to break it into smaller pieces and remove most of it laparoscopically."
"Most of it. Not all of it."
"No, not all, but enough to give you a few more years. Maybe."
"Maybe," Edward whispered. "I don't know. I mean, lasers and laparoscopic surgery? Sounds like a fairytale."
"Look," Emmett said, leaning forward and placing his elbows on the desk. "I am not making any promises. We're going to do the CAT scan today to see if the tumor has grown. I will send the results to my colleague, and we'll go from there."
"And if it's grown?" Bella asked, causing the doctor to look at her. "What happens if it's grown?"
Emmett pressed his lips together before saying, "Then it would make it unlikely that anything could be attempted."
"Will it . . . if the tumor has grown, will it kill him . . . faster?"
"It could."
Bella nodded, glancing at Edward. "Then I guess we should hope that it hasn't grown."
Edward brought her hand to his lips. "Yeah, we should."
"They're ready for you downstairs," Emmett said, pulling their attention back to him. "I'll see you next week to go over the results."
Edward nodded, and the two walked out of the office. Bella looked behind her, finding Emmett watching them from the doorway. He tilted his head toward her before closing his office door. Edward tightened his hold on her hand, causing her to turn back.
Tanya gave them a smile and a wave as they left, something that annoyed Bella. It was ridiculous, she thought, to dislike someone just because of the sound of their voice. But then again, maybe it was because she'd been the one to clue her into the fact that Edward wasn't as perfect as she thought he was.
They took the elevator to the first floor, and while Edward headed back to get his CAT Scan done, Bella settled in the waiting room. Once again, her life felt like it was spinning out of control. Only this time, she didn't know how she would survive losing the one man who made her want to live again.
Thank you for all the AMAZING reviews! Huge thank you to Sunflower Fran for being an amazing beta. I keep her super busy, y'all.