I won't be posting next week. I've had a very upsetting week and I've decided to go away for a week on my own to regroup. Where I'm staying doesn't have internet access or cell reception.
Chapter 12
Narrated by Shelly Cope.
Edward
Things with the Cullen family were becoming strained. After Edward's stay at Boot Camp, he came home with behavior worse than when he left. He had struggled with the physical activities that were compulsory. He was pushed around by his teammates, leaving him bitter against his parents. His teammates made fun of him, his port-wine stain, and his limp. He wouldn't accept that it was his fault he was in this situation. Edward had met a boy called Embry, who taught him how to hack computers. He also realized that he could no longer blame Izzy for his life being so bad, which made him even angrier. When Edward was on his own and in his room, he peered out the window at the treehouse and wondered where she was and if she was still alive. However, he would never admit that to anyone. Was little Izzy his one, or is it, Siobhan?
Edward looked at himself in the mirror. He had grown his hair a little longer and dyed it black. He no longer owned any clothes that weren't black, and when he could, he likes to wear eyeliner to annoy his parents. His parents hated it, and he sure so would Izzy.
Izzy
Izzy was settling into her new life with her Meme and Pops. Every night, she prayed that her daddy would come and get her. Night times never changed. She still panicked and screamed when it got dark. No one minded that she still needed a nightlight.
Sparrow and Saffron were leaving after Christmas. They told Izzy they would leave her with Meme and Pops. Sparrow promised Izzy they would come back as soon as they had made it possible for her to go home.
When Willow came home from her trip, she was weary of Izzy at first. But she soon became firm friends with Izzy.
Even though Willow was thirty-two, she had the mind of a small child. Meme worried about how Willow would take it when Bells left.
~T&I~
Edward
"What do you mean I'm on a curfew?" Edward yelled at Esme.
"Just what I said. You never went to school, so you stay at home in the evenings and on weekends. You are not going around with those three. They get you into trouble all the time," Esme sighed. "I want my Teddy back. This person you've turned into isn't my little boy."
"I'm fourteen years old, Mother, not four," Edward screamed.
"Well, dear, you're acting like a four-year-old. I loved the four-year-old Teddy. He cared about people and was kind. He couldn't do certain things, and a sweet little girl became his friend and showed you how to do things that made him fit in," Esme said.
"Why does it always come down to Izzy Swan? Mom, someone took her. She's been trafficked by now. She's in another country as a sex slave. Izzy's never coming back. I don't know why you, Angela, Ben, and the Chief think she will. Siobhan is right about all of you. You're fucking sad," Edward smirked.
"Don't you ever say such a thing to me again and watch your language! My Father or my husband has never spoken to me like that, so I will not allow you to," Esme replied, blinking back her tears.
Running up to his room, he threw himself on his bed. He couldn't understand why his parents didn't like his friends. They had been his friend since first grade. They always included him in everything they did. Izzy wanted it to be just the two of them. Siobhan was right. Izzy didn't like it because I had friends, and she couldn't make any of her own. Izzy was just stupid.
He heard his dad come home from work. Edward had been researching having the port-wine stain taken off his face. He knew he had to be careful how he asked his parents to pay for it.
"Dad, I wondered if we could go into your office and discuss something in private," Edward
"What is it? Let us involve your mother in any discussion," Carlisle said.
"If we must," Edward groaned as he followed his dad into the kitchen.
"What would you like to discuss with us, Edward?" Carlisle enquired.
"It's about my birthmark. I've been researching about having it removed. Why didn't you do it when I was a baby?" Edward asked.
"As you know, scientists discover new theories, and new technology every day makes that life easier. The doctors told us to wait until you were in your early twenties when you were born to have any treatment on your face," Carlisle explained.
"I understand it's different now. A baby as young as a newborn can have the vascular triggering laser. Would you let me get it now? If the health insurance doesn't cover any of it, you can pay for it. I found a place that costs $275 a treatment, and there are six treatments needed," Edward informed.
"You've done your research, haven't you, Edward? But at the minute, we can't afford to pay for the treatment," Esme tried to explain.
"You've both got a good job. Mom, you own your own business. You can afford to do this for me. I hate having this on my face. At school, I get sick of being asked why I don't wash my face. The fucking thing is getting darker," Edward yelled.
"Edward, I might own my practice, but I also have overheads. I only take a salary for myself. We don't live in a city. I only have a small client list," Esme explained.
"But you're a doctor dad. You can get a discount, or a friend can do it. I know you've done favors for people before," Edward growled.
"Edward, it doesn't work like that. The favors I did for people were for covering them at the hospital or swapping days. Never have I done favors for a medical procedure. The answer is no; we can't afford for you to get the treatment just yet. We will match it if you save. You could get a job in the summer and on the weekend. You're coming up to fifteen, Edward," Carlisle clarified, but Edward interrupted before he had the chance to continue.
"Forget it. Just keep me a freak; what the fuck do you two care anyway? I'm not your precious, almost grandkid," Edward screamed.
"Stop swearing in our home, Edward," Esme shouted after him.
Storming into his room, Edward rummaged through his sock drawer and pulled out the cell phone he had bought with the money he had been taking from his parents over the past three weeks since he'd been home. Edward decided he would do whatever it took to remove the mark from his face and neck.
It made sense what Siobhan had said to him.
People wouldn't want to see me with this thing on my face. Girls wouldn't notice me, and little kids would be scared of him.
When he became a famous ice hockey player, there would be photoshoots when he modelled clothes. It just wouldn't work.
He dialed Siobhan.
"Hi, my girl," Edward said.
"Hi, my one," Siobhan giggled.
"Could you tell Maggie she has a deal? I'll change her grades and get her, and her friends accept into college. If she goes with me to the clinic in Spoken to get this mark off my face? I'll meet you both in the library. We will use their computer to hack into the computers at school," Edward said.
"Okay, baby, I'll see you in about thirty minutes," Siobhan answered as the phone went dead.
~T&I~
It had taken Edward three weeks to put his plan into action. Edward had hacked into the school computer in exchange for Maggie Siobhan's eldest sister to pretend to be his guardian so he could get the procedure done. He had changed Maggie's grades, so she had enough credits to graduate. Edward hacked the computers of a college and issued an acceptance letter for Maggie and three friends. Then he hacked into the bank's computers and transferred $1,000 from his college account into his personal account. It was the only way he could pay for his treatment.
Esme was on the understanding that Edward was staying at Mike for the weekend. In reality, Mike was covering for him as Edward had booked into a clinic using a false identity. He was called Paul Johnson and was seventeen years old.
Maggie was using the name of Bianca Sinclair. It was an alias she had used before. No one questioned how she could be Edward's guardian at twenty-one.
So, Edward stood outside a clinic in Spokane that was only costing him $275 a session.
~T&I~
"Could you just fill this form out, Darlin?" the receptionist asked as she chewed on her gum.
"Come on, hurry. I've got a date in an hour," Maggie barked.
"Mags, just stop. You're going to make them notice we're not old enough. Eddie can always change your grades again," Siobhan said.
"This place is a shit hole. I wouldn't think they got any credentials, so I don't think they care as long as they get their money," Maggie snarled.
"Paul, would you like to come this way? You two stay in reception. There's not too much room in the theater," a nurse announced.
Edward got a little nervous. Izzy used to say if it doesn't feel right, it means it isn't right. Why the fuck did that come into his mind? It made him more determined to go ahead with the treatment.
"Hello Paul, I'm Doctor Mat. Come and take a seat in the chair," a man in scrubs said. He looked like he was in his early twenties.
"I'm just going to put this cream on your face and neck. It will numb it, so you won't feel the heat from the laser," A nurse whose badge said nurse Judy told him as she began slathering the cream on him.
The doctor was humming to the music that was playing in the background. He could never imagine his dad having a consultation with Nirvana, playing Lithium in the background.
"Let's put these over your eyes," Judy informed Edward as she put some surgical tape over his eyes that wasn't sticking properly.
Edward wondered why they hadn't given him goggles to wear. That was what the books and internet had said.
"What we are going to do is put the laser against your skin and blast this sucker. It will scab for a few days, but you will see the difference. After the sixth session, you won't even know you had this on your face and neck. You will feel it warm but there won't be any pain. The numbing cream should work now," Mat said.
The pain became intense as he started to zap the laser across Edward's face and neck in an up and down pattern.
"I don't think the numbing has taken effect yet, it's hurting," Edward whimpered.
"Almost finished. Hold on a few more minutes, pal," Mat instructed. "We will give you a bag of ice cubes to take the heat off."
"Can you stop, please? It's not numb," Edward cried with the pain.
"Hold on, buddy, nearly done," Mat growled as he started the sing Iron Maiden Number of the Beast. "There you go. Let's take this tape off your eyes."
"I can't see," Edward panicked.
"That's because of the tape. Your eyes will adjust," Matt replied as he stood up and left the room.
"Here you go, just keep the ice on your face and make your next appointment for three weeks for your next round," Judy instructed as she showed him through to the reception.
"About time I'm late for my date. Hurry up," Maggie yelled.
Edward was in pain, and his face was burning him more intensely. No matter what he did, it burned more.
"Do you have any pain medication at home? I'll need some more ice; it's burning more than I thought," Edward asked as he tried not to cry.
"I think so, Eddie. It can't be that bad," Siobhan sighed.
Edward just kept as quiet as he could. He began to regret doing this. Edward knew he needed help, but it was not an option.
As the day progressed, it was burning more. His eye was swelling. He just wanted to get help from his dad.
"Seb, where are you? We came back early," Marie Siobhan's mother shouted up the stairs.
"Shit, she's not supposed to be home until next Friday. Go hide somewhere until I can get you out of here," Siobhan said as she pushed him off her bed.
Edward screamed in pain.
"What's going on in here? Where's Maggie? Seb, who's that?" Marie asked.
"Eddie, what the hell? Your face looks burned. You've not been fucking about with drugs again, have you? I'm calling your parents Eddie."
Marie took hold of Edward's arm, taking him into the bathroom while calling Carlisle.
"Eddie, I need you to take your clothes off, leave on your boxer, and get in the shower. I'm going to turn it on cold. Try your best to hold your face in it until your dad gets here."
"Mom, you shouldn't have called them. Why the fuck are you home anyway? You were supposed to be with your fuck buddy. What happened? Did his wife find out?" Siobhan said, gloating.
"I knew you'd at the bottom of this, you little bitch. You were going to leave him in fucking pain, weren't you? Once Eddie's parents come and get him to the hospital, we will be talking. I told you that if you get into trouble once more, I'd send you to live with your dad. That's not a threat. It's a promise," Marie snarled.
Someone hammered on the door. Marie rushed down to let in the Cullens. She just wanted Eddie out of her house. She knew if her daughter was involved, it meant something illegal had taken place.
"He's in the bathroom. I put him under the shower; I don't know what's happened, but those burns on his face are bad," Marie said as she showed Carlisle upstairs.
"Esme, get in the car. We must get him into the hospital. These are severe burns," Carlisle instructed as he wrapped a towel around Edward. "Thank you for the call, Marie. Now isn't the time, but I'm going to ask you to make sure your daughter stays away from him."
Esme drove as fast as she could to the hospital. Carlisle had called ahead, and the staff was ready with the burn unit staff waiting at the door.
"What the hell has happened to him, Carlisle?" Doctor Stewart asked.
"I think he has been to someone who has performed a laser treatment on his birthmark," Carlisle informed.
"Whoever has done this needs their license taken away," Doctor Stewart said as they rushed Edward to the burn unit.
"I expect they don't have a license," Carlisle replied.
"What do you think happened? Where did he get the money, and how did he get the treatment without our permission?" Esme cried.
"It's something to do with that girl. She's nothing but trouble, and now I'm hoping Edward realizes and moves away from the three of them," Carlisle spat out as he walked around the waiting room. "I hope they sedate him so he can rest. He's going to be in so much pain. By the look of how deep some of the burns are, he will need skin grafts."
"Maybe we should've let him have the procedure done. Then he wouldn't have gone to this length," Esme sniffed.
"It has never bothered him before. That girl put the idea into his head. He said he needed it done because girls won't like him with it on his face," Carlisle said, defeated.
"Mom, Dad, what's going on? Rose was in the store and overheard that Edward had been in an accident and you had to rush him in. They told me in the ER you were up on the burn unit. What's happened?" Emmett asked as he rushed into the waiting room.
"We don't know, son. Other than he's had laser treatment somewhere to remove the birthmark on his face and neck. He asked us about getting it performed, but we had told him no. He never gave me a chance to tell him it's more effective when he's in his early twenties. Even then, it might only be temporary. But what he's done now will be more noticeable. Not to mention the amount of surgery he will need," Carlisle sighed, defeated.
"He should have never done what he did to Izzy, and she would still be here, and he wouldn't be laid up in that bed," Rose added.
"I'm going to call Jazz, so he knows what has happened," Emmett informed.
"Tell him they are keeping him sedated, I would say, for at least the next week," Carlisle reiterated.
Esme sat next to Edward's bed, holding his hand.
"Carlisle, I think I'll stay with him if he wakes and needs anything. I want to make sure those vile children don't come in and encourage him to do anything stupid," Esme announced.
"Esme, love he won't wake up for a while. You might be better coming home at night to get a good night's sleep, darling," Carlisle cooed.
~T&I~
Eight days later
"Hello Esme, Carlisle. I'm glad to see you awake, young Teddy," Charlie said.
"Charlie, I thought we agreed you wouldn't deal with Edward. I will have to ask you to leave," Carlisle demanded.
"I can do that. When I get back to the station, however, I'll have to call the school and inform them that we have evidence that their computers have been hacked. Then, of course, I will call have to contact the FBI, as it is a federal crime. Someone also hacked into the banking system and moved money; another federal crime I might add. The choice is yours," Charlie replied as he began to walk out the door.
"Chief, please don't leave," Edward croaked.
"Well, Teddy, would you like to share with your parents what happened with Maggie bribing you to use a false identity to have that procedure done? Or do you want me to tell them?" Charlie asked. "I brought this laptop from the evidence store. We could use this to change the marks. We can discuss with your parents what can be done with the money you took out of your college fund."
"Edward, you didn't. Why would you do that?" Esme whimpered.
"Carlisle, can he sit up a little? I'm not obeying the law at the minute, and we can't get any DNA on this laptop," Charlie instructed. "It's Saturday, so let's hope no one is using the school system or I can't cover for you."
"Of course," Carlisle replied.
They both helped Edward to sit up. Charlie passed Edward a pair of gloves and the laptop. "Change the grades back, Teddy," Charlie instructed.
Edward hacked back into the school system and changed the grades of four different students. Then he hacked into the system and changed the offers for places in college.
"Finished, Teddy?" Charlie asked.
"Yes, Chief," Edward replied.
"I'll leave it to you as a family to sort out the banking issue. The people posing as doctors and nurses have been arrested and will be charged with multiple crimes, including impersonating a doctor and assault. They were pre-med students trying to make extra money. The University has dismissed them. They won't be walking away from this. I suggest you get that lawyer of yours onto this. I'm not sure how things will stand with Teddy using a false id," Charlie informed.
"Thank you, Charlie. I hope this can be a way of mending our relationship," Esme asked.
"That's the other thing I came to tell you. I'm retiring. I'm moving to New York to live with Sue and her kids. I'm leaving my house here. If Izzy ever comes back, at least she will go to the house. I've told Tanya and April; she knew they loved her. I don't know if she will contact you, but I'm keeping my cell number if she does," Charlie informed.
"Well, don't be a stranger. Come back and see us. I still hope that Izzy is somewhere just trying to get home," Esme said.
"As for you, Teddy, see this as a new start. Drop those three so-called friends of yours. They've got you in so much trouble that you're not far off from going to the juvenile hall until you're eighteen. Then after that, you will be in prison with all kinds of hardened criminals. Use this to your advantage. Get yourself on the school newspaper, the yearbook, the debate team, anything. As long it's away from those three. It would serve you well to stay with Angie and Ben. Ben plays some dressing-up game on Friday night, dragons, or something. Join that group. There is a better class of kids for you to interact with. I never have trouble with them. Cut your hair as well," Charlie lectured. "Bye now."
"Thank you, Chief. I think I will. Tell Izzy I miss her if you find her," Edward said.
"Sure thing, Kid," Charlie replied.
Carlisle followed Charlie out of Edward's room.
"Thank you, Charlie, for helping us and giving us a second chance," Carlisle offered.
Going to the nurses' station, Carlisle amends the list of people who could visit Edward. He removed the name of Siobhan, Mike, Jessica, Maggie, and Marie.
Izzy
"Hi Bells," Blossom said as she sat next to her on the porch. "How are you finding basket-making?"
"Hi, Blossom. I enjoy doing it, but my hands are still sore. Meme gave me some cream," Bells answered.
"What I wanted to ask you about is how do you feel about us framing some of your sketches and selling them at the farmer's market. You know we sell things we make and excess things from the storeroom. We use the money for animal food and seeds. But we need a new cow, so we are looking for ways to make a little more money," Blossom answered.
"Yes, I think I would like that. What do I have to do?" Bells asked.
"Just choose six that you like. You need to sign it, but you can't use your real name. What name do you want to call yourself? Then Sandy will make the frames. If we sell them, we might sell more next month," Blossom said.
"Can I call myself Phoenix?" Bells asked.
"That's a good name to use. It's like raising from the ashes to reinvent yourself," Blossom stated.
"That is a good reason, but I was thinking about my friend who went missing from that other place," Bells mumbled.
"Bluebell, Bluebell, quick you need to come now; Lola is having her puppies. Don't forget, Pops said we could have one. We want a boy one, don't we, Bluebell? Let's see if there is a boy one," Willow shouted, stumbling as she ran.
"Willow, I think Meme and Pops said they would think about it," Bells replied.
"Come on; we have to look before they all go to someone else; they are selling them on the market," Willow panicked.
"Willow, they can't leave Lola until they are about eight weeks old, so we have plenty of time." Bells said as she followed Willow to the barn.
"Which one shall we get, Bluebell? They all look funny. Why aren't they all fluffy like Lola and Beau?" Willow puzzled
"That's because they have just been born. We should leave the puppies for a few days then; they might be more awake and have their eyes open," Bells said.
"Okay, as long as they will still be here, I guess it will be okay," Willow grumbled.
"I promise they will still be here. Come on let's see if Meme has made any lemonade," Bells stated. Taking Willow's hand.
Thanks always to my wonderful friend Kellie (Klcivinski) for pre-reading through the chapter.
Also, a big thank you as always to Donna (EdwardsFirstKiss) for all her hard work editing the chapter. For your help with the research.
Also, for CoppertopJ, for all your help with this story.
Any mistakes are all mine.