Chapter 38

Chapter 38

EPOV

You know that strange feeling, where you feel like you're drifting off in your own sorts of limbo. Everything's weird, nothing seems to make sense without any rational explanation. You see various colors and everything's disoriented. I felt somewhat loopy. I had been staring at the white tiled ceiling for about twenty minutes, wondering why in the hell that it was smooth in some places and bumpy in others. My guess was that whoever the technician was that installed the tiles, probably thought we were dumb enough not to stare up at the ceiling, which is hard, when you're on your back. I kept staring at the ceiling for a couple of minutes, when the door opened. In entered a middle-aged woman with a blonde cropped bob and square framed glasses perched upon her nose.

"Hello there Edward," she smiled. "I'm Dr. Biers, but most of my patients call me Dr. Riley." she continued. Doctor? Was I in the hospital? I glanced over to my right and noticed an IV stand slowly dripping into a needle that was inserted in my arm. Hmm, maybe I was in the hospital.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, grabbing a clipboard from the base of the bed.

"Weird. Somewhat ditzy if you want to call it that. Doctor Riley if you don't mind me asking, why am I in the hospital? Is it a hospital and an insane asylum, because I'm feeling somewhat crazy? And why can't I seem to remember anything?" I asked her curiously.

"Well that's to be expected." she mumbled to herself.

"But to answer your question you are indeed in the hospital. And the reason you're feeling disoriented is because of the pain meds. You sustained a number of injuries and the side effects from the medication is prone to hallucinations and short term memory loss." she answered.

"So that's why I can't feel anything from the neck down. Oh god, I'm not paralyzed am I?" I asked panicking.

"No you're not." she laughed. That was no laughing matter. She must have noticed the look of horror upon my face because she cleared her throat.

"Then how bad am I?" I asked.

"Well when you were shot, the bullet punctured your femoral artery. Luckily, EMT services arrived or you would have bled out. Your leg is going to hurt for a while. Since you were shot a close proximity, before the bullet entered it grazed along your thigh leaving a nasty 12-inch burn. The skin was so damaged that we had no choice but to remove it, and when had to give you 19 stitches to close up the wound. You also suffered a minor concussion, two bruised ribs and 3 fractured knuckles." she said as I gaped at her. I was pretty banged up. I had been shot. I didn't remember too much other then untying Bella. Bella? Wait was she all right.

"Wait." I gasped. "My friend Bella is she alright?" I asked.

"A Miss Isabella Swan?" she said, tilting her head to the side. I nodded my head. Before she could answer me, I saw a blur of black, blonde, and caramel colored hair come flying at me.

"Oh my baby!" my mother sobbed, planting kisses all over my forehead and cheeks.

"Don't you ever do that to us ever again." Alice said smacking my arm, her hazel eyes glistening with tears.

"It's not like I wanted to be here intentionally." I grumbled.

"We know that, but you don't know how it feels to receive a phone call telling you that your brother has been shot and rushed to the emergency room." Rose added, her green eyes unfocused on nothing in particular, although I could see that they were swelled with tears. It took a lot to make Rose cry. Not even when she fell broke her wrist climbing down a tree when we were eight.

"I'm okay Rosie." I said, using my hand that wasn't attached to the IV ,and gave it a squeeze. I smiled when she squeezed tightly back.

"You better. You may be older than me by 2 minutes, but I'm stronger and I will beat you up myself if you ever do this to me again." she laughed, letting a few of her tears fall. She wasn't lying. Rose was one the strongest people I knew. Emotionally and physically.

"Where's Dad, Em, and Jas?" I asked.

"There with Bella." Mom answered, and my heart jumped n my chest, the heart monitor startling everyone as it quickened up it's pace.

"Is she okay? Can I see her?" I said all in one breath.

"She's as good as we hope." Alice said quietly.

"She's okay though right?" I asked fearing the worst.

"She's in a sedated coma. When she first woke up, she began panicking and it triggered a seizure. Mom was there when it happened." she continued, fingering the frayed edges of her skirt.

"I think it was my fault. I had asked her if she remembered anything, when it happened." My mom said fingering a strand on her sweater.

"But she's okay, right?" I pushed. I wanted a definite answer. It was a simple yes or no question. Was she or wasn't she all right?

"We don't know." my mom cooed, raking her fingers through my hair.

"So looked horrible when I saw her." Alice said quietly, as her eyes welled up with tears once more.

"Her left eye is swollen shut. She broke three ribs, and the bones in foot were shattered. They had to pins in to stabilize it and to make matters worst, it was the same foot she had injured before. They had to remove a lot of scar tissue and the doctors say with a bit of physical therapy she'll get full use of it again, but she'll probably have a limp for the rest of her life." she breathed, before her little sobs took over her body, Rose rushing over to comfort her. I even felt a few of my own tears fall down my face.

"She saved me." I said as they all looked at me. "Tanya was going to shoot me a second time, but Bella stopped her. She saved my life. She stopped Tanya." I whispered.

"Please do not say her name ever again while I'm here." Alice growled. " She almost took away the two most important people in my life." she huffed, her fists balled at her sides.

"Okay I won't. But if you don't mind me asking," I paused. "What happened to her?"

"Well from what they told us, the security guard was the one who shot her. When EMT arrived on the scene, she was unconscious. They rushed her hear after you guys. At first, they couldn't find the bullet, but when they did, it was too late. Apparently ,the bullet ended up puncturing through both lungs, and began filling up with fluid. She died on the operating table." she shrugged, looking out the window. I thought about what she just said Tanya was dead. Gone. She couldn't hurt my family or me anymore. A small smile took over my face.

"Well if you want, I can send my condolences to her family, I will, but good riddance to you all if you think I can't say that I'm not glad." I answered, wincing a bit as my leg began to ache.

"And no one blames you sweetie." Esme smiled, although I could see the worry hidden in her eyes.

"And get this. Tanya isn't even who she says she is. Her real name is Lou Anne Claire Call from La Push. Mr. Denali's not even her dad he's her uncle. She's not even 19, she's 32! She must have the best plastic surgeon known to man." Rosalie added.

"She's from Washington?" I gasped.

"They all are. She was Embry's ex-wife. He left her as soon as she found out all the crazy shit she's been up to." Alice said.

"Do I wanna know?" I asked.

"Nope." she smiled.

"Good. What about Leah and Jacob?" I said, wincing as I tried to adjust myself in the bed.

"There in custody." she answered, as I nodded my head a grimace took over my face. My chest was hurting with each breath I took, and my leg felt like it was on fire. My mother must have noticed the pained look on my face, because she pressed the nurse's button.

"Yes?" a woman's voice answered.

"I think it's time for some more pain meds." she said.

"We'll send someone up momentarily." she responded before clicking off. I noticed they all stood up, grabbing their bags.

"You're leaving?" I asked through gritted teeth, as another pain shot through my leg.

"Yes, you're probably tired, and you're in pain. We'll see you tomorrow." my mom said, kissing my forehead, then Rose and Alice.

"Can I see Bella?" I asked hopefully, as a stoutly woman entered with a needle.

"We'll see." she laughed.

"Here you go. It's going to knock you out for a while." the nurse said, injecting the meds into my IV. Moments later, I began to feel my eyelids began to droop as they headed for the door.

"Hey al." I said groggily, as she turned around, the others already out the door."Yeah Edward?" she said walking back over to the side of the bed.

"So, no told you so?" I asked, wondering if she was going to lash out at me for being right.

"Nope, just I love yous." she grinned kissing me once more on the cheek.

"Love you to Al." I said as my eyelids drooped further down leading me to unconsciousness.

"Get Better." she whispered, as she closed the door behind her.

Time goes on. The first week I was there seemed to go on forever, and eventually it managed to turn into two. I had been released three days ago, and spent those days in the comfort of Bella's room. When I first saw her, I nearly dropped to my knees if it weren't for Emmett and Jasper catching me. Her frail body was covered in yellow and purplish bruises. Her left eye was still closed but most of the swelling had gone down. Compared to her, I was unscathed. My ribs were wrapped up, and I had to walk with the aid of crutches to prevent myself from re-opening the stitches.

Bella's condition hadn't changed. She had being taken off sedation two days ago. We were just waiting for her to wake up. Doctors prompted that if we tried talking to her she could possibly wake up.

We were now on day three of trying to wake her up and Emmett was driving us all crazy. We were all settled in the chairs, watching Emmett harass her. He was over in Bella's ear, shouting as if she were deaf, all of his little pet names he had for her. It was fine for the first couple of minutes but he was slowly running us all crazy. Even mom looked a little agitated. He had been going on like this for the past 2 hours. My patience was already shot, and for a moment, I just wanted to go over and shut him up with a nice swift kick to the gut, but I would probably cause my self more pain then I tried to inflict.

I was just about to tell him to shut the fuck up ,but Alice seemed to beat me to the punch, chastising him. They went back and forth for a couple of minutes, until dad decided to be mediator and end it. Emmett being the big baby he was pouted as if he was five , causing us all to roll our eyes. I looked back over at Bella to see that she had a huge smile across her face.

" Look….she…she's smiling." I gasped startling everyone. It was the first movement she has made since she was taken off of sedation. I began prompting her to open her eyes, and was rewarded when her good eye began fluttering. But leave to Emmett to make a smart-ass remark, earning a smack against his head from Rose. They were all around the bed, as I was pleading with her to open her eyes. She kept blinking repeatedly, before opening her eyes, where I was rewarded with the most beautiful shade of chocolate brown.

BPOV

Library…Tanya…Leah…. Jacob…

Basement….Pain…Edward…

Tanya… Gun…Edward…

Pain…Edward…Darkness…

Edward….

I awake to an incessant annoying beeping sound. I keep my eyes closed and listen, trying to figure out where this traitorous noise was coming from.

Beep…Beep…...Beep…

Using my right hand, I searched around blindly, not getting far when I felt my arm being restrained by something. I tried to open my eyes, but noticed that my left eye would not open and that I could only see out of my right eye. I began panicking, the beeping noise in the room becoming louder and louder. I try to move when I heard a soft voice whisper in my ear.

"Bella, sweetie calm down." I turn my head to see the soft caramel locks of Esme.

"Es…Esme?" I croak, my chest aching in the process. She handed me a small cup of water, as I gulped it down, my lips stinging slightly in the process.

"It's okay sweetie." She cooed, rubbing her hand through my hair.

"Whe…where am I?" I ask feeling slightly confused.

"You're in the hospital. Do you remember what happened?" She asked, when it all came flooding back to me. Blood, Tanya pointing the gun at Edward, Edward crying out in pain before stilling.

The beeping noise in the room became louder and louder, the images in my head seeming to be on repeat in my head. My ears felt like they were ringing. All I could think about was Edward. Where was he? Was he okay? Was he alive? What about Tanya? Leah, Jacob? I felt my eyes roll to the back of head, as I began thrashing uncontrollably. Doctors rush into the room as I fight their grip, numerous arms flying as they trying to hold me down. I just wanted to know if Edward was all right. I felt a slight pinch in my right arm, as everything became slightly hazy. I could feel my body stops moving, as I lost consciousness, my mind wavering to only person. Edward.

"Belly." a deep voice sings in my ear.

"Bella boo." the voice says again.

"Belly bean, wake up." The voice says, that I now recognize as Emmett. What was he doing here? My head was killing me, and I felt nauseous.

"Bellie button." he says again, when I hear the high-pitched voice of Alice.

"Em, leave her alone. Let her sleep. She'll wake up when she's ready." she growled.

"But she's been asleep since we got here. It has been 2 weeks already. Besides, the doctor said if we talk to her, she might listen and wake up." He said.

"We were there you know. And if I were her, and heard your booming voice in my ear, I would stay asleep too. Your voice is probably scaring her." she huffed as they continued arguing. Suddenly I had the mental image of Emmett with a huge pout upon his face, and suddenly I felt a smile start to spread across my face.

"She'll wake up on her own time." a male voice said that sounded a lot like Carlisle, when I heard a voice that made my heart stutter in my chest.

"Look, she's…she's smiling." the voice said again breathless and soon I hear a cacophony of voices. It was my angel. The voice was calling me.

"Bella, love, open your eyes. Come on open those beautiful brown eyes for me." he says again, as I try to open my eyes. I must be dreaming, he was not here, he couldn't be here.

"Hey, shouldn't you say eye, since the other one's swollen shut?" Emmett says, and I hear a thundering thwack echo across the room. Probably courtesy of Rosalie."Ignore him." a voice huffed, that I now know was Rosalie. This just motivated me more to try to open my eyes so I could see there faces. I still couldn't move my left eye, so I tried to open the right.

"Come on, open those eyes of yours." he says, and it almost sounds like he's pleading. My good eye began to flutter, as I tried to fully open it.

"That's it, come on my beautiful girl." he says, and I finally open my good eye blinking rapidly, as I try to adjust to the light in the room. I hear a few gasps, as I turn my head slowly to follow that beautiful voice of my angel, only to gaze into the most beautiful shade of green eyes."Edward. Are you here? Are we dead?" I whisper, in disbelief as I hear a few chuckles.

"Oh, my sweet Bella. We're not dead. If we were you wouldn't be here with me." He smiled crookedly at me as I smiled back.

"That's silly." I said, my voice croaking on the last word. Esme went and poured me a cup of water.

"Help me up, a bit." I said, as Jasper and Edward grabbed an arm, slowing raising me enough, so that I could drink without choking. The water helped my dry throat, but had a horrible after taste. I smiled sheepishly at everyone."So, what did I miss?" I smiled, looking at everyone.

"Oh you don't know how much I missed that smile." Edward said his voice thick with emotion.

"How are you feeling?" I asked him."You're in the hospital bed, and you're asking me how I'm feeling? Really Bella." he said pressing a kiss to my forehead.

"Hey, where's the rest of my kisses" I asked, looking at everyone as they pressed kisses over my face.

"How are you feeling sweetie" Esme asked me.

"Not bad, but I can't really feel anything. So tell me how bad am I?" I asked a small grimace forming on my face.

"You want in scientific terms or do you want me to dumb it down?" Carlisle asked.

"Usually, I would love to hear it in those terms, but I just woke up, do if you don't mind dumb it down." I said, tilting my head to the side.

"You broke some ribs, your foot is broken, and your eye is swollen shut." he said, and I just shrugged my shoulders.

"Figures." I said, as they all gaped at me.

"What?" I asked.

"You're mighty calm about this considering the circumstances." Jasper said.

"Hey, it could have been worst. I thought I was blind for a second." I answered.

"Thank heavens you're not. Esme smiled.

"So tell me, how long was I out?" I asked.

"Well today it'll make two weeks." Edward said."Two weeks, I was out for that long?" I gasped.

"Well most of it was because you were sedated, the rest was just waiting for you to wake up." Alice beamed, jumping in place.

"Hmm, it only feels like I've slept a couple of hours." I answered.

"Really?" Edward asked.

"Yep, now will someone tell we what happened since you know?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, I think Bella and I need to be alone for a bit." Edward suddenly said.

"But she just woke up." Emmett whined.

"You'll get her back." Rose said. "Let the two of them talk." she said pushing him, as the other's trailed out."We'll go tell the doctors you're awake, okay sweetie." Esme said kissing my forehead before leaving. Emmett was the last to leave.

"Hey Emmett?" I called.

"What's up Bella?" he said.

"Thank you." I smiled."For what?" he said, a look of confused plastered over his face."For calling me all those pet names. They meant a lot to me." and a smile broke over his face."You actually heard me?" he gaped.

"Why do you think I was smiling." I laughed. He suddenly ran over and planted a sloppy wet kiss on my cheek. I squealed in surprise. After one final smile, he ran into the hallway. I could hear his voice as he screamed."Hey Al. In your face, she woke up because of me!" I laughed at his antics. Once I recovered from my laughing fit, it was suddenly silent in the room as I looked over at Edward and really took in his appearance. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his face was scruffy. He looked like he hadn't slept in days.

"So." we both said simultaneously, as we both cracked a smile.

"You go first." We both said again.

"How about I go first?" Edward said. I nodded my head.

"I'm sorry. You don't know how sorry I am. Shit…sorry isn't enough. If I would have just listened to you, neither one of us would be in this predicament." he trailed off.

"You wouldn't be in this hospital right now. I was an asshole, a selfish bastard. All this shit from day one from because of my idiotic ways, and I ended up bringing you down with me. I let Tanya, corrupt me to the point that I was so blind that I ended up ruining everything." I tried to stop him and let him know that it wasn't completely his fault, but he raised a hand to stop me.

"I let the best thing that's ever happened to me go, and ended up saying things I never meant. I'm not asking you to forgive me yet, because we have some shit to work through, but I can't be away from you. I just love you okay?" he said, a few stray tears falling from his eyes. Using the arm that wasn't attached to the IV, I reached out, and wiped away a few of his tears.

"Now as I was going to say, was that it was both of our faults. We both made decisions that we both aren't proud of. Inevitably the shit was going to hit the fan sooner or later. I wished I would have told someone sooner, but I was worried for your safety." I trailed off, telling him what happened, as Edward wiped away a few of my own tears.

"So freaking selfless." he muttered."I wished you would have come to me, but I don't blame your reasoning." he whispered.

"What happened to Tanya and the others?" I asked, him as he looked down at his feet.

"Um…well Tanya's dead, and Jacob and Leah are in custody. There going to need a statement from us." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"She's…she's dead?" I stuttered out.

"Yeah." he responded.

"Well at least that's over" I huffed, and he chuckled.

"Don't you ever wonder why every thing that can go wrong, always does? And why does everything seem to always happen to us. I swear we must be the unluckiest two people on the planet." Edward said smiling.

"Well at least it's the two of us." I smiled, as he kissed my forehead.

"So what happens now?" I asked him, as the others came back in the room.

"I don't know, I guess we'll just have to see. I believe its time for a change, don't you think?" he smiled, and before I could answer Alice charged over to us.

"Come on lover boy it's my turn! It's Bella Barbie time, cause sweetie your hair's a mess." Alice squealed bouncing in place.

Oh boy. I guess some things don't change at all.