The Way It Should Have Happened…
Chapter 9
There was nothing to do but wait.
Wait to see if the change would occur.
Wait to see if Bella would survive the transformation.
Wait to see if Rosalie and Emmett would make things easier for everyone by
leaving for a few years.
Wait to see if Jasper would be able to accept that no one really blamed him for
what happened, knowing the situation and the fact that Rose had been the real
cause of the incident. Even if she blamed Edward for bringing Bella into the
house to begin with and thus bringing temptation with her, this would never have
happened if Rosalie hadn’t tried to take things into her own hands, fueled by
her hatred and jealousy.
And so they waited.
Edward sat, unmoving by Bella’s bed. Carlisle monitored her every half-hour,
Esme taking the readings when he was called to the hospital. Emmett kept Rosalie
out in the garage tuning and retuning the cars. Alice kept Jasper company,
assuring him that he was still wanted and loved by everyone in the family.
The first night the house felt like a tomb. No one moved, no one spoke. No one
voiced any opinions about what had happened. No one bothered to turn on any
lights. No one hunted. Edward privately compared it to a deathwatch.
The next day passed as quietly though Rosalie and Emmett went to their room to
get clean clothes before going out again. Edward and the others largely ignored
her, though Esme made a point of hugging Emmett.
As the sun went down Carlisle made a point of putting on some lights in an
effort to dispel the gloom. Jasper made a hesitant appearance in Edward and
Bell’s room, relieved when Edward glanced at his entrance and nodded an
acknowledgement then allowed him to stay. A little while later Alice silently
joined them.
“Thank you, Edward.”
He nodded at her in reply. He didn’t blame Jasper and felt badly for him, though
he wasn’t sure what he’d do if Bella died.
“Rosalie feels terrible; she’s afraid of you, of what you’ll do. She wanted
me to ask you not to be angry with Emmett.”
He looked over at Alice and spoke so softly that even vampire ears had trouble
hearing him. “I’m not angry with anyone. I…don’t care about anyone else right
now, Alice. All I care about is my wife and her recovery, whatever form that
takes. Anything else can wait until after that happens.” He turned back to
Bella, his hand gently rubbing hers as he brought it to his face and carefully
kissed the palm before placing back on the bedding. The others in the room were
dismissed as far as he was concerned. He was, vaguely, glad that they were there
but in fact didn’t really care one way or the other.
“How is she, what’s happening?” Esme put her arms around Carlisle, knowing how
upset he was by everything that was going on in the house; aside from Bella’s
condition, she was terrified that her cherished family was falling apart,
possibly torn too badly to recover. She was frightened that even if Bella came
thorough the transition in a day or two and then made it through the newborn
stage unharmed that ‘the Cullens’ would be reduced to a shadow of what it was
just a few days ago.
Carlisle tightened his arms around his wife as well, both of them needing the
connection that had sustained them for almost eighty years. “So far it seems
that she may be making the change as well as anyone does. He condition is about
what I’d expect considering how fragile she was when it happened.” He kissed her
forehead. “I’ll know tomorrow, maybe tomorrow night.”
“How is Edward coping?”
“He needs to hunt but won’t leave her.”
“You know that Rosalie is telling Emmett that she thinks it would be best if
they left.”
Carlisle nodded. “He told her a little while ago that he thinks that would be a
mistake, that they should stay here and see how Bella comes out of it, assuming
that she does. He feels it would be better if they stayed to help Edward dealing
with her if she becomes a typical newborn.”
She sighed. “What does Edward say to that?”
“He won’t respond to anything until she wakes up.” He gave her a tighter hug
then released her. “I’m going to check her again.”
Esme looked out the big windows, watching Emmett talk with Rosalie over by the
large tree a few hundred yards away, trying to convince her they should stay to
help as Rose shook her head ‘no’.
Charlie wanted to know just what the hell was going on. He’d heard that Bella
and Edward had gotten back from their honeymoon a few days ago and he hadn’t
heard from her; not a call, not a visit, not an e-mail. Nothing. All right,
enough was enough.
* * *
He drove over to the hospital and walked in the emergency entrance, knowing that
Carlisle was scheduled to be on tonight, just like he was most nights. Sure
enough, there he was doing some paperwork in his small office. Knocking lightly
on the door he went in when Carlisle looked up and half-smiled a welcome. He
spoke without preamble. “So, I hear the kids’re back.”
“Yes, a few days ago.”
That was a lot of nothing. “Everything okay?”
“Yes, fine. They came back early because Bella picked up a small respiratory
infection. We thought it better that she stay in where I can keep an eye on her
until it clears up, otherwise I’m sure she’d have been over to see you.”
“It’s serious? I mean, they have hospitals in Rio, don’t they?”
Carlisle smiled just a bit. “No, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before but they
didn’t want her in a foreign hospital where she doesn’t even speak the language.
She’ll be better in a day or so and then I heard Edward say something about the
two of them continuing their honeymoon; I believe they’re thinking of going up
to Canada to see the sights.”
“Really?” Charlie was hard pressed to maintain polite, much as he liked
Carlisle. There was something that just wasn’t jiving here; he was a cop, he
knew about these things.
“Would you mind if I drove over to your place to see her? I miss her, ‘like to
make sure she’s okay and all.”
“It would be better if you waited a few days or so, until the danger of
infection is past.” Carlisle sat back and gestured for Charlie to sit in the
guest chair on the other side of his desk. “You’re worried about her being with
Edward, you don’t like him.” It was a statement of fact, not a question. His
expression stayed mild and nonaccusatory.
Fine, Charlie could be direct, too. “He hurt her. Badly. I don’t know that he
realizes how badly and what he did to her last year.”
“He knows that and deeply regrets it. But—you have to understand—he genuinely
believed that he was doing the right thing, that she would be happier.”
“Maybe she would be.”
Carlisle paused, knowing that Charlie disliked Edward but he needed to
understand how deeply in love he was and how much the girl meant to him. “I
hesitate to even mention this and assume that you’ll have the courtesy t keep
this between us, but when Edward was mistakenly informed that Bella had been
killed it was all his sister could do to prevent his own suicide.”
“Excuse me?”
“Unknown to either Esme or myself, Alice flew to Europe and arrived just as he
was about to…well, something drastic. It was only when he was made to understand
that Bella was fine that he agreed to return home.” Carlisle paused a moment.
“He cares about your daughter very much.”
Charlie just sat there. For the love of God, the kid drops Bella so cruelly that
she’s a zombie for months and then, if Carlisle is to be believed, tried to kill
himself. What happens the next time they have an argument? And this adolescent,
this kid is married to his daughter? Christ. Okay, he took a deep breath.
It wouldn’t last. As soon as Bella took a step back, maybe grew up a little and
saw things for what they were she’d come to her senses.
She had to.
And if she didn’t he’d give Renee a call. The two of them would sit her down and
make her see some reason.
“You said she’d be better in a few days, right? I’ll be over then.”
* * *
Up in the bedroom on the third night since the incident, Edward still sat
holding her hand, waiting for something, anything, to happen.
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