Emmett:
I was sitting at my desk in my dorm room when my phone rang. It was my mom. She told me that Edward and Bella had been in an accident and were severely injured. She wanted me to come home.
I called Rose and we met by my car, both of us pale with wide eyes and worried frowns. The drive there seemed to take forever.
I went straight to Forks Community Hospital. I called dad from my cell to let him know we were there, and he met us in the hospital lobby. His face was grim.
“What happened?” I asked, putting my arm around Rose’s waist, supporting her as she leaned into me.
“Edward and Bella were involved in a car accident last night. Edward ran a red light and he was hit.” My dad’s face turned an ugly shade of grey as I watched him. He swallowed, and his hands shook. I figured we should sit down to talk.
“Let’s sit down, Dad.” He nodded his head and lead us over to some chairs in the waiting room. “So, are they okay?”
Taking a deep breath and letting it out, he started again. “Bella lost the baby.”
I heard Rose gasp beside me and tightened my arm around her. She turned into my chest and buried her face against me. Her silent tears fell on my shirt as her shoulders shook.
This was bad. I thought of Edwards face as he talked about the baby.
Shit… “What else?” I could tell by Dad’s face there was more to tell.
“Edward shattered his right leg. He had emergency surgery on it last night. They reset the bones and are hopeful it will heel properly. He is unconscious right now. He had hit his head on the steering wheel….” His voice trailed off as he stared at the floor. “Your mother is a mess. She won’t leave his side. Hopefully with you here she will at least take a break to eat.”
“Okay.” I nodded, processing the information. I stood up, pulling Rose with me. “Let’s go see him.”
I will never forget the site of my brother in that bed. It was like it swallowed him whole. He was wrapped up in too many places to count. His hair had been cut in the front to get to the cut there. A large white bandage covered his forehead. He was so pale, it scared me. His breathing seemed wrong… I felt tears in my eyes and turned away from him to stare at the wall. Breathing deep, I got myself under control and turned towards my mother. Rose was sitting next to her with her arms around her hugging her gently.
Dad was right, she was a mess. Her eyes were puffy and red, her face swollen. She looked dead tired. “Mom.” I walked over to her and kneeled beside her. She smiled slightly at me and caressed my cheek with her palm before focusing back on Edward.
“I just want him to wake up,” she whispered.
Three days later he did.
--xx--
After Edward was given the all clear Rose and I headed back to school. We still had a two more weeks before Christmas break. My Rose was not the same. She was quiet as we headed back. She had gone to see Bella and was met with an empty stare and vacant eyes. “I don’t think she even knew I was there,” she had said. Physically, Bella was fine. She just wasn’t talking to anyone.
That was until Edward paid her a visit. I had never heard such hatred come from someone before. Her words to Edward were harsh and unfeeling. I wanted to run in there and tell her to back off. I knew she was angry, and I knew why. But she was suppose to love him, how could she talk to him that way?
I shook my head, shaking off the picture of Edwards devastated face as I took him back to his room.
I was only back for a week when mom called again. She begged me to come home. Edward was falling apart. I was able to talk my professors into allowing me to finish the course work when I got back.
Home was not the happy place I was used to when I got there. At dinner that night I watched as my mother begged Edward to eat something. She treated him like he was a child, patting his arm, talking softly to him. It was disturbing. Edward just sat there staring at his plate not touching any of the food and not saying one word.
He was in a wheel chair and he backed from the table and left. My mom watched him go, tears in her eyes. “Carlisle..” she sighed.
“I know, but you can’t force him. Just give him some time.” My dad was frowning as he watched my mom. His eyes following her as she stood and walked into the kitchen. He looked over at me when she disappeared around the corner.
“Edward looks like shit,” I said, because he did. He was skinny as hell, pale, and tired looking.
My dad wiped a hand over his face. “Yes, he does.” He stood and picked up his plate. “I’m going to check on your mother.”
He left me sitting there in the quiet dining room. I stared at my plate, no longer hungry. My family was falling apart in front of my eyes. I wondered where Jasper was. I hadn’t seen him since I got home. I flipped open my phone to call him when I heard a loud cry from somewhere in the house.
Jumping to my feet, I followed the noise. It was a dry sob, a deep sound like it was being ripped from someone’s soul. I found it’s source sitting in his wheel chair clutching tightly to a teddy bear. I frowned as I looked around the room. The baby items were still up.
Hadn’t anyone thought to hide these things? Another moan broke from Edward’s lips. I backed away not wanting to intrude on him, but not wanting to leave him alone either. I leaned against the wall in the hallway and listened to him. He was whispering now. Begging God to let him go back and change things, Begging him to not take her away from him. I wasn’t sure which her he meant, Bella or the baby, or both.
He was in there a long time, it was dark before I heard him move, and then quietly I walked down the hall to my room.
The next day, I found Jasper and he helped me clean out that room. We packed away all the clothes and took down the crib. The local Salvation Army was thrilled at the donation.
Later, as I sat in my room, I heard Edward arguing with our parents. He was yelling at them about seeing Bella. They wouldn’t allow him to see her. I didn’t understand that.
Wouldn’t it make things better if they could talk? So when Edward asked me to help him, I agreed.
It was the worst mistake I had ever made. She didn’t answer her door. I took him to see her, waited while he knocked on the door. Watched as he begged and pleaded for her to open it. Finally, I told him to stop. I needed to get him home, away from here. I felt awful for bringing him. Obviously, my parents had been right.
He was standing in front of her door leaning heavily on his crutches when suddenly he fell against me. I wasn’t prepared, and I couldn’t get a good hold on him so he fell to the floor. His eyes were blank as he stared at the ceiling. I tried to get him to stand, but it was as if he didn’t hear me or see me. I lifted him with ease, and realized just how much weight he had lost. He was too light; I could feel his bones jutting out against my hands. After sitting him in the car and throwing his crutches in back, we went home.
I called Rose that night.
“I don’t know what to do, baby. It is awful here. Edward is slowly killing himself and Mom is falling apart watching him. I feel so useless. What can I do?”
I need her. She was the calm to my storm. I wanted her to come over. “Can’t you come home? I know your parents would be happy to see you and, baby, I need you.”
“I’ll be there tomorrow. I had already planned on leaving in the morning. Emmett, you can only do so much. Edward has to be willing to be helped. He knows you’re there. That is all you can do right now.” I felt a large weight lift off me at knowing she would be here soon. Rose made me strong. I could deal with anything as long as I had her.
Thinking that made me realize what was wrong with Edward. Bella had made him strong. Without her he was a shell. How can you fix that without the source of his strength?
After hanging up with Rose, I went into the kitchen to make something to eat. Dad had taken mom out. He was desperate to get her away from here for a bit, and I convinced her to go promising to keep an eye on Edward. I was making myself a sandwich when I smelled it.
Exhaust fumes.
At first I was puzzled. Had someone left their car on? I looked outside the window and saw no one around. The fumes were pretty strong and I walked around the kitchen trying to find the source. They were coming from behind the garage door. Dread filled me as I opened the door. The garage was full of smoke and I coughed and waved my hand and in front of my face, searching frantically.
Edward was sitting in my car, the windows up, car running. I panicked and ran to the car. I tried the doors, but they were locked. Keys - where was my extra set of keys? I ran inside, hitting the garage door opener on my way out, hoping some of the smoke would clear out. I found the key sitting on a shelf in my room. Running back out to the garage, I tore the car door open and yanked Edward out. Dragging him outside, I carefully laid him on the driveway.
He wasn’t breathing.
Panic again seized me as I tried to remember the steps of CPR we were taught in High School. Tilting his head back, I opened his mouth and began to give resuscitation. I felt around his neck for his pulse, like dad had shown me when I was kid. It was there, but seemed weak. I continued giving him breaths, stopping only to reach into my pocket for my phone. I dialed 911 and sat it next to me. The operator answered and immediately called for an ambulance. She instructed me on the CPR.
I listened to her; holding onto that woman’s voice is all that kept me grounded as I sat there watching my brother die.
The ambulance got there within ten minutes. Edward was breathing on his own by then. I was sitting next to him, sobbing and trying to pull myself together. He had woken up and was watching me, his sad eyes blinking back at me. The EMT’s checked him over and told me his pulse was good, and he was breathing well.
They put him on a stretcher and placed him in the ambulance. Luckily, they offered me a ride. I didn’t think I would ever be able to sit in my car again. Once at the hospital, I telephoned mom, dad and Jasper.
Edward was kept overnight.
The next day, when Rose arrived I fell into her arms and held onto her tightly. I cried into her shoulder and told her what had happened. She stroked my hair and held me. We sat on my parents couch. They were still at the hospital. Now that I knew Edward was okay, I was incredibly angry at him for what he had done. I figured I could talk to him when he got home. I wasn’t ready to see him yet.
I talked to Rose about what I had planned. Something needed to be done. I wasn’t going back to school. I would have to finish next semester. I was staying here, with my family, until everything was okay again.
She opened the door slowly, the smell of singed cheese meeting her nostrilsand she breifly wondered if Emmett had burned his grilled cheese again. Tossing her bag against the wall, she began pulling off her coat when she heard him come out of the kitchen. She was about to smile in relief when she took in his angry stance. He looked livid. His face was dark, his usually light blue eyes were dark and stormy. She stopeed, staring at him, her heart fluttering wildly in her chest as she wondered what had caused him to look so angry.
> People were yelling and chanting around us, counting down the last ten seconds before midnight. Ten, nine, I leaned in closer to her… eight, my hand drifted up her back…seven, and curved around her neck… six, my other hand tightened on her hip…five, pulling her closer to me…four, her breath brushed across my neck…three, I bent my head down,…two, my lips were inches from hers, …one, my mouth was on hers, softly pushing against her lips, opening and tasting her, sucking gently.
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