THE REST OF TOMORROW
Chapter 14: Fixing what is Broken Edwards POV The darkened room and sterile smell along with all the beeping coming from the various instruments wasn't making it easy for my daughter to be comfortable. Renesmee still had a long way to go before she was physically well and even further before she would recover emotionally. Wrapped in a warm soft blanket, she kept watching me as I lay next to her in the hospital bed not saying a word verbally or with her gift. "You need to sleep so that you can be strong enough to fight off the rest of the infection. No one is going to let anything happen now," I whispered reaching out to stroke my hand gently over her head. Renesmee blinked once, taking in a deep shuttering breath but refused to allow her eyes to close. Her heart beat was stronger now, but still not as fast as it should be. As I began to hum her lullaby, my daughter began to blink more rapidly. I moved closer to her, carefully lifting her so that her cheek rested against the thick sweat shirt I wore over my chest. This seemed to ease her worry and she finally shut her eyes. Carlisle was only allowing Bella and me to be with her at this point, too worried that everyone else would overwhelm her. Jacob too was allowed to be here, and had a part to her recovery, one he did but one that pained him. Renesmee's large toes on her left and right feet had gotten the worst of the frost bite. The tips of both toes had been badly discolored according to Carlisle. He knew of a procedure that had saved both toes, but as a part of recovering, Renesmee required them to be massaged. Jacob was the only one of us whose hands were warm enough and gentle enough to comply. Bella's whispered voice didn't wake our little girl, and I reached my hand to her as she sat by the bed. "Charlie wants to come out here," my wife began sounding tired and defeated. Her father had been demanding answers, and the cover story we came up with wasn't working to appease him. "How long do we have to stay?" Bella asked in a voice so low that only I could hear her. "Until she's stable enough for us to fly her home," I realized then, for the first time, that we really didn't have much to go back to. Bella seemed to be in tune with my thoughts and gave my hand a gentle squeeze, "Esme, Rose, and Alice are making arrangements for us to stay in the big house. They thought Renesmee would feel better being in the last place she was truly happy, at least until we can come up with something more permanent." Having a large family was a blessing during times of true heartache, and I was grateful to my mother and sisters for taking the worry out of mine and Bella's hands so we could focus on our baby. The quiet moment didn't last long as Carlisle arrived with Jacob behind him. Jacob wasn't looking at us but at the floor and I carefully sat up bringing Renesmee into my arms, cradling her as she began to stir. "Jacob, we can bring someone else," I began but he looked at me and shook his head. "I'll do this for her, besides anyone else doing it would probably be worse in her eyes," he mumbled. Before Carlisle could even begin to unwrap her right foot, Renesmee was awake and pulled it away, turning her face into my chest. "Nooo," she cried softly, breaking me apart. Bella sat on the bed next to us. "Can you think of something happy and try and see that while Grandpa takes care of your feet?" My daughter sniffed shaking her head, still holding her feet away. How could I bring myself to force her to do this? I kissed the top of her head and began reciting from memory her favorite chapter of Peter Pan. As I did that, my head nodded slightly and my grip on Renesmee tightened ever so slightly. When Carlisle held her right foot my little girl cried but no longer tried to fight. Renesmee wrapped her arms around me as I kissed her again and continued to recite that chapter, hating myself for having to be a part of this necessary torture. I heard more sniffing and saw Jake swipe at his eyes as he did what Carlisle instructed, gently rubbing my daughter's right big toe. We all had to endure ten minutes of this treatment, five minutes of massage and exercises for each toe before it was over with. Bella stayed by our side, leaning her head against the free side of my chest while rubbing her hand over Renesmee's back, telling her how brave she was. With her feet wrapped in clean sterile bandages, Renesmee began to calm down and Jacob walked to the other side of the bed. "I'm sorry, Nessie." Renesmee pulled her left arm away from me, reaching for Jacob. When he took her hand she pulled it between my chest and her own, holding on to him as her breathing became less labored. It was as if my baby was telling Jacob without words that she didn't blame him. I wished there was someone she could blame. Perhaps it wasn't in my child's nature to hold a grudge even though she had every right to do so. Once she had fallen asleep, Jacob who had taken a seat next to the bed was able to get his hand back and leaned forward shutting his eyes. "Why can't we let her sleep?" he grumbled. "She isn't stable enough for that," I answered, hating how much I understood of exactly what she was going through. As I thought on that, I carefully moved her blanket down and with Bella's help pulled up the hospital gown Renesmee had on looking at her back. The scratches were healing faster than any of us could have hoped for and that gave us all hope that physically she might bounce back faster than what Carlisle said. "I would have liked to have been the one to take down that wolf," Jacob said as he stood up. Bella looked at him, "You were able to take care of Anna." He shook his head before leaving the room. My wife started to sit down when her cell began to go off again. When she looked at the screen she grumbled something before answering and I knew she was right about Charlie. He seemed to be getting less and less satisfied with having only the barest of facts and that wasn't an easy problem to face. ~*~*~*~*~ Jacob's POV Killing the young vampire that taunted Nessie had been the only thing that had really helped my anger. I didn't understand why Edward had let the Italian Bloodsuckers have Nicoli and the old hag, but maybe they knew something I didn't. Having to cause Nessie more pain is like taking a dull butter knife and stabbing it through my heart. I have to hurt her to help her heal, and I get that but she doesn't have to be so damn understanding. All I wish for is to go home, and I'm glad that they are going to stay in the big house, at least for a while. Esme and Blondie are talking about heading back in the morning to get everything ready so that when Nessie gets back she will feel safe. What is safe though, look at how easy Nicoli and his group got their hands on her. "Jacob?" Bella's asked from behind where I stood looking out the window. When she moved beside me I shut my eyes. "We need to get her out of here. Doc has connections, he can get what he needs for the flight home," I pleaded turning to face Bella. Her expression was drawn and pained, but she shook her head and shut her eyes, "I want her home too but there wouldn't be much of a place for her to go back to. Also there is too much risk involved with her health. Carlisle says she still has a skip in her heart beat, and they may need to run a test to have a look at why." "It's those damn wolves," I whispered heatedly, clinching my hands into fists. Renesmee's heart beat was still slow and the Doc had it right, there was still a skip in the beat every now and then. "Don't you think that if we got her out of here and back home she would feel better? Hell you can keep her at Billy's, both of the packs will keep her safe, and the hell with the treaty," I mumbled knowing I had to keep it down. The treaty was a mute point anyway with all that we had been through over these past two months. "We'll think of something, but I've got to try and figure out what to tell Charlie." That caught my attention and I looked at Bella, noticing how stressed she looked. "What's up with the Chief?" "He doesn't believe the story we told on why Renesmee is here. He wants to know all of the truth now." I reached out and put my arm around her always amazed that being this close to my best friend, the vampire, didn't freak me out. She was and would always be Bella to me. "I didn't know he was giving you guys such a hard time." Bella shook her head, resting it against my chest for a moment before pulling away. "It was bound to happen sometime. Charlie's a smart man and maybe the time to tell him the whole thing is finally here." "What about the Italians?" "Alice said they won't be a problem." I nodded before hearing Nessie crying again. Taking Bella's hand I let her lead the way back down the hall to Nessie's room. ~*~*~*~*~ Emmett's POV When Alice and Rosalie picked out the porcelain doll with brown hair, almost the exact likeness to my niece's, I wasn't sure about that sort of gift. Renesmee had lost most of her things when the dogs wrecked her room, and I didn't remember her playing with the ones she had before. Still my wife insisted so there it was. Right before leaving the little store, I spotted a plush teddy bear and picked him up. "You think she might like him?" I asked my sister and wife. They both looked up from sorting the many bags of things they had already gotten. We were leaving in a few hours to head home and some of the presents were for here while Nessie stayed in the hospital. "I don't know, Emmett, she might think of Gracie and Harvey," Rose began, but Alice was shaking her head with a smile curving her lips. "She will love him once she gets used to him." The woman at the cash register stepped back when I walked up to her, and I tried not to be too intimidating but it wasn't easy. Once I had my present for Nessie we went outside and made our way back toward the hospital. When we got there, Alice and Jasper went to see her first and I took the opportunity to hold my wife in my arms, kissing her with well practiced restraint. "How do you feel about going to the old place?" "Good, I think Renesmee will be happy once they let her go home. I only wish I could have been the one to take care of that little vampire," Rose hissed softly against my chest. I knew how she felt, when Alice told us what had happened, that the little vampire had a way of seeing the future even around wolves, and how she taunted Renesmee, I too wanted to have been the one to take her down. Jacob was lucky that he was the one who did it, I'm not sure I would have been very civil. "Your turn," Alice said catching my attention. Rosalie took my hand and we walked through the brown wooden doors, down to the forth room on the left. I let my wife go first, watching as she tried talking to Renesmee. My niece was unresponsive and didn't even smile when she saw the new doll. After Rosalie kissed her I walked over to the bed where Edward lay holding Nessie. "Hey, kid, I found someone I hope you might like," I said pulling the brown fluffy bear out of the box he had been wrapped in. What surprised me was when she actually looked at the bear and reached for him. Once he was in her arms, Renesmee hugged him close shutting her eyes before she put one hand out. When I took it she brought my hand to her face and put it on her cheek. I leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cooler than normal forehead, hearing her heart beat speed up and skip a beat. My own chest hurt where my heart would be beating and I had to fight to keep my cool. "You get better, okay. We are going back to get everything ready for you." She didn't let my hand go until she had fallen asleep and Rose's hand on my shoulder is the only thing that kept me from running out of the hospital to the nearest airport to catch a plane to Italy and rip Nicoli to pieces, slowly. ~*~*~*~ Bella's POV Was it possible for a vampire to get a headache? I felt tension on my forehead as Charlie pressed for more information, things I couldn't say over a telephone. "Dad, please don't do this. I know you want what is best for her, we all do, but I promise when we get back we will discuss this further okay?" On his end I heard Charlie sigh and Sue's voice trying to reassure him that everything would be okay. It was strange in a way, knowing that they were living together in a new place even though they had planned that for a long time. "How about a birthday party?" "Not until she's recovered enough to handle it. Dad, I really do need to go." He finally agreed to let the conversation end, and after hanging up the phone I remained in the empty lobby not knowing what to do. Renesmee was so broken and hurt I wasn't sure how to help her through this. Her hurt was so much different then mine had been when her father left me, but at the same time it was the same sort of pain. The hard part was she wouldn't talk to us to show us how she was feeling. Only occasionally did she do things like hold Jacob's hand until she went to sleep, or lay in the bed next to her father while I sat behind her running my fingers through her hair to get her to sleep. Edward and I had done the same thing after our encounter with the Volturi when Renesmee had been so young. The difference was that time she had been young enough not to understand, and she hadn't been taken away from us. Thinking of them made me shutter. How did we know that they wouldn't become allies with Nicoli, though from what Edward told me, Caius despised Children of the Night so much so that my husband didn't think Nicoli would stay alive very long. Edward said that if public executions were still popular, Nicoli and his mother would have been stoned to death or worse. I voted for the worse. Knowing that I needed to get back to my husband and daughter, I took in a breath I really didn't need and headed back that way. When I arrived, Carlisle was sitting on the bed next to Renesmee and Edward showing her some sort of instrument. "It might make your chest feel really cold and slimy, but it will let me see why your heart isn't working right. I also promise that it won't hurt you at all." Renesmee looked past him at me and I walked over to the other side of the bed next to Jacob. She looked at Carlisle then at me, Jacob, and Edward. "They can all stay here and be with you," Carlisle said letting her hold the instrument in her own hand. Once my baby handed it back, she shook her head before turning her face away from her grandpa. "What is this?" I whispered, while Jacob and Edward tried to encourage Renesmee to be brave. "I need to run an echocardiogram. I was trying to show her what would happen," he said gravely as he stood up. There was something more and I followed him out of the room. "Each time we have to change the bandages on her feet, her heart beat gets more erratic. I don't want to upset her any further, but this needs to be done now," Carlisle told me. "What do you need from us?" "Try and keep her calm. This really doesn't hurt, and if I can show her the monitor maybe she will get interested I that." Keeping her calm when Renesmee had been through so much was a tall order, but I walked back in her room with that focus in mind. She wasn't crying but she didn't look at me when I sat down on the bed. "Grandpa Charlie told me to give you a kiss," I said, gently brushing her hair back from her face. It was in bad need of a wash, as was the rest of her, and I hoped we could do that soon. Renesmee turned her face toward me and I smiled as I pressed a kiss to her nose the way Charlie did when he greeted her. "He said to tell you that he's looking forward to having you back in Forks, and even wants to have a birthday party for you. I think Sue is even going to help him learn how to bake a cake." My daughter bit her lip, but the smile was there even though she was trying to hide it. My father in the kitchen wasn't a pretty site and Renesmee was well aware of that. When she held out her hand I kissed it and put it to my cheek relieved when I saw an image in my head of Charlie playing hide and seek with her at our house in Hanover. It was the first time she had shared a vision with any of us since her abduction. "I bet he would love to play with you again, but before we can take you home we have to get you better." Her head shook and she pulled her hand away from me as if it had been burned. We ended up waiting until Renesmee was in a sound sleep before Carlisle and one nurse arrived with the machine. My father-in-law worked fast and Renesmee stirred but didn't cry when she woke up, realizing that it didn't hurt like when her feet were being massaged. I looked at the screen not sure of what I was seeing and also heard Renesmee's heart beat echoed from the instrument Carlisle held against her chest. Edward's expression was unreadable as was Carlisle's, and I could tell they were seeing something I could not. Once he finished, Carlisle let his nurse take the machine away before he took a soft cloth and wiped off the goop on Renesmee's chest. "You were a very brave girl," He leaned down to give her a kiss and Renesmee wrapped her arms around his neck. "Love you, Grandpa," she whispered softly. Carlisle kissed her cheek, "I love you too." Once he had gone with Edward I asked the nurse to bring me some shampoo and a container for water. "Will you let Jacob hold you while I wash your hair?" Renesmee was sitting against her pillows and looked over at him nodding once as he stood up and walked to her. When my husband came back Renesmee had gotten a full sponge bath and I had put a clean hospital gown on her, holding her in my arms as she slept peacefully. "What did you see?" Edward sat down on the edge of the bed and reached out taking my free hand. "Renesmee is going to need surgery," My husband said as his voice broke. My eyes shut as I gathered my baby closer to me, kissing her hair. "How bad?" "She has a small hole in her Aortic Valve. Carlisle believes it was caused by the venom. He wants us to take her home before we do this, but there is a huge risk." He didn't have to finish because I knew. If she lost too much blood, there wasn't any way to give her donated blood. There wasn't anyone like her in this world, or was there?" "Nahuel?" I said opening my eyes as Jacob walked in to the room. "Over my dead body," Jacob growled. ~*~*~*~ AN: I know I said Wednesday for an update, but evidently I had Tuesday off instead. Now before any of you start thinking that none of that will work with her needing surgery, and how tough her skin was due from what we knew from the books, trust in what you will read over the next few chapters. Explanations are in there, and again I go with creative liberty at this point in time. Maddy, I'm glad you see what I did with Edward, and his focus being on Nessie and Bella, and not on revenge. Most of you agreed with me, actually all did. I hope this chapter helped ease some of your worries about Nicoli and his mother. More to come soon. I'm actually a couple of chapters ahead so I should be updating on Friday, if not sooner, but I need to give you guys time to keep caught up. Thank you Mac for editing my work, and Thank you everone for reading this story. Also huge thanks for the reviews thus far, I really enjoy the feed back and generally do respond so don't be shy. ~Ella~
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