THE REST OF TOMORROW
Chapter 17: Recovering Edward's POV "For a moment after MR. and Mrs. Darling left the house the night-lights by the beds of the three children continued to burn clearly. They were awfully nice little night-lights, and one could not helping wishing that they could have kept awake to see Peter; but Wendy's light blinked and gave such a yawn, that the other two yawned also…" Two days ago Renesmee had surgery to save her life from the infection the werewolf venom had caused in her heart. Bella and I rarely left her side, though my wife was afraid to stay with our baby on her own. I didn't fault her for any of that, nor did anyone else in our family. During the day Bella was here with me as much as we could be and not draw any attention to ourselves. We both still had to take human moments, and that was hard for me. Jacob had also been allowed in to see her, and I was again grateful that the staff here at Carlisle's hospital respected my father so much. No one asked any questions, and Renesmee still looked young enough to be mine and Bella's daughter. As I read to my little girl I kept my hand rested against her blanketed chest, not able to sit beside her without some form of contact. Carlisle had been in a few minutes ago and said by morning she should be ready to wake up. My father had run an ECG and informed Bella and I that Renesmee's heart was stable enough, but wanted to give her one more night of rest. "I'm sorry I was so long," Bella whispered as she came to stand by my right side. Her voice trembled and I knew that she was still weary of being here. "You needed time away," I said, setting Renesmee's book on the small table to my left. Looking at my wife, I could see the worry in her eyes as she glanced at our baby. "She's so fragile. When we had her, after everything was over with the first time, I thought we had it made. I let myself believe that nothing would ever touch her." It was the same struggle for both of us, something we needed to get past so we could focus on Renesmee's needs, but the need to place blame seemed strong and it felt like we had failed her. "All we can do, the best we can do is to get her through this one day at a time. It will take all of us to help her through this, and we have to try and set aside the guilt we have both been struggling with," I whispered as my eyes held Bella's gaze. My wife nodded and when I reached for her, she came willingly into my arms, "I guess I should go before someone comes to remind us of those stupid rules." I shook my head holding Bella in place. "Let them come. It's nearly morning. Carlisle will be here soon." As I finished speaking we both turned to watch our little girl, and Bella reached out placing her hand next to mine. When Carlisle arrived, several hours later, Bella was reading the fifth chapter of Peter Pan to our daughter. Both of us felt that Renesmee could hear us and wanted her to know even subconsciously that we were here, and that she was safe. We both stood at the other side of Renesmee's bed while Carlisle checked her vitals jotting things down in her file. There was a nurse with him, one Bella and I both liked because she never tried to make one of us leave at night. Once my father had finished he looked at both of us. "She will likely be very disoriented and groggy at first. I will need both of you to try and keep her calm." Taking Bella's free hand in mine I nodded and the nurse injected something into our daughter's IV. For both of us it was evident when Renesmee began to awaken; her heart beat began to pick up first, before she squeezed her eyes tighter. I leaned forward and placed a kiss on her forehead, and Bella stroked her fingers through Renesmee's soft brown curls. "Baby, can you open your eyes for us," Bella whispered as the nurse left the room leaving only family behind. Renesmee shook her head once before she cried out softly, "Hurts," she whispered. "I'm sorry," I told her placing her small hand on my lips while kissing her there. Her brown eyes opened and she focused first on me then on Bella. "Go home," Renesmee whispered. Our baby was ready to leave and more than anything else I wanted to hold her in my arms and give her anything she wanted, but we needed to be here, "Not yet my sweet baby," I said struggling to maintain control on my emotions. Her eyes shut and she was soon asleep, needing rest which for now was a blessing. "Carlisle, when do we get to move her to another room," my wife asked as I kissed Renesmee again, needing to show her just how much I loved her. "Hopefully by tomorrow," he told us. My father had to go but before leaving he kissed Renesmee on her cheek whispering to her that he loved her very much. ~*~*~*~*~ Charlie's POV It didn't matter how nice a hospital looked on the outside, and even inside, but no matter what, hospital food was never any good. Thinking about that, I looked down at the mashed potatoes and steak and shoved the food away. Somewhere above me my granddaughter rested and I was eager to see her for myself. I've always been aware that there is so much more to my daughter's world that I don't know about, but now I find it hard to live in secrets. If Jacob Black and everyone in La Push are Werewolves, then what exactly had Bella gotten in to? I've been able to ignore it for this long, but now that my granddaughter has just gone through open heart surgery, I feel the need to know what is going on. At first Bella and Edward told me that they had taken Renesmee to Europe so she could see other places, and while they were there she got lost and got frostbitten. I'm not sure how that could mean that my grandbaby would need heart surgery unless they hadn't told me about some condition Renesmee was born with, but why keep such a secret? Just before I could stand up Jacob took a seat at the table looking as tired as I felt. "Have you seen her?" He shook his head watching his hands and again there were more questions. Why was he always with them and so important to Renesmee. I was getting a headache from all the unanswered questions, but knew now wasn't the time to try and get some answers. "I wonder if she's awake?" "Yes," Jacob answered looking up at me, "I did talk to Carlisle on my way in. He says she woke up briefly and that she was in pain." Jacob's voice sounded so miserable that it was as if he too was feeling what ever it was my granddaughter was going through. For over an hour we both sat picking at our food, not saying much of anything. I thought I might go crazy, but finally Bella came and joined us, "Tell me how she is?" I noticed that Jacob was watching my daughter, but ignored that for the most part as she began to tell us how things were. "She's been waking up on and off. Renesmee wants to go home and I want that for her too but Carlisle says we need to keep her here for another few weeks." "When do you think they will move her out of the Pediatric CICU?" I asked hoping that it would be soon. "Tomorrow morning," Bella told me, her voice sounding relieved. I was too. "I think I'll go take a walk," Jacob said as he stood up. He looked at Bella briefly before leaving and I couldn't figure out what it meant. I had to hold back my questions that I wanted answered at this very moment. "Dad, you look so tired, you should try and get some rest." "I can't sleep when I'm there. Their house is nice, but it's not my bed and my room." Thinking of home made me miss Sue. Both of her kids were part of this Pack of Wolves, and again that was hard to deal with. I'd thought by coming here I would be relieved, but there was something to be said for home, and the woman I loved. "Bells, um I have a few questions." My daughter watched me keeping her expression hidden from me for a moment, "Charlie I promise when we get her home we will tell you everything, but right now I've got to go back to my baby. Let Jacob take you home." Bella was worrying about me, and I knew like the rest of them I needed to stay strong. When I agreed to allow Jacob to take me to the Cullen's the relief on my daughter's face was instantaneous. After giving her a hug I went to wait in the lobby hoping to get some sleep so I could be here for Renesmee and for the rest of them. ~*~*~*~*~ Edward's POV My baby was agitated, but her heart beat was strong and fast, enough so that Carlisle had silenced the sound on the monitor. As I tried to wipe the tears from Renesmee's cheek she turned her head away and started crying again. My little girl wanted all of the monitors unhooked and taken away along with being allowed to go home. As sympathetic as I could, I told her and tried explaining to her why she needed to have them on her, but to no avail. "Jacob, go over there and move some of those wires there." My friend stood up and did what I said and once he had I slipped in to bed next to Renesmee finally able to hold her in my arms, and glad that her bed was much bigger than she was. Once in my arms, Renesmee forgot about being so unhappy and began to relax. "I need to use the potty," Renesmee whispered. "You can do that." She shook her head before closing her eyes and I was grateful when Bella came with more warmed blankets. "How was Charlie?" "Curious," my wife answered, settling in the seat to my right. She reached across our daughter and I took her hand kissing it. "I hate that Renesmee is so upset." "Hopefully Carlisle will be able to remove more tomorrow when they take her downstairs," I whispered thanking Jacob before he left. "Did you convince Charlie to go to the house and rest?" "I think so. He's been so concerned, and that worries me. I keep thinking about that time when Harry Clearwater died. I know the circumstances were much different, but it's hard to see him worry so much. I'm glad we are finally going to tell him. I just hope he will be able to handle the truth." We were both silent then and my hearing was focused on Renesmee's heart beating strong and fast, but not yet to its normal pace. I was also happy that her feet were healed enough that Jacob didn't have to massage them any longer. Now if only the rest of her could be fixed so easily. Once she was soundly asleep, I slipped out of the bed still concerned with keeping her temperature from getting too cold. That was one of Carlisle's concerns, that they were still having a hard time keeping it normal; though he guessed in time it would be better. I walked over to where my wife was sitting and put my hand on her shoulder. "It shouldn't be much longer," I whispered and Bella reached back, putting her hand on my own. All we could do now was wait and watch. ~*~*~*~*~ Once Renesmee was in the pediatric unit of the hospital and not so wired up to everything, her health began to improve. She still slept a great deal of the time, but I noticed that her cheeks were a little pinker and that her skin was warmer. More of my family could come for visits, but Bella and I were not able to leave her while she was awake. The other thing I contributed to her improving health was that it was easier for either Bella or I to sit with her. Esme had brought the electric blanket and that was helping. With everyone else heading back to the house for the evening, Bella and I began to prepare our daughter for bed. As I sat next to her, Renesmee held my hand in hers while twisting my wedding band around my finger, something she had always liked doing. "Are the bad ones all gone?" "Yes," I said kissing the top of her head as Renesmee leaned against my left side. "Will more find us?" My baby didn't need to explain what she meant and Bella stopped walking toward us looking for me as our daughter did for answers. "We are all going to work very hard to keep you safe. I think after the first time the Volturi came we forgot to be as careful, but that won't be anything you need to worry over," I told her. Bella arrived at her bed and Renesmee brushed her teeth and let my wife wipe her face with a warm wash cloth. Once she was fully ready for bed and sleep, I took Peter Pan from the table and opened it to the page we had left off. "I want you to hum," Renesmee whispered sleepily. Once I had set the book aside and Bella was sitting in the chair closest to our baby, her hand resting against our daughter's chest, I began to hum Renesmee's lullaby, but my little girl shook her head requesting Bella's lullaby instead. As I hummed that I recalled all the times I had let my family down, and vowed to myself never to let anything happen to them again as long as I was alive. ~*~*~*~ AN: I'm glad to finally be back to writing. Huge thanks as usual to Mac for Beta reading, and huge thanks to all of you who took the time to read this. Also thank yous go to everyone who sent well wishes and reviews. I'm hoping this is the last surgery I have i'm tire of all that nonsence. Hope you all like the chapter, and more to come soon. ~Ella~
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