Falling for You

The Hospital

There was an incessant banging somewhere very close by. It was not helping with the throbbing in my head. To add to this, I smelled something that needed to be taken out of the oven before it burnt.

I opened my eyes slowly. The light coming in from the window in the living room was hurting my eyes. The pounding continued "Damn it, Bella. Open this door right now before I kick it in."

I jumped to my feet, and stumbled to the door. I threw it open and fell into Edward's arms. He sighed with relief when he tightened his arms around me. I wondered how long he'd been standing there trying to get me to open the door.

He tunneled his fingers into my hair and held my head to the junction between his neck and his shoulder. I winced at the contact. I probably had a bruise forming from where my head hit the ground. "Get your coat. We're going to see Charlie."

I gave a curt nod. I went to the kitchen, closed my computer without bothering to shut it down, turned off the oven and ran upstairs to get my coat. Edward ghosted behind me every step of the way. Clearly not believing me stable enough to do so on my own. I couldn't argue with him. I probably wasn't

We were quickly in his car as he broke every traffic law known to man to get me to the hospital. He shifted gears so quickly that I was amazed the transmission didn't groan in protest. We were at the hospital in five minutes flat. I was running through the doors, Edward very close behind me. He caught me and pulled me toward the receptionist. I didn't want to talk to her. I needed to see Charlie.

"Where's my Dad?" Edward startled the woman from her phone call. She hung up her phone and examined Edward.

Usually this annoyed me. Today, it pushed me past pissed. Charlie could be dying or dead. I pushed that thought away quickly. And here she was ogling my boyfriend rather than giving me the information that I needed.

I slammed my hand down on the counter, startling her. "Take your eyes off my boyfriend if you want them to remain in your head and tell us where Dr. Cullen is."

She studied me, as if judging how much of a threat to her I really was. I growled and she pointed down the hall, "He's in room 304 with Chief Swan."

I was still irritated wit the woman, but Edward took my hand and pulled me down the hallway toward our father. My heart rate increased as I thought of Charlie in here. My mind came up with the worst possible situations. Charlie breathing his last breath, his body bruised and broken, his life being pulled from his just as he was finding happiness.

I was so worked up, that Charlie's actual condition was a relief. Edward pulled me into the room. I looked over at the bed and saw Charlie sitting up, remote in hand, flipping through the small TV trying to find some game or other. I flew across the room and flung my arms around him. I cried into his chest as he stroked my hair in shock.

"I thought I'd lost you, Dad. I got a call from Carlisle and all he told me was that you were in a car accident. Then I couldn't get to you because me truck died and...and..."

"Shh," Charlie continued to stroke my hair. "Everyone is making too big of a deal out of this. I'm fine. I just broke my leg."

"You were quite lucky," Carlisle spoke without looking up from my father's chart. "The driver of the other car didn't make it and the passenger has yet to wake up from her surgery."

I pulled back to look at my father. "What happened?"

"Drunk driver," said a gravely voice from the other side of the room. I looked over to see Billy and Sue. Sue was sitting in a chair next to the bed while Billy had rolled himself to the edge of the bed while he spoke. There was anger in his knowledgeable eyes. I could only imagine the pain this brought. His wife had been killed by a drunk driver, I couldn't even begin to imagine how the idea of losing his best friend the same way would affect him."