Buying Love

Chapter Seventy-Three

Okay, so we're going to embark on a journey. A darker journey, one that will be around a different kind of Edward, a snarky, bossy Bella and a new Esme. It will be a drabble-ish type fic. The chapters will be between 1000 to 2000 words. Updates will come on Mondays and Fridays with teasers on Tuesdays and Saturdays on my blog. The link for the blog will be on my profile. The story is planned, but not pre-written.

Up next, will be a skip in time and getting Bella closer to home, not to mention finding out what is going on with Esme.

Chapter Seventy-Three

BPOV

After two weeks in the hospital in Port Angeles, I was transferred to a private rehabilitation hospital in Seattle. Every day I grew stronger, but it was a struggle. Every step of the way, though, Edward was with me. He supported me when I sobbed in pain from my muscles rebuilding in my legs. He was my cheerleader when I took my first unassisted steps. He caught me when I fell, which was quite often. He let me rage when I went off on my dad, who did take my advice and flew back Phuket.

He really did care more about his precious business than his own fucking daughter.

Asshole.

Uncle Peter stepped up, only after flying to Phuket to kick Charlie's ass.

To say my relationship with my father was damaged was an understatement. I never thought he'd be so cruel to me or to anyone I cared about. He was really so image-driven that me being injured and possibly paralyzed might negatively impact people coming to Swan Hotels and the bottom line. And don't get me started on me being in love with an escort.

He was the one who pushed me toward getting an escort in the first place with his stupid reasoning that I needed a date for the opening of Swan Towers. If anything, he's the one to blame, god damn it!

But, my dad and my issues with my dad were on the back burner. Right now, all of our attention was focused on building a case against Esme. She had so many counts against her, ranging from tax evasion to identity theft upwards to human trafficking and the murder for Dr. Gerandy. Edward was working with Jenks and the US Attorney, Liam Mackenzie, on his grand jury testimony. In addition to Edward's testimony, Jasper was speaking to the grand jury along with Alice, me, Jared and several other of Esme's victims, including Elizabeth. There was no doubt that she would be indicted for all of the charges against her, but Edward was an anxious mess at seeing her again.

Uncle Peter and Carlisle were with Edward at the courthouse, working with him and Liam. I was working with Rose and my physical therapist, who was ironically, Seth's cousin, Paul. We were focusing on building up strength, which meant that I was going to be agony tonight. However, I needed to walk a hundred yards, unassisted, to be released from the rehab facility. I was about halfway there before I grew too tired to continue.

"Bella, I know I'm not as attractive or giving you the right incentive to work harder than Edward, but you're slacking off," Rose quipped as I sweated my ass off. "How many kisses does that man give you during PT?"

"As many as it takes for me to deal with my daily torture," I growled. "No offense, Paul."

"None taken. It's my job to make you feel the burn," he snickered. "But, just think, when you're done, you'll be able to walk normally."

"But will I?" I argued. "I have a noticeable limp. My gait is all sorts of fucked up, Paul!"

"That's because you're retraining your muscles to move that way. The connection from your brain to your legs is frayed. Each day, that connection improves but muscle memory can only go so far. You lost a lot of muscle tone from being medically induced into a coma. That was the best option for your lung injury, which is healing beautifully, by the way," he said, holding up his hand. I slapped it, giving him a high five. "Your respiratory therapist says your lung capacity is improving each day. Anyway, if you were awake while the most crucial healing took place, it would have been detrimental. You'd still be up in Podunk, chained to a bed and an oxygen tank."