23. Truth
I sat on the bed as Carlisle moved around the room. Edward had walked out with the claim he needed some fresh air. Carlisle wanted to check my vitals again as they hadn’t been able to get a good read on it when I first came in. Carlisle was gentle but the chill of his skin raised the goose bumps along my skin.
He smiled sadly apologizing, “I’m sorry about that…”
He trailed off getting that look in his eye before I placed my hand over his, “Don’t worry about it. The coldness makes me feel protected. Mike’s hands were also hot or warm because of the drugs. He kept a fever all the time from the drugs. I feel safe.”
He smiled as if he were happy to hear my words. I leaned back again watching him check my blood pressure along with my heartbeat. He even looked at my eyes since I passed out then the said something to himself. The door opened and Edward slid back into the room with a smile stretched across his face. I could tell he was fighting the emotions inside himself which I could almost see across his face.
“We need to get out of here. It’s almost six thirty.”
Carlisle nodded grabbing his things from the room, “I need to sign out with the front desk. I’ll meet the two of you in the waiting area.”
Edward nodded as Carlisle smiled at me before leaving. Edward came to my side of the bed once we were alone. I was already unhooked from all the cords and wires so Edward merely smiled at me before taking my hand. I was incredibly shaky on my feet as my legs wobbled and I fell into Edward’s arms once again. He frowned at me shaking his head, “I think we’re going to need a wheelchair. Unless you want me to carry you out of here…”
I shook my head quickly causing him to chuckle seeing the intense look on my face. He sat me back on the bed pressing his ice cold lips to my forehead before he left the room again. I was alone for the first time all day it seemed which only made my thoughts shuffle inside my head. It was strange how I felt, how out of control my life seemed to be going.
My hand instinctively cupped my stomach which only made me smile. I just discovered I was pregnant and my maternal instinct was already kicking in. I didn’t even know this child but it was mine from the moment it was created it was part of me. I already loved the child growing inside me wondering just how something beautiful could be created during such a horrible situation. I knew Mike would try anything in his power to force me to get rid of the child but this was proof things weren’t as bad as I always feared.
I was highly afraid of telling Charlie or allowing the people around town to know my secret. To know what I went through on a daily bases’ being Mike Newton’s girlfriend was going to be incredibly embarrassing. I wasn’t ready for people to know what I had been through. Mike’s family had gone through enough with losing the store and his father leaving. I was going to make things so much worst for them and I wasn’t sure if Mike would handle it all well or not. I could feel the tears welling in my eyes at just the idea of Mike’s downward spiral that was most certainly going to take place shortly after my reveal.
I dreaded walking into the station to see Charlie tonight. To tell him everything was going to be so incredibly difficult. He’d probably want to kill Mike for he did to me. For the rape and the continued abuse I suffered at his hand.
The door opened revealing Edward with a wheelchair which only made my face darken. He walked over to me sliding his hands underneath my body picking me up effortlessly. I watched his face wondering he strained at all before I remember the meadow where he pulled that piece of a tree from the ground without any effort on his part. It was as easy as blinking to him to pull that root from the ground or pick me up from the bed.
He placed me in the chair allowing me to get comfortable before rolling me out. I looked down at my arm seeing the red mark where the IV had been. The mark was still red and I wondered momentarily if Edward had been in the room when the IV had been put in.
“Edward?” I asked hoping he could hear me.
I felt his finger rub along the skin at the back of my neck telling me know he heard me, “Why me? Why are all willing to risk everything by helping me?”
Edward detoured down a deserted hallway listening to the traffic from other places. He lowered to my level at me but his eyes were different than I had ever seen them. They seemed incredibly caring for the first time ever and his face had soften considerably.
“No one deserves to be treated like that, Bella. I’ll tell you the longer version later. I’m sure things are about to change drastically around here.”
I didn’t want to think about change again it made me realize just how different my life was turning around. We continued our journey to the waiting area. Thankfully we didn’t have to wait at all as Carlisle was already in the waiting area signing papers. I looked outside to see that the sun was beginning to set as the sky was a beautiful orange color.
“Alright, that’s done. We can take my car.” said Carlisle.
Edward pushed the wheelchair outside but then we realized I’d have to walk. I didn’t want to ride in the wheelchair to see Charlie anyway. He’d worry when there wasn’t reason to worry. I hated all of this attention on me but it was required because of my child. Carlisle looked around but it seemed that if Edward carried me to car I knew it would cause suspicion.
“I can walk. Edward can stay beside me and if I stumble he can catch me. I can lean against him and he can still keep me safe.”
They didn’t seem to like my idea but it was something that we had to do. Carlisle took hold of the wheelchair as Edward helped me stand. I was all little shaky on my feet but I could lean against Edward’s rock hard frame and easily make it to the car. Carlisle handed the wheelchair over to another nurse who had been following us.
Carlisle and Edward seemed to share a conversation as we walked. I was breathing in Edward’s scent which seemed to put me at ease. Edward’s calm presence was enough to make my heart beat erratically in a good way. I wondered if the child growing in me could also feel Edward’s presence considering I wasn’t as on edge with him around.
Edward helped me climb into the back seat of Carlisle’s Mercedes. I laid my head against Edward’s chest in the backseat. His fingers were rubbing soft circles against my side through my shirt. I wondered mentally what Edwards’ skin would feel like against the skin of my side. I never like intimacy with Mike but it was something I was craving with Edward now which was strange since I never experienced it before.
“Will Charlie be busy at the station?” asked Carlisle from the front seat.
I shrugged opening my eyes against the sunlight beaming in the car.
“I don’t know. Usually there isn’t much going on in Forks. He might not be but even if he was he would see me.”
Carlisle and Edward both nodded and the car was once again silent. The nerves were rising again as we got even closer to the station. I knew Charlie would see me, it didn’t matter if he was busy with an uptight case. Charlie saw me all the time when I showed up at the station, didn’t matter anything. I just worried what he would think of me now that all of this was happening around me. I was pregnant, something that never would have happened otherwise. If only I had never agreed to come to Forks in the first place, I wouldn’t be in this mess right now.
I didn’t blame my child for what I had done. I blamed myself. I was stupid and naïve when it came to Mike. He was slick and wound his way into my heart. At first I really loved Mike but things just quickly changed and I couldn’t believe it all.
Suddenly the car swayed as we pulled into the parking area of the police station. Charlie’s cruiser was sitting in his marked place in the parking lot. Carlisle pulled in at the end of the building glancing in the mirror toward us.
“Are you ready to do this?” he asked toward me.
I frowned shrugging, “Ready? Never. It’s not about being ready. I have to do this. Open Pandora’s box so to speak.”
Something squeezed my hand and I glanced over at Edward.
“We’ll be right here,” he said with a smile, “nothing will happen. I’m not going anywhere, no matter what happens.”
I nodded as Edward opened the door as Carlisle cut the engine. Outside the wind was cool being October made the wind extra chilly. I tugged my jacket closer but threaded my fingers through Edward’s hand which made him stare and smile.
“Let’s get this over with,” I muttered toward Carlisle who smiled and nodded.
Edward kept his cold arm around my shoulders as we walked to the front of the building. Carlisle opened and held the door opened for us and we entered the noise and chaos of the police station. Edward squeezed my shoulder as Carlisle directed us through crowds. I guessed the station got more chaotic after nightfall. That wasn’t very surprising considering the woods surrounding Forks were trouble in the making at nightfall. Anyone caught in the woods in the dark was just asking for trouble with bears and wolves all over the place.
Charlie always made sure to give me the fifth degree about the woods. I was never to go out in the woods at night or venture too far off a path. With my clumsiness and no sense of direction, I’d get lost an inch away from the trail and then break my arm tripping over a fallen branch. It happened a little too often for my liking.
Charlie happened to be busy when we found his office. There was another officer that recognized me from the times I went with Charlie to dinner after work. I came around here a little too often for officers not to recognize me from my many visits.
“Bella! Do you need to speak with Charlie?” he asked noticing Carlisle and Edward around me.
“Yes, please. It’s urgent.”
The officer nodded heading to Charlie’s office. We watched him knock and then open the door sticking his head in. Charlie glanced through the glass of his office taking in my appearance. The officer must have said something else which made Charlie nod and dismiss the people he was talking with.
“Charlie will see you now.” the officer said.
Carlisle walked into the office first with a smile as Edward and I entered last. Edward closed the door behind us turning the lock.
“Chief Swan, it’s good to see you again. I just wish it were in better circumstances.” Carlisle said shaking Charlie’s hand before we all took the seats in front of the desk.
Edward was walking around the office pulling the blinds down and closing them so no one could see inside. Charlie looked confused as he watched Edward and Carlisle. His eyes settled on me and I could see the worry behind his irises.
“Bells what’s wrong? I called the house told you I’d be late. You told Officer Marsh that this was urgent.” Charlie said.
“Yeah, dad it’s really important.”
Edward took the seat on my right since I was in the middle with Carlisle on my left. My stomach was grumbling again in nerves. It didn’t make me feel any better to have to indulge on the truth with Charlie. I worried he’d blame himself for all of this for not seeing the signs. He was afterall the police chief of Forks that hadn’t seen the signs of abuse his daughter suffered.
Edward glanced toward Carlisle who turned to Charlie, “Charlie, we ask that you listen to everything Bella has to say before interrupting. We also ask that you not blame yourself, for you are not to blame for any of this. What you are about to here will not be easy but we ask that you listen carefully.”
I watched Charlie nod and the confusion seemed to get worse on his face. Edward squeezed my shoulder in comfort.
I took a deep breath before staring at Charlie as I began.
“Earlier this year my relationship with Mike seemed to change. The day I fell down the stairs at Mike’s house something changed between us. I had sex with Mike hoping that would make things better but it seemed to only make things worse. It was during the summer that Jessica was hosting while her parents were out. I didn’t even bother asking you because I knew what you would say. Mike came and I snuck out of the house and we went to the party. I thought things were good and I was talking to my friend Eric and Tyler, they were everyone’s friends actually. Mike must have thought I was flirting with them, I didn’t even know he was that angry that a person could get that angry. He pulled me out of the room into one of the back rooms squeezing my arms in his hands. He was asking me what I was doing with them and I told him nothing but he didn’t believe me. It was the first time he hit me, slapped me so hard tears streamed down my face. I could feel the bruise forming but it was so easy the next day to tell you that I tripped. I thought it was a one-time thing, it’d never happen again. He apologized profusely the next day with gifts and everything, I forgave him. Three days later, it happened again with cause because his mom had pissed him off so badly.
“The same thing happened again he apologized with the gifts but I didn’t actually forgive him. I decided to break up with Mike a week later but when I tried he wasn’t home. Turns out that was the day he discovered his mom’s habit and the fact that she was sleeping with a pimp who was selling her body on the weekends to pay for the drugs in major cities. I felt Mike needed some kind of support and things got worse from there. He kept hurting me and stopped apologizing with gifts when he threatened me. He kept hurting me because and threatened to kill me but threatening you seemed to put things in perspective.
“Around that time Mike started doing drugs really bad. He started the drugs and started selling for his dealer in order to pay for it, he had a gun at the house. I was scared of him because I had never seen him like that before in my life. He held me with my neck in his arm in the mirror of his bedroom that day and I could just tell how wide his eyes were that he was high or something. He held the gun to the side of my face snarling in my ears but with sadistic smile on his face in mirror. Then he threatened you, dad. I know you say that you’re the chief of police, you could take care of yourself but Mike is devious. He snuck into the house and made me have sex with him once while you were in the house. I knew he could easily kill you in your sleep and you’d have no way of protecting yourself.
“The night of my birthday I snuck out that night. We had sex but it wasn’t something really wanted. He bruised me again and it just kept happening. Every time he touched me, he bruised my skin, belittled me, forced me into sex, and made me feel less than wanted. On Friday, I went to a bookstore in Port Angeles, Mike found me forced me to have dinner with him and then instead of threatening you, he threatened Angela from school. I snuck out last night and went to his house. As usual his mom was gone and we watched movies. His drug habit has evolved over the last month or weeks whatever, probably when we were on a break after my birthday. He was shooting up in his arm as well as snorting up his nose. I don’t know what he was thinking but he forced me into sex I didn’t feel comfortable with for some reason which wasn’t so bizarre. Afterward I showered at his house and he took me home but he never apologized. I prayed we would crash on the way back to the house but we didn’t. I climbed the tree by window and crawled into bed hoping the image of the sex would leave my mind but it lingered all night long.”
I heard Charlie gasp once I was done with the tale of Mike. I looked back at him to see the tears streaming down his face. He looks really angry and unhappy.
“Th-this has been going on all summer?! I’m going to hurt that son of a-” He cuts off his fingers squeezing the armrests on his chair.
I’ve never really seen Charlie this upset before. He looks like the police chief I know him to be with that secret anger problem. I know I still have to break the pregnancy news but I would prefer to do that more gently.
“I don’t care what you have to say, Isabella, we are having a restraining order put on him. He will not come within a few hundred feet of you, if I have to get him kicked out of school in the process. As well as a police report, he is not getting away with doing this to my daughter.”
Charlie’s face is red and I can see he’s fighting with himself. He probably wants to grab his gun from the case and march over to Mike’s house and shot him between the eyes. I can suddenly see why he was made the chief by just his reactions to this and how devoted he really is to his job.
We watch him press a button on his intercom, “Officer Marsh, bring me some police report papers as well as something to get a restraining order in the works.”
“Yes, sir. Right away.”
Tears stream down Charlie’s face once again as he covers his face with his hands.
“This is all my fault. I should have seen the signs. I’m chief of police for crying out loud!”
I stand walking around him placing my hand on his shoulder. We aren’t really touchy feely type of people but I can tell this is one of those times when he needs to comfort of his daughter. He pulls his hands away suddenly grabbing me as he stands wrapping his arms around my body.
“I’m so sorry, Bells. I should have seen the signs.” He cried shaking his head.
I could feel the tears streaming down my cheeks, “It’s not your fault, dad. It’s his fault, I finally understand that now. He’s the one to blame for all of this, no one else.”
There’s a knock on the door and we pull away. We quickly wipe out faces before Charlie clears his throat, “Come in.”
I return to my seat as the officer from before enters the office. He’s carrying a manila folder handing it out to Charlie who takes it shooing him back out of the room.
“Now the restraining order and police report are probably going to cause hysteria but I don’t care. Mike Newton needs to learn his place around here.” grunts Charlie the anger replacing the guilt and the sadness.
Carlisle suddenly clears his throat, “Bella is also pregnant with Mike’s child.”
My eyes widen as I shake my head at Carlisle. I wanted to break that to him as gently as possible. Not just spring it on him all at once. It would make sense to tell him before filling out the restraining order to know that Mike is the father of a child with Bella.
Charlie freezes with his pen in his hand. I notice the anger as his hand gets tighter around the black ink pen. The redder his hand gets the tighter the pen looks squeezed. Suddenly I notice the slight dent which creates a crack at the top of the pen which continues up the pen until the tip bends at an awkward level effectively breaking the pen itself.
I feel Edward squeezing my hand and I realize that he’s listening to Charlie’s thoughts. I glance toward Edward to see him staring at Charlie but his expression is almost comical. Probably didn’t even realize Charlie had such a mean streak when it came to me or something he really cared about.
Charlie groans tossing the pen in the trash, “Pregnant, huh? How long?”
Carlisle looks at me expectantly and I sigh, “I had plans to go out with Mike and my friends to Port Angeles today as you well know. I got dressed after cleaning, then someone was at the door. I thought it was Mike but he was early so I opened to find Edward. Long story short he convinced me to spend the day with him and lie to Mike. Edward had somehow figured out what happened between Mike and I. We went somewhere to talk things through together where we wouldn’t be interrupted. Mike wasn’t easy to convince that I was sick but I managed. It was toward the end when my stomach started grumbling but it made no sense. Edward thought I was hungry and that I lied to him about not being hungry. My vision grew blurry as my stomach increased in pain and the last thing I remember is falling into Edward’s arms.”
Charlie was shaking his head as Edward picked up from there, “I immediately took her to the hospital where Carlisle ran tests on her. She was out for a few hours at least.”
Carlisle smiled reassuringly at me as I breathed out, “According to the tests I must have gotten pregnant on my birthday. I would have taken the birth control I had but the antibiotics seemed to have messed with it. I got pregnant anyway.”
“There’s nothing to worry about the pregnancy though. Bella was under high stress as well as decreased fluid intake. The pregnancy will go along smoothly if Bella is away from Mike as well as out of stressful environments.” said Carlisle.
Charlie seemed speechless staring at us. He shakes his head standing up grabbing his coat from the rack behind him.
“I’m sure that Mr. Newton would love more than anything to sign that restraining order, not to mention ending his custodial rights. We need to tell Mike about the baby right now and get this whole thing straightened out.”
I glance between Carlisle and Edward my head whirling. Just this morning I was preparing for a day out with Mike, now I know about the existence of vampires, I’m pregnant by my abusive boyfriend, told my police chief father about the abuse, and now I suddenly have to tell my abusive boyfriend that I’m pregnant with his child and effectively breaking up with him.
Sure that’s going to turn out well.