Love, Loyalty and Friendship 6/?

[deeperwonderment]

Title: Love, Loyalty and Friendship 6/?
Author: not_from_stars
Fandom: Twilight
Pairing/Characters: Esme Cullen, Carlisle Cullen
Rating/Category: PG-13/Gen
Summary: She would come back to them, of this Esme was sure, even though Alice said her visions of Bella's future were unclear.
Words: 1,509
Notes: From my never completed twilightbigbang. It will be completed some day. Eventually. Maybe.




Esme sat next to the bed where Bella was and if she were capable of crying, her eyes would be full of tears. Seeing one of her daughters like this broke her heart and she wasn't sure how she was supposed to handle it. Bella had always seemed so frail to her and seeing her unconscious and so pale drove home to her just how fragile she was. She was holding one of her hands in hers and kept hoping to see some sign that Bella knew she was there.

"Bella, honey, what happened to you?" Her voice was soft in the quiet room. "Who did this to you?"

As hard as it was to see Bella like this, it was almost just as hard not knowing what had happened to her. At least if they knew who had hurt her like this, they could do something about it. It would give her children something to do as they waited for Bella to come back to them.

She would come back to them, of this Esme was sure, even though Alice said her visions of Bella's future were unclear. Esme knew that Bella would come back to them because she wouldn't accept anything else. She would not lose any of her three daughters. She refused to allow it.

"You need to open your eyes and come back to us," Esme whispered. "Please come back. You wouldn't believe how worried we all are, Bella. Even Rosalie is worried sick about you and wants you to wake up."

Of all of her family's reactions, Rosalie's was the most surprising. In the week or two since Bella had been here, Rosalie only left the hospital when she absolutely had to. The blond tried to keep up her indifference with others around her, but no one was fooled any longer. Her changed feelings for the human confused her more than anyone and Esme wondered if it was Rosalie's maternal instincts that were pulling her towards Bella so suddenly. Carrying her from Washington to Alaska had to have taken a toll on everything that Rosalie believed about Bella and her feelings about her being around the family.

Esme had seen how Rosalie glared at all of the doctors and nurses that weren't Carlisle every time they came into Bella's room when she was there. She had heard what her blond daughter thought of the opinions that Bella may never come out of the coma she was in. When a nurse had made the mistake of saying that it would be kinder to let the girl die, Emmett had practically carried Rosalie out of the hospital to keep her from doing something regrettable.

Esme sighed, shaking her head as she smoothed hair back from Bella's forehead. She didn't want to think about how it was going to affect all of her family if Bella didn't wake up soon. They still hadn't tried contacting Edward -- against her better judgment. Alice and Carlisle were worried about what Edward would do if he saw Bella in this state. Jasper agreed with his wife, like he almost always would. Rosalie didn't think they should contact Edward as she thought it was his fault that Bella was like this and he had no right to know anything that was going on with her. To Esme's dismay, Emmett agreed with his wife with almost no convincing.

In her opinion, she thought that Edward should be alerted to the condition of Bella. No matter what he had done with leaving her and having them leave her, Esme believed wholeheartedly that Bella was Edward's soul mate. He needed her as much as she needed him. If this whole fiasco proved anything, it was that Bella needed their family around her to keep her safe. She had believed it before and she believed it even more now. Maybe having Edward here would give her youngest daughter more reason to come back to them.

Esme stood up and walked over to the window. They had set Bella up in the best room they could find her at the hospital and she already hated the time spent here. It was a nice room for what it was, but none of them belonged here. Bella didn't belong laying in a bed hooked up to tubes and machines. Bella belonged out in the fresh air reading or doing whatever she wanted to be doing. She should never have been in that meadow to be attacked by Laurent or the werewolf that both Rosalie and Carlisle had smelled on her.

Thinking of Carlisle, she closed her eyes. This had been so hard on her husband. He hadn't had to operate on someone he loved for a very long time and the look in his eyes when she arrived at the hospital had hurt her deeply. She hadn't seen him look so sad in a very long time. He had spent hours with Bella, but he hadn't been able to get her to wake up. He had stitched up her wounds and got blood in her to replace what she had lost, but she was still unconscious.

"Please, Bella," she said softly, turning back to the still figure on the bed. "Please come back to us."

She looked towards the door as it opened silently and her husband came in. He crossed the room to wrap his arms around her and pull her close to his chest.

"Has there been any change," Carlisle asked her, even though he already knew the answer. He had been monitoring her condition since the first day Rosalie had brought her in.

Esme shook her head. "Still nothing. I'm worried, Carlisle. The longer she stays like this, the less likelihood of her healing completely."

"She's stronger than she seems, love. Look at everything she has survived already. She'll wake up."

"She's had Edward with her for all of those other events, sweetheart. Everything she's faced before, she's done it because she wanted to take care of him. She doesn't even know we're here. She doesn't know any of us are here and Edward has no idea what has happened."

"You still think we're wrong in not contacting him to tell him what has happened," he said quietly, his chin resting on her head.

"I do, Carlisle," she nodded. "Edward loves her and he needs to know what has happened. His being here might help her where the rest of us haven't been able to." She pulled back so that she could look into his eyes. "She needs him, Carlisle. She needs him here with her like I would need you if it were me."

Esme knew that she wasn't playing fairly by saying all of this while they were alone. She knew that Carlisle wouldn't be able to refuse her something she wanted so badly. Right now, she wanted her family all together in the same place and she believed with all of her heart that Edward needed to be here. She knew that he had the best chance of getting Bella to come back to them. He had the best chance of getting her to heal.

Carlisle couldn't help the faint smile that he gave his wife. It was true that he was never able to refuse his beloved wife anything. Even now he was ready to give in completely. However, he was worried about what cost this could have where the girl on the bed was concerned. If Bella died while Edward was here, what would it do to their son? What if they called him and he didn't come in time? There were so many what ifs that were going through his mind -- and had been going through his mind from the moment he had taken Bella from Rosalie.

"What if it doesn't change anything, Esme? Could we be making it worse by telling Edward what's happened -- especially when we have so little information about who or what attacked her before Rosalie found her?"

"He needs to know, Carlisle. No matter what decisions he made before, he loves her. He needs her just as much as she needs him -- whether he'll admit it or not. She's his mate and he deserves to know and to make his own decision about whether to come here or not."

"If he says no?"

"He won't, love, not when it's Bella's life that could be in danger without him."

Carlisle was silent for a long time. He held his wife close and looked at the young woman that he had hoped would be his daughter someday. Like Esme, he loved Bella like she was family and it tore him apart to see her so still like this. He knew that Edward would never have left Forks if he had known that she would be attacked. He always made his decisions on what he thought would be best for Bella and keep her safe.

Finally he squeezed Esme close and then nodded. "All right, love. We'll do it your way. I'll call Edward."