Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
I put my arms behind my back and lifted up my pillow to throw it at the blasted cardiopulmonary monitor. I was sick of hearing that annoying consistent beeping. It was driving me crazy. Edward, the spoilsport, swiftly pulled the pillow out of my hands and put it neatly behind me again. I glared at him for ruining my chance of destruction. The pillow might be soft but at the speed and strength I was going to throw it the monitor might not make it to the next room in one piece.
“I don’t think that the nice hospital equipment should be tortured,” Edward said, plumping the pillow too. “Just because you’re upset.”
“I’m not upset,” I said, a little too harshly.
He raised one of his eyebrows.
“I’m not!” I shouted. “What makes you think I am?”
The heart monitor beeped louder and faster and before Edward could stop me I threw my pillow at it. It wobbled and began to fall but before it could crash to the ground Edward caught it and set it upright.
He kept the pillow this time.
“Look, Kayla, I’m sure he’s fine.” Edward sat down on the chair next to my bed. He patted my hand gently. “Don’t worry.”
“It’s been five days,” I reminded him. “No one knows where he is. My mother thinks he’s with the Seattle police hunting down my killer.”
“He is hunting down your killer.”
“But not with the Seattle police force. He could be hurt, Edward.”
“But he isn’t,” Edward said. “If he was Alice would know.”
“Alice can hardly see him as it is,” I said, exasperatedly. “How would she know?”
Edward took in a deep breath and clenched the pillow tightly. Clearly he was getting annoyed with me. I wouldn’t blame him. For the past three days I’d been nothing but impatient, edgy and annoyed at everything. Including the nice hospital equipment.
“I’ve said it before, Kayla,” Edward said slowly. “And I’ll say it again. If Charlie was hurt she would see him clearly. Not seeing him is good because it means he’s with Loren or near him. Just like with you.”
I knew that. He’d told me that when I begged Alice to keep looking for Charlie. It’s just; I was worried for him. I was going out of my mind. It wasn’t like him to just vanish and not call or write or tell me. Not like he could tell me since I was almost dying and unconscious.
“Get some sleep,” Edward told me. “It’s three in the morning.”
“I know,” I sighed. “I’m just hoping he’ll walk in all safe and unharmed. Hopefully Loren’s severed head in his hand...”
Edward laughed and kissed my hand softly. He replaced the pillow back behind me.
“Sleep, my love.” He began to hum that little song of his. The lullaby he’d composed. I lay down and listened to it for a while. It was a very soft and gentle tune and I wondered how he could compose something so beautiful. But then again it was Edward who was an excellent musician and not sleeping usually left you a lot of time to do stuff.
“My inspiration was you,” Edward said, smiling. “I watched you sleep one night and I could see the music taking shape in my mind. I sat down at the piano and my hands just found the right key, pitch and notes and the lullaby was forming.”
I shuffled in the bed so he could lie next to me. He slipped under the sheets.
“I can’t believe I was a reason you created something,” I whispered to him. I lay an arm over his chest.
“I don’t,” he replied, playing with my fingers. “You are worth a thousand more compositions.”
He kissed each of my fingers then slowly kissed his way up my arm to my neck.
“You’re distracting me,” I accused him.
“Are you complaining?” he asked, kissing the hollow beneath my ear.
“No,” I said, as his kisses moved along my cheek to my lips.
The steady beeping became faster and Edward chuckled against my lips.
“This isn’t helping your condition.” Edward moved away from me but I grabbed his shirt and pulled him back.
“It’s good for me,” I said, pressing my lips to his. “Very good.”
He kissed me slowly, teasing me. He was now on top of me and he caressed my bare leg, leaving blazing trails despite his cold skin. His kisses and touch were sending my heart racing and the beeps of the monitor were now so fast they sounded like one continuous beep. Edward chuckled again, knowing the effect he had on me. I had one hand holding onto his shirt so he could not escape me and the other was resting on his neck with my thumb on his cheek. His hand traced up my leg and under my hospital gown to my waist. I let go of his shirt when all of a sudden he pulled away from me so fast I didn’t notice until I realised I was kissing thin air. I sat up and saw he was sitting on the chair straightening the creases out of his shirt.
“Excuse me,” I said. “You were in the middle of helping my recovery, why did you leave?”
At that moment the hospital room door opened and Carlisle ran in. He looked very distressed which was unusual for him. He could be the most composed of the Cullens.
“I thought I would find you here,” Carlisle said to Edward. “And you awake.” He said to me.
“What is it?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”
Edward shook his head almost immediately after I asked the question. He sat on the bed again next to me. This made me worry that it was something serious. What did Edward want hidden from me?
“I can’t Edward, this is too serious.” Carlisle replied to Edward’s head shake.
“Can’t it wait until morning?” Edward asked. “She needs to sleep.”
“She needs to know now,” Carlisle said. He turned to me and his golden eyes reflected his features. Concern and fear. “They’ve found Mitchell.”
I smiled and felt relieved. This was great news. If they’ve found Mitchell then that must mean everything was ok. Right? Edward held my hand in his and rubbed circles in the back of my hand. That changed my mind on that theory. My smile faltered.
“Who found him?” I asked Carlisle.
“It was Forks police,” he answered and winced at my now fearful face. “And not in the best of states.”
That didn’t sound good. If it was the police that found him that could mean everything was not ok and fine. Everything was still like I thought it was before. Bad. Very bad. And Mitchell not being in the best of states that could mean....
“Is he dead?”
Carlisle shook his head.
“Just badly beaten, some broken bones and nasty cuts.”
I felt relieved that Mitchell wasn’t dead but him being hurt only worsened what I had thought would happen to Charlie.
“I need to see him.” I tried to get out of bed but Edward held onto my hand tightly.
“He’s not able to have visitors yet,” Edward said, reading Carlisle’s mind. “And it would arouse suspicion if you went to see him. You’re supposed to be bedridden because of three shots to the chest, one of which almost took away most of your heart and another piercing a lung, and the police will want to know how you know Mitchell.”
I understood. My injuries were pretty bad and it would look strange me barging into Mitchell’s room completely healed at three in the morning. And saying to the police I knew Mitchell because he was the son of my would-be-murderer wouldn’t go down well.
“Well, I still want to see him,” I said. “I want to ask him about Charlie.”
“I will once he wakes,” Carlisle assured me. “We had to give him a lot of morphine which knocked him out. Some of his injuries were pretty bad.”
I nodded.
“He will be ok, right?”
“He will recover fully,” Carlisle answered. “So don’t worry about it. I don’t know how he sustained his injuries though.”
“I think I can guess,” I muttered. My first guess being Loren. I felt my anger rise as I thought of how he could hurt his own son like that. Edward rubbed my back in a bid to calm me.
“Get some sleep, Kayla,” Carlisle advised. “If you can.”
“She will,” Edward said. “I’ll make sure.”
Carlisle nodded and left the room, closing the door silently.
“You going to drug me?” I asked him. “Because I’m not going to sleep.”
“I have something better than drugs,” he smiled as he pushed me down to a lying position. He kissed my forehead and lay next to me. I shuffled close to him and he wrapped his arms around me. He began humming the lullaby again. I had to admit that it was better than drugs, sending me to sleep in seconds.
Where I dreamed about Charlie.