BPOV

I woke up to the sound of the front door slamming. It startled me enough to jump and gasp. My body retaliated. It was too early. The only good thing about Dan working at the station was the long hours his job required. The last time that I checked, Charlie and Dan worked the same shift together. No one would really guess at what Dan truly was, after all, part of his job was to prevent domestic violence. No one would guess that he was contributing to it as well.

Dan's anger toward me could have come from many places. The most logical explanation was that I was unresponsive. During our honey moon—the first time that I saw the real Dan—I discovered what had been on Dan's mind since I had accepted his hand. The idea of marrying someone who my heart didn't belong to almost incapacitated me, and apparently, it showed all the way through our engagement. My hesitation to say yes was not only obvious to me. When I waited too long to say "I do", everyone noticed.

"It's because of him, isn't it?" Dan asked on the first night.

"What are you talking about?" I replied, putting up defensive walls. I tried to make myself believe that I wanted this, but I couldn't do it.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, Bella. He's not coming back." Of course, Dan would know about what happened—he worked with Charlie. Chances were, they gossiped like old women. The second time it happened, my failure to provide what Dan wanted, it tasted blood in my mouth before the pain of the blow set in. The bruise along my jaw line covered easily with makeup.

It was easy enough to keep everything a secret; I still had as many accidents as I did in high school. People just thought my luck had worsened. After that, every act of "intimacy" was forced. The marks along the back of my neck hid well beneath my hair. The bruises across my stomach and in between my legs stayed hidden behind layers of clothing.

As I lay in bed, I contemplated whether to go back to sleep or to get up and start my day. It was only 5:30, but I knew I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep. There was no point, and it wasn't worth the risk. If Dan just happened to come back home, I would rather be awake than asleep.

I undressed carefully, avoiding my reflection in the mirror. I couldn't remember the last time that I had seen my skin at its natural color. Staring at it only made me feel it more. After I adjusted the water pressure in the shower, I worked my strawberry shampoo through my hair. The smell of it was comforting, a pleasant thing to wake up to.

I was careful with the rest of my body, using a wash cloth instead of a rough scrubbing brush. Too lazy to use a blow dried, I towel dried my hair and let it hang damp over my shoulders. The weather was starting to change drastically. In a few weeks, it would probably start to snow. I pulled on a pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt. Now the only thing that I had left to do was wait. The phone would ring sooner or later.

CPOV (Carlisle)

"Dr. Cullen?" A young nurse asked, tapping me on the shoulder. I looked up from my case file and smiled at her.

"Yes?" She looked down, embarrassed.

"I'm relieving you of call. You can go home," she stammered. I smiled and ran my fingers through my hair.

"Thank you, Doreen." She nodded and walked away quickly. The only thing I had left to do was put this file away and I could go home, back to Esme and the others. As I scanned the tabs on my filing cabinet, my eyes stopped at a familiar last name. A forbidden one. Swan.

"How did that get in there?" I breathed. I was very thorough with my cases and the files that I managed. That file shouldn't have been in there. Slowly, I reached into the drawer and pulled it out. It was just as thick as the last time I held it.

The last report in the file was from almost four years ago. It was a memory that even I tried to avoid. Of all the accidents that Bella had had, this one was by far the worst. Knowing that this file was incomplete, I couldn't help the burning curiosity that I felt. How much thicker had her file gotten in the last three years?

I still through of Bella as a daughter, someone who I cared for very much. I often caught myself incorporating her into plans that I outlined for the family. Of course, I did well enough to erase those thoughts before Edward came around again.

Edward still hadn't come home. For the sake of Esme, he visited regularly, but what he did with his life now was unfathomable to me. Edward still punished himself for leaving. I had plenty reasons to believe that he would never stop.

As I walked around the registry counter, I argued with myself. This isn't any of your business anymore. You promised Edward, I tried to talk myself out of what I was about to do, but it was pointless. Bella's absence—more like our departure—had affected everyone monumentally. Alice had lost a best friend, someone she considered to be a sister. Jasper lost most of twinkle in his wife. Emmett lost his brother, Esme and I had lost a son and a beloved being. Rosalie was affected by this only because of the reactions of her family members. Alice no longer showed as much joy for shopping, Emmett slowly drifted away because he too had lost a great friend, and Jasper was constantly being torn down by everyone's mood.

The nurse behind the registry looked up at me, flustered, when I stood in front of her.

"I'm sorry to bother you," I said, trying to be polite as possible. In truth, I was caught. This may have been wrong, but it was something I needed to do. "Would it be possible for you to locate a file for me?"

She dropped her pen and her eyes zoned in. "Of course, Dr. Cullen, I would be happy to. What's the name?" I prepared myself to voice the name that I hadn't spoken in far too long.

"Isabella Swan."

BPOV

One thing that I hadn't expected today was a visit from Charlie.

"Dad?" I asked after I opened the door.

"Hey Bells," he said, giving me an awkward hug. After he settled on the couch, I noticed he wasn't wearing his badge.

"Is everything all right?" I asked, hoping that something devastating hadn't happened, like him losing his job.

"Oh, yeah. Everything's fine. I had the day off, figured I might drop by and see you. It's been too long." I sighed in relief.

"Yeah, it has," I agreed, half-heartedly. He was quiet before our real conversation started.

"So, Dan says you've been working a lot lately," he said. I shrugged.

"I guess. I've just been spending a lot of time with Ian." He closed his eyes slowly and nodded his head.

"Bella, I know that it may be difficult to get over what happened, the doctor said that post partum would settle long after it actually happened, but attaching yourself to someone else's child isn't going to change anything. It's not going to erase the past," he said. I could see the concern in his eyes. The small wrinkles around them had deepened.

"I know that, I'm not attaching myself, only being helpful." When I found out that I was pregnant, the only thing I could feel was relief. Maybe that would give Dan a reason to ease off. Maybe the though of me carrying his child would change his views about me. I thought it would give him a reason to stop with the violence. I was wrong.

By the fourth month of my pregnancy, I had lost the baby, the cause being my "fall down the stairs". Needless to say, I was devastated. For sixteen weeks, I had grown used to the idea of having someone that I could love, someone that I could invest all of my energy into. A while after the miscarriage, I realized that it was probably for the best.

What if I couldn't love the baby? What if the baby was someone that I hated because of its father? What if I was a horrible mother? As emotionally scarring as it was, I was glad that things happened the way they did. I wouldn't have wanted a child in the situation that I was in. Charlie didn't understand. He was still under the impression that I was using Ian as a replacement for the baby that I would have had by now.

"Are you planning on taking classes again?" he asked, quickly changing the subject. I shook my head.

"I don't think so. I've got my major, that's really all that I need." He knew not to push me any further. Charlie stuck around for me to make him lunch, and then he left, promising to come by again soon.

"If not sooner, I'll be seeing you at the award ceremony next week."

When I realized that I hadn't cashed my check yesterday, I got ready to stop by the bank. My car was also running low on gas. The further away from the house I drove, the better my mood got. My bank wasn't too far away from a gas station After making a deposit, my car had begun to flash messages at me; the tank was almost empty. The frigid air made me shiver. I quickly placed the nozzle inside and hurried back into the car.

I tried desperately to start the car again, but the engine wouldn't budge. It only stalled and shut down again. I sighed and got out of the car just as rain drops were beginning to fall from the sky.

"Wonderful," I sighed to myself. There was nobody else here either. The attendant behind the counter inside the AMPM was a teenage boy, only a few years younger than myself. "I can't get my car to start, can I get some help, please?" I asked.

He looked up from the magazine that he was reading. "I can't leave the store," he mumbled. "Maybe somebody out there has cables?" He gestured toward the door.

"There's nobody else out there," I said, slightly aggravated. The attendant closed the magazine and looked around.

"All right, I'll go take a look and see what the problem is," he said. I narrowed my eyes at him in confusion.

"I thought you couldn't leave the store?" He rolled his eyes, treating me without respect because of the obvious similarities in our ages.

"You said there wasn't anyone here," he countered. He shuffled out from behind the counter and pulled a jacket on over his smock, flipping the hood over his head. "Nice ride," he commented before lifting the hood up. He tinkered around inside of it, staying mostly dry due to the shelter my car provided. I, on the other hand, was completely drenched. He seemed to be taking his time while I stood next to him dripping and shivering. Finally, he shut the hood and stepped back from the vehicle.

"Yeah, you're going to need shock cables to get the engine started again. I'd help, but I don't carry those around with me." I glared at him, put off by his attitude.

"Do you at least have a phone that I can use?" He nodded his head and ran back into the building. I followed, trying not to slip on the wet asphalt. Calling Dan was out of the question. Charlie was probably out fishing. The only person left for me to call was Angela.

She answered after the first few rings. "Hello?"

"Hi Ang, its Bella. I'm sorry to bother you, but my car won't start and I'm sort of stuck here. Do you think you could help me?"

"Absolutely, where are you?" she asked.

"I'm at the AMPM," I said. I could hear her gathering things in the background.

"Okay, I'll be there in a few minutes," she said.

"Thanks. Oh, I guess we need shock cables to start the engine again," I said.

"Don't worry, I have a set in my car." I thought about waiting in the shelter of the building, but I decided against it. The attendant stared at me like I owed him something. He was an attendant, not some innocent bystander who decided to be helpful. I backed across the lot and settled into my car. The water that my jeans had trapped seeped into the seat.

As Angela had promised, she arrived a few minutes later with little Ian in the backseat. His face was pressed against the glass and he waved when he saw me. Angela smiled at me and parked next to my car. She turned off the car and quickly ran over to my window.

"Okay, I'm going to connect the cables," she said, shouting over the rain.

"Do you know what you're doing?" I asked, hoping I wouldn't have to drag the attendant back out here.

"Yeah. Luckily, Ben showed me in case of an emergency!" She popped the hood of her car and connected the cable, and then went on to do the same with my car. "Okay, when I tell you, turn the ignition," she said.

Angela started her car and gestured toward me. I turned the ignition and after only a few seconds, my engine had started. I sighed and gave her the thumbs up.

"Thank you!" I called out from my window. Angela got out of the car once more hurried over to my window again.

"Wanna follow me and Ian back to our place?" she asked. I looked down at my clothes and saw that the only way they would get dry in this weather was with a dryer.

"I would, but I need to get out of these clothes," I said. She laughed and nodded.

"Me too. How about we stop at your place and then go to mine?" I agreed and Angela followed me to my house. Ian pounced on my as soon as we got through the front door.

"You're wet!" he exclaimed. I nodded and told him and Angela to make themselves at home while I raced upstairs to change as quickly as I could. My skin morphed into a mass of goosebumps when the cold air hit my warm skin. It only made me move faster. When I came down stairs, Ian was sleeping in Angela's lap on the couch. I smiled at the two of them and quietly approached her.

"It's his nap time," I whispered to her. She nodded and carefully lifted him into her arms and I opened the door to help her out. It was still raining. Angela covered his head with her arm and ran over to the car. He hadn't woken up by the time she had him buckled in his car seat.

Angela's house had a much more inviting feeling to it. I felt more at ease there than I did in my own house. I took Ian up to his room while Angela changed in her room. Ian's tiny body curled into a small ball as I set him down on his bed. I kissed his forehead and tucked his blankets around him, ensuring that he wouldn't get cold.

I waited for Angela on the couch downstairs and ran my fingers through my hair. The tangles weren't as bad as they could have been. Angela came down wearing a pair of cotton pants and a sweater. She sat down next to me and lifted her hair off the back of her neck.

I felt her eyes on me after a few minutes.

"What is it?" I asked. She seemed to choose her words before she spoke.

"Ian told me about the conversation you two had yesterday." My eyes widened. I knew that kid was too brilliant.

"He did?" She corrected herself.

"Well, bit's and pieces in three year old language, yes." Her face looked grave. "I can understand why you cover things up with him, Ian wouldn't understand anyway. But I can see it in your eyes, Bella. Why are you doing this to yourself?"

I could no longer meet her eyes. I couldn't even answer her. "Say his name," she said.

"Angela, please." My heart stuttered.

"Say it." I shook my head.

"I can't."

Angela signed and reached out to grab my hand. "I've kept my distance from this subject, but I can't watch you do this to yourself anymore. You've shut everything and everyone out, Bella. Alice and Edward were your life, I've never seen you so happy as when you were with them, but you've thrown yourself into an unjust marriage and it scares me to see you like this."

"Angela," I breathed. "I need to go." My voice broke on the last word. I pushed myself off of the couch and walked toward the door.

"Bella, I'm sorry," Angela said, standing up as well. "I really shouldn't have said anything."

"But you did," I whispered and walked out of the house. It had stopped raining, which wasn't surprising. Angela had never been one to confront people, and I wasn't angry with her for doing it, hearing those two names spoken in the same sentence opened a door that had been shut for a long time.

CPOV

It didn't take long to have Bella's file transferred to my current hospital. As soon as I was finished with it, I would be sending it back. To my horror, Bella's file had almost doubled in size. Esme would wonder why I was late coming home, but she would ultimately understand.

The first file that I read didn't surprise me. A concussion. The second file wasn't so out of the ordinary for Bella either—a small laceration that required stitches. But the more I read, the more out of place things seemed.

Truth be told, Bella had changed all of our perspectives on a walking danger magnet, but these kinds of accidents couldn't have come from sheer clumsiness. A broken clavicle, dislocated patella, internal bleeding, doctors guessing at animal attacks…a miscarriage? The variety of accidents, let alone the quantity, that she had had was astounding.

Something definitely was not right.

Hiya! Here we go with chapter number 2...yes, it's still Edwardless...sigh. But hey, you never know, you could always find out if he's coming any time soon by asking in a review! Go ahead...just click the little button. It doesn't bite.