All I Want for Christmas is You

Chapter Nineteen

I've been in a funk recently and my muse as since floated away. I figured I'd try just free writing to see what I came up with to trigger my spark, my muse. This is what I came up with ... It'll be a short novella.

Falling into the king-sized bed, he set his cell phone alarm, the room alarm and asked for a wakeup call. He didn't even take off his shoes before he was snoring, completely down for the count.

The drive from SeaTac to Forks was mountainous, long and twisting. At least Edward was able to drive his own car, as opposed to some random rental. Thankfully, it wasn't snowing or raining, either. It was just cloudy. He'd used his time on the flight to find out information about what had happened to Bella all those years ago, including finding her old home and the burial plot for Police Chief Charles David Swan. While he read about Bella's past, he discovered that the house was purchased, owned by the city.

His best bet was to go to the cemetery or to La Push since her childhood home was no longer in her possession. He started with La Push since it was on the way to Forks. Parking at the visitor's center, he got out of his Range Rover. A young man, seated behind the desk, beamed. "Welcome to La Push! I'm Seth Clearwater. What brings you here today? The beach? It's kind of cold, but absolutely gorgeous."

"Actually, I was looking for someone," Edward said. "Isabella Swan? She was with Jacob Black ..."

"Wow, that's a name I haven't heard in forever," Seth murmured. "As far as I know, she moved away when her dad's house sold. That was two years ago." His brows pulled low on his face. "She used to babysit me. So did Rachel and Rebecca ... it was awful what happened to them."

"It was," Edward whispered. "Um, thank you for the information, Seth."

"She might be at the old Black place, but it's seen better days. Our tribe is dying and certain buildings ... they're falling apart. Plus, our customs, we fear the ghosts that haunt that place," Seth said, shuddering visibly.

"I doubt that she'd go there," Edward said.

"If you want to check it out, it's just down the road a mile, on the right. The house is red," Seth offered helpfully.

Edward nodded, tossing some cash in a jar on the counter. He left the visitor's center, driving to the old Black home, but seeing it falling in on itself, plus no cars were parked nearby. There was even a tree that had fallen on the rear of the house, demolishing the entire back of the residence. Backing out of the reservation, Edward got back onto the highway and continued to Forks.

He rolled past the small white house that belonged to Charlie and Bella. It was memorialized with a sign and the story of how he lost his life. Edward blinked his eyes, remembering that day.

He'd worked on Charlie Swan. He'd been working in the ER, filling in for another attending who was at a medical conference. The helicopter had radioed in with a victim who had been shot in a domestic violence situation. He barely had a pulse, but was still alive. Edward, along with the chief of cardiothoracic surgery met the helicopter on the roof, bringing the man down to the surgery floor. Edward worked on the victim's bullet wounds in his belly while Dr. Everett tried to repair the man's heart, which had been shredded.

The victim, Charlie Swan, died on the table with irreparable damage to his body. Dr. Everett went to speak with the family while Edward worked to clean up the body. It was the least he could do since he couldn't save the poor man. Edward carefully washed Charlie's face free of the blood and covered his body with a blanket. Edward said a prayer of peace for the man before leaving the surgical suite. Dr. Everett walked in with the family, Bella, shortly after he'd left, and he remembered hearing her broken, shattered scream.

It haunted him for months.

Shaking off his grim memories, he found the cemetery and drove through the winding paths before he found the chief's headstone. He also found Bella. She was curled up, leaning against her father's headstone. She held a ratty stuffed toy in her arms and was completely shattered. Parking the car, he got out of the driver's side and walked through the snow to Bella. He sat down across from her, wanting nothing more than to pull her in his arms. If only to warm her up ... she was wearing a hoodie and was practically blue. Her gaze vacant, but her expression was one of anger.

He didn't blame her. The way his family treated her was atrocious. It was the epitome of toxic. He stared at her, seeing her for the first time. The self-confidence was a façade. This was the true Bella. "I'm so sorry, Bella. I ... what happened in Chicago was ... if I could go back in time ..." he stammered.

"I understand why you wanted back up. They're awful, Edward," she said quietly. Her voice was raspy like she'd screamed for hours on end. "Seeing how they treated you made me yearn to be with my family. We were not bound by blood, but we loved each other. It broke my heart to see how they treated you, Edward."

"Their behavior was abhorrent," Edward agreed. "It shed some light on how toxic they were. Hell, Nana Cullen realized how awful they'd become."

"Was she the one who called me a two-bit whore? Oh, no. That was your sister," Bella said flatly. "And your brother ... not to mention your dad. I was also called a stray, a slut, a gold digger ..."

"Which you're not! Bella, they didn't see you. Not like how I see you," Edward pressed.

"You barely know me," Bella spat.

"Just like you barely know me, but I know that you've become very important to me, gorgeous," he said, inching closer to her. "And, as someone important to me, I'm concerned about your health. Bella, love, you're blue." He brushed his fingers along her frozen cheek. "Please, let's go inside. You could be hypothermic."