Bella brushes Abel's blue hair out of his face and he cringes away. The doctors went straight to work on Hilarie while a nurse checked on Abel and ran some tests on him.
"Okay, Doctor Cullen will be here as soon as possible," the nurse says calmly. "Are you comfortable?"
"My ribs hurt, so does my jaw," Abel rasps. He knows it's because of Jason's punches and his booted foot. "Can I get some ice?"
"Of course, sweetie," the nurse replies and she leaves and soon comes back.
"Is my mom okay?" Abel asks. He's not speaking up because he's scared to. Jason always got mad when he did.
The nurse gives him a sad smile before she says that the doctor will explain later.
"How ugly am I now?" Abel asks his cousin after Charlie goes to track down some actual news about his sister.
"Your face is bloody, you have a black eye, your jaw is swollen from the break," Bella says. "You look like hell, Abel."
The blue-haired boy sighs and the door opens. A man with pale skin and bleeds blonde hair and golden eyes walks in, walking with such grace it looks as if he's flying. The doctor grabs Abel's file and skims it.
"Hello, Abel, I'm Dr. Cullen," the doctor says; Abel reads Carlisle Cullen on his white coat. "First, I wanted to say I'm sorry for what you and your mother have went through."
"Thanks..." Abel looks at him, his left eye swollen but he can see with his right.
"The police are wanting to talk to you," Carlisle says softly.
"I'll talk to them."
Carlisle nods. "If you need to stop, just tap your leg three times," he says and he goes to get the cops.
"Are you sure?" Bella asks.
Abel nods and soon, Carlisle and the cops return
"Hi, Abel," the taller one says. "I'm Jack, and this is my partner, Alex. We'd like to ask you a few questions."
"Okay," Abel replies. "Can the doctor check me out while you're questioning me?"
"Yes, of course," Jack replies. "What can you tell me about what happened tonight?"
"My dad's always been abusive, but it's usually when he's drunk," Abel begins. His voice is low and shaky, but the cops hear him just fine. "But he was stone-cold sober tonight, and it was worse. He got my mom first. I - I was hiding in the closet between bedrooms upstairs, but I think he threw her down the stairs before he... beat her for extra measure, and then he found me. I fought back until the police came."
"When did the abuse start?" Alex asks.
"He's always abused my mom," Abel replies. "He didn't start hurting me until I was about six or seven. I... I got home late from school because we had a different bus and driver one day. He slapped me."
"Do you know what caused this tonight?" asks Jack.
"He found out I was gay," Abel replies. "My mom was defending me. He didn't like that." He sees the sadness in Jack and Alex's eyes. Empathy is what they're feeling, not sympathy or pity. "I called my cousin. I knew she lived with my uncle Charlie, who's the chief of police here..."
"Which is why he demanded you be brought to Forks," Alex concludes and Abel nods. "Thanks, Abel. Your father was arrested, and he probably won't see the outside works aside from the courtyard for a long time."
"Good," Bella replies as she runs her fingers through her cousin's blue hair.
"You take it easy, Abel," Jack urges. "Being gay might be hard at times, but it's better than it was in my day."
"Thanks, Officer Jack," Abel says as Alex walks out. "You should tell your partner how you feel."
Jack smiles a little. "Maybe," he replies and he leaves.
"I'd like to keep you overnight for observation," Carlisle says to Abel. "I have faith that you're just fine, but..."
"It's better safe than sorry," Abel says. "I know."
"I'll let a nurse know to admit you," Carlisle says.
Abel pulls Bella into a hug once Carlisle's gone. He winces in pain as Bella clings to him but he doesn't dare pull away. He hasn't seen Bella in four years because of Jason and God, he's missed her tremendously.
*******
"I'm not going to ask about Emmett's mate's injuries," Alice says as soon as Carlisle arrives home from the hospital a few hours later.
"Good, because that's confidential," Carlisle replies.
"But..."
"... is he okay?" Emmett asks from the stairs.
Alice told them that Abel would be in the hospital on his first day in Forks but wouldn't say why. Emmett's not mad at her for not telling him. He's just worried.
"He'll heal as quickly as humanly possible from his physical injuries," Carlisle says as Evan touches Emmett's shoulder to calm him down. "It's his mental state I'm concerned about. His mother... she got it worse. She's brain dead."
"... How?"
"Thrown or pushed down the stairs, or something like that," Carlisle says softly.
Emmett bows his head as he ponders over his mate. A mate he hasn't met yet but is worried sick about. Evan tries to comfort Emmett but he k owns it won't do no good until he knows that Abel is okay for himself. Alice watches as Emmett turns and he walks upstairs and she sighs. She knows Abel will be okay, but this is something that she wants to see play out.
