The One That Got Away

Chapter Nineteen

For those of you who read the Get Your Southern On contest entries, this is my contribution. I am tickled at the results ... first place in public vote and third place for the judge's choice. I've decided to break this up into smaller, drabblish chapters and it will be continued. The contest contribution is the first six or so chapters, roughly. I don't know how long it will be, but I do have it planned. Thank you to Bridget for betaing this for me and for Clo, who created the banner.

Thank you for those of you who have read this! I hope you continue to do so! Without further ado ...

This is the beginning of the extension of the original contest entry. ALL NEW! Thank you for sticking with me and I hope you enjoy this!

Edward dragged his weary body home after almost three days at the hospital. Apparently, a lot of kids caught what his children had, but much more severely, which led to sick doctors and nurses. If you were healthy, you worked.

On top of that, the little boy that he had worked on from the car crash, he didn't make it and that shattered Edward's heart. They had worked on him for an hour in the trauma room and for another eight hours in surgery. Edward assisted since it was his hand that was, at the time, keeping child's hear pumping.

All Edward wanted to do was raid his daughter's Mr. Bubble stash, soaking for days. Parking the car in the garage, he stumbled into his house behind his parents. He could still faintly smell burnt chicken piccata and vomit on top of the antiseptic scent that Anna, the cleaning lady, used.

"Ugh, I need to light some candles," Edward said, pulling out a flame thrower. He lit up two in the kitchen, one in the guest bathroom and another in the living room. When he got to the bedroom, he smiled because the scent in here was different. It was a combination of both him and Bella. The sweet fragrance of her perfume and scent of arousal, even three days after she left, was still there. "No candles in here," he murmured, grinning crookedly.

He stripped off his scrubs, tossing them into the laundry. Putting on a robe, he did grab a bottle of Mr. Bubble and padded back to his bathroom, filling the tub with scalding water and strawberry scented bubble bath. Soaking in the tub for a half hour, he drained the tub and then showered, using that time to fantasize about Bella and how she felt around his body, her soft curves and perfect body. His release covered the tiles of the shower stall. He slumped, more exhausted than ever.

Finishing his shower, he put on a pair of boxer briefs and shorts, climbing into his king-sized bed. He had a few hours before Liam and Lucy came home from school. He desperately needed sleep since he had gotten very little over the past few days. Unfortunately, that was not happening. His cell phone rang from the kitchen.

"I'm not answering," Edward grumbled, pulling his pillow over his head and curling into a tiny ball. The phone stopped and he sighed, relaxing again. But again, the phone went off. "Fuck my life," he snarled, stomping to the kitchen. He looked at the display, not recognizing the number. "Cullen," he barked.

"Ah, the elusive Mr. Cullen," came a slimy voice on the other line. "I've been trying to call you for a couple of days now."

"I've been working and it's Dr. Cullen," Edward retorted. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"My name is Aro Volturi and I represent Mrs. Tanya Cullen," he said. "Your wife?"

"She's not my wife anymore. We got divorced and I've got a restraining order," Edward snapped. "What could she possibly want?"

"She just wants to see her beautiful children, Mr. Cullen," Aro said, his voice lowering.

"I'm not sure if my ex-wife told you the whole story, but she relinquished her parental rights, Mr. Volturi. She has no right to ask for visitation. And for further reference, any other requests of this nature should be directed to my attorney, Jason Jenks. And if you don't stop harassing me, I'll have the police arrest you," Edward said calmly. "If there's nothing else, I'm going back to bed since I've been up for over forty-eight hours straight. Good. Day."