Mafia Princess

Chapter One-Hundred Seventy-Eight

Twilight...not mine (sigh).

Chapter 178

BPOV

When I woke up, I was warm, comfortable and well-rested. I blinked a few times, confused as to how I got in my room and why my pillow was rising and falling. I looked up and saw that Edward was in my bed, holding me to his chest. He was wearing a sling? Not to mention he looked scruffy, haggard and tired.

Okay, what happened?

Then, memories of my attempt to be normal came flooding back. Seeing Randall, driving home in a state of panic, screaming like a madwoman and ending up in a semi-catatonic state that Edward pulled me out of. Then, I vaguely remembered Esme coming in, mentioning that Edward was unconscious and he had surgery.

Yeah, I suck.

I tried to wriggle out of his arm but he held firm. "Stop moving," he grumped. "You're pushing on my bladder."

"Then, let me up and I'll get off your bladder," I retorted.

"I missed this, so nope. Ain't happening," he said, tightening his hold on me. I giggled but felt immediately guilty again. He opened his eyes and looked down at me. "Don't beat yourself up."

"I'm sorry," I whispered, tears falling onto my cheeks and on his shirt.

"I'm sorry, too. We both fucked up," he said, sliding out from underneath me. I frowned. "I have to pee, Bella. Seriously, you squirming on my bladder was not helping things." He looked around, adorably befuddled. He stumbled to the first door, finding my closet. The next door was the bathroom. He shut it part way and he sighed as he relieved himself. He washed his hand, walking back into my bedroom and finding his hat, putting it on his flattened hair. "Come on, Little One. I'm hungry and I can smell something delicious being made in your kitchen." I scooted off the bed and picked up my crutch, hobbling out of the bedroom. "You're down to one crutch."

"Yeah," I blushed. "It hurts at the end of the day, but I'm getting stronger."

"Good, I'm glad you're both alive!" Emmett laughed. "I was about to gnaw off my own arm. Esme making stuffed shells! They smell like home, Bella!" Edward's mother blushed and she put the casserole dish of stuffed shells onto the counter. "They even look like yours, bambina!"

"That's because I followed Bella's recipe," Esme snorted. "Dig in, everyone." We ate dinner and it was truly delicious. I couldn't eat much since I was still nervous from before, but I did manage to finish one shell and half a meatball.

Once we were done, Emmett left my condo to go to work and I directed Esme to the guest room. She was up early to take Edward to the surgicenter. Edward asked for an icepack and we settled onto my couch. He took off his sling, trying to wrap the icepack around the bandages. It was not going very well. "Let me," I said, attaching the icepack to his arm. "You've taken care of me. Now, it's my turn."

"Thank you," he said, sitting back against the couch cushions. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah. I just panicked when I saw Randall," I shrugged. "He was there, I swear it."

"Actually, he wasn't. I asked Alice, Rose and Jasper to check up on him. Randall was in Venezuela on a mission trip. He just got back from that the day before yesterday," Edward explained. "He didn't even know his brother died until the FBI showed up at his apartment while we were sleeping."

"Oh," I muttered. "Why did I have such a reaction?"

"My guess is that Randall looked a lot like Riley," Edward suggested. "It's going to take time for your mind to get over this. Hell, I still freak out around men who try to touch me. You remember what happened with Mario?" I nodded. "There were days when I was a kid, that I swore I saw my father. Instead, it was just my mind playing tricks on me."