The Other Twin

43

Edward's POV -
We follow Carlisle into a small room.
"Rory has suffered from a stroke. We did everything we can, but he is currently in a coma and on a ventilator. We don't know when he will wake up or if he had suffered any long term damage. I'm sorry."
"Do you know what caused it?"
"We will have to take more tests, but we believe it was high blood pressure. Has anyone else in your family been diagnosed?"
"Uhh, I think my Uncle Ted has?"
"Can we see him?" I ask.
"Follow me."
We go down a few corridors, before we finally go into a room with the smell of my mate. It smells odd, different somehow. I run over to him, making sure to not let my full vampire take control. I snarl as I hear Charlie come forward, he stops, but Carlisle puts a hand on my shoulder and tells me to let him. I hold my mate's hand and squash down my thoughts of killing anyone who comes near him. He'll be fine. He'll probably wake up in a few days. Hopefully. I sigh, and open up. Charlie walks up to his son, and let's out a sob. I put my other hand on his shoulder. He taps it, and goes around the other side of the bed and sits on the chair, his hands laced. He blinks back tears. Rory looks peaceful lying there. But he's barely moving. He almost looks dead, except the monitor reading his heart.

"I should call Bella. She needs to know about her brother," I nod distractedly, my attention mostly on Rory. He leaves the room, and I sit down. I do the cheesy movie thing and brush the hair out of his eyes. I interlace my fingers with his and kiss his hand. If I was human, my eyes would probably be watering. Charlie comes back into the room and I ask if I can call my sister. He tells me of  course I can. I step out of the room and ring Addy. She picks up immediately.
"Edward."
"Addy. Rory's in hospital."
"What!?!"
"He is in a coma."
"I'll be right there."
"He's in Room 109."
"Thanks."
I sit back in my seat. Five minutes later, Addy arrives.
"What the hell happened?"
"He had a stroke," my voice breaks a little.
"How? We would have noticed any reasons."
"They- they think it was high blood pressure. Apparently it sometimes has little to no symptoms."
She nods and rubs my back. A few minutes later, Isabella walks in. Charlie walks over and hugs her. She awkwardly pats his back.
"C-can I have a moment alone with him?" she asks. I growl at her. Harder than I did at Charlie. He gives me a look and I glare back.
"Edward," Addy warns. I turn my glare to her. She matches me.
Edward. You need to do this. We'll be right outside to stop anything. Trust me. I'll help you kill her. But if you don't, we might have to move. Away from Rory. Addy tells me in my mind. I surrender, kissing his hand before leaving the room, staying just outside the door. She follows, along with Charlie. I hear her hiss something, catching the words, why, can't and die. Then the machine starts beeping. Charlie rushes into the room, Addy and I following. We see Isabella messing with the ventilator. It's obvious that she turned it off. Carlisle and a nurse run in. Charlie looks horrified.
"Isabella Swan, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Rory Swan. Whatever you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If can not afford one, the state will provide one. You are entitled to a phone call."
They walk out of the room. The machine reading Rory's heart evens out. I hear his heartbeat even. I sigh in relief, side hugging my sister.

Thirty minutes later, Charlie comes back and takes his seat.
"Was it her?"
"What."
"The bruises. The arm. Was it her?"
"I don't know if it's my place to say..."
"Godammit Edward, just tell me. I know he told you."
"Yes. It was her."
"Why? Why didn't he tell me?"
"He didn't want to hurt you," Addy says.
"You knew too?"
"Trust me, I was just about ready to kill her."
"Of course he didn't want to hurt me. That's Rory, willing to take a blow for someone else every time."
"I know. It's a beautiful trait, but also an incredibly annoying one," I say.
"I agree with you on that one. You love him, don't you."
"Yeah. I love him. More than anything else in the world."
"Does he know?"
"I hope so. I really, really hope so. But as much as he likes to pretend it doesn't, Isabella has affected him badly. I don't think he thinks deserves love."
"How long has this been going on for? Bella."
"I don't know. I only found out by accident just before our second date. He doesn't like to talk about it."
"I wish I could've seen it earlier. It was happening under my roof and I had no idea."
"She's a good actor and he hides it well. There was very little chance you could have known of you didn't walk in on it."
"It's just. I wish he told me. I wish I could have dealt with it sooner."
"So do I."
"Oh, and Edward?"
"Yes, sir."
"He loves you too."
I smile a little. I know he does, but hearing it from an outside makes it better. More real.
"I can't... I need... Either of you want anything from the cafe? I need to do something helpful," Addy says.
"I'll take a coffee, if that's okay. Black, three sugars."
I laugh a little, "So you're where he gets the liking for sugary coffee from?"
"Yep. Guilty," he says, smiling and jokingly putting his hands up.
"Straight black coffee."
"You sure?" she asks. I nod. I need something bitter. Despite not being able to taste actual flavour, we can taste basics like sweet, salty, bitter, sour.
"So a two black coffees, one with three sugars. Do you want any food?"
"I'm could thank you, Adrienne."
"Out of interest, do you have any allergies?"
"I'm not a big fan of nuts, and get bad hay-fever, but nothing else. Why?"
"No reason."
She leaves and comes back ten minutes later with the coffee and a vanilla wafer thing for Charlie.
"Rory'll kill me if I don't feed is dad when he's in a coma," she explains.
"You didn't get yourselves anything to eat?"
"We don't eat much and, I had a big lunch."
"How much do I owe you for the coffee?"
"Nothing. It's on me."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I might as well use the account."
"You two are good kids. You know that?"
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."