La Donna e Il Dottore

Chapter Two

So, thank you to everyone who read my story for the Godfather of All Writing Contests. I'm so thrilled with the outcome and the stories submitted were nothing short of awesome! So well written! I've decided to expand this. It'll probably be a novella, not a full-length fic, similar to Mechanics and Mistletoe or A Thin Line Between Love and Hate. I'm rereading my submission to see where things will be going. Thank you for reading and supporting me!

Standard Disclaimer: The author does not own any publicly recognizable entities herein. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter Two

Bella watched over Edward as Jasper stitched up his wounds. "Bella, he's going to need surgery for his arm," Jasper murmured. "I think his bicep is completely torn from Embry's blade."

"I'll take care of it," Bella hissed, glaring at Jasper.

"My brother, Peter, is a doc," Jasper said. "He's the one who showed me how to suture."

"And you're just telling me this now?" Bella sneered, shooting up angrily. "I wouldn't have had to involve Edward!" She sat back down angrily, and brushed Edward's hair back, frowning deeply. He was terrified of her. He'd seen her kill, morph into the woman she called 'Scar', her violent alter ego, stemmed from the horrible attack five years ago. Granted, the man she'd killed was the one who sliced up her face and injured Edward at Virginia Mason. Embry's death was justified. But, Edward was still terrified of what Bella did.

"Bella, my brother is a war hero, a captain in the army. He can help out in a pinch, like with this injury, but he's not cut out for our life," Jasper said, wrapping Edward's neck with gauze. "I'll call him. I believe he's got some leave coming up." Bella nodded. "He'll be out for a few more hours. I'm going to call Rosalie to arrange for some 'time off' for Doc Cullen."

"Make it as legit as possible, Jasper," Bella whispered. He nodded and left the bedroom where Edward was resting. His arm was wrapped, but still bleeding. She picked up his other hand, threading fingers with his and stared at his face. Even in rest, he was in agony, but still so handsome. Getting up and shaking her head, she walked to the window and overlooked the backyard. It was nearly dawn, with rain coming down gently in the lavender light.

"You should probably change, Bella," said Charlie. She turned, seeing her father. He was gripping a cane, his face drawn and covered in sweat.

"You should probably be in bed, Dad," Bella countered, arching a brow. She helped him to a chair and he sat down heavily. "Do you need a pain killer?"

"Nah. I'm fine. I just moved too far, too fast, but I wanted check on Doc Cullen," Charlie replied jutting his chin at the injured man in the bed. "He took excellent care of me. I hope you're doing the same for him."

"He needs surgery for his arm," Bella muttered. "Something about his bicep. Jasper is going to bring in his brother, who's a military man."

"He'll need surgery sooner rather than later if he wants to have full use of his arm," Charlie said, staring at his daughter. "Bells, I see how you look at him. You care about him."

"Well, you see how much my care helped him," Bella jeered, her hands clenched into tight, angry fists. "He was attacked at his job by the same monster who slaughtered my face."

"He's one less monster to worry about. I'm assuming you ended him," Charlie asked and Bella nodded with a curt, angry nod. "And that's why you're covered in blood."

"Not all of it was Embry's," Bella snapped. "Some of it was ..." Her voice caught, and she blinked back at Edward. "We need to help Edward get his life back. He shouldn't be involved with us. I fucked up, Dad. I shouldn't have called him. I had a moment of weakness. I let my emotions ... my love for you ... I put his life at risk."