A/N: Big thanks to the Dream Team; Sherry, Paige, Tiffany & Cristina. You girls rock my world.

Sorry the updates have been slow. RL has been kicking my ass.

Chapter 18

Edward seemed to be on his cell for ages. I could hear the faint sound of his voice from the other side of the door, although I couldn't make out a single word he said. However, just knowing he was out there was comforting. If I was truly honest with myself, I was a little shaken up after the crash. I couldn't understand why James would go to such extremes to get me. Was it an infatuation? Was he mentally disturbed? I mean, I always knew he had a thing for me. I had slept often enough with one eye open, as they say, but the fact he was willing to go against someone like Edward was just crazy. It didn't make sense, but then James never made much sense to me.

I sighed as I shifted uncomfortably in the bed. I really needed to go to the bathroom, but I wasn't sure if I was supposed to be up on my feet or if I was supposed to call for a nurse. I didn't have a catheter in, I knew that much, but I couldn't see the remote with the button to call the nurse anywhere. Not that I wanted to have to rely on someone to take me. I also worried that if I didn't go before Edward got back he'd insist on taking me. I could just imagine him standing over me as I tried to pee. Yeah. Not happening. That last image definitely made my mind up. I was going to the bathroom before he finished his call.

The bedrails on either side of the bed were up, but with a little bit of wriggling, okay, a lot of wriggling, tugging and pulling, I finally managed to get one of them down. I told myself that was the easy part, but fuck, it felt like I'd run a marathon and I hadn't even got out of the bed yet. I slowly swung my legs over the side of the bed and took a deep breath before I lowered my feet onto the floor to stand. My legs weren't as steady as I would have liked, but I kept reminding myself of the image of Edward with me in the bathroom. It helped to spur me on.

I slowly walked over to the bathroom door, my head spinning with every step. At one point, I thought Edward was going to come in and find me in a heap on the floor. In the end, I made it to the bathroom, even if it did involve a lot of leaning on the wall to hold myself upright and shaking. I quickly did my business and washed my hands. When I was finished, I stood staring into the mirror, surveying the damage. My face was a mess. I had a large cut at the top of my head, which was pretty similar to Edward's. My face was covered with bruises and small cuts; I suppose that was from the shattered glass. I also had the beginning of two black eyes. Not my most attractive look, but there wasn't a lot I could do about it. In time, it would heal. I just had a feeling that Edward was going to be protectively hovering over me until then. I wasn't looking forward to that.

I heard the door to the room open as I stood there staring at myself in the mirror. Edward must have finished his call. I half expected him to call out to me, wondering where I'd gone, but when he didn't say anything I shouted out to him. "I'm in the bathroom. I'll be out in a sec." There wasn't a response, which was strange. I got a gnawing feeling in my gut. The kind you get when you know something is about to go wrong, but instead of listening to it, I ignored it. I told myself I was just being paranoid. The crash had shaken me up, that was all. Nothing was going to go wrong. But I couldn't have been more wrong.

I walked over to the bathroom door, planning to open it and see why Edward wasn't answering me. However, as I walked toward the door, it was kicked open with such a force that I was sent flying across the bathroom. I let out a cry of agony as my head smacked against the wall and I slid to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

I must have blacked out, because one second I was lying in a heap on the floor against the wall. The next, I was sprawled out on the floor with a very angry James looming over me. "You," I stuttered as I lay there staring up at him in disbelief. How the hell had he managed to get in here? How had he managed to get past Edward? Where was Edward? Had he hurt him? Was he okay? A thousand questions ran through my mind as I tried to comprehend what was happening.

"Me," James said, looking very pleased with himself. "Did you miss me, Bella?" He reached out toward me and ran a finger down the side of my face. The action caused a deep, chilling shudder to run through my entire body. "I've certainly missed you." If it wasn't for the fact I was lying on the floor suffering from injuries he had caused, I might have almost believed him. His eyes looked sincere. Yes, he had missed me, but I doubted it was in the sense that a normal person would miss someone.

"I don't understand why you've been so difficult," he muttered, but I think it was more to himself than me. "You act like I'm the bad guy here, but I wasn't the one who killed your father. No, that was Cullen and instead of running from him, what do you do? You shack up with him and play the happy family.

"You should have come to me. When that bastard killed your father, you should have come to me. I would have protected you. I would have taken you in, made you mine. You are mine!" he shouted, grabbing my hair and jerking my head for emphasis. "You belong to me, Bella! Your father promised I could have you. I've been waiting all these years to have you, and I will have you," he seethed.

"Did you honestly think I would walk away and let him have you? You're mine," he snapped. "You belong to me, Bella. I. Own. You."

I stared at him as I lay there frozen on the floor. Too scared to speak or move in case I set him off. I had no idea what he was talking about or why he thought I belonged to him. Had my father really promised me to him? My father was capable of many shitty things, but to promise me to a man like James? I wasn't sure he would even sink that low… but then again, he gave me to Edward in an attempt to save his lousy life. Was being a bargaining chip all I had been to my father? Someone to use so he could get his own way? Had he been using me all these years? Dangling me over James' head like a carrot, so he could control him? I thought my life couldn't sink any lower, but I guess I was wrong.

"Answer me," James growled, but I didn't have a clue what he had asked me. He grabbed my shoulders and began to shake me roughly. I could feel my eyes swimming to the back of my head as he banged it against the floor. My mind slowly began to shutdown, even though I fought to stay conscious. The last thing I wanted to do was to blackout around James, but no matter how hard I fought, darkness consumed me.