Fan Fiction ❯ Everything You Want ❯ Tortured, Tangled Hearts ( Chapter 8 )

Everything You Want

Chapter 8:

Tortured, Tangled Hearts

 

 

 

Cole poked at his baked potato with his fork idly and tried to discern why it was his stomach was all of the sudden tied in knots. The feeling had just washed over him moments ago like a tidal wave. Nothing had happened to warrant it, but just the same, the uneasiness plagued his thoughts.

 

“Cole?” Snapping his head up, Cole caught his mom's questioning gaze.

 

“Yes, mom? Did you say something?” Mrs. Hastings chuckled and shook her head.

 

“Where is your mind, this evening, dear? I just asked you what Bella was doing tonight. I'm so thrilled you two have finally gotten together. You just have to bring her over so we can have some good old fashioned girl talk. Oh, and ask her…” Cole tuned out his mother as his earlier uneasiness increased ten fold when Bella's name was mentioned.

 

Could something have happened to her? Was that the cause of these disturbing feelings? Pulling his cell phone from his pocket, Cole jumped when it started to ring in his hand. Checking the caller ID, he wasn't at all surprised to see who the caller was.

 

“Bella? What's wrong?” Ignoring the curious stares of his parents and covering his ear with his hand, Cole strained to hear what Bella was saying on the line.

 

“What, baby? I can't hear you.” Cole's entire body tensed up as he heard Bella let loose a muffled sob. “What happened? Where are you? Bella?”

 

“I need you… Daddy,” Bella choked out between sobs, “Daddy is in the hospital. Please, I need you. Cole…”

 

Cole shot up from his seat, “I'll be right there. What hospital are you at?”

 

Writing down the hospital information on a napkin, Cole nodded and said, “Alright, don't move. I'll be there in about fifteen minutes, at the most.”

 

Hurriedly flipping his cell phone closed, Cole gave his parents a quick explanation as to where he was going and then jogged out of the restaurant.

 

`Hold tight, baby. I'll be there soon…” Cole thought as he put the car in gear and sped off in the direction of the hospital.

 

 

 

 

 

Bella pulled the small hospital blanket around her shoulders a little tighter and sunk into a chair in the waiting room. Resting her aching head against the hard plastic, Bella closed her eyes and sighed.

 

She hated hospitals. The doctors in their pristine white coats, the nurses, the overpowering smell of rubbing alcohol and disinfectant, everything about the place turned her stomach. Everywhere and everything she looked at here reminded her of the night of her mother's car accident.

 

The doctors said they had done everything they could, but the trauma to her head had been too severe and there was nothing could be done to save her life. Bella remembered holding her father's hand while the doctor turned off her respirators. She remembered being mesmerized by the fading bleep bleep bleep of her mother's heart monitor as she slowly slipped away. After that, everything was a blur.

 

The weeks following her mother's death were the darkest of her life up to that point. Her dad had fallen into a deep depression shortly after the funeral and refused to leave his room. That's when he'd started drinking. Started and never stopped.

 

`And now, I'm going to lose him, too.' Bella fought back the tears welling at the back of her eyes and took a shuddering breath. Feeling a presence watching her, Bella lifted her head and opened her eyes.

 

Releasing the tight control she'd had over her emotions, Bella let loose a quiet cry and threw herself into Cole's arms. Making soft soothing noises under his breath, Cole gathered the weeping girl into his embrace and sat down with her in his lap. Burying her head into his broad chest, Bella soaked his shirt with the multitude of her grief.

 

“Shhhh, love, everything's going to be all right. I'm here now. Shhhh…” Cole rubbed soothing circles onto Bella's back and pressed gentle kisses to the top of her head as he waited for her to calm down. Tears finally turned to the occasional sniffle and shuddering breath as Bella wrapped her arms around Cole's neck and nuzzled into the hollow under his chin.

 

He knew how much she hated the hospital. Hell, she had always detested the damned place, but ever since her mom's death, there was not a soul on this earth that could force her into one. Unless, of course, it was a dire emergency, such as the one that had brought her here today.

 

“Are you ready to tell me what happened, Bell?” Cole inquired quietly as he crooked a finger under her chin and tilted her head up. Gazing up at him through swollen, bloodshot eyes, Bella explained what she had come home to that afternoon after he'd dropped her off.

 

Nodding at the conclusion of her explanation, Cole sighed and hugged Bella tightly to his chest. He had known it was only a matter of time before something like this was bound to happen. The man was slowly drinking himself into an early grave and seemed to not notice or care about the pain he was inflicting daily on his daughter.

 

Cole could remember the way Bella's father was before his wife's death. Happy, successful, content, a doting husband and father. The three of them had been so happy and in a second that happiness had been ripped away. Now all there was left of that man was a shell of his former self. He drank himself into a coma so he wouldn't have to deal with the loss of his wife and in the process completely cut himself off from his daughter.

 

He was selfish. Bella needed her dad to be there for her, but he was too caught up in his own grief and self pitying to notice.

 

So, Bella closed off her emotions and hid behind a happy façade. To look at her, a stranger would never be able to detect the grief that plagued her every thought, but Cole knew better. He knew the depth of her hurt like it was his own and was determined to shield her from anything further that dared tried to harm her already tender state of mind.

 

Including her father.

 

“Is there anyone here for a Mr. Robert Campbell?” Rising quickly to his feet and pulling an emotionally exhausted Bella with him, Cole raised his arm and hurried over to the tall, Asian looking doctor obviously in charge of Bella's dad's case.

 

“How is he?” Bella asked softly as she leaned into Cole's side and screwed her eyes shut, expecting the worse. Putting a comforting arm around Bella's shoulder, Cole turned his concerned gaze to the doctor.

 

“Mr. Campbell is in stable condition. It's lucky you found him when you did, young lady. He's suffering from a severe case of alcohol poisoning and who knows how much longer he would've survived if you hadn't been there to call an ambulance.”

 

Bella sagged in relief against Cole's side. `He's alive. He didn't leave me. Oh, thank God.'

 

“Can we see him?” Cole inquired.

 

“Yes, but only for a couple of minutes. He's still very groggy from the sedatives, but he should be able to recognize and talk to you for a short period of time.”

 

 

Nodding to let the doctor know he understood, Cole followed him down the hallway while guiding a hesitant Bella with a gentle hand to the small of her back.

 

Leaning down, Cole whispered into the shell of her ear, “Relax, baby. Everything is going to be fine, ok?”

 

Casting a weak smile up at him, Bella replied, “If you say so… Just don't leave me, ok?”

 

Cole hugged her close and murmured, “Never. I'll never leave you. I promise.”

 

Stopping at the entrance of an open room, the doctor motioned for them to file inside. Bella gasped and covered her mouth as the sight of her father attached to dozens of beeping, pulsing machines brought back painful memories of a similar hospital visit one year ago.

 

“I don't think I can do this, Cole,” Bella whispered with a panicked expression contorting the delicate features of her face.

 

Cole turned her gently to face him and forced her troubled blue eyes to his calm green ones. “Yes you can, Bella. You are strong and you can do this. Your father needs you.”

 

Bella took a deep breath and struggled to find her center. `I can do this. Cole is here with me and with him beside me, I can be strong.' Nodding her head slightly to let Cole know she was ready, she allowed him to lead her to the edge of the bed her father was lying in.

 

Bella pressed a hand to her stomach as she took in her father's pale, sickly complexion. Sinking down beside the bed, she took his cold, clammy hand in her own and pressed a soft kiss to his palm.

 

“Daddy?” Bella called softly. She watched as her dad's eye lids fluttered open and his blood shot, hazel eyes focused in on her.

 

“Bella? Is that you?” Mr. Campbell rubbed a trembling hand across his features, “What happened? Why am I here?”

 

Fighting to control the lump rising in her throat, Bella attempted a half hearted smile. “You got sick, daddy, but don't worry. The doctor says you'll be fine in a couple of days, ok?”

 

Eye lids drifting closed again, Mr. Campbell sighed, “Kathy…”, and fell back into sleep.

 

Rising back up beside Cole, Bella brushed a few strands of her father's pale blond hair from his damp forehead and allowed tears to streak unchecked down her cheeks.

 

“It feels like I'm always crying. Why can't I just be happy, Cole? Why is God punishing me?” Bella whispered as Cole wrapped his arms around her.

 

Not knowing what to say, Cole pulled her tighter into his embrace and murmured unintelligible words of comfort as she buried her tear dampened face in his shirt.

 

 

 

 

*~~~~A/N~~~~*

 

 

 

Sorry for the late update. Work seriously cuts into my `sitting on my lazy ass in front of the computer time'… Stupid responsibilities… :o) Thanks again to every one of my readers. You guys are awesome!

 

 

 

 

*~~Media Miner Reviewer(s)~~*

 

 

 

Amaria2012: *does a little happy dance* YAY! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story. :o) Please keep reading and reviewing, ok? Thanks!

 

 

 

 

*~~Anime Spiral Reviewers~~*

 

 

 

Xx_tearful_worries_xX: As always, you are awesome. :o) *hugz* Thanks so much for your support and continued reviews.

 

 

 

 

Next Chapter: Shape Up or Ship Out