Sure, the day was bad – OK, I know that sounds weird. My daughter goes missing, my best friend runs off, and my brother-in-law becomes suicidal, and I call it bad. More like crushing, horrendous, enveloping… But I'm getting off track… Now where was I? Oh yes, the night…

If the day was bad, the night was undeniably and legitimately worse. I sat on Nessie's bed, gasping for breath I didn't need. I was screaming, moaning, gasping; sometimes the pain was so much that my arms fly all over the place of their own accord, my legs kicking out involuntarily, until Edward summoned Carlisle and a few others to hold me down.I could see the pain in his eyes when this happened.

At first, Edward tried to rope Jasper in by calming me, but as soon as he walked in, he gasped and fell to the floor. He got unsteadily to his feet, shuddering like a PS2 control on vibrate, his jaw locked tight. I tried to calm myself, but his gift was immune to my pain. The first failed case. I sent Jasper out. I wasn't dragging Jasper down with me. I thought, perhaps, I might be able to handle it. I was wrong.

By one am, I was getting desperate. Carlisle, Alice, and Edward were holding me down. I was in real pain by this time. At least, when it was Edward who left, I had had, even if only for a second, a little relief from my sleep. A second. That's all I wanted. I managed to calm down enough to gasp between screams:

"CARLISLE!… Please… Isn't there…  Anything You… Can do?…"

He hesitated, then shook his head sadly.

"Carlisle… PLEASE!" I begged as another scream ripped through me.

I think… Perhaps… I'll be right back…" Carlisle hurried out the door.

"Bella I know you're in pain but… Can you please stop kicking so hard? I need this arm. It's my favourite arm for hugging Jasper with.." Alice said through gritted teeth.

I giggled feebly for a quarter of a second, then the pain washed over me again, and I focused my mind on weakening my kicks.

Carlisle returned a few minutes later, a bottle held in his hands. "You'll become unconcious if you take a spoonful of this." he informed me, his eyes glittering; he was probably proud that he had found a vampire sleeping formula. Boy, was he gonna need more of that! Edward, Alice, and I read the label on it at the same time, and we all reacted differently. I mean, who isn't going to react when your father-in-law tells you to drink a liquid marked "DANGER! TOXIC POISON! CONSUMING THIS SUBSTANCE CAUSES IMMEDIATE DEATH!"

Alice stood there looking shocked and outraged, Edward leapt in front of me in a protective crouch and snarled "ARE YOU AN IDIOT CARLISLE!?", while I wondered why on earth Carlisle couldn't understand that "DANGER! IMMEDIATE DEATH!" doesn't mean Sleepy Bella, it means dead daughter-in-law, dangerous dead daughter-in-laws husband and gobsmacked adopted daughter.

Carlisle chuckled. "No I am not an idiot, Edward, but I have discovered that poison in our system, is much less dangerous than in a human system. While it shuts the human body down by dissecting the nuclear platinum, our systems are much stronger, so our bodies don't shut down completely – they shut down our conscience membrane, connecting to the fambriar ecolie."

We all looked at him, uncomprehending.

"Poison kills humans and makes vampires fall asleep." Carlisle explained.

"Aaaaaah!" We all sighed.

Carlisle handed me the spoon, and I took a gulp. Just before I subsided into subconciousness, I felt the pressure on my arms and legs decrease as Alice and Edward removed their hands.

"Good night my love." Edward whispered as he kissed my forehead. "Tomrrow will be better." He promised.

But, as I sank into welcome numbness, I knew he was wrong.

It wouldn't be magically all better, even if we found Renesmee. Because we were a broken family, and sure, it would heal over time, but right here, right now, that's what we were. A broken family. And no "tomorrow" was going to change that.