I think I like that you let Bella stay legally blind… (at least, until she becomes a vampire!) Maybe I’ve just watched a few too many TV episodes recently where a main character is completely blind/deaf for one episode, completely recovering the sense at the end (despite the doctor’s initial pessimism!). And of course I wanted them to recover, but the completeness of it did seem a little implausible, so your take was refreshing.

great story, love your details

I didn’t even think of the long-term consequences of her horrific injuries: ‘the chorus of aches and pains that I usually experienced when I got up in the morning’ and ‘some of the pain remained in the form of deep aches where my wounds once were’. And might always remain to some extent, I imagine.

How interesting: ‘I generally can't make sense of what I'm looking at, things will look jumbled up and blurry. Some things are really hard for me to see like fine details such as print, written words and unfortunately faces.’ Makes sense given that it’s the brain that puts together images.

Aww, sad: ‘even around [Charlie] I felt self-conscious using my cane’. It’s kind of amazing that the dramatic story of Bella’s injuries hasn’t made it around town. It’s sure understandable though that she doesn’t want to “debut” her new physical limitations.

She’s working so hard to prove she’s not “useless”. And taking more risks than makes sense, with all the help she has nearby.

Nice: ‘…reaching up and feeling his face. This is something I had taken to doing since the accident; it helped to fill in some of the holes so to speak. He always accepted it without question, letting me do what I need to do to make my world make sense.’

‘The grocery store was extremely overwhelming, it was incredibly busy and there was so much visual clutter…’ A friend of mine who had a stroke said the same thing. She can’t tolerate more than a few minutes in a confusing atmosphere like that.

Excellent: Edward ‘stood by vigilantly as I diced and cooked ready to step in if I was about to cut or burn myself. I was grateful that he didn't oppose to me doing these things that I knew myself capable of, but were potentially dangerous.’
Must have been nerve wracking for him.

Hmm: ‘Charlie and Edward were silently communicating but my sight wasn't good enough to pick up on it. It was things like this I hated; everyone knew they could get away with talking about me silently without me knowing.’

Fun dialog with Charlie, Bella and Sue:
‘'You know that I did cook for myself for many years before you two right?' Charlie said a little miffed.
'Yeah and I'm not sure how you survived.' I said, Sue laughing again.’

A surprising thing to hear from Charlie: “…it was such a nice surprise to have you both here.” Both!

Wow Jacob is still Jacob:
'So you preferred that I came back injured the way I am having almost died instead of coming back as a vampire?'
'Honestly? Yes.'
It's smart that he recognizes the tsunami was the perfect opportunity to change her, and she gets to explain what they decided together. I’m glad your Bella is able to put her foot down, too (with Jacob, I mean).

A paradoxical problem: “You're so you that it's hard to remember that you've changed…” I guess she should take that as a compliment.

I suppose this is true: “sitting around doing nothing isn't helping me”. Or at least the daily gains are so small they’re hard to see.

Just as sad as in canon, leaving Charlie behind: ‘…knowing that one of these days it would be forever and hoping that going away to school might make leaving him one day easier.’

One thing that really struck me is how a story like this humanizes the benefit of “adaptive learning” at the college. People who need it should have every chance to live their best life.

Makes sense that Alice (and presumably Jasper) would go to Alaska with them, otherwise Edward would never be able to leave Bella alone.

I will definitely check out your new story! Thanks for sharing this one.

Sweet scene of Esme and Alice dealing with Bella’s hair that hadn’t been cleaned since she was wounded in the tsunami. This was a nice touch: ‘…when I woke again I noticed that the hand in mine was warm, a huge difference to the constant cold hands that had been comforting me…’ I like the juxtaposition of cold hands and comfort.

Lovely speech from Charlie: ‘”You've got a pretty amazing husband who you know will stand by you through everything. And me Bells, I'll always be here for whatever you need.' He spoke to me more gently than he ever had in living memory…’

Another good detail, from Charlie: ‘I had to talk [Renee] out of putting herself in debt to get here.’

Oh geez, the challenge of dealing with physiotherapy, with all the different injuries she had. But this is so positive: ‘I felt better knowing that although it wasn't far I was still able to walk.’ Although this is certainly easy to believe: ‘…the fear of walking without seeing was paralyzing at first.’

Another great marker of progress: ‘I was also completely off oxygen now, getting up and walking and not lying in bed all day did wonders for my breathing.’

Well imagined: ‘I was able to tell the four Cullen's apart by sight now, mostly by the way they moved.’ I saw a fascinating episode of Nova once where they talked about how most mammals see movement better than they see static shapes. This older part of the brain operates mostly in our peripheral vision, whereas the sharp, detailed center part of the retina, which is packed more tightly with receptors and takes up a big chunk of brain for interpretation, is a human capacity. (And don’t even get me started on how birds see!)

It seems like the trip to Forks wouldn’t even have been possible without the Cullens’ resources. She’d have been in Brazil till she was much stronger. And of course they thought of everything to make her comfortable. Nice: ‘…thanks to Edward's constant stream of telling me what is going on around me.’

Interesting that the plane taking off was especially frightening without being able to see. Then ‘I knew I was high in the air but I couldn't see this so it was messing with my brain.’ And this too: ‘I found that I got car sick now without the ability to see where we were going, it was something that I had never had happen to me before.’ We take our senses so much for granted.

Smile: ‘Emmett was much more subdued than usual; clearly he had been spoken to and was aware of my situation.’ I liked that Bella apologized to Jasper for keeping Alice away from him for so long.

That’s a tough choice when they finally reach the Cullen house – fall into bed or take her first bath in a month. Another thing she couldn’t have done without Edward’s help.

She’ll never take this for granted again: ‘I was warm, clean and comfortable finally back in my home with my husband.’

Before I go on to the epilogue, I just wanted to tell you I kept scratching my head about why I was so riveted by this story. It’s such an interesting choice for her to go through this difficult recovery rather than just being changed – the cover story for her disappearance was even ready-made. It shows Edward’s determination to let her have as much of her human life as possible – he never even suggested to her the option of changing her, when he first found her on the island. And Bella didn’t mention it either. I like that they didn’t take the easy way out. This experience is bound to add a lot to Bella’s character, and to the strength of the relationship between Bella and Edward (and the other Cullens as well). You did such a good job of chronicling the stages of her recovery, and the challenges she faced at every turn. Although I've never personally known anyone who dealt with this kind of injury, it all sounded very realistic to me.

There were so many well imagined descriptions of what Bella’s experience was like. At least I hope it was imagination, and you don’t have actual experience with injuries this serious!
Some favorites:

‘Waking was hard, like swimming through miles of Jell-o trying desperately to reach the surface. It took a long time, and the closer I got to the surface the more painful it became.’

‘The fight was draining from me quickly- as fast as the energy had poured into me it was draining just as fast.’

‘My first breath in I didn't draw in enough oxygen, not anticipating how much the respirator had actually been doing.’

‘… eventually I managed to pull a painful ragged breath in past my damaged throat. I managed to ease my breathing and it rasped in and out, I didn't realize I was crying until I felt Edward's finger brush the tears from my face.’

Sniffle: ‘I tried to nod again failing and let the darkness take me surrounded by the two men I loved the most in the world.’

So many lovely moments of detecting Edward’s presence before she even understood what was happening.

That’s actually hopeful that her poor sight is because of her brain’s distress rather than damage to her eyes.

After Edward gives the litany of her injuries, this is a very Bella response:
'Is that all?' I asked quietly and he huffed a laugh. 'How are you doing?'

She knows very well that he will be blaming himself:
'It was a natural disaster Edward- you couldn't know it was going to happen. This is the stupidest thing to beat yourself up about.'
That’s a lot of words to string together – good girl!

Boy, she’s lucky that such high level medical interventions are available. Everyone with a loved one going through such procedures must feel this way:
‘I was also seized with terror. I knew that this needed to be done to have Bella back but she was also here, safe, alive. Who knew what might happen on the operating table as they fit her skull back together like a jigsaw puzzle.’

It’s really distressing to picture canon Bella going through this.

Amazing: ‘The condition of her best friend had rendered [Alice] speechless with worry.’

Nice detail that Edward knows whether the doctor is coming from the thoughts of whoever is passing by.

How wonderful that Charlie gives Edward credit for all he did to save Bella’s life.

Good job describing Bella’s gradual awakening. It must be horrifying to wake up with a rigid tube down your throat. No wonder people panic.

‘I was shocked by the sudden return of strength and life in my wife and while it was disturbing it was also encouraging.’ Yeah, I bet.

Ooh, so many signs that Bella isn’t seeing anything.

The oxygen mask must be sooo much more comfortable than the breathing tube.

It’s hard to imagine someone young and strong feeling this way: ‘… being awake for a few minutes was more than her body could take.’ She has a long way to go.

Good detail: ‘I waited for it to get closer within human visual range and I waved my arms back and forth hoping to catch their attention.’

Imagine the fee (maybe more like bribe?) for the chopper and crew to leave devastated Rio and fly to the island to help two people!

Not good: ‘I could tell Bella's temperature was even higher than minutes before…’

It must have been so tempting for Edward to carry Bella to the chopper himself, instead of letting the paramedic do it.

I bet: ‘It was jolting hearing her condition so bluntly from an outsider perspective even though I had clearly seen it for myself.’
And then in the paramedics' thoughts: ‘It was clear that they didn't think she would live…’

Remarkable: ‘Blood swirled around on the floor of the helicopter, the blood that I had once craved so strongly now sickened me beyond belief.’

Oh yeah, I didn’t even think about what a mess Edward would have been. Interesting that the hospital has the ‘private bathroom that was clearly meant for situations just like this’.

Well said: ‘I collapsed into the hard plastic chair of the hospital waiting room feeling exhausted for the first time in over a hundred years.’

Easier said than done: ‘…please don't be alarmed. We have her on life support short term while she is kept under sedation. We will bring her out of sedation once the brain swelling is down.'

His inspection of the repairs to her injuries was the perfect balance between the view of a loved one and a medical professional. ‘I breathed a sigh of relief having seen that she was as okay as she could possibly be…’

Sniffle: ‘I was overcome with emotions that I had been keeping at bay and suddenly felt myself choking on them as my father pulled me up into a hug.’

What a relief to hear Carlisle say that the Brazilian doctors ‘made all of the correct decisions to care for Bella, I couldn't have done a better job myself.'

Also well said: ‘If I was able to cry, I would never be able to stop.’

That was a gripping conversation between Carlisle and Charlie. That’s a good cover, that Edward was able to get farther up a tree and wasn’t swept up into the water.

Nothing but waiting now. But much better than where they were at the end of the last chapter!

Wow: ‘…if it wasn't for the quick rise and fall of her chest and the steady thump of her heart I'd have thought her dead.’
Sounds like it’s pretty much a miracle that she isn’t. Given the spinal injury, it’s certainly lucky she isn’t paralyzed.

That surprised me, that it was the plastic packaging that the gauze came in that was of most use.

Scary either way: ‘…it was hard to tell if it was the blood loss or the concussion slurring her speech.’

Pretty consistent with canon Bella, her answer to all Edward’s inquiries were “I’m OK”. I have to hope that she’d be honest if something was really a problem.

Ominous: ‘I couldn't believe she had survived and it seemed harder to believe that she would remain alive.’

‘Now that I had done what I could for her I was starting to panic. I had no way of reaching help…’
I think it was pretty remarkable that he was able to stay focused and do what he could for her injuries, knowing how isolated they were. They don’t even have a boat!

I couldn’t believe she manages to ask him what he hunted.

Whoa, I guess she has passed the “I’m OK” stage: “I think 'm dying Ed'wrd…”

When Edward is heading out of the forest trying to get back to Isle Esme, it was amazing when not only was the boat nowhere to be found, but the whole marina had vanished. At least he was physically capable of swimming that far.

Well described scene of chaos in Rio, and how the strength of that much fast-moving water overwhelmed even vampire strength.

Haunting: ‘I was aware of a human body every now and then floating around me but each one was silent with no heartbeat.’ I can just visualize that.

‘I stepped through the shattered glass doorway knowing that if she was in here I wouldn't be finding her alive, but still I searched.’
Shudder. I guess he had to eliminate the possibility that she was somewhere in the wreckage of the cottage before looking elsewhere.

Bella speculating about Edward’s fate: ‘even if he waited [for the tsunami to pass], there would probably be too much debris to even get the boat out of the marina.’
That was shocking in reports of tsunamis – the amount of debris in the water, which did almost as much damage to people as the water itself.

A particularly good fragment of your excellent description of Bella’s state:
‘I was drifting in and out of consciousness, my hand would slip off my chest wound and the impossibility of breathing would wake me immediately and leave me scrambling to cover the hole again.’

And this is from someone who has been through medical school: ‘I felt his hands fluttering over me not knowing where to start…’ “Triage” takes on a whole new level of complexity and urgency.

Remarkable: ‘Even at his rapid speed it was several minutes before we reached the beach, I couldn't believe how far into the forest the water had taken me.’

I’m glad I don’t have to wait for the next chapter to be published. I can’t imagine how Edward is going to help her, M.D. or no. He can’t even get her warm and dry, and he can’t contact Carlisle. Yikes.

I first read this story some months ago, and was immediately intrigued. When I came back to write reviews, I was actually surprised the story isn’t completed. I was glad to see you are updating other stories, so perhaps hearing what a reader enjoys about Tsunami will bring back your inspiration to finish it.

Extra-frightening, of course, to have the earthquake and resulting power outage happen at night. Not so idyllic being on a private island when something like this happens! You did a great job setting the scene, for example the lights of Rio having vanished.

I enjoyed that your Bella has good common sense and takes steps that helped her survive (like not getting trapped in the house). The mangrove tree is a good idea: ‘…with all of its scraggly roots and grizzled knots even I stood a chance of climbing it…’

Excellent image: ‘…I could hear the roaring of the ocean getting louder and louder as it neared the island, as if some ancient sea creature had come to life to claim me.’

You’re really good at writing action. Your description was entirely consistent with the stories of survivors of the massive Indonesia tsunami in 2004.

why didn't Edward just change her? she would go through months of agony and may never be the same. she wanted to be changed.

"he lead me to the right side of the bed" It's LED, which is the past form of "lead" (pronounced "leed"). "Led" sounds like the metal "lead," which may account for your misuse.

He didn't "rang" out the towels. He "wrung" them out.

9. Chapter 9 then Rose, your mind to my mind your thoughts to my thought Tiv Tiver Narooon! echoing mre powrful the hair grew in a alarming rate had Pointed ears and had rich Sch'n T'Gai slanted eyebrows then the seer found me fully but activating Telepathic focusing my brain then toolate a pure white alien vortex forged a self-defensive mental and physical telepathic shield then the Cane shifted into my Garnet time rod was in fact clad in Vulcan robes/cloaks with my new ma'at symbols was not normal hair was short like T'Pau's with bangs framing my face was in fact not human remembered as all of it gained a alien power from the snakes were from the planet Vulcan became touch-telepathic by psychic touch Alice hair grew back abnormally what are you I am a Vulcan bred to peace what this fabric came from gasp hair again Alice she is a Syrannite by who Surak we need witnesses of your powers just awakened then in time healed from the injury then the Venom was both then had eight kids from tubes were hybrids blew up with bitten best friends with they torn freely Nothingness with three brought there good no longer they broke rule you Irina/remains lied of her/they they were turned by snakes illegally with they sliced rest killed her/they bring them with the others good you are put to death the verdict is execution then ATOMIZED By vaporizing good tore they suffered like her torn heads are punished the All of Volturi guards bitten as all of it then too late was already immortal but it really happened us/they met the witnesses she's not normal train her of her powers Smashed tore both brought there cursed to wander on my planet a lot of voices angry then I Let loose a Command holding my talisman higher with power and authority was a Matriarich of as all of Vulcan had religious freedom but rights KROYKAH! Sir! she is married has kids with they had kids eight are rare where you picked up this alien language oh my god you mind melded us/they are linked we are Syannites in time never was alive the world did evolve but changed too far faster the bodies were thinner blew up then lost from here then more as all of them in time myself was Vegetarian improved in miuntes spoken to alien but galactic languages far more fiery Alice she is clad in her Starfleet uniform heel-boots pointed ears upswept eyebrows hair grew long again had not changed was my beauty carried in death myself never died or went elderly was walking more alien but extraterrestrial then myself tried for my husband mouth was closed a galactic far deepest but not so human but or both Echoing vibrating very loudly but truest but real : Do you Remember we first met imzadi remember we fell in love again remember What I Taught you Can you Still Sense my own Thoughts at all Husband he heard my thoughts was touched united spirit soul and body as one oh my god Carlisle she is my long-term wife and imzadi gasp what it means please Beloved it's Betazoid in time so they my recovery went far too Starfleet marine but was More Federation powerful regained my memories and my katra the newspapers took a photo of myself married to a Betazoid was Vulcan mind-melded him by linking our minds was Stoic but attained Kolinahr Mother yes daughters sons we found imzadi no Thy'la gasp they know you are not human but from different planets so they they had kids in time never aged but haven't went old of it nuked freely the blew up good they are Deceased they are lost but no longer as all of Volterrans heirs as all to each three more than as all of them nuked were with human blood.

I definitely liked it. A nice glimpse into their lives.