.

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When Bella got out of her truck at school, it didn't take her very long to notice the change. Her truck-well, the wheels–they were covered in something silver. When the brunette got closer to take a better look, she could see that Charlie had taken time out of his morning ritual to add something to her giant red monster. Snow chains, she thought with a soft look on her face, hand resting on the side for support. Bella's throat felt tight all of a sudden, standing up a bit straighter. It was a surprise to see this; Charlie caring. It wasn't like she thought her father didn't, it was just she didn't expect it. Of course, either way, it was just like Charlie to do something this protective yet without saying anything or asking for something in return.

He was her father, after all.

She was standing beside the back of her truck when everything set into motion. The weird screeching sound immediately made Bella's head snap up, brown gaze darting about for the source of noise. A van–Tyler's van to be specific. It was making an awful noise while it slid on the ice and it was coming in fast. Right for her. Bella had little time to react, eyes growing larger on her face and body tensing almost automatically. Nothing happened in slow motion, you know, the way it does in movies. Bella reacted the only way she could; startled expression, stuttering of her heartbeat, and her eyes darting over to a particular person.

Edward Cullen. He was four cars down from her, his expression was one of horror. The perfect features were the only thing she was able to lock on. The aghast faces of her friends and classmates, the skidding of the locked on tires on the blue van, her life–it seemed–was the last of her worries. Edward Cullen was there, he was there and he was watching.

Edward, Edward, Edward! she thought desperately to herself, eyes squeezing shut.

The van finally came to a halt, the wheels finally stopped making that ear-splitting noise. It was deathly quiet when the van made its collision with the red truck, Bella Swan's body a mess between the two vehicles.

.

.

Oddly enough, death hurt.

Or at least, she thought she was dead. Everywhere hurt-even her damn toes.

Where were her toes again? Oh, right. Smashed underneath Tyler's van.

There was red; her blood, perhaps? She surely hoped not. That would stain her clothes, also she would get nauseous. She didn't want to puke on anyone. There was a flurry of noise and yelling, not that Bella could make many out. For some reason, deep in her mind, she found herself disappointed that none of the voices were a certain deep velvet that she had grown accustomed to over the last couple days.

.

.

Her mouth wasn't working. But her ears surely were.

"Isabella? Isabella, can you hear me?"

Yes, this is what she wanted to say at least. And it's Bella.

"Isabella, if you can hear me, move one of your fingers."

She tried that. And then tried again. It wasn't working that well.

Bella felt a cold touch on her right hand (she was very happy she was still able to feel, wherever she was–heaven or whatever), and it reminded her weirdly enough of Edward Cullen. It felt like ice cubes were sliding along her skin.

"Isabella?"

"She prefers Bella."

Charlie?

"Ah," the voice spoke up again, clearing its throat. She didn't know why though, it sounded like an angel's. Maybe this really was heaven. But that wouldn't explain what Charlie was doing there. "Bella?"

Yes, I'm here.

She heard a sigh, a very familiar one. "Bella?"

Present. She was getting tired of everyone saying her name, even if they got it right.

"Hm," the ice cubes on her hand moved away. She wanted to open her eyes and see why. There was the distinct sound of scribbling on a piece of paper, maybe a ball point pen. Her mother liked using those rather than the messy ones that dripped too much. "Officer Swan, you should try to come back tomorrow. We'll run more tests and see what we can find."

"What does that mean?" Charlie demanded and Bella was startled to hear agitation in his voice. She hadn't heard him like that in awhile. Or it felt like it. Either way, it was very rare.

The angel voice though was rather patient when he responded, "It means we will keep trying."

"You said that yesterday. And the day before."

"I know–"

"So what am I supposed to do? Wait for her to wake up?"

"...Well," there was a heavy pause and Bella listened, wanting to tilt her head to the side slightly to hear exactly what they were saying, "I am not going to lie to you, Officer Swan. She may never wake up," She could already imagine Charlie's expression, his mouth opening to say something, but he was cut off, "Or she will. It all depends on her recovery. She hit her head very hard, she was injured. This is normal, there isn't much we can do but wait for her to respond."

It was quiet again. Bella waited.

Finally, after a beat or two, Charlie said something, "Jesus Christ..." He sounded stressed and crestfallen. "Alright...Alright. And if she doesn't wake up, then what?"

"That is for you to decide." Angel voice replied almost too easily, though his tone was sympathetic. From the conversation, Bella had at least gathered he must've been some type of doctor. He must've been used to delivering this type of news. "But please believe me when I say I will try to do all I can. I will make sure that she is comfortable, her vitals are always checked, and she is in the best condition. If anything changes, I will be sure to inform you."

More silence.

Then a sigh. "Thank you, Dr. Cullen."

Ah. So she was right. The doctor, the father of Edward. She wished she could see his face and see if he was as beautiful as his adopted children. However, with this new information, Bella was at least able to tell she was unconscious (barely so, she was able to hear), she was in a hospital, and she was hurt. Was this because of the crash? The van? What had exactly happened again? Everything had gone by so fast she wasn't able to keep up, both the incident and this conversation.

Charlie blew out another breath from the other side of the room, breaking her from her thoughts, "Do you know what this means?"

Dr. Cullen seemed bemused, "What?"

"I'll have to clear off the couch. Renee is definitely coming."

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.

Over the next few days, Bella fell in and out of consciousness. Well, not really. Her eyes refused to open and her body wouldn't budge an inch. In the end, she was rooted to the bed and her mind. It was a little eerie to hear the things happening around her and not being able to react or say anything. Every now and then, she heard Charlie's voice and Renee. Other times, nurses were gossiping or talking to her like she was a baby when they changed her IVs or moved her about. There were others–from school. They all visited in weird spurts, or maybe it just seemed that way to her. Eric and Mike visited frequently from what she could tell. Jessica and Angela as well, but she never heard Lauren's squeaky voice (maybe once or twice before it stopped all together). Tyler came too and it was very comforting to know that he wasn't hurt. He sounded normal to Bella besides the small sniffling whenever he apologized. It was good to know he was safe, wasn't rooted to the bed like herself.

Some days she drifted out completely and she would find herself listening to conversations on different dates. One day she thought she fell asleep for only a couple hours, but when the nurses chatted around her, she discovered a week had passed. That was always frightening to hear. Dr. Cullen also came to her room a lot–he talked to her like normal and brushed his fingers over her hands and forehead to see if he would get any response. Not so lucky there.

Renee brushed her hair.

Jessica and Angela held her hands.

Charlie touched her arm sometimes when he left.

Mike talked about school a lot and told her how worried everyone was.

Not once did she ever hear anything about or from Edward Cullen.

.

.

She lost track of time. It was driving her insane to be in the bed now. Someone, she wasn't sure who, mentioned July.

July when? What year? What was happening? When would she wake up? It was maddening. It was nice to rise out of the dark mist every once and awhile and hear voices and all, to sometimes drift away and think to herself (she came up with pretty good ideas but soon forgot them only moments later), to be able to sleep when she wanted and just be at peace. But soon, it all got to the point of being ridiculous.

I would like to wake up now, she hissed sardonically in her head. No one heard her.

Of course.

It wasn't like people really heard her when she was awake either. It was easy to flip through her memories and find good instances to her argument–her mother, Charlie, her supposed new friends. Edward, especially. The more she thought it over, the more irritated she became. This anger, she knew, wasn't anything good. She was always told by her mother "holding in your emotions isn't good, Bella". Well, how was she supposed to get it out now? It was just festering inside of her. Bella wasn't particularly sure where this anger came from, but it was oddly refreshing. She felt like she was taking a stand of some sort, putting her foot down.

When she woke up maybe she would try to refrain of being such a pushover. And first thing was first: giving Edward Cullen a piece of her mind. Ignoring her one day, ditching the school, making her feel stupid and resented (not only by him, but his entire family), and being so unforgivably beautiful that she was afraid to ask what was up with him. When she woke up, she would ask. She would get answers, she wasn't stupid.

.

.

One day, she rose above the mist and heard her parents arguing.

This was surprising. Bella wanted to raise her eyebrows.

If only I could, she thought wistfully.

"You are not moving her!" Charlie hissed, venom in his voice.

"And why not?" Bella could tell her mother was trying to be quiet, "She's my daughter!"

"She's my daughter too!"

"Ha!"

"I'm serious, Renee! You're being ridiculous!"

"I send her here for a month, Charlie! A month! And what happens?! She gets in a crash! My daughter is in a coma!"

"So it's my fault?"

"You said it, not me."

"I'm not letting you move her. She's fine where she is."

"She should wake up in a familiar environment."

"Forks would be familiar if you stayed!" This was getting really bad. Bella hadn't ever heard her father raise his voice this much, she almost wanted to flinch. She could already see the doctors and nurses slowing their walks hesitantly to make sure nothing got too out of hand. "If you stayed..."

"Don't," she cut him off, "Just...don't, Charlie."

It was quiet again. Bella found herself slipping away, back underneath the mist. She hoped things would be okay.

.

.

The anger she had inside her only rose even more, it seemed. Her parents' arguments got worse, they were beginning to call each other names. Some of the nurses even had to butt in sometimes. Other times, Charlie stormed out or Bella heard the sharp sound of a slap. Was Bella causing this? Was this her fault?

She wasn't sure anymore.

She wasn't sure about a lot of things. The date, her life, names. She was losing herself.

And it made her upset. Upset with herself. Upset with her parents. Upset with stupid Tyler.

Bella wasn't a picky teenager, she rarely threw tantrums-even when she was younger. But now, she wanted to scream, to cry, to curse.

Anything.

Move, raise her voice, blink.

She wanted change.

The sound of people's voices weren't helping much anymore–the comforting and the smell of flowers attached to Get Well cards, the nurses cooing to her as they cleaned her up like she was a newborn, the arguing between family members.

She really wished it would all just stop sometimes.

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One day, to her surprise, she heard a new voice. She was just coming out of recesses of her mind when she heard him.

"...Black...might not..."

Her ears perked up eagerly. Who was this person? Someone she knew?

"Actually," a snort. The voice was nice and deep, she wondered what kind of face he had to match it. "You might remember my sisters. The twins. Rachel and Rebecca. But they went off to college. Don't worry, though. I did let them know you were in the hospital and stuff and Rachel is gonna visit during New Years'."

Rachel? Rebecca...? Oh. Right. Bella remembered now. Billy Black's girls. The twins. If she recalled, they were a year or two over her so she hadn't seen them when she relocated back into Forks. Who was talking to her again? He sounded much too young to be Billy.

If not Billy then

"Uh..." There was a pause, "This might sound weird, but...sheesh, this whole situation is plain weird."

You're telling me.

"We used to make mud pies together. Remember?"

Mud pies?

"Crap. Wait. Sorry. You can't answer."

It's okay.

"I probably sound stupid, don't I?"

No, you're fine.

He snorted again, "Is it bad that I still think you're pretty?"

She wanted to blink. Pretty?

Bella could imagine him shifting almost nervously, she could hear him moving about. Maybe in a chair. "Crap. Craaaap. Just shut your big trap, Jake..."

Jake? Jacob?

Was that who it was? If she recalled correctly, he was the russet-skinned boy she used to see around sometimes. He had been a couple years younger than her. Maybe. She wasn't so sure anymore. But the upside was, she did remember him. And, like Dr. Cullen, he was talking to her like a damn human being. Whether or not he called her pretty wasn't really in the forefront of her mind, but that did make her wonder what exactly she looked like. Did the crash do a lot of damage? Change her features? Did she need surgery in any important places? She wondered if she had a scar or two, not that it would bother her much. Right now, all she was thinking about was waking up as soon as possible.

When she woke up now, it was really nice to hear Jacob's voice. She was getting tired of hearing her parents' arguing, after all. Jacob didn't talk about a lot of stuff, mostly his day (what he ate, what he watched on TV, what happened at school). She tried to make sure to listen, but with her pain medications and the way her hearing and mind would get fuzzy at certain moments, she would miss a lot of stuff. Sometimes she would wake up, he would be gone and her nurse was changing her clothes.

Jacob was a nice addition to the little world she was in at the moment. She liked his voice.

.

.

It was frightening to hear that months were going by. Every time she heard something from one of the nurses or her mother or father, it was a different day. A different week. A different month entirely. How much was she missing? A part of her just wanted to give into the comforting mist in her subconscious, to float away completely so she didn't have to listen to her life pass by. But she also knew she would miss hearing their voices–her mother's, Charlie's, Jacob's, her friends.

It made her stomach fold in to know she was giving up slowly. The anger was still there, of course. But it was tiring to be angry, especially when all she was left with were her thoughts and a bunch of time. People were gradually beginning to fall into the back of her mind, they just weren't important to her anymore; Jessica, Mike, Tyler, Phil, even her parents sometimes. Her friends from school visits also became shorter and more scarce, but it didn't affect her as much as she thought it would.

In fact, she couldn't care less.

Jacob still came though. And she found herself looking forward to his visits. He was funny, he always had an entertaining story to give. He was the only thing holding her out of the mist, the only thing that was keeping her from falling over the edge. But Jacob seemed like such an innocent soul, she was glad he didn't know he carried that on his shoulders. He didn't need to know he was the only reason she wasn't allowing herself to perish.

.

.

Jacob's visits became shorter and shorter over a small course of time. He mentioned something about his birthday and she was a bit sad to know she missed it. She got over it fast though, she missed a lot of stuff. She just wished she could at least tell him "happy belated birthday". Bella wondered if he was busier with school, that would make sense and it made her feel better about missing his company. Hopefully, like everyone else, he hadn't forgotten about her.

She was jerked from her thoughts later that day, though, when she felt a fleeting touch. It almost made her jerk (if she could), it was scorching hot. It was definitely fingers, though, and they were lacing through her own. Intertwining them and she was oddly elated with the contact, it had been a long time since she felt something this warm. Everything in the hospital was so hard and cold-like Dr. Cullen's hands.

The fingers stitched together to hers at the moment were hot, like the person had a fever of some sort. But the touch was familiar, the roughness of his fingertips, the large, masculine feel. Every now and then, Jacob had touched her little by little. He seemed a bit shy to do it in the beginning, but he began grazing her fingers and playing with them as the months went by.

It was quiet in the room. But inside, Bella was ecstatic. Jacob had come to see her, he was here. It had been awhile since she heard his voice or felt his touch.

"Bella," his voice was deeper, hoarse.

Is he sick?

"Shit."

He's cursing now?

"Y'know, I thought this would be easier. Saying goodbye and all...I'm-I'm not even supposed to fucking come here. The damn bloodsucker is pretty much running this place, did you know? It's bullshit. I'm just–" He released a long sigh and she could imagine his opposite hand dragging down his face, "I can't come here anymore, Bella."

What?

"I can't. I just can't. Not with him here. I can't believe I didn't see it before. I mean, I just thought it was stupid superstitions. My dad is big on that stuff. And I thought he was just being overprotective when he yelled at me not to come here a couple months ago. But...But now..." His voice took a dark turn, his hand squeezing hers tighter, "Now I see clearly. I see everything clearly now, Bella."

Another pause. She wanted to squeeze his hand back so bad.

"I wish..." He sounded wistful, "I wish things were different. I wish..." Trailing off there, Jacob smushed her fingers between his. It hurt, but she wasn't going to put up any protest (not that she could). It was weird, though. It sounded like he was in pain, like the whole weight of the world had climbed on top of his shoulders. Slowly, he released her hand, letting it drop gently back to the hospital bed, "I'm sorry. If...If you can hear me, just know, I'm sorry, Bella."

Silence.

"Even if you can't hear me, even if you don't remember this year, I still want you to know, okay? Don't give up. Keep fighting. And get out of this shithole."

You can count on that.

With that, Jacob walked out of the hospital room and out of Bella Swan's life.

.

.

There was nothing keeping her there now.

She fell over completely into that mist and didn't return for a very long time.

.

.

Bella Swan rose out of her subconscious when she felt something deathly cold touch her fingers. Almost immediately, she wanted to fall back to sleep. She wanted the peace and quiet and her thoughts, not the sound of her heartbeat and the shuffling of shoes. The touch kept her awake though, they lingered on the back of her hand slowly, as if mesmerizing the feel of her skin. It was odd–there was only one person with fingers that cold and that was Dr. Cullen.

Or so she thought until she heard the voice.

"Bella."

Almost immediately, her heart monitor jumped.

That voice.

That voice.

It was like a bucket of freezing water was dumped on her head.

The voice seemed amused when it spoke again, "Well, that was quite the reaction."

Screw you.

Where had that come from? Ah, right. She was angry. Yes, angry. Where the hell had he been? How long had it been? Much longer than months. Years, correct? And where had he been? Had he already graduated high school? What about his family? Dr. Cullen was still here from what she could tell (she had been in and out the last few-however long), she still heard his voice from time to time. It was certainly nice to hear Edward's voice, yes, but he had a pleasant voice either way. It wasn't like you could deny it. Anyone would want to hear that voice.

But...was she happy to hear it? Not particularly. She wasn't enthralled with him anymore, at least, not right now. Things were different–she didn't care what he was right now. Supermodel, alien, whatever. Bella just wanted him to go away. She would rather have her parents arguing beside her bed than him standing over her. Yet, he continued talking. "I'm guessing this means you can hear me." Bella wasn't sure if he moved or not. If she remembered correctly, he moved so fluently that she shouldn't be able to hear him in the first place. She could feel his eyes digging into her immobile face. She wondered if his eyes were topaz or black today. He sounded a bit too easygoing for her liking so she guessed it was that warm butterscotch.

"I've..." He seemed to hesitated, "For some reason, I haven't been able to get you out of my head. Even over these last few years. Absurd, isn't it?" She could imagine that crooked smile on his face, but she would definitely doubt it was out of humor. "My family thinks I'm being ridiculous. Rosalie especially. She never did take much of a liking towards you."

Well, screw Rosalie too. Not that Bella really remembered who Rosalie was. Was she the blonde girl?

She heard Edward make a small sound of annoyance, "If only...If only I knew what you were thinking. This would be much easier." He mumbled the words in his silky voice, his fingers leaving hers rather suddenly. As if he was just realizing he was touching her and regretted the action. Not that she cared much. "...things would've been better if I had stayed in Alaska. Things would've probably been different, I presume."

Does it look like I care? What does Alaska have to do with anything?

"Forgive me, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about."

You think?

"I cannot imagine how it must be for you," he mused quietly, "Things have changed. A lot of things." There was quiet and she was thankful for that. But of course, he ruined it, "I wanted to know more about you. You...interested me. You still do. Even if it may not seem that way to you."

Again, quiet.

"The van. If I had known, if Alice hadn't-"

Hadn't what?

"I should've been there. But by time the EMTs got there, I was gone. I don't really remember what happened. I apologize."

For what?

Bella could almost hear the smile in his voice, "I wonder if you're annoyed with me right now." He made another sound, she thought it was laughter. It sounded like music. But the air sobered quickly right after, "I wish I could've done something. But if I recall correctly, I remember someone telling me that life isn't fair."

Screw. You.

.

.

It was only two days later that something happened.

Her hand twitched.

Her eyelids flickered.

Curious, the nurse that stood over Bella Swan glanced up towards the girl's face. This was peculiar.

And then, shocking the nurse and herself, Bella's eyes flashed open.

.

.

Five years and seven months after the accident, Bella Swan woke up.

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Hi, guys. I don't know if you remember me or if anyone is still here or even reading my stories, but my name is Sonny and I was previously known as jaspersonlyone770. Pleeease don't even get me started on how much I hate myself-as you can see, I have not completely left FF, but I was busy. Before I left, I informed you all that I was pregnant. Twins run in my family so I wasn't surprised to get them, but my life has changed a lot. Unfortunately, one of my twins was a stillbirth. Please, no sympathy. It one of the things I hate at this moment-that was years ago and I am moving forward with my life, with my son, Aaron. I love him dearly.

This idea came to me days ago, and I just had the writing muse so I literally said "why not" and started on this. Me writing right now all depends on my mood and life so I can't promise speedy updates. Maybe if I get enough reviews and positive feedback, I will definitely try harder since I have a lot of ideas for this story.

One thing also, I will probably never be returning to my stories. Like-ever. I don't like my writing in any of them. But I don't want to take them down. The mistakes, the typos, the build ups with nothing happening. I didn't like them. And I have kind of moved past Twilight, I'm not that into it anymore and I've kinda gotten past my Jasper Whitlock phase. I still love him of course, more than I will love any other character but now I am focusing on Bella with other people, experimenting more. My writing, I like to think, has grown much more than before. I have grown, importantly.

I hope you guys think so too.

Anyway, I'm sorry that there was no Paul in this first chapter but he will definitely show up in the second or third.

Please leave a little comment/review, I am just coming back and I would absolutely love if you guys supported me. Don't be afraid to leave criticism. Also, sorry for any typos, I don't feel like proofreading or anything.