AN: Hey, I'm dishing out this new story! I've been playing around with the idea since this afternoon, and now I'm typing it out. Hope you like it! Oh yeah, and CIPA is a real condition. I got all my information from the internet, and if you are POSITIVE (no, 'I think you got this part wrong's...) that I misinterperated, or portrayed something relating to CIPA incorrectly, then please tell me in a review or PM me.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything Twilight-related here. I'm just borrowing for your entertainment.
Bella's eyes flew open at the ringing of her alarm clock, and she sat up immidiantly, her breathing ragged. She reached up to feel her forhead. Well, maybe feeling was your definition for seeing if there was any change in temperature. But for Isabella Marie Swan, it was solely to check if she could feel it at all. Yes, there was the texture. Never the difference between hot and cold, though. She grabbed the thermometer from her bedside drawer and stuck it in her mouth for fifteen seconds. Ninety eight degrees farenheight, it read. Darn it. She had reminded her mother again not to put too many covers on her. The maternal instinct had apparently been too strong to let Renee overlook the detail that her daughter would only accept one blanket.
Sighing, the aformentioned daughter got out of bed and went straight for the full length mirror in her bedroom. Eyes? Check. Wrists? Check. Lips? Check.... Besides the normal signs of scratching, there was no blood or any other sign of injury. Bella breathed a sigh of relief at that. Good, very good.
She glanced over at the handwritten letter her mother had left on her dresser. Doctor Carlisle Cullen. Specializing in people with her condition, traveling all over the world to help them cope and live with it. But Bella had to wonder about this man's morals. After all, how could you specialize in something that less than one hundred people worldwide had?
Maybe he had done a paper or two on it in collage. More than anyone else had cared, that was for sure. Most didn't even know her 'condition' existed. But apparently this doctor did, and a few weeks ago he had sent her a personal letter inviting her to stay at the hospital in some rainy little town, because she was still so unstable with it. Also because it had been declared by the court that her mother wasn't fit to handle a child with CIPA, or Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis. Bella's inability to feel pain, heat, or cold.
When she was little, her elementary school teachers could individually make sure she didn't harm herself. The lunchlady took care to put ice in her chili, so that Bella wouldn't burn her tounge unknowingly. Her teachers rounded all sharp points in the classroom and made sure she never got ahold of scissors. She wasn't even aloud to participate in PE because she wouldn't be able to feel when her muscles were strained, so they were at risk for tearing. Over the years, Bella moved up in grade levels, and there were so many more students in middle and high school, that no one had time to focus on the girl with the problems. Bella became solely her mother's responsibility. It was just too much for Renee to handle all on her own without any help. And after the last time Bella had nearly scratched her eye out, she was officially forced to move to the hospital in Forks, Washington in order to stay there with five other patients. All of them unstable with their CIPA.
The letter from Dr. Cullen must have just been something to make Bella feel like she actually had a choice.
(( At this point, I stopped to go outside and play in the inch and a half of snow. I live in Texas, so this is a REALLY big deal. (: It'll be gone by tomorrow morning, I suspect. But this is the first time I've actually seen snow falling. ))
Bella glanced over at her suitcase with some distaste before throwing some clothes on and going to meet her mother downstairs. As Renee drove her to the airport, Bella watched out the window silently, listening to Renee's sobs and bidding her goodbyes to the Sun--and Pheonix--until she might one day see it again. And she planned on doing so, as soon as she turned eighteen and would be free unless the court declared again that she had to stay in the hospital. That might just be the day she threw herself off of a cliff. To get away from the pain of the world, Bella thought to herself, only half-amused by the irony.
OOOoooOOOoooOOOooo
Bella listened to the loud clattering of the automatic doors as they swung open to reveal the comfy waiting room of Forks General Hospital. The nice-looking nurse at the reception desk looked up. She had warm eyes and caramel colored hair.
"Hello there, you must be Isabella Swan. It's nice to meet you. I'm Esme, Dr. Cullen's wife." She said, coming from around the counter and pulling Bella into a hug. This would be odd coming from any other stranger, but with Esme it felt natural. Like getting a hug from your mom, almost.
When Esme pulled away, she pointed to a hallway that was unmarked, unlike the other ones with labels like 'Emergency Room,' 'Recovery Unit,' and such. Bella couldn't help but wonder how such a small town had enough people getting injured to have such a fancy hospital. Or, at least, it looked large from the outside.
As she went down the hallway alone, she eventually came out onto a room that was completely surrounded by windows. There was a blooming garden in the middle, cream and coffee-colored chairs and couches, as well as an entertainment area in one corner, with a plasma screen television and every gaming system imaginable.
"Impressed? Carlisle payed for everything with his own money." Came a small voice from behind her, and Bella spun around to meet the gaze of a small, pixie-like girl with a stylish outfit and cropped, spikey black hair.
"Alice." She said, holding out her hand to shake. Bella took it, noting the way the girl was bouncing with hyperness.
"Bella. Erm...are you...?" She trailed off, a bright blush tainting her cheeks. She had no idea how to put this.
"CIPA? Yup. I'll introduce you to the others, if you want. Most of them are off in their rooms right now." Bella found it strange how Alice said 'CIPA' like it was a word, sounding out the letters. It came off like 'Kippah,' kind of.
Alice took her to a hall leading off from there, which had a dead end, if that's what you considered the bathrooms and waterfountains at the finish, with nothing beyond that. Other than that, there were ten doors available to choose from. First, Alice showed me the Library, a small room with plenty of medical journals as well as novels and textbooks. Then the Dining Room, the main feature of which was a long dining table, already set for eight. After that she started showing me to the other patient's rooms.
"This is Rosalie and Emmett's room!" Alice proclaimed, swinging the door open without any courtesy to the owners. A deep blush flooded Bella's cheeks when she saw two people making out on the one king sized bed in the middle of the room. It was getting pretty heavy. "Erm...well, you'll meet them at dinner, I guess. Moving on!" Alice added in a cheerful tone, noting Bella's nervousness and taking pity on her instead of breaking the couple apart long enough for an introduction.
"Me and Jasper's room." The next door's opening revealed a neat bedroom, and a blonde guy reading a book while laying sideways on it. He looked....in pain? Not possible for someone with 'Kippah,' but that was just the way his expression twisted. Jasper glanced up at Bella but didn't smile, lifting his hand in a little wave. Alice blew him an air kiss before closing the door. "He looks unwelcoming, but he is actually really sweet and thoughtful. Plus, the fact he's really great in bed isn't so bad..." Alice once more noticed Bella's blush and cut herself off. She wondered how this mysterious 'Dr. Cullen' could allow his patients to share rooms, much more how he might know what they were doing in there.
"And last, but not least, Edward Cullen's cave." Bella looked confused for a moment at his last name, making Alice sigh with annoyance. "He's Carlisle's son. Edward is the reason he got interested in helping unstable CIPA's in the first place." She said with a slight nod toward the door knob.
Bella got the message and slowly rested her hand on it, almost scared to turn it. But before she could, the door opened with such force that Bella's arm nearly got dislocated, and something slammed into her slightly small body, sending her falling backwards. She hit her head with a loud bang on the tile, but didn't feel the pain at all, even after everything went dark.
The last thing she caught sight of was a pair of bright green orbs that sent her heart flying.
AN: How did you like it? In your review, tell me if I should trash it or keep going!