Welcome To The Real World
None of the characters belong to me. They belong to Stephenie Meyer, the genius of the world. Just the crazy idea belongs to yours truly.
Before you point it out, I know Carlisle's real last name is Cullen but I changed it to Austen because of Bella's obsession with Jane Austen novels. All the other characters have their real last names used.
I'm warning you now, if you love happy endings this is a story that doesn't have one. I won't say it again.
Anywho, enjoy!
Bella POV
The sun was shining though my window as far as I could tell. My eyelids were still closed, but I was lying here savouring the peace as I knew it was going to be broken by Alice bustling into my room talking about today's schedule.
I lay there for another five minutes and wondered what the time was, I was sure that Alice would burst any second to lecture me about how late I was going to be, yet still no sign of her or Charlie pottering about the house in a panicked frenzy.
As I cracked open an eyelid I found myself in a room unfamiliar to my own. I went to move my hands to raise them in shock and found my wrists in restraints; they jangled against the bed like prison wardens keys as I fought against them, trying to release myself. When the panic started to settle in, I looked down at my feet and found my ankles in the same predicament.
As my breathing started to accelerate, my mind searched for a reason why I was here. From what I could remember I hadn't had any accidents, there'd been no more attempts on my life...I'd been as safe as someone that lived in a bubble. But here I was, manacled to a hospital bed; at least I guessed it was in a hospital bed...a screwed up hospital at that. I'd never been restrained before so the feeling was ominous.
Fear bubbled within my stomach and a scream rose and erupted from my mouth within seconds. I was in a place I didn't recognise, I was chained to a bed and worst of all Edward was nowhere to be seen. Silent tears were leaking from my eyes and I wasn't aware that I was still screaming.
The door to my room burst open and Esme rushed in looking alarmed. I closed my mouth as soon as I recognised her face but I looked in horror when I saw that she was wearing a nurse's uniform and she was holding a syringe in her hand ready to sedate me.
"Bella? What's wrong?" she asked in a soothing tone as she tried to calm me down.
"W-wha-what's going on?" I managed to croak from my now searing vocal chords. The screaming must've been blood curdling but my ears had blocked the noise out.
"Did you have a nightmare?" she prompted as she put the syringe to one side. By the looks of it she didn't think she needed to use it on me.
"This is the nightmare!" I rasped as I tried to position myself differently, the restraints were making that a hard feat.
"Bella, this is the hospital, you've been here for three years."
My eyes widened in disbelief and I tried to make sense of Esme's words but nothing made sense. None of this made any sense at all.
I felt like Alice when she fell down the rabbit hole. Miserably, the situation was ten billion miles away from Wonderland.
"I can't have been here for three years. I've been in Forks with Charlie and Jacob and you and your family." I told her trying desperately to wake up from my nightmare.
It was my wedding day; I was getting married to Edward. I was becoming one of his family in two senses of the word, this nightmare shouldn't be happening, I should've been dreaming about wedding dresses and churches, not about this twisted version of my life.
"You lived in Forks for just under six months, Bella. Charlie and Jacob visit you here at Layton Hospital; we're just outside of Forks. As for my family...I'm divorced with no children. We talked about this earlier this year."
"No, no, no. This is just a dream...I'm going to wake up and Edward will be there smiling at me, telling me that I'll be late for our wedding."
"I'm sorry but Dr. Masen won't be marrying you." Esme replied sadly as she took my restrained hand, "He's your attending doctor."
"And Carlisle will be there as his best man...and Emmett and Jasper...and Rosalie and Alice will be my bridesmaids...and my mom will be there with Phil sobbing away and Charlie will take me down the alter..."
"Bella, stop it." Esme snapped as if she were reaching the end of her emotional tether. "Dr. Austen is your psychiatrist. He's been trying to help you stop immersing yourself in your imagination. It's been three and a half years now, you need to stop hiding in your imagination and face the truth. Your mother's gone, she's not coming back."
"She is coming back." I replied determinedly, "she's coming back to my wedding and she's bringing Phil with her."
"Your mom and Phil have been dead three and a half years. They were killed in a car crash."
"No!" I wailed, "She's not dead, it's just a dream, I'll wake up any second now."
"I'm going to go and get the doctor." Esme told me sympathetically as she swiftly left my room.
I wailed at full volume whilst I was alone. I was sure that this nightmare would end soon, it had to. But a small part of me nagged that maybe I wasn't dreaming. Maybe Forks had been the dream and this was reality. Everyone knew there were no such things as vampires and werewolves, but in my world there were. My boyfriend was a vampire and my best friend was a werewolf. There was nothing wrong with that was there?
The door opened once again and Carlisle appeared with a notepad and a pen with a concerned Esme at his side.
"So you're back are you Bella?" he asked me with a genuine smile.
"I was never gone." I sniffed hoping that the selfish part of me was right and this was all a very bad dream.
"Do you know where you are?" he questioned as he jotted some things down on the pad.
"The hospital." I answered clearly, "apparently..." I muttered under my breath.
"Good. Do you know who I am?"
"Carlisle Cullen. My doctor and Edward's father."
He looked up from his notes and stared at me for a second before laying the pen down before he looked at me again.
"My last name is Austen. I'm the hospital psychiatrist. I've been treating you for three years. As Nurse Platt explained to you earlier, I've been trying to help you to come out of these fantasies you seem so desperate to cling on to. As for me being Dr Masen's father there are ten years between us which would make it physically impossible."
"They're not fantasies." I replied stubbornly, I hated the way they had both looked down at me when explaining what I was doing (immersing myself in my "fantasies" apparently).
"The death of your mother had a terrible impact on you, but living in your fantasy world won't bring her back Bella."
"Will you stop saying she's dead!" I snapped irritably, "she's not dead! She's living in Phoenix with Phil. He's a baseball player."
"I know this is hard to face up to, but we're all telling you the truth. The fantasies block out the pain, I know that, but we're not going to make any more progress if you keep returning there."
"It seems I can't at the moment anyway." I replied moodily.
"That's good. I want you here, in the real world. We can talk about what you've missed."
"I want to see Edward. And I don't want to talk about "what I've missed". I've missed nothing; this hospital is the fantasy, not Forks."
"Dr Masen is a busy man; he's got other patients to attend to."
"You want to talk?" I bargained, "then I'll talk when he gets here."
"Bella, I'm not sure about that."
"The window of opportunity may close sooner than you want..." I threatened, "Could you risk that just because Dr. Masen is busy?"
"Could you see if he's free Esme?" Carlisle asked her as he flashed a dazzling smile before she left. It was a shame to see that they weren't together in my dream, but at least in reality they were happily married.
"Now whilst Nurse Platt is finding Dr Masen is there anything you want to ask...about your father, about Jacob, about Alice?"
"Oh Alice!" I shouted before I could stop myself.
"Her rehabilitation programme is doing well. She's sticking to her meds and the schizophrenia is under control." He smiled happily as my face dropped into disbelief.
"Schizophrenia?"
"She burnt down her house, that's why she was brought here. Don't you remember?"
"Alice isn't schizophrenic. She's psychic, she can see the future."
"She was the first friend you made when you arrived here. I have to say you took her departure pretty hard. Dr Masen wasn't impressed when you threw yourself down the stairs in retaliation; you had to have some stitches to your head, but no harm done. However, you gave us quite a scare when you tried to drown yourself in the pond a couple of months after the stair incident."
"That's not what happened." I replied as his story sounded familiar yet so different from the life I'd been leading in Forks. "I hit my head when Jacob was teaching me how to ride a motorbike. And I nearly drowned when I went cliff diving, Jacob saved me."
"I was here when they happened. I spent months trying to find out why you were doing all these silly things to yourself. Especially after the self harm."
"The what?"
"You took a razor blade to your arm on your eighteenth birthday during your second year here. I can't quite fathom how you got your hands on it, but luckily you've never attempted it again."
"I cut my arm on glass plates, when Jasper tried to hurt me at my birthday party. I would never deliberately hurt myself."
"I'm afraid that's all you've been doing since your mother died. You've been carrying out different ways to try and kill yourself. That's what sent you here in the first place."
"What did I do?"
"You threw yourself out of your bedroom window. You were barely alive when they found you, but you pulled through. Your father was so worried about your mental stability that he sent you here for some help."
There was a knock against the door and in he walked.
My Edward, looking more perfect than ever. He was surveying me with at set of green eyes, I was used to looking into his topaz ones, but we were all human in this dream so he had to look the part.
"Ah, not a moment too soon." Carlisle smiled as he rose from out of his seat and clapped Edward on the shoulder.
"How are you feeling today, Bella?" Edward asked warmly.
"I'm feeling well." I blushed as he stared at me like I was the only person in the room.
I wondered why I had been so nervous about marriage before, looking at him now I knew I wanted to be his wife forever and eternity, there was nothing to fear, and my love for him would keep me from making the same mistake my mom committed with Charlie.
"We've just been having a catch up." Carlisle informed him. "It seems Bella does not remember a thing from the past three and a half years."
"I hope reliving the past isn't too harrowing on you." Edward said concerned as he still looked in my direction.
"I'm not worried about the past; it's the future I'm more concerned with." I told him as the fear of the situation had melted away as soon as he walked into my room.
"Can I continue?" Carlisle asked me lightly.
"Sure."
Carlisle looked slightly unnerved because of my change in attitude but I suspected he was probably going to label me as schizophrenic.
"Nurse Platt informed me that you said that there is a wedding going on between you and Dr. Masen today, is that right?"
"Yes, it is." I confirmed as I looked over to Edward and saw a hint of a smile playing on his lips.
"Could you please rename the people you said were involved?"
"There was Alice, Rosalie, Jasper and Emmett."
"Why, may I ask is Rosalie a part of the wedding?"
"She's Edward's sister. Why wouldn't she be a part of my big day?"
"If I'm right in assuming you're talking about Rosalie Hale then she's an odd choice for a bridesmaid at your wedding."
"Why's that?"
"Rosalie has been less than welcoming towards you in the last three years."
"She'll still be family when Edward and I are married. If he can be accepting of Charlie and Renée then I'll have to be accepting of Rosalie. Anyway, we had a chat and she told me that she was jealous of me."
"She did?" Carlisle asked with eyebrows raised as he took his eyes off the paper for a second.
"Yes. She thought that it was silly of me to give up humanity."
"I see..." I watched him jot down a few things but my eye steadily reverted back to Edward, just to make sure he was still here.
"So what about Emmett?"
"He's Edward's brother and one of his best men."
"Emmett McCarty is one of the orderly's here. If I remember rightly he had to haul Rosalie off of you once when she started a fight."
"They're together, Rosalie saved him from being mauled by a bear. Love at first sight I suppose." I told him airily. "Although, no offence Edward, they are a rather oddly suited couple." I said as I looked straight at Edward.
He just looked blankly back at me unsure whether to answer or stay silent. He was probably uneasy about the fact I was talking to him like I'd known him forever.
"Now Jasper on the other hand, wasn't a surprise." Carlisle informed me.
"Jasper tried to kill me. I told you about that earlier."
"Jasper was the one that alerted me to you when you...erm...hurt your arm." Edward cut in with a tone of urgency in his voice.
"Jasper's been one of your closest friends since Alice left." Carlisle told me, "I've seen you two together, and he seems to have a calming effect around you. That's why I was taken aback when you didn't ask for him to be here."
"Can you take me out of these?" I asked as I gestured to the manacles to take the conversation away from mine and Jasper's friendly relationship.
"Certainly." Carlisle replied as Esme rushed forward and undid the belts securing the restraints.
"I think you're all caught up now." Carlisle smiled pleased with my "progress". "Charlie and Jacob will be visiting at two; I think they'll be happy with your improvement."
"That's great; I'm looking forward to it."
Some hours later, although I was sure I should've woken up by now, I spotted Charlie and Jacob waiting at a table to chat to me.
Smiling I walked over and I saw relief wash over their faces.
"Oh Bella, Bells, my baby girl Bella." Charlie sobbed as he pulled me into a tight hug and squeezed me until I couldn't breathe. "You look so different, you look so much better. Does this mean you'll be coming home soon?"
"I'll be home before you know it." I told him as I broke away from the bone crushing hug.
"Bella. It's so good to see you looking so well." Jacob smiled as he hugged me also.
He still looked the same. A towering figure overwhelmed by a bulk of muscle as he squashed me against his chest, I noticed instantly that he didn't feel as hot as usual, but that was the human aspect kicking in again.
"So what have the doctors said?" Charlie asked as we all took a seat.
"They're happy with my progress."
"Have they said anything about coming home?"
"No, but I have a feeling that I'm already changing their minds about keeping me here."
"That's fantastic news!" Charlie beamed. "I'm going to get some coffee, you two want anything?"
"No thanks dad." I replied.
"No thanks Charlie." Jacob told him as the chair scraped away from the table and we watched him retreat to the coffee machine.
"I hope you're not getting his hopes up." Jacob warned me in a quiet voice. "I must admit there's been a huge improvement in you today, but what if you relapse? It'd crush Charlie. It's been hard enough being his rock every time he's been here to see the shell of what used to be his daughter. I couldn't bear it if we lost you again."
"I won't relapse. I'm here to stay, everything's fine." I informed Jacob as I knew that lying wouldn't hurt anybody. It was just a dream, I'd wake up in my bed and everything would go back to normal. I wouldn't be here for the next two months trying to convince Carlisle and Edward that I was a sane person. In about twenty minutes I'd be awake and I'd get on with my life.
One little lie couldn't hurt anyone...
Six Months Later
Another day, another desperate attempt to escape the 'dream'. In the morning I'd taken my medication, I'd gone to the group session, had lunch and gone for my individual session in the evening.
Each day the nagging part of me grew stronger and I was suddenly resigning myself to the fact that this place was actually reality.
My mother was gone, I'd been consumed by grief and embedded myself in a 'happy place' and not returned for three and a half years.
My happy place was no longer real and Edward and I would not get married. The best I got everyday was seeing him check up on my roommates who'd decided to incapacitate themselves. Since that day he'd been forced to come to my room we hadn't locked eyes once. He was the doctor and I was the patient. That was our relationship from then on.
As I tried not to sink into the pit of depression Jasper was there for me, trying to pick me up even though his life wasn't exactly a bed of roses either.
I could see that he loved me with every molecule of his body, but I just couldn't reciprocate his feelings. I loved him, but like a best friend. In my mind he belonged with Alice for eternity and nothing would change that in my eyes, just how I was supposed to be with Edward for the rest of perpetuity. But it would never happen, not in this world.
Now I was back in reality indefinitely I could never return to my dream world.
I was exactly like Alice, I'd woken up and realised that every wonderful thing I'd encountered was just a dream. Forks had been my Wonderland and it had been snatched away from me in a flash.
That's when the saying struck me...
"Welcome to the real world Bella, you're gonna hate it."
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Also to let you know, I live in the U.K and have not got my copy of Breaking Dawn yet so PLEASE do NOT tell me ANYTHING about it if/when you review.
Thanks for reading :)