THE VISITOR

I enter through the entry doors of Forks General Hospital for the first time in what feels like eons. I take in the obvious changes such as the new renovations as well as appraising the older building beneath the shell.

"Hello," I am greeted by Agnus, a permanent fixture of the hospital. She is a very pretty eight-year old girl with beautiful chocolate-coloured ringlets held together with pink ribbons.

"Good morning Agnus, are you well?"

"I have been, but I'm better now. It has been so long since I've seen you. Come, come sit with me and we can talk some more."

I smile serenely at the child, "very well, but I cannot stay long. There are many more places for me to visit today."

"I understand," she pouts sadly.

I follow her to some newly installed plastic chairs and sit beside her. "How come you don't visit more? you know… with your job and all I thought you would be here nearly once a week."

"I'm not the only person with my job description, Agnus. You know that."

"Yeah… I really hate that Jane lady."

"Yeah… we all do." Agnus smiles at my retort, "well, I must be off."

"Wait! before you go, there is someone you simply must see." I raise my eyebrows at her in question, "look, there he is." She points to the left and my gaze follows her direction, "Dr. Cullen!" she hollers loudly at waves vigorously at him.

He smiles in return and approaches us, "good morning Agnus, nice to see you. What brings you here today?"

"Oh! the usual, just hanging around," she replies with a shrug of one shoulder.

"I see…"

"This is Bella, my friend."

He appraises me with a gentle smile and offers his hand, "nice to finally meet one of Agnus's friends."

I shake his hand, wondering what his initial appraisal of me is. "Nice to meet you Dr. Cullen. Say… I'm looking for a patient, can you help me?"

"Of course Bella, who are you looking for?"

"Keith Pieterson."

"Oh, he is in the ICU at the moment, I will have to escort you to him, no unauthorised personnel I'm afraid. Are you his granddaughter?"

"Yes… yes I am," I lie smoothly.

"Well, the rest of your family not long left, you just missed them."

"I'm sure I will catch up with them later," I smile at my own double entrende and stand from my chair and smile down to Agnus, "stay out of mischief Agnus, I don't want to have to come back here before I'm supposed to."

She pouts, her dimples becoming quite prominent in her cheeks, "okay Bella. You should come back more often though, I like our talks."

"Perhaps," I tell her.

"This way, Bella," Dr. Cullen directs so I walk along side him. "So you appear to know Agnus, is there any way I can help her? I can't locate her records or even her parents or any family. She just… lingers around."

"Yeah… she does that. Don't worry too much about her… she'll be fine."

"You look familiar, and I'm pretty good with faces, but I can't quite pin-point where I've seen you before."

I smile knowingly at him, "is this the ICU?"

"Yes, through here," a passing nurse offers him a strange glance before continuing on to her destination. "Mr. Pieterson is a good man, you're very lucky to have had him as a role model."

"Were you the doctor who performed his surgery?" I ask, just out of mere curiosity.

"No, Dr. Thompson performed it, I wasn't rostered on when he was in theatre."

"I thought that may have been the case."

He offers me a strange look, "what do you mean?"

I smile at him, but keep my reply silent. We stop at the end of a standard-issue hospital bed where Keith Pieterson lies still and unconscious. Two intravenous drips connect to his veins while machines monitor exactly what his body is doing. I walk beside his bed and look at his wrinkled face. "Quite a life he has lived, is it not Dr. Cullen?"

"I suppose… when compared to many far less fortunate."

"Yes… " I stroke the old man's face, then lean down and kiss his forehead. The machine beeps as expected and alarms start screeching.

"What?" Dr. Cullen mumbles and hurries to the old man's side.

He scrambles with equipment and such, "Dr. Cullen," he barely spares me a glance, but it is enough for him to note the D.N.R. I point to, written on Keith Pieterson's board. He ceases his scramble and silences the machines, "time of death; ten-oh-nine A.M."

I hold Mr. Pieterson's hand, and help him stand from his bed. The old man looks down on himself, his shock very evident on his face. He looks to me for clarification, just as they all do, so I hug him with the warmth and love he is searching for. "You're okay," I soothe, "are you ready to go home?"

"Y… yes." I let Mr. Pieterson go and re-hold his hand.

"W-What?" Dr. Cullen stammers, likely for the first time in his second life. "Who are you?"

"You already know the answer to that."

"You were there when I was changing… weren't you?"

"Yes… I was." I smile to Mr. Pieterson, and walk him home.

A/N: HOPE I DIDN'T DEPRESS ANYONE TOO MUCH LOL. AND IF YOU DIDN'T UNDERSTAND AGNUS, SHE DIED IN THE HOSPITAL AND NOW ROAMS THE HALLS, SCARING UNSUSPECTING PATIENTS. DR. CULLEN CAN SEE HER BECAUSE HE IS SO CLOSE TO DEATH, BUT HE HASN'T GRASPED THAT HE IS THE ONLY ONE IN THE HOSPITAL THAT SEES HER. AND YES… BELLA IS DEATH.