I stepped drearily through the small glass doors of the local hospital and instantly thanked god for shelter against the relentless downpour outside. Ever since the first moment I stepped foot into town, it hadn't stopped raining.
Today was my second week in the town called Forks.
I sighed heavily before wringing out the mass of soaking dark hair that clung to me everywhere.
And to think, I had actually spent the time to curl it this morning.
My hood had been pulled up when I ran out of the car, but the wind seemed to have cruel, relentless fingers here, yanking the feeble excuse for protection off my head at least three times before I had given up entirely.
I wiped my shoes clean on the small grey mat at the doorway in an attempt to be courteous and realized I was drowning half the entrance with the water that was sloshing off my jacket.
A small old man in an overcoat gave me a disapproving look as he wobbled by and I returned the favour by giving him a black glare before he turned his back on me.
I was in no mood to be polite.
I took another deep sigh before taking a step onto the smooth, hard marble floor.
SQUEAK!
I froze, cringing in embarrassment.
Of course my shoes would squeak.
I trudged miserably towards the all too familiar front desk, a trail of horridly loud and distinct squeaks following me with each reluctant footstep.
The old woman who sat behind the large white desk heard my arrival long before I had reached her and now sat scrutinizing my dishevelled appearance, clearly unimpressed.
"Hi, can you tell me what room Hannah Forrester is in?" I thought about giving my sister's middle name and then decided against it; in a hospital this small I'm sure it wasn't necessary.
The plump, silver haired woman gave me a disapproving frown and folded her thick arms around her chest.
"Not allowed to give out patient's room numbers, sorry." She didn't sound the least bit apologetic and she now sat with a stern look on her wizened face continuing to look me up and down.
I clenched my jaw shut and hissed at her through gritted teeth all the while trying to smile politely; the combination was not flattering.
"Listen, I'm her sister, she's having a baby and we've been in and out of this hospital for the past week," I stopped, suddenly on the verge of tears. All of the day's events had finally caught up with me and I was finished. I just wanted to go home.
Swallowing hard, I fought against the moisture in my eyes and regained my composure.
For the moment at least.
"Please, just give me her room."
My voice cracked on the last word and the woman stared at me curiously, most likely wondering if I was about to have a nervous breakdown.
She shook her head slightly before her blue eyes looked down at the monitor.
"218," the woman said after a few clicks, not even bothering to look up.
Too annoyed to say thank you and too afraid that my infamous temper would get the best of me, I turned around soundlessly and began my trek down the blisteringly white hall to my left.
I had been here enough in the past eight days that I didn't even need directions to find the room.
The squeaking of my shoes were louder than ever since there was no background noise to drown out the sound of my feet hitting the blue tile floor. Thankfully it seemed that all the doors were shut and the hall was blissfully empty.
As I walked I thought to myself.
What were the chances that the baby would actually be born today? Hannah's due date had been six days ago; today was day seven and still nothing.
I had flown down in such a hurry two weeks ago, all the way from my little house in the south of Italy to be here for the birth of my sister's first child. I didn't want to miss anything and I would stay here for as long as Hannah and her husband needed me.
That had been the original plan.
But now, fourteen days in, I was sure that I wouldn't be able to keep that promise.
Firstly, if the baby didn't pop out by the end of this week, I'd reach in and yank it out myself...or on a less psychotic level, I'd take the next flight home.
Secondly, the weather here was driving me insane. I couldn't step out of the hotel without being nearly drowned. I had never spent so much time indoors while on "vacation."
And thirdly, I was growing more and more homesick by the day.
I missed Italy. I missed the small streets, the beautiful architecture, the hot summer nights and the tiny picturesque cafes. Italy was fresh, vibrant, unique, bold and beautiful. And although I didn't really look like an Italian, Italy was home.
Italy was home and I was here.
At least I wasn't alone in my suffering. The other 3000 most unlucky people in the world were stuck in this rainy shit hole too; this improved my mood a little.
Just before I could make myself feel any better at the thought of others suffering, I walked past an open office and caught my reflection in a mirror hanging on the inside of the white door.
I nearly gasped when I saw myself.
It looked as though someone had just thrown me into the ocean. My dark hair was a soaking mess, my jacket and jeans were completely drenched, my nose and cheeks were bright pink with cold, and my fair skin seemed to have an gained an unhealthy grayish hue; I looked more like a patient than I did a visitor. Water was dripping steadily from every part of my body and by the next minute or so, I had created my own little puddle around my already soaking feet.
"Lilly?"
I spun around, taken off guard, and found my sister's husband standing near the entrance to one of the rooms a couple of doors down.
"Hey John," I spluttered half heartedly.
His eyes widened in shock as he took in my appearance. "What the hell happened to you?"
"Forks happened," I muttered bitterly, squeaking my way towards the door he was standing at.
John stood trying desperately to hold back his laughter as he watched my disgruntled body make its way to room 218.
"Is she anywhere close?" I asked hopefully stopping just short of the closed door.
All of my hopes vaporized as John shook his head slightly with a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"I don't know if this is normal Lil, she's been having labour pains for the past week and still no baby?" My brother-in-law bit his bottom lip in anxiety and I felt a wave of guilt pass over me. How could I be so selfish and uncaring towards my own family? So what if I was a little homesick, I'd just have to grow a pair and tough it out.
I reached over and placed my hand on John's shoulder, struggling for something comforting to say but all I managed to get out was, "Oh don't be an idiot, it'll be fine."
Despite my lack of knowledge when it came to comforting people, he smiled, his eyes regaining their previous glimmer of excitement.
"If anything just ask Dr. Podolski if there's anything we can do to help speed up the process," I added trying to hide the hint of the desperation in my voice.
"You mean Dr. Cullen." John stated simply. When I didn't acknowledge the correction he stared at me for a few moments as if waiting for me to remember something obvious.
"You don't remember do you?" He said slightly amused at my apparent idiocy.
"Well obviously not," I snapped irritably, my mood was beginning to plummet once again.
John chuckled at my anger before answering. "Dr. Podolski was a temporary replacement for our actual doctor who was out of the country on personal business. Lil, you were sitting with us when he had to explain to Hannah."
I frowned slightly trying to recall the event, but my time in Forks seemed to have become one big, gray and very wet blur.
However I found myself saddened by the loss of the enthusiastic old german doctor and had already grown quite a negative perspective on this Dr. Cullen.
"Well he doesn't seem like a very good doctor." My words were unnecessarily scathing as I continued. "How much do you want to make a bet that his "personal business trip" consisted of drinking and lazing around on his fat ass all day somewhere in the Bahamas?"
"Not that it's anyone's business, least of all yours," John glowered at me for added emphasis before finishing his story. "But Dr. Cullen takes two weeks off every year to go visit his wife's burial site over seas." John looked down sadly shaking his head in sympathy.
Feeling like a complete idiot, "Oh..." was all I managed to say.
But before I could to delve into guilting myself, the white door with the black numbers painted on it slowly swung open for John and me.
A thin nurse with a rather horse like face stood with her hand on the silver handle, gesturing for my brother-in-law and me to come in.
As I stepped into the tiny peach coloured room, I heard my sister on her cell phone jabbering away excitedly with who I could only assume was our mother.
"Ok, ok, I will. Hey got to go mamma love you, Lilly says hi!" Hannah held out her phone for me to shout some sort of greeting but I simply glared at the device until she hesitantly withdrew her arm.
"I don't know, she's being a sour puss today."
I rolled my eyes and began tapping my still soaking shoe on the floor with blatant annoyance; sour puss was an understatement.
"Okay mom, hang up really. Ok. Ok I will, love you too, bye!" Hannah finally snapped shut her blue cell phone and threw it on the cream coloured nightstand beside her, taking a sharp breath before turning to me and John.
"Ok, this thing's coming out of me today or I swear to god I'll rip-" my sister stopped talking abruptly and looked at me curiously. "You decided to go for a swim before stopping by I see."
I gave her a sarcastic smile and began to scratch my nose with my middle finger.
The three of us laughed and the mood in the room seemed to lighten considerably.
"Do you mind checking if Dr. Cullen is ready to see us yet?" John asked abruptly, turning to the horse faced nurse.
"Dr. Cullen?" The nurse's voice seemed as if she was about to faint but she appeared to be shaking with excitement instead. Her green eyes were wide with surprise and a huge grin was plastered on her too thin face. "I'll get him for you right now!" And with that the nurse bounded off as if there were wings attached to her white shoes.
Hannah and I exchanged confused glances.
"I don't get it. That's the fourth time today a nurse has done that when John's mentioned his name." Hannah said as she tried in vain to peer out the door.
I shrugged my shoulders and turned to see John smiling wryly.
"What?" My eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"Oh nothing, you'll see soon enough." His voice was too smug for my liking and as I went to sit on the turquoise cot beside Hannah we could hear the thud of footsteps approaching.
"Finally," I muttered sourly as I began to fiddle with my still soaking jacket. I was surprised to see that it had not dried one bit and as I shifted I realized that the shirt underneath my jacket had absorbed as much water as the rest of my clothes.
Just then there was a faint knock on the open door at precisely the same time Hannah kicked me in the thigh.
"Ow, what the hell is your problem?" I snapped angrily but became confused when I saw my sister's expression. She looked as though she had been turned into stone; I don't even think she was breathing. Her eyes were wide, her body tense and her jaw was locked tight. The only thing she managed to do was to incline her head forward as if telling me to take a look behind.
I shook my head and turned irritably towards the door.
That was the first time I laid eyes on Dr. Carlisle Cullen.
I felt my jaw hit the floor and somehow managed to scrape it off before the picture of perfection standing at the doorway noticed. It felt as though someone had scooped out the bottom half of my stomach and replaced my legs and arms with jell-o. Never before in my 22 years of life had I seen anyone as beautiful as the man who stood before me now. And never before in my 22 years of life, had I looked worse than I did now.