Okay so I've hesitated in posting this one. Who wants to hear this?! But anyway, time for a short history lesson from Edward.
"I didn't really realise it was like that. When you think of the flu you imagine bed rest, sleeping, the sniffles. Not losing your own lungs and…" she trailed off in a whisper.
Edward, who had been silent for some time now, a sadness etched across his face as Bella had sat talking, caught her eye and delivered a small smile.
"It was unimaginably awful, yes. But a very long time ago."
"You can still remember though, right?"
"Oh yes."
"Tell me. Please? Its bizarre to think there are bits of you missing."
Bella ran her hands across Edward's chest and listened to his regular breathing change as he laughed softly. He surveyed her for a minute, allowing himself to recall the darkened and often gaping memories of that particular period in his previous life.
"As you are already aware, I was in Chicago in 1918 when the deadly second wave of influenza hit us. It was America that was damaged the most severely in the West, it seems most probable that it was the US troops being shipped from France at the end of the war that took the disease to Britain.
At the time, there was very little in the way of preparation - nobody had any idea what it really was or how it was spread - just that it was everywhere, and getting there fast.
My father was the first to become ill. Unlike most in our town he chose not to stay indoors and keep protected - he had work to do, 'a proud country to keep standing' he said. Celebrations of the end of the fighting bought more people out sadly, leading to more deaths and soon enough most of our street was ill. My mother kept me inside. She would keep saying that she hadn't prayed for me to be kept from the battlefields only to have me swept away by a fever.
She helped nurse my father, helping our staff as much as she could. I didn't see him until we all fell ill. We had to be kept in the same room you see, away from the rest of the house. Not that that had really served any protective purpose, everyone in the house caught it eventually. You could say I was the only one to 'survive'.
As far as I'm aware, from a theoretical knowledge of course, Spanish Influenza begins very much the same as modern flu - only when my parents began struggling for breath were we taken into hospital.
This is where I met Carlisle." Edward paused here for the first time and they both smiled. "I've never really thought about how it could have all been so different. If Carlisle had chosen to move on before it struck, if we hadn't have been taken to hospital in time… what if, what if…"
Bella clasped Edward's hands in hers. She had never heard so much of his human life. She sat in awed silence, trying to imagine what he was now seeing.
"I would never have met you, Bella. The thought is utterly incomprehensible to me now." Bella nodded in fervent agreement, "Despite my beliefs in what I am, I have been truly lucky to not only be given a second chance and live comfortably with a wonderful family, but I have been given the greatest treasure a man could ever hope for - love. Something I never thought possible." Edward traced his fingers across Bella's lips at this point before continuing his story. She shivered and lent into his hand a little.
"I have very little recollection of my parents' deaths. This is probably a good thing, its not something a person should ever have to witness. I've since heard many times the plea my mother made to Carlisle, never comprehending what she was really giving me. I wish I could have the chance to thank her." his voice had become barely a whisper now; and Bella reached to touch his face. His eyes closed again, a sigh fell from his lips and Edward brought her in close for an embrace.