Disclaimer: As much as I would love to be the wonderful Stephenie Meyer... no. That freaky friday moment hasn't happened quite yet.
A/N: Just a pair of ficlets set during Bella's change. Enjoy?
Between Here and There
---Hell---
Edward always thought that hell would be full of fire and brimstone, or at least a dark, dank cell somewhere in the depths of Volterra. But as another shriek explodes from the bed next to him, he feels his stone heart crack, then shatter. No, hell is much more mundane than fire and brimstone; it is a white, septic room with a single bed and a folding chair, and Bella, slowly turning paler than Death itself, shrieking in pain.
All he can do is sit and hold her, stroking her hair, wishing fervently, desperately, futilely to take away her hurt, her pain. He wishes that life worked like that. But all he can do is stay by her side.
Another scream tears its way out of his angel's lungs, and Edward tightens his grip, whispering sweet nothings in her unhearing ear, holding her body against his as she trembles. Each time, it feels like his soul is breaking.
No, his hell may not be dark and fiery, but he is trapped here all the same.
---Heaven---
Bella never realized that the pathway to heaven wound its way through hell first. But as the fire in her veins flares yet again, it is all that she can think about as another scream wrenches its way out of her raw and tattered throat. Somewhere, at the edge her awareness, she can feel Edward tighten around her, his cool presence suppressing the fire that has set her body ablaze.
Yes, she may be in hell, but she can feel it—heaven, pushing its way in.
