"The sedatives should be wearing off. She'll be waking up any time now," the nurse was saying to me.
I nodded my head. I felt so tired. My eyes felt like they were popping out of my head, now that I thought about it.
I'd had hardly any sleep since I'd got the call saying Bella was in hospital. Not that that was anything new. She'd been in and out of hospital since she could walk. But this was different. She'd come home looking for me and I wasn't there.
That's where Edward comes into the story I suppose. Apparently he came to Phoenix to talk some sense into my Bella, to convince her to come back to Forks.
She agreed to see him, and so she drove out to the hotel where Edward was staying with his father, Carlisle, and his charming sister, Alice.
I was curious as to why Alice was there as well. But when I asked her about it she sweetly answered me, "do you honestly think I would let my best friend run off on me with out putting up a fight?"
And she seemed that sort of person too. Although I'd only known her a brief while, I could tell she expected to get her way, and if she didn't, she would did her heels in (quite literally actually, as the small girl seemed to have quite a liking for heels). Stubborn was the word for it. She was stubborn. Just like my Bella. All in all, she seemed like the ideal friend for Bella.
Friend! To think, she'd lived almost her whole life in Phoenix and gone to school with more than seven hundred students (and that was just in her junior class), and I never hear of one friend. She moves to the tiny town of Forks, which can't have that many kids in their total population, and here she is with a best friend. Who so happens to be the sister of her boyfriend.
Alice was obviously a good friend, considering she came all the way to Phoenix from Forks to convince Bella to come home.
This brings me back to why Bella was in hospital in the first place.
Bella was walking to the room where Edward was staying with his father and sister, and she tripped down two flights of stairs and fell through a window!
I was going to have nightmares about that for weeks; when I finally got some sleep that is.
We were nearing Bella's room. I didn't really want to go in there and see Bella lying there with her eyes closed in the same state she had been for the past few days. But I had to see my daughter.
I looked at the nurse who was walking with me, "how much longer do you think she'll have to stay in here?" I asked her.
The nurse gave me a pitying look.
"I really can't be sure," she said sympathetically, "it won't be any thing less than two weeks. She has a lot of recovering to do. She won't be able to leave until her skull has repaired itself, and preferably her ribs too. I can't give you an exact date; I'd have to ask the doctor in charge."
She smiled kindly at me as we reached the door. "I'll let you go now."
I nodded in appreciation, and returned her smile. She turned around and walked back down the corridor as I opened the door.
I peeked through the crack and saw Bella's eyes open and staring intently at me.
"Mum!" She whispered hoarsely.
My heart flooded with relief. My Bella was alright. I already knew that of course, the doctors had repeated it over and over to me, but I couldn't really be sure until I saw her eyes open and searching like they normally were.
I looked around the room and wasn't really surprised to see Edwards sleeping form on the recliner.
"He never leaves does he?" I mumbled to nobody in particular.
I was glad to see the boy was finally getting some rest though. The shadows under his eyes made it obvious his sleep deprivation was much worse than mine.
"Mum I'm so glad to see you!" I brought my attention back to Bella, who had tears streaking her face. I bent down and hugged her gently, remembering what the nurse had said about broken ribs, and wasn't surprised to find I was crying too.
"Bella I was so upset!" I told her.
"I'm sorry, mum. But everything is fine now, it's okay," She comforted me.
"I'm just glad to finally see your eyes open." I told her, as I sat on the edge of her bed, trying not to shift my weight to much.
Bella suddenly looked confused. "How long have they been closed?"
"It's Friday, hon, you've been out for awhile."
"Friday?" Now she looked shocked.
"They had to keep you sedated for a while, honey-you've got a lot of injuries."
"I know," she replied in a resigned voice.
I decided to change the subject. "You're lucky Dr. Cullen was there. He's such a nice man…very young, though. And he looks more like a model than a doctor…"
"You met Carlisle?"
"And Edwards sister Alice. She's a lovely girl." She really was.
"She is." Bella agreed wholeheartedly.
I glanced over my shoulder at Edward, who was still lying fast asleep in the chair. "You didn't tell me you had such good friends in Forks."
Bella moaned. "What hurts?" I demanded anxiously, turning back to look at her. Bella's eye's flashed over my shoulder towards Edward, than came back to rest on my face.
"Its fine," She assured me. "I just have to remember not to move."
"Where's Phil?" She asked me suddenly.
"Florida-oh Bella! You'll never guess! Just when we were about to leave, the best news!" I said excitedly.
"Phil got signed?" she guessed.
"Yes! How did you guess! The Suns, can you believe it?"
"That's great mum," she said enthusiastically.
"And you'll like Jacksonville so much," I gushed. "I was a little bit worried when Phil started talking about Akron, what with the snow and everything, because you know how I hate the cold, but now, Jacksonville! It's always sunny, and the humidity isn't really that bad. We found the cutest house, yellow, with white trim, and a porch just like in an old movie, and this huge oak tree, and it's just a few minutes from the ocean, and you'll have your own bathroom-"
"Wait, Mum!" Bella interrupted. "What are you talking about? I'm not going to Florida. I live in Forks."
"But you don't have to anymore silly," I laughed; she must still be feeling dizzy from the sedatives. "Phil will be able to be around so much more now… we've talked about it a lot, and what I'm going to do is trade off on the away games, half the time with you, half the time with him."
"Mum." She hesitated, "I want to live in Forks. I'm already settled in at school, and I have a couple of girlfriends"
-I glanced towards Edward at her mention of friends. It obviously wasn't just 'girlfriends' she'd picked up. She hurried on with her explanation-"and Charlie needs me. He's just all alone up there, and he can't cook at all!"
"You want to stay in Forks?" I was bewildered to say the least. Bella hated Forks. Why would she suddenly decide she wanted to live there, when she had another, more preferable option? My eyes flickered back towards Edward. "Why?"
"I told you - school, Charlie - ouch!" She'd shrugged her shoulders in her attempt to explain the impossible to me. I fluttered my hands helplessly, trying to find a safe spot to pat. I made do with her forehead. It, at least, was un-bandaged.
"Bella, honey, you hate Forks," I reminded her.
"It's not so bad."
I frowned and looked back and forth between Edward and Bella, except this time I did it very deliberately.
"Is it this boy?" I whispered.
Bella opened her mouth to answer me, than closed it again.
"He's part of it," she admitted reluctantly. "So, have you had a chance to talk to Edward?"
"Yes." I hesitated, looking over at him. Either that boy was a deep sleeper, or he was just really tired. "And I want to talk to you about that."
She looked scared. "What about?" She asked me.
"I think that boy is in love with you," I accused, keeping my voice low.
"I think so to," she confided.
"And how do you feel about him?" Although I was concerned for my daughter's welfare, I was also raging with curiosity.
Bella sighed and looked away.
"I'm pretty crazy about him." I could tell.
"Well he seems very nice, and my goodness he's incredibly good looking, but your so young Bella…" I was worried. I didn't want my Bella to go through what I did. Or to do something she'd regret. Not that I regretted marrying Charlie, as I continually told her, I just didn't want the same fate for my daughter.
"I know that mum. Don't worry about it. It's just a crush," she soothed.
"That's right," I agreed, pleased that she didn't seem to see it as anything more.
I sighed and glanced guiltily over my shoulder at the big, round clock that was hanging on the wall.
"Do you need to go?" Bella asked.
I bit my lip. I didn't really want to go yet.
"Phil's supposed to call in a little while… I didn't know you were going to wake up…"
"No problem, mum." She told me, unselfish as always. "I won't be alone."
"I'll be back soon. I've been sleeping here, you know." I announced.
"Oh, mum, you don't have to do that! You can sleep at home – I'll never notice."
"I was too nervous," I admitted sheepishly. "there's been some crime in the neighbourhood, and I don't like being there alone."
"Crime?" Bella asked in alarm.
"Someone broke into that dance studio around the corner from the house and burned it to the ground – there's nothing left at all! And they left a stolen car right out the front. Do you remember when you used to dance there, honey?"
"I remember." She shivered at the memory, which caused her to wince in pain. I knew she didn't enjoy dancing, but I couldn't honestly think why the memory would be that bad.
"I can stay baby, if you need me."
"No, mum, I'll be fine, Edward will be with me." This was one of the reasons I wanted to stay.
"I'll be back tonight." I promised her, though it came out sounding a bit more like a warning than a promise, and the fact that I glance over my shoulder at Edward as I said it probably didn't help.
"I love you, mum."
"I love you too, Bella. Try to be more careful when you walk, honey, I don't want to lose you."
A nurse came in than to check all of Bella's tubes and wires. And so I kissed her forehead, patted a gauze-wrapped hand, and left.