SUMMARY: Bella wakes up in the hospital after the fight with James, but can't remember anything in her life. She only remembers coming to live in Forks and hating it immensely. With no knowledge of why she stayed in Forks for as long as she had, she then makes the decision to leave. What will Edward do to try and make the love of his existence stay and love him back?

Title: From the Beginning

Chapter 1: Utterly Hopeless

A/N: I don't own anything about Twilight. I only wish I could be that creative…

Note: Italicized words are thoughts from the person of the titled section unless otherwise specified.

Bella Swan

Bella opened her eyes to see the familiar décor of a hospital room. She moaned as the searing pain in her ribs protested her attempt to sit up. Glancing down at her leg she noticed a bulky cast holding it firmly in place. What have I done this time? Bella asked stupidly of herself.

When she tried to remember what caused her to be in this room with the tacky wallpaper and the carnations lining the window, her head throbbed. The last thing she could remember was staring out her window at Charlie's house in the dreary town of Forks, sulking as the rain poured down harder and harder. Bella could remember why she made the stupid decision to move to Forks. Renée had just got married to Phil and Bella really didn't like being around the newly married couple. It was just easier for Bella to relocate herself and be miserable somewhere else where Charlie didn't visit her room every five minutes to check on her.

But no matter how hard she racked her brain for the reason why she stayed so long, she couldn't think. Just like in Phoenix she had little friends. Sure in Forks her friends were nicer than any other friends she'd had, but she just wasn't happy. All her friends had quirks that were too much for Bella to handle and she felt bad about being so judgmental. Jessica was too talkative, Mike was too pushy, Lauren was too mean, and Angela – as nice as she was – was too quiet. No one in Forks seemed right. But there was one person… Why couldn't Bella remember anything?

Now, as the familiar sounds of the hospital room filled through the sterile air, Bella took a moment to look around. There was nothing particularly abnormal about the scene. The same off-white walls accented the cream colored curtains covered in dust. The stupid machine to Bella's left was beeping with every beat of her heart. The foldable chair at the side of her bed suggested that she had a visitor while she was asleep. Another typical hospital room for a clumsy girl.

Then Bella's attention zeroed in on the plush gray loveseat in the far corner of the room. The corner was dark and it was hard to make out the figure, but Bella could make out a person in the chair. She squinted her eyes to see who the person was. The person stirred in their sleep and then their eyes darted open.

The person crossed the distance from the chair to the bed within two seconds and stood by Bella and clasped onto her hand. "Oh, Bella, I'm so happy to see your eyes open again."

Bella blinked fervently as she tried to remember knowing this glorious face. His facial features were perfect in every meaning of the word. His eyes were a creamy caramel color and his hair was a strange bronze shade that glittered in the artificial hospital light. Bella tried to muster a smile to hide her discomfort only the act did not come. She slid her hand out of this man's frozen one and inched away from him on the bed in pain. "Bella?" the man questioned with a panicked voice.

She turned her head slightly and crossed her arms lightly over her chest. That was when she saw the white gauze wrapped tightly around her wrist. She stroked the gauze curiously and tried to remember how she got in this room. "How are you feeling?" the man asked her as he took his place in the foldable chair by the bed.

Bella kept her gaze down on the bandage as she said, "Sore." Why can't I remember anything that happened to me? And who was this god-like man caring so deeply about my health?

The man's musical laughter rang beautifully through the dreary room as he kept his glorious eyes fixed on Bella's face. "I was afraid I wouldn't see those beautiful brown eyes again, love."

"Love?" she asked, frightened by his words. What wasn't she remembering about her life?

"Of course, Bella." His chuckled softly to himself before he gently took her bandaged hand within his own hands and lightly pressed his marble lips to the back of it. "It's Edward," he teasingly said as he ran the tip of his nose along the smooth of her hand.

"Edward?" Nothing was ringing a bell and she so desperately wanted to know what was going on, why there was a breathtakingly gorgeous man calling her love and kissing her hand.

Now Edward looked up at her with pained eyes as he kept his hold on her hand. He eyed her skeptically for any sign of Bella's heartbreaking joke to show through, but nothing came. She was being serious. "Bella, it's me," he pleaded her to remember. "Don't play around."

"Who's playing?" she asked him coldly as she yanked her hand from his grasp once again while a hiss ripped through her lips from the painful motion. The inside of her wrist protested in pain and her ribs screeched for that action not to be repeated. Bella turned her gaze to look at all the flowers that were lining the window and for once in her life she wanted the doctor to come in this instant and save her from this awkward moment.

She could still feel Edward's confused and aching eyes watching her. The room suddenly became very small and cramped. "Bella?" he asked again, his ringing voice getting caught within a sob. Edward was quickly realizing that Bella really didn't know who he was. She wouldn't pretend about something like this. She was much too aggressive to show her emotions for him. Edward longed for Bella's lack of self-control and aggressive behavior.

But Bella did not turn her eyes back to his. All she wanted to do was try and remember who this man was and know why he was in her room. It just didn't make any sense to her. How could a man this gorgeous care anything about boring me?

"Do you know why I'm here?" she asked him slowly, not really wanting to initiate more conversation. The only thing she wanted was to know why she was in this hospital room and at the moment Edward was the only person capable of giving answers.

"You don't remember?" he asked in her a small voice. If Bella didn't know what happened, then he couldn't tell her what happened. It would freak her out and she would call him crazy. The last thing that Edward wanted was for Bella to think he was truly an insane person, and worse: a liar.

But before Bella could respond or Edward could tell her what happened, Renée was rushing through the door and plopping down heavily at her daughter's side. "Oh Bella!" she gushed as she threw her arms around Bella's neck and sobbed into her neck.

"Ow! Mom! This hurts," Bella bellowed as soon as Renée plopped down on the bed too hard to make Bella's broken leg jostle too much.

"Sorry sweetie," Renée apologized as she unhooked herself from Bella's grasp and straightened up in the bed. She shot Edward a glance signaling she wanted him to leave, but only found him back in the loveseat with his eyes closed, pretending to sleep. "How are you feeling?" Renée asked as she turned her attention back to her daughter.

"Like hell," Bella admitted with a chuckle that only made her chest ache with more pain. There wasn't anything safe that she could do that wouldn't cause her body physical pain. "Mom, what happened? Where am I? And why are you in Forks?"

"Honey, you're not in Forks," Renée said calmly as she patted her daughter's good hand lightly.

Bella's brow furrowed as she tried to comprehend the information her mother had just given her. "What do you mean? I thought I moved to Forks? Or was that just a horrible nightmare I made up?" Out of the corner of Bella's eye she could see Edward's body stiffened with more pain at the words she just said.

"Bella, sweetie, you're in Phoenix." Renée could tell that Bella would need more reminding than that so she continued. "You yelled at your father and said that you hated Forks and you couldn't take one more minute there. So you got on a plane and went back to Phoenix. Since no one was in the house you decided to stay in a hotel until you could call me and have me come back home. But while you were in the hotel you tripped down two flights of stairs and out a window! Bella, how could you be that clumsy?"

Bella's eyes widened at the explanation that was just given to her. That does sound like something I would do, she thought depressingly about herself. But for some reason, that just didn't sound like what really happened to her. She knew where the hidden key to her mother's house was. She certainly enjoyed being alone. And even if she didn't want to be in Forks anymore, she wouldn't just leave randomly on a spur of hormones acting like a child. She never would hurt Charlie by yelling at him. What is going on with my memory? "That does sound like me," she finally admitted with an edge of boredom.

For some reason her eyes kept flickering to the curious boy in the corner. What was he doing here? Why had he called her love? Why did he look so depressingly sad when she didn't know who he was? How did she even know him to begin with? Renée noticed Bella's wondrous eyes and a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "He's a lovely boy, Bella."

"Huh?" she snapped out of her never-ending stream of questions and looked at her mother.

"He never left this room while you were away from us," Renée informed her daughter as the smile she was trying desperately to hide cracked her face hugely.

Bella looked over at Edward's sleeping form once more and then let out a remorseful sigh. "Who is he?"

Renée's face faltered and her hold on Bella's good hand ceased. She folded her hands in her lap and let out an exasperated sigh. "You don't remember him at all, sweetie?"

Again, Bella absently began stroking at the gauze wrapped tightly around her wrist. She wasn't sure what damage she had done to her wrist in order for the gauze to be in place, but she didn't care at the moment. For some reason, stroking it made her feel connected to something that she lost. What she lost, she wasn't sure of. "No," she finally whispered. "He just came over here and called me 'love' and kissed my hand and was all concerned about how I was feeling. I don't even recognize his face, or the name, or anything about him. He seems so peculiar."

As if she could tell Edward was listening, Bella lowered her voice to a whisper, although Edward could still hear her as if she were shouting. "I wish I could remember who he is. Those eyes…when he could tell I didn't know who he was…they looked so pained. Almost as if someone had forced him to walk on hot coals."

"Oh, Bella," Renée gushed again. She couldn't bare to see her daughter in pain; it was a strange sight to see, Bella vulnerable and hurt while Renée had to be the strong mother for once. Renée was so struck by the confusing turn of events that all she could think to do was hug Bella. Only the last time she hugged her daughter, Bella had cried in pain. "I wish I could hug you, but I don't want to hurt you."

"I think I can endure the pain, Mom," Bella fibbed as she leaned forward – ignoring the screams of fire torturing her rib cage – and welcomed Renée's warm arms around her weakened body. She felt so broken – inside and outside. Bella wasn't sure if what really happened to her was an accidental tumble out a window or if it was something much bigger, but she knew that her heart was aching. Aching for what was the question she couldn't answer. Could it be for this strange yet kind and gorgeous Edward, sleeping peacefully in the corner of her hospital room? Or could it be for some other beau that she couldn't place within her memory? So many questions lurked within her mind that had no answers. It was as if her mind had been swiped clean of all evidence as to what had happened to her since she arrived in Forks.

As she was hugging her mom and not allowing any tears to spill onto the soft cotton fabric of Renée's blouse, a cell phone vibrated within Renée's pocket. The vibration shook Bella's body and ached her ribs once again. Renée pulled away lightly and reached into her pocket to retrieve the small phone. She waved it in the air and said, "It's Phil. I have to take it." Then she got to her feet swiftly, flipped the phone open and kissed Bella on the forehead, careful to not touch the gauze on her head that secured the stitches she received. I really banged myself up good.

She watched as Renée left with a feeling of separation all the while. She didn't want to see her mother go after not seeing her for so long. But even more, she didn't want to be left alone with Edward any longer than she had to. As if her preys were answered, the doctor walked in a second after Renée's absence, leaving Bella no time to panic.

"Bella, it's lovely to see that you've woken," the doctor said enthusiastically, his words sounding like he truly meant every one of them. The doctor looked similar to Edward in features and looked like a glamorous marble structure sculpted but Michelangelo. His eye color was the same as Edward's as well, only the doctor's seemed to be even lighter, almost a melted butter color.

At the sight of his warm face and kind, meaningful words, Bella smiled and said, "Thank you, Doctor."

The doctor placed a hand over his chest and chuckled shortly before saying, "Please, I think we are acquainted enough that you can call me Carlisle."

"Acquainted? I thought you said I just woke up?" Bella babbled nervously.

Carlisle opened his mouth to rebut, only Edward was suddenly at the doctor's side, touching his elbow and whispering in his ear so low that Bella could only hear the rush of air flowing through the room. "Oh?" Carlisle's eyebrows shot up at whatever Edward had informed him of. "Edward, join me in the hall?" When Edward shook his head politely and shot Bella once last longing look, Edward walked out of the room without another word. "I will be right back to check on your injuries. You took a nasty header out that…er…window." And with that final falter of words, the doctor turned on his heel and left the room, leaving Bella to contemplate all the information that her memory was failing to provide her with.

Edward Cullen

When Bella looked at Edward with a blank expression, signifying that she truly was not joking around with him, everything within his existence collapsed. The meaning to everything that he had witnessed, read about, and even heard about seemed to mean nothing to him. His Bella had no clue who her Edward was.

When Edward heard Bella asking her mother if Forks had been a nightmare that she dreamt of, he nearly blew his cover of his fake slumber by running out of the room in heartache. Edward knew that if his heart still had a pulse, it would have stopped beating at those words that flowed from Bella's mouth. Coming to Forks was a nightmare? Everything about Forks was a mistake? Could the love of Edward's existence remember that little about everything that they went through together?

Edward flipped over violently in his pseudo-sleep and exhaled loudly. Could she really think all those things? Was he really that peculiar to her? Why couldn't she remember anything about him? Was their love really not strong enough to last through a case of amnesia?

And then suddenly, Renée was leaving the room and Carlisle was taking her place. Bella didn't seem to remember Carlisle as well, so at least it wasn't just Edward that her memory was blocking. He quickly stepped to his father's side and whispered in his ear at a volume Bella was sure not to hear, "She doesn't remember me, Carlisle. She doesn't know who I am. It seems as if she has lost her memory."

"Oh?" was Carlisle's reaction. He then asked Edward to step into the hall so he could talk to him and told Bella he would be right back. When Carlisle exited the room, he scanned the hall to see where Edward had gone, only to find him slumped against the wall on the floor. Carlisle crouched down next to him and placed his hand on Edward's knee, patting it lightly in a comforting manner. "I'll have to check her extensively and ask Bella more questions, but from what you informed me of, it sounds like she has amnesia. It is very common in patients that have head trauma. And Bella certainly went through more than anyone will ever know.

"When James knocked her into the mirror, she lost quite a lot of blood from the open head wound. And I'm sure that what happened to her wrist has something to do with the after affects of what happened." Carlisle's voice was gruff with despair as Edward silently mourned the loss of his love.

"What am I supposed to do, Carlisle?" he pleaded with his father. "The woman I am in love with almost dies because of everything that I put her through and now she doesn't remember anything about me. She cringed away from my ice-cold touch!" his voice shout up an octave in sadness. "She used to love my cold skin against her warm hands," he added much more quietly.

"Amnesia is difficult for everyone involved," Carlisle began with his professional voice. At the moment, Edward was just another victim he had to deliver bad news to; Edward was no longer his son for the time being. "You can't force anything on her. Especially with the overload of information that comes packaged with our kind and the world she can't remember. You have to take it slow and most importantly, try to be there for her as much as possible without scaring her. You can't give up hope after 90 years of finding no one. Bella is your one true love and there is nothing that can severe a bound that strong." Toward the end he became the loveable Carlisle that saved Edward from the Spanish influenza and took him in as his son. Carlisle placed his hand on his son's shoulder and squeezed it lightly to show his comfort.

"This is too much for me to handle right now," Edward moaned as he sank his face into his hands.

"I know it is. As I said, amnesia is hard for all whom are involved," Dr. Carlisle said professionally once more. "Why don't you head home with Alice and Jasper and calm yourself down?"

"You know I can't leave Bella, Carlisle. It's not physically possible for me," Edward grunted through his hands.

Carlisle stood and brushed off the knees of his dark blue doctor's scrubs and said, "I think it would be best for Bella if she had time to think without you looming in the corner, scaring her half to death. But if you prefer to stay…" Carlisle trailed off, walking back into Bella's room, feeling smug because he knew he had made his point to Edward.

Edward's head fell backward and thunked against the tiled wall he leaned against. He didn't know how to leave Bella. Yet he knew he couldn't stay and stress Bella out more. If she couldn't remember him, then she needed time to be by herself and remember things on her own. Yet Edward wasn't sure how to leave Bella and allow her to be left in the care of someone else.

It pained Edward as he stood from his place on the floor and gazed into the room where Bella was lying on the hospital bed. She looked so mangled up and pale that if her eyes were closed and the heart monitor wasn't there for reassurance, anyone would have thought she was dead. He watched as she answered Carlisle's tedious questions about the pain in her leg, ribs, head, and wrist. And he also watched as Bella stroked the gauze covering the bite from James. Did she know she was doing that? Did she know that a vampire had bit her there? Did she really remember everything about Edward's world, only she was blocking it out because she figured she was crazy? He figured it was a long shot and he was only trying to mend his tearing heart, but he tried to believe it.

Edward took one lasting look, sighed heavily and walked down the hallway. But not before Bella caught him staring and returned his pained eyes with apologetic and upset eyes. What does she have to be apologetic for? Edward thought to himself and he much-too-quickly exited the hospital and ran inhumanly fast back to the hotel Alice, Jasper and Bella had been staying in.

A/N: So there's the first chapter. I hope you guys liked it. Please review and tell me what you think about it so far. I love to know what you guys think. Thanks!