Chapter 1
BPV
It was my first day of work as a nurse at Forks Community hospital. This was a bitter sweet occasion for me since the person who looked forward the most to this day wasn't here to share it with me. My father Charlie was killed in the line of duty (he was the Chief of Police) the day after I graduated. Since I was going to break the news that decided what to do at my graduation party (that never happened), he never found out about this. I decided to sell the house and moved into an apartment with my friend Alice Brandon. Alice and I were very different people but we had a friendship that stood the test of time. She was a vivacious pixie like girl with black hair and green eyes…she was very striking. I on the other hand was the definition of average...chestnut colored hair that was neither straight nor curly and brown eyes. I didn't even have Alice's bubbly personality. People always wondered how we were friends but she was one of the nicest girls I knew and one of my truest friends.
"Alice hurry up we're going to be late!" I called. Alice was a volunteer candy striper at my hospital. In her freshman year, she had a funny feeling to play the lottery and wound up willing enough so she wouldn't have to work for the rest of her life. She did volunteer work to keep busy.
"I'm hurrying…Jasper said that he's already on his way there," Alice said. Alice's boyfriend Jasper Whitlock also just got a job there as a psychiatrist in the psychiatric ward. They had started dating 5 years ago but were extremely close even before that.
"Ugh is that what you're wearing?" Alice asked staring at my scrubs in horror.
"Yes its apart of the uniform Alice….not all of us are volunteers," I said.
"That outfit gives you a box shape…please don't wear that if we hang out with coworkers outside of work…ever!" Alice gasped as we headed to the car. We were in Alice's hot pink 911 Porsche…a gift to herself for winning the lottery…and took off to work.
"So where are you, me, Jasper, and Emmett going to meet for lunch?" I asked. Emmett was Jasper's cousin. He was almost like a brother to me. The four of us plus Emmett's brother Edward had been close since kindergarten….but Edward went to Dartmouth for medical school. He still kept in contact with me…in fact he had just called me a few days ago…not that Alice knew that.
"At the front desk…ooh this is going to be so much fun….the four of us working together…it's almost like high school all over again. All the gossip we'll be privy to...get to hear which one of our classmates got the crap beat out of him or her at a bar…who's got kids…who's married…who's divorced!" Alice smiled.
"Who would of thought we would be working together…I mean isn't it a coincidence that I happened to apply the same day that you got the job Bells?" Alice continued on her rant as we pulled into the parking lot. I had a funny feeling that Alice got this job just to spy on Jasper, Emmett, and I. A flash of blonde hair darted to the car as Jasper opened Alice's door for her. It was cute. Even after all this time they were still head over heels in love with each other.
"Thank you Jazzy!" Alice beamed as he helped her out of the car. I jumped out the passenger side. The three of us walked in and dropped our stuff off. We made our way to the desk area where an overly muscular, curly dark haired man was waiting for us.
"Emmett…long time no see…haven't heard from ya since Jazzy's birthday party!" Alice called running over.
"I know…but it's kinda been hard to get in touch when Jasper's been hogging you all to himself Alice!" Emmett flashed a grin.
"Hey…some of us actually have girlfriends Emmett…and it's not considered hogging when we want to go out with said girlfriend." Jasper said slightly offended.
"Whatever whatever," Emmett laughed.
"So have you heard anything new?" Alice asked curiously.
"No not much. It's been very quiet." Emmett said. When she didn't get what she wanted she moved onto another subject that she wanted to bring up for a long time
"So what's Edward been up to…it's been killing me to know…I haven't heard anything about him since he left…and you know how I hate that?" Alice asked curiously.
"You're about to find out actually" Emmett snickered like he was holding on to a big secret.
"What do you mean-"Alice was cut off by the doors opening up and a massive amount of swoons. Two models like doctors strode in. The blonde one was the highly esteemed Dr. Carlisle Cullen…Edward and Emmett's father and practically my pediatrician. Behind him were the familiar bronze tuffs and green eyes that I had known so well for almost my entire life. Maturity had suited Edward well…he was even better looking than I last remembered if that was possible. I went into complete shock. He never told me anything about this! Quite frankly I was highly offended. I mean he couldn't have mentioned this little fact when we talked on the phone! Alice's jaw dropped in complete shock. I could see him looking at us through the throng of swooning nurses as he pushed his way over. Alice had turned to talk to Jasper at this point.
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming back?" I asked quietly.
"I wanted it to be a surprise," Edward answered.
"Well it definitely was-"I was cut off.
"And I didn't want Alice to know…she would of told the entire town and it would have been too much," Edward added. Well that did kind of make sense.
"So who exactly did know you were back?" I asked
"Only Emmett, Jasper, and my parents. We decided to just keep it in the family," Edward smiled my favorite crooked smile. Just then we could hear Alice bitching Jasper out for keeping the secret.
"You know dam well that you should of told me Jasper Cullen Whitlock….you know how much I hate things sprung upon me like that….you know that I love to be in the know!" Alice said with one hand on her hip and the other wagging in his face.
"Well I'd love to sit here and chat with all of you…but looky here…..I think I have a patient in room 100 who needs physical therapy…gotta go!" Emmett said disappearing in the blink of an eye. Even Emmett knew not to be around a pissed off Alice.
"You know…I have half a mind to keep secrets from you!" Alice growled.
"Like you could!" Jasper mumbled to himself.
"What was that?" Alice asked pissed.
"Well you know dear…you do have loose lips-"Jasper started up but was cut off by Alice.
"HOW DARE YOU…I KEEP PLENTY OF SECRETS….I NEVER TOLD ANYONE ABOUT THE TIME YOU GOT DRUNK AND STREAKED THROUGH PORT ANGELUS….I HAD TO PAY A COP OFF IN ORDER TO KEEP YOU FROM GETTING CHARGED WITH INDECENT EXPOSURE! BUT I GUESS THAT DOESN'T COUNT FOR ANYTHING!" Alice roared. All the nurses turned and stared at Jasper.
"ALICE…SHUT UP…THAT WAS A LONG TIME AGO!" Jasper snapped back.
"ACTUALLY IT REALLY WASN'T THAT LONG AGO-"Alice said too pissed off to realize that she just aired out their dirty laundry. Edward and I didn't know where to look.
"Maybe I should have told her that I was coming back," Edward said shaking his head.
"No trust me it was better that you didn't…it would have been ten times worse if you did. The whole town would have been parked outside the hospital building," I said.
"So I'm confused…how did Alice get a job here…her degree was in fashion design?" Edward asked.
"She volunteered…you forget she doesn't have to get paid." I said.
"oh yeah I forgot that she hit the lottery. Well that explains everything. But I never saw Alice as the volunteer type?" Edward asked.
"She does it to keep busy." I said. We then grabbed some files and went to check on the patients. I still couldn't believe that he was back. I had always had a secret crush on Edward so this seemed like a dream. I was changing the iv of a patient when Alice strode in.
"Hey Bob…got your magazines…so did you give some thought for the 'just for men' hair dye that I suggested…getting rid of the greys takes ten years off your face…all the girls will be swarming!" Alice said handing the guy his Sports illustrated.
"Well when you put it that way-"The patient started up.
"Good…well they just happened to have it in the gift shop…so I may of bought it for you. Let me know when you wanna get started!" Alice said fluttering out of the room. Oh god Alice working here was going to be a nightmare.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful…for a hospital at least. I saw a few more patients…changed a few bandages. Alice fluttered around like a Nat at a barbeque. I would have sworn that it was just because of her job…but I knew Alice…and I knew she was just looking for a good piece of gossip. She found her next talking point during the middle of the shift.
"You will never guess what I just heard!" Alice skipped in while I was taking a patient's temperature.
"Alice I'm in the middle of-"Alice cut me off before I could finish that sentence.
"I happened to pass by the examining room where Edward was telling Lauren 'Absence till marriage' Mallory that she was pregnant…no baby daddy…and she wanted to give me shit in high school…at least I never got knocked up!" Alice blurted out. The awkward thing was that the patient I was with was her father. He shot up in a Charlie like manner and ran down the hallway. Seriously this was exactly the reason why Jasper never said anything about Edward coming back
"WAY TO GO ALICE!" I roared. Considering his appendix was about to burst (we were waiting to get him to the O.R) he really shouldn't of been up.
"What…how was I supposed to know that was her father?" Alice asked, pointing to the chart which clearly read "Mr. Mallory". We could hear a commotion in the middle of the hallway. Alice raised her cellphone.
"Alice…you've already done enough damage…put the phone down." I said heading out to escort Mr. Mallory back to his room.
"Who told Mr. Mallory that his daughter was pregnant?" Edward asked confused as we got him back to bed.
"Who do you think told Mr. Mallory his daughter was pregnant?" I said sarcastically. I could just picture Alice stalking the halls looking for information.
"why am I not surprised." Edward said as we saw Alice streak past with a patients teddy bear in one hand and her phone in the other.
"So what are your plans this weekend?" Edward asked curiously.
"I'm free both nights…why?" I responded.
"Well I was wondering if you wanted to catch a movie or hang out or something," Edward said.
"Sounds good to me…how about Saturday night…we could meet up at my place since Alice's definitely going to be out with Jasper somewhere," I said giving him directions. My favorite crooked smile spread across his face.
"Okay sounds good," Edward said. At that his beeper went off and he disappeared down the hallway. I sighed. Not gonna lie…I always had a flame for him…but since he definitely was way out of my league I settled for a friendship. I then went off to help another patient.
" you know patients hate sterile colors….makes them think their gonna die or something…have you guys ever thought about using bright colors…I mean lemon yellow would be perfect for the nurses' station," Alice was saying to the head nurse as I went to grab a file.
"Thank you for the tip Miss. Brandon…we'll take it under advisement." The nurse said looking like she definitely wasn't going to do that. I rolled my eyes…typical Alice.
"I mean Jasper always said-" Alice was cut off before she could finish that sentence.
"Miss. Brandon…don't you have a pillow to fluff or something?" The nurse asked eyeing out Alice's cart full of patients flowers. Looking extremely annoyed, Alice took off immediately. I could see Emmett eyeing out the entire exchange from the other side and shaking his head before wheeling someone into the physical therapy room. I then went off to the next patients room. Alice caught up to me as I was taking them back from some tests.
"hey haven't seen you in a little bit...how much longer do we have before we leave?" Alice asked. I looked down at my watch.
"not much longer Alice." I said.
"Good because you won't believe all the things I heard today, I was right Bells…so much gossip has gone down already…I swear it was almost like we were back in high school." Alice said. Emmett who had stepped out of an elevator right next to us only heard half the conversation.
"What's like high school all over again?" Emmett asked confused. Alice's response was cut off by Emmett's "we are the champions" ring tone. I caught a glimpse of the name 'Rommie' scrawled across the screen. Emmett and our friend Mike Newton had decided to split the rent and move in together right after Edward moved to New Hampshire. My guess was that Emmett saw it as a sign to move out.
"Yo whatup bro!" Emmett greeted.
"Good you got the M 80's and the six packs. Sounds like a good time." Emmett beamed. oh god…all I can say is that they better not blow a hand off or something. This definitely had "stupid" written all over it.
"Good time?...I wanna come along!" Alice exclaimed.
"Is no fun Jasper gonna be with you?" Emmett asked.
"definitely not...he's too busy with work tonight. Besides he's not that bad…he has his moments." Alice said half annoyed.
"Then hell yeah you guys can come…meet up at my place at eight…then we're heading to first beach for a bon fire and to blow shit up," Emmett said giving Alice a high five. This had "do not tell Jasper" written all over it.
"So I gather we don't tell Jasper?" I asked.
"Bella…what Jasper doesn't know won't hurt him…besides its only going to be some innocent fun anyways." Alice smirked. That's what she always said before doing something that either resulted in her waking up in a Jail cell or me getting a phone call saying that Alice was stranded in the middle of the forest somewhere with no shoes on ( I still had no clue how she managed to do that.)
"Besides he hasn't placed a ring on this finger yet…it's been over five years…do you know how many times I've tried to bring it up….if he doesn't do what I want…then I don't have to do what he wants. I'm not wasting my youth waiting for Jasper's ass to be ready to settle down…I'm gonna go out and have some fun!" Alice beamed. Alice had expected to get engaged on her first anniversary…let's just say that she grew more and more disappointed as the years went on and Alice's finger remained barren.
"You never know….he might be waiting for your anniversary this year to pop the question," I said. It was probably more along the lines of wanting to make it completely unexpected or something. I don't think he had a fear of commitment…he's been in a relationship with only Alice for forever….then again he did have the money and he still didn't want to live with her yet…
"Doubtful…I mean we don't even live together…and do you know how many of our classmate's weddings we have to attend this year. Angela Webber is getting married before me….Angela who's only been dating her boyfriend Ben for 1 year...counting the engagement period. Seriously does Jasper think that my finger is going to miraculously sprout a 4 ct pink diamond engagement ring. I want my big day god damn it!" Alice huffed frustrated. A little while later I met her by the car.