Author's Notes: Now that I've gotten several chapters hand written, it's time to start posting this dramatic piece.
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, if I did I wouldn't be writing fanfiction would I?
Thank you: To all who have reviewed this story, or placed it or me on your favorites and alerts lists. It really means a lot to me.
Extra special thank you to: LilythxCullen for her awesome and speedy beta job.
Fallen Angel
Chapter One: Tragedy
The ninety pound, pale and frail figure lying in the hospital bed in the mental ward in Forks Hospital, was such a tragic figure, the nurse, Anne, thought as she tended to the girl. Such a tragedy; Isabella wasn't even 19 years old, but she was dying. Of a broken heart, if gossip was to be believed.
Her screams and nightmares were the only ways you could hear her voice, because when she was conscious, she just lay there as if she was already dead. When she was asleep, however, she'd scream out for an Edward, begging him not to leave her, screaming over and over again, "Don't leave me!" Some nights she'd call for an Alice, or an Emmett or an Esme, or a Jasper or a Carlisle, but without fail, every night she'd call out for Edward.
The chief didn't visit any longer; he couldn't take staring into the dead, dark eyes of his only daughter. He'd shown the nurses a picture of what she'd looked like before that boy had shattered her, and they'd been stunned at how different she'd looked with bright eyes and a big smile. That happy little girl was long gone. What remained was a shell, a tragic echo of a girl.
She was dying. The feeding tubes and wires didn't seem able to maintain her life any longer; her will to live had long ago been used up. There were no diseases torturing her pale frame, but a disease of the mind.
Today, she was to have visitors for the first time in a month and a half, which is why Anne was taking special care, trying to make the shell of a girl look as uplifting as possible. Seeing a loved one in here on the hopeless ward was hard enough without them seeing just how bleak the patients usually looked. An Alice and a Jasper were coming to visit her at noon today, and she hoped that they were the ones Bella would cry for at night.
A girl with spiky, inky black hair with a bleak expression was holding onto the hand of a blond boy as they walked up to the head nurse, who was now sitting at her desk.
"We're here to see Bella Swan," they said in unison, both of them looking utterly devastated. It was always tough for the visitors to see the patients here in the hopeless section of the ward.
Anne led them to her room, feeling a slight bit of hope that perhaps these two were two of the ones the girl's mind screamed for at night; that maybe the two teens could give the dying girl some peace before she died.
"Oh, Bella!" she heard the girl exclaim before the door closed.
Alice cradled the girl that had been her best friend and almost sister as grief and regret speared through her. She'd told Edward that he shouldn't do it, that they shouldn't leave! She'd begged him, even gotten down on her knees and pleaded with him to at least let her stay to take the edge off of Bella's pain. Edward had insisted that they all leave, that they give her a clean break with no reminders of them at all. It had been the worst fight that they'd ever had, and it had lasted hours. In the end she'd given in, seeing the devastation on her brother's face, and knowing that he was ripping his own heart out doing what he thought was right.
She cursed her sight; she hadn't seen what was happening with Bella sooner. She'd promised not to go looking into Bella's future. Then, the vision had forced its way through her mind: Bella dying, alone in this hospital, Edward's name on her lips as her heart stopped. If only she'd looked, despite promising not to. If only she'd been there for her friend.
Bella looked so frail and broken as Alice held her. Then Bella gasped and her eyes went wide with shock; a small spark of life lit her eyes.
"Alice! Are you really here?" Her arms clung to Alice weakly; Alice was barely able to feel any pressure on her at all.
"I'm really here, Bella. So is Jasper," she said, soothingly.
Bella began to sob against her, her body shaking with the force of her tears.
"You never said goodbye. He said he didn't love me anymore; that I'd just been a distraction! But you left, too… without a goodbye. I missed you and I'm angry and I'm dying because there is nothing left to live for," she said through her sobs, as Alice rocked her back and forth, trying to get her to quiet.
Her words were like having acid poured into her soul; she should have ignored Edward and been there for Bella. It was too late now the damage was done but...
She had to save Bella. "Bella, Jazz and I are going to leave, now. But we'll be back in one hour to take you with us."
She closed her eyes, and allowed the vision to come: they'd kidnap Bella, bite her and she'd wake up in three days. She would be her sister forever. Edward would come back, Bella would heal and the family would be reunited.
"Hold on for one hour, sweetie, okay?" Alice pleaded, stroking Bella's hair once more before leaving with Jasper.
Once they were gone, Bella drifted off into a dreamless sleep. She hoped that they kept their promise and came back. She'd rather see Edward before she died, but getting to see Alice again was glorious.
An hour later, they slipped back into the hospital with ease, through Bella's sixth story window after Jasper disabled the alarm. Not that the hospital needed to restrain Bella, who very rarely came out of her world to notice her surroundings, anyways. They took her, carrying her into their car, quickly, with Jasper driving as fast as he could to their house in Alaska.
Alice bit her. The blood was glorious, but Alice was able to stop herself from draining Bella dry. She wouldn't kill her sister.
Bella didn't scream, nor did she react at all as the venom worked its way through her. Jasper said that she felt nothing, that she was still catatonic. They made it to the house in record time. Alice called the rest of the family home, except for Edward.
She knew that Edward wouldn't pick up the phone for her, but he would pick it up for Esme. Alice stayed by Bella's side, talking to her, telling her how much she meant to Alice and what they would do together, now that Alice had made sure that Bella would be her sister forever.
She saw Edward arriving, and told Jasper to watch Bella while she went out to talk to him. Brother and sister were about to have the worst fight they'd ever had, even though most of it would take place in the mind.
"How could you!" Edward roared as his angry snarls echoed throughout the dark night. Alice said nothing but pushed first her vision and then her visit to Bella through her mind.
Edward's anger deflated and turned inward. It was his fault. He wanted to run, either to Bella or away from her; he didn't know which. He ran towards her side, and stood, looking at the damage he'd caused.
She was so light and fragile looking. She was skinnier; her eyes had dark circles under them. She looked dull and listless as she laid there. She wasn't screaming although she should have been. He didn't know whether to feel relieved by her lack of sensation during the change, or worried that Bella's mind was so far out of it that even the change wouldn't bring her back.
He took her hand; it was cooling and slowly lowering to his temperature. He pressed it to his cheek. His Bella, his only love. He'd been such a fool, and she'd paid the price. His pain had been nothing compared to hers. He'd shattered the only woman he'd ever loved. If he'd been a fiend before, he was now the blackest fiend in existence. He didn't deserve happiness.
Her heart seemed to be slowing rapidly. Should she be dying even though it had only been one day? He didn't know what to do. He deserved death. He didn't deserve her forgiveness, but he knew that he'd be begging her for it once she woke up, anyways.
Would her mind be back to the way it used to be before she'd been broken, when the change was finished?
The rest of the family filed in not long afterwards, but Edward didn't pay any attention to them or their thoughts. His mind was on the only woman he'd ever loved.
"Oh. Bella," he whispered as anguish threatened to drag him under. Jasper had attempted to send a calming wave earlier, but Edward felt that he deserved every second of the pain he felt now. "Forgive me. I was an idiot to think that leaving you was the best thing that I could do for you. I love you. I lied when I said I didn't. I've always loved you, and I always will. I just wanted you to have a normal life."
Her heartbeat slowed down even further and then let out one last beat before stopping forever. Her skin grew colder and harder. He could see the changes her body had undergone and he let out a bitter laugh. He'd never wanted her to be like him, and in his desire to spare her this fate, he'd driven her almost directly to it.
He began to doubt whether he had the right to be there at all when she woke up. He'd been the one who'd hurt her.
Would she understand? Would she forgive him? Did she still love him? Would she believe that he still loved her? The questions weighed heavily on his mind as he let go of her hand; she'd wake up any second, and he didn't want to presume that he had any right to touch her. He didn't deserve happiness, but she did. He would do whatever it took to make her happy, even if it meant removing himself from her presence for eternity.
I love you, he thought as he waited for her to open her eyes, and either restore happiness to his heart or crush it forever.