I have been suffering from a bad case of writer's block whilst trying to finish the next chapter of my fanfic "Let Love Bleed Red", so I decided to take a break & work on a new project.

This story was just a bunch of old drafts & ideas that I had previously toyed around with, but I feel like I have a good plan and better sense of direction with this fanfic, so I will be working on this from now on.

All Twilight characters are human, pairings from the books/movies are the same here.

Please review if you have the time, reviews literally make my day.

Chapter 1

Cancer; it's a scary word. When the doctor is looking at you with sorrowful eyes and those six little letters escape from his lips, the world begins to crash violently around you. Sometimes there is a light at the end of the tunnel for those who have been diagnosed with this, but for others, it's a death sentence.

And that is what it was for me; a death sentence. With a vast family history of breast cancer, and the unfortunate endings that came with it, it did not look promising. I knew I would meet my demise at the hands of cancer, and I tried to accept that.

Three months ago, there was a lump. It turned out that this lump was a malignant tumour made up of cancer cells that continued to multiply which invaded my nearby organs and tissues. One day, I was Bella Swan – aspiring novelist. The next, I was Bella Swan- breast cancer victim. I felt like I had lost my identity, I had lost myself.

Today, after having a section of my breast removed a few weeks previous, I began radiotherapy treatment which aimed to stop the cancerous cells from spreading.

Grasping at my close friend Alice's hand, we sat in the waiting room of the hospital as I waited to hear my name being called. I peered around the room, looking at the women who were victims to the same life destroying disease that I was. Some were sitting alone, others with their loved ones, and I wondered about them. We were all labelled as cancer victims, but who were they really? What were they known as before their diagnosis? I focused on an older woman sitting with her hands on her lap, swirling her wedding ring around her finger as her husband cradled her with one arm. As a writer, I liked to people watch and create small stories in my head about who I thought they were, so it brought some form of normality when I applied it to the situation I was currently in. I imagined this old woman as being a retired kindergarten teacher; she had the warm and inviting face that most kindergarten teachers did. She would have a large family, six kids and twelve grandchildren, to be precise. She would spend her time in the kitchen, baking cookies with her grandkids, making dinner on a Sunday evening for the whole family who would visit. This woman would look at her husband with the same love and admiration as the day the first met.

I smiled softly, noting that it was the first time I had smiled in months.

But the smile was quickly wiped from my face as a slightly large nurse with her hair tied back too tightly called my name.

"Isabella Swan?" she announced

Alice squeezed my hand and expressed a sympathetic smile as I rose up from my chair, making my presence known to the nurse.

"Follow me to Room 324, please."

I nodded at her politely before being escorted down the corridor to the assigned room. My hands began to shake slightly as I was overwhelmed with nerves. I was so scared, but I had to be strong. Known as a 'tough cookie,' I felt that I had to live up to the reputation given to me by others.

After changing into the white polyester gown issued by the nurse, I lay down on the bed and shut my eyes as I waited for another nurse to prep me, taking in a deep breath as if it would somehow help me to prepare for what was about to happen.

A few moments later, I peeked open my eyes as I heard the door to the room open, followed by foot-steps. My breath caught in my throat as I noticed a male nurse walk through the door. Never in my life had I seen someone so attractive. He had soft pale skin that resembled fresh snow. His skin tone emphasised his emerald green eyes that held a natural sparkle, and messy bronze hair fell slightly over his forehead, tousled at the front. He was effortlessly perfect, managing to somehow make hospital issued scrubs look good.

"Good morning, Miss Swan. My name is Edward Cullen and I have been assigned to carry out your treatment for the next 4 weeks. How are you feeling today?" he asked.

Still mesmerised by his appearance, it took me a few moments to pull myself together and form a sentence to reply with.

"Call me Bella. Under these circumstances, I'm not sure such formality is needed. And I'm not exactly sure how I'm feeling today, what do people normally reply in this situation when you ask?

He smiled politely, "Alright, Bella; well, most people lie, to both me and themselves, I believe. They say they're okay, but I always know it's far from the truth."

"If you're aware that they're lying, what do you reply?" I asked

"I always say that I'm glad to hear it, and try to give them a reassuring smile. They don't need to be told by some nurse that in actual fact, they're not okay. I think people like to say out loud that they're fine as a sort of coping mechanism." He flipped through my file as he spoke, occasionally looking up to meet my eyes.

"It seems like you really care about your patients, more than most medical staff do." I commented.

He moved round to the side of the bed I was lying on, beginning the examination that had to be completed before commencing with the treatment.

"I care about all of my patients, sometimes a little too much."

"It's nice to know that your nurse cares, I think it would be comforting to some people to know that they're not just another patient in the hospital, that they matter. All of this can be very demoralising, you know." I replied, looking over in his direction as he took my arm to check my blood pressure.

We continued to chat as he completed my examination and prep, occasionally pausing to note down my vitals on the chart. I watched as he spoke, still slightly mesmerised by his appearance. It was nice to have a small distraction helping to take my mind off that fact I was about to have high-energy beams of radiation focused onto the cancerous tissue in my right breast.

"Okay, Bella. We're ready to begin, is there anything you would like to ask before we start?" he asked.

I shook my head before he gathered my chart and the equipment he had used during my examination, and walked towards the door. Before leaving the room, he paused and turned round to face me.

"Such a pretty name for a pretty woman." He bit his lip after the sentence left his mouth, probably wondering whether he had stepped over a nurse/patient boundary.

"I'm sorry if-"

I cut him off before he finished his sentence, "Thank you." I smiled, slightly embarrassed yet secretly thrilled to receive the compliment. After all, I didn't care whether he said it to make me feel better or if he genuinely meant it; it was the first genuine smile that had graced my face in months.

He left the room swiftly after, closing the door behind him as I braced myself, ready for the treatment to begin.

Alice and Emmett came round in the evening with Chinese food, cupcakes and a few of my favourite movies. Although it was not our typical idea of a 'fun' night, I was too tired and quite sore from the treatment to leave my house. It took a lot out of me to just walk up and down the stairs, never mind head out for a night on the town. But I was glad of their company, savouring every moment I had with my two best friends.

"How did your first session of the treatment go yesterday, Bells? You didn't really say much in the car ride on the way home." Alice asked as she began to empty out the cartons of Chinese food onto plates, slapping Emmett's hands away as he tried to pick up the noodles that spilled from the cartons with his hands. He pouted almost in a child-like way, making Alice roll her eyes mockingly and kiss him on the cheek. Being brother and sister, you would think they would have been similar in some ways but they couldn't be more opposite if they tried.

"It went fine, I don't really know what to say in all honesty. They zapped me with radiation beams so I suppose it went as well as it could." I mocked. I was always so uncomfortable talking about anything to do with this disease, even around my best friends and they knew me too well to not realise. I hated being a 'victim', I was too proud to have people feeling pitiful towards me.

Emmett quickly tried to lighten the mood, sensing the uncomfortable vibe that I was clearly projecting, "You know we're here for you. And the best way for me to show you my unconditional love and support is by supplying you with Chinese food, cupcakes and every John Hughes movie ever made." He laughed.

"You keep doing that, Emmett. I'll show it too by purchasing a ton of cute but extremely comfortable outfits to wear around the house." Alice added, smugly.

I rolled my eyes, laughing at the pair of them. I was truly blessed to have friends like Alice & Emmett, not everyone was so lucky. The support that I had received from them both was indescribable, it was like they were my life support machine, ironically. They kept me going, constantly trying to think of ways to make me see the good things in life; encouraging me to continue writing and doing the things that brought me joy in life. They encouraged me to continue living my life, and that was all I wanted to do. I wanted to make the most of the time I had left, whether that was several months or several years.

And because of that, I knew that my latest idea would receive 100% support from both of them.

"I appreciate everything you guys do for me, but there is something I would rather you helped me with." I stated, causing them both to pause what they were doing and move over to the sofa where I was resting.

"What is it , Bells?" Alice asked, clearly intrigued.

"Anything." Added Emmett.

Reaching over to the small coffee table at the side of the sofa, I opened the drawer to grab a notepad and pen, trying my best to ignore the pain that pulsed furiously on my right side. Alice and Emmett squinted their eyes in confusion, unsure of what I was doing as I scribbled a heading at the top of the page before flipping the notepad over to show them what I had wrote.

"The bucket list?" Alice quizzed, slightly puzzled.

"I don't know how long I have left here, I could have months or years, but if I go, I don't want to have any regrets. There are so many things I've always wanted to do but just never got round to doing. I don't care how tired I am with this treatment, I want to experience everything. Since I was diagnosed, I feel like I have been slowly but surely losing who I am, losing my identity, and I want to get it back."

Alice smiled at me sweetly, before reaching up and stroking my hair.

"Then let's create this bucket list."