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Chapter 2

Of course I didn't see him the next day.

I made it through most of my classes without any problems, but by the end of the day I was clenching my teeth and shaking a little from the pain. I barely paid attention to my anthropology class and was relieved to escape back to my old red truck. One good thing about all this….handicap parking.

I got home and napped, more than disappointed that I hadn't glimpsed anyone that even slightly resembled Edward during the day and even more disappointed that I let myself get distracted by day-dreaming about him. After homework and a little social time with my roommates it was back to bed.

The next afternoon was my second physical therapy session. I was apprehensive about what exercises they would have me do today and, sadly, still slightly hopeful that Edward would be there.

What are the odds?

Apparently, pretty good.

I stood at in the waiting room, determined not to let my mouth hang open. I recognized Edward even though all I could see was the back of his head. No one else can pull off that messy/perfect hair style.

I was debating whether to be brave enough to sit in a chair near him or to cower in a corner like I usually would when a young man came into the waiting area from the training room. I vaguely recognized him as the physical therapist who was working with Edward a few days ago. His name tag read "Jacob". Not too bad on the eyes with darker skin and dark hair pulled back into a pony-tail…and I had to admit he had a killer smile. But he was no Edward.

Maybe I was ruined for life.

"Bella?" He asked looking at me. I nodded and smiled at him. "Ok great! My name is Jacob, come on back. Hey Edward, you can come back too."

I tensed in surprise. Edward swung his head around to look first at me, then at Jacob, then back at me. If I didn't know better, I thought he might look a little stunned. He stood while keeping his eyes on me and I flushed under the intensity of his stare. While it didn't make me completely comfortable, it was different than the stares that I had been avoiding all my life. I felt like he was heating my body from the inside out, just with his beautiful golden colored eyes.

He stood next to the door Jacob held open and gestured for me to continue first. I surged forward, trying to cover the fact I was standing frozen and staring at this magnificent creature. Of course in my haste I caught my crutch on the doorway frame and stumbled a bit. Jacob quickly steadied me by grabbing the crutches and holding them immobile while I righted myself. I burned with embarrassment, but was also amazed to see that Edward had his hand outstretched towards me, like he wanted to try to help me as well. He slowly pulled his hand back when I stood up straight, almost reluctant looking. I bravely brought my eyes up to meet his and almost stumbled again when I saw the smirk back on his face.

Beautiful.

"Bella? Did you jostle your knee a little?" Jacob asked, seeming amused by my clumsiness. This irritated me, but somehow not as much as the ever-perky Stacy had the other day. I preferred Jacob's way of lightening up an embarrassing situation. I am sure later on I will be able to appreciate the humor in all this. But for now I just concentrated on not repeating that performance.

"Yeah, a little." I admitted. "Its ok, I do that a lot." That made both men smile even more.

Great.

Jacob looked back at the two of us as we followed him to the tables in the back. I was calculating each movement I made, very aware of Edward's burning gaze from behind me. For the first time, I wish I would have listed to Alice and changed clothes for this session. I had simple red NCSU gym shorts and a plain gray t-shirt on. My hair was pulled back in a braid, no sense on styling it for a workout. Alice hadn't agreed.

After sitting us on tables next to each other, Jacob addressed both of us, "Alright guys, here's the deal. We are down a person or two today so we are having to double up on patients. I will be working with both of you today, is that okay?"

I looked to Edward first, though I am not sure why. He glanced back at me briefly before shrugging his good shoulder and nodding. I told Jacob that was fine by me.

Who was I kidding, that was fantastic!

Jacob said he was going to get some supplies and be back to take our measurements.

I looked down at my hands, trying to act casual even it felt like all my muscles would snap from the tension. It was both wonderful and terrifying to be that close to the object of your fantasies. I felt invisible and conspicuous at the same time.

Then, I heard his voice for the first time, and my muscles melted and my heart picked up double-time.

"Hello, I'm Edward. Looks like we will be partners today."

My head snapped up and I saw my favorite smile again. This time I shyly returned one of my own. He held out his right hand, the one not in a sling. I felt like I was dreaming as I reached out and placed my smaller one in his. "Bella," I said. "Nice to meet you."

After a moment, I realized he still held onto my hand. Our gazes were locked again, but the intensity had changed. Now that we were interacting, it seemed that we were both trying to figure the other out. It was like we were trying to read each other's life stories through our eyes. Jacob came back and we quickly dropped our hands. I almost frowned. Letting go of his hand didn't feel right. I was like someone took away my heavy blanket on a cold night.

"Ladies first, Bella. I need to check your range of motion again to see if there has been any improvement since last time. Could you lay back for me?"

I pulled my leg onto the table and began to take my brace off. The incisions from the surgery were no longer covered by bandages, and I was a little self conscious about the angry red marks that were left behind. I was told those would fade, but I never thought too much about them until I realized that Edward was watching me. I glanced at him briefly, but enough that Jacob noticed. He turned his back on Edward and asked in a low voice, "Would you like me to pull the curtain?"

"No, that's okay," I said, maybe a little too quickly. Jacob nodded and took my brace from me. I laid back and took a deep breath in anticipation. This was probably going to hurt more than last time since I was obviously meant to make some sort of progress in my range of motion. I looked over at Edward and he seemed to realize my trepidation.

"So, what are you in for?" he asked with another smirk. I smiled wryly back at him, "ACL replacement. Apparently I am not made for downhill skiing. You?"

He gestured to his shoulder. "Rotator cuff. I tore it playing baseball. They are trying to keep me from having surgery if it's not necessary."

"Yeah I don't recommend it as an elective," I sourly told him. He chuckled at that, and I almost forgot where I was, who I was! It was a musical sound. I was brought back to reality by Jacob asking me to try to bend my leg as far as I could. I took a breath and started sliding my foot back, Edward idling chatting about the game he was playing when he messed up his shoulder. When I stopped my leg Jacob looked at the measurements. "Is that as far as you can go? It's not any better than last time."

I gripped the sides of the table and bit my lip, willing my knee not to split open as I pulled it back a fraction of an inch further. Jacob gave a bright smile, "MUCH better Bella! I knew you had it in you!"

I relaxed my leg and gave a dry chuckle. I have a feeling Jacob was one of those people who pushed you to your limits. Not good for me.

I straightened my leg out as much as I could on the table and Jacob said I was improving a little there as well. That didn't hurt as much and I felt like sticking my tongue out at him when he back was turned. I almost jumped when Edwards cool fingers brush against the back of my hand, still clenched on the table. "You okay?"

I relaxed my fingers at his touch and smiled gratefully at him. "Yeah, thanks for talking to me. I hate that part."

He smiled and pulled his hand back. "Yeah I have been coming here for several weeks and I still hate this part."

Several weeks! And he was still in a sling? I was going to be here forever.

Jacob turned to Edward to get his measurements. I was caught up staring at the way his muscles moved under the tight black shirt and almost missed the small grimace he gave. I started talking to try to distract him, as he did for me.

"So, do you go to State?"

Edward smiled gratefully and his voice sounded a little strained as he answered. "Yes, I am a senior."

"What's your major?"

"Music."

This surprised me only a little, he did have that artistic look about him. He could also be easily mistaken for some sort of rock star with his haphazard hair and sexy stubble along his jaw. It also is one reason I have never seen him. Our majors don't exactly share a lot of classes.

He dropped his arm gratefully when Jacob was done. Apparently Edward had made enough improvement to satisfy him. Show off.
"How about you?"

"I am a junior. I am double majoring in Animal Science and Zoology."

He raised his dark eyebrows, seeming impressed. "Wow, double majoring. Are you heading to veterinary school after undergrad?"

I wrinkled my nose, "I am not made for vet school. I would have to complete surgery rotations and I don't do so well with blood. I have no clue yet what I am going to do. I guess I might go to graduate school here if nothing has happened for me until then." This was the most I have talked about my uncertainty to anyone, even my roommates. I felt slightly ashamed at the looks people give me when I tell them I don't exactly have a "plan". But Edward's eye's dazzled me, and the words just flowed out easily. It was actually very cathartic and I didn't feel like he was judging me.

He looked like he had heard something like that before.

"I am sort of the same predicament. Music majors don't have a lot of options in careers, and I don't want to be a teacher, so I am hoping that I can compose enough pieces that are good enough to get me noticed, or I am going to have to pull a plan B out my…well, I will just have to have a plan B. At least you are still a junior. I am graduating in the fall!"

I giggled at him and he smiled brightly back at me. It felt good to relate to someone who didn't have their life planned out to the tiniest detail.

Jacob interrupted us and told me that I was back on the bike today. "I know you don't want to do this Bella, but you should try for a full rotation today. The secret is if you do a full rotation backwards it hurts a lot less that doing one forwards for the first time. The bad news is, the first time will hurt like hell. The good news is, after the first time it's a piece of cake."

I grimaced. Piece of cake, huh?

He turned to Edward, "Alright man, the circuit you did last time I want you to do again, except this time I am adding a little more weight to some of the machines. Do 5 minutes at each station." I think Edward may have grimaced a little as well.

I made my way over to the bike and Jacob took my crutches before moving over to set Edward up on one of the workout stations. It looked like all he had to do at that one was throw a small foam ball into a miniature basket. I glared down at the stationary bike I was on and wished I could switch with him. I kept up the rocking motion from the time before, feeling like I was pushing a little farther today.

After a few minutes Edward switched over to the machine I saw him at the first time. Jacob put an extra weight on the resistance and told Edward to try it out. Edward pulled his arms together slowly, grunting slightly as he did so. I heard Jacob ask is he could continue that for a few minutes and Edward nodded, jaw clenched. As much as I loved watching him work out, I felt bad that he was in obvious pain. Also, I felt determined. If he can go the extra mile, then so could I, right?

I looked down at my feet on the pedals and willed them to go further. I pedaled forward and almost reached the top of the circle before releasing my breath and letting it go backwards. This time I used the momentum to do a complete backwards rotation.

Stars blinked in front of my eyes. It felt like someone had stabbed a red hot screwdriver into my knee and popped the kneecap out. I didn't recognize the strangled cry that came out of my mouth. Vaguely, I heard the sound of weights dropping and heard someone coming over to me. I was breathing rapidly in and out, feeling like the pain was never going to end. I think I broke myself.

"Bella? Are you okay?" Jacob asked. Waving his hand in front of my fixed stare. I blinked, and my vision cleared a little as the tears started down my cheeks. I felt a cool hand wipe away my tears and turned to see Edward on the other side of me, his eyes wide with concern. Jacob was on my other side, "Did you do full rotation?"

I stared in front of me again, Edwards hand moved to rub my back reassuringly. It felt like such a familiar gesture, so comforting, and I would have loved to analyze that feeling further but I couldn't get my mind off the pain. I started to feel very light-headed as I breathed through clenched teeth and simply nodded at Jacob's question.

"Yeah, I know the first time sucks, but it will be much better next time. Do you need to stop for the day?" I nodded again. The tears stopped, but my breathing was still pretty erratic.

I felt weak and shaky as Jacob moved to help me off the bike. Apparently, I wasn't looking like I could handle crutches, so Jacob put his arm around my waist and tried to support me as we slowly headed back over to the table. The movement caused the thickening darkness around my eyes to take over and I slumped against Jacob. I felt another strong arm snake around from my other side and heard Jacob warning Edward, "Be careful with that shoulder."

"I've got this."

They pretty much carried me over to the table and I blinked up at Edward, who was hovering over me, searching my face. I wanted to reassure him that I was ok, but all I could manage was a wobbly smile. Nausea bubbled in my stomach and I prayed harder than I have ever prayed before that I would not lose my lunch in front of Edward.

Jacob came back with a cool cloth for my forehead and an icepack for my knee. I don't think anything felt as good before, until Edward took my hand. I felt instantly alert and the pain faded to a dim bother in the back of my mind. Jacob looked at our joined hands, "She's alright man, go finish your circuit."

Edward looked questionably at me. I gave him a stronger smile and nodded, "Its okay, I'm better now." It felt only natural to squeeze his hand. He smiled slightly in return, and didn't take his intense gaze off of my eyes as he leaned down to brush his lips lightly across the back of the hand he held. My stomach clenched and I felt a whole different kind of faint.

Holy crow.

Jacob was chatting with me as Edward left and sympathetically smiled at me, "Sorry Bella, that was a necessary evil. Next time will be much easier I promise. That was probably the hardest part of the whole process."

I let out a breath, "God, I hope so."

After a few minutes, Edward came back over to the table next to mine, looking tired and slightly pale. I was sitting up at that point and looked him over in concern, "Are you alright?"

He ran his hand through his adorable hair and sighed, "Yeah, that was just a little harder than last time. I think I will be feeling it later tonight." He smiled wryly at me.

I felt guilt wash over me, "You didn't hurt yourself when you helped me? I'm so sorry!"

He waved off my apology, "No, I didn't use my bad arm. There was just more weights on today and I have to get adjusted to that. You probably weigh less than those weights anyways." He narrowed his eyes at me, and I heated underneath his scrutinizing gaze. "Do you have any plans after this? Would you like to get a bite to eat with me?"

"Sure." I answered a little too quickly. I didn't even think about any plans I might have had, I would have cancelled everything to spend more time with this gorgeous creature.

Edward smiled and nodded once, apparently satisfied at my quick response. Jacob came over and gave Edward an ice pack and I waited patiently for him to finish. I could have stayed there and stared all day. He was wearing all black today, which made his topaz eyes stand out and his hair glow. His pale skin was covered slightly with stubble and it gave him an overall endearing, rumpled appearance. He laid back on the table with his cold pack and smiled over at me, "So, where are you from?"

This started a whole line of questioning. We swapped facts about each other that continued on to the short walk to the O'charley's restaurant near the physical therapy building. I was wishing I wore something other than my gyms clothes, but Edward didn't change out of his workout attire either, so I felt a little less self conscious.

Edward was from Seattle, so we had the west coast in common. He talked about his family. He was also an only child, but his parents were still happily married. He asked about my parents and looked at me sympathetically when I told him they had been divorced for a while now and that I never heard from my mom anymore. He laughed when I told him about my dad, the police chief, and our very awkward understanding of each other.

We both ordered a light dinner and drank cokes. I felt fortified by the caffeine and energized by the flirtatious banter. I still knew I was balancing my hopes on a relationship that could never happen. I learned my lesson in the past about looking too much into a guy's attention. I always got the "we're just friends, we are just having fun" line. I knew my place. Men flirt, but that doesn't mean that they are attracted to me. I was afraid I read too much into a guy's actions and it turned out that it really wasn't flirting…that it was all in my head.

But Edward was good company. He made me laugh more than I had in a long time and the way his eyes twinkled when he laughed with me stopped my breath. I had a hard time concentrating on the food in front of me, but Edward would stop what he was saying and would gesture to my plate, "Bella, eat!" I would scoop a forkful of something that I didn't even taste and wait for him to continue.

Despite my protest, he paid for both of us. I scowled at him and he just winked at me, "You can get it next time."

Next time? Oh boy.

He walked me back to my truck and helped my get my crutches into the back. I was already pretty graceless when getting into the vehicle with my bum leg, but Edward's presence made me even more nervous. He just chuckled when I knocked my head on the door frame and sat heavily down on the seat. I glared at him, but he ruined my pout when he gently placed his hand over the bump on the top of my head. He quieted, but still smiled slightly as his hand moved from my head to cup the side of my face. His thumb rubbed gently across my cheek bone and I turned slightly into his palm. He sighed when I closed my eyes and slowly dropped his hand. My eyes snapped open and I saw him step back, gently shutting my door. "Goodnight, Bella. I will see you soon."

I just nodded dumbly and watched him walk away towards a silver Volvo. I snapped out of my daze and started the ancient truck. The roar of the engine seemed quick compared to the pounding of my heart. Somehow I made it out into traffic and towards the apartment without even realizing I had started driving. My next physical therapy appointment was not until Monday morning, as was Edwards. Three days! It was going to be a long weekend.