Hello there! Here is the new chapter, enjoy. Happy weekend :-)

I Do not own Twilight!

Chapter 2

Edward:

(Still the same day as the first chapter)

"You're late! I expected you ten minutes ago, come on in," she motioned her to go inside. Bella followed her.

"I had a little trouble with the bus," Bella explained.

"Okay, I will let it slide this time; just don't make a habit of it and you will be fine," the woman told her.

"I'm Rosalie Hale, the director of this place." Rosalie smiled, while shaking Bella´s hand.

"Isabella Swan"

"I know. The PO called me this morning and gave me your particulars. So, Monday through Friday you will be here four hours each day. Saturdays and Sundays are free,'' Rose said.

"Okay," Bella said, returning her smile.

"We're already behind schedule," Rose said in a hurry.

"Come on, I'll give you a tour of the place, your uniform, and get you started."

She took her to a locker room and gave her light blue scrubs. Bella changed as quickly as she could, placed her bag and clothes in a locker that was addressed to her and followed Rosalie. First, Rosalie showed her the kitchen, then the tour continued through the small dining room, the laundry, the medical supply rooms, the nurse's stations, and finally to the patients´ rooms.

"You´ll be working on the third floor for now. You´ll be given your assignments when you get in at three. Today you will be cleaning the bathrooms of these rooms," Rosalie said, giving her a chart.

She introduced briefly some of the patients.

"I'll introduce you to Edward next," Rose said leading her toward a room at the corner. "When you clean here you have to use these specific cleaners. They are non abrasive and organic based. The fumes are bad for him. Make sure you rinse everything through," she told Bella, pointing to the bottles labeled with the number 100. "Also, Isabella, he could probably use some company about now." She looked at her eyebrow raised. One of your duties will be to accompany a patient," Rosalie explained.

"Accompany?"

"Yeah, you know give them some company. Its easy you just have to talk and read to them, etcetera..." she explained to her. Bella nodded, she could do that at least, she was a good listener.

"Here we are. Room 100," Rosalie said to Bella.

She entered; the room was much like the others, except that it had more windows, it was slightly bigger, and it had a balcony. A bronze-haired boy was lying on the bed reading a book. He looked up as they came in.

"Hi Rose, how's it going?" he asked, and Rose giggled for no apparent reason.

"Same as always, I've brought you one of our newest volunteers. Edward this is Isabella Swan, Bella, meet Edward Masen-Cullen."

He slowly turned to look at her, as Bella looked at him, amazed at the most beautiful green eyes she'd ever seen. Although he had a little bit of muscle, he looked skinny, skinnier than normal. His bronze colored hair looked disheveled, making him look like he had just woken up. Bella thought it looked sexy.

He was cute, cuter than Ethan. She noticed that he was wearing a nasal oxygen mask and made her wonder why he was there.

"Hello," Edward said, coolly.

"Hi," Bella replied.

"I'll leave you two to get acquainted," Rose said before leaving. He just kept looking at her and she panicked.

Edward had been at the hospice for the past two years, he paid Rosalie his expenses each month, and got three meals a day and the treatment he needed. He had family but preferred to be in the hands of Rosalie and her staff rather than be in a more modern or better qualified hospital. He didn´t want their pity. He loved his family but he didn´t want to be babied.

"So, how come you're volunteering at a place like this?" he finally asked, after a few minutes during which she shifted from foot to foot uneasily.

"Well, I want to do something to help," Bella said.

Edward chuckled. "Please, come on! Everyone knows you're not here out of the kindness of your heart. You got busted and this is your community service," he stated.

Bella looked at him puzzled. How does he know that?

"That doesn't mean that I won't do a good job," Bella said defensively.

He shrugged, as though he didn't care much one way or the other.

"What'd you get busted on?" he continued.

"Shoplifting, but I wasn't actually intending to steal; it was only a stupid dare."

"Yeah, couple of my friends pulled a prank like that once," he sneered. "Only the cops called it Grand Theft Auto."

"A pair of ten dollar earrings isn't like a car," Bella protested crossing her arms. She was starting to think that Edward was kind of a jerk.

"They weren't stealing the car, they were only joyriding. They were poor not rich or famous as you or your friends."

"That's a lousy thing to say. You don't know me," she snapped.

"You're right, but you're very easy to read," he told her as if he could actually see right through her. Alice did often say that she was like an open book. Was she really that predictable?

She clamped her mouth shut. She didn't even know what his illness was. What if he was dying or something? Although that didn't give him the right to be a jerk and talk to her like that.

"The truth is often lousy," he added. "They got two years in prison. You got two hundred hours, but you're still free."

A mixture of emotions rolled in her stomach: Anger at his attitude, shame at the reminder of her actions, and humiliation that it was this irritating, cute guy who called her on her immaturity.

"I'd better go clean those bathrooms," she said.

Edward opened the door for her, Bella got out, and he closed it without saying another word.

Bella ran into Rose on the first-floor landing.

"Finished already?" Rose asked.

"I think he was getting tired," Bella lied. "What's wrong with him?" she decided to ask.

"Valvular heart disease," Rose replied.

"What's that? Is it like a bad heart?" Rosalie nodded, and Bella frowned.

"Couldn't he get a transplant?"

Rose shook her head. "They've tried everything; he has had both open heart and bypass surgeries. They worked for a while but he got worse," Rosalie said sadly. "His heart is too big and now," she didn't finish.

"Now what Rosalie, what happened?" Bella asked

"The infection spread, it messed up several of the valves in the heart. He doesn't qualify for a transplant. Not that he'd have much luck getting one anyway. Not in the time he has left."

"How old is he?"

"Eighteen," Rose smiled sadly. We're almost the same age, Bella thought

"How long does Edward have?"

"We don't know… maybe a A week a month or two, another year, who knows? Things, Isabella, are simply ion the hands of God," Rosalie said with a sigh. She liked Edward; if she ever had a son she wanted him to be like Edward.

Bella felt something inside of her stir now that she knew Edward's fate. Was it pity, or maybe something else… sympathy, perhaps?

She went home that night thinking over what he had told her, and also what she learned about his illness. He was so young. She was going to be eighteen soon. What if this was Edward's last year?

That sounded unthinkably tragic to Bella.

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