Thanks for the reviews on my last chapter. I got more for my last chapter than I got for three chapter on my other story. I like this chapter, I hope you do. Please review, if you review I will write faster!! Thanks -Amby
Night Shift- Chapter two
Edward's Point Of View
"How's your new job going?" Emmett said leaning on my door frame. I was slightly surprised I hadn't heard him coming. Although if I could miss anyone's mental tone walking down the hallway, it would be Emmett's. He was the only person that I knew that could actually think of nothing, sometimes he was just a mental hole.
"It's good" I paused. He picked up on my hesitation.
"What?" He smiled. "What is it?"
"One of the patients just struck me as odd, that's all" Odd was an understatement.
"Of, course they struck you as odd. They are crazy"
"They are not crazy!" I felt oddly defensive.
"Mentally ill, whatever same difference." He paused. " So why did this particular patient strike you as odd?" I could tell he was just humoring me.
"I have no idea what she was thinking" I said simply.
"What?" he asked.
"She was the first person I've ever met that I couldn't read. She was like a hole. I could hear everyone else in the house, but when she walked by, nothing." He appeared genuinely confused.
"Maybe you should ask Carlisle about it. Maybe he has come in contact with someone that could withstand others abilities before." on that note he walked out of the room, leaving me with my thoughts. I was sitting at my desk in front of my computer. I had my most recent college digress sitting on the other side of my desk. I had already been through medical school twice. I decided to go with something different this time. Compared to medicine getting my masters in psychology was rather easy. I liked working at the group home. It was quiet. I didn't have to worry about venturing out during the day. The only problem with my job seems to be that girl. She seemed so frail, so breakable. Then again not knowing what she was thinking was rather intimidating. I only had two hours before work. I decided to hunt before the drive to port angeles. Getting overly thirsty at work could not happen.
I didn't have a lot of time so I went out just around Forks. Animal blood was most definitely secondary to human blood but when we are home we always hunted animals. If we were away from home for some reason we could allow ourselves to feed on human blood. Feeding on humans did not mean killing them anymore. If you were a 'seasoned' vampire you could very easily take small amounts of human blood. The worse case scenario is that the donor would feel weak for a few days, they also would not have any kind of memory of the incident. My family has much more respect for human life than do most vampires. So we do limit ourselves quite a bit when it comes to feeding on humans.
The taste of the elk that I tackled was metallic and mossy. When you feed, you taste a lot of the creatures environment. The burn in my throat was subsiding somewhat. It wasn't as satisfying as human blood but it was enough. I made my way back to our house. I cleaned myself up before heading to port Angeles.
I quickly exchanged pleasantries with the staff that had been on duty. She was a rather short woman with long brown hair.
"All of the patients appear to be doing well tonight. Especially Bella, she was in a really good mood tonight." She was gathering her things so that she could leave. 'He is really hot….I would so cheat with him' Then a picture of her and I making love on the office desk flashed through her mind. She smiled as she thought of this.
"Thank you" I smiled trying to get rid of her so I did not have to suffer through any more of her explicit thoughts. When she finally left it was mentally relaxing. I turned on the television for a little background noise. Overnights at this group home were incredibly easy. There were light chores, you were supposed to do random bedroom checks, and then you would have six hours to yourself. This job should not require a degree.
I made sure everyone was sleeping before I started cleaning. I usually did the chores fast. If a patient had seen me I would just appear to be a blur running around the kitchen. I knew cleaning like this was dangerous but I hated cleaning and I very much wanted to get it over with.
As I cleaned I could not help but think about Bella. She lay helpless upstairs. I could feel the absence of her thoughts. It was like a hole in the puzzle of thoughts and dreams of the patients upstairs. I shook my head and continued to finish my chores. I tried my best to think about something else.
God damn it" I threw the sponge on the counter and walked out of the kitchen towards the stairs. I crept silently up the stairs. The door at the top of the stairs moaned when I opened it. It was dark in the hallway. I walked to the end of the hall. I knew Bella was just on the other side of the door. I also knew that what I was doing was very wrong. I opened the door just barley enough for me to look in. The room was dark. She was sleeping. I opened the door further and stepped in. I could hear her breathing, soft and steady.
Once again her thoughts and dreams were a mystery to me. It frustrated me greatly. She appeared to be utterly peaceful as she slept. Her long brown hair was spread out over her pillow. She didn't appear to be as pale as she had the day before. Her lips were more pink, she looked healthier. I suddenly got the urge to kiss her. I knew I needed to get out of her bedroom if I was feeling this way. I hadn't really been interested in anyone for over fifty years. I had never been involved with anyone. For some reason I felt like I was being pulled towards her. She stirred in her sleep and I froze from the fear that she would see me before I could get out of the room. She didn't wake but she was facing me now. I now saw that she was wearing a very skimpy tank top. The sight of her exposed flesh made me feel slightly uncomfortable. I quietly left the room. I walked down the stairs not bothering to check on any of the other patients. I would hear if something was wrong. According to all of the minds they were sleeping.
I walked into the living room and sat myself down in the couch. I flipped through the channels for a few minutes until I settled for something on the history channel. I had watched the television program for about ten minutes when I heard the door to the living room open. I looked over and laid my eyes on the most beautiful woman I had ever seen, again. Bella was standing across the room staring at me. For a second I started to panic, thinking that maybe she was actually awake and knew I had been in her room watching her.
"Hi Edward" She smiled when she said my name. She was still wearing that same skimpy tank top but now most of her was covered with a thin robe.
"Hello Bella" I paused " what are you doing awake" I glanced at the clock. It was 245am.
"Well don't say anything but I kind of set my alarm clock so I could talk to you again" She blushed.
"I should send you back to bed" I said simply, knowing damn well that's not what I wanted.
"But your not going to are you?" She appeared shy and anxious.
"Maybe not right away" I smiled " but you cant stay up all night"
"Okay, I can deal with that" She smiled. She walked over and sat next to me on the couch. She was at least two feet away. I would have been happier if she was closer. I felt like I was having impure thoughts. She was an adult but technically I was in a position of power and therefore this relationship would be inappropriate.
"So tell me about your family" She looked at me as if I was telling her a bedtime story.
"Well I have two sister and two brothers. My dads a doctor at the forks hospital" I paused "What about your family?"
"My dad is the chief of police in forks and my mom lives in Arizona with her husband. I'm an only child, my parents divorced when I was little so there weren't any more kids" She looked thoughtful.
"What's your favorite color?" I asked.
"Purple. What's your favorite animal?" She appeared to be mentally searching for more questions.
"Grizzly bears" I smiled I realized I just named my favorite food. "Can you tell me what happened. How you ended up in this place?" She just stared at me for almost three minutes before beginning to speak.
"I was living in forks with my dad. My best friend was Jacob Black. He was my best friend, my brother, my savior. I loved him. He was very pushy with wanting more than a friendship. I was to afraid of ruining our friendship to engage in any kind of intimate relationship. After a while I guess he got sick of waiting for me to want him and he started hanging out with this group of kids. 'Sam and his disciples' as he once called them. They used to do just stupid shit. Drugs, extreme sports, intentionally hurt each other, just because. Well one day Jacob was cliff diving with them and he hit his head on part of the cliff and the doctors said that he was most likely dead before he hit the water." She paused and a few tears started to slid down her cheeks. "After that I was really depressed. I stopped eating, I couldn't sleep, I couldn't stop crying. One day came when I hadn't slept in about a week, I hadn't eating in about five days, my head hurt from crying and I tried to kill myself. Charlie caught me" She held out her wrist to show me the horrible share that cut across her wrist. " After that I went to the hospital for a couple of months. Things got worse for a little while. I moved here about five months ago." She let out a large breath.
"I'm very sorry" I gave her a hug. It was the first physical contact I had had with her. She was warm and soft. Her tears bothered me. I wanted to take away the pain. "Bella, you can not blame yourself for what happened"
"That's what everyone tells me" She smiled.
"Thank you for telling me" I smiled. I felt grateful that she had confided in me.
"Can I get up and see you tomorrow night?" She asked hopeful.
"Of course." Against my better judgment I leaned over and kissed her cheek. She let out a small gasp. The thought of my ice cold skin touching her had not crossed my mind.
"You really cold." She touched the place on her face where I had kissed.
"Sorry." I smiled as I watched her disappear up the stairs.