I do not own any of these characters, the only thing that's mine is the plot
"He said he wanted to fuck you?" Alice asked in shock, "What did you do?"
"I told him that was inappropriate, and that saying things like that would get him in trouble here. He apologized and then said that he had been raised to tell the truth, and I thanked him for his apology, told him that being honest was a good thing but that he needed to be aware that not all thoughts needed to be shared, and that he needed to be more aware of what he was saying in front of people," Bella said with a shrug, "You know how some of the patients get."
"That's it?" Alice pushed, "He was very polite when I spoke to him, if he's that good at putting on a face then he might be more dangerous."
"Well he thanked me, then asked me to leave because he said I was driving him crazy, I said okay, that I was glad I got to meet him and that if he needed anything just to let me know. Of course I told Angela and Jake about it, and noted it in his chart. Honestly, it's something that we definitely need to keep an eye on, I agree, but I almost feel like he was trying to push me, to test my response. It's not like this is the first time that one of the patients has said anything inappropriate."
"Hmmm maybe. But if he keeps it up we may have to change his safety plan to make sure there's always a male staff nearby to intervene if necessary."
"That's a good plan. We'll see how tomorrow goes. Now I thought you said something about going out for drinks?" Bella teased, "I honestly could use a glass of wine today."
"That sounds perfect. You want to go get dinner at that Italian place on Main Street and have some wine and relax?" Alice offered, "Nice and low-key just like you wanted."
"That sounds perfect," Bella smiled and pulled on her coat.
Feeling much more relaxed after dinner, Bella went home to take a bubble bath to round out her relaxing evening. For a Thursday night this was pure bliss, and she was able to fall soundly asleep. When the morning came however, it was a whole nother story. Bella felt groggy, tired, and sore as if she hadn't slept at all. She also had a lingering feeling that she had a nightmare, and that it was somehow related to Edward. Trying her best to shake it off, she started her morning routine. She turned on the coffee maker, today was going to be at least a three cup day, and began her morning yoga as it brewed. Yoga was something that Bella tried to do every morning, it helped her wake up and clear her mind so that she could focus on her day. Today was different, although her body felt more at ease, she still had an uneasy feeling in the back of her mind, that was still related to Edward. She continued about her day, ignoring the feeling as best she could, pouring herself coffee, putting on the news, and eating her oatmeal before getting herself ready for work. Bella brushed through her silken hair, and checked herself out in the mirror. She frowned at her appearance, and decided that although she rarely wore make-up, today she would need to, as her stress and exhaustion were clearly evident on her face. She left her hair down, deciding that it helped her look more refreshed than it did in her typical bun. Bella finished her coffee when she was done dressing and poured more in a travel mug. She got her lunch out of the fridge, and checked herself in her hallway mirror one last time before locking the door behind her and heading to her car.
Lauren, one of the nurses Bella did not care for, was in the morning meeting. When Bella inquired about Edward's behavior that night Lauren looked confused. Bella internally rolled her eyes, knowing that the blonde women clearly had not read the charts before coming to the meeting.
"Well on top of his fifteen minute required checks and yesterday being his first day, he made some sexually charged statements to me yesterday and I wanted to make sure he wasn't making anymore inappropriate comments to any of the other females," Bella explained.
"He made sexually charged statements to you?" Lauren questioned, a hint of something that seemed to be a mixture of shock, disgust, and possibly jealousy in her voice, "Well I didn't see anything in his overnight notes like that. In fact his behavior was fine. I talked to him this morning too, and he seems totally fine to me, I don't even know why he's here really."
Bella looked at Alice in exasperation, and Alice gave her a clear 'I told you so' look in return, but also supported her friend answered the question for her.
"He's here because he attacked people, and has strong delusions that he's a vampire. And yes, we are concerned about further sexually inappropriate behavior from him, so despite his charms, be aware that he may very well be a predator and we're unaware. We were unable to get a very good history during his intake."
Lauren opened her mouth to respond but Bella spoke first, "So has he been eating? I want to make sure that this vampire delusion isn't affecting his health."
"Ummm," Lauren said as she flipped through the notes in front of her, "Yes, he only ate the chicken that was served last night and requested that his meat not be cooked in the future, which he was obviously told can't happen. At breakfast he ate an egg, and refused all other food."
Bella scrawled some note on the notepad in front of her, "Two follow ups, how did he respond to being told that he could not have uncooked meat? And how is his fluid intake? We don't want him getting dehydrated."
Lauren stuttered again, looking through the notes before responding, "There's nothing written about his response, so I'm assuming there was no issue. Also no note on fluid intake, but I will make a note that we should track it."
"Excellent," said Dr. Cullen, "I'm glad the situation is being addressed, however it is important to be reviewing notes on all patients when you begin your shift as their behavior can be erratic despite how they may be presenting to you. Now how are Jasper and Emmett adjusting to the room change?"
After the morning meeting, Dr. Cullen approached Bella, "I expect that Edward will be a challenging case. Can you check in with him again today and let me know what happens? He is so new on medications that I want to keep a closer eye on him for a while to make sure that he will end up on his therapeutic dose."
"I absolutely will, Carlise," said Bella, "Alice and I are preparing to adjust his safety plan as needed. We're concerned about his ability to manipulate."
"We're so fortunate to have you two on staff. Now if only we could find some more dedicated therapists like the two of you. I know you've been so overworked lately, and I really appreciate your dedication," he said, flashing Bella a smile, "After all, I don't let all the staff call me Carlise."
Bella and Alice went on their morning rounds, greeting all of the patients and doing a brief check-in
"Bella, I'm being so serious right now," said Rosalie, flipping her platinum blonde locks over her shoulder "I love Emmet, but I just can't marry him."
"Rose, do we need to review our boundaries again? It is good for you and Emmet to be friends, but romance between patients isn't permitted. So I'm going to agree, you definitely can't marry him. In fact, maybe you guys should take a little break and spend some time with some of the other people you like."
"Okay, well patients can't have romantic relationships together, but can patients and staff? Because I don't think I want to stay away from Emmet for too long, because I don't like how close he is with Alice. She's always talking to him, and sometime he smiles when he sees her, and I've seen them laughing together."
"So no, relationships between patients and staff aren't acceptable either, so you don't need to worry about that. But really, I think we need to look at this jealousy a little bit. You need to remember that Emmet is his own person and he can be around other people, just like you can. And just in case you forgot, Alice is his therapist, just like I'm yours."
Rose pouted, "I'm not saying he can't be around other people, but I guess I am jealous. You don't think she likes him? I mean she does laugh at his jokes, and smiles at him"
"So again, this is not something you need to worry about, but remember how we talked about questioning yourself to see if what you're getting upset about it something that's worth getting upset about? This is a great time to do that. Does Alice smile at other people? And do other people laugh at Emmet's jokes?"
Rose paused for a moment and sighed, "You know Bella sometimes you're too smart. And sometimes I don't like you."
"Well that's okay, you don't have to like me all the time. In fact I don't think you liked me at all when you first got here. But we got through it and I'm sure we'll get through whatever comes up again. Now please try and spend some time with someone who's not Emmet. Just like he's his own person, you are your own person. Maybe spend some time with Leah. Or maybe Edward. He's new, I'm sure he could use some friends"
As Bella continued to check in with patients, she looked around for Edward, who she didn't see, but too soon it was time for lunch and she had yet to get to his room.
"I don't know how many times I've told Emmet he needs to respect boundaries, but I swear every time is like the first time for him," Alice sighed as she pulled her hummus and roasted vegetables out of the fridge.
"Preaching to the choir sister," Bella said in between bites of her Caesar salad, "Same talk with Rose this morning. Also she's jealous of you. She thinks that you're going to steal Emmet away from her. Which I guess is a step in the right direction because at least that makes slightly more logical sense than when she thought I was the president and she was my bodyguard."
Alice laughed, "Oh I remembered that. She tried to tell me I didn't have clearance to be in the same room as you. It's a never ending adventure here isn't it?"
"Sure is. Have you seen my vampire this morning? I didn't see him in the halls at all," Bella questioned.
"Was he in his room?" asked Alice, "I can't say that I saw him either."
Bella frowned, "I didn't get down to him yet. People were chatty this morning."
"Well then I would assume he's still in there. If he really believes he's a vampire then he probably thinks that he needs to sleep during the day," Alice suggested.
"Oh that's a good point," Bella said with more enthusiasm, "I hadn't even thought of that. He'll be my first stop after lunch"
"I know we probably don't need to worry, but can you make sure that Seth knows you're going in there when you go? I want to make sure you stay safe," Alice said, "Plus if something does happen and you have to go on leave then I'll be stuck with all of the patients and I really can't handle that."
Bella smiled and nodded in agreement, "I will do what I can Alice. I won't put you through that. Now enough of work, we're on break right? Aren't we supposed to be gossiping about the men in our lives or something?"
"What men?" Alice laughed, "I'm pretty sure you're just talking about my shower head"
"Alice!" Bella said, a blush coming across her face, "I'm trying to eat my lunch here"
"Isabella Swan, a delusional man can tell you that he wants to fuck you and you're cool as a cucumber, but I make a joke about my lack of sex life and you turn into a tomato? It's not like we're some high schoolers anymore."
"I was just caught off guard is all," mumbled Bella into her fork.
After she finished lunch, Bella headed into the unit, and spotted Seth further down the hallway. She gently touched his shoulder to get his attention and let her know where she was headed.
"No problem Bells," he said with a smile, "I'm going to be headed down there for another check in a few anyway, but if you need anything before that just give me a shout"
Bella approached Edward's door and knocked, "Edward?"
He responded with, "Come in" as she was opening the door.
Edward was lying on his bed, on top of his covers, wearing the same clothes he had on the night before. His eyes were open but he was just staring at the ceiling.
"How are you today Edward?" Bella questioned, approaching the bed but still providing him with his space.
"I suppose I'm fine. It's exceptionally boring here," he said, his eyes never waiving.
"Well have you spent much time out of your room?" she questioned, pulling over a chair from the corner and positioning it at the end of his bed so that if he were to sit up they would be facing each other.
"Not particularly," he responded, "They made me eat in the dining room"
"That's the only times you've been out of your room?" she pressed.
"Yes," he responded, tilting his head slightly so that he could see her as he continued to speak, "I up until now have had no reason to be more engaging. Nothing has caught my interest."
"But you're interested in talking to me?" Bella questioned, trying to get him more engaged.
"I suppose I am," he said, putting his head back down on his pillow, "But I also suppose you are going to ask me a series of uninteresting questions as dictated by your job and encourage me to not spend all of my time in my room"
"Well you are partially correct there," Bella conceded, "I am going to encourage you to spend more time out of your room. But you were incorrect about the first part. I will be happy to talk about whatever you'd like to talk about. Granted at times I will have to have some less interesting check in questions, that is, as you said, part of my job."
Edward sat up, and swung his legs over the side of the bed and appraised Bella inquisitively.
"Well continuing to speak to you without looking at you would be rude, regardless of the conversation topic," he said after a moment.
"Well I agree, it is less rude for you to be looking at me, but I want you to be comfortable, so if you want to lie down, that is fine with me."
"Bella, I want to kill you. You know that right?" he questioned, just as Seth knocked on the door and walked into the room, "So I don't know why you're so concerned about my comfort"
Seth looked ready for action and looked over at Bella who gave him a nod and continued to speak, "Edward, I want to talk about this further, but you do realize that these comments are unsafe right? Would it be okay if we kept the door open and Seth sat in the doorway?"
"Well I'm glad you're finally talking sense. Of course it's unsafe, I just said I want to kill you. I understand your need for safety, although I'm not sure that Seth would be able to do much if I decided to act on it"
"So Seth, would you mind sitting in the doorway while we talk? Safety is important but so is privacy," Bella questioned.
Seth was clearly still prepared for action, "Um maybe I should stay standing in the room, wouldn't that be more safe?"
"I don't think there's a need for all of that," Bella was dismissive, "I think being in the doorway will be sufficient enough. Edward you don't want to act on your feelings currently right?"
"No, I don't want to hurt anyone, which is precisely why I need to get out of here," he responded, staring intently between the two in the room.
Seth looked again at Bella, making sure she was aware of his discomfort.
"Well I have the utmost faith in both of you gentlemen, so Seth, the chair then," she said to his dismay, but he grudgingly accepted and walked out into the hall and moment later reappeared with chair in the doorway.
"So now Edward, let's continue this conversation. Why is it that you want to kill me?" Bella prompted.
"As I told you last night, you smell delicious. I am a vampire, I want to drink your blood."
"So your desire to kill me has nothing to do with wishing harm on me?"
"No. It is purely a primal need."
"Well I appreciate that. Now I'm under the impression that you don't want me to be asking you a ton of questions. Unless I'm wrong, in which case I would like you to correct me, this will be my last question for now. Since I would like to get to know you so that we can build our relationship, what would you like to talk about?"