A/N: SM owns all things relating to Twilight

Chapter 1

"Bella, can you hear me?"

"Yes, mother. "I snarked. "I'm not deaf remember?"

I heard her intake of breath and I just knew she was going to start with the crying again.

"Mom," I said, reaching over to grasp her hand. "I'm sorry. I'm just having a bad day."

She tightened her grip on my hand and I had to fight the urge not to flinch as her long manicured nails accidently dug into my flesh. Today was Thursday and like every Thursday for as long as I could remember she would start her morning with a visit to the salon.

"Did Irina give you the good news?" Mom asked.

I nodded. "Yup, I'll be going home on Monday." I tried not to let the despair show in my voice. I did not feel ready to go home and I had no idea how I was going to cope. "I'm not quite sure how I'm going to manage though."

"Don't be silly sweetheart," She chuckled. "You'll be coming home with us. Really, Bella. Did you think we were going to let you go live by yourself?"

I blew out a breath. "Mom, I really don't think…"

"Let's not talk about this now, honey, there's plenty of time to sort everything out."

Except there's not. I was suddenly exhausted. I know my mom meant well but she could really wear me out sometimes. I guess it was due to the fact that she spent all her time with me now. Before I was lucky if I saw her once every couple weeks – she was always busy with her hobbies and her friends. I guess that's normal though. When your daughter grows up and moves out you have to find things to occupy your time.

"Mom, I'm really tired," I told her with a yawn. "Would it be okay if I had a nap?"

"Of course, sweetie," I heard her rustling around. Probably gathering everything she's strewn across the room in the hour that's she's been here. "Do you need some help getting back into bed?"

"No it's alright. I'll manage."

She placed her hand on my shoulder and kissed the top of my head. "I'll come back later with your dad, okay?"

"Okay," I sniffed. "I love you."

"Love you to, sweetheart. Bye."

I wait until there is complete silence in the room before letting out a deep breath. I tried to choke back a sob as I wiped the tears from my face. I didn't know how much longer I could do this. The doctors all seemed to think that I should have been fully healed by now but it had yet to happen. Two months after the accident and I was still stuck in this hospital room – bored out of my mind, day after day.

I close my eyes and focus on the noises coming from outside my room, trying to calm myself down.

Just breathe, Bella. In and out.

I can hear laughter coming from the room next to mine and the sound of random buzzers going off in the corridor. The noises are a little louder than their usual dull sound, so I take a wild guess that my mom has left my hospital room door open… Again.

I do think about getting up and closing it but I decide to leave it open. It's nice to hear familiar sounds. It keeps me company without me actually having to participate in social interactions.

I must have dozed off because the next thing I knew a hand was shaking my shoulders.

"Hey, Bella." The voice said. It was a soft voice but still hard at the same time. The type of voice that you knew had the face of an angel with a temper of a devil. "Wake up, lazy bones."

"Shut up," I moaned. "I'm sleeping."

"Well go to bed then. You're not doing your neck any favours sleeping in an arm chair."

"What time is it?" I asked, rubbing my eyes. I reached over to the small table beside my chair and picked up my glasses.

"Twelve. Are you famous? Wearing your shades inside." Irina joked.

"Ha, you're so funny." I snorted. To be honest it was nice to have someone to joke with. Anytime I brought the subject up with mom and dad, they both got upset. "What's on the agenda for today?"

"Well, first I thought we could take the jet to New York and hit a few stores and then…"

"Can we cut the bullshit today? I'm really not in the mood."

"Fine. Have it your way," Irina took my hand and helped me stand up. "We're going to the gym today."

"Why? It's not like I can do much."

"Well tough luck." She tucked my arm through her own. "Besides it's not like you're going there to work out."

"Yeah, cause, what else do you do in a gym?"

"Some inspiration meeting or something. The doctors think it's a good idea you go. You know, because you're all depressed and shit." We started walking forward, towards the door.

I snorted. "Did anyone ever tell you that you're a great nurse? Real friendly."

"You think I'm this nice to all my patients?" We were out in the corridor now. I'd only been outside the room without my wheelchair a couple times and it still made me nervous. I clutched Irina's arm tighter and shrank into her as a particularly loud person passed us.

"Do I really have to go?" I whispered.

"Look, Bells, I know it's not gonna be fun but this new guys is supposed to be really good."

"What happened to Mike?" Mike Newton had been the last counsellor that the doctors made me meet with. He had been a nice enough guy but it was so obvious that he hadn't had a clue how to actually help me. The problems he mostly dealt with were old people who could no longer mobilise by themselves and needed some help learning how to use their new aids.

"I'm not quite sure. Turn right here," I did what she said and felt the cool breeze of the air conditioning from inside the gym. "Mike's still here but he's doing something else now."

"Can I sit down, now? I'm kinda tired." Walking any amount of distance still kind of drained me. The doctor said it was because my lungs weren't at their strongest right now. I guess that's what happens when you've been put on a respirator – your lungs get lazy.

"Listen, you only have to stay at this thing for half an hour."

I nodded "Are you staying?"

"Sorry, I can't. I have some antibiotics to make up but I'll come back and get you okay?" She squeezed my shoulder "I'll see you in a bit."

"Bye," I mumbled. I don't know what it was with people squeezing my shoulder now. I wouldn't be surprised if I had bruises.

"There's a couple other people here," She whispered in my ear. "An old man to your left and another guy to the right. The chair's right in front of you,"

"Thanks," I whispered back, blushing. I was so ready for her to leave now. I like Irina and we'd always gotten along well when we were in high school but I was starting to resent how much I relied on her now. "I'll see you later."

Another squeeze. Jesus Christ!

My hands grasped for the chair and I slowly circled it to sit down. I knew that there were people around me thanks to Irina but I couldn't hear anything but my own breathing right now. It was making me nervous. My leg began to bounce the longer the silence went on. Why wasn't anyone saying anything?

I hate this. I hated being so out of control. How do people function like this? Never knowing exactly what's going on around you, who's around you? I can't live like this. I can't do this. I can't-

"Hey, you okay?" A voice cut in from my right, interrupting my internal ranting. "Hey it's alright. I hate these things too."

"I'm fine," I muttered. Turning my head in his direction. He had a nice voice. Soft, smooth, like velvet. I nervously touched my glasses, conscious of what he might be thinking about me. Could he tell?

"I haven't seen you around before. Are you new?" The guy on the right asked.

"No. I've been here for a few weeks." I mumbled. I'd never really talked to guys before my accident and now it was just plain awkward. I couldn't really tell what was going on. Was he actually listening to me or did he have his head turned away, eyes sweeping the room, trying to find a way to escape from talking to the blind girl.

"Me too," he replied. "I'm Edward."

"Bella."

I tried to think of something else to say but nothing came to mind. As I said before, I'd never really talked to boys before. Actually I didn't even know if he was a boy. All Irina had said was that there a guy to my right. He might be older than me… Or younger. How the hell would I know?

"Alright, guys," Another voice piped up. This voice was louder and echoed all around the room. "Let's begin."

A/N: Thanks for reading :]