A/N:

Thanks to all the people that have added this story as their favourite already. The response was more than I could have hoped! :)

Also, big shout out to Jezzeria my fanfic P.I.M.P. Lol. Go check out her fanfics, they are all awesome beyond reason! (I swear, she tries to put people to shame!)

Again, all reviews are more than welcome. The more I get, the faster I write!

NB: I own none of the rights to 'Twilight'. Stephenie Meyer is some sort of God. I hope she doesn't smite me for changing her plot!

Enjoy...

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Chapter Two

Edward POV

Three months. It had been three months and I had only imagined returning, never doing a thing about it. This time away was slowly killing me... At least, I knew it would have been if I were human. I missed my family, I missed my home and most of all, as odd as this may sound, I missed the girl I didn't even know. The one who was causing me so much pain.

Isabella.

Her name was like the angels sighing.

Her face was the most beautiful portrait in my head.

I had to go back. I didn't know why. There was an unexplainable feeling in my heart that demanded I see her again. Unfortunately, I couldn't get too close. I could never get too close. She smelled so damn good! If there was anything about that girl that I could remotely dislike, it was the way her scent provoked the feral side of my nature. Enticing me to pounce.

But I couldn't do that to her. Not to one so perfect. I would have to stay at a distance... and even then I would have to gorge myself to the point of combustion to eradicate all feelings, even memories, of hunger. She could not be harmed. I had to keep her safe, at all costs.

First off, I would have to see my family. Apologize. I had been such a child, running away. It wasn't me...

Though the hardest thing I would have to do, of all the tasks I could think of, was saying goodbye to Tanya. She wouldn't like this. Me leaving. She never did. After the way I had acted, I was sure she wasn't going to give up without a fight. I'd not been fair to her. I had barely even spoken to her. Really, it was for her own good... I hadn't wanted to say something I would regret. Her advances were becoming particularly obvious, to say the least.

"Tanya," I breathed her name as I glided down the stairs. She looked as though she were leaving.

"I'm going out, Edward. I know you can see that. Could you please make it quick." Tanya's thoughts were scrambled. She was in a hurry. I could tell she was preoccupied as soon as her mind spoke, her voice held none of the purr of seduction that it usually did.

"What's the rush?" I was confused, Tanya never usually left the house to go to town.

"Vampires. Nomads. In the area. Killed. Have to hurry..." Tanya's thoughts trailed off as her wide eyes darted around the entrance way of her mansion.

"Oh, Tanya... Do you need any help? With anything at all?" I was getting distracted.

"No," she said this out loud. "Just tell me what you wanted to say, and make it quick!"

"I have to go home. I've barely spoken to Carlisle since I came to Denali." My lips refused to speak the real reason of my rash visit.

"That's fine, Edward. Let me know when you get home." Tanya had reverted to using her mind. Too preoccupied was she with the Nomads that had disrupted her hunting grounds.

"Tanya, I will come back. I have to. You can't handle this on your own. Not with Irina and the girls having gone hunting for the weekend. I will be back. In two days. I promise." Tanya's face relaxed as a smile lit up her face.

"Thank you, Edward." She breathed. "Thank you." "You are always the gentleman..." Tanya cut off her own thoughts and blushed. I didn't have to be a mind reader to notice the sexual reference she was about to make.

"Goodbye, Tanya." I dismissed her, to distract her whirling thoughts.

I walked with her to the end of the road, nodded once, and began to run. Hopefully, the journey home would take less time as I had so much to look forward to. So many reunions to rehearse for.

I knew that my first stop would have to be Carlisle. I owed him so much more than an apology, but I hoped he could make do as it was all I could offer.

I got to the hospital at 3am. Praying that Carlisle was working the night shift, I wandered the corridors. I asked nurses and doctors alike, but no one knew where he was. Eventually, I was pointed up to the Intensive Care Unit. I should have guessed he would be there. It was his favourite place to work. The one place where the patients never took any notice if he acted differently.

Walking as slowly and as quietly as I could through the large double doors, I heard him. Talking softly. I followed the direction of his voice and headed towards the private wing.

Suddenly, there was a smell. A beautiful scent that I swore I recognised. I was torn. I couldn't decide whether to go to Carlisle or to follow my nose. Luckily, they both took me to the same place.

I tapped on the door quietly before I entered.

Carlisle looked at me sadly. I wondered why, until I caught a glimpse of who he had been talking to.

Attached to more monitors than I ever thought one person was allowed. Breathing steadily controlled by a machine.

Isabella.

If I could have cried, I would have right then.

No sight in the world could have hurt me more. It tore at my heart so badly that I wanted to scream, to kill whoever had done this to her.

"Sit down, Edward." I heard a voice say softly, but still demanding. So, I sat. Not able to think for myself. Taking orders like my own life depended on it.

"What... what..." I took a deep breath, even though I knew I didn't really need one. "What the hell happened to her, Carlisle?" I growled through clenched teeth.

"She was in a car accident. A van skidded across black ice and hit her as she was walking to school. Alice saw it, but they were too late to help her. I've been working nights ever since she was admitted. She's been in a coma for almost three months."

I growled.

"Who did this?"

"It was an accident, Edward."

"But, me leaving was supposed to save her. To make sure she didn't get hurt."

"Ironic, isn't it?" Carlisle thought, automatically. His eyes suddenly grew wide. "I'm so sorry... I shouldn't have even..."

"It's alright, Carlisle. You're not wrong."

"But, I shouldn't have..." Carlisle looked down at his lap, embarrassed.

"Poor Isabella..." I sighed, dismissing Carlisle's anxious reply.

"Actually," Carlisle interrupted my brooding, looking up from his lap. "She prefers 'Bella'." I sighed once more at how perfect the adaptation of her name was.

For the first time since I entered the room, I was able to look properly at the small, frail girl that lay surrounded by machines that only caused her to look even more tiny. Even unconscious, she was the most perfect thing I had ever seen.

Long brown hair that curled at the ends flowed over each of her shoulders to cover her tiny but beautiful breasts. Her waist was a minute silhouette beneath the harsh hospital sheet, curving out just enough to enhance her perfect hips.

She was mine. Mine. My mind growled possessively.

But, she wasn't mine. I sighed audibly. She couldn't be mine. She would only ever get hurt with me, probably damaged worse than any car accident. Any human occurrence.

Suddenly, Carlisle was shaking my shoulder.

"You have to go," his thoughts were hurried. "Meet me at home."

"What, why?" I protested. I didn't want to leave Isabella. Bella. My mind corrected itself.

"It's morning," Carlisle pointed out the window to the recently risen sun. It's golden rays dimmed by the beauty that lay in front of me. "Her visitors will be coming soon. They come every day. They stay until I kick them out. You won't be welcome."

I sighed a heartfelt sigh as I tore my gaze away from Bella. It was if I was leaving a piece of me in that bed. A piece of me that I would never get back.

"I can only stay home for a while, I promised Tanya I would get back. There are a few issues that need to be sorted." Carlisle frowned at me in confusion. "Nothing serious. I just said I would get back to help. I'm not leaving Forks until I see everyone. Just, hurry." I urged Carlisle.

"Edward, you need to get out. Now. It isn't even safe for me to talk any more. Use the window. I know it's ridiculous, but I'm saying this for your own good. We may be five stories up but no one will see you, we're on the opposite side of the hospital to the parking lot."

I nodded quickly at Carlisle and headed for the window, even though his sudden panic baffled me. I heard a squeak in the corridor behind me, near the door, as I pulled the window open as quietly as I could. Quickly, I looked behind me. To Bella. I made her a silent vow that I would be back as I tore my gaze from her face for a final time.

As I landed outside, I heard Bella's hospital room door open. I heard Carlisle shaking three hands. There was another squeak. There were no thoughts. That was odd...

"How is she, Doctor?" It was Chief Swan, Bella's father. It was as if his mind, and the minds of the two people with him, were at a halt until they heard Carlisle's reply.

"She is better. I've been talking to her tonight, I hope you don't mind. She seemed to show signs of improvement. You just need to keep talking to her. Keep telling her that you are here. I'm sure she will snap out of this, and I don't say these words lightly."

All three sighed.

"Thank God. Bells, I love you honey. You have to get better." Chief Swan was much more open in his mind than I had ever seen him be in real life.

"You can't keep scaring us like this, Miss Swan." The teasingly scolding voice was followed by a squeak. The squeak of a wheelchair. Billy Black. Chief Swan's best friend.

"Please get better, Bells! I love you! Get better!" The last voice, the voice of an adolescent male, broke my heart. It was the voice of Jacob Black. Right then, I knew that I could never return to Forks. Not if her heart belonged to another.