I'm sooo sorry this has taken so long, but I've had a serious lack of inspiration lately. So to make up for it, I made you guys a long chapter. Hope you like it.
Disclaimer: Do not own.
(BPOV)
I awoke feeling like someone had just hit me over the head with a cartoon mallet and simultaneously stuck a knife in my chest. Everything was sore and groggy. I could hear a sharp, regular beeping in the background, which I recognised as the sound of a heart monitor. I began to register the feel of the flat hospital pillows, the stiff sheets, the faint, lingering smell of antiseptic and the uncomfortable feel of needles poking into my skin, briefly wondering why on Earth I was in a hospital of all places, when I abruptly remembered what had happened at school.
"Finally, you're awake." My eyes, which had been closed up to this point, snapped open at the sound of the startlingly familiar soprano voice of Alice Cullen. I turned my head towards her, confused. There she was sitting on the plastic chair, smiling at me. My camera was on the table next to my bed.
"Alice Cullen? What are you doing here?" My voice was weak and scratchy, as it usually was when I had been over sleeping. I swallowed, trying to wet my throat.
"Watching over you." She said, smiling kindly, her pretty voice filled with unspoken compassion. Her eyes held the same knowing look, the one I had seen across the lunchroom. "I didn't think it was right for you to wake up alone, although you really haven't been sleeping that long. Only a few hours, at most."
"What happened to me?" I asked, sitting up slowly. I reached over and picked up my beloved camera, slinging it around my neck. I was still wearing my clothes from the first day of school. "I remember...I was coughing, then my chest started to hurt and I couldn't breathe..."
"I think maybe I should be the one to explain that." I looked towards the voice at the door as one of the most handsome men I had ever seen strode confidently into the room. He looked like a movie star, dressed conservatively in a powder blue collared shirt, matching silk tie, black slacks and a pristine white lab coat. He was chalky pale with kind, golden eyes surrounded by dark bruises and golden blonde hair swept back from his forehead, as if he ran his finger through it a lot. Strangely enough, the first thing that ran through my mind when I saw him was the Aerosmith song Dude (Looks like a Lady).
I realised a bit slowly that this must be the famous Doctor Carlisle Cullen.
He stopped at the foot of my bed, and I snapped a picture. The Doctor didn't seem all that fazed, though he did raise a questioning eyebrow at me.
"I was capturing the moment." I said in response, pulling out the picture.
"Hello Carlisle." Alice chirped, showing no sign of surprise at his sudden entrance or my camera flash at all. She didn't even look behind her to acknowledge him.
"Alice. How did you manage to get in here without me knowing?" he chastised light-heartedly, like he didn't expect any different. Alice shrugged her tiny shoulders.
"I have my ways." She grinned cheekily.
"Would someone please care to explain what in the hell landed me here??" I grumbled, interrupting their brief banter.
"Ah, yes. Well, Miss Swan-"
"Call me Bella." I interrupted again. I tended to do that when I was annoyed.
"Alright then, Bella it is. Lovely accent by the way. Australian, isn't it?"
"Yes. Are you trying to change the subject?" He chuckled.
"It seems so. Well, to get straight to the point it seems you suffered a rather severe and sudden asthma attack." I could feel the confusion on my face.
"But I don't have asthma. I mean, a couple months before I moved I came down with Bronchitis, but I was out of hospital within two weeks." Alice placed her small hand gently on my shoulder.
"Sometimes, Bella, asthma can be induced through sicknesses like Bronchitis." Her eyes were apologetic, her voice soft and comforting.
"Did you ever experience any wheezing or shortness of breath after you recovered?" Dr Cullen asked; his pen poised above his clipboard.
"Not really. I tended to avoid doing too much physical activity for fear that I would trip and break a limb." Dr Cullen and Alice chuckled, their combined laughter like music.
"Yes, well I'm afraid that's how it's going to have to stay from now on Bella. Due to the apparent severity of your condition, I'm sorry to say that most forms of strenuous physical activity are now near impossible." I nodded.
"I can live with that." I said, switching my gaze between Alice and Dr. Cullen and nodding my head. Sport out, books in. Yay!
A timid knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts. I looked over to see Charlie angled half in and out the door, relief on his face. My answer was, once again, to put my camera to my eye and push the button, startling him.
"Still with the annoying camera?" He grimaced, coming fully into the room. He was still wearing his police uniform, complete with gun belt, minus said gun, and jacket.
"Did we just skip the part where people say hello to each other?" I replied, removing the photo from the camera.
"Hello Bella." Charlie sighed, smiling.
"Chief Swan. Good to see you." Dr Cullen greeted my father with a respectful nod of his head. Alice stood up to let Charlie take a seat.
"Evening Dr. Cullen. Why, thank you Alice." Alice smiled, shrugging nonchalantly.
"It's no big deal, Sir. I was just about to step out to find my siblings. I'm sure they're wondering where I am. It was nice to meet you Bella, although I do wish it was under better circumstances." She gave me a friendly smile, walking gracefully out of the room, reminiscent of a model on a catwalk. I felt a sharp twang of jealousy.
"Well, doc, what's the verdict?" Charlie asked, looking at Dr. Cullen. "Is Bella ready to go home?" I took another photo. They ignored me.
"Well, I don't see why not. As long as she keeps replenishing her medication and doesn't do any demanding exercise, she should be fine." He handed me a slip of paper with my prescription on it, "The Pharmacy is on the ground level. Give that to Helen behind the counter and she'll give you what you need. Now, if you'll kindly excuse me I have patients to attend to." He smiled blindingly and left.
Soon after, having sat through a nurse removing all my needles, Charlie and I were riding the elevator down to the ground floor in silence, my photos in the pocket of my jeans. Silences with Charlie were never uncomfortable because neither of us was what you would call verbose.
"I'm just gonna go call Renee, tell her you're all right. Things like this tend to move down the grapevine pretty fast." We both half smiled, half grimaced as we stepped out of the elevator. Both of us knew full well what Renee was like when she was worried.
"Cool, well I'll just head over to the Pharmacy and pick up my puffer. Meet you out there." I replied, heading in the direction the signs pointed.
I rounded a corner near the gift shop, only to spot the unmistakable face of Alice Cullen talking her father, and a tall head of bronze hair that I shouldn't have been able to recognize so easily.
Edward was here.
As I walked closer, the air conditioner blowing my ponytail around my head, I saw Edward's back stiffening and their conversation came to a halt. He turned slowly to look at me, and what I saw scared the living daylights out of me. His eyes were a deep, hard black as he glared hatefully at me, as if he were Sasuke Uchiha coming face to face with his brother Itachi, or The Doctor encountering the Daleks for the umpteenth time, even though they were supposed to be dead. I gasped softly, walking faster, and I heard a low angry rumble emanate from his chest. Almost like a growl. I saw Alice out of the corner of my eye, pushing her brother toward the door. Tears stung my eyes. Did he really hate me? Was it what I said at lunch? It had to be, I hadn't seen him any other time.
I reached the pharmacy and handed the paper in my hands to the woman behind the counter. Her name badge read Helen, so I assumed she was the right person. I was fighting back traitor tears. What the hell was his problem??
Helen handed me my reliever and preventer puffers in a paper bag with some refill cartridges, explaining that I had to take the preventer everyday and that the reliever was for when I had an attack. I thanked her stiffly and left. The Cullen's weren't in the hallway again.
Charlie was waiting for me by the cruiser.
"Hey, how'd it go?" He asked.
"Fine, I guess." I replied heading straight for what I thought was the passenger side of the car. Turns out I forgot, when I opened the front left door, that since this was America and not Australia it was the driver's side. I could hear Charlie snickering.
"Laugh it up, man. Who just got diagnosed with asthma?" I snapped, slamming the cruiser door.
"Asthma doesn't affect your memory, Bells." He retorted, strolling over to reopen the door and slide in behind the steering wheel.
"Yeah, yeah, that's what they all say." I grumbled, walking around to the correct side of the car. My school bag was on the seat when I opened the door, so I moved it carefully onto the floor between my legs. Charlie chuckled, starting the car.
"You're things arrived today." He said about halfway through the trip home. The radio in this town was atrocious. I wanted Hamish and Andy.
"Oh, good! I'll start unpacking when we get home." I replied, relieved to have all my stuff i.e. books, my manga collection, all my anime and DVDs, my music etc. I already had most of my clothes and my laptop.
Soon Charlie was pulling into the driveway of the house. The rain had started up, pelting the roof and forcing us to make a mad dash for the door. Somehow I still managed to get soaked.
When Charlie finally managed to unlock the door (why he has ten keys on his chain I'll never know), we hurried inside out of the cold, taking our shoes of at the door. I half-jogged to the kitchen, opening the fridge and grabbing some leftover chicken to snack on. The clock in the kitchen said it was 4:30pm. I really hadn't been out that long at the hospital. Maybe an hour at least.
"A'm goin' to mah woom." I said around my mouthful.
"Bella, chew and swallow." Charlie grimaced, hanging his jacket on the hook next to the front door.
"Sowwy." I mumbled, covering my mouth with my hand. Charlie rolled his eyes and I giggled, swallowing on my way up the stairs.
Charlie's house was more like a cottage. It had two bedrooms, one tiny communal bathroom and a small living space dominated by the second hand flat-screen he had ordered off eBay about a year back. The kitchen was even smaller. His dishwasher was yours truly. Oh, joy. The dining room consisted of a small, circular wooden table with about four mismatched chairs.
As I entered my room, I stubbed my sock-clad toe on the corner of a box. Now you might think with all my tripping and falling, that I had a high tolerance for pain. Err...not so much. I couldn't seem to take pain very well at all.
I limped over to my old desk and, placing my bag there and taking my camera from around my neck, got out my scissors to cut the tape on the boxes. There was one in the middle of my room with big black letters on the top saying 'OPEN ME FIRST!' It contained my record player, sub-woofer, speakers and all my vinyls. Yes, I listen to vinyl.
I spent the rest of the afternoon unpacking all of the boxes while Charlie watched gridiron on the TV. I missed AFL.
I put all my normal DVDs and anime box sets, vinyls, mangas and books into the book case I had requested from Charlie. He'd had it in the living room, but all that was in there was a few fishing and sport magazines, a very thin Forks phone book and some road maps. He now kept them in his own bedroom. I put up my Dr Who calendar and the Inuyasha wall scroll I got at the Royal Show in Perth on the walls, and put all my clothes and shoes into my tiny wardrobe. My photo tin was stashed next to the Toshiba laptop Phil bought me. By the time I was finished, it was seven at night.
Charlie and I ordered pizza for dinner and watched Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. I love that movie. I think I freaked out the delivery boy with my overtly Australian mannerisms. I was only messing with him, but it was still fun.
"I'm really tired, dad. I think I'm gonna go to bed, eh." I said after the movie had finished.
"Sure thing, Bells. Sleep well." He replied, taking another bite of his fourth slice of pizza. What can I say, I had six.
"Love you. 'Night." I called, walking back up the stairs. I took a quick shower and brushed my teeth, dressing in some long PJ pants and a brown AC/DC t-shirt. I crawled into my double bed, pulling the unfamiliar sheets around me. The rain had mercifully taken a break, so I could maybe get some sleep.
As, I drifted into dream land, my mind began flashing the image of Edward Cullen's angry face at me. I vaguely wondered what the eff his problem was, before slipping into peaceful oblivion.
There you go guys. I'll get onto chapter 4 as soon as I can. Hopefully my muse won't leave me again. So if you liked, hated it, whatever, please review so I know what you think. Constructive criticism is welcome!