A/N: I don't own Twilight, New Moon, or Eclipse. Don't own the characters either.
When I opened my eyes, I recognized the shrouded ceiling I was staring at. It was Edward's room and I was on his couch, though how I got there, I couldn't remember. I searched my mind, trying to find some memory of a recent run through the woods between Charlie's house and the Cullen's. I found none.
I threw my head to the side to see Edward on the other side of the room, lying very still in the floor. No… Edward lying very still on a mound that looked like a makeshift bed. I couldn't see his face. That puzzled me. He usually watched me while I slept, no matter where he was.
Then it all came back. I should be changed by now. I had granted Edward's wish and fallen asleep that night. We hadn't talked much before I drifted off. He held me as close as he could and as tight as he could, warming himself for the last night with my human body. And I had fallen asleep, dreaming of him in my last human dream.
But he'd never woken me up. Or had he? My mind was so fuzzy. I couldn't remember.
But I should be changed. That gave me pause. If I was changed, then what had happened to those three days of agonizing pain? What of everything that was supposed to have happened? Did I just sleep through it?
No, Edward hadn't changed me yet. That was the only conclusion I could come to. The others had been sure of the three days of pain, except for Alice who hadn't remembered anything at all. There was only one way to check. I was afraid to. Afraid that Edward had foiled my attempt to become one of them.
I hesitantly placed a hand over my heart and waited. I could feel it. A faint beating pulse under my hand. I scowled. This was not amusing and I sat up quickly, ready to fight with Edward if need be. But I suddenly felt very dizzy and had to lie back down.
I watched in horror as Edward kept perfectly still through all of this. As if he weren't conscious of my every movement.
My eyes flashed over to the door that slid quietly open and Carlisle, who looked incredibly old for some reason, came in. He barely threw a glance my way, but crept over to Edward, looking down with concern. He stood like that for a very long time, gazing down at the still form that represented Edward. What was going on?
Carlisle slowly turned to walk towards me. This time I sat up and stayed up.
"Bella!" he gasped. I looked up into his face and tried, unsuccessfully, to figure out what was going on. I couldn't form a coherent phrase so I just stared, willing him to tell me what was happening.
He hesitated but finally picked me up and carried me out of the room. I caught a glimpse of Edward's still form as we left. Fear struck me twenty fold then and I looked up into Carlisle's face. Fear pulsed through me, beckoning me to ask a million different things all at once.
"Save your questions, Bella. I don't want to disturb Edward." Carlisle's voice was unsteady, but his hold on me never wavered as he carried me down to the first floor and deposited me onto the living room couch.
"Oh Bella," Esme's voice was fraught with concern. She came around the couch and cradled me in her arms. Silently, all the Cullen siblings filed into the living room and stared at me, their white faces paler than ever.
"What is going on?" I finally choked out, finding my voice. It sounded odd… the voice that came out of my mouth, but I pushed that concern back. My fear was only for Edward at the moment.
The room was silent for a moment, before Carlisle began speaking in stilted tones.
"Edward brought you back here two nights ago so that he could change you. He had already spoken about it with me and said he was willing to change you himself. His only want was that someone go and get all of your personal belongings that you had boxed up to bring with you and make sure your note to Charlie was in place." He pointed to three boxes sitting by the front door. That made sense to me. The letter to Charlie had almost snapped my resolve in half when I wrote it. I had almost relented to waiting for a few years to get out of lying to Charlie about what was going on.
"Edward tried to wake you up. It seemed as though you were in a coma and nothing would bring you out of it. I told him it would probably be better if you just passed between your own sleep and that painful sleep you would endure for the next three days. He complied, only because he knew it might be less painful for everyone. We were all there when he bit you, Bella. He tasted your blood for only seconds, but something happened when he bit you." Carlisle's voice became severely unsteady.
"It was like you were poison. Instead of you screaming, it was he, who writhed in pain. And then after his screaming stopped, he became comatose and he has been like that for the past two days." Carlisle's composure broke and he placed his head in his hands. Esme's arms tightened around me. I had a feeling she needed to touch me.
My mind was a whirl. What in God's name had happened that Edward would be lying in a comatose state? Was I a vampire? Wasn't I? Edward was in a coma?!? What was going on? Why didn't someone try to wake me up?!? Was I a vampire? What happened to Edward?
I was spiraling. Jasper could feel it and he sent a calm to rush over me, helping me think clearly.
"So what does all this mean? Is Edward-- Am I—" I still couldn't form many coherent sentences, even with Jasper's calming capability.
"We've been waiting to find out." Alice's voice shuddered. Emmett came over, hesitantly, and pulled me out of Esme's grasp. He sniffed my throat first. And shook his head.
"She doesn't smell human."
He placed me on my feet and held me up, showcasing me to the others.
"She may look like Bella, but there are sharper planes where there used to be rounded curves." He gestured to my face, "And look at how her clothes hang off of her." He pulled at my loose t-shirt, which had once been skin tight.
"Bella," Emmett turned me to face him, "Let your mind roam away from Edward and all of us. What does it roam to first?"
"Are you trying to ask if I'm bloodthirsty?" I tried to keep calm.
"Yes," was his only reply.
"I'm not." I shook my head after I checked with myself. I didn't have any desire for blood at all.
"You don't have any desire to go… hunting?" Rosalie's voice sounded from behind us.
"No." I shook my head again, only focusing on Emmett and the others around me, trying not to feel my heart being ripped to pieces by thoughts of Edward's unconscious and possibly dangerous state.
"Her heart still beats." Carlisle interjected as if knowing my thoughts were on that blasted organ in my chest.
"How about your vision Bella? Or your hearing? Maybe your sense of smell? Does any of it bother you in the slightest?" Esme pulled me away from Emmett and sat me down beside her.
"My sight is sharper, now that I think about it. I think if my hearing had changed, I would have heard movements down here, right?" I asked, trying to push the vision of Edward's still form out of my head.
"Right." Esme nodded. Her face was trying to be encouraging, but she was looking more worried with each response.
"And" I pulled in a deep breath through my nose, "I smell all of you, but not any more than I already could." I shook my head. Just the same scent that always drew me to them.
"Her skin is the same color. It's not as white as mine." Esme placed her hand on top of mine to compare.
"This is troubling." Carlisle murmured from his chair.
"Can I go upstairs?" I asked. I had to see Edward. I had to. No matter what had happened to me… I had to see him. What had I done to him?
"I'll go, too," Alice offered. She came over and grabbed my hand. She seemed so eager to touch me. To feel my… warm hands? Her hands were colder than mine still. I had yet to realize it with Esme, Carlisle and Emmett's touch, but hers made me realize I was still warm. She squeezed my hand lightly. I squeezed back and only realized the strength behind it when her eyes flashed to mine. I shook my head and linked together we walked up to look in on Edward.
I only realized how much Jasper was influencing me when we walked further and further from his reach.
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