Disclaimer: I do not own anything that can be found in the Twilight series


Bella's POV

Darkness was everything I felt, everything I could imagine, everything. It filled my entire being like nothing ever had before, its presence cool and calming. Somewhere I could hear laughter and a high soprano voice calling out "Mama, Mama!" and squealing with delight. My mind was so tranquil, the voice lulling me into sleep but then the voice's joyful shout morphed into a terrified shriek of pain, the light soprano became rough with pain, her desperate cries penetrating the darkness, begging for 'it' to stop. And sudden jabs of pain started to shoot through my back and I could hear my own voice adding to the din, I was screaming along with her, my mind ragging against the darkness that kept me caged.

"Bella! Bella! Wake up Bella!" A male voice was adding his deep tenor to the cacophony of screams that echoed in my head but his voice wasn't filled with terror or pain, rather with patience and a only mild concern and as suddenly as the pain had started I was able to open my eyes, but the pain was still there, spasming through my body. It wasn't hard to find the source of my pain; my own muscles were clutched rigidly, causing my back to arch at a painful angle off the narrow bed I had been resting on. My eyes could see only the white wall behind me with an array of buttons and dimly I registered that someone was screaming. Oh, I was. With a conscious effort I clammed my jaw shut but it took me a couple of seconds to convince the muscles in my back to relax and allow me to lie back on the bed. Tremors were still running through my body, even after I'd managed to unclench my muscles and I could feel my heart racing in my ribs, my chest was heaving as my deprived lungs tried to get as much air in as possible after I'd expelled most of it in my screaming. I could only lie on the bed in shock is my vitals started to slowly come back down to normal, though the tremors seemed to be sticking around for the time being. Honestly, I was slightly surprised I didn't have half the hospital rushing into the room to find out why someone was screaming like they were going to die.

"How are you feeling now Ms Swan?" A voice asked from beside me and I let out a hoarse yell before throwing myself sideways, and due to the narrow bed, onto the floor. Or I would have ended up on the floor if I hadn't been grabbed around the middle and held on the bed. My breathing kept coming in gasps and the spasms got more vicious, sending shivers through my whole body every couple of seconds but I was more concerned with the face leaning over me. He had the golden eyes I'd come to associate with the Cullen family along with the perfect blonde hair that Jasper and Rosaline possessed, though his was more was Jasper's length then Rosaline's.

"Could you move?" I asked quietly, scared to breathe too loud in case he, like the other Cullens, decided he hated Bella Swan on sight - though I suppose the trend couldn't quite apply anymore after Alice had thrown herself in front of a van for me.

The Doctor – I was assuming by his white lab coat that's what he was – shifted away, pulling me back onto the bed before he finally released his hold on me and immediately I felt myself let go of a breathe I hadn't known I'd been holding.

"How are you feeling Ms Swan?" He asked and his voice sounded kind but I couldn't know what his facial expression was as my eyes were fixed solely on my legs, covered by a white linen sheet, ashamed for my behaviour earlier; he'd just been doing his job.

"I'm fine now," I muttered to my bed, not daring to look up and he didn't seem to mind my lack of eye contact, or manners in general, as he wrote something down and continued to ask me questions about my wellbeing; was I feeling dizzy, any spots, did the tremors seem to be letting up? I answered him as succinctly as I could, trying not to let my embarrassment show on my face, but from the heat in my cheeks I don't think I managed it.

"Have you had a fit before?" He asked and it came out in the same professional voice as all his other questions but I was so shocked by the seemingly casual inquiry that I any hesitation I had in looking at him vanished as my head whipped up to look at his face, he was perfectly serious.

"Fit?" I asked confusion and apprehension flooding my veins.

"I'm going to go ahead and say you haven't," Doctor Cullen asked kindly and my face must have clearly showed how I felt about such a thing because he continued "don't worry, it's not unusual for a trauma victim to experience such things, and you probably took quite a hit to the head in the crash. Though I've taken a look at the X-rays done to your skull and there appears to be no real damage, so I expect this will be a once off event, though we would like to keep you here overnight, just for observation, nothing serious."

I sighed in relief at his reassurance, meeting his eyes this time and he smiled back, his eyes lighting up in pleasure at my relief – I was struck by the fact that this man really seemed to care and the realisation only made me smile wider.

"Do you feel up to a few visitors Ms Swan?" Doctor Cullen asked but I cut him off;

"It's Bella Doctor Cullen," I said, and he smiled.

"In that case, I'm Carlisle," he replied, holding out his hand as if we were just meeting outside on the street, we shook hands and even through his gloves I could feel the icy cold of his skin.

"The cold comes with being a doctor," He told me, as if reading my mind "there seems to be criteria that every time a doctor touches you, the contact must be freezing."

I laughed despite myself as he played off his hands as the equivalent of a cold stethoscope but I filed the knowledge of his temperature away at the back of my mind for later pondering, after all I was pressed up against Alice for a good five minutes during that crash, there was nothing natural about his temperature.

"So about those guests," Doctor Culeen, no, Carlisle remarked and I grinned nervously, though it felt slightly pained.

"What kind of guests?" I asked and he chuckled;

"Well I think the most of the school is standing in the waiting room waiting for the verdict" he joked and I pulled a horrible expression before telling him, in no uncertain terms, exactly how awful I thought that idea was.

"Well in that case," he chortled, "I suppose I could just send Chief Swan in and give the carpet in the waiting room a rest; he's been wearing a hole in it for the past hour."

"Hour?" I gasped, "I've been out that long?" But Carlisle just continued laughing, saying he would send Charlie in as he made his way out the door.

It only took a few minutes before I heard hurried footsteps in the hall, the thumping of boots getting closer to my room every second before the door was vigorously thrown open to reveal my father, his face flushed and his eyes finding mine instantly.

"Bella!" He cried, crossing the meters to my bed in a few quick steps his arms extended before he suddenly thought better of it, his arms snapping down to his side as he stopped suddenly beside my bed, rocking back on his heels to balance himself.

"It's ok Dad, I don't think I got anything more than a couple of bruises, which I could have gotten no problem on my own." I laughed at my Dad's restraint and his face broke into a wide grin of relief and he threw his arms around me.

It was strange, for my usually stoic father to show so much emotion and I was truly humbling to know this was for me. So I wrapped my arms around him in return and we stayed like that for a few moments, probably not more than a few seconds because Charlie's back looked to be getting stiff, but still it wasn't the length of the moment that mattered, but the fact that it had happened.

When he pulled away Charlie was hastily wiping at his eyes and putting his game face back on so I pretended not to notice his teary eyes and busied myself with explaining the room. He cleared his throat a second later to get my attention and I turned my eyes back to his, his face clearly betrayed his worry.

"Now are you sure you're okay Bells, Doctor Cullen told me what happened earlier, and that they just want to keep you in here overnight but I want you to promise me you'll let someone know if anything's wrong, even if you think you can handle the pain,"

"Dad, its ok," I cut him off mid sentence before he could really get into his stride. "I'm fine, really, and if I'm not, I've got a whole hospital of doctors to make sure I will be. Please don't worry."

"Bells I can't not worry about you, its part of the job," Charlie muttered, turning pleading eyes to me and I could tell the past hour had been tough on him. Imagine hearing that your kid had almost been crushed by a car.

"And you're doing a great job Dad," I replied, throwing in the Dad at the end to try and help his nerves a little bit and he smiled back at me.

A sharp knock interrupted the awkward silence we had fallen into after my last statement just in time and I was so thankful when a police officer poked his head around the door.

"Hey Isabella how're ya doing?" The man asked and I waved at him over my Father's shoulder.

"Good thanks," I replied "better now I'm not under a van" and the guy laughed softly before turning his attention to Charlie.

"Sorry to interrupt Chief, but you're needed down at the station," he said, looking apologetic, and Charlie sighed before turning back to me.

"Now are you sure you're gonna be okay here by yourself Bella?" He asked me and I rolled my eyes at his antics.

"I'm hardly alone," I said, indicating the nurse's button on my head board and Charlie nodded his ascent, hmming under his breath as he rose.

"Well you give me a call if you need me," he said and I nodded my head, silently admitting that I would have to be on my death bed before I actually called Charlie, and even then I would probably have to ask a nurse to do it as a final request.

"Ok, well you be safe now." Charlie said, making his way to the door in an awkward side step and I rolled my eyes at him.

"Just go Dad," I told him and he chuckled at me before turning around fully and following the other officer out into the hall.

Throughout the next hour I had only one other visitor, and I'm ashamed to admit I was disappointed it was Angela with my books, I was half expecting Alice to walk through the door. But it was good to have something to do while I sat around all day, and since I didn't feel like sleeping I dedicated the rest of my day to finishing a lit essay on Hamlet, my life was a riot. Charlie visited me again at dinner time and after stealing the mash off my hospital tray – I assured him I was trying not to look at it let alone think about eating it, he informed me that he'd dropped in to see Francis and told him I why I couldn't work today and the butcher had insisted I take the whole week off. And he'd issued Tyler a fine for dangerous driving; he retold this last story with a pleased grin on his face.

But pretty soon Charlie went home and I was left with only the darkness for company. At first I thought the bustling of the nurses outside my room would keep me up but I must have been more tired than I thought because as soon as my head hit the pillow I was asleep.

A rustle of fabric woke me up, someone was moving around in my room and I was lying on my side, unable to see anything beside the door in front of me.

"I know you're there," I said to the darkness, and the rustling ceased momentarily before a voice spoke.

"But do you know who I am?" A female said teasingly and I flipped over to see Alice standing by the window, still in the same clothes I saw her in this morning when she got out of the car.

I didn't say anything, preferring to examine the way the moonlight hit the left side of her face, throwing the right side into shadows so the only thing I could see clearly was her eye.

"You shouldn't be here," I said finally and I saw the sadness and acceptance fill her eyes.

"I knew you were going to say that," she muttered, turning towards the window but I kept going before she could do anything else.

"After a crash like that you shouldn't even be walking, let alone standing there." I continued and she turned back to me in surprise.

"Didn't know I'd say that did you?" I said happily, though I'm not sure why I was so pleased with myself but when Alice laughed I found a reason for my happiness, but not an explanation.

"It was one of the many possibilities," she replied, her voice endowed with joy as her light footsteps carried her across the room to by bedside and it looked like she had practically danced across the room.

"May I?" She asked, gesturing at my bed and I nodded, amazed she was even asking.

"Oh yeah, go ahead," I said, shifting my legs to make room and she smiled her thanks at me before hopping onto the bed and crossing her legs over each other. I just stared at her, not having the will power to wrench my eyes away from this angel sitting next to me and she gave me a puzzled look after a couple of seconds, cocking her head to the side.

"Is something wrong?" She asked and I felt blood start rushing to my cheeks and I was thankfully for the darkness to hide it.

"No, you're just the first person to come in here all day that hasn't asked me how I am," I replied and released as soon as she laughed how incredibly conceited that had sounded, good one Bella, you know she was in the accident as well!

"I figured it was probably getting a bit old," she replied, still smiling, "though if you want me to ask," and she let the question hang but I rushed to reassure her I was perfectly happy with the question remaining unasked.

"So what have you been doing?" She asked "besides having multiple visitors who all asked you how you were?"

I chuckled nervously and gestured to the Hamlet book on my bedside table but making sure to keep my eyes on the girl across from me to gauge her reaction.

"May I?" She asked, also gesturing to the book and my eyes widened slight before I bent over to retrieve it and tossed it to her, the awful throw didn't even seem to bother her as she snatched the book out of the air and began flipping through it, glancing at the notes I'd scribbled in the margin.

"Doubt thou the stars are fire;
Doubt that the sun doth move;
Doubt truth to be a liar;
But never doubt I love."
Alice quoted regally from the second act and I giggled as she pretended to brandish a sword in the air.

"You know the sun doesn't actually move" I replied, and Alice rolled her eyes, scoffing.

"Please, Bella, you can't bring facts into Shakespeare. Love knows no facts!"

"Good thing this particular play is a tragedy then, isn't it." I replied cheekily, making a grab for the play as Alice held it as high as she could above her head.

"Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy and is also one of the most well known love stories in all of history." Alice replied, poking her tongue out at me as I made another grab for the book.

"And we all know how that ended," I said, finally realising I was not going to get the book this way and lunging at Alice, I wrapped one of my arms around her waist and the other reached to grab the book as well fell backwards onto the bed.

"How exactly did it end?" Alice asked, ceasing her struggle to stop me getting the book and allowing me to take it from her loose grip.

"With them both dead," I replied easily, before I realised exactly what position we had ended up in. Alice was lying beneath me, her breathing even and her expression showing just mild curiosity even as I felt own cheeks were heating up, get a grip Bella.

"Er sorry," I muttered pulling myself up and Alice giggled, sitting up as well.

"For what?" She asked curiously and I stuttered nervously for a few moments – unsure exactly what I had been apologising for - before she took pity on me and laughed, shaking her head.

"It's ok Bella, don't have a seizure." She said, still cheerily but as soon as the words left her mouth I stiffened, dimly I registered that the screaming had started up again, but I was trying to keep myself planted in this reality so I pushed it aside.

"Bella?" Alice asked nervously, and I blinked away the haze that had started to develop over my eyes as I re-focused on her.

"Yeah," I mumbled, pulling my focus fully back to her as the voices faded into the background.

"Are you ok?" She asked and I nodded, trying to hitch a smile back onto my face as she continued to look at me, her eyes filled with concern.

As a slightly awkward silence began to fall over the room and I couldn't help blurting out the first thing that popped into my head.

"I didn't think you'd actually come to talk to me." As soon as the sentence was out of my mouth I wanted to take it back, the look on Alice's face showed she was hurt by what I'd say.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," I started but Alice shook her head, telling me to stop.

"It's ok; you only just met me, you don't have to trust me right away. In fact, it's probably better that you don't." She looked thoughtfully at her last sentence and I felt the blush returning to my cheeks and ducked my head so she wouldn't see it.

"I'm still sorry," I muttered and I could feel, rather than see Alice's smile, again silence settled over the room before Alice spoke up.

"I can't answer that," she said and I looked up in confusion.

"I didn't say anything," I muttered and she shook her head, looking both amused and sad.

"You didn't have to; I know you were wondering how I stopped the truck."

"Well what about,"

"I can't tell you how I got over there so fast either," she muttered and I scrunched my face up in confusion.

"Well what can you tell me then?" I asked, my words coming out harsher then I'd first intended.

"Not much," she replied, "it's not exactly my secret to tell." She elaborated.

"Then whose is it?"

"My family's."

Great, I thought. When she said it was someone else's I figured I might be able to convince them to tell me and it just so happened that the only three people that hated me (that I knew about) were the ones who kept the only secret I desperately wanted to learn.

"Is there anything else you can tell me?" I asked and I she shrugged,

"Don't go with Jessica to Port Angeles next Friday"

"Huh?" I made a noise of confusion, looking at here like she was mad, but she just smiled winningly at me.

"You asked if there was anything I could tell you, and I told you,"

"Yes, yes I got that part" I said huffily, crossing my arms across my chest and looking at her sternly. "I meant, is there anything you can tell me about your secret." I whispered the last two words, like if I said it too loudly the FIB was going to fall out of the ceiling or something.

Alice took a deep breath, her chest swelling under the intake of air, before she let it out with a woosh.

"How about I make you a deal," she said and paused before I urged her to continue.

"Ok, so here's the thing, I can't tell you what 'the secret'" – she put little quotation marks around the two words – "is, and I'm not going to play guessing games with you like five year olds – if I did that I might as well tell you right now. But seeing as you've already seen some of what we're capable of, why don't you hang out with my family and I for the week. And if we haven't scared you off by then, I'll tell you."

I couldn't say it was what I'd been expecting but it was better than not knowing at all, though I can't say I was thrilled with the idea of spending my time trying to talk to a family who so obviously had it out for me, but maybe that was the point!

"You're not going to try and scary me off are you?" I demanded, looking accusingly at Alice who held her hands up in the surrender position.

"Cross my heart, there will be no foul play." She emphasized her point by drawing a cross over her heart with her index finger. "But I would like to ask some questions of my own." She admitted sheepishly and I narrowed my eyes.

"I'm not answering anything till you do," I muttered childishly and she pouted.

"Aw come on, my secrets aren't just mine to keep, you're only holding back cause I am!"

"Well how do I know you won't subtract the deal if there's nothing to be gained for you at the end?" I huffed and Alice pouted harder.

"Fine, but you have to promise to tell me at the end of the week." She said dramatically and I rolled my eyes at her antics.

"Deal," I muttered, sticking out my hand to shake hers, she offered hers a bit more hesitantly and I knew she was afraid I would pull away when the cold of her hand met mine, but I held on to her frozen digits and looked her in the eye.

"I'm not afraid you know." I said and her eyes widened in surprise before her face broke into a pleased smirk.

"I'm glad; it would hardly be any fun if you were."