Chapter 3: The Reason

Charlie and Renee were arguing again. Esme quickly gathered the kids and took them to the park so that they could escape the yelling and also to give them their privacy. Renee had changed a lot lately, and every time they fought it became a little more vicious and aggressive. She worried about Charlie.

"Mommy, My Bewwa an I wanna ice cweem twuck!"

The expression on his face was just like his father's when he wanted something he knew he could get it. She smiled wistfully and tagged along as they skipped to the truck and placed their orders. She paid and asked for extra napkins for their ice cream sandwiches and then sat them down on a bench to eat them. They licked their fingers and giggled constantly at some inside joke while they ate.

Suddenly Bella screamed and dropped her ice cream, causing Edward to jump. Next thing she knew Bella was on the ground, and Edward's hand was fluttering frantically at her cheek again, big tears rolling down his face as he begged her to wake up.

"She seems fine." The emergency physician leaned on the counter next to the bed where Bella, drowning in her hospital gown as well as a ton of blankets, was curled up sleeping with Edward.

"They keep telling me that, and she still keeps having those weird sleep-fainting spells."

"I don't know what to tell you, all her blood work came back normal. Anything that can cause fainting has been ruled out. And fainting can by caused by anything from low blood pressure to a bad fall."

"What about the sleeping thing?"

"I'm not sure about that."

"Well then what are you sure about?" Charlie was convinced this doctor belonged to the Know-Nothing political party of the late 1700s.

"What I can do for you is refer you to a sleep specialist as well as a neurologist for follow up. Perhaps they can give you a better idea than we can here."

Charlie sighed. "Alright. Tell me where to go."

"We have the sleep studies back from the specialist in Seattle, and we also have the results from those brain scans and tests we did for her two weeks ago, and I believe I know what is going on now."

"Well what is it?"

"She's got narcolepsy."

"Narco-what? My daughter is hardly over three years old, she's not addicted to anything!"

The neurologist laughed. "Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder. It has to do with misfiring in your brain, but instead of causing a seizure which would be epilepsy, it causes severe drowsiness. Certain things like extreme excitement can trigger a narcoleptic spell. They can last from a few minutes to several hours."

"A sleep disorder?" Charlie was reeling. "Well how do we make it go away?"

"Narcolepsy has no cure as of yet. The best treatment for her right now is a regular sleep schedule that includes several naps during the day. I'm not sure how medication will help her, she's a bit young. I've never seen a three-year-old narcoleptic."

Charlie nodded, trying to break out of his daze. "Thanks... I guess."

"I know this is a rather abrupt development for you and your daughter. It can be hard to understand and hard to handle. I have a daughter with epilepsy, and she's had it since she was a baby. It has been very difficult and so I understand what it is like to deal with something like this. If you need anything, have any questions, please call me or leave me an email."

"Thank you."

"Bella, it's bedtime honey."

"Again!" She stomped her foot. ""I don't wanna!"

"Don't be rude to me, young lady. You need to sleep, so get ready."

Bella huffed, yawning. Then, realizing she was caught, she pouted and stomped up the stairs, dragging a confused Edward with her.

Esme chuckled and followed. The kids were in preschool now. Sometimes they used to have their little preschool friends over but that ended quickly, since Bella persistently fell asleep on Edward, rendering him immobile and their company bored.

She loved Bella like her own daughter, and she worried about her constantly. She had only recently been put on her medication. At the beginning the excessive napping seemed to control the sleep attacks, but over the past four to five months, it started to help less and less until the sleep attacks started happening during school again and she started sleeping three or four additional times a day. Esme hoped the medication would take effect soon.

She smiled as she walked out of the room as they whispered good wishes to eachother.

"I love you, My Edward.

"I love you too, My Bella."