A few things before we get the show on the road:
1. The response to the last chapter was absolutely astounding. I am sooo thankful for you guys and I love to read all your reviews and comments, and love to see this lil story getting some more hits. :) So thank you so much!
2. This chapter is part of my b-day present to my friend Christina! Her birthdays today (June 1!) and I promised I would put up at least a chapter today. (And at a measly 10:30 PM, it is still today, so I have not failed!) She's been reading all my stories since the beginning, literally. You all probably have seen her in the reviews as CR or Christina. So drop her some love and birthday wishes in the reviews! I can pretty much say Uncurable wouldn't be around if it wasn't for her. :)
3. I don't really plan ahead on these types of things, but I'd like to say that after this chapter things are going to start getting a little craaazzzyyyyy. :P
Enough of my babblings. Enjoy!
"Alice, you've got to be kidding me." I stared at her, my expression surprised.
"Shh! Here he comes!" She swatted me to shut me up and gave a pearly white smile to Jasper as he walked past us in the hallway.
"Afternoon, ladies." He said with a smile. Alice giggled and I returned the greeting, pulling Alice along with me to our office.
"Alice, you are ridiculous." I mumbled. She laughed like a schoolgirl and linked arms with me like we were in elementary school.
"Bellaaaa! You've gotta admit! He's so cute!" She whispered to me, and I rolled my eyes again.
"Whatever floats your boat Alice." I answered her with a smirk. She pouted and huffed at my mocking reply.
"Bella, we need to get you a boyfriend. Or at least a crush. You don't like anyone and you've been here for months!" I raised a brow at her, leafing through papers on my desk. I looked at the clock, smiling.
"Alice, I gotta go see Edward," I said with a sly grin. She huffed and called after me as I walked away.
"Don't think you're off the hook missy! When you get back we need to talk about your non-existing love life!" I laughed under my breath. Oh, Alice. Even though she could be annoying, I was glad I had her. While I was friends with Jasper and another girl from the University named Angela, Alice was my closest friend here.
A familiar feeling of dread washed over me as I approached Edward's room. I wasn't dreading seeing him, no, I was dreading seeing what kind of condition he was in. Even though I was sure he hated me, it made me sad to see him curled up in the corner, crying and afraid of me.
Then again, I could say he was much better than he had been. He used to scream and throw a fit when I'd enter the room. Now, he'd just curl up and ignore me, except for the few occasions when we would talk. But even then, it would only be me talking and him listening.
I took out my key and entered the room, seeing the familiar bronze haired man look up at me. I returned his gaze, getting lost in his emerald eyes for just a second. Their wonderful color almost amazed me. He quickly looked away, and I noticed that he was already in the corner. "Edward?" I asked softly.
Very slowly, he looked up at me, looking in my direction but not meeting my eyes "I-I knew you come around this t-time everyd-day…" His reply was so soft I strained to hear it.
I smiled at him, taking my usual seat in the far corner. "How are you today Edward?" No response. "Did you have any dreams?" Nod. "Were they bad?" Nod. "What were they about?" No response, as I predicted.
And that was as far as our communication could go.
I settled in there, in my usual spot, and stared at the floor. I could imagine how someone could go crazy in this place. Edward's room was so bare. It was concrete floor, white walls, and a white bed with one white sheet and one white pillow. I felt bad for him. The other patients had better rooms, with desks and walls that were a nice pastel blue. But Edward, as well as the other patients on this floor, could be considered a danger to themselves, and couldn't be trusted with items they could use to harm themselves.
Though I hadn't seen Edward try to harm himself, I had seen him in one of his tantrums, and it wasn't pretty.
"You're doing well with Edward, Bella." Carlisle told me. A blush crept up my cheeks at his compliment.
"He seems to have accepted your presence in there, and I don't think we need to keep as constant as a watch anymore. We'll be checking on you two from time to time, but this is a step in a very good direction." Carlisle was beaming by the end of his speech. He was so excited that his nephew was doing better. He turned to walk away.
"Wait!" I blurted before I could think. Oh crap. Carlisle turned around and I was forced to say what I was thinking "Erm, not that it's any of my business…but how did Edward's mother die?" I said it softly, since I knew it was a sensitive subject for Carlisle.
His smile fell, but he still answered. "She had the flu, and she accidentally took one too many cold tablets. Edward found her in her room, and thought she was sleeping at first…" He trailed off, lost in though. I frowned and felt a lump in my throat. That must've hurt him so much to discover his mother, dead, at such a young age. "It was just him and his father after that, but he died a little over a year later from lung cancer. " I looked to the ground, feeling the threat of threat of tears.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, feeling bad for even asking in the first place. It wasn't even my business!
"Not to worry, Bella." His smile was back, though it wasn't as wide as before, and it didn't reach his eyes "All we can do is look towards the future, yes?" I nodded, giving him a small smile. Carlisle said goodbye and turned to leave.
I walked forwords and stepped into Edward's room. He glared up at me, and I gave a small smile in return. "H-Hello Edwa-"
And then my stupid clumsiness rang it's ugly head. I tripped. Over my own feet. My own feet! I let out a gasp and fell to the ground, my hand accidentally falling onto Edward's leg. Even though his leg was covered with the grew sweatpants he always wore, his eyes bulged and he started screaming. Just screaming. I tried to calm him down, but every time I got close, he swatted me away. I leaned close to him and he finally opened his eyes screaming "Get away!" And punched me square in the cheek. I recoiled, hot tears of pain and embarrassment flooding into my eyes. I grabbed my cheek in slight pain, but stayed away after that.
The orderlies came in and wrestled him to the ground. I watched sadly as he went from enraged to terrified as they pulled out the needle and sedated him. He fell into unconsciousness and it wasn't until they'd strapped him to his bed that I got up and left.
"I'm sorry," His soft whisper brought me out of my remembering. My eyes snapped to his, and he was looking directly at me.
"Hm?" I asked tilting my head curiously "For what?"
"Punching your cheek…" He reached out a shaking hand and pointed to my cheek. I hadn't realized it, but I had been touching my cheek. The bruise had long since gone away, and it only hurt a little and only if I pressed it really hard.
"I… I'm not really…aware…of what I'm doing…when I get like t-that…" He whispered, actually looking sorry and ashamed.
"No, no, Edward. It's fine! Really!" Redness crept up onto my cheeks again and I cursed myself mentally.
"No…" He sighed, "It's not fine…you had a bruise on your cheek for a couple weeks after…." I blinked and raised a brow. He'd noticed? My heart squeezed. No, Bella. Don't do this. Don't get all hormonal. You survived without that in high school, don't start now.
Before I was able to answer, a tinkling, high pitched ring emanated from my pocket. I jumped, before I realized it was my phone. Edward gasped and covered his ears, letting out a little moan and telling me to make it stop. I quickly fumbled for my phone, picking it out and looking at it. The number I didn't recognize, so I pressed the ignore button and the noise stopped. It was an annoying noise, one that closely resembled an old telephone or a kitchen buzzer. I had no idea why this made Edward so scared. I looked to Edward worridly, who had his hands on his ears, plugging them tightly.
Cautiously, I stood. "Edward?" He didn't finch, he was probably blocking out any noise. I took two slow steps forword. I knelt down in front of Edward so I was in his line of sight, which was focused on the ground. Slowly, his eyes turned up to me. "Edward…" He slowly uncovered his ears. "It's okay, Edward… the noise is gone… I'm sorry… I shouldn't have brought my phone in here, I just forgot I had it in my pocket. I'll never bring it in again." He stared at me, and the phone in my hand, eyes bloodshot and breath quick and short. "Does the noise hurt your ears?" I asked, not really expecting to get an answer.
"Y-Yeah…" He answered, hugging his knees to his chest and ripping through his hair with his fingers. I watched as the strands of copper went in every direction, making him look a little like a mad scientist, or something. "It hurts my ears.." He adverted my face completely, and I suspected a lie, but didn't press it.
"Well, I'll never let it happen again." He looked up to me and watched as I pulled out my phone, going into the settings and putting it on silent. "There. Now it'll never make that noise again." I held the phone out for him to see that the sound setting was set to silent.
"Y-You…don't have to turn it off…on my a-account…" He whispered, looking down.
"No, I want to. If it hurts you, then why would I take that chance that it would happen again? I wouldn't want to cause you pain." He flinched, his eyes showing an emotion that much resembled confusion.
"Thanks," He whispered, staring at the ground. I nodded and started to scoot back to my corner.
"Y-You don't h-have to…um…s-stay in the corner…j-just…don't come too close…" He was able to meet my eyes for a split second before he closed them and curled into himself and hid his face in his knees.
I couldn't help but smile. Maybe we were making progress.
If you have any speculations about Edward's little lies, or Alice's little...aherm...interests..., or just plot, drop me a review! I'd love to hear what you guys think. :)