7

BPOV

I closed my locker, spinning the dial and wobbling at my top speed. 2 minutes. What a fool I was for not bringing a stopwatch with me today. I wonder if I'm late will he leave without me? I wasn't exactly sure where the hospital was but if he was driving me and bussing me from tomorrow on, it was probably not close.

Then I thought of myself getting into his car. I hope I fit, and my crutch, where will I put that? I groaned, this was going to be terrible. The more he'd be around me the more confirmation he'd have of what a loser I was. I kept hearing his voice from gym class.

From 1:15 to 2:00 Monday to Friday, you belong to me.

I will push you, hard, I don't give easy praise…I won't feel sorry for you.

Truth is so much better than fiction, isn't it, Miss Swan ?

I had only been in this school for 2 days, so I couldn't know if this was his real personality, or if this was how he was when he was working. In any case, it looked like we were stuck with each other for a while. Maybe that's what's wrong with him. He doesn't want to be my therapist. But he can't get out of it.

When I reached the door beside the gym that lead outside, I shoved my body against it, feeling a cold wind shoving my hair to the left over one side of my face. The silver car was there, engine running. He was sitting in the driver's seat, staring straight ahead, not even acknowledging me approaching.

The locks of the door snapped as I got to the door. It took me a minute to steady my good arm with the crutch and use that same hand to open the door. My other hand hung there like a dead mackerel. Sometimes it would work, sometimes not. Now, it wasn't. It figured.

He made no move to assist me with the door but that was fine with me. He kept his eyes straight ahead, his jaw tight but not really clenched. I got the door open and prayed my crutch wouldn't scratch his paint job as I moved to sit down in the passenger seat. It was pushed all the way back, giving me plenty of room, thank God. I put my backpack in my lap and pulled my crutch in alongside of my seat, took a breath, then reached out to get the door handle, giving a little groan as I managed to pull back, closing the door, sealing myself inside with the intense angel.

He started driving without a word as I buckled myself in. It had been a long time since I drove in the front seat of a car and I had to admit, it unnerved me a little. The last time I'd been in a seat like this, I was going through hell, screaming at my father, telling him to slow down, then screaming at him to stop, which he didn't. I looked down at my backpack, staring at the gray and black designs on it instead of at the gray, cold road ahead.

Say something, I told myself. I searched for something to begin a conversation, then I had one.

"I guess I'll get to meet Dr. Cullen while we're at the hospital, then?" I asked in a little shy voice. Why couldn't I get my voice to sound confident and sultry like the Bella in my James Dean conversation ?

"Yes." He kept his eyes on the road, driving at a faster pace than I was used to, "He will meet with you when we're finished. If you're up to it."

If I'm up to it ? What was he going to do to me in the next couple of hours, anyway? I got more and more afraid, thinking of it. I had done lots of physical therapy before, so I wasn't afraid of that. I was afraid of how he would act towards me, his tone of voice, his stern eyes.

"I'll be fine." I made myself say firmly, "I'm a lot tougher than I look."

At this, his lip turned up at the corner nearest to me. "We'll see." He muttered.

I almost gave a snort in response, but I held it in. I really didn't want to try him to see how hard he could push me on the first day. Besides, it had been a week since I'd done any kinds of therapy with the gym equipment. I was a little out of practice because of the move here to Forks.

"I've been doing the exercises I could." I offered this information, "I haven't had access to any gym equipment for about a week, since I left New Jersey."

"Don't worry, I'll get you caught up." He assured with that same rigid straight tone of voice.

"Thanks." I said, hoping my voice sounded sincere.

He gave a small nod, turning the wheel suddenly, the car swooping around in a half circle as we turned, the speed finally getting to me now.

I gave a little scream, holding onto the armrest at my side as I clenched my eyes closed.

"You okay?" I heard his voice said, softer now, beside me.

"Yea." I lied, "Sorry. Cars just…scare me. Since the accident."

"Oh I'm sorry." He said, the speed dropping to a nice 55 miles per hour.

"Thank you." My voice said, shaking a bit as I opened my eyes, seeing his beautiful marble face looking at me now, concerned.

"Better?" he asked, one of his hands letting go of the wheel, about to reach over to me but then, quickly going back to the steering wheel, gripping it tighter. And his eyes were back to staring at the road, not me.

"Yea." I took a breath, adding, "I'm sorry."

"That was my fault." Edward shook his head slowly, as if mad at himself now, "I should've been…aware of that. It won't happen again."

I wondered if he knew all the details of the accident and about my father. I wanted to ask him but I didn't have the nerve right now. I decided to switch subjects.

"I heard Dr. Cullen is a really good guy." I started again, "Sue went on and on about him."

"He is an unusually generous and intelligent person." Edward was now giving praise, "If anyone can help you, it's him."

"I love the letter he wrote me." I said with a softer voice now, "It was so…I can't explain it. I felt like he knew me already."

"I know exactly what you mean." Edward kept his eyes forward, "That's how it was for me, too, when I first met him."

"So, you work for him after school is over ?" I asked, "Do you get some kind of college credit for this, or…"

"Yea." He said, "I plan on going to Medical school after college. This is a way for me to get some experience and prepare for that."

"Oh wow." I commented, I didn't picture him as the doctor type for some reason, "That's great. And Dr. Cullen picked you because of your grades, or did you apply ?"

God, I was being so nosey. But I was really curious as to how Edward, 17 year old student was my physical therapist. Maybe, after I was okay enough, maybe I could do something like this for a living, to help others where I got my help from.

"Well" Edward hesitated, then said, "Carlisle, Dr. Cullen, is my father. But don't let that lead you to believe I don't have the qualifications to be your physical therapist. I have taken all the classes and am certified."

"I'm sure you are." I saw he looked a little nervous as he was telling me this so I put him at ease, "Yea, Sue was telling me that Dr. Cullen had five adopted teenagers."

Then it occurred to me as I sat there. Edward had been an orphan, then, too, once, like I was now.

"Yea." Edward said, "There's me, Alice, Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper. Have you met any of them yet?"

"Oh, I think I have." I realized aloud as I spoke, "Alice, she was in my homeroom the other day. She was nice. And Emmett."

Emmett was my new hero.

"Emmett is in my History class." I said, "He's really nice, too."

I looked at him and thought he was going to say something but he didn't.

The rest of the ride passed in silence. I couldn't think of anything else to say to him, besides, oh I see you dumped your girlfriend today. I didn't say that to him but then I thought, maybe that's why he's so quiet . I was a jerk thinking everyone's moods were somehow related to me.

When we got to the hospital, he parked near the east side, away from the ER. It was a beautiful looking building and I couldn't help but stare at it for a minute after I finally got myself out of the car, again, on my own as Edward patiently waited for me.

Once I was ready, I followed him inside, hating his coat for covering his backside as we entered. Hey, just because I was a gimp didn't mean I didn't have my fantasies, right?

I trailed after him as he went down a couple of hallways, turning right then left. The walls were nice, pale colors like dusty rose and cream. Nice paintings hung here and there, along with some motivational posters. My favorite was one that said, "There is no shame in falling, only in not getting up again."

A couple of people would see us here and there and give Edward a very friendly greeting.

He responded back with just as much fondness, even giving one man a high five as they passed each other. I just stayed quiet and grinned at them as they went by me, I guess introductions would come later for me.

Finally, we reached a room that looked like a brand new gym, all kinds of equipment and workout machines surrounding us.

Everything looked clean and polished and there was no one here but Edward and I. This made me a little nervous. I had pictured other people doing their exercises nearby. It would make me a little more at ease if I wasn't the only one being tortured, I thought with a smirk.

"Home sweet home." Edward informed, taking off his coat, revealing a blue pair of sweatpants and a white muscle shirt, exposing his rounded shoulders and arms.

Mama.

He had my clipboard and file again in his hand and he motioned for me to follow him to the right side of the room, a red cushioned bench waiting for us.

Taking a seat, he clicked a pen and opened to a new empty notebook, writing the date down and my name in the center of the top line.

"Before we start working, I want to get an idea of what I'm in for here." He stated with a professional manner again, placing the file and pen down at his side, then turned to me, swallowing and looking at my face.

"I'm going to touch you a little bit, okay?" he asked first, then I noticed his eyes. They weren't jet black anymore. They were a glowing, shimmering butterscotch color. Wooow…pretty. Only the announcement of his touching me made me snap out of it.

I nodded my head, my voice on vacation at the moment. I felt my cheeks turn hot and I cursed myself for my stupid blushing. It was like a banner that read, "Yes, Edward, I think you're hot and I am so turned on that you're going to be touching me now." Ukkk. He probably couldn't wait to get away from me.

First his hands encircled the sides of my neck. Ooh, his fingers were cold. Who cares, Bella, he's touching you, shut up. It was cold outside just now, that must be it. Besides, cold hands equals warm heart, they say.

My eyes closed as he carefully moved my neck to one side, then slowly, to the other side, guiding it into a slow roll downwards, then back as I looked up towards the ceiling, afraid to breathe. Then I felt his fingers on the right side of my neck give a tiny little circular massage at the spot they were touching.

"Tense, there." He informed without emotion, taking his hands away and writing something in his pad away from me on his side of the bench.

"Does your neck hurt sometimes, Miss Swan?" he asked, still writing.

"Bella." I said, then added, "Yes, sometimes, mostly at night when I'm trying to sleep."

"Okay." He turned back towards me, his face still straight and void of any amusement. He was all business now and that was very cute to me. Not cute…attractive. He was so young and took his job so seriously. I could see him being an excellent doctor someday. I'd be his patient.

Now his hands went to my shoulders, both hands on my right shoulder, moving it as far as he could backwards, then rolling it slowly forwards. I could tell he knew what he was doing and I loved that, too. He was not just a pretty face, that was obvious.

"Let me know if anything ever hurts." He said in a low voice, going to my other shoulder.

Please hurt me, Edward, I couldn't help thinking before I scolded myself.

I was broken out of my trance when he said, "Tell me about this arm."

He lifted my hand, my bad hand, the one that worked when it felt like it.

"Umm." I began, looking at the way it just hung there until Edward held my hand, raising it a little bit, his heavenly eyes wandering over my sleeve as I tried to speak.

"This arm…was crushed between two cars." I said quickly, before I could think of what I was saying. While I spoke, he was gently moving my big sweat jacket sleeve up, exposing my entire arm, his other hand moving over the length of it softly.

"mmm hmmm." He was looking at the mangled deformed thing that was once a normal looking arm. He didn't seem scared or disgusted at all. He was urging me to go on.

I usually hated anyone looking at my bad arm, let alone touching it. But for some reason, I felt like this was okay. I felt relaxed as he touched me. This was weird for me, I never trusted anyone this soon. But I already felt myself trusting him.

"It's fine sometimes." I said, feeling little tears in my eyes, "I can't do anything complicated with it, but it sometimes moves when I want it to. Then, other times, it just goes dead, like now. It hurts a lot…sometimes, too."

"Does it hurt now?" he looked into my eyes with real concern then.

"No." I looked down at it, hoping he wouldn't see my wet eyes, "It's ugly as hell, isn't it?"

"No." he said without hesitation, his soft fingers were on my palm, trying gently to curl my hand into a fist, then opening it, his fingers gliding down my fingers, "There is no such thing as ugly, Bella."

That surprised me. He said my name, too. Something in me felt warm and melty inside. I didn't want to make him explain that statement. I was happy to leave it at that.

He pulled my sleeve back down around my wrist and set it down on my lap, turning and writing more in his notebook. I took this chance to blink a few times, to rid myself of the tears welling in my eyes. I wondered if he knew just how much I let him in, by letting him see my arm and touch it that way. I felt so exposed, but, I didn't fight him. I let him come in, taking a chance on him stabbing me in the heart. I hoped he wouldn't. I hope he is different.

Going to my good arm, Edward gave a little grin and moved the sleeve up, saying, "Now this is the super arm. Look at the muscles."

I laughed a little, not ashamed of this arm. It was so strong, it had to be.

"This arm is all I have." I said tenderly, looking down at it.

"Any pain here?" he was making my lower arm curl up towards me, then brought it down again, slowly.

Lots. No physical pain, though, I thought to myself.

"No, this arm got out without a scratch." I said, "It's my terminator arm."

"It's a good one." He almost gave me a little smile, putting my sleeve down, but then he went back to his notebook, writing a little more.

"Okay," Edward looked me in the eye again, "I'm going to check your legs."

God, kill me now. I'm glad I shaved them last night.

My legs weren't as bad as they had been after the accident. Several doctors had tried to operate on them before this, but they were still ugly to look at, I thought. They were limp, dead things that had no hint of sexiness like a young girl's legs should.

Again, his hands were gentle and smooth, moving up and down every inch, massaging the muscles here and there. He didn't talk for a long time and I imagined that he was disgusted by me again. He was kneeling down at my feet before his examination was over. I just stared at the hair on top of his head as he looked down. So many lovely strands there, going this way and that way. I could look at it for hours. To touch it would be…wonderful.

"Bella." He looked up suddenly, holding my left foot in his hand, gripping my old lady shoe, "Push your foot against my hand as hard as you can."

"I'm not very strong." I warned before I did this. I had done this with doctors before and I never could push that hard.

"Yes you are." He said in a low voice, feeling as I pushed with all my might, my good hand clinging to the bench I was sitting in.

"More." He said firmly, "Come on, Isabella."

I groaned, pushing harder now that he called me Isabella. I hated being called that. My mother used to call me that.

"Okay, okay." He looked up at me, with a smug grin.

"What?"

"I'll have to remember that." He said, "Calling you Isabella gets results."

"Not always good ones." I blushed, watching as he moved over, sitting on the floor, working on my other leg now.

After that examination and note taking session, something changed. When I thought we were kinda becoming friends a little, and now it was time to start working. He was Boot Camp Cullen now, as I made up a nickname for him in my head.

He told me to lay down flat on this padded black table that had all kinds of levers on its side and bottom. I did as he told me and in seconds he was fastening black straps. One went over both my ankles, holding them securely down, another encircled my knees, then across my waist. The whole time he was buckling me in, giving a tight yank each time on the straps to hold me in tighter, his face was void of any tender concern now. I felt like he was strapping me down to whip me, like he was angry with me and that just made my body tremble and get hot at the same time.

The last strap he buckled across my chest.

My arms were free I noticed as he hit a button and my padded table began to slowly hum and tilt, bringing me to an almost standing up position.

"Let's get going on those arms." Edward watched from where he stood, his hands on his hips, "Hands in the bars at your sides, bring them together, then back. Keep going until I tell you to stop."

That was fine for my good arm, but my other arm was like a heavy giant sausage dangling from my shoulder. I grabbed my dead hand with my good one and stuck it in the bar, then got my good arm in the other bar and started bringing them together as he told me. The other dead arm was just going along for the ride. I wished it would wake up, I needed it now. If you make me look bad in front of Boot Camp Cullen, I'll never speak to you again, I mentally scolded my bad arm.

He just stared at me without a word, watching me intently as another girl came in. As she got closer, I saw it was Alice from homeroom, his sister. I grinned at her silently, afraid to say anything as my new owner was surveying me, arms crossed now.

A couple other people milled into the gym now, using the equipment, minding their own business. I saw Alice talking to Edward, but I couldn't hear them. Someone had also turned some music on a minute ago, and I had to admit, I liked hearing it while I was going through this.

After a little while, I started to get a bit tired but I wouldn't admit that to him, my bad arm started to ache a little but my good arm wasn't even feeling it yet. I felt my hair getting hot, then damp at the edges. He kept staring at me, not budging as I began to suffer.

"You're slowing down." He finally observed aloud, "Don't slow down, Swan. Pick up the pace."

Oh man. I felt my breathing getting heavier as I tried to speed up like he said. His voice was so cold and heartless just then. I liked it, but I didn't at the same time. I wasn't tough and he was expecting me to be tough and strong. He was going to get mad at me.

A minute or two later, I thought I was going fast enough but then he barked, "Don't make me come up there, you won't like it, Swan."

His voice raised at me ! Without thinking about it, I was moving faster now, ignoring the aching, burning feeling. I could just imagine him having to come up here and making my arms move faster. No, I didn't want that, it would be too humiliating. That and, I didn't want him angry with me.

How much longer was he going to have me do this? It felt like forever had gone by since he tied me into this contraption.

I started to whimper a little and his eyes darted back over to me, a second before he was looking at Alice while talking to her.

"Did I just hear a complaint?" he asked me, arms still folded like a mighty gladiator's.

"No Sir." I heard myself say, to my own horror, then squeaked, "No."

Sir? I had to stop my master/slave fantasies before I got into trouble. Good thing I didn't call him Master, that would've sucked.

EPOV

Alice was standing next to me, babysitting for Carlisle. I hated being treated like I was Jasper after all the years I resisted human blood.

"How are you, Edward?" Alice asked me, cautiously.

"Fine." I folded my arms, "It's better when she's not so close to me."

"How about before?" Alice asked, "She was in your car, that must've been hard."

"I got through it." I informed, "Carlisle wants me to be alone with her sometimes, so I can learn to resist it. If it ever gets to be too much, I'll just get away from her."

Alice was about to say something when I noticed Bella showing signs of fatigue, she slowed a bit.

"You're slowing down." I called to her with a little frown, "Don't slow down, Swan. Pick up the pace."

She looked at me like I just stomped on her puppy but she did as I instructed, without any objections. I wanted to see how far I could push her before she told me off. That nice, sugar sweet façade of hers wasn't fooling me. There was a lot of anger in there, dormant. It needed to be shaken up, to be released. And the exercises were vital if she ever wanted to walk again. For her, I wouldn't mind being the bastard who never let her rest. I would get my reward when I saw her walking down the aisle of school, in her cap and gown, going to get her diploma with no crutch.

"So mean." Alice teased, smiling at me, "Too bad she doesn't know what a little teddy bear you really are under that rough exterior."

"Get outta here." I almost laughed at her. Only my family knew my real personality. No mortal ever got close enough to me to see my soft side. I didn't want them to. They would like me and it wasn't right to make them like me. I was nothing but a demon trapped in a human looking body, crawling after animals to feed upon.

A few minutes later, I heard her whimpering like a little girl. My head spun towards her as I tried to give her one of my more strict expressions. She was sweating pretty well now and her face looked tired and pained but I could not be soft on her. I wouldn't. Not here in this room.

"Did I just hear a complaint?" I asked, daring her to talk back to me.

She quickly said, "No, Sir."

No, Sir? Something told me this was said accidentally, but I still couldn't deny I liked the sound of that from her lips.

Then, in a half second, she corrected herself, saying, "No."

I had to turn away from her to hide my smile.

Alice was looking at me in a weird way, as if she knew something I didn't.

"What?" I asked.

"I see something." Alice smirked like the cat who ate the canary.

"What?" I repeated.

"Oh, nuthin'" she turned away from me, making me work for it now.

"Alice," I warned with my low voice, "Don't make me burn down your closet."

She gasped, just thinking of how terrible a tragedy that would be. Then she smiled at me again.

"You like her." Alice informed me, saying nothing more.

I snorted, "Don't be ridiculous, she's my patient."

"I don't care what she is, you like her."

I didn't answer her because I couldn't deny it, really. I did like her. But I didn't really know her yet. She was still so guarded, so silent. We had made a little progress earlier when I was examining her, but it was a small step. I was not only planning on working on her muscles, I was going to work on the confidence, the self esteem she lacked. I loved a challenge and that she certainly was.

Jacob Black was coming into the gym, a 15 year old kid who was volunteering here after school to get some college credits as well. He would run errands, clean things up, menial stuff to start with. He was always nice and friendly to me, even though I never said much to him. He was coming up to me now.

"Hi Edward." Jacob greeted me, "Dr. Cullen is asking for you first before he sees Bella in a few minutes.

"Uh, okay, I'll be right there." I glanced at Bella, almost dead on her machine. I almost felt sorry for her. Almost.

Jacob started to walk away from me as I took a breath and quickly ran over to where she was, hopping up on the slanted table she was strapped to. I stood with my feet on each side of hers, hearing her squeal out in surprise as I nearly came nose to nose with her, my eyes cruel and hard.

I could smell her blood even more now, as she was perspiring and making those little whimpering sounds was just calling me to come and taste her blood. I really wanted it. Badly. And suddenly I was mad at her, like it was her fault her blood was mocking me, taunting me.

"ARE you finished, SWAN?!" I almost hollered, "That wasn't even a 30 minute workout, are you kidding me?"

"I ---" she tried to talk but I cut her off, lowering my voice a little.

"What?" I squinted.

"It hurts." She was crying a little and part of me wanted to put my arms around her. But I couldn't. I had to push now.

"It's supposed to HURT." I sneered, controlling my voice, "Twenty more minutes. And do it right this time, both hands!"

I hated being this way to her, to all of my former patients, too, But Carlisle wanted me to be this way, the cases he gave me were ones who needed a tough prick to make them push themselves. It did work, every time. But I never cared for a patient before like I cared about this one. I was so afraid she'd hate me now. But it was my job to make her hate me.

"Can you please watch her, Alice?" I rushed past her, I had to get out of there fast.

She nodded with a grin and I left the gym, going to Carlisle's office a few minutes away. I felt calmer by the time I arrived there.

I knocked on Carlisle's office door and heard him say, "Come in, Edward."

I opened the door and closed it behind me, giving him a friendly grin.

"How're you doing, Dad?" I asked, wanting to show him I was fine and that he didn't need to dress me down like the last time I was in here.

"Good, how are YOU doing?" he looked surprised at how upbeat I was.

"Good." I had my clipboard and Bella's file with me, I opened to my notes, "You may want to do something about her left arm, before you touch her legs. The arm is going fast. It comes and goes she says, but it's failing. She has pain in is sometimes, too."

"Edward." Carlisle stopped me, his voice kind, "Talk to me."

I took a breath and closed my notebook, saying, "What is there to say? I am doing my job, like you told me to. I'm her therapist now, it's too late."

"Too late for what?"

"I am playing my part, Carlisle." I informed, "I already have her hating my guts, I'm sure. I just yelled at her more than I should have, because…" I trailed off, looking down at my sneakers.

"Because?"

"I don't know." I shrugged, "I just met her, I hardly know anything about her. I can't read her thoughts. Her blood is driving me crazy. I can hardly talk to her because she thinks everything I say is an insult. And on top of all that…"

"Yes?" Carlisle sat back in his chair, his hands together, listening.

"I…" I began, not sure what I would say until it came out of my mouth, "I don't want her to hate me."

"Edward." Carlisle stood up, about to say something but then wild footsteps came thundering down the hallway, tearing open the door.

Alice came rushing in, out of breath, shouting something about a plane.

"A plane is having problems…the wind is shifting…" Alice was saying too fast.

Who cares? I instantly thought.

"Hey, where's Bella?" I grabbed her arms, "I told you to watch her, she's strapped into—"

"The Jacob kid is with her." Alice pushed me off, turning to Carlisle, "A plane is going to crash, Carlisle ! I'm not sure where, but near here. It's a little private plane, only one person is on board, but it's in trouble."

I was about to wonder what we could do when suddenly everything shook and jolted, knocking all three of us to the floor. Then screams and the sounds of running footsteps were all over the place, utter chaos.

I bolted into the hallway, black smoke was already filling the air, darkening the corridor as I ran, going as fast as I could back to the gym I left Bella in, terrified of what I would find when I got there.

See new chapter next.

Love WinndSinger