Thank you so much for the alerts, favorites, and reviews for the last chapter!
I'm so excited to announce that "Welcome to DramaAcademy" was nominated at The Lion and Lamb Fanfiction Awards for Best Edward and Bella Romance! The link is posted on my profile. There are lots of wonderful stories nominated so it is quite an honor to be running against them. The date for voting has not been posted, but I'll let you guys know as soon as I find out. So anyway, if you think I deserve the award, I would appreciate it if you drop a vote when the time comes. Thank you!
Many thanks to my wonderful Beta, Bronzehairedgirl620, for editing this chapter.
Chapter Seven
Edward Cullen
We stared into each other's eyes for what seemed like eternity. Thousands of emotions flickered across her face. Confusion. Shock. Betrayal. I didn't understand why she was staring at me like that. As if she didn't know me and I was a total stranger.
Even though I knew something was off, I couldn't help but smile. I couldn't believe it. Bella was here. At the hospital! I practically skipped to her side, giving her a bone-crushing hug.
"Bella, what are you doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you. But shouldn't you be on your lunch break or something?"
She looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bother you. You left your cell phone at home and I wasn't sure if you'd need it today. I tried calling the office number that you gave me but no one answered…" There was a slight hint of wariness in her tone when she said 'no one answered'. "So I came down here to hand it to you in person and… oh my god. I'm feeling like a complete fool right now. I should have just called the front desk to see if they can reach you. I wasn't thinking straight and-"
I pinched her lips gently between my fingers. I knew what was on the way; a typical Bella rant. I patted my pocket with my other hand. Indeed, it was empty.
"Bella, of course you're not bothering me. How can you even say that?" I shook my head with disbelief. "I was in a meeting all morning with Dr. Larkin and Tanya was attending a conference so no one was in the office."
Speaking of which, I had completely forgotten about Tanya's presence. She cleared her throat and beamed at Bella as she walked up to us.
"It is so nice to see you in person, Bella! Edward here hasn't been able to shut up about you since his very first day. You are everything he described you to be. Beautiful, slender… oh, I'm Tanya, by the way."
I looked away with embarrassment. On my first day of work, Tanya asked me about my dating status after work, when we met each other in the parking lot, and she was right. I talked nonstop about Bella for what seemed like an hour. I remember the incredulous look that she gave me and the way she said, "Wow. That's the longest speech I've ever heard you make."
Bella was blushing. "It's nice to meet you too, Tanya."
She smiled at her. "Well, I'll leave you two alone. I wish I could stay and chat a little longer, but I have another conference this afternoon. Don't forget Aly's appointment, Edward."
"I won't."
She nodded then walked out of the door after retrieving a stack of paper from Gerald's desk.
Now it was only Bella and me. She was staring at me with an apologetic smile.
"Was I interrupting something?"
"No, no," I assured her. "Thank you so much for bringing the cell phone by the way. Did I pull you out of work?"
She shook her head, letting her mahogany hair fall loosely over her shoulder.
"Mr. King let us out at noon today. He's having the building renovated so he's putting everything else on hold," she explained.
I puckered my eyebrow. "Didn't he tell you in advance?"
She rolled her eyes. "Nope. Apparently, the idea occurred to him last night."
Wait. So she was off for the rest of the day? She was free?
"Do you have anything planned this afternoon?" I asked, unable to hide the excitement in my voice.
She stared at my face with confusion. "No. I don't think so. Why?"
I smiled widely. "There's someone that I want you to meet." I didn't give her a chance to reply. I hauled her out of the door faster than you can say "fly".
She was quiet on our way to the children's ward. In fact, she hadn't even spoken a word since we left the room.
"Bella? Are you okay, love?"
"Yeah." she gave me a stressful smile. "I'm fine."
She was a terrible actress. She might have been able to pull off Shakespeare perfectly, but she sucked at faking happiness. Her face was so easy to read- what did her mother call her? Ah yes. An opened book.
I pinned her against the wall and her breathing picked up by my abrupt movement. I kissed her forehead then leaned in to whisper into her ear.
"You're not fine. I've been meaning to ask you something. Why were you looking upset when you first saw me at the office? Please. Tell me the truth."
"I wasn't upset," she denied breathlessly.
I picked up my head and shook it stubbornly. I stared straight into her eyes; I was usually able to get whatever I wanted by doing this.
"I'm not letting you go until you tell me the truth. Please, Bella. Just tell me," I pleaded, placing another kiss on her jaw.
She sighed in defeat. "Fine. You asked for it. I saw you hugging Tanya and I just… reacted."
I stared at her with shock. Did she think I was cheating on her or something?
"Bella, I…"
She averted my eyes and looked down to her feet, chewing on her bottom lip. "Forget it. I'm okay now."
I picked her chin back up. "No, you're not okay. You've been unusually quiet and you haven't smiled at all. Bella, I love you. Tanya's just a colleague. She heard some good news from her boyfriend," I emphasized the word. "Who she is very much in love with and was just sharing it with me. I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression. But honestly Bella, did you really think I have feelings for Tanya?" I scrunched up my eyebrow.
"I didn't know what to think!" she retorted defensively. "I mean, I come and visit my boyfriend and bam. There he was hugging a gorgeous blonde who looks more like a runway model rather than a nurse."
"You're being so absurd," I chuckled into her ear. "Besides, I recall telling you I prefer brunettes over blondes."
The corner of her lips twitched into a tiny smile at my comment. "I kind of remember that."
I caressed her cheek gently with the back of my hand. "And I meant what I said. I love you, Isabella Marie Swan. Nothing, no one, is going to change that. I promise."
The smile on her face grew more pronounced. She wrapped her arms around my neck and placed a soft kiss on my lips.
"I love you, too, Edward Anthony Masen. Nothing, no one, is going to change that. I promise," she repeated with a quiet giggle.
I smiled; it was like we were saying our wedding vows or something.
She cleared her throat. "Umm… Edward? Can I…"
I looked down and realized I was crushing her.
"Sorry," I muttered.
"Yeah," she chuckled. "So now that you're done holding me prisoner, where exactly are we going?"
She took my hand like it was the most natural thing to do. I curled my fingers around hers with pure bliss as we walked down the corridor, greeting some of the doctors that I knew on our way there.
"There's this girl that I want you to meet-"
"Wait," she interrupted. "She's not another nurse, is she? And please don't tell me she's a brunette."
I laughed. How light, teasing her tone sounded now. It was as if the bit with Tanya earlier had never happened. She had so much faith in me… she truly was the kindest, most forgiving creature that I'd ever met.
"No," I said. "Not a nurse. A little girl, actually, who I'm sure would love to meet you."
"Oh," she said in surprise. "Cool."
"Are you sure there aren't any other nurses that you want me to meet?" she joked. "I'm on a roll here so you might as well as just keep them coming."
I rolled my eyes at her. "Don't be absurd, Bella. Hmmm… actually there is this one particular nurse who's very pretty… she's on the fifth floor and I'm-"
She smacked my arm, cut off my joke, and scowled at me. "Edward!"
I laughed and kissed her hair. I knew Aly was going to be thrilled when she met Bella.
Bella Swan
I knew I shouldn't even have doubted Edward. But honestly, what was I supposed to think when I saw him hugging Tanya? Of course I was going to react like any other girl.
But after meeting her, I felt kind of bad because Tanya genuinely seemed like a nice person. And I'm not going to lie and say Edward's assurance wasn't necessary. I knew he wasn't into Tanya, but I guess hearing it from his mouth made everything more official.
We halted to a stop in front of Room 362. Edward knocked gently and pushed the door open single-handedly, holding my hand in his other.
There was a little girl sitting on the bed, who couldn't be older than five or six years old, and she was the cutest thing I'd ever laid my eyes on. She had straight, black hair that fell to her shoulders and when she looked up, I saw that her blue eyes were swimmy and innocent.
God. It was as if she was one of those dolls in the antique stores that came to life, only much more beautiful. My first instinct was to give her a hug. But I didn't know how she'd react, seeing I was a complete stranger, so I didn't. I wouldn't want her to think I was some psychotic patient who was on the wrong floor for treatment.
"Hi, Aly, how are you doing?" Edward greeted her with a smile.
"Hey Edward! Guess what? Auntie Martha is coming to visit tomorrow. Chloe told me," she beamed at him.
"That's great. Listen, there's someone that I want you to meet. Aly, this is Bella. Bella, Aly."
"Hi, Aly," I smiled at her. "It's so nice to meet you."
"Hi, Miss Bella," she said shyly, her cheeks creeping into a pink color that often appeared on my face.
I rolled my eyes. "Just Bella. I'm not that old. I'm actually younger than Edward. Two months younger."
"Oh," she giggled. Then she turned to Edward with a teasing look, "See? I told you that you were old."
Edward sighed. "Okay. I'm old. Incredibly old. Better?"
"Yes," Aly and I replied giddily in unison.
I felt the vibration of my phone and I politely excused myself to the corner of the room as Edward filled her in on the checkup that she was getting. She didn't seem too happy about it, but it didn't seem like she cared about it today particularly since I kept feeling both her and Edward's eyes on me.
The call was from work. Royce King had his secretary call every single one of us as a reminder that we needed to go into the office tomorrow. When I walked back to Aly's bed, I heard her saying something like, "She's so pretty, Edward. Is she your girlfriend?" in a low voice.
Edward winked at her and said, "Yes, she's my girlfriend. She is pretty hot, huh?"
The sound of my voice made Aly jump. "Am I missing something?"
Edward smirked at me and shook his head. "No, Bella. You're missing nothing. Nothing at all."
Aly giggled.
It was nice to watch Edward working with children. I'd heard him talking about it, but I'd never actually seen it in action. He had this draw that invited children to him. I mean, a while ago, when we were in the elevator, this little boy- three years old, I expected- stumbled his way across the floor to give Edward a hug and went, "Edwee!" which was, in my opinion, pretty funny. And now seeing Aly looking at him with almost a worshipful expression, I was practically glowing with pride. He was mine. Mine.
"Miss Bella- I mean, Bella?"
"Yes?" I asked, full of joy that she was addressing me directly.
"Do you really write stories?" Aly asked, a spark of excitement in her gorgeous, blue eyes.
"Umm… I write articles. Not stories. Though I wouldn't mind doing that in the future." Jeez. Keep in mind, Bella. She's only like five or six years old. She doesn't know the difference between articles and stories. "Articles are like stories, in a way. Only we don't make things up. They're sort of like newspapers; we let people know what's going on," I added, not sure if she understood what I was trying to tell her.
Edward chuckled, looking from my face to Aly's.
"Whoa. That's so cool! I write stories myself. It's about Jimmy the rabbit and Donald the dog. They're going on an adventure."
"That sounds very interesting," I said smilingly. "Do I get to read them in the future?"
She beamed at me. "Oh! Of course! I have it with me. Do you want to read them now?"
Edward cleared his throat. "Aly? Actually we have to head down to the x-ray room right now."
A wave of disappointment flickered across her face. "Oh."
I patted her head then reached for her tiny hand. Her hand was so warm and soft, exactly how I thought it would be.
"Maybe next time. I'm going to hold you to that; I can't wait to see it."
She smiled. "Okay. Next time."
I'd only spent about ten minutes with this girl and I already loved her. Unlike the other children that I'd encountered in the past, she didn't throw a fuss when she didn't have her way. She was beautiful, polite… she was an absolute angel. No wonder Edward was so taken by her.
I watched as Edward pulled her wheelchair over to her bed and carefully placed her on the cushion. Her fingers were trembling as she planted them on her lap, twined, and there was a frown on her pretty face. I take she wasn't a fan of checkups. Edward stroked her cheek and I watched with surprise as she wrapped her arms around his and pleaded in the softest voice imaginable.
"I don't want to go, Edward. Can I please stay here? Please?"
The expression on her face was heartbreaking. I gulped; I knew I could have never said no to such a face.
Edward sighed, looking away miserably. "Come on, Aly. How are you supposed to know if your leg is better or not if we don't have it checked out?"
She didn't comment. Instead, she nodded obediently and clenched her fingers tightly around the armrests. Edward pushed her slowly to the door and turned off the lights on our way out. Aly still looked unease.
"Aly, I promise it'll be quick. We're going to get a picture of your leg, have you move around a little bit, and then we'll go back to your room. Alright?" Edward inquired in a soothing, comforting voice.
"Okay. Please make it quick. I don't like that room. It's dark," she murmured.
"Hey," I said, loosing her grip on the wheelchair. "Aly, Edward and I will stay with you. There's nothing to be afraid of, okay?"
She studied my face then nodded her head. She stared blankly ahead at the corridor, her face still troubled and thoughtful. Edward caught my eyes and gave me a stressed, helpless smile. I reached for Aly's hand and it was like Edward had a six sense something, he took her other hand the same time I did while continuing to push the wheelchair with his left hand. Aly seemed to have relaxed a little. She smiled sweetly and tightened the grip she had on both of us.
God. I really love this kid.
Edward Cullen
The afternoon with Bella and Aly was wonderful. Gerald allowed me to take the rest of the afternoon off, seeing how disappointed Aly was when I announced it was time for me to get back to work, and he said it would be good for Aly to get under the sun, since she hadn't done so in at least a week. Gerald was really nice about Bella being here at the hospital. The main reason, I suppose, was how fond Aly was of her. Gerald cared very much about the kid, and I could tell he would do anything to help her get better.
So Bella and I took Aly to the courtyard after the examination. It took a great deal of persuading, but in the end, Aly gave in when we told her that we heard an ice cream truck, which wasn't false in any way. Even though Aly seemed incredibly mature for her age, she was still a kid. She couldn't resist temptations, which was perfectly understandable. I mean, Emmett was twenty-three years old and he still got excited every time he heard the truck coming. Aly was only five.
We tried getting her off the wheelchair, which was the most difficult thing to do in my twenty-two years of life- and it took hours. By the progress that we were making, we could have been persuading her until dawn and she'd still have her butt glued to the seat. So I didn't have a choice but to threaten her. I told her what Gerald told me another day about her becoming too dependent on her wheelchair, and I informed her that he was thinking of putting it away for a while so she wouldn't have a choice but to walk.
I instantly regretted it when I saw a flash of horror on her face. I wasn't proud of what I did. I knew it was low of me to scare her like that, but there wasn't another way. I expected her to scream at me and perhaps thrash around, but she did neither. Instead, she dried the tears that were streaming down her cheeks with her sleeve and obediently did what she was told.
It killed me to see her like that. I knew it must have been eating Bella away too since she was close to getting teary herself. I hated myself for doing this; I knew she had taken lots of orders from her father before, and I didn't want her to feel pressured around me. But honestly, I couldn't think of another way. It had to be done.
Her steps were shaky when she first got off the wheelchair. We held her hands and let her take as much time as she needed to walk across the courtyard. I didn't want to put too much pressure on her- one step at a time, right? It took her thirty minutes to reach the oak tree which was about five yards away. It didn't seem much, but we were so insanely proud of her. I picked her up from the ground, pulled her into my chest and Bella kissed the top of her head. Aly stayed there, crushed between us for I didn't know how long.
She was smiling, to my relief. I stared proudly at the ground while I placed her over my shoulders.
"You did great, Aly. Tomorrow, we'll try it again, okay? Now that wasn't too scary, was it?" I winked.
She shook her head reluctantly. "I guess not. Will you be here with me tomorrow? You won't let me fall, right?"
"Of course not. I dived in to save you a while ago, didn't I?" I said teasingly. Then I cleared my throat to continue in a more serious tone, "Aly, I will never let you fall."
"Okay," she murmured, then smiling apologetically. "I'm sorry I cried."
Bella sniffled, still keeping her arms around Aly's tiny little waist. "You don't need to apologize. I was pretty close to bursting into tears myself. You have no idea how proud we are of you!"
I guessed now was a good time for apology. "I'm sorry for making you do that. I didn't mean to frighten you, but I didn't have a choice… it was for the better, Al. I'm sorry."
She shrugged dismissively. "It's okay. I'm glad you told me. I don't like it when people keep things from me. So do you think I can ever walk again? You know, like normal people?"
Bella and I twined our hands together and smiled reassuringly at her. "Of course. You'll be able to walk normally in no time if you keep this up. I'll take you out here everyday and we'll work on it, little by little. You're going to be just fine, Aly."
She wrapped her tiny arms around one of mine, the one that wasn't holding Bella's hand, and pressed her face against it.
"Thank you, Edward. You're the best."
The next day Bella had to return to work, but I took Aly out to the courtyard anyway. The three of us ate dinner together and we snuck in some junk food for her to snack on later on tonight since the food in the hospital was absolutely repulsive. I remembered seeing Bella getting teary again when we told Aly goodbye. The way she leaned down and kissed Aly's forehead and murmured, "I'll come back again, Aly. I promise," just about made me soar with exultation. God. She was going to be a great mother some day. Aly had only spent less than a day with her and she was already staring at Bella with adoration.
At noon, I got a phone call from Carlisle and he asked me if I wanted to drop by his house after work this afternoon and bring the remainder of my father's belongings back to our house. After my parents passed away, most of the things that they'd left behind were stored in Carlisle and Esme's attic. I felt kind of bad about it since they did take up a lot of space, so I built an outhouse last summer that was supposed to be big enough to stash everything now that I actually had a house.
I had the afternoon off on Wednesdays. I usually had classes to attend in the afternoon but today was an exception since there was an exam taking place this Friday and we also had a report due. I acknowledged Tanya with a nod on my way out of the hospital when she was hanging out with her fellow colleagues at the nurse's station. She waved while the other nurses, most that I hadn't even met since there were lots of staffs in this hospital, smiled.
I shook my head. Even though I'd been here for several weeks now, some of the nurses' behavior was still something I couldn't get used to. I asked Carlisle if he had the same kind of trouble when he first started working; he laughed about it, patted my shoulder, and told me time was all it took for them to get tired of us. From the way he spoke, he sounded like he had a lot of experience when it came down to dealing with this type of problems. I had no idea my dad was so popular with the nurses at the hospital. I knew he was a good-looking man- for someone who was in their mid forties, he looked incredibly young- but the thought of nurses flirting with him was disturbing. I mean, he was a father, for heaven's sake.
I got into my Volvo and pulled out of the parking space. The drive to my parent's house wasn't long. In fact, they only lived about an hour away from our place. Carlisle had the day off today; I saw him mowing the lawn in the driveway when I pulled up. I assumed Esme was baking since I could smell bread the minute I got out of the car.
"Dad!" I tried to call him over the noise. He didn't look up so I tried again. "Dad! Dad!"
He finally picked his head up to look at me. "Hey, son!" he shouted. "Hold on a second."
I sighed in relief when the mower was turned off. The noise was beginning to get on my nerves.
He clasped his hand over my shoulder and led me into the house. Esme threw her arms around me the second I walked in; it had been a while since I saw my parents.
"Edward! How are you? Are you hungry, hon? I baked some blueberry pie before you arrived."
I grinned at her. "Mom, just because I moved out of the house, it doesn't mean you have to treat me like a guest. I'm not going to come back here anymore if you overwork yourself like this."
She gave me a scolding look. "Nonsense. I would never bake or do anything for a stranger rather than my son. And I am not overworking myself, young man. I'm in my forties, Edward. Not eighties. Stop treating me like an old lady in a wheelchair who's to fragile to make her way around the house."
I laughed. "I apologize, mother. In that case, a piece of pie sounds excellent."
She smiled. "Good. It will be ready in half an hour. You're not rushing off somewhere, are you?"
I shook my head. "Class is canceled today. Dad, the stuff that you mentioned- it's in the attic, right?"
Carlisle, picking his head up from the book that he had picked up from the counter, bobbed a nod. "Yes. They are mostly books and recipes. I have them stacked on the desk. Why don't you go and take a look?"
I ascended up the stairs, to the attic that I always feared of while I was growing up. Oh, don't get me wrong. My reasons were entirely different from Alice's. I wasn't afraid of the ghost in the attic or anything. I just couldn't bear seeing the things my parents left behind because during the first stage after their death, I was always in denial. But now coming up here, it didn't seem so horrible before. In fact it was almost comforting, seeing all these familiar things that I grew up with. There were my model cars- a Christmas present from Carlisle and Esme when I was eight- in the corner, there were Alice's Barbie Dolls- which, to be frank, freaked the hell out of Emmett and me; there was Emmett's kiddie version punching bag… seeing them brought back so many memories. Memories I thought I had forgotten.
I made my way to the stack of books on the desk at last after running my finger over the things from my childhood. Damn. There were so many of them. I had no idea my real dad was so keen on reading. And a numerous amount of cookbooks owned by my mother… Bella would like that. The key to the old house up in Sacramento, the key to my father's old Mercedes… I had no idea they were still here. I knew it was silly to keep them- after all, what could you possibly do with a set of old keys? But I couldn't find it in me to dispose the remains of my parents. If I threw them away, it was as if a huge chunk of my memories would disappear along and I didn't want that.
I opened the enormous plastic bag and began stuffing the books and gears into it. Now that I studied these things more closely, I did recall seeing my father reading these books occasionally. A dim, blurry image of my father sitting in his office wearing his reading glasses appeared in my head. Fifteen years. Fifteen years since I last saw them.
Still deep in thought, I knocked one of the books over the table by accident when I tried reaching for the other one. Sighing, I bent down to pick it up from the ground. The book had opened when it landed; and attached to the middle of the book was a letter. At least I thought it was a letter. Curiously, I put the book back on the desk and began going over the white piece of paper.
Huh. Strange. It wasn't a letter at all. It was some examination result from the Sacramento Hospital. I checked the cover of the book that it was tucked in- Succeeding Finance. What was a health report doing here, stuck inside a book completely unrelated? I blew the dust off the thin sheet of paper so I could read better. It was hard to think that this very piece of paper was at least fifteen years old. Older than a decade.
I expected it to be the result of a normal checkup. I'd seen my father receive papers like this in the past every year after paying a visit to the hospital. He used to complain about it; how he was wasting the entire day by doing unnecessary examinations when he should be dealing with his clients. But my mother, Elizabeth Masen Cullen, insisted that he should get checked up every year. They had a huge row about it one night, and in the end, dad gave in.
But this… this paper was nothing like the boring, assuring results I was reckoning it to be. My hands began shaking as I took in every little detail on the paper. My head was swirling and it was as if my breath had been knocked out of me. According to this paper, my father was diagnosed with…
ARVD.
Impossible. The result was for someone else. The hospital must have been mistaken. My father was as healthy as a horse when he was alive; it was ridiculous that they could… I shook my head lividly. Impossible. I checked the name again, again, and again. But the name on the paper never changed- it said Edward Henry Cullen every time. And it was dated back to the year before my father's death.
"Are you alright, son?"
I jumped about a mile at the sound of Carlisle's voice. I was so shocked by the sudden news that I didn't even hear him coming up the stairs or approaching. He was staring at me with a look of pure concern.
I shook my head stiffly. "It's nothing. Do you mind if I come and collect these things at another time?"
He frowned at me with worry. "Sure. There's no hurry. Is something wrong?"
"No," I said. "I'll… uh… just go." I rolled up the document and tucked it swiftly into my back pocket. Without throwing another glance at Carlisle, I hurried down the stairs before the panic leaked on my face. It was hard to stay composed and Carlisle knew me well. He would be able to tell that something was wrong if I stayed any longer.
Esme was sitting down at the table, reading an old cookbook when I darted pass the kitchen.
"Edward? Where are you going? The pie is should be ready in about a minute or so."
At that moment, I didn't really care about the pie. Or anything else, for that matter.
"Sorry, mom. I can't stay. I... There's something up at the hospital and I better go and check it out."
"Oh. Are you sure you don't have the time to stay for a couple of more minutes? It shouldn't take another- "
"I have to go, Mom. I'm sorry."
I watched with guilt as the hurt and disappointment surfaced her loving face. I hated myself for lying to her. But I really, really needed to get out of the house. I couldn't stay here.
Not giving her a chance to say anything else, I dashed for the front door. I pulled out of the driveway so quickly and carelessly that I almost ran over some of the flowers by the gate. Then I speeded down the street, my hand clenched tightly into a fist on the steering wheel. Cars honked with annoyance when I zoomed by; I must have run over at least five traffic lights. I picked up the speed again when I got on the highway. For the first time, the fast speed did not feel exhilarating to me.
ARVD. I remembered a professor mentioning it briefly in one of his classes a few years ago. It was a heart disease. It wasn't as common as HCM, but it, too, caused sudden cardiac death for teenagers and adults. It was an inherited disease, so since my father had gotten it, there was a pretty good chance that I may have ARVD as well.
I cringed. ARVD. Me.
Why had he been keeping it a secret? My mother couldn't have known or else she would have made a big deal out of it. So was that what the result was doing in the book? To be kept away from my mother? I couldn't believe it.
If I had ARVD, what was I going to do? I knew it wasn't like I was unable to stay alive, I mean, it wasn't cancer. But people died from it even when they thought they had it under control…
I had to get examined at the hospital. It was the only way to be sure.
The less courageous side of me told me to ignore this. Pretend I never saw the stupid paper. But I knew I couldn't do that. It was irresponsible and I owned it to Esme, Carlisle, my siblings and Bella to find out.
Bella.
God. How was I going to bring this up? She'd be worried, whether the result of my examination was positive or negative. She had so much up on her sleeve already; I didn't want to put more burden on her.
You can't let her know about this. She'll freak.
I slammed the brake and punched the honk indignantly when I arrived at a crossroad. Why was this happening now? Everything was so perfect. I was happy, Bella was happy. Was a peaceful life too much to ask for? I was so preoccupied with my thoughts that I hadn't even noticed that I took the wrong road. The other drivers honked angrily at my stopping in the middle of the road. They took the other lane and an old man even gave me the middle finger while he passed by.
I looked over to the clock. It was five forty-eight and I promised Bella that I'd be home by six tonight so we could have dinner together. But how could I face Bella without letting her see what a wreck I was right now? I didn't want her to fret about this…
I let out a deep breath. I speed-dialed her number and she picked up after two rings.
"Edward? Where are you?"
Keep it natural. Keep it natural. "Bella? I know I promised to dine with you tonight, but I'm kind of… tied up at the hospital."
"Is everything alright? Aly? Is she okay?" she asked anxiously.
I really, really hated lying.
"Yes. Everything's fine. Aly's great. There's no need to worry. But I'm going to stay out a bit later than usual. I'm really sorry."
There was a pause before she answered. "It's alright. I'll see you later then. I love you."
"I love you too."
I snapped the phone shut and quickly dialed another number.
"Hey, John? It's Edward here. Listen. I need to make an appointment..."
This chapter took me the longest time to write. Ever. I've been looking for a suitable disease for two months and a little more than two weeks ago, I found it. Now, just to let you guys know in advance, I'm not familiar with any of the medical stuff. So if you see anything unlikely or unrealistic… sorry about that.
I don't like stories that contain only fluff but no drama. Every couple needs some drama in their relationship so that's why I decided to write this chapter. The love angle drama is so overdone that I can't even bear the thought of writing it- no offense to those of you who enjoy it. But don't worry. This story is BxE and will always be BxE. They may have their ups and downs but I would never tear them apart. So like I said, there is no need to worry:)
Here's a random question that has been asked since I posted the first chapter of "Welcome to Drama Academy". I always wanted to answer it in my AN but I always forgot.
Q: Why is the school called East Coast Academy when it's in the west coast?
Well, yes. I am aware of that. I was going to name is West Coast Academy, but then I thought since everything in my story was upside down- Edward a total player instead of gentleman; Bella, outgoing and athletic instead of clumsy and self-conscious- I decided to name it ECA to bring out how OOC the characters are in my story. It's a stupid idea, I know. But now to think of it, ECA sounds a lot better than WCA. Lol. So I hope that clears it up- those of you who have been troubled with the same question.
Thanks for reading this. If you're interested, like I said, the link to The Lion and Lamb Fanfiction Awards is on my profile.
Please review! I love reading your feedback!
