So sorry this one took a while!

July 2nd, 2006

"I told you she was going to make things interesting." The tiny female chirped, a tightness around her eyes that contrasted starkly with the bright smile on her lips.

Vampire.

She had to be one too. So did the older man standing beside her. Dr. Cullen.

"Alice." Edward snapped.

To his credit, Dr. Cullen looked more concerned than hungry, and glided around Bella and Edward to examine Joanna's arm, "You were in a coma for half a week, Ms. Swan. You still need the IV."

Joanna shook her head, "No. I'll drink whatever you want me to, but 'm not going to be a pin cushion." Her blue eyes flicked to Bella, "You okay?"

Bella nodded fervently, but still seemed to be the most effected person in the room by the blood that had dripped down Joanna's arm.

"Liar." Joanna jabbed, holding a hand out to her twin, "Sit? Promise I won't bleed on you."

Bella swallowed tightly, but came to her. Joanna could have cried again when Bella was by her side once more. Even the minutes with Bella just outside the room had been almost more than she could bear. Bella being close was worth the pain that shot through her body when Bella tried and failed to ease gently onto the bed. Her graceless twin struck again.

"I can't believe you're here." Bella whispered.

"Me either." Joanna whispered back, leaning into Bella's steady heat. She locked eyes with Edward, "No one answered my question."

Edward swallowed once, hard. "We've eaten recently."

"They drink from animals, Jo." Bella said gently, touching the ends of her hair, which were lighter than the rest, remnants of the time she'd dyed it a few years back.

Joanna closed her eyes at her sister's confirmation, "They weren't dreams."

"No, they weren't." Edward deadpanned.

Joanna looked up into Bella's face, "How could I possibly have seen all of these things? How could I possibly know that that boy is a vampire? That he's almost killed you before. That you love him, and that there are far scarier creatures than these three or the monsters that hurt me out there in the shadows."

Bella blinked back tears, but held a hand out like she was telling the vampires that she would handle it. Edward looked sick, but kept his mouth shut. After giving her lower lip a good chew Bella finally answered her sister, "There are people out there with powers, Jo. I kind of have one, and we've met twins who both had powers. So this is maybe your power. Seeing me."

Joanna remembered all the places she'd been though, all the people she'd seen flashes of but never known. The hundreds of places she'd apparently travelled to for split seconds when she'd felt that crawling of her skin coupled with the need to escape. "I haven't seen just you, Bells."

Bella looked surprised, but the vampires showed no reaction on their stoney faces.

"I don't know." Bella replied, frowning and biting her lip again, "There's really not a lot of research on this stuff, Jo. They get stronger if that person turns into a vampire. Like Edward remembers being intuitive as a human, and now he reads minds. Well, apparently every mind but mine. That's my power. My mind is like…a void."

"And mine goes too far." Joanna added, feeling her voice finally give out. She'd been pushing it, but her stupid throat just couldn't go anymore. Her adrenaline fueled reprieve was over, and she dragged here eyes from Bella to Edward as all of her bravado and energy fled her.

I lied. I'll take that IV again.

Edward smiled in spite of himself, "Turns out she's just as stubborn as you are, Bella. Carlisle, Joanna would like to have her IV replaced."

For the next four days all they talked about was Joanna's health and the Fourth of July. Not a word about powers or vampires. She had apparently responded brilliantly to the antibiotics, and her bruises had already changed colors several times and were fading. She had, however, requested to speak with the doctor alone the day before she was scheduled to be released.

"I was watching when you were talking to my parents." Joanna began, grimacing and resisting another grimace when the stitches in her lower lip pulled.

Dr. Cullen nodded in understanding, "Do you have questions?"

"About PID?" Joanna said, shaking her head, "I know what it is, what it does. I just…you say the antibiotics are helping, but…are they helping that?"

"You have extensive scar tissue that the antibiotics can do nothing about." He told her softly.

Joanna sighed, pulling her legs up to her chest and resting her cheek on one of her knees, "I'll live with my past for the rest of my life, won't I? Even after all the stitches come out." She sniffed hard once, refusing to cry about it taking every ounce of her courage to be as put together as she was appearing to be alone in a room with a man. Vampire or not. "At least my lady parts don't really hurt. That's lucky, right? I've known girls who offed'emselves because of the pain from PID."

Seeming to sense her pathetic unease, Dr. Cullen took a step back from the bed she'd called home for the last week, "I think you are a very lucky young woman. Physically you're healing exceptionally well."

Joanna wrapped her arms around her legs tighter, "But the thing about me having scarring, not being able to have kids. That hasn't changed, has it?"

Dr. Cullen sighed so softly she wouldn't have heard him if she hadn't been listening so closely for his response, "I may not be practicing obstetrics, but I am very familiar with your condition."

"Cut to the chase, Doc." Joanna growled, needing to hear the words with her own ears, not those of her ghost self.

"Carrying a viable pregnancy to term would be nearly impossible for you." He said bluntly.

Joanna pinched her eyes closed. For several minutes she said nothing. He didn't even breathe. And that didn't bother her. The reality of her situation was suddenly crushing her, "She could no longer borrow from the future to ease her present grief."

Dr. Cullen appeared visibly surprised by her words, "Nathaniel Hawthorne."

She shouldn't have been surprised that he knew what she had been quoting, but she felt the need to qualify it, "My first owner thought it was fun to have recordings of him reading run all the time. The Scarlet Letter was my favorite."

"Your sister appreciates the classics as well." He commented, settling against the wall in an obvious attempt to appear less threatening. The thought was appreciated, but it didn't help.

"Yeah, she was in here earlier reading Withering Heights to me." Joanna told him, even though she was pretty certain he already knew all about their macabre story time.

She had mentioned the night before to Bella that she was tired of TV, and had asked if she had any audiobooks. Bella had shown up with real books instead, and had told her about each of them with genuine excitement before asking Joanna to pick one. Bella had read until her throat had gotten scratchy and the sun had started to set, and Joanna had insisted she let Edward take her home for the night. The vampire, who had been imitating a statue on the floor by the door, had agreed heartily and had escorted Bella out. Joanna had been alone a whole two blissful minutes before her mother showed up to stay with her.

"I'm releasing you tomorrow, Joanna." Dr. Cullen said, and she marveled that her thoughts had actually distracted her enough to let her release her knees a little bit and to be startled when he started talking again in his too perfect to be human voice, "The police are going to want to talk to you then. Charlie simply can't delay them any longer, but perhaps Bella can bring you by our home this weekend. The rest of the family is eager to meet you." He said it all without seeming too eager himself, and for that she was grateful. She still wasn't as convinced by the harmless act as her sister obviously was. But maybe that was just her being unnaturally suspicious. Even Charlie had brightened every time the tiny one, Alice, had shown up to sit with them, and he seemed suspicious of pretty much everyone else who came near her.

"I'll ask Bella." Joanna finally responded. She was being released. She was going home. And she wasn't the least bit ready. She would rather have gone to the police station. At least she knew what to do there. Even when she'd been Crystal she'd known what to do, what her reactions to certain situations had to be. As Joanna Swan…she had no idea what to do at all.

Let me know what you think!

-Jenn