Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight and all its characters. I just came up with the situation they are in.
A/N: WOW! I am actually updating when I said I would! Shock face! So, I epically failed at my job last night, but it was my first night, so hopefully I will get better.
I thought, maybe, that I could get out of the hospital without encountering Dr. Cullen again. Maybe a nurse could discharge me or something. But, apparently, Lassie had failed to catch me when I swooned and I had hit my head on the pavement. I had a concussion and had to be kept overnight for observation.
And the worst part for me was that Charlie wasn't allowed to stay with me. Now, I am not one for needing my dad around all the time. Even when I lived with my…when I lived with Renee, I was rather independent. But I felt like my father was the only thing that could save me from the monster I had as a doctor.
Unfortunately, Charlie said his goodbyes to me at 9 pm that night, promising me he would be back as early as they would let him in to take me home. After he left, I went back to staring at the ceiling.
A small shiver travelled up my spine as I heard my door click open and then close. I didn't have to look down to know who it was. But I did and my suspicions were correct. My number was up. I was going to die.
Dr. Cullen was walking toward me and I tried in vain to shrink away. He didn't smile maniacally as the one that had killed my…Renee had. He looked at me in a confusion that was borderline bewilderment.
"Bella," he spoke my name with a certain reverence, a respect I had not expected.
"Please don't come near me. I know what you are and if you take one more step I will scream."
He halted, but his hand extended in the direction of the chair my father had vacated only minutes before this.
"May I please sit down? I just want to talk. I promise, I won't hurt you."
I stared at his tragically beautiful face while I deliberated. Something about him, perhaps the eyes I found so terrifying, seemed so warm and inviting, like I should trust him. But at the same time, the rational part of my mind was screaming at me, questioning what good the promise of a monster was.
Maybe it was the bump on my head, but I went, uncharacteristically, against the rational part of my mind and gestured to Dr. Cullen to have a seat. My grip tightened on the call buzzer as his perfect form sat in the chair.
His gaze never left mine as he made every motion and even after he sat, we stared at each other in a long silence before he broke it.
"Bella, what happened to your mother?"
This was not the question I had been expecting him to ask. Actually, this was far from it. I tripped over my own thoughts as I tried to remember. Not how she died – that fact was in the forefront of my mind always. I was having trouble remembering the public story, the official ruling on how my mother had died.
"She was mauled by a mountain lion." I repeated almost robotically.
"Bella, how did your mother really die?"
I looked at him. He knew that I knew. And somehow, he also knew that my mother hadn't been killed by a mountain lion.
"My mother was murdered…by someone like you."
I couldn't look at Dr. Cullen as I said this last part, because a small part of me wanted to never do anything that would hurt this man.
When I looked back up at him, his eyes were kind, much kinder than they had any right to be. My shock must have shown on my face.
"We had our suspicions. But I need you to trust me about something, Bella. We are different from the monster that killed your mother. You can trust us. Now get some sleep, you have had a long day."
He exited the room without another word or look in my direction. I looked back up at the ceiling as I tried to fall asleep.
That night my dreams were haunted as usual. But this time, the stranger bending over my mother's lifeless body had the face of Carlisle Cullen.
So, I hope you liked it. Don't forget to vote in the poll on my profile. Right now, if the answer that is winning keeps winning, I am going to write the piece simultaneously. And don't forget to review this chapter. I know it's short, but to make up for it I will probably post another one today.
