Thanks again to my PTB beta's Ragsstone and ShowtunesJesus. I love the little comments that come back with the edits :) They make me smile.
Thanks, kisses and my next born child to my awesome friend La Push Starlight for the most amazing and gorgeous banner. It's on my profile, go perv on Edward in uniform!
I have been pimped by beckybrit in her story 'Dark Wolves and Vampire Delights'! I am so touched and honored, make sure you checkout her fic, too.
chygirl67 has also been very helpful, giving me all sorts of idea's and links this week. Thanks, lovely lady.
This story is also going to be pimped on Twific pimps. Thank you, Go Ask Alix, for putting my fic in their 'suggestion box'.
So, very exciting week for me, even though I didn't quite get to 150 reviews. Gotta take heart where you can get it! Thanks to those regulars who do review, ILY!
As always, SMeyer had a dream and here we are.
Chapter 8
Bella
The policemen were back again. I only thought 'again' because Wendy, my nurse and fairy godmother, explained that these were the two who found me. I searched in the empty that filled my head and came up with barely recalled shadowy images cloaked in blue. The two policemen were also wearing blue, so I supposed they could be the same ones.
The taller one said hello first, concern in his voice as he asked how I was. He had unusual eyes, like the sea−greyish green and depthless. He took off his hat as he entered, like the gentlemen used to do in old movies. His hair was also distinctive−brown with red and gold bits, almost like fall leaves. There was a special name for this color, but I couldn't remember it. All that surfaced was chestnut, but that word belonged to horses, not striking-looking men. He looked like a movie star; too handsome for everyday people like me.
"You're really pretty," I blurted out. He looked in puzzlement to Wendy. I only paid some attention to the other policeman after he snorted at my announcement.
"You're cute, too, but not as much as him," I added in a conciliatory tone, pointing to his partner.
I couldn't shrug, there were too many things pulling my shoulders down.
Wendy explained something about my mental filter being a bit off, with my cracked head and all. I wasn't so sure, though. Maybe I was always like this?
I can't remember.
I am broken; my head, my memories, my arm and leg, and now my filter, too.
What fixes broken things? I wondered.
Glue!
This time the word arrived easily. I needed glue to put my broken bits back together. I tried to remember to ask Wendy for some later, after those men left, not sure if the thought would stay long enough for me to act on it.
The tall one put out his hand, stating his name was Officer Cullen. I grasped the Cullen God's proffered hand in my left, since my right was still strapped into the brace. I held it awkwardly, staring at his long fingers with their clean and trimmed nails, mesmerized by how handsome they were, too. He stared at me as if he expected me to let go.
"You have nice hands, too," I said. "Soft and warm, and so big," I marveled. I stroked his fingers as I continued to stare at them.
The other one tried unsuccessfully to suppress a laugh as the Cullen God changed color. I must have been doing something wrong, I realized, so I released his hand and tucked my now lonely one under the colorful quilt covering my legs.
The other one introduced himself as Officer Whitlock and asked me if I remembered my name.
"When I sleep, I am Alice," I replied mournfully. "When I am awake, I'm no one."
This made me feel sad, although I wasn't sure why. Officer Cute then asked me if I could recall what had happened to me. I tried hard to look into the space my memories used to come from, but it was empty. I shook my head, feeling tears beginning to ooze from my eyes.
The Cullen God sat on the empty chair next to my bed.
"We have found out who you are," he said gently. "You are Isabella Swan, and you are twenty-one years old."
I allowed the knowledge to sink in, to see if it fit. Something about his words was right, but also wrong. Wrong, how? I puzzled.
"It's too big for me," I stammered. "It doesn't all fit."
The Cullen God went on regardless, pulling a piece of paper out of a light colored folder sitting on his lap.
"You are an English major at the University." His voice dropped, filling with a tone I didn't want to remember, but it was too familiar to ignore.
The 'sorry' tone, I thought, trying to stretch for the longer, more desirable and descriptive word.
English, he had told me, as I fiercely tried to distract myself from what he wanted to say next in that tone I dreaded. Yes, that part is right, I like English. English is familiar, ordered, with rules to use. That fit.
"Your father was Charles Swan, a police officer from a town called Forks." He paused, a brief hesitation as he searched my eyes, seeming to gauge my reaction.
"He died when you were six."
I ached in the emptiness of my head, as well as my heart. This, too, was familiar, and I nodded to confirm the Cullen God's words. This, too, was right.
The Cullen God swallowed thickly. "Your mother's name was Renee, and she…"
"Please stop," I whispered. "I don't want that to fit. Let it belong to the empty too," I pleaded.
He stopped, his eyes flicking to Wendy as they exchanged a look I tried hard not to see. He looked to his paper again and told me where I lived, asking my permission to search there for any signs of how I had gotten here. I nodded my agreement.
"Can you bring some of my things?" I asked. "I don't have anything. I'm not even wearing any underwear."
The Cullen God's eyes appeared ready to pop right out, and he seemed lost for words. Officer Cute stepped in, agreeing to recover my necessities, as his eyes sparked with barely hidden mirth.
There mustn't have been much more to my life as the Cullen God had run out of things to fit me with. They went. I wished he had held my hand again before he left.
I let the emptiness swirl in me for the rest of the day, trying to stir it up. The few small pieces of me the Officers had left behind bumped around in the vast space in my head.
Finally, just as I was drifting off to sleep, something appeared out of the empty.
"Bella," I whispered, "I am Bella."
