"I'm so sorry," I blurted out immediately as he cradled my face in his hands.
"Shh, stop it," he whispered, wiping my eyes with his thumbs. He leaned forward to kiss my forehead. With a hand on the small of my back, he led me to the waiting room, where Jessica was waiting. Her jaw dropped nearly to the floor when she saw who was escorting me.
"Jessica, this is Edward. Edward, this is my very dear friend Jessica," I introduced, pulling my sleeves over my hands to keep me warmer. It was also a nervous habit. I wasn't sure which I was doing more of at this point.
"Edward, nice to meet you," she stuttered out. And then…she curtsied. I snorted in laughter.
"That's not necessary, Jessica," Edward assured with a smirk.
"Did you just curtsy?" I laughed. She shot me a look.
"Bella!" A familiar voice called out. I spun to see Charlie's girlfriend, Sue, running towards me looking impossibly worried. She pulled me into her arms at once.
"Oh my, I'm so sorry I didn't get your message sooner. How is he?" she asked.
I quickly launched into the treatment plan Dr. Burke had laid out to me. She nodded along, but her eyes glazed over as she kept staring at something behind me.
"Sue? Something wrong?"
"Oh-no. It's just—that man over there, he looks like-" I cut her off mid-sentence.
"Prince Edward. Yeah, it is". Realization washed over her face.
"Ohhh, so your father wasn't joking. Oh, that explains so much. Go on". She said, non-chalantly. I laughed. I loved her sense of humor. I finished off telling her that they had taken him into surgery.
"So now we wait," she shrugged, before looking back over my shoulder. "Distract me by telling me about why Prince Edward is here". She said, crossing her arms with a smile.
"It's a long story". I said, not wanting to subject Edward to Jessica for too horribly long.
"Well, we have as long as surgery takes and I need to be distracted. It'll keep me from worrying". Just then, as if he had heard our conversation, Edward made his way over to us.
"Edward, this is Sue, my father's girlfriend," I introduced, as he got closer. He reached out his hand to shake Sue's.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sue". He said sincerely.
"You as well! Thank you for coming to support Bella. That was very kind of you. This one needs to be supported every once in awhile," Sue said kindly, winking at me and rubbing my arm.
"Yes I was trying to convince her of that," he said with a smirk, winking at me.
"Well, I was going to try to convince her to go back to her hotel room and get some sleep. I'll help you if you help me," Sue told Edward with a smile.
"You do look exhausted, Bella". Edward said, cupping my cheek with his hand.
"As soon as my dad is out of surgery," I promised, even though I knew I would try another excuse once he was out. I'd deal with it later. Both Sue and Edward seemed to except the compromise for the time being.
The three of us went back to join Jessica in the waiting room. As I sat there, surrounded by those that cared about me, I realized just how lucky I was that I had friends that would travel anywhere between 5 minutes and 12 hours to be with me in my time of need. The time flew by quickly as we sat and told stories, sipping on tea and coffee. Before I knew it, before I was ready, two doctors dressed in mint green scrubs appeared, their expressions unreadable.
"Ms. Swan?" They guessed, approaching our group, who silenced immediately.
I stood, taking a deep breath.
"Your father is going to be just fine. He did struggle a bit in surgery and will have a long road to recovery ahead of him, but we expect that he should be awake and conscious in a few hours. We are unsure of any long term damage to his nerves and arms". They added at the end. Had Edward not been holding me around the waist I might have fallen to the ground in relief.
"Thank you, Dr. Burke," I said with sincerity, shaking his and the other doctors hands.
"We'll keep you updated. Once he's awake and we are able to move him from recovery to a room, we'll allow visitors during visiting hours. Until then, you all may want to get some sleep for the night," he said, kindly kicking us out. I only nodded in thanks. Sue turned to me.
"You heard the doctor. Head across the street to your hotel and get some sleep," Sue said firmly, but with a friendly smile. I only laughed.
"Alright, alright. I'm going. Call me if you hear anything?" I asked. She nodded.
"I'm going to hang here for a bit. So, you can relax and sleep. I will call you as soon as I know something," she promised. I was grateful. She knew I wouldn't sleep a wink unless someone was in the hospital waiting for updates.
"Are you sure? You can come back with me if you'd like?" I offered. She shook her head.
"That's okay. I'll stay here. But maybe once you're up we can switch spots". She added. I nodded in agreement before turning to Edward.
"I hope you don't mind, I booked a room in the same hotel, so I'll walk you over," he said, taking my hand.
"Jess? Are you going to head home?" I asked. She nodded as she stood.
"Yeah, but call me if you need anything," she said, glancing subtly to Edward, loosely translating to "Call me as soon as possible to fill me in". I dropped Edward's hand long enough to hug her goodbye.
"Love you, Bells. Take care. Call if you need me." She turned toward Edward. "It was nice to meet you. I hope to see you again soon," she shook Edward's hand.
"You too, bye Jessica," Edward smiled, before pulling me closer to his body.
"Let's get you to bed," he laughed, kissing my temple. "You look like you are going to fall asleep standing up," he laughed in my ear. I wrapped my arm around his as he led me downstairs to the foyer and across the street to the hotel.
"Are you hungry?" he asked suddenly as he led me out to the cold air. Now that he had mentioned it, I was starving for decent food.
"I am actually." I responded, leaning closer into his body for warmth. He smiled, kissing the top of my head.
"Do you think you have enough energy for something to eat?"
"Absolutely"
"What sounds good?" he asked.
"A burger," I answered automatically. I needed comfort food. He steered us to a restaurant just a block away. We walked quickly, eager to get out of the cold Seattle air. We hustled into the warm restaurant and slid into a booth in the corner, hoping no one would recognize us here. It would be slightly disastrous if our relationship were leaked to the media so soon. I didn't even need to open a menu. Our waitress took our orders quickly and we handed her menus as she walked away.
"Thank you for coming, Edward," I said again. I knew I'd said it before, but I was grateful for his presence.
"You've said that," he laughed.
"Well I mean it". I said. He started to speak again but stopped himself.
"It's okay, you can say it," I reassured. He smiled crookedly.
"Why did you leave, if I may ask?" he asked. I had to think for a moment before answering, choosing my words carefully.
"To be honest, I'm just not sure. My head was spinning; all I could think about was getting back here to see my dad. I didn't want to wake you". That was the best explanation I could come up with on nearly no sleep.
"I hesitated flying out here. I didn't know if you would want me here," he said, looking down at the table. I reached across, taking both his hands in mine.
"I'm so sorry I made you feel that way," I said. Truthfully, I was heartbroken over the whole situation. Heartbroken that my father was lying in a hospital bed, heartbroken that I'd had to leave London and mostly because I was responsible for the look on Edward's face.
As we waited for our food, Edward and I drilled each other, eager to use every moment with one another.
"So, tell me Bella. What are your favorite holiday traditions?" Edward asked, leaning forward. I thought for a moment. That was a strange question. I wonder what had made him think of that.
"Well, since moving to New York, I've really had to make my own traditions, for the most part. The past few years I haven't been with my family for the holidays. Partly because I'm not that close to either of my parents, especially since they are divorced and partly because I've not spent the holidays with either parent in a long time". I said. He cocked his head to the side, ever so slightly.
"Why is that?" he asked.
"Because the last time I flew back to Seattle to celebrate Christmas with Charlie, my mother freaked out and didn't speak to me for almost a month. I'm not eager to repeat that fight with either parent ever again. So, I just do my own thing."
"And what does that entail?"
"I read Wuthering Heights every Christmas, go to church on Christmas Eve and then a friend always hosts a party Christmas night. I don't ever go anywhere on New Years Eve. Since I live in New York, there are always crowds everywhere. Large crowds give me major anxiety, so I always stay in and order Chinese food and watch old movies", I explained with a shrug. Edward was smiling.
"So are those plans changing this year?" he asked. The way he asked the question made me curious if he had an agenda. I shook my head.
"No plans to change them yet". I shrugged. He smiled.
"Would you be interested in spending the holidays with me? In London? Or if you would rather, I could come to New York". He looked a little nervous to be suggesting it. I thought for a moment, smiling at Edward.
"I'll tell you what. I would love to spend the holidays with you, but until I know better what is going on with Charlie, I'm not sure where I'll be. If he's made a full recovery, I would love to be in London, but I don't want to commit to that until we know something definitive".
"Sounds like a deal to me". He said, his smile widening. I thought to myself, quickly realizing that Thanksgiving was just a week away. I would have to make a decision soon.
"So tell me about your traditions, Edward," I turned the attention toward him. His facial expression changed, ever so slightly.
"When we were kids, our traditions were very set in stone. We did the same things year after year, like clockwork. My mom always made the holidays incredibly magical. After she died, the holidays became more of a burden than anything. If it weren't for my grandmother, I don't think we'd even celebrate Christmas anymore".
"Well, we will have to change that, won't we?" I smiled, trying to lighten the mood. I hadn't meant to make him sad.
" I look forward to it". He smiled back, a devastatingly handsome, crooked smile. Suddenly, I remembered something.
"Edward, may I ask you a question?" I asked him, looking around to be sure no one could overhear.
"You may ask me anything. I'm an open book".
"The first time we met, when you visited me in my office…you were asking me questions about documents, but then dropped it fairly suddenly. What did you want me to help you with?" I asked, my curiosity growing as I watched the expression on Edward's face shifted. He looked around nervously at the patrons.
"Um, can we save that question for later?" He asked, nervously shifting.
"Yes, of course. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked". I was a little embarrassed.
"No, don't apologize. Let's just speak about that particular issue a little later, somewhere more private".
"So," he said, changing the subject flawlessly, "if you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?"
"Oh that's a tough one. I would love to explore Europe more. Definitely would love to see Scotland, Ireland and Germany. Maybe France. I'm not one for anything tropical. I'm a bit of a history nerd. What's the best place you've ever visited?"
"I went to South Africa with Emmett and Rose about six months ago. It was definitely a lot of fun. I do love to travel; I would say it's probably the best part of my job within the monarchy. I get to see a lot of wonderful places".
"Tell me more about your goals, your passions," Edward asked as our food arrived.
"I would really love to write a book one day, though I'm not sure what about yet".
We sat at that little diner booth and talked for another 90 minutes, grilling each other about the most intimate details of our lives, like Batman or Superman and favorite movies. Finally, when I could no longer keep my eyes open, Edward escorted me back to my hotel room, where he kissed me goodnight before walking across the hall to his own room.
The next morning, I woke up to the sun streaming in through the heavy green and gold curtains of my hotel room. I stretched my arms above my head, wondering if my prince charming showing up was all just a dream. I wasn't quite ready to face the day, just yet. The last week, well, six months really, had been such a whirlwind. The holidays were quickly approaching and it was astonishing how different they would be from years past. Edward was my forever and I knew it. I also knew my feelings for him where borderline insane, seeing as we hadn't really been "dating" for longer than a week. Even still, I felt more connected to him after such a short time than any other friendship or relationship in the past. And then suddenly, everything completely made sense. It was time to stop leaving with so many walls up. I needed to break down the walls and begin living.
I would start by moving to London.