A/N: SO SORRY!!!

I know that I haven't updated in the LONGEST time! I cannot believe myself! PLEASE forgive me!!! I have exams in a week so I am under A LOT of pressure. I know, lame excuse, but it's all that I have. Anyways, I hope that little cliff hanger left you wanting more. I really enjoyed writing that chapter, so intense.

So, now without further ado, CHAPTER 10!

P.S. This chapter is dedicated to whiskersmagic. She is an awesome friend! And special thanks to xTWILIGHTxOBSESSEDx for all of your awesome reviews!

Disclaimer: Does Stephenie Meyer even have an account on fanfiction? Yet another question to ask her. In other words, I do not own Twilight (unfortunately).

Chapter 10

EPOV

Every second the pain escalated even more. Every second, another flame was born on my already scorched skin. Every second, another piece of my heart was ripped apart.

Every second brought me further from my loved ones. Further from Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, Alice.

Further from Bella.

Closer to death.

The odd thing was that death is supposed to be peaceful, pain free.

Not like this.

I never expected anything like this. I never expected the sensation of fire continually burning me, outwardly and internally. I never expected to feel as though all of my precious memories were being burned away by this fire. I struggled to remember, but I was failing.

I also felt, older. I wasn't sure why, but, I did.

Time had no meaning. Every second, minute, hour, day, felt the same. I had no clue how long I had been in this condition for. It felt like an eternity.

I knew that I had to savour every heartbeat. I didn't have many left.

Something strange, inhuman, was changing my body.

What was happening to me?

BPOV

It had taken the two flight attendants twenty minutes to clam me down. My throat had felt raw from so much screaming. My lungs had felt ready to burst from the lack of oxygen. I wasn't able to see out of my eyes for an hour because I couldn't stop crying. The flight attendants gave me water, food, and comfort (even though I could hear the annoyance in their voices).

But that didn't stop the pain.

The pain continued throughout the entire plane ride. I silently sobbed the entire time. I had to fake a happy smile for Renée, even though I still despise her for what she did to my life.

The pain has never left.

For almost three days now, my heart has been working overtime. My head and stomach have never ceased to stop throbbing.

"Bella, it's time for bed now," Renée told me, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Huh?" I asked unintelligibly. I was sitting on the light purple couch; Wuthering Heights was open on my lap. I had never actually been reading it, I was too absorbed with my thoughts. I tried to find my spot, but my head was swirling so I gave up right away.

"I said that's it's time for bed, Bella. I swear, books and you are like teenagers and facebook!" she complained, throwing her hands up into the air. "Bella, Tu me deranges!" Her favourite saying these days.

I scrambled off of the couch. "Sorry Mom," with that, I scurried off to my new, hot, stuffy room.

As soon as I stepped into my room, I crashed into an ever-growing tower of cardboard boxes, and fell hard on my butt.

"Mom!" I yelled from my spot on the floor, "Why is there a stack of boxes right inside my door?!"

"Oh! Sorry Bella! We didn't have anymore room in the basement and your room has the most space right now! Don't worry though; there will be no more boxes by the end of the week!" She shouted from the living room

"So, of course, she puts them in the perfect disaster spot for a clumsy person. Typical!" I mumbled to myself.

I pulled on my favourite sweats and tank top, and then crawled into bed. Usually, I would read for about an hour or so, but tonight my head hurt too much.

I closed my eyes, and soon drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

EPOV

For the past while, I had grown numb to the pain that continued to burn me.

It was just me and my thoughts.

And death.

Suddenly, the most severe pain, the hottest flame of the fire, the tightest grip of death, was brought on me.

I screamed, louder than ever.

BPOV

I awoke suddenly, screaming the loudest I've ever screamed. It pierced through the air, and muffled my ears.

I was shaking violently and sweating. My breathing was hard and raspy. My heart felt as though it would break through my chest at any second. I clutched it with all of my might, to ensure that it wouldn't. My stomach was flipping uncontrollably. My head seared with a pain that was unknown to me.

Within seconds, Renée came bounding into my room. "Bella! I heard you scream! Are you alright?" She quickly took me in then gasped. "Bella! You're shaking, you're pale, you're sick!"

"No, mom, I'm fine, really." I squeaked out.

"Oh no, you're not! I am taking you to the hospital!" She grabbed my hand, and roughly dragged me out bed, both of us still in our PJ's.

Within ten minutes, we were pulling into the hospital parking lot. Renée was a speedy driver when something bad happens (or when there is a sale at the mall).

We entered the emergency room.

EPOV

I continued to scream out in pain. I could feel myself calling out 'Just let me die! Anything to make it stop!', but no one answered my desperate plea. No one came to my side to comfort me. I was alone in my pain.

Or was I?

Suddenly, my heart took its last beat, then stopped.

The pain receeded.

I was dead. I knew it.

BPOV

We had been waiting in the emergency room for three hours. I had nothing to do except wish that the pain would stop. Renée occupied herself by fidgeting with her purse straps and fooling around with her phone.

Just when I thought that we would be waiting here for eternity, one of the nurses called us in. We walked through a series of hallways in silence. There was the occasional doctor or nurse rushing past us. Other than that, the only sound was the clicking of Renée's two inch white heels against the white tiled floor.

Finally, we entered a room full of patients. There monitors steadily beeping, in time with the different people's hearts. A shiver ran up my spine. This place crept me out, almost more than Alice during trick-or-treating.

The Asian looking nurse led me to an empty bed. Just as I sat down, the pain left. I felt fine. Tired, seeing as it was four o'clock in the morning, but fine.

The nurse was just about to leave when I spoke up, "Wait! I feel better. The pain's gone."

The nurse turned back and looked at me, a confused expression present upon her face.

"What was wrong anyways?" she asked me. Renée opened her mouth to respond, but I stopped her.

"For three days, my head, stomach, and heart had been hurting excessively. It was really bad tonight," Renée just gapped at me, in surprise.

"Do you know of anything that might have caused this?" she asked.

"No, not really. I just moved here from Forks, Washington."

"That might be it," she turned around to face Renée, "It's probably just stress from moving. It's hard on a child," my blood boiled at that. I was not a child, I was thirteen, "Just let her adjust to Phoenix. If anything, it's just homesickness."

"Are you sure? What if-" the nurse cut her off.

"Did she have a fever? Nausea? Dizziness?" The nurse asked.

"Um, no… but-"

"Then I do believe that this discussion is over. Good-bye," with that, she shooed us away.

We were in the front lobby when I tripped on something and landed hard on my butt. The second time, in two days. Except this time, I landed on the hard tiled hospital floor, not the soft white carpeting of my room.

So in other words, ouch.

"What did I trip on today?" I mumbled sarcastically.

"My pen," said a soft sweet voice from above me.

"What?" I asked. I tilted my head upwards. Standing there was a pretty girl that looked to be about my age. She had dark brown hair that came just past her shoulders. She wore light jean capris and a baby blue V-neck shirt that accented her slim figure well. She was a smidge taller than the average height. But what really stood out at me were her green eyes.

This reminded me of Edward.

The girl giggled and extended her hand out to me. I grasped it, and she pulled me up to my feet. She then quickly bent down to where I was sitting just seconds ago, and dangled a purple pen from her hand.

"My pen. You tripped on my pen," she explained.

"Oh! Right! Sorry! I'm really clumsy. My mom and I were just leaving, so I probably wasn't looking where I was going and, well, yeah. I'm babbling, aren't I?" I asked sheepishly, feeling the hot blush appear on my cheeks.

The girl giggled again. "Yes, you are. And you really must be out of it, because the woman who you were walking with, went into the washrooms," she pointed to the right where the door labelled Woman's Restroom was. The blush on my cheeks grew even hotter.

The girl giggled again. "You blush a lot, don't you?" I faintly nodded my head, blushing even more at her remark. She extended her hand once again. "I'm Jessica. It's nice to meet you, um?"

"Bella. Nice to meet you too, Jessica," I took her hand and shook it gently. I quickly let go and let my hand flop down to my side.

"Bella," she said in a voice that sounded far away, "I like that name. It's sweet," she then seemed to snap out of her daydream, "Anyways, I'm here because my brother, Josh, should be coming out today. He broke his leg after jumping off of the fence. He was attempting a slam dunk with the basketball," under her breath, I heard her murmur, "Serves him right."

"Ouch," was all I could say.

"Why are you here, Bella?" She asked me.

"I was just feeling sick. But I feel much better now. I just moved here from Forks, Washington," I replied, then blushed, realising that I was still in my sweats and tank top. My hair probably looked like a dog had thought that it was his chew toy.

"Never heard of Forks. Is it small?"

"Very."

Jessica looked to her right, and then pulled a piece of paper out of her large white purse. She quickly scribbled something with her purple pen then handed it to me. On it, was a phone number.

"Here comes your mom. This is my phone number. Call me. Bye!" With that, she ran off, leaving me baffled.

"Who was that, Bella?" Renée asked.

"Jessica. She told me to call her. Is that alright?" I asked as we walked through the front doors of the hospital.

"Yes. That sounds lovely." With that, we drove home, exhausted.

The only good thing about today was that I had made a new friend.

EPOV

I opened my eyes, hoping to find something other than darkness.

But I saw a whole lot more.

A/N: Duh, duh, duhhh! I hope that you liked that chapter! By the way, it NOT Jessica Stanley that Bella met. Just to let you know. I WILL NOT UPDATE UNTIL I RECEIVE 15 REVIEWS FOR THIS CHAPTER (hopefully that got your attention). So, if you want me to update, review, review, REVIEW!!!

Peace!