Thanks for all the wonderful reviews/faves/alerts! You all rock. Special thanks to my wifey for all her help and for putting up with my cranky ass this past week.

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The last few days have officially been shit. My cat got its paw ran over, which equals a huge ass vet bill. My central air conditioner went out (and is still out) during the hottest summer that Oklahoma has ever seen. Seriously people, we have had 55 straight days of temps over 100 degrees and its not cooling down anytime soon. It's frickin' hot! And to top off the fuckery that is my life, I ended up slipping a disc in my back over the weekend, which just so happened to push up against my sciatic nerve which resulted in me being in constant pain on the left side of my lower body and being damn near unable to walk for four days. I am slowly getting better, but I still can't straighten my back all the way. Thank God for strong pain pills and my family who helped me out.

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I honestly don't know where this chapter came from. I sat down to write and this is what I ended up with, so this is what you get, lol. Some of the lines used are directly from SM's work. No copyright infringement is intended.

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Edward's POV

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The phone in my pocket vibrated again. It was the thirty-second time in the last five hours. I thought about opening the phone, at least seeing who was trying so hard to contact me. Perhaps it was important. Maybe Carlisle needed me.

I thought about it briefly, but still I did not move.

I wasn't entirely sure where I was. Some dark abandoned building, full of rats and spiders. The spiders ignored me and the rats gave me a wide berth. The air was thick with the stench of rot and decay; an animal had died somewhere nearby recently.

I was thankful for the reprieve from the voices, both spoken and mental. There was no one else around for miles...no one who could witness my complete and utter agony. I had no idea how long I had been here, hiding in the shadows...hiding from a lot of things. Time had no concept here in my sea of misery.

I closed my eyes and, like always, Bella's smiling face was there to greet me. And like always, I forced my tired mind to pull up the last image of Bella that I had, the one from our last talk in the forest. It was my penance to bear witness. Now her beautiful face was pulled into lines of misery, her big brown eyes wide in pain. I had done this to her. I had caused the anguish that was so thickly spread across her features.

What I wouldn't give to be the one to wipe it away. I could do it, leave right now...go back to her. But, no, I couldn't do that to her. Not when I had promised that I wouldn't haunt her life again.

Then again, I had made so many promises to her that I had already broken. What's one more...

NO! Damn it, no. I would not let my thoughts trail down that path...not again.

Because in those thoughts lay danger, as I damn well already knew. It had been only a short time since I had last let those thoughts invade my mind. Before I knew it, I had found myself stepping off a plane in Washington.

Once I had regained control of my treacherous mind, I forced myself to turn right back around and book another flight out of the country. I had been so damn close to her that I could practically feel it, feel her. I almost talked myself into staying...into going back to Forks just to check on her. I told myself that she would never even have to know.

But, thankfully, my flight was called and I forced my feet to move me onto the plane before I suffered from another loss of control. Bella deserved better than a soulless demon. She deserved so much more than I could ever give her.

My phone vibrated again.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it," I growled. Something must be wrong.

I flipped the phone open and stared at the last set of numbers that I had expected to see. Why would Rosalie be calling me? Surely she wasn't calling simply to gloat. No, something must be very wrong, indeed. I quickly hit the accept button.

"What's wrong?" I forced out, my voice sounding raspy from disuse.

"It's Alice. Something's wrong with her, Edward! You have to come home. Please," Rose choked out, a ragged sob tearing from her throat. I was already up and running towards the nearest airport.

"What's happened, Rose?" I spoke loudly so I could be heard over the wind that I was racing through.

"We don't know! She locked herself in her room three days ago saying that she needed to concentrate. You know how she gets sometimes. We thought she was just trying to find you again. She's been doing that a lot lately.

"We all went hunting, even Jasper, and we didn't get home until last night. We found her sitting on the floor in the middle of the library, phone clutched in one hand, arms wrapped around her knees as she rocked herself back and forth mumbling 'No' over and over again. Carlisle's medical journals were strewn everywhere, strung out over every inch of the floor."

"What?" I murmured, mostly to myself. None of this was making any sense.

"She won't talk, Edward. She's not even responsive. Her eyes have the glazed look like she's having a vision, but it's there constantly. She doesn't even notice when we move her!"

"I'm on my way," I said tersely. I moved the phone away from my ear and was just starting to close it when I heard Rose's quiet whisper.

"T-There's more, Edward." I immediately shoved the piece of plastic back to my ear and growled my response.

"What more could there possibly be, Rose?"

"We were able to redial the last number that Alice called," she said quietly, her voice strangely unsure.

"And?" I growled, wanting her to get to the point already.

"It was Bella's number, Edward. She called Bella." The phone disintegrated in my hand.

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So...yeah. What'd you think about them apples?