Hey ...
I'm a little embarrassed that it took me forever to update this story! :-/ Oops.
But I have to be very careful while writing this so I can get everything right; I want it to make sense, after all. It has to explain why Maddie is the way she is (and why she isn't too fond of Jasper, for example!). But don't you worry, my dear readers, I'll concentrate more on this story now! I want to finish it soon, so I can finally post the school story I have written, yaaay! Because having three unfinished stories ... meh. I don't want that.
patz13: Awesome wish! See? You just have to make me write, haha! :D
They really tried to accommodate the girl's needs to the fullest.
Esme busied herself in the kitchen, cooking and baking all kinds of food, whereas Emmett drove into town to get pizza for Maddie after Edward had mentioned that she'd like it.
Whenever they asked her what she liked most - she got it.
But every time she ate, it wasn't much. She threw up nearly every time afterwards and it made her feel even weaker, which was why she stopped eating altogether and settled for drinking tea instead.
Then Edward caught one of the girl's thoughts that he thought might help them make her feel a little better. And so he sent Emmett into town to buy some Disney movies for the girl.
When she was little and caught a cold or the flu or was otherwise sick, her parents always let her watch these movies in bed.
It did make sense that she was thinking about that now. She was sick and weak and still so young... no wonder she felt alone right now and needed something familiar, something that would help her make the situation easier to endure. They were complete strangers to her and still hadn't explained what she was doing here. But would she seriously believe them when they tell her that Alice sees the future? Or that they were vampires?
Her condition had noticeably worsened over a short period - she was feverish and drifted in and out of sleep and since breathing became more and more difficult for her, the oxygen mask came back on.
She pulled it off while nobody was in the room with her, but somehow that Rose-girl must have sensed her doing it.
She stormed into the room and snapped, "Listen, little one, if you don't put it back on, I'll do it for you."
Maddie was easily startled in her condition, her sudden gasp for air brought a fit of coughing. She looked at Rose with wide eyes, then shook her head no.
Rose stalked over to where the girl was lying and picked up the mask, which Maddie had laid next to herself on the pillow, and held it in front of her face while asking, "Care to tell me why?"
"I... don't need it," she whispered as she tried to suppress a cough, but failed miserably.
"I see," Rose commented dryly and went to put it back over the girl's mouth and nose, but she held her hand up to keep her from doing just that.
"I don't want that."
"Too bad that I. don't. care," Rose said in a no-nonsense-voice and lightly slapped the girl's hand away before putting the mask back on.
When she pulled away, Maddie grabbed her by the wrist. The hold she had on her was far from strong, and the bandage kept her from curling her fingers all the way around Rose's wrist.
Rose looked down at Maddie's hand in wonderment, then up into her eyes.
"Help me."
Rosalie nearly did not catch what the girl had just said as her voice was incredibly weak and strained.
At a loss for words, Rose swallowed heavily. The girl looked pleading, desperate even.
"What do you mean? Are you hurting?" she asked worriedly after a moment of hesitation.
"Take me away from here, help me." Sheer desperation and fear underlined these words.
Rose pulled her hand from the girl's grasp; she looked unfazed, even though her eyes held worry... and maybe a little bit of anger, Maddie wasn't sure.
Rosalie bent down slowly, to whisper four certain words into her ear.
"You are safe here," she told her before she straightened up again.
Maddie shook her head slowly from side to side, her eyes never leaving Rose's.
"Do you want to get better?" Rosalie asked carefully after a moment of silence.
Maddie just stared at her, then eventually nodded her head yes.
"You wouldn't survive the trip, that is why you are staying here," Rose told her. She felt so bad for telling the girl something like that, but it was the truth. She just couldn't stand seeing her in this condition and then lie to her about it. She wouldn't get any better. But how many days she had left, nobody knew.
Maddie kept on staring at her before she coughed heavily again, which shook her whole frame.
When she could breathe again, she lifted her eyes back up at Rosalie, and suddenly tried to scoot over on the bed, closer to the wall and the window.
"Wh-what are you doing?" Rose asked, her hands hovering over Maddie to stop her or help her - she didn't know what. Was the girl scared of her now?
"For you," she managed to rasp out.
That took Rosalie by surprise and she also didn't quite understand.
Maddie noticed her confusion and therefore lifted her bandaged hand and pointed at the TV, which stood on a dresser at the other end of the room.
Rose guided her eyes in the direction Maddie pointed to and then understood what she meant.
Next to the TV lay a movie, one she hadn't seen before as they usually didn't watch kid's movies, but she figured that someone had bought it for her. And the girl obviously wanted to watch it and now invited her to stay.
That was odd.
She had just told the girl that she was close to dying... and now she wanted her to keep her company?
Rosalie nodded her head, went over to the TV and switched it on. She put the DVD into the player and returned to the bed with the remote in her hand.
Putting some more pillows behind Maddie's back so she would have a better view and be more comfortable, Rose carefully sat next to her and started the movie.
A few minutes passed that they spent in silence watching the movie, when Maddie tentatively asked, "Why are you here?"
Rosalie took her eyes from the screen and looked at the girl, frowning. She had just asked her to stay, hadn't she? "I-... what do you mean?"
It was hard to speak without coughing, so Maddie settled for just whispering words, no sentences. "Adopted... why?"
Oh. "My parents died a while ago," she replied and was glad that she hadn't said 'My human parents' like she usually called them. That would have sounded weird...
"Sorry," Maddie said softly and gave her a look of commiseration.
Rose took a deep breath before speaking again. "Thank you. Time heals all wounds, it is getting easier to bear. You'll see."
Maddie shook her head no.
Rose frowned. "No?"
"No, my Dad... - it hurts," Maddie managed to say.
Being a little overwhelmed by her honesty, Rose tentatively reached out and started stroking her dark hair, hoping to comfort her that way. It was probably too soon to hug her as she had flinched a couple of times when somebody got too close to her. And with all the injuries she was suffering from, a hug might bring more pain than consolation.
When Maddie's breathing got calmer, Rose looked down and saw the girl being asleep. But nevertheless, she kept on stroking her hair affectionately.
Maddie woke twenty minutes later. At first she was startled to have somebody next to her, but then she sighed, a little smile playing on her lips.
"That was interesting," Edward stated when Rosalie walked into the living room two hours later.
Rosalie just nodded her head once, before seating herself next to her husband, leaning against him.
"So... what exactly happened up there?" Emmett asked, looking in between Rose and Edward.
Edward spoke again. "I think she is starting to trust Rose a little."
Rose stared straight ahead as if not being able to believe it herself what had just taken place upstairs in the girl's room. "I don't know why. I've told her she is going to die, and then she wanted me to stay with her."
"Woah, you've told her she's going to die?!" Emmett sat up straighter now and looked at his wife, disbelief prominent in his gaze. Well, he had said it to the girl, too, but it was meant as a joke. A very stupid joke, actually.
Rose tried to explain. "Emmett, you haven't seen her. She's getting worse."
"And then you tell her she's dying?" After Rose wanted them to make the girl's last days as comfortable as possible, she then went ahead and messed it all up by crushing the girl's hopes?
Rosalie just nodded her head; she seemed to be deep in thought.
"Then why on earth did she want you to stay if you told her something like that?"
"I really don't know."
But Edward did. "Rosalie was being honest, apparently she liked that."
"Seriously?"
"Yes." Edward shrugged his shoulders.
"Woah, hold on for a sec. She lies her ass of every chance she gets, but wants others to be honest with her?" Emmett questioned. "Seriously?"
Rosalie rubbed her forehead. She sounded tired when she spoke. "Emmett, don't."
"What?" he asked.
Rose huffed, stood up and left the room - just like that.
"What?" he called again, sounding utterly confused.
Since Rose didn't answer, he looked cluelessly at his brother - his eyes were wide and he was clearly waiting for an answer.
"The lying is to protect herself."
"She doesn't need to lie then, she is safe here. I don't even get why she is afraid of Carlisle. He does everything he can to heal her and hasn't hurt her once."
"She is too weak. In case something would happen to her, she couldn't defend herself."
When Carlisle and Esme came back from their hunt, Edward briefed them about what happened at home during their absence.
"Oh, she watched the movie? Did she like it?" Esme asked with a smile and felt how she got excited about the good news.
"Yes, she enjoyed it very much, even though she fell asleep several times," Edward told his parents.
Esme had missed the girl, but was glad that Maddie had had a good day and enjoyed herself.
She couldn't stop smiling. "Maybe she would like to watch another one tomorrow, don't you think?"
Edward ignored her question and went on. "Rosalie bore her company during the movie."
"Thank you, Rosalie, that was very kind of you," Esme praised while turning slightly to look at Rose, who was currently sitting on the couch reading.
"She asked me to stay, so I was content to remain with her," Rosalie explained.
Carlisle and Esme raised their eyebrows at that.
"She asked you to stay? Well, that is fabulous!" Carlisle was overwhelmed by these great news.
"Yes, after she told Madeline that she wouldn't survive if she didn't stay here," Edward clarified. He didn't say it to blame Rose or to sound accusing, but to show their parents what caused the girl to want Rose's company.
Now their faces fell.
"Rosalie!" Esme gasped. "Why would you say something like that to a little girl?" She sounded absolutely shocked.
"At least one of us should be honest with her, don't you think, Mother?" Rosalie spat, then stood up and left the room.
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Next chapter will be up in a couple of days, so stay tuned!