Hey again!
You know the drill
Honestly, it was slightly easier breathing after Edward's proclamation. I hadn't even realised that I'd basically been holding my breath through entire ordeal until I saw him struggling so hard with the concept that I might endure pain from the actions we were taking against Embry.
Something had shifted and I was inconsolable in my euphoria regarding that fact. I smiled consistently in spite of the very real danger I knew I was in on a secondly basis. I knew that I should be a lot more melancholy having been requested to remain in the hospital for the time being as unexpected things came up regarding my previous inflictions, and I knew that having Edward at school without me there to keep him company should have left me in hysterics. But these things didn't initiate their desired effect on me.
I don't think I had really put into perspective the weight of the connection that Edward and I shared until he'd let me know why he was giving in to doing something that was so far beyond his level of comfortableness that it was shocking. He was a wonderful excuse for a man and I had only barely realised it before now.
"Good morning Bella, you're looking happy again today" the nurse commented as she came in to deliver my breakfast. Hospital food left much to be desired but my constant state of joy as of late left me too giddy to pay it any mind.
"Morning! I am, as always these days", I beamed at her and she winked at me.
"He's here, already", she chuckled slightly and my heart rate spiked.
"Really?" I squeaked happily and she nodded slowly, my eyes growing wider with each bounce of her head. "How long does he have to wait?" I asked, knowing full well that it was I who was waiting.
"Two minutes" she said and I scowled.
"Can we let him in early? I mean, I have a private room, the other patients can't really get jealous can they?" I practically begged and she laughed loudly.
"I thought you might say that" she laughed and opened the door. In the door way was a very sheepish looking Edward, grinning at me and looking up from under his lashes.
His gaze was enough to make me weak with fervent happiness.
"Good morning" he whispered and he bounded in the door happily.
"Morning Beautiful", he responded and I blushed, in true Bella fashion. He sat down next to me and pulled a face at my food. I laughed at him.
"Yeah I know, not the best, but I am in far too much of a good mood to care at all" I smiled and he looked up at me, glancing away from my food, with eyes full of glimmering kindness and love.
"Why is that?" he asked, already completely knowing the answer.
"You" I blushed and he beamed at me.
"And you are the reason I sigh happily with every step I take" he whispered as he leant right in so he could practically touch my ear with his lips. I began to tremble at his proximity, shaking furiously when he kissed below my ear just before he retracted from me.
"Mmmm" I hummed, completely full of love and joy.
"Really though, that's disgusting" he mused, once again fixated on the plate in front of me that hosted what slightly resembled eggs, beans and bacon.
"It'll do" I smiled at him, preparing myself to take a bite when his hand shushed mine away from the plate.
"Or", he amended, "this could do" he said and reached for his bag. He yanked out a brown paper bag that had "Bella" scrawled on it. I reached giddily for the bag and when I opened it, the heavenly smell of pastries and stewed fruit wafted up to meet my nose.
"Oh my" I gasped as I gazed upon the Danishes, croissants, strudels and twists that were clearly homemade.
"Esme hates the idea of you eating this gunk for any longer almost as much as I do", he explained and I looked at him, certain my eyes gleamed with the weight of my emotion.
"Tell her I said thank you", I requested and he smiled. "Also, thank you" I implored as I took a bite of a blueberry Danish. Edward kissed my temple as I chewed thoughtfully. I offered him something from the bag and he selected the delectable looking apricot strudel. He bit into it eagerly and I giggled at him. He looked at me questionably and I laughed a little harder.
"You have pastry on your nose" I squeaked quietly and I closed his eyes in amusement, chuckling quietly as he wiped his nose.
"You have happy on your face" he said and I smiled. He looked joyous for a moment before his gaze grew meaningful. "You also still harbour the remnants of a battle though", he murmured as he lightly grazed the light yellow bruises on my face.
"Makes me look tough" I jested in an attempt to lighten the mood. It appeared to have only worked slightly, because after an ounce of a smile, brooding Edward had replaced the smiling one.
"Yes, but it also shows how fragile you are", he amended and I bit my lip.
"Speaking on fragile, I'm not getting out of here for at least another week" I said quietly, looking down once again at the sludge that held temporary residence on the tray on my lap.
"Why not?" he asked, voice full of wonder and shock, and I thought I detected a trace of disappointment.
"They found some complicated stuff that comes from the other times I've been beate- uhm, hurt" I corrected myself when I saw the pained look on Edward's face. To me, I was an extremely happy version of myself that was committed to a devoted and beautiful man who loved me. Edward however, still held the harsh reality of what had happened to me as a sore point.
"What kind of stuff?" he asked, I assumed in an attempt to distract himself from his current thoughts.
"Oh you know, the normal stuff" I said, trying to sound as aloof as possible. I didn't want Edward worrying over what, underneath my happiness, was actually gnawing at me too.
"Bella", he begged and I blushed with a fervent desire to not have to tell him what I was remaining in hospital for.
"Please don't freak out" I mumbled and he stiffened next to me. I then felt him pick up the food off my lap – both the bag and the tray – and placed them on the table across the room. When he came back, he sat next to me and pulled me onto his lap.
"Okay, I'll try not to. Go ahead", he said and gestured with his hand for me to continue, or begin rather.
"Well, you know how I ended up here right? Like, what happened to make us move here?" I asked him and he nodded sharply, no doubt envisioning the pure horror of it, as Alice often did, much to my dismay. "Well, with all the battering my body took, we hadn't really counted on the smaller stuff that was wrong turning into something fairly sizeable", I continued and he fidgeted impatiently, waiting for me to continue.
"Okay?" he pushed and I sighed.
"I had a funny heart rhythm after the last big incident. The doctor said it was probably nothing, just due to the stress of what I was undergoing. As well as that though, there was a tiny hairline fracture in my rib. Again, nothing of huge merit" I continued, attempting to talk myself into a calm submission as well as doing the same for him.
"What are you saying?" he asked, sounding concerned and confused.
"I'm saying that Carlisle found the heart beat irregularity, and it has apparently become much more prominent. Worryingly so, evidently. And the crack in my rib extended during the last incident with Embry and is pinching the side of my lung, causing worry for a potential puncture", I said hurriedly, in an attempt to sound cavalier.
I felt Edward's arms loosen from where they were tucked lightly around my ribs and I began to whimper and protest.
"I don't want to make matters worse" he mumbled stoically and I bit my lip to keep the tears from falling. It felt suddenly like I wasn't so happy, because Edward wouldn't hold me. I knew in my rational mind that what he said made sense, and that it was probably safer for me for him to limit the encircling of my ribs, but my heart thudded painfully as I grew anxious about the thought of him not holding me.
As my heart pounded I suddenly became light headed and nauseous. My vision blurred and I felt my breath become short. I collapsed forward onto the bed, and my mind blacked out.
EPOV
Potential puncture. Those thoughts danced in my mind as I unravelled my arms reluctantly from around Bella's ribs. She protested with me, but I shook my head.
"I don't want to make matters worse" I whispered to her, my voice a slight mumble. She didn't understand just how much I meant by that. If I hugged her to my too tightly, her lung could puncture and she could die due to the lack of strength in her body from her heart not pumping the blood correctly through it.
Suddenly, I glanced over at her and she had gone very pale. A sheen on sweat graced her forehead and she gasped for air, hyperventilating before her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed on the bed. Before I knew what was happening, I was screaming her name at the top of my lungs, shaking her only lightly, still aware of the possible implications of too much movement.
"Bella!" I screamed again before it registered in my mind that I need professional personnel here. I reached over the top of her, to the other side of the bed, and pressed the button with a little more force than necessary. The kind nurse from before came in smiling and then her face dropped when she took in the sight of a very pale, and definitely unconscious Bella on the bed, in my arms.
"What happened?" she pleaded, taking the pager from her waistline and punching some buttons. Before long, running feet could be heard in the hallway.
"I don't know. I told her I couldn't make matters worse for her by holding her and then she all of the sudden couldn't breathe and she passed out" I said in a very vague recount. The nurse nodded though and as the doctor and other nurses rushed in she turned to him.
"What can you make of it?" He asked the nurse and she looked back at Bella, with a grave look in her eyes.
"She's fainted. The result of an anxiety attack", she said, and honestly, that didn't sound like such a terrible thing.
"But she hasn't regained consciousness?" the Doctor clarified.
"No", the nurse confirmed. There was a whir of movement and they started talking in hurried voices about ECG's and blood pressure.
"Hey", I called over the noise but no one heard me and soon it was just the nurse and I left in the room. "Excuse me", I asked her and she responded by looking attentively at me. "If she just had an anxiety attack, why all the fuss?" I asked, feeling as if I hadn't wanted to know the answer.
"The concern isn't the anxiety attack. It's her unconscious state that concerns us" she explained and I was once again, confused.
"Why? What does that mean?" I asked and her answer made the colour drain from my face as I felt like I could very well go into an anxiety attack as well.
"It mean that there's a good likelihood that her heart went into overdrive".
How much do you want to hurt me?
I love a good cliff-hanger! Sorry!
Review? xoxo