Disclaimer: Obviously I am not Stephanie Meyer. I am generously using her characters. All of the dialogue comes directly from the book Twilight or her unpublished manuscript Midnight Sun, thus it all remains the property of Stephanie Meyer as well as the overall plot. This is merely a rewrite from Edward's PoV. That means that everything is hers and I just explored it a bit.

I sprinted to Bella as quickly as I could, faster than a human eye could detect. The moment I moved I heard my siblings mentally yell, Edward, what are you doing?

I had no idea what I was doing. I mentally pushed everything into the background giving my whole and undivided attention to my goal taking the deepest breath I could as I went. As I reached Bella I knocked her out of the way bracing my body against the van to protect her from impact. Her head hit the pavement with a cracking sound not very different from an egg being cracked open. The van's contact with Bella's truck and my body caused the van to ricochet. The front end began to head towards Bella.

Cursing the dumb luck of physics and myself for putting myself in this position I shot my hands out protectively bringing the van a foot from Bella clearly leaving two handprint indentation in the metal of the van. Then with the same speed that I had used to run here I gripped under the body of the van and dragged her, swinging her legs till they hit the tire. The van stopped moving.

Suddenly my family's mental shock and screams re-entered my consciousness. I purposefully returned their voices to the background knowing I would have deal with them later.

I wasn't sure what was happening and why I had stepped in, but I knew for certain that a large imprint of my hands on the van would be a dead giveaway of my inhumanity. On second thought the perfect moulding of my shoulder was also a problem. I studied it. Fortunately, it was less conspicuous because I could not conceive, without more inhuman actions, how I would get to it given the position of the van in relation to myself. I put that aside and focused on the task at hand. In one quick movement I released my left hand from holding Bella and used it to begin smoothing out the metal where my handprint had been. Destroying evidence of my non-human capacities was primary.

While I continued to work on the metal with one hand and held her against the side of my body with the other her heat radiated through our clothing. The last time I felt the radiating heat of a human this close was when I had fed from one. I pushed the memories that arose back down. I reminded myself that this girl in my arms was not my food careful not to breathe.

In my attempt not to startle her I said softly and a bit frantically, "Bella? Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," I heard her say.

I compared her response to all the times I had heard her speak. Her voice didn't sound match any of her previous pitches or intonations. That evidence combined with my medical training told me that she was, most likely, not fine.

"Be careful," I warned her as she struggled. "I think you hit your head pretty hard."

"Ow," she said surprised.

Finally the girl's brain was catching up with reality.

I had to work hard at suppressing laughter as I said, "That's what I thought."

She looked dazed and confused. She started speaking by saying, "How in the …" and then she took a deep breath and looked around.

My work on the metal to remove my handprints was basically done. It looked reasonably like what a human would expect from an accident that didn't include a monster who could stop moving vehicles. Hopefully no one would look too close.

"How did you get over here so fast?" she blurted out quietly.

"I was standing right next to you, Bella," I replied with a serious tone. Her believing my lie was critical.

She turned to sit up. With the danger over and my touch being repugnant I released her. I went to take in a breath when suddenly her scent filled my lungs. I slid as far away from her as I could in the limited space. Doing so increased my concern for my family and how to conceal our secret, which then tuned me into their internal voices. Fortunately, the monster was secure for the moment. Their mental outrage probably helped.

My ears picked up the noise of previous observers rushing towards the collision. I closely listened to the thoughts of those around us evaluating if anyone was suspicious. It seemed that the noise of the van had caught everyone's attention and no one had noticed what I had done. If I had dared to breath, I might have exhaled in relief. However, I knew that in this tight space, even though we were outside, so her scent wasn't as bad as in the classroom, it was a bad idea.

Although no observer noticing me was a lucky break, it still didn't solve the potential problem Bella posed. From her question it seemed that she was suspicious. I swore at myself, and possibly for the thousandth time wondered why I had reacted the way that I had. Just then she attempted to stand up. One part of me knew that touching her again was a bad move, but my concern of her falling over or something else happening due to her concussion overruled. I pushed her shoulder down.

"Just stay put for now."

"But it's cold," she complained.

I chuckled at the thought that she nearly died and her complaint was sitting on cold pavement, but there was an edge of anxiety in my voice that I was unable to hide. The full weight of what I had just done combined with my siblings mental voices were hitting me.

"You were over there. You were by your car." She sounded even surer of herself than before. This was not looking good. I needed to convince her; I had to convince her that she was wrong.

"No, I wasn't," I stated emphatically with a stern and hard expression. I was getting close to being out of breath. What I would do then I did not know.

Alice began searching the future to see if my lie would work. Rosalie was over her shock and was focused on mentally screaming at me for being such an idiot. Jasper was trying to manage the outpouring of strong emotions by so many people while simultaneously trying to decide if manipulating the situation would be strategically helpful. And Emmett was trying to figure out how he could help me get out of the jam I just put myself in.

If Rosalie's rants weren't enough, I was ranting at myself. This could not be happening! This is what I get for intervening! I kept repeating internally.

"I saw you." Bella was emphatic this time.

I tried to calm myself. I could have used a little of Jasper's magic right about then, but I doubt he could have focused on me given the emotional temperature from the crowd surrounding us. Arguing hadn't thus helped, so I changed tactics.

"Bella, I was standing with you, and I pulled you out of the way." Then I looked at her steadily in the eye with the full hypnotising power of my gaze.

"No." She set her jaw.

Why oh why did she have to be so resistant to my skills? Anyone else would have been putty in my hands between my telepathy and the persuasive capacities of my kind. If the situation weren't so frustrating and dangerous her look would almost be cute like kittens pretending to be a tiger. Cute? I thought her look was cute? What is wrong with me? I would have to deal with these thoughts later I told myself as I pushed them aside.

I tried using my persuasive gaze again. "Please, Bella."

"Why?" she demanded.

I had no answer, no reasonable explanation, so instead I pleaded. "Trust me."

Could I trust this girl to not talk about what she had seen? I knew we had only seconds left before the vehicles would be separated and we would not be alone.

"Will you promise to explain everything to me later?"

"Fine," I snapped officially out of air.

This wasn't what I hoped for, but anything to hold her off until I figured out how to fix this mess. Stupid stubborn observant mentally mute tormentor! I could not conceive how I could have given my tormentor more power.

Right then the van moved away, ambulances arrived, and stretchers came. I was able to take in a relatively Bella-scent-free breath. The monster rattled its cage, but with my family and everyone else watching me I kept it contained. I refused the stretcher they offered me, stating vehemently that I didn't have a scratch on me. The EMTs looked me over and with not a hair out of place relented.

I looked over at my siblings and caught Alice's eyes pleading with her to find a way to help me cover my mess. Given the situation, I, of course, couldn't keep Bella out of my hearing. It was my responsibility to make sure that she kept her end of our agreement. As I was getting into the ambulance I saw Emmett very subtlety change the shape where my shoulder had been. I gave him a grateful look and he just shrugged. You would have done it, if it was me. I knew that was true, but still he didn't have to. I appreciated it.

I chanced a look at the rest of my siblings. Rosalie was visibly fuming while her loud imaginative mental cursing continued. Alice looked shocked, but mentally was focused on the future. Jasper looked stunned by my actions, anguished by Alice's emotional state, and if I had to take a guess, overwhelmed by the heightened emotional climate that he was dealing with. I wished I could have blocked out the mental Why? that kept emanating from my siblings.

I got up into the front with the EMT while Chief Swan gave us a police escort. The administration was beginning to corral student into the building. Right before we pulled away Jasper had been pulling shock out of Alice. The last thing I saw from Alice was her checking the future to see if police would come to the house or we'd have to move, but I didn't see the result as the ambulance was too far away from school.

The EMT joked about Carlisle, while I jovially agreed. I had heard it all before. The whole time Bella was very quiet. And for the umteenth time I wished I could read her mind. I pondered why I had gotten involved. Wouldn't my family have been better off if this one human who tortured me died not by me or my family's doing but by natural causes? Certainly yes was the logical answer. Then why had I saved her? I kept pondering it over and over.

I automatically picked up Carlisle's mental chatter when we got within range of the hospital. Right then his mind was primarily focused on his clients. A small portion of his mental capacity was being used to review the family discussion from last night, was observing if he had anything else to add that might be helpful, and was exploring his human interactions keeping in mind the other family member's observations.

By the time that we arrived at the hospital, I had convinced myself that I had reacted in order to prevent her blood from being spilled. In this way there was no temptation for Jasper or myself. I knew I could not control the monster if her blood was flowing, and I doubted Jasper could have either, which could have resulted in us fighting. It seemed like a reasonable excuse, but I couldn't buy it. I hoped my family would, as I had nothing else to give them.

At the hospital I considered finding Carlisle, but thought it better to keep Bella in my hearing range so we could minimize any damage she might create. I kept mental tabs on Carlisle and sent him a text letting him know that I was in the hospital because I had been involved in the school car accident. Just as a precaution, our family didn't text anything that could give us away. We are nothing but thorough, well usually. Shortly after sending my text it showed up in Carlisle's thoughts. Immediately he decided to call Esme. Since I couldn't read Bella's mind I wasn't sure what to do. What I have done over the years when a family member did something that might expose us didn't apply to Bella. Consequently, I sat listening to Bella with my ears like a blockhead and anyone who wasn't Bella telepathically. I had no better ideas.

The hospital staff wheeled the driver of the van next to Bella. I had no concerns regarding his thoughts nor about their conversation until he said, "How did you get out of the way so fast? You were there, and then you were gone …"

I froze becoming like a marble statue, which in my defence is my kind's more natural state than the human movements I have trained myself to do, as I imagined the devastation that would be caused if the next words were anything other than what I had told her.

"Umm … Edward pulled me out of the way." With relief I unfroze, reminding myself that humans surrounded me and statuesque behaviours would not help. I became aware that Esme was in my mental range full of worry and concern for me.

"Who?" the driver, whom I heard the nurse call Tyler, said sounding confused.

Tyler's memory consisted of him trying to stop his vehicle and his own fears that passed through his mind during the accident. Nothing more. If I could have read Bella's mind, then I would know her intention, dealt with it, and moved on with my life. If only … Heavens above this was torturous.

"Edward Cullen – he was standing next to me."

I waited on pins and needles the insane amount of time it takes humans to respond to one another.

"Cullen? I didn't see him … wow, it was all so fast, I guess. Is he okay?"

Great! Just confirm her belief that I suddenly appeared. I suddenly wished that I could cause Tyler to become unconscious. This was going great, I internally grumbled sarcastically at myself. At least she had kept to the story I told her. That was something.

"I think so. He's here somewhere, but they didn't make him use a stretcher."

I heard the irritation in her voice and stifled a giggle. That girl sure was testy.

Esme walked into the waiting room and came up to me. She asked me if I was okay, playing the concerned mother well. I looked her straight in the eyes and quietly with slight worry said, "I'm okay." I looked at her pleadingly. "I need to find Dad."

Sure, I'll keep on ear out for anything that might concern us. "He's attending his patients at the moment," she stated with a sight nod. You will need to go to the department's main nursing station.

I nodded slightly back at her. I left certain that I could trust Esme with this request.

I found the nurses station that I had just visited last week and asked for my dad.

She said that she could page him.

I expressed my gratitude and then I told her I'd wait in his office. Once the door to his office closed I slumped into the chair. I wished that I could push out the mental noise, but I knew my telepathic skills were vital right now, so I continued to allow the barrage of mental voices to fill my head. I, of course, didn't need to slump or even sit for that matter. Carlisle preaches to practice the human façade even when no one was looking in order to create engrained habits. His advice certainly aided me today.

I didn't know what I was going to say to Carlisle. I didn't know how I was going to explain myself, especially since I didn't understand my own actions. I could hear the sound of his shoes, how his gait caused his pants to rub together, and when he thanked the nurse for the message. Not once did his mind deviate from the patients he had already seen or the patients he had left to see. Closer and closer to me he came. I froze in my pose as the doorknob twisted and the hinges gave way to the door being opened.