Edward had been watching Alice from the corner of his eye for several minutes. It had been another long week and the realization that none of them were getting out of the hospital anytime soon had started to dawn on them. It wasn't just because they still had physical injuries that need to be addressed, but because none of them had any family, at least any family that was willing to take them.

Alice was curled up on her bed, her head resting against her knees as she watched the sun sink behind the downtown high rise buildings.

Her face was pulled tight. Her guard was down. The room was quiet, with Emmett at another therapy session that was bound to put him in a bad mood and Jasper having escorted Rosalie to the food court, hoping to find something with caffeine in it. The bland hospital food just wasn't doing it for them anymore.

Edward had heard the pain in Alice's voice when Jasper asked her to come along. She smiled at him, but it was forced. She told them to go ahead without her, blaming the fact she had pain in her leg. Edward knew Jasper saw right through the excuse but let Alice stay behind. They promised to bring her something with chocolate, not that she needed anymore hyperactivity-inducing sugar.

"Alice," Edward said quietly as she rocked back and forth. If anyone else had walked in at that moment Alice might have looked like a mental patient rocking in a catatonic state.

"Mmm?" Alice responded absently.

They both seemed to be comfortable with silence, especially around each other, but Edward could just tell that this was one of those times when Alice needed to talk about what she was thinking, whether she wanted to or not. Edward could almost hear the guilt ridden thoughts play out in her head, as if he could read her mind. It was a fear she had revealed to him before, in one of the many talks they shared when no one else was around.

"Alice, you can't think this is your fault. You can't control the things you see or feel," Edward began.

"I know, but I can't help feel that if I had gone with my gut, then we wouldn't have been on that plane and she would still be here with me." Alice swallowed the tears, taking a deep breath. "These things that I see, they're not good things, Edward; they never are. It's a curse seeing what I do. Every time I have a dream really bad things happen. Maybe I'm cursed. I ruin everything."

"Alice you're not cursed. What you see is a gift. It might not seem like that but …"

"No Edward, it's not a gift," she said shrilly. "I broke up my parent's marriage. I'm the reason. It was the stupid dreams." Alice tugged at her hair. Now she really looked mental. Edward walked the distance across the room and pulled her fingers from her hair. He didn't need someone coming in and seeing Alice like that. They would freak out and start running tests or try to move her to the psychiatric ward. The hospital staff was already concerned for their mental health and he didn't need Alice to be committed.

"I kept having a dream of this small red corvette parked in front of our house and when I finally worked up the nerve to ask my parents about it, wondering if we ever owned a car like that, thinking that maybe it was just a memory, my dad just about choked on his fork. That's when we found out of the girl he was seeing. Mom was devastated and dad said I was a wicked child for spying on him. The divorce was messy. It really hurt them both and it was because of me."

"Alice, you weren't the one doing anything wrong. Your dad was at fault. You're mom deserved more than that. She deserved to know the truth. And the dream you had the night before the crash, the one with all the fire, maybe it was a blessing in disguise. You told me that it made you nervous, so before you got on the plane you made sure that you told your mom you loved her and when she asked why you said just because. That's more than I said to my parents before it happened," Edward sighed.

"Oh, Edward, they knew," Alice assured him.

He smiled. "I know, it's just nice to know that you got to say it one last time."

Alice licked her lips. They were dry, parched. "Edward, I'm sorry."

"What for?" he asked, moving to sit beside her on the bed. He held her arms. She was trembling.

"I shou-should have known it was going to happen…I-I should have stopped the flight," Alice whimpered. "All those people," she choked on the words.

Edward pulled her small frame against his chest. "Alice you listen to me and you listen well," Edward said with a stern affection.

Alice couldn't help but chuckle. Most people would have said 'and you listen good', but not Edward, he was always grammatically correct. It must be all that Shakespeare.

"Sometimes things happen and they are horrible and cause us pain, but there is nothing we can do to stop it. Things happen for a reason Alice, they are destined that way. For some reason you get hints about the future, but in no way can you stop that future."

Alice whimpered, her breathing starting to even out.

"God calls us all home eventually, Alice," Edward told her. "It was time for our loved ones to find their way home."

Carlisle stood just outside the door where Alice and Edward were talking. He had listened to their conversation against his better judgement. He didn't want them to think he was eavesdropping but Carlisle couldn't believe his ears. The conviction Edward spoke with and the inner faith he had, left Carlisle taken aback. He was a man of faith himself, a firm believer in God, but that had taken him most of his adult life to come to terms with. Edward was so young, just a child by most standards, and yet his faith was so strong. He consoled Alice, took on her pain and offered her a way to embrace it. Carlisle knew it wasn't his place. He wasn't the boy's father. But in that moment he couldn't have been more proud of Edward. He just wished he could tell him.