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I woke up to Edward touching his cool lips to my cheek. "It's noon, Bella. Charlie will start to worry."
I blinked against the bright hall light, realizing the burning pain in my foot had returned.
"Ow," I murmured softly, looking down at my bandaged foot.
"Bella?" Edward looked into my eyes, searching.
I sat up quickly and winced, feeling a new, dull pain at my ribs.
"Bella!" Edward said more urgently. "What is it? What's hurting you?"
"Well, my foot, obviously, but my sides hurt too. I don't know why," I answered, frowning, trying to remember how I could have hurt myself without realizing it.
Edward gasped, and suddenly reached out his hands toward my waist. I leaned back slightly as his hands found the bottom of my shirt and began tugging it upward.
"Edward? What – what are you doing?" I stuttered. He had never been this forward, and in the hallway nonetheless.
He shook his head and continued to raise my shirt up, revealing my stomach. Two light, blue tinted bruises were beginning to form at my sides. Edward removed one hand from my shirt, and ran his fingers ever so gently over the bruises, his expression pained. He dropped the flannel, and placed his hands in his lap.
And then I remembered. He had tightened his grip on my waist when Carlisle had entered the room, and I had momentarily felt the uncomfortable pressure then. The bruises no longer hurt, however, and I hoped beyond hope Edward would not overreact about this, too.
"Bella," he whispered, his voice shaking. "How many ways will I hurt you today?" His expression was so anguished, his eyes so full of regret, that I reached up my hand to stroke his cheek. To my surprise, he tilted his head, pressing his cool cheek into my palm. He shut his eyes as he added, "You don't care, do you?"
"It doesn't hurt anymore, to be honest. I just sat up too fast," I said quickly, relieved that he chose not to argue about this. "Why though?" I asked, more to myself than to Edward.
"Why what?" he asked, opening his eyes and gazing curiously into mine.
"Why did you hold on to me so tightly? Why didn't you just leave?"
Edward sighed, his face screwed up with pain as he revisited this morning's events. "When you stepped on that glass, Bella, and I smelled your blood, I almost lost control. The only thing keeping me sane was the fact that I was holding you. If I lost my grip on you, my love, my life, I would lose my grip on all rational thought."
If I were standing, I might have fallen over; my head was spinning, my heart pounding. I could not think of a single thing to say. Edward kept gazing into my eyes, his expression troubled, probably at the look of blank shock on my face.
"I love you, more than you know," he whispered, bringing his lips to touch mine briefly. I closed my eyes, kept them closed long after he had pulled away.
"I love you, too," I finally managed to choke out, tears budding at the corners of my eyes. I looked down, hiding my face.
He reached under my chin, forcing me to look at him. A single tear fell into his palm. "Happy tears," I whispered, smiling.
He smiled back, a dazzling, life ending, smile, and I couldn't look away. In the next instant, Edward's lips were against mine, moving passionately. He pulled away relatively quickly, however, and looked anxious, again. What now?
"Bella, your bottom lip is swollen," he said, chuckling slightly, touching my lip with the tip of his finger.
I frowned for a moment, trying to find the source of yet another injury. "I was biting it, when Carlisle numbed my foot," I said, blushing as I remembered.
His fingers traced my blush, continuing down to my throat. He stood quickly then, pulling me up with him.
"Breakfast," he announced suddenly. He picked me up in one arm, the pillows in the other, and ran lightly down the steps, into the kitchen.
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