Chapter 11 - Convalescence
(Edward's Point of View)
When I awoke, yet again, on a lumpy hospital bed, I had a brief surge of déjà vu before reminding myself that I was in here because of my fight with Jacob. My head's collision with that tree trunk must've hurt me worse than I'd thought, because I had no idea how long had passed (again) since I had arrived at the hospital.
This time, however, I had to call out before a nurse came over to see me. Her expression was indiscernible as she asked what I wanted.
"How long have I been here?"
"Oh, you've been in a coma for almost two weeks. You had a concussion from the blow to your head, not to mention lots of fractured bones."
I groaned. It seemed as if I had just gotten out of the hospital, only to be put back in. The only good part was that both instances were incited when I moved to protect my Bella.
This made me smile, which earned a confused expression from the nurse. She shook her head, then looked up as I continued, "Can I leave?"
"Tomorrow. Right now you need to get cleaned up, then we want to see if you can sleep normally before releasing you."
I nodded and complied as she began removing bandages and IVs and all sorts of medical equipment from me. Once it was all off and she had left the room, I got up off the bed, then steadied myself on a bedpost while my head rush subsided.
I stumbled into the bathroom and climbed into the shower. The hospital shampoo, despite being cheap and generic, was still soothing to my sore head.
Refreshed, I proceeded to finish with my personal hygiene and then changed into a fresh hospital gown. Once I found the TV remote, I turned it on to find that AFN News was already selected.
I was about to change the channel when I saw Bella. She was in the front of the Kinnick Orchestra, playing "Simple Gifts" in the Black History Month ceremony. I watched excitedly as the reporter expounded upon the layout of the newly regular event, looking forward to congratulating Bella in person.
My face fell as I saw that the time-stamp on the TV read February 26th; when I had gotten out of the shower I'd checked my watch, and it said that the date was March 9th. Bella was terrified of crowds! I should have been there to support her when she went in front of hundreds of people, but I wasn't because Jacob (sneers the name) just HAD to slam me into that tree. Asshole.
That reminded me - I had managed to beat Jacob up pretty well, too! Was he here? I certainly hoped he had worse injuries than I received, since that would give me some much-needed alone time with Bella.
With superb timing, the nurse walked back into my room to make sure I was alright. Before she could turn and walk out, I said, "Is Jacob Black here too?"
"Oh, him. Yeah, he was here when you were brought in, but he wasn't hurt badly enough to need any treatment," the nurse said.
"He looked really upset," she added feebly.
Oh, great. Jacob has been at school with Bella for the past week or so without me there to get in his way. It didn't even make a difference to me that he'd felt sorry for hurting me - as far as I was concerned, Jacob was beyond forgiveness.
Despite my resentment, hope made its way into my mind as I imagined that Bella might have rejected Jacob completely for being so improper with her. I allowed this newfound optimism to wash over me, comforting me with the faith that my Bella had made the right decision.
For the first time since Bella had rejected me, I fell asleep with a smile on my face.