Alright, I'm feeling exceptionally generous at the moment, so I thought I'd post this now. One month and one day until Breaking Dawn is released, and my goal is to get this finished before then. It may still be possible, but we'll have to see how it goes. Oh, and so you all know... a largely missed character makes a reappearance! Read on to find out who and how...
Chapter 11 - Epiphany
The single continuous monotone beep was like a distant drone beneath the flurry of voices surrounding the table. Ten men and women, all dressed in matching blue, flew around the room as instructed, calmly doing what they were told. Two faces stood out from the rest. The first was the young girl on the table. She was an ordinary girl, with long brown hair invisible beneath the surgical cap she wore, the tape across her lids covering her chocolate brown eyes.
The second person that stood out was a man in his early thirties, his good looks hidden behind the surgical mask he wore. He stood out not because of the blood that covered him, or the fact that his hands were in the girl's chest, trying to stop the blood that kept pouring out. No, it was his golden eyes that made him stand out most of all, which now burned with horror and melted with sadness.
"Doctor Cullen, she's been down for 15 minutes."
"I'm not giving up on her. I can do this," he insisted, still trying to stop the blood flow.
"There's nothing else you can do, Carlisle," the man behind him said. "We all knew the odds when we started."
Carlisle dropped his hands in defeat and looked at the clock on the wall. "Time of death: 10:23p.m."
As the rest of the doctors and nurses cleared away all of the instruments, he bent down so that his face was next to the girls' ear. "I will do everything I can to look after both of them for you. Please forgive me. I'm so sorry Bella."
There was a blinding flash of white light, and when it disappeared, I was lying on the hospital bed, with tubes and wires running from my body. There was a light knock at the door, and I looked up to see a perfect replica of a Greek god standing in the doorway.
"Hey," I said.
"Hello Bella," he replied, still standing in the doorway.
"Aren't you going to come in?"
He took a few steps forward until he was next to my bed, but he didn't make any move for the chair that was right beside him. This wasn't going to be a long visit.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
"I'm fine." Why was it so hard for us to talk to each other? It had never been difficult for us to talk to each other before.
"So you wanted to see me?" he prompted, sounding almost as though he just wanted to get this over with.
I nodded. "I miss you Edward." There was a long, unsettling pause as I waited for him to say something – anything – but he didn't. "Can't we go back to the way things were before?"
"I don't think we can," he replied. "There's too much water under the bridge. I gave you my heart blindly, and the most you could give me in return were your lies."
"But you know why I did it, right?" My voice came out desperate, pleading. "You know that I was trying to protect you?" He didn't understand. How could he not understand? My worst nightmare had become my reality.
"It doesn't matter Bella. You didn't trust me to be with you then, so how can I possibly be with you now?'
"Please don't do this Edward."
"I'm sorry, Bella," he said as he turned, walking towards the door. "It's over."
"No! Edward, I love you. Don't do this!" I called after him, but it was no use. He was gone.
The scene changed once again, this time outside to what looked like a dark alley. I saw myself leaning against a wall, but something was out of place. My clothes were something I would never have imagined myself in; an extremely short skirt, knee-high boots, a tight, sleeveless top and a denim jacket, but that wasn't what stood out. My skin was pale, much more pale than it usually is, as pale as Alice's…
My thoughts shifted when a man wandered down the alley alone, stumbling often as if he'd had far too much to drink. It was only when he was 20 or so meters from the other me, the one I didn't recognize, that he noticed he wasn't alone. He looked startled to see someone else there, before his face broke into a sleazy grin.
"Hey there," he said, his speech slurred from the alcohol. "Why don't you and I go and find someplace quiet?"
"Actually, here is just fine," my other self replied, and as she looked up, two burning red eyes pierced through the darkness.
I stifled a scream as she – I refused to think of the monster as myself any longer – leapt at the man. Before she met him, however, the white light appeared again.
"Enough already," I thought to myself, as for the final time, the scene changed. Even without comparing it to the previous horror, the scene now was peaceful, relaxed. The two young people sitting together on the grass were so similar, they could have been related. Both of them had pale skin which glistened like diamonds in the sun, their bright gold eyes had dark shadows beneath them, highlighting the perfect features on their faces. The boy was easy to recognize, his face impossible to forget. Edward's hair blew in the wind as he lay on the ground, his arms wrapped tightly around the girl laying next to him. Her brown, wavy hair fanned out down to the middle of her back, and it too blew slightly in the breeze.
"Have I ever told you how beautiful you are?" Edward whispered in her ear.
"Have I ever told you how lucky I am to have you?" she replied, smiling as she leant back to kiss him.
He smiled too as their lips met in a passionate embrace.
"I love you, Edward Cullen," she sighed contently as she freed her lips from his.
He snuggled closer to the girl in his arms, burying his lips in her hair and inhaling her sweet scent. "I love you, Bella Cullen."
It was only when I blinked my eyes did I get hit with the hard hand of reality. I was still in the hospital. Oh well, it was a good dream while it lasted. At least, the end of it was. The first few parts were pretty ordinary, with me either dying, getting my heart broken, or turning into an evil killing machine. But if life could be anywhere near as good as what I'd just seen with Edward and I, then I would gladly take it.
It was then that I was hit with an epiphany. Maybe it wasn't just a dream. What if I had somehow caught a glimpse of the future – my future? What if what I had seen were the consequences of the decisions I could make? It seemed as if someone had turned on a light in my brain, and the answer was suddenly crystal clear, staring me in the face, directly in front of me.
I looked at the clock that hung on the wall. 8:00. Carlisle might still be here after taking the nightshift. I pressed the call button and waited, hoping that it would be Carlisle that answered. Thankfully, luck was on my side, and he soon drifted into the room.
"Everything ok, Bella?" he asked. "I was just on my way out and was going to stop by and see you as it were."
"I just wanted to let you know that I've decided not to have the surgery tomorrow," I said simply, surprised at the conviction in my voice.
"Please Bella, be reasonable," he said, coming closer and sitting in the chair beside the bed. "I know that it's been hard for you, but you have to think about this."
"I have thought about this." My voice stern on the subject, I'd made my decision and was not willing to budge on the matter.
"You'll die if you don't have the operation," he stated. "You know that, don't you?"
"I've been living without my soul for the past 3 weeks, Carlisle, and it hurts," I explained. "Now, I can live without my heart, but I can't live without my soul."
"You still love him, don't you? You still want to become one of us? To be with him?"
"More than anything," I admitted. "I have a favor to ask. Can I please, please get out of here? Just for today. There's a few people that I need to talk to and explain everything to. Six of them, actually."
He seemed to ponder this for a moment. "I'll give you 5 hours, and then you are back in this hospital bed. Deal?"
"Deal," I agreed, grateful to finally be getting out my white walled jail, even if just for a few hours.
Before anyone says anything, I know that Edward doesn't exactly return in this chapter, but it should give most of you your little fix of Edward to keep you going! You guys are like my little junkies, aren't you? You all keep hanging out for a proper hit of Edward Cullen, but I assure you that it's not far off... How long do you reckon you can hold out for? If I get enough reviews, maybe he'll come back sooner...