Chapter 12

Edward and I just stood there silently for an undefinable amount of time. Neither of us knew what to say or do…well, I didn't, he was imaginary therefore 'knew' nothing.

Nurses came and went, and shuffled about without ever acknowledging Edward's presences, thus further proving my insanity. He would stay out of their way for the most part, but when one of them moved unexpectedly to the exact place Edward was in, his image disappeared like a cloud of smoke, just like it did before. I could do nothing but squeeze my eyes shut tightly and pretend I didn't see anything at all. When I opened my eyes again, I watched in awe and horror as the smoke congealed back into Edward's form.

"What's wrong?" he asked me as I stood there completely dumbstruck.

I numbingly shook my head back and forth, and then I moved without giving my mind a chance to think better of it. I closed the distance between us….and then I hit him as hard as I could in the chest.

"Ouch! What the hell was that for?" he asked the moment after my hand made contact.

I just stared at him even more baffled than before….and then I proceeded to hit him over and over again. I hit him so much that my hand started hurting because of it, and with each blow he responded with an "Ow!"

"Why are you not turning into smoke?" I asked, desperately trying to make sense of it.

"Why would I?" he asked strangely.

"You don't even know that you're poof-ing, do you?"

"Poof-ing?" he asked amused. "No. What's that?"

"Every time someone is about to run into you, you poof…like a cloud of smoke. God, I really am fucking crazy," I said while letting my hand come to a rest on his chest. I could feel the fabric of his shirt and the warmth of his body underneath. I could even feel the pounding of his heart. How was that even possible? Of course, it wasn't possible. "I need to get out of here," I said before quickly retreating from the room.

"Bella wait, where are you going?" Edward asked as he followed closely.

"Stop talking to me, you're not real!" I snapped at him, earning several disturbed looks from the hospital staff nearby. And that's when I realized how foolish I must've looked all the other times I had spoken to him in public; the café, walking down the street in Seattle, the hotel lobby, the ice cream vender, meeting Bree… BREE!

"Bree spoke to you," I said as I got into my car to leave the hospital. Edward was in the passenger seat and even put his seatbelt on, though I didn't notice if he opened the door to get in or not. "Did I imagine Bree talking to you too?" I asked him. "Did I imagine Bree completely? When I mentioned her to Carlisle he didn't say anything about her."

"You didn't imagine Bree," he tried assuring me.

"Then how did she see you?"

He shrugged. "Well, she does often talk to my brother like he's still around."

"Your dead brother?"

"Yeah. And her mom says she has a ton of imaginary friends…maybe they're not so imaginary."

"Or maybe that's exactly what you are," I argued.

"Aaaand you both imagined me at the same time? Doubt it."

"Hold on!" I shouted as an idea came to me. I slammed on the breaks and then turned the car in a different direction.

"Where are you going now?" he asked clueless.

"Your apartment," I said before pushing my foot on the gas harder.

I went immediately to the manager's office and flashed him my driver's license too quickly for him to read it. "Hi, I'm here investigating a few break-ins in the area. I need to see the surveillance video from three days ago in front of Edward Cullen's apartment."

"Uh…aint that kid dead?" the guy said heartlessly.

I swallowed hard. "No…he's in a coma."

"Oh that's right; his sister said something about that when she dropped off his rent the other day. She left without that cat of his though; someone really needs to pick that thing up."

Fluffy!

"I…I...have nothing to do with that, sir. I just need the video."

"Alright, alright…How come I never heard anything about any break-ins?" he asked while thumbing through the recordings.

"It's…classified," I lied horribly.

The guy was a moron, and I vaguely wondered if perhaps I was imaging him as well. I could have been currently locked in an insane asylum and imagining everything for all I knew.

When he found the right video, I grabbed it out of his hand and said "Thank you" before turning to leave.

"Aren't you going to review it here?" the guy called after me. I didn't even bother answering him.

I took the video straight home, and was grateful no one was there. I put it in the player and immediately pressed play. Edward, of course, came along and sat quietly on the couch next to me. I had to fast forward hours' worth of nothingness, and then - "Oh god," I said horrified.

I walked onto the screen…and I was alone. I stood there for a moment and looked to be talking to myself, and then the door opened and I walked in. It was all so unnerving, and I honestly felt like I was going to be sick.

"Well, it's not like you broke in," Edward said casually. "I mean, you didn't even touch the door. Obviously doors don't open on their own, which proves that I exist."

"Or it proves that I'm crazy…I'm probably imagining this video right now as well," I said on the verge of tears.

Even worse than thinking that I was insane, the realization that none of it even happened was beyond shattering. Every word we had spoken, every touch, every promise…none of it was real. I had opened my heart after being so emotionally vacant for so long, and knowing it wasn't true was excruciating. How was I supposed to move past it? How could I even have the hope of a normal life again?

Edward didn't love me. He wasn't waiting for me, and he didn't want a fresh start. He was just a pathetic and desperate delusion that I conjured up for god only knows why. The real Edward was currently fighting for his life, and that alone was devastating.

I was definitely going to be sick…