The reference to how Edward was after he left Bella comes from Saudade by Haemophilus Leona used here with permission.

Chapter 21: Alice–Too Late

Edward was quiet on our way home, no doubt lost in his thoughts about Bella. The time at the hospital with Jacob and Billy had been straining at best. Although Edward had done a remarkable job in presenting himself as human and acting the part, having only a few hours in Bella's presence and all but ten minutes without the dog there hadn't helped. Frankly, it was no wonder that Edward had lost it last night. A repeat performance tonight wouldn't be surprising. Carlisle was right. He was asking too much of himself.

"Want to talk about it?" I asked aloud unsure in his mental state how well his gift was working.

He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "She will wake up, won't she?" His voice was tinged with sadness and doubt.

I wasn't sure what was worse–seeing Edward lose it or seeing him defeated like this.

"I haven't gotten anything different," I reassured him. "Do you want to see it again?"

He nodded despondently. His whole body seemed to be resisting leaving her, quaking with grief and need. The further away from the hospital we got the more he looked like he wanted to bolt. Good thing he was driving in order to keep him better tethered to the car.

I pulled into my mind the image of her waking up on Friday.

"She didn't wake up well last time," he said almost to himself. "She was confused at first and then terrified that I would disappear."

I remembered. Pulling the memory of that vision up I slowed it down and watched it carefully. "Yes, that is true, Edward, but see here," I pull up the moment, "when you tell her you're going to leave, you're not going to do that this time. Are you?"

"No," he nearly growled and whined at me simultaneously. "As long as she wants me, I can't leave, and even then I would have to stay nearby. I am a mess without her."

"The two of you have been through a lot since then," I reassured him. "Neither of you are the same and your relationship is not the same. The fact that she agreed to marry you and you agreed to change her must count for something."

Long minutes passed between us before he spoke again. "I miss her Alice. Obviously, I'm not doing well without her. Leaving her at the hospital today felt too similar to when we left Forks. I have this foreboding feeling that I can't shake. I don't know how much longer of being apart from her like this I can take. Jasper can't keep me sedated indefinitely."

"We could always dismember you and then put you back together when she wakes up," I teased.

"Perhaps that would have been easier for everyone concerned," he said playfully.

"Certainly easier on Jasper," I said light heartedly with a grin across my face. "It's a day and a bit. From what I saw, it'll just be you and Charlie tomorrow and you'll be the only one in the room when she wakes up on Friday. You're nearly at the finish line. You've gone through worse."

He nodded grimly.

"No thoughts of running away?"

He chuckled darkly. "Always, but I learned my lesson, Alice. Don't worry."

"Well forgive me," I said teasingly and then stuck out my tongue at him. "You know I'm only thinking of Esme. She wouldn't take kindly to you breaking your promise."

"Naturally. No alternative motives on your part at all my dear sister."

"Clean as snow," I told him enthusiastically.

"If humans only knew how unclean snow has become with acid rain and polluting the atmosphere," he deadpanned.

"Yes, my dear brother. Let's not ruin the metaphor for the unsuspecting humans."

He smiled slightly.

Now, see, that wasn't so hard was it?

He scowled at me. "How are things looking on the Dr. Whitaker front?"

"About the same. We should have a family meeting and make a final decision when Carlisle comes home."

He nodded in agreement. "Any ill consequences for Jacob?"

"You know I can't see that," I scowled.

"Obviously. But you can see Dr. Whitaker. Any decisions he's making that are about Jacob or where his future disappears?"

I looked. "Not yet. Nothing substantial anyway."

"That's good."

"Why do you care if the pup trying to steal your girl gets some backlash?"

"First, he's Bella's best-friend apart from you and Bella wouldn't like if what we did negatively impacted him. Second, I promised her I would be noble. I enjoy the thought of him getting what's coming to him, but I'm trying to not give in to that part of my nature."

I shook my head. "You ask too much of yourself, Edward."

"Perhaps. But she would prefer it this way."

"I wouldn't be competing for best-friend status with a pup if you had been a little less noble," I hissed. "Or at least had listened to my advice."

"I've already apologised, oh great and powerful one. I will again and again until you know how badly I feel." A smiled graced his lips before he grew unnecessarily solemn. "I am sorry, Alice. I was an idiot. You of all of us know how much of an idiot I can be. I'm sorry that my demanding that we leave caused you to no longer be Bella's sole best-friend."

I mentally stilled my thoughts. We couldn't undo the past. What was done was done. Getting mad at him again wasn't going to help anything. "I know Edward. And I've already forgiven you. You might be noble, but I can't help it if that pup is a thorn in my side."

He smiled slightly in a knowingly fashion.

"Any progress on figuring out why your visions started going backwards?" he asked after a few moments.

These are the hardest questions around Edward. I've trained myself to focus on the question rather than jump to the answer, then based on the question decide what to think about, and thus answer. It doesn't always work.

"A little, but nothing substantial yet. If I get anything, I'll let you know."

"You drew it out?"

He must have caught a short glimpse of my drawings in my mind.

"I thought it might help with making comparisons."

He nodded like he agreed.

I began bringing images of Jazz to my mind.

He pulled back the question he was about to ask.

"I'll try to find a way that you can sneak in into the hospital and have time with her tonight. No moping, please. If everything else fails, I'm sure we can find something for you to do till visiting hours tomorrow." Flashes of different family activities went through my mind.

"No, thanks. I think I got my fill of family game night last night." He tried to grimace, but he didn't fool me. He had enjoyed himself even if the night hadn't ended so well. "But even an hour to be with her … " he continued.

"I'll do my best and perhaps in a little bit I can show you what I have thus far?" That seemed to help ease some of his tension. "However, I need your solemn word that if it gets to be too much you'll come to one of us and ask for a distraction or to be confined. We can't read your mind, you know." I smiled cheekily.

"Fine," he grumbled.

Relieved that I didn't need to spend the next few hours watching Edward's future in order to stop him from doing something idiotic, when we got home I searched out Jazz. Between the family's intervention and then being Edward's babysitter today my husband and I hadn't had any time together since yesterday late afternoon. Jazz never did get the chance to explain the details of what he had seen in regards to my drawings. The family had decided that having Edward alone was a bad plan especially at the hospital with a wolf there. Emmett and Rosalie didn't want to go and Jasper wasn't willing to chance being in the hospital. Carlisle or Esme would have gone, of course, but they needed time together. Carlisle had promised Billy that he wouldn't be there outside of his regular shift hours. And Esme accompanying him would have given the impression to the Quileutes that Edward needed parental supervision, which we agreed wasn't the best since they already were tense about Edward and Bella. We debated of whether Emmett should also go with us, but Edward insisted that he would be fine. After our intervention he seemed usually compliant, and I think we all felt bad about what had happened, so we agreed and I was chosen since I was more likely to be able to stop Edward before he did something stupid.

Oddly, the picture of my vision for today hadn't included me. Something was changing the visions to have further discrepancies than yesterday. It was disconcerting. Rosalie, Emmett, and Esme were home. They could keep an eye on Edward. The window of Bella waking up was closing. Hopefully Jazz's insight held the answer to my puzzle.

As soon as Edward and I got home I sought out Jazz. "Come with me?"

He just nodded. He didn't ask questions or wonder or even pause. His trust in me was so absolute. Taking his hand I led him to a beautiful spot in the forest that was outside of Edward's range.

I checked up on Edward. He was going to play the piano working on the new piece or in his room fingering a lemonade bottle cap. He looked melancholy, but at least he was home. We needed Bella to wake up.

Jazz waited. "Edward?" he asked when I opened my eyes.

I nodded. "Looks copasetic from my end. Yours?"

"The frequency of his mood dropping is increasing. My warnings that would usually pull him out of his thinking fairly quickly aren't as effective. There's no determination, which is almost more worrisome. I'm concerned about the side effects of my gift on him. We need her to wake up."

"What did you send him?"

"Tranquillity, lethargy, contentment, and some fidelity."

"What side effects are you picking up?"

"His levels of contentment and fidelity are unusually high for him."

"So he shook off the more intense once you sent, but the lower dosage ones have lingered?"

"Yes."

"What was in fidelity?"

"Loyalty with a touch of the desire to please."

I buried my head into his chest. "Any chance that it will be long-lasting?"

"We're in uncharted territory."

"How are you about it?"

"I don't like using my gift to hijack someone else, so I was loathed to use it against my brother, but it was Carlisle's call and I did it the gentlest I could. What were the alternatives?"

"Dismemberment."

"Would that have gone better?"

"In the moment? No, but I can't see the internal consequences either. Any side effects for you?"

"I hunted already while you were at the hospital. Otherwise I'm fine. Just hoping the lingering effects don't last. Bella still set to wake up Friday?"

Checking, it still looked like she would wake up Friday, but it was fuzzier. I searched for other likely possibilities. The next likely was sometime in the middle of the night, but it was too grainy to give any helpful information.

"Friday is still the most likely, but the chance has decreased. Next likely is sometime in the middle of the night, but I can't say more, not even a day. It's too unclear."

"We'll stick with what we've got till we know differently."

I nodded in agreement.

"Need to work on your puzzle?"

I smiled. Of course he knew without me needing to say.

"I told Edward I would share with him my thoughts later. He needs something to help distract him from Bella tonight."

Jasper nodded even though his posture told me that he didn't agree with telling Edward so soon.

"Concerns?"

"Not enough to change course."

"Did you have any guesses yet?" I asked him.

"What was Bella like?"

It was a question he had asked before, but I didn't have his gift.

"Peaceful. She looked like how she does when she's sleeping deeply."

He pondered that. He had told me that Bella was not emotionally still when she slept. When we were keeping her safe from James and Victoria he stood outside her door and tasted her emotions while she slept. She had this stage where she was very restless, talked in her sleep, and Jasper said she was very emotionally active. That gave way to a deeper sleep with no talking. Jasper told me that even in that state, though, she had some emotions that he could pick up. Neither of us knew if that was normal for humans, but it seemed normal for Bella. Edward once complained the first time he had caught Jasper trying to learn about her when she had slept at our place, but Jasper had explained his intention, and Edward had let to go. Edward probably would appreciate hearing Jasper's assessments anyway.

"Summarize what you know so far," he requested.

"Each of the pictures before the deer are pivotal emotional moments for Edward which have had a ripple effect to the rest of us. It would seem, given our hypothesis, that Bella waking up will be another pivotal moment, with the individual scenes being smaller moments of decisions that will lead Edward to when she wakes up. I've been thinking that maybe I could see the wolves because it was set that some would show up, so I mentally put them there, but the reality was different than the vision like the diner."

He grinned broadly at that memory and sent me love and adoration.

I loved watching his dissect something to try to find the solution.

"The greatest variation was that someone who looked like could be Seth's mother wasn't at the hospital, but was in my vision. So the vision wasn't precise, but it told me that at least some would come. My best guess is that it was similar for seeing Jacob in the vision. However, Bella, Jacob, and Edward are so tied together there might be something there. If there is, I haven't worked it out yet. Also, the differences increased between my vision and reality today compared to yesterday."

"The gap between what you saw in the vision verses what happened is widening." His tone suggested that he believed this to be an important clue.

I nodded.

"If we projected that to be the case for tomorrow, that doesn't bode well for Edward."

"No, it doesn't," I agreed.

"Each of the moments you drew before the car accident were major emotional turning points for Edward specifically or for the family generally. That first day tore Edward out of his apathy. Saving her from the van exposed us, shifted Edward's world again, and for the first time divided this family emotionally with Esme and you completely supportive of Edward and Rosalie and I completely apposed to Edward's attachment to her. I'm not certain, but I believe that Edward's time at the hospital afterwards fortified Edward's emotional attachment to her. James' attack united us again this time in support of Bella's protection with the exception of Rosalie. Bella in hospital after James' attach fortified determination in Edward. I had thought it was determination to make it work with her, but after her birthday and our conversations I believe it was determination to leave her. Her birthday split the family again."

"Would that mean her waking up will unite us again?"

"Could be, but to what end?"

"Well, certainly last night made it clear that unless we want Edward babysitting duty for the rest of eternity he needs Bella."

Jasper sat contemplatively. "Perhaps the next ones are not showing Edward's decision, but unravellings and putting Edward back together is what will result in us uniting together. We weren't in harmony last night by any means; we were less in harmony than when we defended Bella from James, but more so than on her 18th birthday."
"What about the newborn fight?"

"We were united, but in self-preservation and necessity. Last night was more united in love and genuine care, even Rosalie. She didn't agree with the action taken, but she was emotionally more in harmony with the family's state than even regarding James."

"If your hypothesis is correct, then what about Bella?"

"We already know she wakes up."

"So you don't think it says anything about Bella."

"Not if my assessment is correct."

I considered that. "I have to agree that I don't know how many more days Edward can last without her."

"Can we change her?"

I checked.

"It ends badly without a release from the hospital. After Friday it appears unlikely we do so, but I don't know why."

"We seem to have little options, June bug."

"How might your intervention impact Edward's reaction to Bella waking up?"

He took a long time to think through my question. "His increased fidelity seems directed at Carlisle at this point, so I don't see that having much of any impact unless Carlisle demands that Edward change her sooner than later or something like that. I don't see how his higher levels of contentment have any effect other than helping him handle being away from her. What happens if she doesn't wake up on Friday?"

Searching for that possibility I looked for one that included Edward.

"It's hard to tell. Nothing good that's for sure."

He shook his head. He sent me desire and longing.

I focused on my feelings adoration and wanting of him.

Before we could act on our feelings, a thought hit me. "Here's a weird thing, Jazz. In the original vision of her waking up every scene had multiple people with her, except tomorrow. Tomorrow there's just Edward."

He weighed that with the decreased change of her waking up on Friday. We sat out there discussing, strategizing, and enjoying being together. We had yet to come to any firm conclusions, so were now trying to decide what would be the best way to handle/approach Edward with our preliminary findings when I was no longer with Jasper.

I am in a room that is easily recognizable: it is Bella's hospital room. Charlie is asleep in the chair he had been in when we left, his head nodding off to one side. He looks peaceful and has that deep sleep look that Bella gets. Bella opens her eyes and looks around confused. Time passes. No one comes to check on her. Her features become more afraid and anxious. She looks down at Charlie and looks like she is debating whether to wake him or not. Something is off about her facial expression. She debates what do to. Finally she says, "Excuse me. Excuse me."

Jasper was in front of me my hand in his. I picked up my phone and texted Carlisle.

Call me. Urgent.

"Everything, okay, June bug?" Jasper asked as he radiated tranquillity.

Taking his scent in deeply into my lungs I answered, "No. Bella's about to wake up, but she's not herself."

He looked at me quizzically, but said nothing.

I focused on Carlisle's decisions trying to determine when he would call.

"Finally." I breathed.

Picking up before the vibration started I requested, "Please go and check on Bella now. I'm really worried that she'll wake up shortly and will be confused."

I don't know what I would do without Jazz. This vision was disturbing. Without him I wouldn't have been able to be calm enough to speak in our code.

"Okay, Alice." Unlike me, Carlisle was speaking in a normal calm human pitch and speed. I gauged that I sounded like a scared rapid-speaking hyperventilating human. Not calm enough, but at least in somewhat of a human range. "Take some deep breaths. You'll be all right. Is Jasper nearby?"

"Yes," I answered much more collected.

"Good. I'll be home as soon as I can." Then he hung up.

I checked the future. It had changed.

Bella wakes up and Carlisle walks in. Bella isn't as confused, but the conversation is worse. Far worse. At least she isn't going to be anxious and afraid.

I looked at my husband while my mind tried to comprehend what was happening.

"June bug, you ready to fill me in?"

I looked into his eyes to ground me and give me strength. "Bella is just about to wake up, but she won't know her full name, who Charlie is, or Carlisle." I smiled slightly. "She'll remember my name, though."

"You're hard to forget."

I smiled sadly at him. "This isn't good, Jazz."

Jasper's eyes lit up. "What if …?"

I looked at him imploringly really disliking it when he did that. How he manages the world I live in with my gift astounds me.

He looked at me sending out calmness. "What if, June bug, your vision of her waking up ran backwards because it was telling you what you just saw? What if that happened during the car wreck?"

His calmness stopped what would have been terror filling me. "We should have changed her." I said vehemently. "What will Edward do?" I whispered.

"That would possibly mean that Edward's deteriorating state is going to impact how he reacts."

Gravely I checked the future.

Carlisle is going to talk to Charlie and explain that Bella is just confused right now and is possibly pulling on her dreams from when she was sedated to help her deal with waking up. He'll make some recommendations to Charlie, reassure him, and then head to a nurses station. He will tell the nurse that something has happened with me and that he needs to head home. He'll ask if there are any pressing patients and if there's enough coverage. When he gets the information he needs he will leave the hospital.

There was a fair chance things would go that way. "Carlisle might be home in an hour or less," I informed Jasper.

"Alright. We'll wait till Carlisle's coming home before we head back. We'll need all of us to handle Edward. I don't see him taking this well. You?"

I searched the future for after Carlisle arrives and we tell Edward. After that it got fuzzy like when televisions first came out and sometimes the reception would be poor.

"I can't tell."

Jasper just stared. "No tantrum? No running away?"

I frowned and checked again. "Not that I can see, but honestly I can't see much at all."

"That's not good. Didn't that happen after Edward said goodbye to Bella, but before we were able to force him to return with us?"

I nod. "He'll need you. I don't know how to help him."

"Can you see further than telling him?"

"No. It adds static to all of our futures."

"Naturally." Jasper looked grave. "Is there a best way to tell him?"

I searched. "They all end the same."

Jasper shook his head and had that look he gets when he was preparing for something.

I buried my face into his chest. "He has us. We'll help him through it."

"Should we warn Carlisle?"

I searched. "Makes no difference as far as I can tell."

"Okay."

He held me and we waited. Finally the vision came as I expected it would of Carlisle leaving the hospital.

"He'll be leaving soon."

"We should head back then."

"Jazz, this time we're going to listen to the vision?"

"It might be too late now June bug." He looked sorrowful. "Everything shelved? You ready?"

"Yes and yes. You?"

"As ready as I will be."

He was preparing himself for the emotional currents that would be sure to dominate the house.

What if this was what the vision had been trying to tell me. We walked back in hand in hand and sat on the couch in the living room. As Edward played his piano, immersed in the world of his music, Esme came in and looked at me. Jazz and I could both tell that she was worried. He sent her tranquillity while some of it bled onto me. Rosalie and Emmett were in their room enjoying each other's company.

"Come, Esme, tell us, how was your day?" Jasper asked.

She looked at him quizzically. Her features suggested that she was debating whether or not to object to his emotional manipulation. Certainly from her perspective since there was no threat he was using his gift in a situation where it was unnecessary. I didn't have Jasper's gift, but I wouldn't have been surprised if the family was a little bit more wary of Jasper since last night had been the first time they had witnessed him using his gift in that manner. He seemed to be taking the shift in climate as I expected he would–like a soldier. He had followed his commander's orders. End of story and he would pay the price without complaint or even acknowledgement of it. It only took a few seconds for Esme to relax. Jasper might have sent her trust. I trusted him so implicitly that I can't tell when he sends it out.

She sat down in the chair and began talking about her day when we all could hear the sound of Carlisle's car. Jasper gave her a warning look and started to withdraw his influence. She seemed to get the message. At the same time Edward stopped playing and looked up.

Edward was on edge. As expected, he was aggravated and tried to pressure me into telling him what was going on.

Jasper sent out tranquillity and peace in response.

Edward raised an eyebrow at him claiming that he could maintain his cool.

Jasper nodded and tapered it off, but I noticed that he didn't withdraw it completely. If Edward was aware of what Jasper was doing he didn't say anything.

By this time Rosalie and Emmett had come down curious about what was going on.

I avoided Edward's questions and kept my mind occupied.

Carlisle walked in. He had the briefest moments when he was surprised we were all gathered before he said, "Oh, good. Thanks for gathering everyone Alice."

I grinned at him.

He obviously had already decided his words before he got into mental range so Edward wouldn't get an advance notice. He walked over to Esme, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and took in her scent.

"Come on, the suspense could kill us," Emmett teased.

Emmett was lounging in an armchair while Rosalie stood behind her with her arms crossed in a huff.

Carlisle stood next to Esme with his hand on her shoulder. "Bella woke up between 1:24am and 2:03am. Given Alice's vision is was probably closer to the later time, but we have no way to know for sure. She was alert and responsive." He took another deep breath and paused.

Rosalie, Emmett, and Esme all had varied looks of shock. Emmett's was more bewildered. Esme's was on the confused side. Rosalie was almost to the point of gasping. And Edward outwardly looked unreasonably calm. I raised an eyebrow at Jasper.

"What happened to Friday?" Rosalie accused me.

I watched Edward while responding to Rosalie's question. He looked like he wanted to be glad and relieved, but fear was keeping him from being. "A decision changed things. My best guess Bella's."

Being so close to Jazz I could feel the elements of his gift working. He was minding Edward's emotional state pulling from him anxiety, elation, worry, and doubt in small amounts while sending him the cocktail from last night in a slightly stronger dosage than he was taking.

It seemed like the whole family was collectively holding our breaths waiting for Carlisle to continue.

Carlisle took a long look at Edward in an evaluating fashion before he continued, "It also appears that her head injury caused her to have retrograde amnesia."

Edward and Carlisle exchanged some medical related questions. Shortly thereafter Edward looked as bad as I had seen him in my vision right as he decided to board a plane and fly to Italy. Then he froze.

I looked at Jasper.

He whispered to me that it was if Edward were an emotional void–empty. He was registering nothing.

The last time he had a similar appearance I had found him in the mountains with icicles hanging from his clothing. He had been unresponsive for months.

"What does this mean?" Esme muttered shock and disbelief colouring her tone.

"I don't know," Carlisle explained sadly.

"What about … ?" she asked incredulously and with great concern leaving the question unfinished. What about the wedding? What about Edward? What about Bella? What about us?

"I don't know, apple. I just don't know."

Carlisle eyed Edward and great concern spread over his face.

"How did Charlie take it?" Rosalie asked tersely.

"Not great. I talked to him about it and gave him some recommendations. On a more positive note Bella told us emphatically that two angels and a wolf visited yesterday along with Billy, and that the day before a mothering angel had told her that we loved her."

He kissed Esme on the top of her head continuing to keep his eyes on Edward.

"I explained to Charlie not to take her literally. Hopefully he was reassured enough to not press her for information. That's the last thing we need right now."

Rosalie grunted her concurrence.

Both Emmett and Esme looked stunned.

I couldn't help but remember the vision of Bella as a newborn.

Edward was still statuesque.

Jasper looked pained.

"What's wrong?" I whispered directly into his ear so softly that no one else should have been able to hear me.

"I don't know if I can take it," he whispered like-wise back. "It's hell. This is worse than being in Maria's army or even worse than after we left Forks and he tried living with us before he left to hunt Victoria. If this is how he was before he boarded a plane to Italy, I get why he asked for death. I couldn't live like that. Doesn't excuse his actions. He was still stupid and caused us to fall under the watch of the Volturi, but …" He shook his head in defeat. "I don't know how to bring him back."

My only conclusion had to be that this moment was what my visions had foretold.

"I missed it, Jazz. I failed him. I failed us all."

I searched the future for the one image that held me when Edward insisted that we leave Forks–Bella as a newborn vampire–but it was practically gone nothing left but wisps. When I searched Bella's future she was alone or dead, Edward's held nothing, and everyone else's weren't pretty.

"This isn't going to end well for any of us," I breathed at Jazz.

As each family member got a handle on this turn of events, they would glance at Edward expecting at any moment that he would snap out of it.

"You have to tell them, June bug," Jazz whispered to me.

I hated having to bring them bad news. I didn't want to open my mouth and make it more real than it was. I shook my head no. In my head it was just a possibility, one of many futures.

"You have to. We agreed." He looked at me sternly and then sent me courage.

Yes we had agreed to listen to what the visions were saying and interfere in a way where they guided us. Who knows what tomorrow might bring? I implored him one more time with my eyes, as I didn't want to tell my family of our possibly coming doom, but he nodded his head like go ahead.

I didn't know how. Bella's future had been so certain. It had held me through us leaving, through Italy, through the army. Without it I was lost. I clung to Jasper and entered the world of my gift attempting to find a way forward. The earth revolved around the sun, but it mattered not. If I didn't find a solution it would ruin us all. The irony that it was not the Volturi or newborns or James' coven or Edward's idiocy or even Dr. Whitaker that had erased the happy future I had staked everything on, but a deer. Jazz had been right, but it was too late.