Alright, so I'm overdue by a few days. Sorry. I had to go to Montreal for a few days, which is what delayed my writing. But here is the next chapter and I apologize for the delay.
Chapter 24
BPOV
I woke up to the feel of my mother's hands stroking my hair and I opened my eyes. Phil was sitting on a chair beside the bed holding on to her other hand, so he was the first person I saw. I actually felt rested, which I hadn't felt in a long time. How long had I been asleep for?
Not wanting to move, since I knew what would happen, I stayed a little longer, she didn't seem to mind. "Did I wake you up sweetheart?" my mother asked.
"No, I don't think so. I'm sorry Mom, I didn't mean to fall asleep on you. I must be heavy, I'll get up," I said. I started to get up slowly and felt the shocks of pain spread throughout my body. Phil must have seen my face since he got up and walked toward the side of the bed I was on and helped me get off the bed.
I felt dizzy and grasped the side of the bed, but I used my injured arm. I fell down from the lightening bolt of pain that shot through my arm. Phil helped me get up again and set me down on a chair.
For the first time I noticed Alice was there with Esme as they both came to my side, asking if I was alright. I couldn't answer with all the gasps I was trying to hold back because I didn't want my mom to see me this way. I held my hand up indicating I needed a minute. I definitely had to talk to Edward about getting that cast put on.
I exhaled and looked over at Alice. "I'm fine," I said and then looked at my mother's worried facial expression.
"Weren't they supposed to put a cast on there?" Alice asked with frustration.
Before I could answer her, my gorgeous green eyed god walked into the room. He noticed how everyone was circled around me and he looked at me questioningly. "Is everything okay, Bella?" he asked.
"She hurt her arm, that's supposed to be in a cast," she hissed. "Maybe you're not cut out for this job after all."
"Alice, what's wrong with you?" Esme asked before I could.
"It's alright," Edward said as he brought an open hand up at chest height, palm toward us. It looked like he was in a protective mode or something like that. "I actually asked for that to be taken care of yesterday, but they obviously forgot. I will go notify them that this has to be done right away." His eyes had stayed on mine even though he was clearly replying to Alice.
Now I really was questioning what the heck was wrong between those two. I would confront one or the other some time today and force it out of them whether they wanted to talk about it or not. I was tired of this tension between them and I'm sure I wasn't the only one. It was mostly Alice that was making me angry as Edward was being reasonable and keeping his cool, unlike Alice.
Edward walked back out the doorway and my heart sunk. I wanted to turn to Alice and start giving her crap, but not in front of everyone.
"I think I should get something to eat," I said, hoping Alice would follow me downstairs. I was pretty hungry since the last time I ate was earlier today, I think. I didn't even remember eating actually, so I curiously looked at the time and realized it was late afternoon. No wonder I was hungry and getting dizzy.
"We brought you something from downstairs. We didn't want to wake you up though, so here you go. It's not much, but it should fill you up. If not we can go back downstairs," Alice said as she handed me a sandwich and some cookies. She passed over a bottle of green tea, which made me smile, thinking of the day I'd gotten her one. Wow, wasn't that only a few days ago? Were the days going by quickly or slowly? I was losing track of time.
"Thanks," I replied, grateful to have the food in front of me. I would eventually get her aside to talk though, that was for sure. I just about swallowed it whole once my brain indicated how hungry I was.
While I ate my last cookie, some guy came in asking for me. "Can I help you?" I asked, confused.
"I'll be putting your cast on, so if you don't mind following me, let's go." He waved his hand for me to do as he pretty much requested with the way he said it. I didn't want to go, but I also didn't want to get the feel of another lightening bolt going through my arm again.
We headed off to the elevator and as we waited, I thought I saw Edward step into another room. The doors opened and we entered, followed by him pressing on the button a few floors up. I was hoping we didn't have very far to go since my body was starting to ache from trying to keep up with him. He wasn't exactly walking slowly. "Excuse me," I huffed. "Can you...slow down...please? I'm having...trouble keeping up with you."
The guy turned around and crossed his arms across his chest, waiting for me to catch up. I wasn't that far behind. He was exaggerating by stopping completely, jerk! I thought to myself. If I read his pass correctly earlier, it said J. Cheney, so it was a good match.
He started off again, but slower this time. We eventually reached our destination after about ten or fifteen minutes since we'd left my mother's room. At least it felt that long.
I had started to sweat from the effort it took me to get here. "Sit down over there," he eyed the chair beside a table as he spoke. The table had two bowls; one was filled with a powder of some sort, the next was filled with water. Right beside the two bowls were cotton bandages.
Memories came back to me from my art classes in college. We made different types of art work with clay. We had started by making molds of our hands to fill them with clay later, making some kind of art. Mine hadn't turned out that great since I had placed my hand in a kind of half-closed position. I wanted it to be able to hold flowers, but I had trouble taking my hand out of the mold once it was dry. It had cracked in certain areas, which I fixed as best I could, but it didn't turn out like I had wanted to.
I blinked at the sound of fingers snapping at me. "Are you going to sit down or what? Let's get the show on the road." I sat down right away, hoping it wouldn't take very long. I wasn't comfortable around him for some reason. Maybe it was just because he was being a jerk and I wasn't in the mood to be around him. Not that I ever would be mind you.
He started by placing the cotton bandages around my arm, which hurt because he wasn't exactly being careful. And it was obvious he was new at this as I saw him scratch his head a few times like he was questioning himself.
The next step was to mix the water and the powder to form the clay. He started slapping the clay on once he'd mixed it, sending a shock of pain through my arm. "Can you be a little more careful please?" I asked. "You're hurting me." I whispered, unsure if he heard me.
The next step was to mix the water and the powder to form the clay. He started slapping the clay on once he'd mixed it, sending a shock of pain through my arm. "Can you be a little more careful please?" I asked. "You're hurting me," I whispered, unsure if he'd heard me.
"I'm sorry," he smirked.
He was more cautious now that I mentioned it, thankfully. After he'd finished applying the clay, my cast looked all lumpy and was kind of soggy. I didn't think he'd mixed enough powder with the water, but maybe it was different with casts. I just wanted to leave anyway. One way I could try to help dry it faster, was by going to the washroom and using those electric hand dryers. They should work, right?
"There you go. It's done, so you can leave now. I have another patient coming in soon," he said as he looked at the clock on the wall. I figured I would have to find my way back by myself.
"Thanks," I said sarcastically as I lifted my arm up with my new cast. It was pretty heavy, which made me grateful I still had my sling I was using with the splint.
At least now that I was alone, I could take my time instead of rushing. I looked at the signs that showed arrows for directions. The Cancer Ward wasn't on the list as I'd looked over it a few times. I almost slapped myself on the forehead after remembering that I was on another floor. Duh!
I pressed on the down button and waited, impatiently, for the doors to open. One of the lights above the elevator flickered, giving an advance notice that it was there. On my way into the elevator, redhead neurologist lady stepped out, pushing me aside. At least it looked like her. I got in and pressed on the key that had Cancer Ward written beside it.
Now I was able to find myself again after I got out of the elevator. I walked toward my mother's room and a bathroom to my side caught my eye. I decided to go try my theory I had thought of earlier to dry my cast better.
It was a one person bathroom, so I didn't have to worry about anyone walking in and wondering what I was doing. I pressed on the button to start the heater and also worked on the molding at the same time. It wasn't helping at all. Maybe the heat wasn't strong enough. I lowered my arm to get more of a cooler air, which sort of helped.
Someone started knocking on the door asking if I was almost done. "Sorry, I'm coming out now." It wasn't dry, but it was better than when I left 'Jerk' earlier. I stepped out of the bathroom to see a woman with a disgusted look on her face.
I blushed at her thoughts and walked off. It was a bathroom after-all, even though the reason I was in there was to get my cast under control and not to, well, you know.
Everyone was talking when I walked in the room and I tried to catch on to what they were talking about, but I had no idea. I needed that excuse to get Alice alone again, plus, by doing that, I'd give my mom and Phil some time alone.
"Hey, Alice?" I looked toward her, waiting for her to look at me. She waited for me to continue. "Let's go get a drink and something to eat."
"You just ate not that long ago. How could you still be hungry?" Actually, I was hungry. I didn't eat very much today, so I had an excuse.
"I haven't eaten much today and I'm thirsty," I answered her and tried to give her some kind of signal with my eyes for us to leave my mom and Phil alone.
She caught on, finally, and headed my way. "Do you want us to pick something up for you, Phil?" We were going down there anyway.
"Maybe a coffee. If you don't mind? Oh, wait!" He stood up to get his wallet out and handed me a twenty dollar bill.
"Thanks, Phil," I said, grateful for the money. I didn't realize I probably didn't even have any left on me.
Alice and I walked off toward the elevators and I noticed she had taken all her stuff with her. "Going somewhere?"
"I really have to go study. I've already been here for far too long today, Bella. It's not because I don't want to be with you, but this project is extremely important to me," she replied. "Oh, crap. I'll be right back," she said and ran off toward my mother's room again.
She was back within a minute, not even giving the elevator the time to reach our floor. "I wanted to say bye to your mom before I left. Hopefully, I'll be able to come back tomorrow to see you guys, but it all depends on how my class will turn out. My mother's supposed to be here later, unless there was a change of plans." Change of plans? What plans?
"Am I..." The elevator doors opened, cutting me off mid-sentence. We walked in and let the doors close. "Am I missing something here?" I asked as I pressed the button for the main floor. "What plans are you talking about, Alice?" I was curious now. I wasn't the kind of person that liked surprises and she knew it too.
"Oh, there aren't any plans, Bella. I just meant that if something else came up for her, that would be the reason she won't be here," she finished off and shrugged her shoulders. I could tell she was hiding something though.
Before I had the chance to ask or say anything else, she hugged and kissed me good-bye and ran off. Was she avoiding me or was it really her studying that had pulled her away? I pushed the issue about her and Edward aside for now and headed off to the cafeteria to get a quick bite.
My mind just couldn't drop the issue about Edward and Alice. So as I ate my muffin, I tried to think about the possibilities of why she disliked him so much.
Did they date before? No, Alice would have definitely told me.
Did he hurt her? No, same as above and dad would not have let me stay at his place.
What was it? Ugh, I was starting to get frustrated trying to puzzle out the pieces. What am I missing here?
I shook my head to try to clear it and that's when Jessica walked by, of course. "Trying to find that brain of yours?" she asked, stupidly. I mean, how pathetic can you get?
"You know what Jess?" She hummed at me in response. "There's a time in life when we all need to grow up and that includes you. We aren't in high school anymore, therefore, get your act together," I said and then walked off before I couldn't control my anger against her any longer. The last thing I needed was another black eye, which I'm surprised she didn't say anything about. Not that I gave her the chance to either, since I'd walked away from her so fast it wasn't funny.
EPOV
I knew it was the right thing to do by having kicked everyone out so that Bella could have some time alone with her mother. Especially since I'd told her about the tumor this morning.
For a few seconds, I was actually jealous of her. She was able to tell her mother what she wanted to, unlike me, who was stupid enough to have waited, which made me lose that chance. It wasn't anybody's fault but mine. I just hoped she would take my advice and speak her mind.
It had opened a wound I had closed a long time ago when I'd spoken to Bella about my past, but it also took a weight I'd forgotten about off of my shoulders. I did tell her the truth when I said no one else knew about what I'd told her. It felt right to tell her at that moment and I had a feeling it would help her. She had to know the other possibilities and I was able to give her an idea.
I rubbed my face with my hand, trying to brush away my weariness and walked over to the front desk to pick my next patient's file. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Lauren was looking at me, but for once she didn't say anything. I opened up the file and realized it was a new patient.
I went over to the new patient's room to introduce myself. "Hello Mr. Clearwater. I'm Edward Cullen and I'll be taking care of you today," I stated.
"Please, call me Harry. Cullen, huh? You from Forks by any chance?" he asked me, making my brain try to remember him. There weren't many people in Forks, so everyone pretty much knew each other.
"Yes, I am from there. I'm sorry, but I don't recognize you. I have been gone from there for awhile now." My mind was still functioning as I tried to remember this man.
"I live on the reservation area beside forks. Are you related to Carlisle Cullen by any chance? I know he had a son or two," he said. What was with all the questions?
"He will actually be your doctor while you're here and will be here later to see you." I continued speaking before he could ask me anymore questions. I asked him if he was in pain and if so, where? You know, the usual. A quick check-up followed and I stepped out as fast as I could. I didn't want to talk about my personal life with some man I didn't know, even if he knew my father.
On my way to bring the file back and grab the next patient's, I walked by Renee's room and sneaked a peek to see if she was fine. She was talking to Bella, which I hoped had to do with what Bella needed to say to her. Was it really my business though? Maybe not, but I just wanted to make sure Bella wouldn't have the same burden as I did. She deserved to be at peace.
I walked off to put Harry's file back and grab my next patient's. I finished my rounds without a problem, changing a few IV's and stuff like that, you know, the usual. Not sure if I should go in to see Renee, since she was my next patient, I decided to just look inside the room to see if they were still talking with each other.
What I saw actually took my breath away. I also felt another jolt of jealousy pass through me as I looked at Bella sleeping peacefully in her mother's arms. Ugh, what the hell is happening to me? Why the hell was I jealous? What was wrong with me? All these emotions rushing through me was confusing me.
Maybe I made a mistake by telling Bella this morning. It opened up a wound that I had promised myself I wouldn't ever open. I should have thought about it first, but it was hard to do that with Bella in front of me and knowing it could help her.
I was getting frustrated with myself for feeling the way I was about the situation, so I decided to take a quick break and go downstairs to get something to drink. I mean, I should be happy for her, not jealous of her. These emotions were starting to freak me out. This wasn't how men were supposed to feel, right?
Was I turning into some kind of wuss? Was Bella the reason for this? How could I even think that? Ugh!
After I paid for my muffin and chocolate milk at the cash I walked outside to get some fresh air, hoping to clear my mind. It was cool outside and I inhaled deeply, not realizing there were people smoking nearby. I choked on the gross smell and walked further away. I felt like telling them to go smoke somewhere else, but I kept my mouth shut since it wasn't up to me. It's just frustrating how the smokers always hang out right beside the exits.
If I would have stayed, I probably would have said something like, 'Hey idiots, we don't want to inhale your damn cigarette smoke, which is why we don't smoke, so get the fuck away from the doors!' It's just frustrating that they never learn.
I remembered one of my mother's friends said she would quit smoking so she didn't get cancer, but from what I heard, she's still smoking. I'm sure it's hard to quit, but the way I look at it is that if you really care about your health, you'd find a way. No matter what.
Once I was finally away from the polluted air, I took another long breath and tried to relax. I ate my muffin and drank my chocolate milk in peace. No one bothered me or even looked at me. It felt good, which helped me feel more relaxed.
About five minutes later I walked back up to my station and into Renee's room to find everyone around Bella. "Is everything okay, Bella?" I asked.
"She hurt her arm, that's supposed to be in a cast," Alice hissed at me. "Maybe you're not cut out for this job after all."
Damn it! I'd forgotten about that, even though I did call the day before for them to do it. I took it easy with Alice and then left to make some calls on that issue. It didn't take long, but I hoped it was as quick for someone to come get her and finish what was needed to be done. She did need that cast.
I continued my rounds and discovered Harry Clearwater was missing. I asked Lauren about it and she said he'd been taken away to get some more tests done as Carlisle ordered. Alright then, next patient.
That round took longer than usual for some reason. I decided to go back to see Renee since I hadn't even had the chance to actually check on her since this morning. I hoped Alice wouldn't be there, but that would have been way too good to be true.
As I walked in, the first person I saw was the one I wanted to avoid, of course: Alice. I went straight for Renee and noticed that she definitely needed her pouches changed, therefore I walked right back out to get the medicine. I heard Alice mumble something that sounded like 'coward'.
My hands were full of medication for Renee as I walked back into her room. This time, I avoided Alice and realized Bella wasn't there. I hoped she was finally getting her cast done. I changed all of the pouches and asked Renee if she was okay. She let me know that she was, so I stepped back out before I could get barked at again.
I looked up at the time and realized it was past four and Angela hadn't arrived yet. I went through the patients files to make sure I'd written everything that was needed and that I didn't miss anything.
Closing the last file and placing it in its slot, Angela walked out of the elevator doors. "I'm sorry I'm late again. I don't know why there's so much traffic lately. I guess I'll have to start leaving earlier than usual," she said with an apologetic look on her face.
"Don't worry about it. I hadn't even noticed you were late," I lied and then told her about our new patient, Harry Clearwater.
We said good-bye to each other and I went over toward the elevators to go downstairs. I knew Bella wasn't in her room as the last time I checked she still wasn't back. Although, Alice wasn't there either. I figured I'd go get changed and then come back to check on her before leaving. Hoping she'd come back home with me again tonight.
The elevator doors opened so I walked straight toward them, but instead of looking ahead of myself I looked toward Renee's room and ran into someone. Literally. "Ouch." I heard someone wince in pain. My head quickly changed position to see who was in front of me. "Sorry," a female voice said, hiding her face.
"Bella?"
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