HUGELY IMPORTANT – READ!

1. Why did Renee choose the most agonizing way to die and not something easier?...............because she has tried every other method and has gotten caught. This was the only one left.

2. Why did Renee set the house on fire with Bella inside it?.....................Well, Renee didn't KNOW that Bella was there, otherwise she wouldn't have ever done it.

EPOV

My nerves were drawn tight and thinned to the point that at any moment they'd break. For three excruciating days Bella drifted in and out of sleep. Her injuries weren't fatal but they would need time to heal.

The fingers of her right hand were burned the most severely. The delicate skin of her fingertips had nearly melted off, exposing the muscle beneath. Skin grafts were needed for her fingers. Her right arm up to her elbow had second degree burns but they would heal with time and antibiotics. The skin of her ankles had very minor burns and would heal themselves in days.

It was a miracle she was even alive.

Real flowers weren't allowed in her room. The blossoms were full of bacteria and therefore could infect the burns. Plastic nylon flowers, however, were acceptable.

I sat in the highly uncomfortable chair next to her. Bella's hair was dull and brittle from the heat of the flames, the shine completely gone, and the strands now were so delicate that they broke easily. Her face was clean but pale, her lips slightly parted.

I felt so utterly useless. There was nothing I could do to help her except hold her undamaged hand and pray to a God I hadn't spoken to in years, begging Him to heal her. If I could only strip away my health and hand it to her, I would have.

I would do anything to ease the pain that the massive amounts of morphine only masked.

The doctors said that she passed out from smoke inhalation, as was common in victims of house fires. I kissed her knuckles gently, making myself think of things other than how I could possibly explain to her.

Slowly, I saw her eyes open, unsteady and unfocused. I held my breath, seeing the dark eyes that I loved so much. The blankness I saw made my heart clench – she didn't recognize me.

BPOV

I felt as if my bones were cemented in place. It took all my strength to simply open my eyes. Everything blurred, colors distorted and melded together. A dull, festering pain burned up my right arm and I tried to ignore it. I had never had a high tolerance for pain and now was no exception.

"Bella?"

The voice was soft but I would know it even if I was blind, deaf, and mute. In my dreams, all drug induced, I dreamt that Edward left me, that he didn't want to care for a burnt woman.

Edward's face was haggard, dark shadows under his eyes as if someone had smeared blueberry juices under the deep green orbs I knew so well. He hadn't shaved that morning, dark stubble spread over his jaw, and worry was etched in his eyes.

"Bella…do you know who I am?"

Confused, my eyebrows furrowed. "Of co – " I stopped, my voice faint and raspy. My throat was raw. I took a deep breath and whispered instead. "Of course I know you, Edward."

There was something wrong. I could sense it in the way his eyes shifted down to our joined hands. He was hiding something from me, something monumental.

"What's wrong?" I whispered, wishing I could speak regularly. Dizziness swept over me then and I had to stop, my vision blurring. The mint green of the walls dipping drastically to the left.

"Bella?" His voice was immediately concerned and he rose out of the chair he had been sitting in. "Bella? Bella, what's happening? Are you okay?" His hands were gentle of my jaw.

I nodded impatiently, upset at my own frail body and my inability to heal in a day. "What is wrong, Edward?" I asked again, reaching up to touch his face. But the tubes taped to my arm held me back. I reached down to rip them off.

"No you don't," he muttered, stilling my hand.

There was something on the fringes of my memory, something horrific I couldn't remember. I furrowed my eyebrows, concentrating on recalling the reason I was in this room with medical equipment.

He sighed and moved away from me, his eyes dark and troubled.

"I had wanted to give this to you before," he began, changing the subject. He pulled a box out of his pocket. It almost looked like a velvet box in which one would encase an engagement ring. My heart rate began to increase, registering on the beeping box beside me. "But now seems like the right time," he said, sitting heavily on the edge of the hospital bed. "Bella, I want you to know that I love you beyond all reason and that I will always be here for you." His forest green eyes stared urgently into mine. Gently he held the box out to me, opening it.

Inside was blue stone on a thin silver chain. My breath caught in my throat as I looked at the necklace.

"What do you think?" he inquired softly.

I looked up at him. "It's beautiful," I answered. "But you shouldn't have; it's too much money."

He was silent, his eyes sad as he watched me. Their dark depths unnerved me and I was once again aware of the fact that he was keeping something from me. I watched as he silently deliberated. Then he took the necklace from its box and fastening it around my neck, the thin silver sliding icily over my skin.

"Edward?" I said quietly, my raw throat forcing me to whisper. "Why won't you tell me what's going on?"

He took a deep breath. "The doctors felt that it would be better for you to be spared the knowledge until you were stronger. But you have a right to know." Edward took my unscathed left hand in his, and the warmth and pressure of his skin was comforting.

A horrifying dread washed over me. Swatches of memory burst inside my mind like overripe berries. There had been heat, oh God, the heat. And there were red containers of flammable gasoline. The nauseating stench. Slowly, I began to put the pieces together, realizing the truth.

"Renee's burns were extensive," Edward said quietly. "Although they were able to get you both out of the house in record time, she only lived for five minutes longer." His eyes were soft with empathy. "Renee died on the way to the hospital, Bella."

My lungs stopped, my brain ceasing to function. Shock, thick and sluicing, filled my body. No, my mother couldn't be dead.

Then, against my will, flashes of memory assaulted me. I saw her body encased in white-hot flames, the flesh blackening and peeling. I heard her scream once again. The images were seared into my retinas and as much as I blinked, they would not disperse. Desperate, frantic tears leaked down my cheeks.

She had finally succeeded.

Renee had joined Charlie.

"The funeral is tomorrow," Edward began, almost reluctant to interrupt my dawning misery. "She is to be buried alongside Charlie."

I stared at the opposite wall, the liquid running faster down my cheeks. And despite myself, my lips pulled up into a small, weak smile. "She deserves to be beside him for the rest of eternity," I whispered. "It's what she has dreamed of for so long."

For the majority of my life, I hated my mother. After my father's death she had retreated into herself, seemingly forgetting she had a child to care for. But I no longer resented her. I understood why she had plotted and attempted suicide for so long. I had been so blind, only thinking of what I would do without her, how I couldn't live without her. But she had lived years in misery, dead inside. Did I really have the right to whine and beg her to continue living a life that was pure agony?

The pain of her loss crippled me, like a knife to the back of my ankle, slicing the tendon. I wept for the beautifully strong woman my mother had been and for the pain she had felt every day of her life.

Edward's arms were soft and strong around me as I cried into his shirt. For hours, I cried. I was thankful that he didn't tell me that she was in a better place or that she had finally achieved happiness. He didn't say anything. There was only his arms cradling me the best he could in my hospital bed, only the mental and emotional agony that burst inside me. It was a long time before my tears subsided and I could do anything.

And despite the horrible truth, there was an odd sense of peace inside me that had been lacking before. I had never even known that it was missing, not until I had it. I was finally at peace with my mother. A peace of the soul.

The sobs still came, thick and tearing, yet I finally understood.

And I forgave.

Please don't be upset everyone about the length of this chapter. This was a HUGE chapter for content. So don't complain, please, and say that it should have been longer. This is exactly the length it needed to be.

The end of this story is very, very near. I expect that there will be only 2 more chapters until it's completely finished. So I hope you liked this chapter and please tell me what you think. *begs on knees* Please?

-Oriana