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A/N- Capricorn75 has bullied me into posting the rest of it. Thanks.

I felt foolish for feeling so paranoid. Edward had tried calling me, honestly. I'd deal with it, later. It had been the last thing on my mind while Jeannie was in the ICU.

"I'm in no shape to talk about it right now," I told Edward.

"Fine," Edward said. Charlie entered the room.

"Hi, Bella. Hi, Dr… Edward?" he asked.

"Hi, Charlie," Edward replied. "She's doing much better."

"Bells, why don't you let me stay with her? You go home and take a shower," he said.

"Dad, I'm in no shape to drive, I'm so sleep-deprived," I said.

"I can drive you," Edward said. I bet you want to, I thought. I couldn't place my finger on why I was so angry at him, but I was. While I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth, it would give him an opportunity to have a long talk with me, although my brain was going in 50 different directions right now, I couldn't hope to hold a decent conversation with him if I tried.

"If you could, Edward, that would be great," Charlie said.

"Come on, Bella, I was about to go home, anyways," he said.

In a dreamstate, I followed him to the employee parking garage and to his Volvo. He let me into the passenger seat.

Somewhere between my house and the hospital, I fell asleep. I woke up in an unfamiliar bedroom with a stand-up piano in the corner and the sun was just going down outside. I looked around, slightly scared. This bed was incredibly comfortable. It had to be one of those pillow top mattresses that felt like a featherbed. What had just happened? Were the past four days a nightmare? I lifted the sheets, and I was in the same clothes I had been wearing for almost a week, now.

There was a staircase that led down to something familiar. I found a living room with leather furniture- and a trestle table that I had sat on naked. I almost fainted. I was in Edward Cullen's beachside cottage. Edward was standing at the kitchen stove, making something. He was dressed in gray pajama pants that might have been made of cashmere, and a navy blue long-sleeved top and crocs. "Good morning. Or should I say good afternoon?" he asked, turning around. I looked down and realized I was still dressed in my clothes from the hospital.

"Why am I in your house?" I asked.

"You fell asleep in my car," he said. "And when I got to your house, we were locked out. You forgot your purse, we had no keys. I didn't have the heart to drag you back to the hospital, I wanted to rest, too, so I just brought you home. Do you want some tilapia?"

"Is that your room?" I asked, pointing up the staircase.

"Yes," he said.

"Why did you put me in there?" I asked.

"Because it kept you out of the way, Bella," he said, putting a plate down on the table. "I slept on the couch down here. Geez, you sure are hostile."

"Can't you guess why?" I asked.

"It was an accident," he said. "I've corrected your phone number in my phonebook."

I was being hostile. It was easy to fall back on negative behavior. I was still angry over losing Mike, but I wasn't angry at Mike. What was there to be angry over, now? Who was there to be angry at? The Universe? God? For taking Mike from me? When it came down to it, Edward was a good man. He was honest and polite and kind. He had expressed affection towards me in the way he thought I wanted, although he had been a bit drunk and I had been more sober than he had been. The anger I had been squelching and suppressing for so long was tiring. I was tired of being angry. I sat down on the couch, resting my head in my hands so he couldn't see the angry tears that were filling my eyes and threatening to rush down my cheeks or the lump rising in my throat.

"I'm sorry," I said, my voice cracking. "Honest mistake."

"Bella," he said, sitting down beside me, pressing a hand to my shoulder blade.

"I'm sorry," I repeated myself. "I'm so tired of being angry."

"I know," he said. "Let's skip dinner for now," he said, picking me up. He carried me up the stairs and to the bathroom, setting me down on a chair. He went over to the giant, deep bathtub and turned it on. "Let's see if I can remember how to work this thing."

"You don't know how to run your own bathtub?" I asked, wiping my face.

"I've used it once since I've been here," he admitted. He finally got the plug working and the tub began filling up. I realized it was a Jacuzzi bathtub. I had only seen one of those on my honeymoon before and on TV.

"Thanks, I can get it from here," I said, standing.

"No," he said, standing up. "No, let me take care of you, Isabella." He gently, carefully undressed me. I was thoroughly aware of my bodily imperfections as my clothing came off- childbirth and breastfeeding had left my body not nearly as pert or as firm as before. He didn't seem to notice. He picked me up when I was completely naked and set me down in the bathtub as it filled. It was a huge bathtub, really. The water felt wonderful.

He got out a washcloth and a bottle of shampoo. I slipped under the water to wet my hair down. It was so greasy, if I had run my hand up through it, I'm sure it would have stood straight up. He washed my hair for me as I wiped my eyes. The tears kept flowing. I didn't know why I was crying so much. Maybe it was too much sleep after almost nine months of motherhood.

Edward was very gentle with my hair as he washed it.

"How's this?" he asked. "I'm not getting shampoo in your eyes, am I?"

"No," I answered. "Do you have any conditioner?" I asked.

"No," he said. "Sorry. I'll have some next time."

"There's not really going to be a next time, is there?" I asked. He didn't answer. He tenderly pushed me down into the water to rinse it out. I sat up. "You know, Jeannie's afraid to put her head under the water when I give her baths."

"That's normal," he said. He used the soap on the washcloth and washed off my back. I was probably going to leave a ring around the bathtub I was so dirty. He moved on to my arms, my shoulders… then my breasts. I shivered and his breath caught in his throat. He didn't stay on them for long. He washed my legs off, then my feet. "Do you want to just sit in here? Do you want me to turn the jets on?"

"I just want to stay in here, that's all," I said. "Until the water turns cold."

"Alright. Would you like some wine?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. He got up and left the room. I leaned back in the giant bathtub. I secretly wished he was holding me in it, although I felt quite guilty. Mike did this for me not just a year ago.

Edward entered the room with a beautiful pair of wine glasses and a bottle. He poured it for me. "Say when," he said.

"When," I said. He handed me the stem. I set it on the edge of the tub. "Thank you, Edward." I wish you were in here with me, holding me.

I tried to relax. Edward sat down beside the bathtub and took off his shoes. I had never found feet attractive before, but his were kind of sexy. He poured his own glass. "Are you hungry?" he asked.

"Yeah, a little bit."

"I'll bring something up for you after you get out," he said. We sat in silence for a few minutes. "What happened to you on New Year's Eve? I wasn't as drunk as I was pretending to be."

"I started thinking about Mike," I admitted. "It's a lot of things. I worry that he was the love of my life. And that he doesn't want me dating just yet."

"You were high school sweethearts, weren't you?"

"Yes."

"What were his last words to you? Do you remember?" he asked.

"I love you. Never forget that," I said. His fingers tapped the wine glass.

"What makes you think that the love of your life would want you to be unhappy?" Edward asked. "Especially if he says things like that to you in passing. He didn't know that that day was the last day of his life. He only knew that he was going to be apart from you for a day. He doesn't want you to feel guilty, like you're betraying him for going on with your life. The world keeps on turning, Bella. Mike knows this."

"You're talking about Mike in present tense."
"I know."

"Everybody around me talks about him in the past."

"I believe in life after death. It's kind of hard not to with all that I see in the ER."

"Why?" I asked. "You're a man of science."

"Bella, I can't believe that energy just dies. I know that Mike still loves you. I hate competing with his memory, but I can see that you want to move on, but it's your love for him that won't let you."

"What do I do? I just wish somebody else could tell me what to do I'm so confused," I said.

"I can't," he said. "I wish I could make you love me."

"What?" I asked.

"I wish I could make you love me," he repeated. "I'm just afraid I'm falling in love with you. And Jeannie. I hate to admit it. It's happening so fast. That's why what you said to me this morning just about killed me."

"Edward-"

"No, really," he said. "Maybe it's too soon to say I'm in love with you, but I think about you a lot. Really. That's why I came home from Chicago early." I slid down further into the tub, my chin skimming the water. The water was starting to cool off. I shivered, slightly. "Until you freaked out, I was so happy New Year's Eve. I thought you liked aggressive sex, although I never intended on hurting you. I didn't hurt you did I?"

"Not in a bad way," I said. "Can we not talk about the sex?"

"Alright," he said. "How's the water?"

"It's getting cold," I said.

"Do you want to get out?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. He stood and held out a hand to me, helping me up. He wrapped a white, fluffy towel around my shoulders and picked me up to help me over the edge of the bathtub. I set my feet onto the bathmat as he set me down. I didn't feel so paranoid about my body, now. I took the towel and ran it over my limbs and then towel-dried my hair. I didn't care anymore that I was completely naked in front of him, now. This was an honest, raw, vulnerable moment, not like New Year's. I wasn't sure what to wear, now. I didn't have any clothes from home. I wondered if Charlie was worried about me, if he had been back to the house, yet. I had left my purse at the hospital, along with my keys and my cell phone. I wondered if Edward had contacted anybody to tell them that I was at his house and not my own. A sense of tiredness washed over me, again.

I wondered into the bedroom and climbed into the bed. He climbed onto the bed beside me and cupped my face, kissing me. I felt so comfortable with him. I laid back and he covered me with the sheets.

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