If you re cognize it, then I probably don't own it
Chapter 25: An Impasse
I opened my eyes to see a bright, white room. I was unfamiliar room, a white room, which was mostly blurry. It wasn't even egg shell white, it was some off-color orange-ish color—Navajo white. The wall beside me was covered in long vertical blinds; over my head, the glaring off-color lights from soft serve light bulbs were slightly yellow. I was propped up on a hard, uneven bed—a bed with rails. The pillows I was laying on were super airy and lumpy, like hotel pillows. There was an annoying beeping sound somewhere close by. Gahh, purgatory shouldn't be this boring. Where was the suburban family I was going to haunt?
My hands were twisted up with the clear tubes, and something was taped across my face, around my ears, under my nose. I lifted my hand to touch it.
"No, you don't." And cool fingers caught my hand.
"Edward?" I turned my head slightly, and his face was just inches from mine, his chin resting on the edge of my pillow. I realized again that I wasn't dead. "What the fuck are you doing here? Also where is here?"
"Shh," He shushed me, "Everything's all right."
"What happened?" Something was clouding my memory as I tried to recall what happened. I only remembered the disgusting taste and the smell of gasoline.
"I was almost too late. I could have been too late," He whispered, sounding tormented.
"It was my stupid plan, Edward. I thought he had my mom."
"He tricked us all. It was letter that got us to you in time."
"I need to call my parents." I realized. "My contacts!"
"Alice called them. Renée is here—well, here in the hospital. She's getting something to eat right now." He reached over and handed me something, "Here, your glasses."
"She's here?" I tried to sit up, but the spinning in my head accelerated, and his hand pressed me gently down onto the pillows; then he helped me put my glasses on.
"She'll be back soon," He promised. "She's huge. And you need to stay still."
"But what did you tell her?" I asked. My mom was here and I was recovering from a vampire attack. "Why did you tell her I'm here? Where am I; exactly?"
"We told her it was a hit and run. That you were crossing the street, when someone plowed into you, you rolled up the window, and then drove away." He paused, "What? It could happen!"
"Yeah, in the Fast and Furious universe." I looked down at my body under the sheet, there was this huge lump where my ankle was.
"How bad am I?" I asked.
"You have a broken ankle, four broken ribs, some cracks in your skull, bruises covering every inch of your skin, and you've lost a lot of blood. They gave you a few transfusions. I didn't like it—it made you smell all wrong for a while."
"That must have been a nice change for you." I huffed, "But I still look good, right?"
"Hey; I like how you smell. And you always look good."
"So what exactly happened?" I asked quietly. He knew what I meant at once.
"I'm not sure." He looked away from my eyes, lifting my gauze-wrapped hand from the bed and holding it gently in his hand, careful not to disrupt the wire connecting me to one of the monitors.
"Talk, Flower."
He sighed, and didn't look at me. "He had you up, I thought he was using you as a shield, you looked mostly dead. Then he dropped you. He'd cut himself and you, and mixed your blood. And when we were curing you, I couldn't stop myself in time. That gym looked like a Tarantino movie."
"I knew I had a talent."
"I must really love you. I just licked one of your cuts, at the end, before I realized. I'm never going to do that again."
"Don't I taste as good as I smell?" I winked, I must have had a black eye 'cause it hurt.
"Even better—better than I'd imagined."
"Oh, now I regret making that smart ass-comment."
He raised his eye brows, "Being with you, is better than drinking your blood."
"Thanks."
"You should apologize, though."
"I'm sorry? No, wait what should I be apologizing for."
"For very nearly taking yourself away from me forever."
"That's not entirely my fault. That guy's the one who tried to kill me. I offered him a once-a-month scavenger blood hunt."
"What?!"
"I said I'd donate a pint of blood to him and leave it weird places so he could have the scavenger hunt he wanted." I told him.
"You're ridiculous."
"I was getting murdered, excuse me for self-preservation."
"I know why you went there and did that." He said comfortingly, "It was still irrational, of course. You should have waited for me, you should have told me."
"I did tell you, and if I waited for you, you wouldn't have let me go."
"No," He agreed, "I wouldn't."
Some memories were beginning to come back to me, I shuddered, and winced.
He was instantly anxious, "Miri, what's wrong?"
"What happened to James?"
"After he dropped you, Emmett and Jasper took care of him." He said regretfully.
"I didn't see them there?" I said, confused.
"They had to leave the gym… there was a lot of blood. Like all the Tarantino movies combined."
"But you stayed."
"Yes, I stayed."
"And Alice, and Carlisle…" I wondered aloud.
"They love you, too, you know."
A flash of painful imagines from the last time I'd seen Alice reminded me of something. "Did Alice see the tape?" I asked anxiously.
"Yes." His voice grew incredibly dark, to a tone of sheer hatred.
"She was always in the dark, that's why she didn't remember."
"I know. She understands now." He said evenly, but his face was black with fury.
I tried to reach for him with my free hand, but something stopped me. I glanced down to see the IV pulling at my hand.
"Ugh." I winced.
"What is it?" He asked anxiously—distracted, but not enough. The bleakness didn't entirely leave his eyes.
"Needles suck ass." I explained, looking away from the one in in my hand. I concentrated on the popcorn-textured ceiling. I took a deep breath despite the pain in my ribs.
"Afraid of a needle," He muttered to himself, under his breath, shaking his head. "Oh, a sadistic vampire, intent on torturing her to death, sure, no problem. Give her an hour, she'll have a plan and a back-up plan. No problem, she runs off to meet him. An IV on the other hand…"
"Fuck off. What are you here anyway?" I asked.
He stared at me, first confusion and then touched his eyes. His brows pulled together as he frowned. "You tell me to fuck off a lot, do you not want me here?"
"It's an expression!" I protested. "No, I meant, why does my mom think you're here? I need to have my story straight before she gets back."
"Oh, well, first in the gym, you said you were scared and wanted me to stay with you." he said, and his forehead smoothed back into marble. "Your mom thinks I came to Ivywood to talk some sense into you, to convince you to come back to Forks." His wide eyes were so earnest and sincere, I didn't down that he made my mom believe him. "You agreed to see me, and you drove out to the hotel where I was staying hotel with Carlisle and Alice—of course I was here with parental supervision," He inserted virtuously.
"Yeah, because all we do is fuck."
"Exactly." He agreed, and continued his story. "But, you weren't allowed to park in the hotel lot so you found on close by, on the way to the hotel someone ran you over and… well, you know the rest. You don't need to remember any details, though; you have a good excuse to be a little muddled about the finer points."
I thought about it for a moment. "There are a few flaws with that story. Like the placement of the injuries. And the fact that I was wearing contacts, the last time I was awake."
"Not really," He said. "No one is thinking about that; they're looking for the car that ran you over. You took your contacts out when I was carrying you out of the school, you were saying something about—and I'm paraphrasing here—'I have to take my redacted contacts out, before I get a redacted infection.'"
"Did you just say 'redacted'? Did you redact what I say?"
He kissed my cheek gently, "You curse a lot. Your only job now is to heal."
"That sounds boring." I muttered to myself.
He chuckled, and a speculative look came into his eyes. "Hmm, I wonder…"
He leaned in slowly; the beeping noise accelerated before his lips even touched me. But when they did, with the gentlest pressure, the beeping skipped once.
He pulled back, his expression of wonder turning to relief as the monitor reported to the normal beating.
"It seems that I'm going to have to be even more careful with you than usual." He said.
"Why?"
"Cause your heart literally skips a beat when I kiss you." He grinned cockily.
"Don't make me hit you; I'm injured." I complained, "And the machine is probably broken anyway. What hospital are we at anyway?"
"Didn't I say?"
"No."
"Oh, it's Monterey General." He said, lightly.
"Alright, come back. I'm not finished kissing you."
He grinned, and bent to press his lips lightly to mine. Our lips parted in tandem; the heart monitor beeped steadily.
But then his lips were taut, and he pulled away.
"I think I hear your mom." He said, grinning again.
"Don't leave!" I said, irrationally. I didn't want him to leave yet; though I don't know why.
He read the terror in my eyes for a second, "I won't," He promised solemnly, and then he smiled. "I'll take a nap."
He moved from the hard plastic chair by my side to the turquoise faux-leather recliner at the foot of my bed, leaning it all the way back, and closing his eyes. He was perfectly still.
"Don't forget to breathe." I reminded him. He took a deep breath, his eyes still closed.
…
I could hear my mom now. She was talking to someone, maybe a nurse, and she sounded tired and upset. I wanted to jump out of the bed and run to her, to get a hug, to tell her everything was okay. That I was okay. But I wasn't in any sort of shape to jump out of bed, so I waited patiently for her.
The door opened a crack, and she peeked through.
"Mom!" I said, I hadn't seen her in so many months.
She took in Edward's still form on the recliner, and tiptoed, waddled, to my bedside.
Edward was right; she was incredibly huge. If I hugged her my hands wouldn't have been able to fully wrap around.
"He never leaves, does he?" She muttered to herself.
"Mom, I'm so happy to see you! You're huge."
She bent down carefully to hug me gently, and I felt warm tears falling on my cheeks.
"Peachy Cream, I was so upset."
"I'm sorry, Mom, but everything's fine now, I'm okay."
"I'm just glad to finally see your eyes open." She sat on the edge of my bed.
I hit me that I didn't know what day it was. "How long have I been sleeping."
"It's Friday, baby, you've been sleeping for a while."
"Friday?" I repeated shocked. I tried to remember what day it had been when… but I didn't want to think about it.
"They had to keep sedated for a while, Peachy—you've got a lot of injuries."
"I know, I can feel them."
"You're very lucky that that Dr. Cullen was there. He's such a nice man… very young, though. And he looks more like a model than a doctor."
"You met Carlisle?"
"And Edward's sister, Alice. She's a lovely girl."
"She is." I agreed.
She glanced over the shoulder at Edward, lying with his eyes closed in the chair. "You didn't tell me you had such good friends in Forks."
"I did too!" I protested, "I sent you an email!" I twisted, then cringed.
"What hurts?" She demanded anxiously, turning back to me. Edward's eyes flashed to me.
"I'm fine." I assured them. "I just have to remember not to move." He lapsed back into his phony slumber.
I took advantage of my mother's momentary distraction to keep the subject from return to my less-than-candid responses, "Where's Steve?" I asked quickly.
"Valley Plains Charter—Oh, Miri! You'll never guess! Just after we got the call about you, we heard some terrible news!"
"What?" I remember the smell in the gym as Edward was carrying me away… gasoline.
"Someone burned part of your old school down! The fireman suspect arson; and The Board think it was a senior prank gone wrong. It all started in the dance gym; you know, the gym you used to hide when you skipped P.E.."
"You're kidding me." I said, as surprised as I could manage.
"Yeah; I had just gotten off the phone with Alice Cullen, she was telling me where you were; when Steve got a call from The Board. Someone went in and doused the place in gasoline and burned it. The Fire Chief said it was too controlled to be anything but arson. It only burned the dance gym and the auxiliary gym. That part of the school is mostly ashes."
"Really?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, Peachy, I'm so glad your back. After what happened to you when Steve and I were in L.A. with Lizzy, who by the way is got promoted from Production Assistant to the Assistant Director in the Lighting Department; I'm not letting you out of my sight again. We'll move the baby's stuff from you're room into the guest bedroom; it's all yours. We're going to have to repaint it, unless you want a purple room—"
"Wait! Mom," I interrupted. Edward still had his eyes closed; but he looked too tense to sleep. "What are you talking about? I'm not coming back. I live in Forks."
"But you don't have to anymore, Peach." She laughed. "Steve promised he won't try to change your name anymore. And he wants to build a relationship with you; as father-daughter as he can. And with the baby coming; I'll be home to take care you while you recover."
"Mom." I hesitated, wondering how to tell her. "I want to live in Forks. I'm already settle in school, despite leaving in the middle of the semester, I have a couple of close friends, and larger group of friends"—she glanced toward Edward again when I reminded her of friends , so I had to go in another direction—"and Dad needs me, when his girlfriend is working. He's lonely, mom, he can't cook at all."
"You want to stay in Forks?" She asked, utterly bewildered. The idea of going back inconceivable to her. And her eyes flicked towards Edward. "Why?"
"I told you—school, Dad—owie!" I'd shrugged. "That wasn't the best idea…to move."
Her hands fluttered helplessly over me, trying to find a safe place to pat. She made do with stroking my forehead; it was un-bandaged.
"Peachy Cream, you hate Forks," She reminded me.
"It's gotten…better."
She frowned and looked back and forth between Edward and me, this time extremely deliberate.
"Is it this boy?" She asked.
I opened my mouth to tell the world's cleverest lie; but the way her eyes were scrutinizing me, and I knew that she would see right through it.
"He's… part of it…maybe," I admitted. No need to confess any more than that. "Have you talked to him, yet?"
"Yes," She hesitated, looking at his still form, "And I want to talk to you about that."
Uh-oh, "What about?" I asked, so casually.
"I think that boy is in love with you;" She accused, keeping her voice low.
"Really?"
"Yes;" She narrowed her eyes, and rubbed her stomach with her left hand. "Really, and how do you feel about him?" She barely concealed the curiosity in her voice.
I looked away. As much as I loved my mom, this was not a conversation I wanted to have right now, "I'm interested in him." There that sounded like something that I would say.
"Well, he seems very nice, and my goodness, he's incredibly good-looking, but you're so young, Miri…" She said. I recognized the reasonable-but-firm tone from the talks we'd had in previous years. Most recently the time I asked to go on the birth control, because of the world's most painful cramps, when I was sixteen.
"I know that, Mom. Don't worry about it. We're not going elope, it's just a crush." I told her.
"That's right." She agreed, easily pleased.
She sighed and glanced guiltily over her shoulder at the big, round clock on the wall.
"Do you need to go?"
She bit her lip. "Steve's supposed to call in a little while… I didn't know you were going to wake up…"
"No problem, Mom." I glanced at Edward, "I'm not going to be alone."
"I'll be back soon. I've been sleeping here, you know." She announced.
"Mom, you shouldn't do that! You can sleep at home—I'm okay." The morphine being pumped into me was making it hard to concentrate even now, though I'd been sleeping for days.
"I couldn't leave you, Peachy." She admitted. "It's been hard having my baby in the hospital, knowing I couldn't do anything to help."
"Mom, I'm okay, I promise."
"I can stay, Peach, if you need me." She stroked my hair.
"No, Mom, I'll be fine. There's an entire hospital staff I can annoy."
She looked like she was going to demand she stay; "I'll be back tonight." She promised.
"I love you, Mom."
"I love you, too, Miri. I'll be back soon. Next time you cross a street please, please double check before you cross the road."
Edward's eyes stayed closed, but a wide grin flashed across his face.
…
A nurse came bustling in then to check all my tubes and wires. My mother kissed my forehead, patted my gauze-wrapped hand, and waddled out.
The nurse was checking the paper read out on my heart monitor.
"Are you feeling anxious, honey? Your heart rate got a little high there."
"I'm fine."
"I'll tell your RN that you're awake. She'll be in to see you in a minute."
…
As soon as she closed the door, Edward was at my side.
"You control burned my old school?" I raised an eyebrow.
He smiled, unrepentant, "It was necessary; there was blood everywhere, and a dead vampire. We had to burn him."
"So how was your nap?" I asked, changing the subject.
"Interesting," His eyes narrowed.
"What?"
He looked down while he answered. "I'm surprised. I thought California… and your mom… well, I thought that's what you'd want."
I stared at him uncomprehendingly, "But you'd be stuck inside all day in California. You come out at night, like a real vampire." I giggled.
He almost smiled, not quite. "I would stay in Forks, Miri. Or someplace where I couldn't hurt you anymore."
It didn't sink in at first, I continued to stare at him blankly as the words one by one clicked into place in head like a ghastly puzzle. I was aware of the sharp aching in my protesting ribs. The beeping of the heart monitor was increasing.
He didn't say anything; he watched my face warily.
…
And then another nurse walked into the room. Edward sat still as stone as she took in my expression with a practiced eye before turning to the monitors.
"Time for more morphine, sweetheart?" She asked kindly, tapping the IV feed.
"No, not." I mumbled, trying to keep the agony out of my voice, "I don't need anything yet." I didn't want to sleep now.
"No need to be brave, honey. It's better if you better you don't get too stressed out; you need rest." She waited but I shook my head.
"Okay," She sighed. "Hit the call button when you're ready."
She gave Edward a stern look, and threw an anxious glace at the machinery, before leaving.
…
One of his cool hands clutched one of my hands.
"Shh, Peach, calm down."
"You know the best way to calm someone down is to tell them to calm down." I said pretentiously.
He frowned.
"Don't leave, okay?" I asked.
"I won't," He promised, "Now relax before I call the nurse back to sedate you."
The monitor kept beeping fast.
"Miri," He stroked my face, gently. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right here as long as you need me."
"Please, swear you won't leave me?" I whispered. I tried to control the gasping. My ribs were throbbing.
He put his hands on either side of my face and brought his face close to mine. His eyes were wide and serious. "I swear."
The smell of his cologne was soothing. It seemed to ease the ache of my breathing. He continued to hold my gaze while my body slowly relaxed and the beeping returned to a normal pace. His eyes were dark, closer to black than gold today.
"Better?" He asked.
"Yes." I said cautiously.
He shook his head and muttered something unintelligible.
"Wanna share with the entire class?" I asked, "Are tired of having to save me all the time? Do you want me to go away?"
"No, I don't want to be without you, Miri, of course not. Be rational. And I have no problem with saving you either—if it weren't for the fact that I was the one putting you in danger… that I'm the reason you're here."
"The reason I'm here, is because some sadistic fucktruck vampire tried to kill me, and you showed up in time."
"Barely," He said, barely above a whisper. "Covered in gauze and plaster and hardly able to move."
"I wasn't referring to my most recent near-death experience," I growled, irritated, hurt, and drugged. "I was thinking of the others—you prick. If it weren't for you, I would I would be rotting in a Forks cemetery."
He winced at my words, but the haunted look didn't leave his eyes.
"That's not the worst part, though," He continued to whisper. He acted as if I hadn't spoken. "Not seeing you there on the floor… crumpled and broken." His voice was chocked. "Not thinking I was too late. Not even hearing you scream in pain—all those unbearable memories that I'll carry with me for the rest of eternity. No, the very worst was feeling… knowing that I couldn't stop myself from tasting you. I believed that I was going to kill you myself."
"But you didn't."
"I could have. So easily."
I knew I needed to stay calm… but he was trying to talk himself into to dumping me; and if anyone was going to dump anyone; I was going to dump him…eventually, I guess. If it came…to that.
"Promise me?" I asked.
"What?"
"You know what," I was starting to get angry now. He was stubbornly determined to dwell on the negative.
He heard the change in in my tone. My eyes tightened. "I don't seem to be strong enough to stay away from you, so I suppose that you'll get your way…whether it kills you or not." He added roughly.
"Good," He hadn't promised, though—a fact that I had not missed. I had no strength left to control the anger. "You saved me… now I want to know why." I demanded.
"What?" He repeated warily.
"Why did you it. Why didn't you just let me turn? By now I would be just like you."
Edward's eyes seemed to turn flat black, and I remembered that this was something he'd never intended me to know. Alice must have preoccupied by the things she'd learned about herself…or she'd been very careful with her thoughts around him—clearly, he'd had no idea that she'd filled me in on the mechanics of vampire conversions. He was surprised, and infuriated. His nostrils flared, his mouth looked as if it was chiseled from stone.
He wasn't going to answer, that much was sure.
"I'll be the first to admit that my experience with relationships is limited," I said. "But it seems logical that in a relationship the couple has to be, somewhat, equal…as in, we have to keep each other in the loop."
He folded his arms on the side of my bed and rested his chin on his arms. His expression was smooth, the anger reined in. Evidently he'd decided he wasn't angry with me. I hoped I'd get a chance to warn Alice before he caught up with her.
"You have saved me." He said quietly.
"Look man, I'm really drugged, okay, I don't really know what I'm asking." I insisted.
"I agree, you don't know what you're asking." He said softly; he stared intently at the edge of the pillowcase. "Miri, not only are you drugged out of your gourd now; but you don't know. I've had almost ninety years to think about this, and I'm still not sure."
"Do you wish that Carlisle hadn't saved you?"
"No, I don't wish that." He paused before continuing. "But my life was over. I wasn't giving anything up."
"Wait? Wait? Are we talking about the same thing?"
"You don't remember what we're talking about?"
"No, I remember what we're talking about, but think you don't know."
"So, what are you talking about?"
"You dumping me. I'm asking you to promise not to dump me right now."
"You're not asking me to turn you?"
"No!" I frowned, "I don't want that."
"So then why are we talking about vampirism?"
"Because I changed the subject, because I'm not in the physical condition to be dumped right now."
He signed a sigh of relief, "I'm not breaking up with you, Miri. I won't do that to you."
"Good." I looked at him, "Does it always feel like that?"
He glared at me.
"The pain? Is it always like that?" I felt sick thinking about the pain. I tried to keep my expression from showing how clearly I remembered the feeling… the original pain faded into a new pain of blistering depth.
"It's possible to take bravery to the point where it becomes insanity." He said.
"So it's like three days. Three days of that… why was it so fast for me?"
Edward grimaced again as my words reminded him that I was more informed than he had ever intended me to be. I watched him repress the anger, watched as his eyes grew speculative.
"Charlie?" He asked curtly, "Renée?"
Minutes passed in silence as I struggled to understand and answer his question. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. I closed it again. He waited, and his expression became triumphant because I knew I had no answer.
"Look, I'm not entirely sure what you're asking," I finally muttered, "Are you talking about it being so fast for me because of them, or are you thinking I want to be a vampire again? If this is about a vampire-me then A) my mom has made choices for her and I assume she'd want me to do the same. B) My dad's resilient, he's got Prissy now. C) I can't take care of them forever—"
"Exactly," He snapped, before I could finish. "And I won't end it for you."
"And D) I don't want to be a vampire!" I finished. "And if you thought about turning me on my deathbed, I was just there!"
"You're going to recover." He reminded me.
I took a deep breath, ignoring the spasm of pain it triggered. I stared at him, and he looked back at me.
"You may have a scar or two." His forehead creased.
"Why was my change so fast?" I asked again. "Why was I so quick to turn?"
"Really, Miri." He was anxious now. "You'll be out of here in a few days. Two weeks at most."
I glared at him, "Was dead there… I know I'm going to die sometime. Every minute of every day, I get closer. And I'm going to get old. But was I…dead there?"
He frowned as what I was asking sunk in, pressing his longer fingers to his temples and closing his eyes. "You're supposed to die when you're old. That's how it should happen. How it would have happened if I didn't exist—and I shouldn't exist."
I snorted. He opened his eyes in surprise. "You aren't saying anything that you haven't already said. It's like winning lottery, taking the money, and then going 'I'm not going to brag to anyone about that money to anyone.'"
"I'm hardly a lottery prize." He growled.
"I know." I raised my eyebrows.
He rolled his eyes and set his lips. "Miri, we're not having this discussion anymore. I refuse to tell you about that night."
"Of you think that's the end, then you don't know me very well," I warned him. "You're not the only one who was there that night."
His eyes went black again. "Alice wouldn't dare."
And for a moment he looked scary—I couldn't imagine someone stupid enough to cross him.
"Alice saw it already; didn't she?" I guess. "That's why you're upset. She saw me… become like you…someday."
"She's wrong. She saw you die that day; and you did. You were mostly dead when James turned you." The heart monitor beeped rapidly, "He turned you; and we turned you back. So you aren't like us. Your change didn't happen either."
I felt like a pile of bricks landed on my chest. We stared at each other for a very long time. I was quiet except for the whirring of the machines, the beeping, the dripping, the ticking of the big clock on the wall. Finally his expression softened.
"So where does this leave us?" I wondered.
He chuckled humorlessly, "I believe it's called an impasse."
I sighed. "Ouch." I muttered.
"How are you feeling?" He asked, eyeing the button for the nurse.
"I'm fine." I lied.
"I don't believe you," He said gently.
"I feel like a pile of bricks landed on me, but I don't want to sleep now. I want to talk about that."
"You need rest. All this news isn't good for you."
"C'mon, tell me more," I asked.
"Nice try," He reached for the button.
"No!"
He ignored me.
"Yes?" The speaker on the wall squawked.
"She said she wants more pain medication," He said calmly, ignoring my furious expression.
"I'll send the nurse." The voice in the wall told us.
"I won't take it." I told him.
He looked toward the sack of fluids hanging beside my bad, "I don't think they're going to make you swallow it."
My heart rate climbed. He read the fear in my eyes, and sighed in frustration.
"Miri, you're in pain. You need to relax so you can heal. Why are you being so difficult? They're not going to put anymore needles in you now."
"Good."
He smiled at me, and gently took my face between his hands. "I told you I'm not going anywhere. Don't be afraid. As long as it makes you happy, I'll be here."
I smiled back at him, ignoring the ache in my cheeks. "You're going to tell me about that night, you know."
"Oh, I know. But right now, you heal." Then he grinned, "So, you have a crush on me?"
"I can't believe my mom swallowed that one. I know you know better."
"That's the beautiful thing about being human," He told me, "Things change."
I narrowed my eyes, "Hold your breath, ass."
…
He was still laughing when the nurse came in, brandishing a syringe.
"Excuse me," She said brusquely to Edward.
He got up and crossed the end of the small room, leaning against the wall. He folded his arms and waited. I kept my eyes on him, still apprehensive. He met my gaze calmly.
"Here you go, honey." The nurse smiled as she injected the medicine into my tube. "You'll feel better now."
"Thanks," I mumbled. I could feel the morphine induced drowsiness trickling through my bloodstream almost immediately.
"That out to do it," She muttered as my eyelids drooped.
…
She must have left the room, because something cold and smooth touched my face.
"Stay," I slurred.
"I will," he promised. His was soft, "Like I said, as long as it makes you happy…as long as it's what's best for you."
I tried to open my eyes, but they were too heavy, "'S not the same thing." I mumbled.
He laughed, "Don't worry about that now, Miri. You can yell at me when you wake up."
"Damn straight." I think I smiled.
I could feel his lips on my forehead for a second, then at my ear.
"I love you." He whispered.
"I love you too." I slurred.
"I know." He laughed quietly.
I turned my head slightly. His lips touched mine gently.
I sighed.
"Anytime." I could hear him grin.
I wasn't really there anymore. But I fought against the morphine, there was one more thing I wanted to ask.
"Flower?" I struggled to pronounce his name clearly.
"Yes."
"Does Alice still see me that way?" I mumbled.
And then the night closed over me.
…
ONE MORE CHAPTER LEFT! AHHHHHH OMG IM SO HAPPY THAT IM ALMOST DONE! IF YOU'VE BEEN READING FROM THE FIRST CHAPTER THANKS FOR STICKING WITH ME SO LONG! AND IF YOU JUST STARTED READING THEN THANKS FOR STICKING WITH MY FOR A SO LONG! IF YOU STARTED READING AFTER IT'S ALL BEEN UPLOADED AND COMPLETED THAN THANKS!