there are exactly 3 more chapters (after this one) and then the epilogue left in Divided. I hoped to get it all up tonight, but with school tomorrow, i shouldn't stay up too late . . . .

doesn't mean i won't. :D

anyways, i'll see what i can do. in the meantime, please continue being awesome and reviewing. :D

ch. 24.

FIRST. i strongly recommend listening to this chapter song. why? because it's amazing, in my opinion. you don't have to. i just strongly recommend it. :)

27. Painting Flowers: All Time Low

Death wasn't an option for me, it seemed. The pain was worse now, worse than it had been before when everything was actually happening. My stomach was the worst thing, and let me just say, that hurt like a fucking bitch. I could feel something around my leg too, which felt weird. From the feel of it, the bones were back in the right place, so it must've been a cast. I could feel bandages on my wrist and arm from the cuts and the bite. I was in loose clothing, whatever it was. I felt strangely uncovered, pretty much naked even. It felt odd, and slightly weird . . . . I didn't like it.

Also, I was in a foreign bed. Did Edward take me to his house and make a bed magically appear?

Sound was the next feeling I gained back again. First it was touch and pain, and now, sound. I could hear monitors beeping beside me, which didn't totally lead me away from the Edward's house thing. But, the next sense—smell—did.

Edward's house doesn't smell like alcohol and other medicines mixed with the smell of bad food. His house smells amazing. This? Not so much.

Then, I felt someone sitting near me. It was the tug of the sheet underneath me that gave it away, but I could also sense a warm presence near me, warming my cold body up a little. Even though I was cold, I still knew I was alive.

My heart was still beating . . . .

I was able to move then, right as I started trying to guess who was sitting at the end of the foreign bed. I just shifted my position a little and forced my eyelids open. At first, though, everything was a blur. It was like before, causing me to panic for a moment, but that quickly changed. I could see now, a lot more clearly than I remember ever being able to see. Maybe I just got so used to the blur . . . .

Renée was the first person I saw. She was sitting on the side of the bed with her phone out, just typing away. She was texting.

"Mom," I mumbled quietly, giving her a weak smile. I gave her all I could, but there's only so much you can give when you almost died . . . however many hours ago. "You're texting?"

She gasped as she jumped up, making me jump a little—a painful reaction, unfortunately, but it was the reaction I had. "You're up!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Edward. He was sitting in the hospital chair "asleep." The instant he heard Renée say that, he opened his eyes. It didn't surprise me when he was thoughtfully watching me. At first, I saw all of the fear he had felt over the past hours—or however long it had been—but, after those moments, I saw pure relief and love.

"Yeah," I whispered, looking back to Renée now. My voice was hoarse and weaker than I had thought it would be. "How long was I out?"

She sighed before covering her mouth, tears forming in her eyes. "You were in a coma, Mayze. The blood loss was so bad you went into a coma. You've been out for a little over a week now. Eleven days, I think." She burst into tears. "They had already started talking about pulling the plug, because you were so bad. They thought there was no way you would make it."

My eyes slightly widened in horror as I blinked, not completely believing her as she said it. "Eleven days?"

"Yeah," Edward said softly to confirm that as he knelt down beside the bed, eyes full of pain as he looked at me. He gently took my right hand in his and just held it softly, his face twisting when my heart rate drastically sped up. Renée saw the look in his eyes and assumed he was just worried about me, but she didn't know the real reason why they were pained like I did. "You were."

"How long have you been here?" I asked hoarsely, frowning at him a little.

He gave me a half-hearted smile, almost as if he would be smiling innocently to get out of trouble if it was any other time. "I haven't left. Jacob's downstairs, along with Bella, your dad, and Emmett. Alice, Jasper, Rose, and Esme were here, but they've gone home now. Emmett, though . . . he refuses."

Renée smiled at him, the tears still on her cheeks, but not flowing now. "He's not the only one." She smiled at me. "I swear. The boy never leaves the room. Everyone else leaves to go to hotels, but he hasn't left for more than ten minutes. Those ten minutes are to shower."

As I studied Edward further, I noticed the dark purple circles under his eyes. His eyes were charcoal black, which was never a good thing. He looked tired, worn out, even. It was as if he hadn't hunted since I last remember seeing him.

And I knew why. He hadn't.

"Phil is so worried," Renée informed me. "He came by the second day you were in here, but this morning, he left, because he was in the process of signing a contract. He got drafted for the Florida Marlins."

Edward didn't even seem to be paying attention to her, though. His eyes were thoughtful and focused on me, nothing but me.

I gave her another half-hearted smile. "That's great, Mom. Tell him I said congrats and thanks for stopping by."

She smiled and nodded. "Okay. I'm gonna go get a nurse really quickly and tell everyone you're up. I'll be right back."

With that, she got up and left.

"You're not gonna tell me to go with Renée, are you?" I asked warily, studying his expression carefully.

He blinked and slowly shook his head. His thoughtful look never left as he studied me. "No, Mayze. I'm not. I don't want to think about that right now. When it gets absolutely necessary, we'll leave."

"But it won't," I insisted.

His eyes were now pained, but he was still thinking about that in the back of his mind, of course. "Mayze, you can't know that. Our definition of absolutely necessary is different from what the real definition is. I can't let this keep happening to you, or you might not wake up next time."

It was too upsetting, though, for me to reply. Just the thought of him leaving, the thought of him not being there . . . it was just too much.

Now, it was much worse than it had been before, that night I realized what he is. Then, it nearly killed me, but now?

It was an indescribable, heart tearing pain.

His fingers gently, like a feather, rubbed over my left wrist, surprising me a little. His eyes were unfocused as he stared thoughtfully at the now silver bite mark. "It's not normal, you know."

"What?" I asked weakly. I started to attempt to sit up a little, but the anxious look he instantly gave me made me stop in my place.

He must've realized it stunned me, because he looked away from me, towards the floor. "There should've been venom, you know. Can you feel your wrist at all? Are you burning?"

"I can't feel it," I admitted as his eyes moved back up to me. "Maybe her teeth hit a nerve."

I felt it was best not to mention the burning I went through while he was trying to kill her, at least not right now. He didn't need anything else to be upset about.

"Maybe," he agreed right before the door opened. His head turned up towards the door for a second, but he looked back at me almost instantly.

Charlie was the first person I saw, followed by Bella, and then Jacob. Jacob's face was hard and cold, and he had his hands on Bella's shoulders. Bella looked just as mad as he did. I mean, after eleven days, they were still mad about t . . . .

They weren't mad about this. I mean, they were, but their anger was directed not only towards Edward, but me too.

I didn't care though. Even though I just woke up from a coma, I had my own things to be mad at them about.

Bella's arms were folded across her chest as a sign of anger. But, on her face, there was a fake, worried, and happy smile that only I could tell was phony. Maybe Jacob too, but that'd be about it.

I was too weak to fake a smile back though. If I was gonna smile, then it better be sincere, or it's not happening.

Edward's face twisted in pain even further as he stared at the foot of the bed, avoiding Charlie's gaze. It must've been something Jacob was intentionally thinking at him.

Charlie replaced the spot where Renée had been sitting gently before giving me a weak, warm, worn out smile. Emmett and Edward were the liveliest looking ones, but even those two looked more tired than usual. Emmett's eyes were pitch black too, and the bruise like circles under Edward's eyes were under his too.

Everyone basically looked dead, and I'm sure I was the same way.

Something that hadn't occurred to me until now, even before the baseball game, was spring break had been the entire week I was out, last week.

I managed to choke out a laugh, despite the pain. It took everyone by surprise, though. They probably thought I was too weak to laugh, yet there I was, laughing away.

Edward, though, was the first to respond. A bright, brighter than I had seen since they were playing baseball but still not quite that bright, smile spread across his lips. You could tell he was overjoyed to know I would be okay. The laughter was the sign of that.

"What?"

But I knew, before I even said it, this was going to make the smile disappear. "I was just thinking."

The pause was enough to drive him insane. No one else but me could tell as the smile pressed into a tight line, and his eyes narrowed just the slightest bit the hidden message there.

Why do you purposely torture me?

I gave another weak laugh again before going on, aware as my hand came up to rest on his right cheek. "Whenever someone asks me what I did over spring break, I can honestly say I slept right through it."

I had been only partially right. His smile faded, but continued to remain sincere as he gently put his cold hand on my hand. The coolness, though, wasn't as cold as I remembered. It seemed faded, not quite as cold, and with the high voltage electric current rushing through it, I scarcely even noticed it was cold at all.

"Yeah, I guess you can," he whispered softly.

Charlie was looking at the floor, away from me. From what I could see, his eyes were agonized, and I didn't understand why he was so upset. "The house won't be the same without you, you know. Make sure you come visit whenever you get the chance."

For a second, all I could feel was confusion. My face must've reflected that, especially when I just blinked. "What?" Then, I realized what he was talking about. It clicked in my mind in that instant, and I felt that pain and regret all over again. Now, I was not only in physical pain but emotional pain too. The pain I had caused Charlie was uncalled for but necessary. "Dad, I'm staying in Forks."

You could tell that sorta hurt Edward, but at the same time, it made him overjoyed. He was mixed up, and for the first time in a long time, I saw that jumbled up emotions look in his eyes.

Now, it was lie time with a small truth so it would be able to sound like the truth. "Look, I'm sorry about what I said. It's just . . . when I realized it, and you know what that is, I was scared and confused. But, I realized before this happened that, you can't run from your fears. You can't just run and avoid everything, because then you miss the best things in life. Therefore, I'm staying, and I'm just gonna figure everything out."

A bright smile now crossed his lips as he turned to look at me. He was thrilled all over again, yet, it was worn out; a sign he desperately needed sleep. "Well, then. That solves that. Even better." He looked over at Edward and then back at me. "You're a trooper, you know."

I let out a small, quiet groan of pain as I sat up. Edward was tense, but once I was up, he was fine. "What exactly happened?"

Charlie sighed. "Well, you were at the Phoenix airport. Edward, Emmett, and Carlisle had come up there to bring you home, since they found out where you were headed. They came to talk to you, and when you were heading back to their hotel with them, you tripped onto a runaway room service cart, and one of the knives thrust into your stomach. You were stabbed with some of the forks in other places, and when you fell back, it broke your leg. It pushed you back down the stairs, where you banged up your head at the bottom. Of course, you can't forget the broken glassware you got inside of you. Luckily, Carlisle was there to get everything out before bringing you here."

"Wow," I said softly, finding the story almost funny, to the point I had to hold back another laugh. "That sounds like my luck."

He chuckled softly and nodded. "Yeah. It does."

What a story. They described it so well, everyone had to believe it. It sounded preposterous, but anyone who even somewhat knew me at all would believe it.

"How long do they think I'll be here?" I asked curiously, looking at Edward for a moment before gazing back at Charlie.

"Well," he said leisurely, biting his lip in that same way I always did when nervous, overjoyed, or thoughtful. "They're working something out with Carlisle right now. You might go home with them, back to Forks, and I'll check in on you every day. Everyone can go back to school, besides you, and you'll go there. That way we can get you back to Forks."

"Helps with the medical bill," Emmett explained before grinning at me. "Dang, Mayze. We're gonna have too much fun!"

"Except she won't be moving," Edward said simply with a grin on his lips too as he looked up at Emmett.

Emmett and I, in unison—which is what was scary—stubbornly crossed our arms over our chest and grunted. Then, we looked at each other and laughed. My laugh wasn't as weak now. My energy seemed to be partially coming back, now that I was really waking up.

"What about school?" I asked curiously. "I don't wanna have to go to summer school or anything."

"Esme is gonna home-school you," Edward informed me before laughing softly. "I swear, Mayze. You and your dang southern accent."

I laughed too and smiled back at him, the brightest smile I had smiled yet since I woke up. "Me and my southern accent. When am I expected to fully recover?"

"Your leg is really bad," Charlie said honestly, frowning at me. "Plus your stomach. They said you should be up and moving about the beginning of May, but your leg is going to take the longest to heal. The break wasn't clean, at all. It shattered, literally. You'll be in a cast until . . . he said probably the end of September, beginning of October, and then they'll move you to the boot. Your stomach, though, isn't as bad. It's already healing."

I groaned. "October? Do you know how long people are gonna stare at me and ask millions of questions? I'm gonna get so much attention it's not even funny!"

"Of course you would be worried about the attention," Edward muttered under his breath before smiling at me. "But, it's okay. You're probably not going back to school until next year anyways."

"Nah," Emmett disagreed. "She might be able to come back for exams."

"Where I'll flunk and have to take my junior year all over again!" I finished grumpily with a scowl. "I hate myself."

Edward's eyes slightly widened as he looked at me. "What on Earth for?"

"Because," I said stubbornly before scowling at my feet. "I just have to be danger prone."

With this, everyone, including Bella and Jacob, laughed.

The nurse walked in right about then with a bright smile on her lips. She was the first person I've seen who looked full of energy, and something about her optimism made me wanna hit her. "Oh! You're up! This is great news!"

Uh huh . . . .