Chapter 34: Edward

"You need to try to convince her to stay, not force her, Edward," Alice said as I came into the kitchen with Isabella's mug. She was leaning against the counter right next to the sink with her arms crossed over her chest. "You'll only drive her away by trying to force her, and you know it. I've shown it to you."

"I know, but she's not having it, Alice. If I don't try hard enough, it would be just as bad as pushing her to say yes and driving her away. I need her here, Alice. I need to see her with my own eyes and know she is okay," I said, trying and failing at not sounding completely needy.

"This really makes me wish you hadn't seen her dream, Edward. As soon as I saw that happen, I knew this would be that much harder," Alice said, rubbing her forehead with her hand in frustration.

"Let her do what she wants," Rose said from the doorway leading to the hallway. "She didn't save us, so why should we save her?"

I walked away as she and Alice started arguing, unable to listen to it. Isabella was fast asleep when I walked back into the living room, and I put the blanket up around her face. A small smile grew as I took my hands away, and I settled back in my spot on the other end of the couch with my legs crossed Indian-style. I was facing her, leaning against the back of the couch with my shoulder, and just thought.

I felt bad for stressing Alice out so badly, but I couldn't help it after seeing Isabella's dream. It was the night she had woken up from her coma with a vision, and I assumed what I had seen had been the vision. Everyone was standing in the baseball field in a line, everyone next to their mate, and Isabella and I were standing next to each other. We were waiting for something, that I could tell from the looks ranging from suppressed worry to tense calm, but Isabella's mind was focused not on what was coming in the vision, but the two of us. Everything around us seemed to blur and fade until only my hand at her waist was clear. That was it.

I had sat in my chair next to her hospital bed, looking at the image. It was the first time I had seen into Isabella's mind, and I hadn't been able to since then. I didn't know why, but I didn't want to ask her and have her find out I saw her vision, either. She wouldn't take that very well, that much I knew.

I kind of understood Rose's anger, but it didn't mean we had to abandon Isabella when we knew she was going to be in danger. Alice's vision showed someone coming after Isabella not too long after we got her back home—if we couldn't get her to stay with us—but we didn't know how it would end. Isabella knew what was about to happen to Rosalie, but she also knew something worse would have happened had she not waited to save Rose. That was the difference; this was Alice's vision, not Isabella's. Rosalie hated this life, hated that she couldn't have children and a family of her own, but she refused to realize that she might not have what she did now had Isabella disobeyed her vision. She wasn't hostile towards Isabella, but she wasn't willing to go out of her way to help, either.

I sat on the couch looking at Isabella's sleeping face for hours, long after Carlisle returned home from the hospital. I heard him talking with Esme in the kitchen, but I blocked out both their words and their thoughts. I heard their voices fade away as they moved upstairs, and no one bothered me until Alice came in and put her hand lightly on my shoulder. I jumped, not paying any attention to my surroundings, but I didn't take my eyes off Isabella. Hermes flapped his wings as he stepped out of the fireplace, his talons clicking on the hard wood floor. He shook the ashes from his feathers as he moved towards the couch, jumping up and landing softly on the arm. Isabella breathed deeply as he settled himself right next to her, her eyes fluttering open and focusing on me as she slowly woke up.

"How are you feeling?" I asked as she stifled a yawn.

"Don't know yet," she answered, and Alice squeezed my shoulder.

"Give her a chance to remember her name before you start asking questions, Edward," she scolded, and I gave her a glare.

"I's okay, Alice," Isabella said, stretching her legs out as far as she could. "I feel okay. Still hurts, still stiff, but okay."

"Good to hear it, Isabella," Carlisle said, coming into the room and sitting on the coffee table in front of her. "Esme says she told you I wanted to be present when you try to heal, so whenever you're ready you can start. Just call for me."

"Carlisle, you're being just like your son. Let the poor girl breathe," Esme said, coming in with a small plate of lightly buttered toast. "Here, eat this so you have something in you before these men start asking you to do things."

"I don't usually eat, Esme," Isabella said, but Esme gave her a look.

"I know, but humor me." Isabella shook her head and picked up one of the slices of toast, taking a bite and glancing at Esme. She got a smile in return, which seemed to relax her.

"Have you decided what you're going to do, Isabella?"

"Bella, Carlisle, you know that. Only my mother and father called me Isabella," she said, glaring at him playfully.

"My apologies, Bella," he said, but she waved him off.

"It's fine. I haven't decided, but I'm leaning towards going home. I've been living there for years now, and I have everything set up just as I need it. It's what I know."

"Would you be willing to try living here with us?" Alice asked. "Just for a week or two, and then you can decide what you want to do."

I looked at Isabella's face, trying to figure out what she was thinking, but her face was blank. She was looking down at her lap, and Hermes moved himself into her line of site and sat back down. He lightly bumped her cheek with his beak, trying to get her attention, and she gave him a small smile even as her eyes remained blank. She petted the top of his head, tilting her head to the side in thought as he let out a small squawk.

"What do you think, my old friend? Should we go home?" she asked, and he let out a low chirp.

"You want to stay here?" she asked, apparently looking for clarity, and he let out a higher-pitched chirp. She shook her head and sighed before looking at Alice.

"Let me think about it, Alice. We'll stay here tonight and I'll let you know in the morning." She rubbed her chest and grimaced, her breathing hitching somewhat before returning to normal.

"I think it's time we tried getting you back up to par, don't you think?" Carlisle asked with a small smile, and Isabella nodded before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

When she opened her eyes again, each of them was stark white as she drew her healing rune in her mind. We could watch it take shape in her eyes, and I waited for it to finish and freeze as it healed her, just as Carlisle had explained it in the past. When it did, Isabella stopped breathing and her body tensed up. We could all hear movement under the small bandage on her chest, and it was like listening to the cafeteria lunch ladies at the local high school make meatloaf, the squelching and squishing of her muscle reforming and her skin coming together almost making me nauseous.

It lasted only a few minutes, for which I was thankful, but her face was deathly white when she closed her eyes and started breathing again. It was ragged and shallow, but she was breathing. I moved closer, sitting right next to her, and put my hand on her forehead and feeling the familiar shock from the contact. She was burning up, and I gave Carlisle a worried look.

"We need a damp cloth, dear," he said, and Esme ran to the kitchen and back with a damp towel in her hands.

I took it from her and draped it over Isabella's forehead, then took my hands and cupped the sides of her head so that my fingers were at the back of her neck. I knew it would help her cool down, and her breathing actually slowed a little.

"Done," she whispered, her eyes opening only to slits.

I gave her a small smile, the dark grey looking back making my heart hurt. I remembered her eyes as she stood over me, how bright they were, and I remembered Carlisle saying a long time ago that they used to shine with life, sparkle with interest in the world. They were like liquid mercury, but now it was like looking at a rock. Dull, lifeless, defeated.

"Let me take her bandage off and we'll move her into the guest room," Carlisle said, leaning over the arm of the couch and grabbing the corner of the small bandage sitting slightly to the left on Isabella's chest.

I looked away as he brought the neck of her shirt down and tried to take the taped gauze off as gently as he could. I felt him tug her shirt back up when he finally got it off, and I looked at her again. She was on the verge of unconsciousness, and I gently moved my thumbs over the bottom of her jaw. She wasn't focusing on anything anymore and I started humming, trying to get her to give in and rest. Her paleness was scaring me. Carlisle didn't seem nearly as worried, which would normally have calmed me, but not with her.

"Rest, Isabella," I whispered, leaning forward to make sure she heard me. "You're safe here. You can rest now."

"She needs to sleep, and we need to keep her warm. Her body is cooling off quickly," Carlisle said, and I immediately took my hands and the towel away. "She really drained herself just now, and her body is having trouble keeping warm. Bring her into the guest room, turn up the heat, and put her under all of the blankets. I'll check on her frequently, but make sure to call for me if something is wrong."

I nodded and scooped Isabella off the couch, blanket and all, and brought her to the guest room across from mine. It was small compared to the other rooms, but it was actually normal-sized. Alice was already there and threw back the blankets on top of the bed, stepping aside to let me lay Isabella down. She frowned slightly when I set her down and moved away, letting Alice lay the covers back over her, but it disappeared when I moved to lay next to her, keeping the blanket between us so she wouldn't get cold.

"Watch and remember," Alice said, pointing at her head and gesturing towards Isabella. "You'll have faith in my visions about Bella yet, brother."

She walked out and closed the door behind her, leaving me alone with Isabella and Hermes. He jumped up on the bed and burrowed under the covers, and I could feel him heat up even from on top of them. I was happy she had him, especially at times like these when I couldn't help her.

I sighed softly and settled in for a long night.