Disclaimer: Once again, Twilight is not mine; I just play in Stephanie Meyer's sandbox. My incredible betas Im2xshy and Kzintikiller keep me motivated and on track for which I am eternally grateful.


Author's Note: Finally, a chapter that doesn't need an angst warning. In fact, I decided to go with a bit of levity in this chapter, which is transitional as we wait for Bella to wake up.

Previously in Chapter 47: Bella struggled to stay alive and keep her eyes open to send Alice clue to where Riley was taking her. Edward, Alice and the Cullens rushed to the landfill and after a lot of searching, they located Bella who was near death. She managed to tell them some of what Victoria was planning and when it was clear that she would not survive if he didn't do something, Edward bit her while Carlisle injected her with syringes of Edward's venom.


Chapter 48

ESME

Edward sat beside Bella's bed looking worried and holding her hand; he hadn't left her side since we'd returned from the landfill.

As for everyone else, they'd all cleaned up and then scattered to various parts of the house. With my arm and leg completely healed, I waited with Edward and Bella in the make-shift hospital room that had been set up - Carlisle was outside taking a phone call - Alice and Rose were doing something in what used to be the resort's spa, and Emmett and Jasper were watching TV in the great room.

"I wish you wouldn't worry so much, Edward," I told him as he stared at Bella with a concerned frown. When we'd first brought Bella home, Carlisle had put her on a ventilator for the first couple of hours to ease her breathing but when he noted that it was much easier, he had removed it. "You can hear for yourself how strong her heartbeat is and her breathing is much better now that the venom has had some time to work."

As he spoke, Edward's gaze never left Bella's face. "I know, but she was so close to dying, even Carlisle said he'd never changed anyone that had sustained such extensive injuries," he paused. "And she has been so quiet. I don't know about Alice or Jasper's change, but none of the rest of us were this quiet."

"I was," Carlisle said matter-of-factly as he re-entered the room and walked over to check on Bella. "I had to be or the mob would have surely discovered me. I made sure that I moved as little as possible and didn't make any noise while I hid in the cellar during my change." He looked over at the two of us. "Although in Bella's case, her stillness may be due, at least in part, to the morphine I gave her along with the venom."

Edward looked at him in surprise. "You didn't tell me you were going to give her morphine," he said, but his voice was more curious than accusatory.

"It was my hope that it would keep her more comfortable both from her injuries and while she was changing. My only real concern with using it was the fact that morphine can also depress respiration and Bella was nearly in respiratory arrest when we found her; it's also another reason I thought using the ventilator, at least for the first few hours, would be wise. And as Esme said and you can hear for yourself, her breathing and heartbeat are much stronger than when we first brought her back here. As you know, at the end of her change, her breathing will slow again as her heart rate increases until both will stop and she will awaken." He smiled reassuringly at Edward. "She's doing well, Edward, very well. I'm sure she's going to come through this just fine."

Edward's shoulders seemed to relax a bit and I felt some of the tension go out of him. "Thank you, Carlisle."

He smiled paternally. "I can't take too much credit. It's your venom that's healing her. I'm just glad that the two of you finally decided to take the steps to change her. I've said it before, but it bears repeating, as much as Bella is your mate, she's also part of this family and her absence would have left a terrible hole."

Hoping to distract Edward a bit from his worries over Bella, I asked Carlisle a question on a different topic.

"What did Eleazar want?" I asked him referring to the call he'd gone outside to answer.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one interested in the phone call because Emmett and Jasper appeared in the room with us just as Carlisle started to answer.

"Oh, yes, I meant to mention that," he told us all. "It was a very interesting exchange."

"How so?" Jasper asked.

"He called to tell me that Laurent returned yesterday ... with red eyes no less."

"I guess it's safe to say that he fell off the vegetarian wagon," Jasper said.

Carlisle nodded. "While he begged Irina and the rest of the Denalis for their forgiveness on drinking human blood, he also refused to give them any explanation as to where he's been these past weeks."

Emmett smirked. "Sounds to me like he had himself the vampire version of a bender."

"Indeed," Carlisle agreed. "Of course, Irina welcomed him back with open arms and no questions asked and the others really had no choice but to do the same."

Jasper huffed out an annoyed laugh. "Can't they see they're just enabling him?"

"In my opinion, Carmen, Eleazar, Kate, and Tanya are just trying to keep their family together," Carlisle told us. "Irina is so blind to Laurent's shortcomings that I think the rest of them are worried that if they say anything against him, she will turn on them and they'll lose her. And since Laurent poses no direct threat to them, they are willing to let things go to keep Irina happy."

"So I guess it's just too bad for us, right?" Emmett said angrily. "Laurent just sells Bella and the rest of us down the river to Victoria and it's okay?" He slammed his fist into the palm of his other hand. "Laurent better hope I never meet him in a dark forest."

"Well, if he has been the one feeding information to Victoria," Carlisle began. "And bear in mind that technically, we only have our suspicions and not actual fact on that point, we may never know it unless Edward can read Laurent's mind or we can get Victoria or her lackey to admit to his part in their plot."

I didn't know if he realized it or not, but when he said 'lackey' Carlisle had growled softly. While he was also angry with Victoria, and Riley had only been acting on her orders, I knew my husband had a special anger for Riley because of what he'd done to me and Bella and to our house. I'd be lying if I said the growling on my behalf was not as sexy as all get out, and if there weren't so many things going on, Bella's change and the question of Victoria's plans for a newborn army primary among them, I'd probably be making up an excuse to get Carlisle alone in some quiet corner of the resort so I could test out my newly reattached limbs and have my way with him.

Pulling myself away from that thought, I watched Carlisle turn to Edward and give him a meaningful look, and I saw a muscle twitch in Edward's jaw in response. "There's something else you should all know," Carlisle said. "I told Eleazar that we didn't make it in time and Bella died."

I gasped, and everyone but Edward looked startled by his statement. I assumed that Edward didn't look overly surprised by what Carlisle had said because he'd read the thought in Carlisle's mind before he'd actually verbalized it; it was probably also why I'd seen the muscle twitch in his jaw a moment earlier.

"Was that really necessary, Carlisle?" I asked.

To my surprise, it was Edward that answered me. "We need Victoria to think that Bella is dead so she won't try for her again until we're ready."

While I had no illusions over the fact that with Laurent pulling their strings, the Denali sisters could not be trusted, I tried to defend our oldest friends. "But Eleazar and Carmen ..."

Again, Edward's response was immediate. "Carlisle's right," he said cutting me off. "As long as Eleazar and Carmen are in that house with Laurent, then we need to keep them in the dark. If there's the slightest risk that the information will get back to Laurent and potentially, Victoria, then it's a risk we can't take."

I could hardly disagree with what he was saying, especially after what had happened to me and Bella. As much as I felt some duty to Carmen and Eleazar as friends and extended family, I knew my primary responsibility was to those in our own immediate family. And I knew first hand when dealing with Victoria we really needed to be safe rather than sorry, so I just nodded and didn't argue the point any further.

"While we're on the subject of risk and Victoria," Jasper put in. "When are we going to discuss the issue of the newborn army Bella talked about?"

"We can discuss it now, but ultimately we will need Bella to tell us anything else she knows beyond what she managed to get out back at the landfill," Carlisle said.

"You're right, of course, Carlisle. Bella's insight will be our greatest asset. And if Victoria is indeed planning to develop a newborn army, then it's information that we need to know sooner rather than later," Jasper said. "We will need to squash it before it can take root."

Now it was Emmett's turn to chime in. "But we don't even know where Victoria's gone or where she plans on making this army. Even if Bella's memory isn't too messed up after her change, Victoria may not have told her where it's all going down."

"We can only deal with the information we have, Emmett," Carlisle told him. "We'll just have to wait and see what Bella can tell us and proceed accordingly."

"Carlisle, Emmett brings up a good point. She was so traumatized before her change, do you think her memory will be intact enough to be of help?" I asked.

"I don't know, Esme. In my experience, the change affects each person's memory a bit differently," Carlisle replied. "For most of us, myself included, the memories are a bit fuzzy, but they are mostly intact. However, there are also more extreme cases, like Alice's, where the person has no memory of their human life at all. On the other end of the spectrum, I recall one vampire in the Volturi Court that could clearly remember every moment of every day of his human life with perfect clarity. In Bella's case, we will just have to wait and see, but I think it bodes well that she didn't have too much head trauma, just a mild concussion before she was changed."

"Hey, not to change the subject," Emmett said. "But could this whole thing with the newborn army be a trick?"

Jasper frowned. "A trick?"

"Yeah, maybe something to lure us into one of Victoria's traps," he clarified. "Or at the very least having us chase our tails like a bunch of idiots."

We all considered that, but Edward was the one to answer. "No, I don't think so. From the way she talked on the phone, I don't think Victoria meant to let Bella live long for us to find her, let alone tell us what Victoria was planning. She wanted us, wanted me, to suffer for what happened to James and she knew that finding Bella dead, or never being able to find her at all, would do that. I think that's also why she had Riley leave her in a landfill. She said something on the phone about having to find James' ashes in a dumpster next to the burned out dance studio."

Emmett smirked. "Yeah, well, Little Sis outsmarted her and held on long enough for us to find her. The Wicked Witch of the West is gonna be pretty pissed about that when she finds out."

"But she'll also be surprised, and it will likely throw her off her game," Jasper put in. "And in the meantime, we are going to be adding our own newborn to the mix."

"I don't want Bella anywhere near a fight," Edward put in.

"I know you don't," Jasper agreed. "And, of course, we'll keep her out of it if we can; but if it comes down to a fight for survival for all of us, she may have to join in."

"You know Bella won't stand idly by while the rest of us are hurt," I told him. "When Riley and Victoria attacked us, Bella tried to get Victoria to focus on her and not me and that's when she was still human."

Edward ran a gentle hand over Bella's grimy hair, while the rest of us had cleaned up after the landfill, Edward and Bella were still wearing the same clothes they'd had on. When we'd brought her back, we'd had bigger issues with Bella than how dirty or clean she was and Edward had refused to leave her side.

"Bella always was braver than her body could handle."

Jasper grinned. "Well, I don't think that will be the case much longer."

Just then Alice came bouncing into the room. "Okay, everyone needs to stop looking like they're at a funeral," she said as she pranced up to where Bella lay. "Bella's going to be fine, better than fine, actually, she'll be breathtaking. I've seen it."

Edward looked at her intently and I could tell from expression on his face, he was reading her mind to see the images she'd described. Then, for the first time since he'd left to go to New York, he smiled.

"Edward?" I asked. "What did she show you?"

He continued to look at Alice as he answered. "It was Bella and I running through the woods.
She looked so ... happy." Then he turned to me. "Bella's always been beautiful and amazing to me, but if what Alice sees is correct, she'll be ..." he chuckled. "... I can't really even describe it."

"Oh, and she'll wake up a bit sooner than most," Alice added. "I'd say her change should be complete sometime late tomorrow."

Carlisle blinked in surprise. "But that would mean her change will be done in just over two days rather than the three days that it usually takes." He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I wonder what could have caused that? Maybe using such a large dose of venom all at once sped up the process."

Alice shrugged. "I don't know, all I know is, I see her waking up sometime tomorrow night." She wrinkled her nose. "God, Edward, do our noses all a favor and go take a long, hot shower. I've laid out some toiletries and clothes for you in one of the bedrooms."

"No, I want to wait for Bella," he protested.

"Now, Edward, you know that when Bella wakes up her senses are going to be heightened. Do you want the first thing she does to be recoiling in horror because you stink?"

"Alice ..." I chided.

"Okay, okay, so I'm overstating it, but still. Don't you want to look your best for her? Besides, you've got her blood on your shirt and that's going to be difficult for her to be around as well."

He considered that. "I guess you have a point," he said reluctantly. "I just don't want to leave her."

"No problem, she won't be alone for a second. While you're taking your shower, Bella's got her own spa date with me and Rose."

"And how would that work exactly?" Emmett asked. "I mean she's sorta ... unconscious."

Alice grinned. "One of the neat things about the spa area is a special shower that can be used with a waterproof bed or a table. I've seen television programs where they use something similar in high end spas. The person can get a massage or some kind of spa treatment like a salt body scrub or a mud wrap and then can be washed off without having to even get off the table. So, with Bella still on the gurney, it will work perfectly and because this building was designed to be handicap accessible, it even has an elevator that's big enough to accommodate the gurney, so it will be easy to move her around."

Again, I could see from Edward's expression, he was reading her mind. Oddly enough, the face he made was a cross between annoyed disbelief and embarrassment as if she'd given him a little too much information.

"Alice, is all that really necessary?" he asked.

She all but stamped her foot. "Yes, it is absolutely necessary, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen."

"Uh, oh, look out, she full named him," Emmett snickered.

Alice went on, clearly building up to a full blown tirade. "If you only knew how much work it took for Rose, Esme, and I just to get the hair off our legs and underarms so we didn't have to go through eternity looking like a trio of sasquatch ,you wouldn't ask such a question."

I nodded, then added, "For the record, it took the careful and rather unpleasant application of a hand-held power sander."

"See what I mean?" Alice agreed. "Do you want Bella to go through that? And I won't even go into how the hell you clip vampire toenails and fingernails."

"Thank, God," Jasper muttered.

She ignored him. "Right now, Bella's body is still pliable enough that we can shave her, or wax her, or trim what needs to be trimmed; and what's more, she's unconscious. She won't feel a thing. Believe me, Edward, once we get done, you and she will both thank us."

He still looked a little skeptical, but I thought he might also be weakening. "I just don't want you to play Bella Barbie with her while she's unconscious. You know she hates that."

Alice rolled her eyes. "Edward, I'm not going to do anything crazy like give her a tattoo or chop off all her hair. I'm just going to get her cleaned up, and groomed, and wash the blood off of her so that she'll be all set when she does wake up."

Finally, Edward sighed. "All right, but I have three conditions."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What?" she said a bit suspiciously.

"No make-up. You know how Bella hates it when you put all the stuff on her face, and if what you're seeing in your visions is real she won't need it."

She looked a little annoyed, but nodded. "Fine, that can wait until she wakes up. What else?"

"No fancy clothes or shoes." Clearly outraged by this condition, Alice opened her mouth to protest, but Edward cut her off. "No, I saw it your mind, and even if I hadn't, I know that if it was up to you, you'd put her in something completely inappropriate like a cocktail dress and high heels."

"But Edward!" she protested. "She's going to be so beautiful when she wakes up I want her to look her best."

"More important than how she looks is the fact that she's going to need to feed when she wakes up," he pointed out. "I can tell you right now that she is going to be annoyed, to say the least, if she has to do it in a fancy dress by Vera Versace and Manolo Armani shoes."

I couldn't stifle a giggle before it slipped out. Between Alice's look of stunned disbelief and Edward's butchering of designers, the moment was too funny. "Edward, dear, I think you mean Vera Wang and Donatella or Gianni Versace for the dress and Manolo Blahnik or Giorgio Armani for the shoes."

"At last, someone who has an appreciation for fashion," Alice muttered.

Edward waved away my concern. "Whatever, you all know what I meant; I'm making a point."

That only seemed to make Alice madder. "Oh, really? Well, the point of my shoe is going to be jammed in some very unpleasant places if you keep going like you are," she all but growled at him.

"Now stop it, you two!" I jumped in. "I feel like a teacher having to pull apart a couple of first graders for fighting over a toy."

Jasper threw in his two cents. "Edward, I tell you this as a brother and fellow male in this family, point or no point, you can't say things like that to her. To her, those are fighting words and she'll cut you."

"You got that right," Emmett put in with a little shiver.

I sighed. "I think we're getting a little off track here. Bella needs to be our focus. Now, Alice, can you keep her clothing and shoes simple? Like jeans and a shirt? Or maybe a compromise. How about nice jeans and a fancier blouse with some flats?"

Alice pursed her lips. "I guess I can make that work."

"What about you, Edward? Would an outfit like that be acceptable?"

"Yes, that's fine," he said. "And that also leads me to the third condition."

"You're really pushing your luck," Alice muttered.

"Maybe you really should quit while you're ahead, dude," Emmett helpfully put in.

"Just tell me already," Alice groused. "What's the third condition?"

"I want Esme to go with you to oversee things. Between her and Rose, they should be able to keep you from overdoing things with Bella." He turned to me. "If you're amenable to the idea, Esme."

I felt very honored that he would ask me take care of Bella in his place. After everything that had happened, part of me kept waiting for him to blame me for letting Victoria take Bella, but he hadn't given any indication that he felt that way at all, just the opposite actually.

I smiled and patted his shoulder. "Of course, I'll go with them. Don't worry." I looked up at Alice. "And I'm sure Alice doesn't mind me being there, do you, Alice?"

To my surprise, the idea seemed to actually perk her up. "No, not at all, it will be like a spa day."

I stifled a laugh and turned back to Edward. "Now go get cleaned up and I'll keep watch over Bella for you, and I'll bring her back down here just as soon as we're done."

BELLA

It was dark. Really dark with no shapes or light at all and I felt like I was floating.

The next sensation I had was heat, no, not heat exactly, but burning. Yes, I was definitely burning. It was as if I was a disembodied spirit floating free in a black, burning void.

When people usually think of something burning, they thought of heat, but I knew that extreme cold could also burn, and to tell the truth, I didn't specifically feel hot or cold, so I couldn't tell which one was doing the burning. All I did know was that my brain was telling me I was definitely burning.

Actually, all my senses seemed dulled, like I was wrapped in cotton. In addition to not being able to see, I also couldn't smell anything and I suspected that if I tried to speak or scream, I'd be unable to make any actual sound. I thought about trying to move, but I couldn't even feel enough of my arms and legs to try and make them move.

Had the fire or whatever was burning me, destroyed enough of my body that I couldn't see or feel my extremities? I'd read once that extremely burned victims often didn't feel pain in the beginning because they had no nerve endings left to feel pain. Is that what had happened to me?

Or had I died and this was hell; an endless black burning?

To my surprise, a soft chuckle came flowing out of the darkness beside me. "No, of course not," came a cool, gentle voice. I knew that voice. Edward? No, not exactly. Anthony, yes, it was Anthony's voice that continued speaking. "Even if you were dead, which you're not, you wouldn't be in hell. We'd be having this chat at the pearly gates if you were really dead."

"Anthony?"

"Yep, that's me. I'm glad to see you're back with us."

"Why can't I see you? I've always been able to see you before."

"This time things are a bit different," he tried to explain. "With everything that's going on, I think my voice is as good as you're going to get."

"Where am I?"

"Hmm, I'm not exactly sure, but if I had to guess I'd say that you're deep inside your own head."

"I'm inside my head?" I asked dazedly looking around the dark void for something recognizable and finding nothing and I mean that literally. "Doesn't feel like my head."

"Well, as I said, there's a lot going on right now."

I wanted to frown, but I couldn't feel my face enough to actually make facial muscles move. "What do I have going on? Where's Edward?"

"Don't worry, I'm sure he's close by," he promised. "What's that last thing you remember?"

Even thinking was difficult, as if I had no physical brain, but I gave it a try. "Um ... Victoria ... the dark room ... her hurting me ... saying she would kill Edward ... and the Cullens ... and Charlie ..."

Pain flared in what should have been my chest, and I could feel myself starting to hyperventilate, at least I thought that's what it was. I wasn't actually breathing, so it was a very weird sensation, and I could feel myself starting to panic.

Anthony's voice dropped to a very soothing tone. "I know it's hard sweetie, but you need to try and calm down. They're just memories, they can't hurt you."

His words seemed to help me focus and I managed to somehow get a grip, at least metaphorically, on myself.

"Good, Bella, that's it. Try to draw on the techniques you used when you were meditating." I did as he suggested and remarkably, it began to work. When I was finally calmer, he gently pressed on. "Now, as painful and scary as those memories are, I need you to hold onto them so you can tell Edward and the others about what Victoria has planned. It's very important that they know."

Part of me didn't want to do what he was asking. I wanted to lock those memories in a deep dark place and never take them out again, but I knew he was right. I had to warn the Cullens or everyone I loved, Edward included, would pay the price. "All right," I agreed.

"Good," he encouraged. "You're being very brave."

"I don't feel very brave," I admitted. "I'm scared to death that I'll never get out of this place or see Edward again."

"Oh, you'll see him again."

I wanted to frown again but quickly gave up as it was too much effort. "How can you be so sure?"

"I just am. Now, is that all you remember?"

I worked at trying to pull more from my memory and something started to prickle at the edges. "No ... uh, trash, the landfill ... wait!" I said suddenly excited as the memory went through me like a beam of light in my personal darkness. "Edward, I remember Edward and Alice were there!"

"Yes, good," he said again. "Because you didn't give up, Alice saw where you'd been taken and Edward and the others came and found you."

"But then where is he?" I wondered. "He said he'd keep me forever but he's not here. Are you sure that I'm not really dead?" He chuckled again like he was privy to an inside joke and I wanted to be annoyed with him but again, it was too much effort. "What's so funny?" Was all I could manage.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh," he said apologetically. "It's just that, don't you understand, Bella? Edward IS keeping you forever ... he bit you."

I blinked in surprise, or tried to. "Edward bit me? He's going to change me?"

"Actually it's already happening," he said gently, as if he wasn't sure how I was going to react. "I believe the burning you've been feeling is the change taking place."

A burst of what I could only describe as happiness and wonder went through me. I was changing; Edward was keeping me. This was amazing news; no, amazing didn't even begin to cover it. I would be his ... forever. And I would no longer be weak or easily bruised. I would be able to keep up with him and his family, no longer an outsider in their world, or the weakest link, but one of them in all ways that mattered.

Unfortunately, on the heels of that incredible thought, came pain. It was as if the knowledge of what was really happening to me and talking about it made it real and made the burning worse as if the fire had been turned from low to volcanic. And the pain just wasn't from outside of me, but from inside me, as well. Edward had told me once that the change was excruciating, but now I could tell that he'd been understating it.

Out of reflex, I sucked in a breath, or something to that effect, to scream, but as I'd suspected earlier, there was no sound. Now I knew first-hand what a silent scream felt like and it was not a good feeling.

"Oh, God! It hurts!" I mentally wailed. I wanted to twist and writhe in the agony I felt, but there was no body to move, no arms to flail. It was like being impaled on millions of burning needles that spared no part of me.

Dimly, I heard Anthony trying to get my attention over the sounds of my mental agony. "Bella! Bella! You have to try and calm down! Please, just try! I think the calmer you are, the less the burning will be. I'm sorry I brought it up. I thought it would make you happy, not hurt you more."

"I can't! It's too much."

"Yes, you can!" he argued. "You've already survived so much! This is nothing, and when it's all said and done, you'll be with Edward forever, just like you've always wanted."

"But it hurts so bad!"

"Then let's talk about something else," he suggested. "That way you won't be focused on the pain. Let's go over the details of what Victoria told you she is planning so they'll stay fresh in your mind."

Part of me knew it was a good idea, but I was still too busy trying not to turn into a charcoal briquette. That didn't seem to faze Anthony though and he pressed on which only served to make me angry.

"Now, didn't you say Victoria and Riley were going to lay low after they killed you? By the way, kudos on proving them wrong on the killing you part." When I didn't answer, he seemed to get a little annoyed. "Come on, Bella, you're not even trying."

"Easy for you to say," I mentally spat as my temper started to get away from me. "You're not the one getting roasted on a spit!"

"There's my feisty girl," he said, and if I could see him, I knew he'd be grinning.

"Stupid hallucination," I growled. "Can't even let me burn in peace."

"Hey, insult me all you want. Get pissed at me. I don't mind. Every moment you're insulting me, you're not screaming," he remarked. "Now, answer my question, were Victoria and Riley going to hang around New York after they killed you?"

"NO!" I snapped angrily. "Don't you ever listen? I didn't know hallucinations could be deaf and stupid. For the hundredth time, I said they were going to lay low for a while but not in New York. They were going to leave here and eventually go to Seattle."

"And what were they going to do in Seattle?"

"Duh! Make an army of newborn vampires to attack Edward and the Cullens with," I growled back.

"How was she going to get the Cullens there?" he asked me next.

"I have no idea. She didn't say. She only said that they wouldn't find her until she was 'ready' for them."

"Why would she tell you all that?" he asked. "Wasn't she worried that you'd tell Edward and the Cullens?"

"Oh, so now you're calling me a liar?"

He didn't seem to be at all bothered by my anger. "Just answer the question."

"I'm going to speak slowly so you'll understand me the first time," I ground out. "SHE. THOUGHT. I. WOULD. BE. DEAD."

"Did she say where the Cullens would find her?"

My anger began to fade and I mentally sighed. "In the meadow outside of Forks, where we were playing baseball when we first met her, James, and Laurent."

"Okay, did she say anything else?"

"Yes, she said that when her army got done with the Cullens, they were going to celebrate by destroying Forks and snacking on all the townspeople."

"Good, that's really good, Bella. It's all information that Edward and the Cullens will need," he said. "By the way, how do you feel?"

His question brought me up short. I was still in pain, but talking to Anthony about other things had apparently helped me get above the worst of it. "I feel ... not hideous."

"See? I told you if you were calmer it would help you feel better," he said a bit smugly. "Now, what else would you like to talk about? I know, how about the wedding?"

I was still getting over my surprise and it took me a minute for my thoughts to catch up with what he'd said. "But, uh, you're a guy. I thought guys didn't like talking about stuff like wedding details."

"Hey, I'm here for you and whatever you want to talk about, we'll talk about. It if makes it easier, you can pretend that I'm Alice or Rose."

If I'd actually had a physical mouth, I would have smiled. "Yeah, because that image isn't disturbing. Have I ever told you that you're weird?"

He laughed and the sound rushed over me in a cooling wave. "I hate to tell you this, sweetie, but it takes one to know one."

TBC...


Next up: Bella wakes up. I'll try to get it up in two weeks but I'm going to be out of town for a week around the Fourth of July so I'm not sure how much that will slow me up, but I will get it up just as soon as possible.

Oh, and no, I haven't forgotten about the ass kicking the Victoria and Riley have coming to them.