Chapter Ten

Edward's POV

Nessie was at my side immediately. "What happens now?" she asked. Her thoughts were hopeful, almost, she was hoping the venom would make Bella remember everything. I had to admit, a small part of me hoped for that as well.

"We wait," I said. There was really nothing else we could do at this point. I wasn't sure what Carlisle was going to do with Bella, what we were going to do with her and what we would have to tell her other family. Would she want to live with us, or would she want to go off on her own as soon as she was able?

"Alice?" I said.

"Carlisle will be here in five minutes," she said. She was shuddering. The scene wasn't pretty. I watched Bella's body in Alice's vision. She was just barely beginning to heal, and she didn't look good. I sat on the couch for something to do other than pace nervously, and patted the spot next to me, looking over at Nessie. There were tear streaks on her face, but she wasn't crying anymore. She was the strongest person I knew, and I knew if I'd stay strong, she would stay stronger.

"He's here," said Alice. I got up and went into the kitchen, then. I had already seen Bella once, in Alice's head, and I didn't need to see her again. Nessie stayed. Thus proving her insane mental toughness. She was determined not to let this scare her. I found Esme in the kitchen. She was baking again. It distracted her, and Jacob and his friends would eat anything she made.

She looked up then. "Oh, hello, Edward," she said, and went back to what she was doing. Her thoughts were concerned, though, about me.

"I'm fine," I said. I hated making her worry. She sighed. It was times like these you could really see the wise old lady in the never changing body.

"No, you're not fine," she said, sliding a batch of cookies into the oven. "You're scared. You want Bella to remember you and you don't want her to remember you. Answer me this. What would have happened if she really had died? Would you have come back? Would you have ever let us meet Renesmee?"

I thought about that. I wasn't sure. When I had left, the intention was to never come back. To live for as long as I could bear it, and when Nessie didn't need me anymore, let her go and for me to go to Italy and beg for the sweet release of death. But over the years, Nessie had made me happier. I thought looking at her face would just bring me a reminder of pain, but it had brought me a reminder of Bella. A good reminder, one that told me somebody besides me could continue Bella's memory. I really cared for Nessie, and I always thought I would despise her. She brought out the best in me. Just like her mother. I answered honestly.

"I would have come back. I would have wanted to you all the meet one the people that changed my life for the better. She's really my best friend." Esme smiled.

"I told you you'd like her," she said, and gave me a hug. We were about to go back into the living room when we heard a blood curling scream. Bella. I shuddered. Of course there was no time to try to give her any morphine, she would have to suffer just like the rest of us. And she had no idea what was happening, like she might have if she remembered us. The screams reminded me of when Renesmee used to have nightmares. She would sit up in her bed, screaming, night after night, and she would tell me she was dreaming she was killing a lovely lady with brown hair, and no one would stop her. I never had the heart to tell her that it was her mother. I would just sit with her and hum the lullaby I written for Bella, playing with her bronze hair until she fell back asleep, only to wake up sometime later screaming again. The nightmares had stopped when she was about four or five, and I knew then that she forgot her mother. Or thought that the memories she had of her weren't real. I assumed it was for the best. Her mother was dead, I had thought, and her memories only made remembering mine harder. Another shriek rang through the house. I could hear Rose's thoughts, loud and clear. They were angry that I done this to Bella. Everyone else seemed be undecided on whether the decision was good or not.

I walked back out into the living room and found Jacob and Nessie asleep on the couch, Nessie leaning up against him. Being near both of them at the same time was like being in a furnace, so I went upstairs and sank to the floor outside Bella's room. Carlisle was in his office, he had just let Bella be, as there was nothing he could do now. I don't know how long I sat there for, but at some point, Nessie came and sat with me. "She's going to be okay, dad," she said. "She may not remember us, but at least she'll be alive. Well kinda." I nodded. I thought it was kind of ironic. Bella had begged for this. Now she got her wish. After three days of listening to her scream, everything in the room finally went silent. I listened to her heart, listened as it grew stronger, stronger, and then stopped beating all together. I could Carlise's thoughts downstairs. He was letting me go in first. I pushed open the door, gently. Bella was standing by the window, looking out a the forest. I was surprised how in control she seemed. Her mind was still blank. She turned, and she was the same, only a little different in my opinion, and her eyes glowed a bright red. Her face lit up in the biggest smile of sharp, venom coated teeth.

"Edward?" she asked.