ELSA'S POV

My eyes opened to a bright, white light. I was in an unfamiliar room, a white room. The wall beside me was covered in long vertical blinds; over my head, the glaring white lights blinded me. I was propped up on a hard, uneven bed—a bed with rails. The pillows were flat and lumpy. There was an annoying beeping sound somewhere close by. I hoped that meant I was still alive. I hadn't chosen to try and live just to end up in some uncomfortable white-washed death.

My hands were all twisted up with clear tubes, and something was taped across my face, under my nose. I lifted my hand to rip it off.

"No, you don't." And cool fingers caught my hand.

"Anna?" I turned my head slightly, and her exquisite face was just inches from mine, her chin resting on the edge of my pillow. A look of profound relief on her beautiful face. I smiled at her.

"Hi."

"Hi," She smiled sadly.

"What happened?" I couldn't remember clearly, and my mind wasn't cooperating with me at the moment.

"I was almost too late. I could have been too late," she whispered, her voice tormented.

"I'm sorry, Anna. I thought he had my mom."

"He tricked us all."

"I need to call Agnarr and my mom," I realized through the haze.

"Alice called them. Your mother is here—well, here in the hospital. She's getting something to eat right now."

"She's here?" I tried to sit up, but the spinning in my head accelerated, and her hand pushed me gently down onto the pillows.

"She'll be back soon," she promised. "And you need to stay still."

"But what did you tell her?" I panicked. I had no interest in being soothed. My mom was here andIwas recovering from a vampire attack. "Why did you tell her I'm here?"

"You fell down two flights of stairs and through a window." She paused. "You have to admit, it could happen."

I sighed, and it hurt. I stared down at my body under the sheet, the huge lump that was my leg.

"How bad am I?" I asked.

"You have a broken leg, 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."

"No, I like how you sell."

"How did you do it?" I asked quietly. She knew what I meant at once.

"I'm not sure." She looked away from my wondering eyes, lifting my gauze-wrapped hand from the bed and holding it gently in hers, careful not to disrupt the wire connecting me to one of the monitors.

I waited patiently for the rest.

She sighed without returning my gaze. "It was impossible to stop," she whispered. "Impossible. But I did." She looked up finally, with half a smile. "Imustlove you."

"Don't I taste as good as I smell?" I smiled in response. That hurt my face. "Even better—better than I'd imagined."

"Damn right, I do." She laughed, loudly. It was so nice to hear her laugh again.

"Even then," she said after a moment, "I thought I had still lost you. Despite everything."

"Can't get rid of me that easy," I tried to shrug, but it hurt too much.

"Alice couldn't see you." Her voice was a whisper now, "I thought you were gone forever."

"I hadn't made the decision yet." I said simply. She looked at me confused, "Giving up is easy, trying is harder." I repeated my mother's words from all those years ago. "I had too much to try for."

"I'm glad." Her face was still sad, but there was happiness there.

Some very unpleasant memories were beginning to come back to me. I shuddered, and then winced.

She was instantly anxious. "Elsa, what's wrong?"

"What happened to Hans?"

"After I pulled him off you, Cassandra and Jasper took care of him." There was a fierce note of regret in her voice.

This confused me. "I didn't see Cassandra and Jasper there."

"They had to leave the room… there was a lot of blood. Cassandra was devastated. She wanted to stay and help. I thought she might cry." Anna's voice was slightly amused.

"But you stayed."

"Yes, I stayed."

"And Alice, and Frederic…," I said in wonder

"They love you, too, you know."

A flash of painful images from the last time I'd seen Alice reminded me of something. "Hans, he knew Alice! Did she see the tape?" I asked anxiously.

"Yes." A new sound darkened her voice, a tone of sheer hatred.

"She was always in the dark, that's why she didn't remember."

"I know. She understands now." Her voice was even, but her face was black with fury.

I tried to reach her face 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?" she asked anxiously—distracted, but not enough. The bleakness did not entirely leave her eyes.

"Needles," I explained, looking away from the one in my hand. I concentrated on a warped ceiling tile and tried to breathe deeply despite the ache in my ribs.

"Afraid of a needle," she muttered to herself under her breath, shaking her head. "Oh, a sadistic vampire, intent on torturing her to death, sure, no problem, she runs off to meet him. Aniva, on the other hand…"

I rolled my eyes. I was pleased to discover that this reaction, at least, was pain-free. I decided to change the subject.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

She stared at me, first in confusion and then hurt touching her eyes. Her brows pulled together as she frowned. "Do you want me to leave?"

"No!" I protested, "No, of course not, you beautiful idiot. No, I meant, why does my mother think you're here? I need to have my story straight before she gets back."

"Oh," she said, and her forehead smoothed back into marble. "I came to Phoenix to talk to you, to convince you to come back to Forks." Her wide eyes were so earnest and sincere, I almost believed her myself. "You agreed to see me, and you drove out to the hotel where I was staying with Frederic and Alice—of course I was here with parental supervision," she inserted virtuously, "but you tripped on the stairs on the way to my room 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." She sighed, "Did you just call me an idiot?"

"Give me a break; I'm broken in like a hundred places and on pain medication." I snickered, "Besides, I called you abeautifulidiot."

She smirked in response.

"There are a few flaws with your story, though." I continued, "Like no broken windows."

"Not really," she said. "Alice had a little bit too much fun fabricating evidence. It's all been taken care of very convincingly—you could probably sue the hotel if you wanted to. You have nothing to worry about," she promised, stroking my cheek with the lightest of touches. "You're only job now is to heal."

"I think I can manage that," I sighed.

She leaned in slowly and pressed her lips ever so gently to mine, I sighed happily, then winced from the pain. She pulled back abruptly, her expression anxious.

"It seems I'm going to have to be more careful with you than usual." She frowned.

"I was not finished kissing you," I complained. "Don't make me come over there. Get back here."

"Yes, Mam." She grinned, and bent to press her lips lightly to mine.

But then she pulled away suddenly.

"I think I hear your mother," she said, grinning again.

"Oh god, don't leave me now." I felt the panic of having to face my mother, I would have a hard enough time not being hysterical after being so worried about her, but seeing me like this couldn't be easy for her either.

She read the terror in my eyes for a short second. "I won't," she promised solemnly, and then she smiled. "I'll take a nap."

She 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 her eyes. She was perfectly still.

"Don't forget to breathe," I whispered sarcastically. She took a deep breath, her eyes still closed.

I could hear my mother 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 calm her, promise her that everything was fine. But I wasn't in any sort of shape for that, so I waited impatiently.

The door opened a crack, and she peeked through.

"Mom!" I whispered, my voice full of love and relief.

She flew to my side "Oh, Elsa, I'm so happy you're awake, hon."

She briefly glanced at Anna's still form on the recliner, "She never leaves, does she?" She whispered to me.

"Mom, I'm so glad to see you!"

She hugged me gently, and I felt warm tears falling on my cheeks.

"Elsa, I was so upset."

"I'm sorry, Mom. But everything's fine now, it's okay," I comforted her.

"I'm just glad to finally see your eyes open." She sat on the edge of my bed.

I suddenly realized I didn't have any ideawhenit was. "How long have I been out?"

"It's Friday, hon, you've been out for a while."

"Friday?" I was shocked. I tried to remember what day it had been when… but I didn't want to think about that.

"They had to keep you sedated for a while, honey—you've got a lot of injuries."

"I know. I feel them." I said, bleakly.

"You're lucky 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 Frederic?"

"And Anna's sister Alice. She's a lovely girl."

"She is," I agreed wholeheartedly.

She glanced over her shoulder at Anna, lying with her eyes closed in the chair. "You didn't tell me you had such good friends in Forks."

I tried to shift my position in the bed, it hurt terribly, and I couldn't help but moan in pain.

"What hurts?" she demanded anxiously, turning back to me. Anna's eyes flashed to my face.

"It's fine," I assured them. "I just have to remember to not move." She lapsed back into her phony slumber.

I took advantage of my mother's momentary distraction to keep the subject from returning to my less-than-candid behavior. "Where's Phil?" I asked quickly.

"Florida—Oh, Elsa! You'll never guess! Just when we were about to leave, the best news!"

"Phil got signed?" I guessed.

"Yes! How did you guess! The Suns, can you believe it?"

"That's great, Mom," I smiled.

"And you'll like Jacksonville so much," she gushed while I stared at her vacantly. "I was a little bit worried when Phil started talking about Akron, what with the snow and everything, because you know how I hate the cold, but now Jacksonville! It's always sunny, and the humidity really isn'tthatbad. We found the cutest house, yellow, with white trim, and a porch just like in an old movie, and this huge oak tree, it's just a few minutes from the ocean, and you'll have your own bathroom—"

"Wait, Mom!" I interrupted. Anna still had her eyes closed, but she looked too tense to pass as asleep. "What are you talking about? I'm not going to Florida. I live in Forks."

"But you don't have to anymore, silly," she laughed. "Phill will be able to be around so much more now… we've talked about it a lot, and what I'm going to do is trade off on the away games, half the time with you, half the time with him."

"Mom." I hesitated, wondering how to best be diplomatic about this. "Iwantto live in Forks. I realized it when I was back here in Phoenix. I missed it. I'm already settled in at school, and I have a couple of friends"—she glanced toward Anna again when I reminded her of friends, so I tried another direction—"and Agnarr needs me. He's just all alone up there, and he can't cookat all."

"You want to stay in Forks?" she asked, bewildered. The idea was inconceivable to her. And then her eyes flickered back toward Anna. "Why?"

"I told you—school, Agnarr—ouch!" I'd shrugged. Not a good idea.

Her hands fluttered helplessly over me, trying to find a safe place to lay. She made do with my forehead; it was unbandaged.

"Elsa, honey, you hate Forks," she reminded me.

"It's not so bad."

She frowned, "You don't have to keep trying to like it."

"Giving up is easy, trying is harder." I said again.

"But trying makes all the difference." She finished, smiling. I had forgotten the last part.

She was beginning to understand now, she glanced between Anna and Me. "Is it this girl?" she whispered.

I opened my mouth to lie, but I didn't want to lie to her. I wanted to tell her the truth.

"She's part of it," I admitted. "So, have you had a chance to talk to Anna?"

"Yes." She hesitated, looking at her perfectly still form. "And I want to talk to you about that."

"What about?"

"I think that girl is in love with you," she accused, keeping her voice low.

"I think so, too," I confided.

"And how do you feel about her?" She only poorly concealed the raging curiosity in her voice.

I sighed, and smiled. "I'm pretty crazy about her, I guess."

"Well, she seems very nice, and, my goodness, she's incredibly good-looking, but you're so young Elsa…" her voice was unsure. I could hear the worry in her voice, the thoughts of herself, so young, falling in love, and the pain it had caused her. She only had my best interests at heart. My strong, wonderful mother. Who had to break her own heart to say goodbye to Agnarr but still managed to go on, to choose life. To try.

"Don't worry, Mom. It's just a crush." I soothed her.

"Oh, I'm sure," she smiled at me, knowing better.

Then she sighed and glanced guiltily over her shoulder at the big round clock at the wall.

"Do you need to go?"

She bit her lip. "Phil's supposed to call in a little while… He's been so worried about you…"

"No problem, Mom. I won't be alone."

"I'll be back soon. I've been sleeping here." She said.

"Oh, Mom, you don't have to do that! You can sleep at home—I'll never notice." The swirl of painkillers in my brain was making it hard to concentrate even now, though, apparently, I'd been sleeping for days.

"I was too nervous," she admitted sheepishly. "There's been some crime in the neighborhood, and I don't like being there alone."

"Crime?" I asked in alarm.

"Someone broke into that dance studio around the corner from the house and burned it to the ground—there's nothing left at all! And they left a stolen car right out front. Do you remember when I used to teach dance there, honey?"

"I remember." I shivered, and winced.

"I can stay, baby, if you need me."

"No, Mom, I'll be fine. Anna will be with me."

She looked like that might be why she wanted to stay. "I'll be back tonight." It sounded as much like a warning as it sounded like a promise, and she glanced at Anna again as she said it.

"I love you, Mom."

"I love you, too, Elaa. Please be careful when you walk, honey, I don't want to lose you."

Anna's eyes stayed closed, but a wide grin flash across her 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 left.

The nurse was my vitals and the monitors. "How are you feeling, dear?"

"I'm fine," I assured her.

"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, Anna was at my side.

"You stole a car?" I raised my eyebrows.

She smiled, unrepentant. "It was a good car, very fast."

"Anna!" I scolded. She just smiled. I sighed, "how was your nap?"

"Interesting." Her eyes narrowed.

"What?"

She looked down while she answered. "I'm surprised. I thought Florida… and your mother… well, I thought that's what you would want. To go someplace where I can't hurt you anymore."

"Are you tired of having to save me all the time?" I asked.

She looked surprised, "No, Elsa, of course not. I would do anything to keep you safe. I would save you a hundred times over."

"Then why would I go to Florida?"

"Because then…" Her face was dark, her voice pained, "then I couldn't hurt you anymore. My very presence is a danger to you, Elsa, every second I'm around you. I'm not worthy of your love, I'll get you killed and—"

"Shhh," I soothed her. "There's a difference between the danger you put me in and the danger around me. Don't you see that?"

"No. It's all my fault."

"You really are a beautiful idiot." I sighed, "Do you want me to go away?"

"No!" She sounded almost panicked, "No, I don't want to be without you Elsa, of course not. But," she dropped her eyes, "I'm the one putting you in danger… I'm the reason you're here."

"Yes, you are the reason." I frowned. "The reason I'm here—alive."

"Barely." Her voice was just a whisper. "Covered in gauze and plaster and hardly able to move."

"But I'm still here." I insisted.

"I thought I lost you, Elsa." Her voice was so low, I could barely hear her. "Seeing you there on the floor… crumpled and broken." Her voice was choked. "Thinking I was too late, hearing you scream in pain—all those unbearable memories that I'll carry with me for the rest of eternity. And the worst feeling… fearing that I couldn't stop. I thought after all that, I would be the one to kill you myself."

"But you didn't."

"I could have. So easily."

"But, again, you didn't." I sighed. "I'm here, Anna. I chose you. Maybe that makes me an idiot, but that's what I wanted.Youare what I want."

"Even if I'm so terrible for you? Even if I put you in—"

"If you say you put me in danger one more time I'm doing to hit you in the head with my plaster cast."

She smiled, a little. I smiled back.

"I don't seem to be strong enough to stay away from you." Her eyes were full of emotion.

"For once, I'm glad you're not strong enough for something." I teased.

Something buzzed softly in Anna's pocket, the phone was at her ear in a flash.

"Hello?" Her face was momentarilyShmomentarily confused, then she sighed. "Yes, she's fine—Yes… Oh fine, here." She held the phone to my ear. "For you," She sighed.

"Hello?" I asked tentatively.

"Hey, lil sis!" Cassandra's boisterous voice came from the phone.

"Cassandra! Hi!" I chuckled, "How are you?"

"How am I? How are you?" she laughed, "You're the one that fell through a window." She teased.

"Well, I've had better days." I sighed.

"Elsa, I'm sorry I couldn't stay." Her voice sounded sad, "It was just…"

"I know, Cassandra, thank you for trying."

"Jasper says hey, too! He's glad you're awake!"

"Tell her I'm sorry for ditching her at the airport." I said.

"she forgives you," Cassandra's voice was smiling. "Hey, wait, here's someone else who wants to talk to you."

I heard her quietly arguing with someone on the other end, "Raps! Come on, babe!" I heard her say, then it sounded like someone grabbed the phone from his hand and huffed loudly.

"Hello, Anna." Rapunzel's annoyed voice came over the phone. "I'm glad you're not dead." her tone contradicted her words, though.

"Thanks…" I said, "Hey, Rapunzel?"

He didn't say anything.

"Thank you for watching over Agnarr. I really appreciate it."

Rapunzel was silent for a moment, "You're welcome, Elsa." she said finally.

There was shuffling on the other end, and Emmett's voice was back. "See? Everyone's happy now!"

"Thanks, Cassandra." I chuckled.

"Hey, I'll let you get back to Anna. Get better, lil sis!"

"Bye, Cass."

Anna took the phone back and put it back in her pocket.

"See? They all love you." She said, simply.

"I'm glad," I smiled.

Just then a nurse walked into the room. Anna sat still as stone as she looked me over.

"Time for more pain meds, sweetheart?" she asked kindly, tapping the IV feed.

"No, no," I mumbled. "I'm fine for now."

"No need to be brave, dear. It's better if you rest."

"Maybe in a bit?" I offered.

"Okay," she sighed. "Hit the call button when you're ready." She turned and left the room without another word.

I felt a thought in the back of my head. Something that had been bothering me. "Anna, why did you stop me from changing?"

"What?" her eyes were wary.

"Why didn't you let the venom spread? By now I would be just like you."

Anna's eyes turned flat black, and I remembered that this was something she'd never intended me to know. Alice must have been preoccupied by the things she'd learned about herself… or she'd been very careful with her thoughts around her—clearly, she'd had no idea that she'd filled me in on the mechanics of vampire conversions. She was surprised, and infuriated. Her nostrils flared, her mouth looked as if it was chiseled from stone.

She wasn't going to answer, that much was clear.

"Mind your temper." I warned her. She took a deep breath for my benefit. I sighed. "I'm just asking, because since you seem so afraid of hurting me or getting me killed, wouldn't it have been easier to let me change? Let me become like you? Able to defend myself. Maybe even I would have the chance to save you for a change."

She folded her arms on the side of my bed and rested her chin on her arms. Her expression was smooth, the anger reined in. Evidently she'd decided she wasn't angry withme. I hoped I'd get a chance to warn Alice before she caught up with her.

"You have saved me," she said quietly.

My hand found her arm, "Anna…"

"You don't know what you're asking." Her voice was soft; she stared intently at the edge of the pillowcase. "I've had nearly a century to think about this, and I'm still not sure."

"Do you wish that Frederic hadn't saved you?"

"No, I don't wish that." She paused before continuing. "But my life was over. I wasn't giving anything up."

"I see," was all I could say.

"I can't do it, Elsa. I won't do that to you."

"I'm not asking you to." I said softly.

She looked up at me surprised, "What?"

"I'm not asking you to change me, I'm just asking why you didn't let me change?"

Her eyes looked sad, she didn't answer.

"Alice already saw it, didn't she?" I guessed. "That's why the things she says upset you. She knows I'm going to be like you… someday."

"She's wrong. She also saw you dead, but that didn't happen, either."

"But this is the course I'm on, isn't it?" I pressed, "The decision has been made. It's just a matter of following that course."

She stared at me, her eyes full of sadness and remorse.

"I'm not asking you to change me tomorrow, or even in three days." I soothed her, "I just need to know where everything stands. I made this decision, and if my vampire girlfriend's vampire sister can see where that decision leads me then I'd just like to be prepared."

"Am I worth it?" I could tell from her tone she didn't believe she was.

"I don't think I would have put myself through all this if I didn't think you were."

"You have a lot of pain medication in your system right now; you're not in a clear state of mind." She scowled.

"Mind your temper, and don't argue. It's not good for me." I sniffed lightly.

She smirked. "Yes, mam."

"Anna?"

"Yes, Elsa?"

"Do you truly love me?"

"Of course," her voice was full of emotion, "more than anything."

"My mom once told me that sometimes you only share a moment with someone, but sometimes you share forever with them. I think we have a shot at forever."

"You do?" Her eyes were staring deep into mine. "Do you really think I'm worth forever?"

"I really do," I took as deep a breath as I could manage, "do you think I'm worth forever?"

"You're worth more than anything in this world."

"Then do you promise? Not to give up? Promise not to leave?"

She deliberated for a moment. "I promise, Elsa." She leaned in and kissed me on my forehead.

I smiled contentedly.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, eyeing the button for the nurse.

"A little sore, to be honest."

"Do you want to go back to sleep?" she asked gently.

"No, but maybe I should."

She reached for the button.

"Yes?" the speaker on the wall squawked.

"I think we're ready for more pain medication," She said.

"I'll send in the nurse." The voice sounded very bored.

"Ugh," I sighed. "Why does it have to hurt so much."

"I'm sorry, Elsa." Her face was pained.

"It's fine, I just don't want to close my eyes."

Then she smiled her crooked smile, and took my face between her hands. "I told you I'm not going anywhere. Don't be afraid. I promise you, as long as it makes you happy, I'll be here."

I smiled back, ignoring the ache in my cheeks. "I'm pretty sure that'll be forever."

"Oh, you'll get over it—it's just a crush."

"Oh, shut up."

"That's the beautiful thing about being human," she told me. "Things change."

My eyes narrowed. "Don't hold your breath You're all I'll ever want."

She was laughing when the nurse came in, brandishing a syringe.

"Excuse me," she said brusquely to Anna.

She got up and crossed to the end of the small room, leaning against the wall. She folded her arms and waited.

"Here you go, dear." The nurse smiled as she injected the medicine into my tube. "You'll feel better now."

"Thanks," I mumbled. It didn't take long. I could feel the drowsiness trickling through my bloodstream almost immediately.

"That ought to do it," she muttered as my eyelids drooped.

She must have left the room, because something cold and smooth touched my face.

"Stay." The word was slurred.

"I will," she promised. Her voice was soft and beautiful, like a lullaby. "Like I said, as long as it makes you happy… as long as it's what's best for you."

I tried to shake my head, but it was too heavy. "'S not the same thing," I mumbled.

She laughed. "Don't worry about that now, Elsa. You can argue with me when you wake up."

I think I smiled. "'Kay."

I could feel her lips at my ear.

"I love you," she whispered.

"Me, too."

"I know," she laughed quietly.

I turned my head slightly… searching. She knew what I was after. Her lips touched mine gently.

"Thanks," I sighed.

"Anytime."

I was content. I had been through hell and survived. Maybe I paid the price with some broken bones, but I still had everything I wanted. I felt Anna's hand on mind, and squeezed it as best as I could. I sighed, happily.

And then the night closed over me.