A/N: Thanks so much for all your wonderful thoughts.

Most characters belong to S. Meyer. The rest belong to me. All mistakes are mine.

Broken - Chapter 32

"What's wrong, Bella?"

"Nothing."

The halfhearted smile Bella offered me through the laptop screen was followed by a weary sigh, both of which plainly contradicted her answer. It was the eve to Christmas Eve, and I was admittedly relieved that Bella was finally winding down after her widely successful book reading tours. For weeks, she'd been up and down the west coast and through the mid-states. Now, she was back on the east coast.

When we'd spoken earlier in the day, Bella had sounded not only thrilled about the short break in her busy itinerary, a break for which I'd be joining her in Miami, but she'd gushed enthusiastically about her plans for that evening. She, her father, her agent Jessica, and the rest of her book tour crew were going out for a night at a popular Cuban restaurant on the beach. Bella had eagerly anticipated the energetic vibe and the flavorful spices for which the restaurant's Caribbean theme was well known.

Now, despite the rhythmic Latin beats transmitting clearly through the laptop's speakers, Bella was slumped in her chair and gazing at the scene around her morosely. When her top lip curled, and an expression of utter repugnance crossed her features - features which through the screen looked worryingly pale tonight - my brow furrowed. Then, she clamped a hand over her mouth and nose.

"Ugh, Jessica's appetizer...putrid..."

"Babe, between the Conga drums and your hand over your mouth, I barely caught a word."

As it was, speaking evenly and clearly was becoming a struggle for me as the evening progressed. Over the past twelve hours or so, the cold I'd been so damn close to kicking had made its return with a vengeance. Worse than the cough, however, was my throat. Every word I spoke grated as if someone was spreading gravel over my esophagus with hot tar. With every passing hour, my head felt all the more distended from my body as if it were a balloon, and the rest of me was a helium tank inflating it...and inflating it.

I knew exactly who to blame too, and it wasn't the three-foot-tall, small human who couldn't have landed his germ-infested phlegm concoction onto me with better accuracy had he aimed. I had no one but myself to blame. In my line of work, I knew better than to expose myself so openly, without proper protection, to anyone or any situation - young children included - that even held the hint of disease. And the boy had definitely held the hint of something.

Protect yourself before you can protect others.

For fuck's sake, masks, gloves, entire body suits were part of my routine. If none of the aforementioned were immediately available, we were taught to divert our damn faces as a last resort.

Protect yourself before you can protect others.

But I'd been distracted by an uncomfortable conversation, by my growing anger and resentment toward some, and by my building apprehension toward the well-being of others.

Protect yourself before you can protect others.

Lauren - the boy's...Tommy's mom had sprinted away, with Tommy sobbing in her arms and still hacking up phlegm. Then JJ had started crying, shaken by the sight of his sick friend.

'Tommy went bye-bye?'

My mom had pulled JJ out of the swing and quietly reassured him.

'Tommy went home because he's not feeling well, but he'll be just fine, JJ. After all, he received his booster, just like you did,' she'd smiled, 'and like I did, and like Uncle Edward and the rest of our family did. We'll all be fine now, thanks to Uncle Edward and his team.'

All the while, I'd continued staring after Tommy and his mom's retreating forms until they disappeared around the corner's bend. Over the past twenty-four hours, I'd wondered once or twice how little Tommy was faring. But I'd asked Lauren, twice, if he'd received his booster, and she'd assured me he had.

Bella's next sigh, laced with frustration now, broke me out of my musings.

"I'm just tired, and I'm not sure I'm up for this tonight. It smells weird in here."

An indignant chuckle arose to Bella's left. "It does not smell weird," Jessica's voice contradicted. "It smells amazing! And Cuban food tonight was your idea!"

"Whatever." Bella muttered the word with the type of bitterness I attributed more to the Angry-at-the-world Bella I met in the coffee shop over a year earlier than to my current girlfriend.

"Bella, have you been trying to get as much rest as possible?"

"Yes."

"No, she hasn't, Edward." When Charlie's head peeked into the screen, Bella bit it off - figuratively speaking.

"Do you two mind? This is my conversation with Edward. You can both call him later yourselves if you want to hold a conversation with him. For the love."

Charlie chuckled, apparently not surprised by his daughter's sharp retort, and I soon understood why.

"Ed, Bells has been cranky for the past few days."

I, however, found the entire scene much less humorous. "Bella, what's going on, love?"

"I just…I feel a bit off, like I'm coming down with something." The admission set me on high alert and trumped any physical discomforts I may have been feeling. It wasn't the first time in the past few days Bella mentioned feeling off.

"Do you have a fever?"

"No."

"Vomiting?"

"No. A bit dizzy here and there, but no biggie."

My jaw tightened from growing concern for Bella, for the most important person in my world, but...it was more. There was more there to be examined and turned over. Unfortunately, tonight, my mind wasn't up for the effort required to think beyond basics. My temples throbbed, and the throbbing intensified when I tried to focus too deeply.

But there was something.

Protect yourself before you can protect others.

I expelled a deep breath of my own growing frustration; with myself, yes, for being unable to focus, but also with Bella for not taking her wellbeing as seriously as she should.

"No biggie?" I remarked. "Bella, babe, please go get examined. You don't want to get sick while on the road. Your immune system is probably compromised-"

"Edward, tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and you'll be here, and I'll feel just…"

"Bella, come on," I said with admitted impatience. "I'm excited to see you too, but missing someone doesn't cause sickness."

She smirked. "Ouch."

Despite my growing concern, her indignant expression made me chuckle. Unfortunately, the chuckle morphed into a cough, which sent a red-hot flash searing up my throat. Clearing it away was a small form of torture as I continued.

"You might've caught a virus, or you might just need some supplements. Either way, go to a doctor."

"I've got to pick you up from the airport tomorrow."

"I can take a cab." How could five spoken words claw so much going up one's throat? I wasn't sure, but they had.

"No. I want to meet you at the airport."

"For the love." I fisted my hair. If she'd stop arguing, I wouldn't have to talk so much. "Fine. Then, go to the doctor in the morning. You don't have an event until late afternoon, correct?"

"Yes." Bella snapped at me with her own impatience, again making me chuckle.

"You are cranky."

Unfortunately, again, the chuckle turned into a cough that left my throat feeling like sandpaper scratching against sandpaper.

"Edward, are you okay? You've had that cough for a few days. I hope you're taking your own advice."

I managed a smile.

"Ahh, but I am a doctor. Some hot tea and over-the-counter meds, and I'll be fine. You, on the other hand, better go see one. Tomorrow. A.M."

"Fine, fine." She rolled her eyes. "I love you, Edward, and I can't wait to see you tomorrow, even if you are as cranky of an ass as I'm being accused of being. What happened to equality?"

She smiled teasingly and waited for a retort, but fucking hell, the ensuing chuckle I wasn't able to withhold would've brought me to my knees had I not been already seated. My reply was short and brief and barely above a whisper.

"Love you. Text you in the morning from the airport."

Bella's brow furrowed, but mercifully, she nodded.

"Bye, Edward."

"Bye, Bella."

I ended the call, throwing myself heavily against the couch's backrest and flinging the phone aside as I simultaneously groaned and shut my eyes. Yet even those actions rattled my brain and set my throat ablaze.

Time...passed.

My thoughts churned together, disorganized, and muddled like a potent concoction blended from ingredients that made no sense together – not when my mind altered some and camouflaged others.

I floated away into an uneasy state of semi-consciousness.

I was...pretty sick. That much was evident. But if I could manage to get up...find something strong enough to knock me out for the night so that I could sleep it off...rest; that's all I needed. At the worst, I'd delay my flight until tomorrow evening.

Tommy.

Unnerving...suspicions, which in my subconscious were now spiraling like dark clouds...

Bella.

Like that game, all roads led to Bella.

"Bella..."

'Always remember this! The number one rule of this job is that you've got to protect yourself before you can protect others!'

"She can't get sick, Director; not with this; not now..." I breathed.

'Why not?'

"Because..."

'Because what, Mr. Cullen? We deal in extrapolations, not in pure conjecture...'

"Because...because..."

'Edward...God, I wish I could give you your own...but...would you be open to adoption...?

'I've woken up the past few mornings feeling like I'm coming down with something...'

'Two years of trying, and you can't even give him a baby!'

'Bella, look what you did to the window!'

"Jasper," I growled then grunted from the excruciating pain..."get your hands off of her, and don't ever touch her again or I'll..."

'They lied to me!'

"Shh. I've got you..."

'Esme...she's pregnant.'

'Tell her to get rid of it, Carlisle! I don't need reminders of what you did!'

'I can't do that, Esme. No matter what, that's my child, and I can't...I'm sorry.'

'Then, get out.'

'Esme. Esme, listen to me. This doesn't have to destroy us. Elizabeth is willing to give me...to give us control of the child, as long as she receives full child support and remains a significant part of the child's life.'

'I don't-'

'Esme, if it's a boy, he could be a younger brother for Edward, a sibling he'd otherwise never have after what...Esme, if it's a girl, she wouldn't need to be a reminder of what I did. Instead, she could be a reminder of the little girl we had for such a short time...and lost; the little girl we'll never be able to have unless...Esme, think about it, please.'

"Mom...Mom...Bella...can't get sick now..."

'I feel a bit off, like I'm coming down with something...'

"Shh. Bella, I've got you. Be careful...are those handcuffs really necessary...?'

'No, officers! Don't let her go! I'm pregnant, and she threatened me and my baby!'

'That's my baby! I hate you! I hate you both!'

'She's crazy!'

"Damn it, Alice..."

'It's a girl, Esme; a little sister for Edward...'

'Edward, you're right; there are things we should've...things I should've explained to you once you were old enough...'

'She's deranged, and she broke your damn nose!'

'I wasn't in a good place back then, Edward, and we were star-crossed...as much as I cared about you, the issues between us literally made me sick...'

"Bella...they'll never break you again. I won't allow..."

'Edward, stop. That's your sister you're talking about.'

"Since Alice was a kid, you let her run wild..."

'I'm just one mistake begetting another, huh, big brother?'

"Yes...no...not JJ..." - my head thrashed from side to side - "not my nephew..."

'Uncle Edwahd, swing me high! Love you, Uncle Edwahd!'

'Edward...I love you...'

"I've got condoms..."

'Well, yeah, panita, I heard some of your convo with Kate, including that bit about the heavy-duty condoms you never forget. You want to make sure there are no accidents, huh?'

'Edward...I don't need you to wear one...it's not like I'm going to...Edward...would you be open to adoption...?'

"Yeah, I'd be open...but now...you can't get sick, Bella..."

Why?

'I've been feeling off, Edward...'

"You can't get sick now...not now...not...now..."

OOOOO

I was...on fire.

Inferno.

Fiery flames licked a scorching path both from within and without. They danced up and down my frame with fury, burning me from the very tips of my toenails to the ending follicles of my hair. They devoured my chest, turned my organs into dense, molten lava then liquidized my limbs with their searing wildfire. They invaded one lung then the other and flayed open my throat, chasing up my nostrils and leaving blisters in every corner of my mind until all I could think of were...

Flames.

Fire.

Inferno.

In some vague...hollow...part of my mind that somehow still managed to think through the torment, I realized Emmett had been correct. This was how the world ended; not with a loud bang nor with a brave, collective fight but eradicated with nothing more than a pitiful whimper because despite the relative quiet of the nighttime surrounding me, I was sure the world had ended. Its population lay decimated, in a ruined waste of muted smolder; silenced in the streets and now indistinguishable carcasses. Lumps of charred flesh. I was next.

Fire. That's all that was left. Fire.

Fire...and the nebulous image of a beautiful, defiantly strong woman...

Dark eyes...

An obscure, faint speculation...cognition...extrapolation that...that despite the world's end...she held its beginning...

A/N: Thoughts?

I'm hoping to update tomorrow, but I can't make promises. What I can assure you is that we'll have a new narrator for that chapter. ;)

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