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

I hadn't been planning to tell this from Ed's pov because he was somewhat out of it, but…this came to me this morning, and it demanded to be written. So here you go, a quick outtake of Ed's foggy thoughts while he was in the hospital, and right before he receives Bella's news. Hope you enjoy. :)

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

Outtake – Edward and the Butterfly

For what felt like an eternity, the fiery burning consumed me; it flared its way up my throat and into my head before rushing downward and devouring my flesh. I saw puzzling and disturbing images which were a reflection of my worst fears: The entire world burned, taking with it my family and friends. Worst of all…worst of all, I saw a woman…

A woman…a beautiful, dark-haired woman lay unconscious in a hospital. She was hooked up to a series of hospital machines, while a white-coated and copper-haired doctor hovered above her, checking her weak vitals. An unfamiliar voice called out from behind them.

'You didn't protect her, Doctor Cullen, and you lost them.'

Them.

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

Them.

'Can you hear me, Doctor Cullen? You lost them.'

'Doctor Cullen, can you hear me?'

When the doctor conducting the examination turned his face toward me, it was my own eyes that met mine.

I was the doctor.

'Edward?'

For an indeterminable moment in time, there was nothing. The excruciating pain receded, though, it didn't completely vanish. Its burn was more than enough to keep my limbs weighed down as it dispelled its smoky fog throughout my mind.

There were moments when the fog almost lifted and when certain sounds waded through the nebulous haze, wandering close enough to the few edges of my mind that hadn't been layered by the mist, close enough for me to hear weak, muffled vibrations. There were various beeps interspersed with voices.

"Edward? Honey? It's…"

"Doctor Cullen? Can you…?"

"Panita, wake…on her way…"

Abruptly, the smoke would reach in and like a claw, it snatched those voices, that stimuli away before it got too close, before I could understand.

I began to fear. I feared the smoke would never entirely clear. But if the world had truly ended, if I'd truly lost her…lost them, why fight the fog?

So, I burned, and abruptly, I traveled to an arctic land and through a blizzard so blindingly biting I found myself wishing for the return of the burn. My limbs turned to icicles ready to crack and shatter. Dry ice filled my throat and sent its bitter cloud into my mind. Back and forth I traveled between two forms of hell, until-

Until…

"Edward…Bella…"

That sound…that voice…

'You didn't protect her, Doctor Cullen. You lost them.'

"…here…really me…"

That voice. If that voice…if she was here, then I hadn't lost her…lost them.

"…not in there…wish I…"

The voice, the sweetest voice ever, broke. It stopped. With its pause, the racing in my chest quickened, the way a horse's hooves accelerate when they're in view of the finish line. The blood in my veins pumped harder. The beeping around me kept pace.

"…listen to me…something important…"

The voice…she kept speaking, but the fog, the damned fog fought to remain in control. It circled furiously around my head, ensured it found every corner and crevice.

"…been apart for weeks…"

She kept speaking, but I couldn't…the haze was so damn thick, and I couldn't…

When she stopped again, dread consumed me; a fear that she'd given up, that my lack of response meant she'd never continue, and that I…that I'd never hear that voice again. The possibility of such an outcome now sent a different sort of fire racing through me. Adrenaline, fury pumped in my veins, and it was my fury, not the fog's fury. I drew in a series of breaths, squeezed my hands and my eyes and shoved the fog further into the recesses of my mind, freeing clear space so that if she…if the voice ever chose to speak again…

"Edward…don't care that your mom made a choice I'll never understand."

Yes. Yes, keep speaking. Please, keep speaking.

"…don't care that your dad…"

Dad. My dad. I didn't want Dad near that voice; I knew that much. I didn't trust Dad around that voice. A distinct sort of wariness now filled me, but I couldn't focus on it because the voice continued, and it required all my strength and effort to keep the fog at bay so I could hear and attempt to understand the voice.

"…don't care that Jasper will always be your nephew's father or that your sister has issues."

Jasper, the rat bastard. My sister. And…my nephew.

When the fog attempted to reclaim the space from which I'd forced it, I rammed it down. This was massively important, and I had to understand it because Jasper and my sister…and my nephew, JJ…they were the three names which in their own ways, had once caused that sweet voice unspeakable pain. I had to focus. I had to know what the sweet voice was saying.

"I don't care about any of it. In fact, I'll embrace them all as part of our dysfunctional family, maybe a bit more dysfunctional than most, but…whatever."

Another voice – a familiar, loud male – snickered.

"And I can be around them or not be around them. It doesn't matter. I've realized how little all of it matters in the grand scheme of things because…" The voice, she…Bella…my Bella drew in a series of uneven breaths. "Are you ready for this? It's an analogy."

I'm ready, baby. I'm ready.

"In the grand scheme of things, you and I are Chaos. That Day was our Chaos – our huge, random yet universe-altering event. But then, within our Chaos, a butterfly, no less important for its diminutiveness, flapped its wings, and Edward, its effect will be life-changing. A beautiful, perfect stone has been cast in our pond, and it's going to ripple far and wide."

Her voice…Bella's voice wasn't in the room with me. It transmitted through a phone; I could tell the difference now, and I thanked every being in existence for that because Bella shouldn't be in a hospital room now.

And in the next moment, it was a long-ago memory that came to me, snippets of a conversation between my mom, Esme, and me at a restaurant. It occurred about a year after That Day and shortly after I'd returned from a year working abroad, a year during which I'd remained busy yet thought of the woman in that lobby nightly. And in between those nightly thoughts, I'd extrapolated so much from our one encounter that I'd fallen in love with her.

But the day with Mom at the restaurant, we'd been discussing the events of That Day, and in the midst of our discussion, Chaos Theory and the Butterfly Effect had found their way into the conversation.

"You know what The Butterfly Effect is, right?" Mom had asked.

"More or less. Something to do with Chaos Theory."

'One minuscule change in a complex system can have reverberating effects…a man stops for a sandwich and triggers two world wars, another man's application to art school is rejected, and he lives on in infamy…a woman finally finds herself and…"

"They're shitty analogies, I know," Bella said.

A woman finally finds herself, and she relinquishes the emotional and physical hold her past had on her. Because mental health and physical health are interrelated. The woman flourishes emotionally, and her entire system flourishes. It blooms.

And the man who fell in love with this woman in a place where he should've never been, the man who loves her and trusts her more than he loves and trusts anything or anyone in the world, pours his complete love and trust…he pours his entire heart and soul into her when they finally make love, and what results from their mutual Chaos is…is a beautiful, perfect butterfly.

"I should've chosen something much simpler than the Theory of Chaos to compare-"

"Chaos…butterfly…" I couldn't move or open my eyes; the fire and fog still controlled my physiological system.

But it didn't control my mind.

"Bella…you're pregnant."

I breathed the words into the ensuing silence, possibly managed a weak smile, I couldn't be sure. Yet inside – despite the burn intermingled with ice and intermingled with pain – inside, I stood at the highest peak of the highest mountain, where I overlooked a blooming, blossoming field. In the middle of the field stood my Bella.

It had been an arduous climb.

"Yes, Edward," Bella said.

It had been an arduous climb, but Bella…and our baby would be by my side for the entire trip down.

"Yes, baby. Yes, I'm pregnant."

A/N: Thoughts?

Hope you guys enjoyed this little outtake.

"See" you soon!

Facebook: Stories by PattyRose

Twitter: PattyRosa817