Chapter 9: A Boring Visit To Hospital

When people faint in books or movies, it's cute. The heroine stands upright in her best outfit, with her savior right next to her. Her eyes grow wide in shock, she gasps at the sudden dizziness and she falls directly into the arms of her lover. She blinks a few times and the first thing her watery eyes see is the concerned frown from the man of her dreams, who's afraid of letting her go. She smiles at him, assures him she's fine and they kiss while he's still holding her close to him, never letting her leave his embrace.

Bonus points if that kiss can make her faint a second time.

But when I passed out in the parking lot of Forks high school, it was embarrassing. Or I thought it was, as I couldn't remember anything. I walked towards the entrance, hated my headache and suddenly, everything went black around me and I was gone.

I woke up to mumbled voices, who sounded strangely familiar to me. It took me an extra few seconds to recognise them as the Cullen's. I secretly hoped I was still unconscious and this wasn't real at all.

"Did she pass out?" That worried voice must be Edward's. I fought the urge to groan and tried to open my eyes but the light still irritated me. I noticed I was moving slightly.

"How is that even possible?" Alice softly asked, a bit further away from me.

"Her brain didn't receive enough oxygen and her blood pressure dropped." Ah shit, Rosalie was also here. Her smugness showed in that one sentence alone. And I knew I was awake because even in my worst nightmares, I still wouldn't dream of her.

"Fuck, I know how fainting works." The sudden harshness in Edward's voice made me cringe slightly. Everyone went silent for a second, probably still shocked as Edward didn't seem as the type who would cuss often.

My tiny movement made him aware I was awake.

"Don't worry, Bella. You've fainted, but everything will be alright," he softly whispered, trying to soothe me, but that soft caress made my mouth dry in anticipation.

I tried to open my eyes again, and this time I only saw his face directly above mine. He studied my eyes with a slight crease in his forehead. For a moment, I felt more as a science experiment than anything else. As if I was being watched carefully, something that was never experienced before.

This wasn't exactly how a picture perfect movie scene would look like, but looking down, I noticed I did have my nice dress on, though, so that was at least something. Wet from the constant drizzling rain, but it was the thought that counted.

And for some reason, I didn't have a scratch anywhere on my body, while I must've hid the pavement pretty hard, so that was definitely a plus.

All of that hassle and stress for a stupid minute of passing out. Small town people really had no clue about the outside world. Fainting wasn't even that uncommon. It happened all the time. When I was still living in Phoenix, it was strange when there wasn't at least one student who passed out a week. Truly, this was way too much.

"Can't you drive any faster?" Edward irritatedly addressed someone in front of me, trying and failing to get his face back in check, and I realised I was in a moving car.

"I'd rather not get a speeding ticket," Emmett chuckled, exchanging knowing glances with his siblings in the backseat. Edward gritted his teeth.

I tried to get up, but Edward's firm hand held me in place. I noticed my face and arms were on his lap, while my torso and legs were on Jasper and Alice. Emmett drove and Rosalie sat in the passenger's seat.

"I'm fine, really," I mumbled to no one in particular, hoping they would listen and stop the car.

They didn't.

"You had us worried there for a second," Jasper explained and his soothing voice calmed me down only slightly.

"No worries, I just passed out," I said with a half smile.

"Would you mind if we took you to our father at the hospital, just to make sure you aren't sick or anything?" Alice worriedly asked, her hands on my bare calves, giving them a gentle squeeze. I would find the gesture endearing at any moment. But not now.

Because I couldn't answer. At that moment, Edward caught a hair from my ponytail and softly tucked it behind my ear. My heart literally skipped a beat and his crooked grin let me believe he heard it. His touch was cold, too cold, but the shivers down my spine and the warmth I felt through my core didn't registrate that at all. I only felt my skin burn where he touched it. And I hoped he would do it again.

"Bella?"

I closed my eyes for a second, trying to remember where I was, who I was with, where I was going, and what was asked of me again. My mind was completely blank. The Edward Cullen effect. He should come with a warning.

"What?" I blinked a few times and composed myself.

"Can we take you to the hospital?" Alice asked again and even though I didn't see her, I heard her smile.

"It wouldn't be necessary, I guess. But if that calms you…."

Alice hummed and the car went silent again. Seriously, fainting was the least of my problems right now, considering I might be a freak of nature. Who even knows at this point? I certainly don't.

And for the first time ever, I was happy to go to a hospital. I could even forget about my own problems for a second.

It was truly pathetic that a simple hospital visit was a welcoming change of pace at this point in my life.

The car pulled over and everyone except Edward and I got out.

"Are you alright?" Edward asked. I made sure to avoid his piercing golden eyes this time.

"I'm fine," I answered him truthfully, while I stared at his chest. It was a wrong move, his muscular torso in his tight, dark blue shirt was just as distracting as his face. It was utterly unfair.

"I'm sorry for bringing you to the hospital. I was really worried there and thought something worse had happened to you." He explained.

Something in his voice made me look up. He stared at something outside of my viewpoint, away from my face and everything in me wanted to distract him and remove that crease in between his brows.

Without thinking, without knowing what I wanted to do, my hand suddenly had a life on its own. I reached out and softly placed a finger on his frown.

His eyes widened in surprise by this sudden contact. My own probably did as well.

Not only his hands were cold. His face was cold as well. But that wasn't the reason why I was surprised. No, I was taken aback by the intensity of the electrical tingles I felt all the way up from my fingertips down to my toes.

I quickly removed my finger from his skin. I immediately missed it and longed for more contact.

Goosebumps on my arms, irregular breaths, butterflies in my stomach. What more could this man do to me?

"I get it. But you shouldn't worry." I tried to calm him. It would've probably worked if my voice wasn't trembling that much, thick with emotions that were foreign to me.

He sighed. "I can't help it. Only thinking about the things that could've happened to you, makes me…." He stopped talking altogether, pressed his mouth shut and pinched his nose with his fingers. When he looked at me again, his face was closed off and impossible for me to read. "Let's get you inside, shall we?"

I was taken aback by the change in his attitude. I quietly got out of the car and had to steady myself before I would certainly fall again. The rest of his family had already gone off to their father, I guess.

Edward led me to his office, and my initial guesses were correct. All family members were gathered in the small office of Doctor Carlisle Cullen.

Even though everyone in their family was extraordinarily beautiful, Doctor Cullen was no exception to that rule. And in his doctors uniform, it wasn't strange to think that every nurse in this building had trouble working next to such a hot man. Hell, even I was taken aback by how handsome he was.

He smiled warmly at me, and I noticed he had the same amber-coloured eyes as everyone else in their family. Which was strange, as they were all adopted. Maybe they thought it was cute to all wear the same contacts, to resemble some kind of shared genetics.

"Good morning, Bella. I hear my children almost took you hostage to get you here." Even his voice sounded comforting.

I liked him instantly.

"I truly don't mind, Doctor Cullen. But I'm afraid I only fainted, so nothing too severe here." I smiled apologetically at him. I would probably bore him to death with this.

"I would still like to run some tests, if that's alright with you? And please, you can call me Carlisle. Doctor Cullen makes me feel too old." He raised his eyebrows at his children and they all went, leaving me alone with Carlisle.

I giggled at him, and his remark about his age made me realise how young he actually looked like. Way too young to be the biological father of those teens, that's for sure. How remarkable.

"Of course not, Carlisle. But I have to warn you, you won't find much." I shrugged. Wouldn't be the first time I was in a hospital, certainty wouldn't be the last. I could probably ace a medical exam at how much I knew from my frequent visits.

And just as I expected, Carlisle ran the tests I knew he would do. He took a blood test, a urine test and he checked on my temperature.

He found I had too many white blood cells in my bloodstream, which I was already aware of. And besides from that, I was as healthy as could be.

I almost felt guilty he wasted his precious time on this, but luckily his own children made him do it. I probably passed out from exhaustion or such.

"Well, luckily there's nothing wrong with you today. Have you eaten well, or are you under a lot of stress?" Carlisle ended his examination with some basic questions.

I thought about the hell that waited on me back home.

"Yeah, definitely the latter." Even I noticed how sour my voice sounded. Carlisle raised his brows, but decided not to question me any further.

"Sorry again for my children. They grew very fond of you," he winked at me before he opened his door, indicating I was finished.

My face lit up at his words. My face lit up even more as I saw his family, minus Rosalie, patiently waited on me in the hallway.

Edward jumped up and nodded at me. He went to his fathers office and quickly shut the door. I watched this whole exchange in surprise, but before I could act on it, Alice stood in front of me.

"What's the verdict?" She shifted her weight nervously from one foot to the other. Seeing how distressed she was, made me feel even more guilty about ditching her when my horrible parents asked me to. And it didn't even help me in the slightest.

"I'm completely fine," I assured her, Jasper and Emmett at the same time. They all sighed with relief.

Emmett started grinning and held his hand open. "Told ya, now pay up," he ordered his siblings. "Thanks Bella, I've finally won against Alice."

I couldn't believe my own eyes. "You've all put a wager on me?"

Jasper looked sheepishly and avoided my eyes. "You were gone a really long time… Please don't be mad."

"I'm not mad," I grinned. It was all just so surreal. So normal and funny during this weird and exhausting day. Feeling relieved and brave, I turned to Alice. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure." She grabbed my hand and led me down the hall. I noticed she was just as cold as Edward, but it didn't bother me in the slightest.

Because being alone with her made me nervous again. But, today was probably the weirdest day of my entire life, so apologizing to her would definitely be less hard then trying to figure out what my own parents hid from me. Still, it was awkward.

"I wanted to apologize to you for how I've been treating you. It's not fair," I blurted out.

Alice cocked her head to the side, her brow raised. "You don't have to apologize, silly. I figured you might have some problems at home or something." She shrugged it off. "We've all been there."

I believe my mouth had fallen open.

She smiled at me. "Relax, no harm was done, really. Besides, Rosalie will behave from now on. I can promise you that." She giggled, but the joke was lost on me.

Yep, definitely the weirdest day ever.

Alice reached out and quickly kissed my cheek. "I really love your dress, by the way." The way her eyes lit up as we discussed fashion, was something I would never grow tired of.

We walked back to the boys who probably wondered what the hell we were talking about. Edward was still with his father.

Speaking of the devil. In the room next to us, I heard him raise his voice. I barely made out the word "venom" but I could be mistaken.

As if on commando, his three siblings all started talking. I tried to concentrate on what was discussed with his father, but I could barely make out their whispers. It was a lost cause.

The door harshly swung open and Edward's determined gaze quickly scanned us. His eyes lingered on mine. The butterflies in my stomach liked it way more than necessary. He had the same worried expression on his face as he had in the car, and I wanted to soothe him as best as I could. What a strange feeling.

He nodded at me. "Ready to go home?"

"No." I pressed my lips together. That stupid, big mouth of mine. I really spoke before I had time to think. Did I want to go home right now? No, I was still angry and it wasn't guaranteed I finally received some answers. I didn't want to go home.

Edward raised his brows in confusion. "You want to go back to school?"

I smiled, anything was better than being home right now. "No."

His cooked grin made my knees buckle. If Carlisle was here instead of in his office, he would quickly order another round of testing, to see if my heart could function at all with how irregular it beated right now.

"Do you want to spend the day with me?"

"Hell yeah."