Thank you all. Winding it down now.

I sleep for hours. Possibly days.

Every time I open my eyes, they fall closed again, and I don't fight them as I drift off once more.

It's a different kind of sleep. It's the kind of sleep you don't realize you've been missing. Even though Jasper had been gone from my life for the past year, I still slept on guard, even with Edward by my side.

But now, I sleep and let it sink deep into my bones, my body weightless as it lets go of the chains of my past for good.

And Edward never leaves my side.

He takes care of everything that needs to be addressed for me, making a list of things that he can't legally do for me so I have a direction to start in once I'm up to it.

And he never rushes me.

It's one of the first things I realize when I sit up in bed, stretching my neck in slow circles as I see the bright gray of a new day before me. I see Edward on his side of the bed, his eyes closed and his mouth slightly open as he catches up on some of his own much needed rest.

My heart melts at the sight of him, as if it recognizes how much I've missed him while I slept. Wanting him to get some sleep, but also wishing he was awake, I shift slightly in bed to make myself closer to him, waking him up in the process. He blinks a few times before naturally looking over to check on me. A sleepy smile crosses his face when he sees me smiling back at him.

"You're alive," he jokes, moving to sit up in bed but wincing as he does. He positions himself against his headboard and moves my hands away when I lift his shirt to look at his broken ribs wrapped beneath. "Don't worry about me. I'm fine," he insists.

I shoot him a look of concern, but he holds his arms open for me to nestle into. Sighing when we settle ourselves in a way not to hurt him, he asks, "How do you feel?"

"Everything," I answer him honestly, surprised at the raspiness of my voice. Instinctually, my hands fly to my throat, feeling the bruises beneath the press of my fingers as I remember Jasper's hands on me the night of the attack at my cabin. "Happy. Mad. Scared. Relieved. Guilty."

"Guilty?"

"For you," I reply. Tears fill my eyes. "For Alice."

My heart breaks again as memories from the night with Jasper come flooding back to me. All of his words, all of his looks, make me want to close my eyes to the world again. Luckily, Edward's voice in my ear changes my mind.

"She's okay," Edward tells me, moving so I can see his face. "He thought he killed her, but she's alive. She's fine. She's home."

I swallow, relief caught in my throat as I absorb everything he's telling me. "And Rose?"

I feel him nod against the top of my head as he pulls me back down to him. "Everyone's okay. Rose and Emmett are on their way here."

I don't want to say his name ever again, but I have to, at least for now. "What about Jasper?"

Edward sighs, and I can tell he's using as much restraint as he can. "He's being sent back to Rhode Island. Between the charges here and the proof of what he did to you and Alice, he's got a nice case built up against him."

I let out a breath, closing my eyes as I feel the shackles of my imprisonment land onto Jasper.

"I'm so sorry, Edward." I shake my head against his chest. "For all of this. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. So many people were hurt because of me."

"No," Edward replies, slowly sitting us up again. "They did this because they love you, Bella. And the same goes for me."

His eyes search mine so they can find the reassurance I can only get from Edward. I nod once I find the truth, his lips landing softly on mine. A tear falls from my eye and slips down my cheek.

"I love you," I say between tears once we part. "So much."

He nods, his arms wrapping around me in his bed beneath the gray skies and green pines. "It may take the rest of my life, but please let me show you the way you're supposed to be loved," Edward whispers into my hair. "The way you deserve to be."

And when I nod, our foreheads pressed against each other in a silent surrender, I say goodbye to the life that brought me to him, and welcome with open arms a new adventure.

And this life, full of smiles and nature and love, is something I know now I deserve.

Today is the last time I can say this, as I'll be marking this complete on Tuesday. So, for the last time, see you tomorrow!