BPOV

Several things happened at once, nothing slowed like in the movies, but the adrenaline made my brain work faster: Edward was four cars down staring at me in horror, a dark blue van skidding toward me, the violent squealing sound of the tires locked and squealing against the brakes. It was going to hit the back corner of the truck, and I was right between them. Just before the van made impact, something hit me, hard but from a different direction. Two long white hands, reached out and stopped the van a foot in front of my face.

"Bella? Are you alright?" I knew the voice, Edward Cullen.

"I'm fine." This was a lie I had told so many times over the years, it was a lie I knew well, but my voice still sounded strange.

"Be careful, I think you hit your head pretty hard." He warned as I struggled against the grip he had against me.

I became aware of the throbbing ache above my left ear.

"Ow," I said, surprised.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." He sounded like he was suppressing laughter.

"How-How did you get here so fast?" I was trying to get my bearings and clear my head.

"I was right next to you, Bella" he said, his tone becoming serious again.

The next few minutes was a flurry of activity, people surrounding us, shouting instruction, and calling 911.

This made me groan. I've had a lifetime's worth of hospital stays and visits under my belt. And now, I would be making another one.

"Bella? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." I answered reflexively.

"You were over there by your car," I said, trying to change the subject.

"No, I wasn't," He said, becoming serious again.

"Yes, you were." I said, trying to get the truth.

"Please, Bella." I was surprised, he was pleading.

"Why?" I demanded.

"Just trust me." He said, the gold in his eyes blazing.

The thing was, I did trust him, I didn't know why, or if I should, but it was an instinct.

"Promise me that you'll explain later." I could hear the sirens.

"Fine." He snapped.

It took six EMTs and two teachers to move the van. I was mortified when they brought in the stretchers. To make matters worse, I could see Charlie get out of his car and make his way to the ambulances.

"Bella!" He yelled in panic, when he recognized me on the stretcher.

"I'm completely fine, Char-Dad," I sighed. "There's nothing wrong with me."

He and I knew very well that that wasn't true, but comforting him was my priority.

He turned to the EMT and asked him for information.

I saw the van as they pulled it away, I saw the dent that fit the shape of Edwards shoulder. There was his family, they all had different expressions of their faces ranging from disapproval to rage, but no one looked even the slightest bit concerned about their brother.

This told me that of all the scenarios I'd thought of, at least insanity wasn't one of them.

The ambulance, of course, got a police escort.

I was beyond mortified.

They put me in the emergency room. The thing about emergency rooms, and even hospitals, most of them are interchangeable, from the pastel-colored paper thin curtains, to the uncomfortable hospital beds, it was all almost the same.

Another thing that was the same, were the questions that they asked and the procedures they followed.

First the nurse took my blood pressure, then temperature, and then the questions, "Any pain anywhere? On a scale of one to ten? Any medical conditions? Any medications you are taking?"

It was the third question that made me pause. I had always been raised to never lie to doctors about anything. I never really had the urge to until now. I did a glance around and made sure no one could overhear, it wasn't that I was embarrassed, eventually my sickness would make itself known one way or another, but I wanted to save that time. I did another quick scan around the room. Tyler had yet to arrive.

"Stage 4 Cancer. Thyroid. Metastatic," I knew I didn't need to say much more than that.

"Are you receiving treatment?" She asked, trying to maintain her professional composure, but I could see the pity forming on her face.

"No, not anymore." I had stopped responding to treatments a while ago. I knew my time was running out. Maybe my number was up, and Edward had delayed the inevitable. In a perfect world, I would survive until I could graduate, so I could at least give my parents that, but I wasn't holding my breath.

"I don't take many medications. I don't like to take any pain medication that isn't over the counter. Zofran, if I absolutely need it. My dad has the list. I'm sure he'll be in here soon," I said hoping this would end the questioning.

Tyler was being wheeled in as I finished speaking. This reminded me, this was a small town. HIPPA wouldn't matter here, at least not informally. I needed discretion.

"Can you please be discrete? No one really knows except my dad, and I'd like to keep it that way. Please." I wasn't above slightly pleading. And by the way she was looking at me, I was pretty sure she wasn't going to say anything.

Charlie came in next. Charlie was very different from my mother. She trusted me to keep track of anything medical, and given that she could be harebrained at times, I was more than happy to oblige. Charlie trusted me to do the day-to-day routine, but he was more vigilant than my mother, and much more organized. He handed the nurse a copy of my medication list, and the number to the hospital in Port Angeles where my current doctors were, and started discussing something that I couldn't quite make out.

Charlie and I agreed that Port Angeles would have better resources than Forks, but I still hated that he had to make that drive for me. For my next visit, I would try to convince Charlie that I would be okay going alone.

"Bella, I'm so sorry." Tyler was next to me, looking at me anxiously.

"I'm fine, Tyler. You look awful, are you alright?" As we spoke, a nurse was unwrapping the bandages on his forehead revealing a myriad of cuts.

He ignored me. "I thought I was going to kill you."

I could not ignore the irony there. I would be gone soon enough, I shook away the morbidity in my thoughts.

"Don't worry about it, you missed me. Edward pulled me out of the way."

"Who?" He looked confused.

"Edward Cullen. He was standing right next to me." I always was a terrible liar.

"Cullen. I didn't see him… It happened so fast. Is he okay?" I knew I wasn't crazy. What had happened?

"I think so. He's here somewhere. They didn't wheel him in on the stretcher." I said slightly envious that he didn't have to be wheeled in.

They wheeled me away for an X-ray. I didn't even have a concussion.

Thankfully, I had an MRI done when I had first arrived in Forks, so I didn't need another one. But the nurse insisted I couldn't leave until I at least saw a doctor. So, I was stuck here. I hated hospitals, and Tyler's constant apologies didn't make anything better. So, I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep.

"Is she sleeping?" A musical voice asked.

Edward was standing at the foot of my bed, smiling, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. Tyler immediately began apologizing to Edward.

Edward lifted a hand to stop him, "No blood, no foul."

He moved to sit at the foot of Tyler's bed facing me. The way he was looking at me was intense, like he was trying to see my darkest secrets.

He smiled again, "So, what's the verdict?"

"I'm fine, but they won't let me go until I see the doctor." I didn't want to say there was nothing wrong with me, that would be a lie. "How come you aren't strapped to a gurney like the rest of us?"

He smirked, "It's all about who you know."

Tyler was being wheeled away for an x-ray now. Then, a doctor walked in. He was young, blonde, and more handsome than any other doctor I had before. He was pale, and by Charlie's description, this was Edward's father.

"So, Ms. Swan, how are you feeling?" Dr. Cullen asked in an appealing voice.

"I'm fine." I said, hopefully for the last time.

Edward took this as his cue to leave, I was glad. Surprisingly, I didn't want him to look at me differently.

"Your x-rays look good. Does your head hurt? Edward said you hit it pretty hard."

"It's fine." I sighed. His cool fingers probed on my head, and I winced slightly. He noticed.

"Tender?" He asked.

"Not really." Even I didn't believe me.

He chuckled.

"When was your last visit with your oncologist?" I sighed, I had known this was coming. I looked around and saw no one except Charlie walking towards us. I figured it was safe to proceed.

"Couple weeks ago in Port Angeles."

"Chief Swan," Dr. Cullen said, acknowledging Charlie.

"Dr. Cullen, how is she?"

Dr. Cullen gave him a quick run down, no concussion, nothing any more worrisome than normal.

"Have they done bloodwork or anything? She just had a doctor's visit a few weeks ago."

"She is right here. And no, Dad they haven't." This made Dr. Cullen chuckle. I hated when my parents and doctors talked about me like I wasn't here.

"I don't think any further tests would be necessary today. I've looked at the records you've given us. If you'd like we could switch your case to this hospital. It would probably be more convenient, should any issues arise. And I, of course, could take her on personally." " If I could die of mortification, I would have. I already knew the outcome, I was going to be switching hospitals. Just my luck.

"I didn't know you specialized in oncology, Dr. Cullen." Charlie looked genuinely convinced by Dr. Cullen.

"Oh, I have several specialties, what do you think Bella?" This was a little surprising. A lot of doctors were completely okay with leaving me out of any conversations.

"Ummm. I-I just," I sighed. Despite my privacy reservations, I couldn't help, but thinking how much easier this would be for Charlie.

"She's concerned, small town, you know. Word spreads fast. Nobody really knows." Charlie and I had never really discussed this, but I was glad that he understood.

"Ah, I understand, but I can assure you the most discretion possible." I started to become a little more apprehensive, why did he want me as a patient? I sounded like a lunatic, maybe he was just trying to be nice.

I took another deep breath, smiled that fake 'thanks doctor' smile, "Okay, whatever's easiest for Charlie."

Charlie was about to protest, but I stopped him, "Really, it's fine, Dad."

This seemed to put him at ease.

"Okay, I'll go over your records, and we can go from there."

"Okay, can I go back to school?" I was hoping that I could return to normalcy.

"Maybe you should take it easy today," Dr. Cullen suggested gently.

Edward was rounding the corner again. I wondered where he went.

"Does he get to go to school?" I glanced at Edward, who was now standing next to Dr. Cullen.

"Someone has to spread the news that we survived." Edward sounded a little smug.

"Actually, most of the school seems to be in the waiting room," Dr. Cullen admitted.

I cringed, "Oh no."

"Do you want to stay?" Dr. Cullen raised his eyebrows.

"No, no!" I insisted, swinging my legs over the side quickly, too quickly. I stumbled, Dr Cullen grabbing my arm to steady me. Dr. Cullen, Charlie, and Edward all looked concerned.

"I'm fine." No need to tell Dr. Cullen that my balance issues were unrelated to my medical issues.

"Take some Tylenol for the pain," Dr. Cullen suggested. I was grateful that there was no cancer talk in front of Edward. It seemed like Dr. Cullen understood my desire for secrecy.

"Doesn't hurt that bad." I insisted.

"It sounds like you were extremely lucky." I chuckled humorlessly at this.

"Lucky Edward was standing next to me." Dr. Cullen seemed to preoccupy himself with the papers in front of him. He looked at Tyler, who had just come back, "Unfortunately, you will have to stay a little bit longer."

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" I hissed under my breath, I had not forgotten his earlier promise.

"You don't want to keep your dad waiting." He glanced over at Charlie.

"Oh, don't worry. Gotta take care of some paperwork."

Now it was my turn to smirk. Charlie left.

I looked at Tyler and Dr. Cullen. "I'd like to talk to you alone, if you don't mind."

We walked down the long hall. He walked so fast I nearly had to catch up to him. When we stopped, I was almost out of breath and he glared at me, and then his eyes softened at little. It was like he knew, but there was no way that was possible. Maybe I was becoming paranoid?

"What do you want?" he said coldly. His unfriendliness slightly intimidated me.

"You owe me an explanation." I reminded him.

"I saved your life - I don't owe you anything." I flinched at his words, he had saved my life, but in another very real sense, he had just bought me more time. Either way, I was grateful, but I wanted an explanation.

"You promised."

"Bella, you hit your head, you don't know what you're talking about."

My temper flared, so I glared back.

"There's nothing wrong with my head, I want to know the truth, why I'm lying for you."

"What do you think happened?" he snapped back.

This exchange went back and forth for a bit. And it ended with us scowling at each other.

"Why did you even bother?" He looked surprised at my words.

"I don't know," he whispered.

I was so angry, but also surprisingly, hurt at his words. It took me a few minutes to recollect myself and leave. That night after assuring Charlie that I was okay with switching doctors, and then reassuring my mother that I was fine, and everything was okay. After that and a feeble attempt at homework, I found myself exhausted. That was the first night I dreamt of Edward.