Disclaimer: I own nothing.

BPOV

I was vaguely aware that I had been struck by something very hard but my brain failed to process what had actually happened. The last thing I remember before the darkness was Edward Cullen's beautiful face looking at me as though the sun had been extinguished. I smiled and slipped into a peaceful oblivion.

I can't say with any certainty at all how long I stayed in the dark but I was pulled back violently. The fire that wound through my veins was all-encompassing and eclipsed every other pain I had ever felt throughout my entire life. I was burning alive and it never seemed to end.

Through the razing fire I could feel my hips being burned especially hot where the pain from the impact had been. After that pain subsided, the fire moved equitably through my body. I was being scorched endlessly. In the beginning, I couldn't remember who I was or where I had been. Everything was red and I felt like I was floating alone in a sea of fire. Gradually, the fire became more manageable. I could remember my name. Then I could remember my life—my parents, my friends, my home.

The last things to come back were the events that occurred right before I fell into the oblivion of the aching hurt. I remembered tearing up in the parking lot at school at the sight of my snow chains. The fact that Charlie cared enough to wake up early and spend the time to make sure I would be safe was something I hadn't experienced in a while. I knew Renee loved me but I was used to taking care of her more so than she ever took care of me.

As I was thinking about all of this by my truck, I could remember a van hurtling towards me. I didn't even have time to react to the situation before I was pinned between the two vehicles. The strangest part was that I had felt no pain at that point, but more like a numbness. I felt foggy and hazy and I looked around me. Again, the last image I could think of was Edward's face with that sad, sad look as he ran towards me.

Though the fire was still burning me mercilessly, I was able to think. I was also starting to feel things in my limbs and hear voices. I wondered if I was going crazy. Certainly death wouldn't feel this cruel? Was I in the hospital in a coma? Where was Charlie?

The voices came and went and I was sure that I recognized them, though I couldn't place any. Then, I swear to all that is holy, Edward's voice began talking to me. And I was glad for it.

The soothing voice that my pain riddled mind had created was the only thing I had to distract me from the pain. Clearly, my mind had created some sort of auditory coping mechanism in the form of my strange, yet fascinating lab partner's voice. I suppose it made sense I heard Edward's voice. His face was the last image I could recall and if I had to rank voices, his was one of the loveliest I'd ever heard. If I had to spend eternity in my head, listening to fake voices, I'd chosen wisely. He talked to me about so many things—crazy things. Things that definitely were not real which meant that I was slowly, but surely, going out of my mind from agony. He repeated how sorry he was over and over. He explained that he couldn't stand to lose me so he had to intervene. I was beyond comprehension and simply gave in to the babble since it was better to listen to my auditory hallucinations and not focus on the pain.

It was then that my mind seriously decided to play tricks on me. Edward's voice began to tell me that he felt very strongly about me and that I had affected him in a way he never thought possible. He told me how beautiful I would be and how I would never have to worry about being sick, tired, sore or weak ever again. He apologized again and told me that I would live forever. He had turned me into something like him to save my life. The truck was going to kill me and he felt compelled to save me. He assured me that I had people who would help me through this but it was ultimately my choice and I could do what I desired with my immortality.

I was confused to the nth degree but I willed myself to focus on the voice. He began talking about drinking from humans and not wanting to be a monster. It seemed that he went on forever, the same as the fire, just talking to me.

I was mildly impressed by the depth to which my imagination concocted this elaborate tale. His voice was joined by others periodically. If I am admitting to hearing his voice then I had to also admit that the other random voices weren't actually random at all. They were his family members, including two that my mind had created—his mother and father—who I had never even seen before in my life. Of course, I knew a bit about his family from asking Angela and Jess, but I had never met the doctor and his wife, the enigmatic adopters of these kids. For me to have created all seven voices of this family was seriously impressive for my subconscious. To top it all off, they were all talking the same crazy talk about how beautiful I would be, whether or not Edward made the right decision, and how he saved me.

I had never talked to Emmett but my mind created a warm, booming voice for him. He told me how important I was to Edward and that he would help me in any way he could. He said that he hoped I could be all that Edward needed me to be. Then, he challenged me to an arm wrestling match when I woke up. I decided I liked imaginary Emmett.

If I weren't being burned like a coal in the fire then I might have laughed. As soon as I had the thought of burning like a coal, I immediately felt the flames again. Thinking of the pain brought me away from the voices and I lost time again. After an indeterminable stretch I was hearing Edward's voice again. I was also beginning to feel the flames recede from my extremities.

I knew that if I wanted to, I could move my fingers, my hand, and then my forearm. I thought about moving but I didn't want to chance it. What if I moved and the pain returned tenfold? As the pain ebbed, my heart began racing faster and faster as if trying to outrun the fire. I could finally feel my legs and arms, my hips and torso. My heart was cantering at a frightening pace and I began to panic. I was beyond thankful that the fire was leaving my body, but I had a feeling that my life was about to end. It was almost as if my heart knew that this was it and was giving its best shot to stay alive. I wanted to cry but I couldn't—all I could feel was a slight prickling in my eyes.

With a few last gallant and hard beats, my heart began to slow again and I calmed a bit. The calmness quickly evaporated as my heart slowed and slowed and I realized that I had been mistaken about the racing before—this part was surely the end. I silently told Charlie and Renee that I loved them, hoping that they would live long, fulfilling lives and would not take my death too hard. Thump. Thump. Thump.

I was sure I was dead. My heart had stopped, but so had the pain. I actually felt completely pain free. I took a breath and it felt wrong, like the air came into my lungs but it just sat there. My eyes snapped open as I let the air out again.