Good morning everyone! I hope you are all doing well. So, I have an announcement to make, not sure how everyone is going to feel but it needs to be made.
Outerra, Aftercare, and The Brothel, will be my last stories on FF. I am finishing them all, but, I will not be posting any new ones. What I will be doing is posting a story with all my unfinished chapters or couple chapter stories.
The reason these will be my last stories is because I need to finish my own story. Ever since I could talk, I've always made up stories and when I learned to write, well, I've always wanted to be a professional author. Publish my own books and maybe one day be one of the greats like Stephen King or J.K. Rowling or my personal ideal Kelley Armstrong. Wishful thinking I know, I don't think I'll ever be on their level, but, just to be an author would be so amazing.
Thank you, all of you, even the negative reviewers for helping me. You've helped me gain confidence and a tough skin. So, thank you!
Okay, enough with my pipedreams and chitter-chatter. Go ahead and read this new chapter and please enjoy it!
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sometime early morning, I stirred a little and stretched. Big mistake. My midsection felt as if it were going to rip. I gasped, well, yelped and put my hands over my scar.
Of course, me yelping woke Edward with a start. He looked down at me.
"Are you okay?" He asked, his hands over mine.
I nodded, "I just stretched the wrong way. Forgot that my opening would still be sore."
"Let me get your pain medicine to help you go back to sleep. It's to early to be awake."
"Okay," I rubbed my stomach.
He returned with the medicine, applying a generous amount onto his fingers and rubbing it along my midsection. I sighed happily as the ointment took its effect.
"Here, take this," Edward handed me a small dissolvable pill. I recognized it as a natural pain reducer. I stuck it under my tongue; within minutes, it dissolved.
Edward laid back down beside me, his tail pulling me against his side. I closed my eyes, letting sleep pull me under.
A couple hours later, I was woken by Edward getting dressed. I reached out and touched his back. He looked back and smiled.
"Hey, I didn't mean to wake you," he said quietly.
"Where are you going?" I asked, not even attempting to get up. I was still too tired.
"I have to run to the office. A pipe burst in the waiting area and it flooded the entire room. I have to go see the amount of damage that's been done to it, so I can hire someone to clean it up and fix it."
"Oh no, that's not good," I started to pull myself up, "I'll go with you."
"No Bella, stay here," he said, gently pushing me back onto the bed, "You need to rest. I promise I won't be gone long."
I didn't have the energy to fight, instead I just laid back down against the mattress.
"Okay. I'm just going to stay up here until you get back. I don't know if I can make it down the stairs," I sighed, closing my eyes.
"If I'm any later passed breakfast, I'll call Sam or Alice to come check on you." He kissed my forehead, "See you in a bit."
"See you." I grabbed my blanket and curled it around me, fully prepared to go back to sleep.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
My eyes fluttered open at the sound of ringing. I slowly sat up, looking for the noise. After a few moments of looking, I realized it was my phone. I winced as I reach over and grabbed it.
"Hello?" I said.
"Hey Bella," Alice said, "Jasper and I are heading over to your house. Edward called me, he said he's hung up at the office. The leak was bigger than expected. He doesn't know when he'll be back."
"Okay, the door should be open. But, if it's not then the key is under the mat."
"See you in a few!"
I put my phone back down on the night table and laid back down. I was too tired to get up and make an effort to get ready. This was one of the side effects of the anti-infection medication the doctor had given me. Exhaustion. And I had to be on this stuff until my scar healed.
I didn't fall back asleep. Instead I just waited for Alice and Jasper to get here. It didn't take long for the front door to open and the sound of footsteps to fill my house.
"Bella!" Alice called.
"I'm up in my room."
I could hear her walk up the stairs to my bedroom.
"Hey, what are you still doing in bed?" She asked.
"I'm so tired." I said.
"Okay, well, you need to get up and shower. I hate to say it but you're smelling a little ripe."
"Shut up," I chuckled, "I'll get up, but, I need help. My incision is still really sore."
"I'll help you. Shower or bath?" She asked.
"I'd prefer a shower, but, I think maybe bath is wiser." I said.
"Sounds good. I'll go run your water." She walked out of my room and into the bathroom. I could hear the bathwater running.
She walked back into my room and helped lift me out of bed. I had to move slowly as to not hurt myself.
It was a slow process, but, Alice didn't complain or say anything. I sat in the tub for I don't know how long. The hot water felt amazing. I almost fell asleep but Alice constantly asking if I was okay kept me awake.
She helped me dress into a loose dress. The dress was long, long billowy sleeves and long billowy bottom. The cold months were coming soon, and the air had already grown a slight chill.
Going down the stairs was a task that was too difficult for me at the moment and Alice could carry me down them. Luckily, she had brought Jasper along with her, so, he ended up carrying me down.
I sat down on my couch while Alice prepared the meal she had brought. Jasper sat beside my feet.
"Has Alice told you the good news yet?" He asked.
"No, what good news?" I asked.
"We're moving out here. Alice and I are going to give our current to my younger brother. He's ready to move out."
"Oh wow," I smiled, "That's amazing. When are you guys going to start building your house?"
"There are a couple spots of land around here that are for sale. We're still deciding on which one."
"I'm so happy. You guys will be closer to me," I chuckled, "Why have you two decided to move?"
"Well, with us getting married we need bigger space. For when we start a family." He said.
"Are you two thinking about starting a family?" I asked.
"No," Alice said as she walked into the living room, "Well, not yet at least. I haven't even taken out my blocker yet."
"You haven't?" I said, "Alice, you need to get that thing removed. Unless you want to end up like me."
"I have the appointment set. But, strangely enough, mine hasn't malfunctioned. It's still doing what it's supposed to do." She said.
"Huh," I grabbed the bowl of mush she handed me. Looking at it just made my stomach queasy, but, since I've been in the hospital, all food made me slightly queasy. Just a side effect from surgery.
I forced myself to eat at least half of the food before I set it down on the tray. Jasper and Alice were still eating theirs.
"I wonder why the blockers malfunctioned," I said, "Or some of them."
"I was looking at the report today about it, one of the theories is that the malfunctioning was caused by their hibernation pods. Another theory is that technically, our blockers were being used for to long. But, no one has really come up with the evidence to back it."
"Well, get that thing out of you as soon as possible," I shook my head, "This was probably the worst experience of my life. Added on with my newfound period, it's really just the worst."
Alice grimaced, "I am not looking forward to that."
"Don't worry, I'll take care of you," Jasper said as he patted her shoulder.
She smiled, "Why thank you."
My door opened, Edward walked through. His hair was a mess and his clothes looked like they were damp. The expression on his face was one of pure stress and tiredness.
"Edward are you okay?" I asked.
"Yeah," he sighed heavily, "Just a rough day. Going to have to shut the office down. The whole place was flooded," he shook his head.
He leaned down and kissed the top of my head, "How was your day?"
"Uneventful," I shrugged, "The leak was that bad?"
"Flooded everything. I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to replace several things," he said, "But until I get it all sorted it I'll move the appointments to another office."
He sat beside me. I gave him a smile.
"It'll be okay." I told him.
He smiled back, "Yeah. I know it will. But with everything else going on, this wasn't exactly ideal."
"Well soon, you'll have your head nurse back to save the day." I chuckled.
His smile widened, "Oh I can't wait. No one else is a better nurse than you."
"Welp, before this flirting goes to the next level, Jasper and I should be leaving." Alice said.
"You don't have to leave," I said.
"No, we need to. We've got a couple things we need to do," She said, "You focus on healing. I need you for my wedding. I don't want to have to reschedule it again."
I smiled at her, "Don't worry. I'll be perfectly healthy by the time of your wedding."
"Good," she kissed my cheek before they left.
I put my feet onto Edward's lap, he started to rub them. I smiled and closed my eyes, letting my head fall backward. He rubbed my feet for a few minutes.
"So, my parents want to meet you," he suddenly said.
I opened my eyes and looked at him, "When?"
He shrugged, "Sometime soon. My mother is very eager to meet you. Whenever I talk about you, she keeps saying, finally." He chuckled.
"You talk about me a lot?" I smiled cheekily.
He gave me a look, playfully rolling his eyes, "But, I'd like you to meet them. If you want."
"I would love to meet your parents. But, can it be after I have some time to heal?"
"Like I would make you meet them when you're just barely healing."
"Give me a couple weeks and we should set up dinner one night," I said, "Keep rubbing my feet…please." I smiled widely.
Bella is going to meet Edward's parents! Still healing though, I can't honestly imagine having that sort of trauma on my body, so you know I inflict it on these characters. Does that make me somewhat psychotic? Kinda. Leave me a little review!