Ch. 53 Rough Landing

I awoke with a gasp, but the action didn't reward me with the relief that it should. My chest was constricting, straining in effort to draw in the oxygen that my lungs so desperately craved. I wasn't able to move very well, so I lifted my head up off the ground as best that I was able to look around to gauge my location. It was dark, and I was lying in grass somewhere...a field. There was no one around that I could see.

Edward..? No one answered.

"...Ed—" I was coughing horridly. It felt like my lungs might come out of my chest. Oh please let someone be here. Please. Please. Please!

Where am I? What have I done? I should have stayed. I should have let them change me...oh God. "Ed..ward!" I gasped in another lungful of air.

The wind blew around me, and it felt like ice. I then realized just how dry the air was...which meant it might snow. Shit. Freaking fantastic! Exactly what a deathly ill pneumonia patient needs...to be left in the fucking snow to die of hypothermia! Edward?!

Ok, I need to move. My new plan was simple—investigate where I was and drift if I didn't find anyone. I rolled over clumsily, yet successfully, by throwing one leg over to the ground and allowing my frail body to follow with the momentum of the movement. I tried to push myself up on to my elbows which would hopefully make it easier for me to get to a standing position, and I was actually almost up to my knees when I lost my balance and fell over with a thud. I immediately hissed out in pain when I felt a crack at my wrist. Shiiiiiiiiiiiiit!

Fuck fuck fuck! I cradled my arm to my chest, the position awkward since I was lying facedown in the snow. I cried silently, unable to even squeak out a sound. My lungs felt like they might collapse in on themselves the more that I tried to pull air in. Oh God. I have to go...I love you, Edward...

"As I love you." I heard the voice of an angel reply, velvety smooth and laced with overwhelming peace and joy, before I saw him. Edward lifted me gently, yet passionately, into his arms, kissing me on the forehead. He wasn't deterred, barely slowing to bring me with him as he darted through the trees. He seemed to be running at his full speed. Well, I guessed he was...I couldn't really keep track since I was kind of out of it...

Edward...thank God, I sighed in relief though that just made me want to cough again. Ow...everything hurts...

He tucked me into his chest tighter, but I screamed out in pain as my arm caught between us. He moaned in horror when he realized that I was injured. "Oh Iris, your wrist!" He came to a sudden halt, assessing the fractured bone. "It's broken. Carlisle will have to splint it." He then ran even faster than before if that were possible.

He angled his body in such a way that I was shielded from the wind chill, but he didn't touch my wrist. "I'm so sorry, Love. Forgive me for being late. Alice just saw you a moment before I found you." Alice?! There was obvious pain and concern in his voice, but it was accompanied by an underlying, unmistakeable, sense of happiness. "I missed you more than you'll ever know. I've been so worried all these years..." Years? How long had it been?

"You left us in January of 1932. It's November of 1969." He answered. 1969? Holy Fucking Woodstock. "Sorry, love. You're about three months too late for that spectacle." Spectacle? You've gotta live, man. He almost smiled.

And the moon landing?

"That was July." Damnit. Edward really chuckled that time at my frustration. "You're so ill, and your only concern is that you missed these things?"

Those were pretty fucking big things to miss! I hacked out a cough and moaned—or rather squeaked—and Edward held me tighter.

"We're nearly there." He said in a serious tone.

Where's there?

"Our home in Glasgow, Scotland. You arrived just outside of town where we were about to hunt. Thank goodness we hadn't begun yet..." he visibly shuddered at the thought.

I'm tired...I closed my eyes.

"Not just yet, love. We're here. Look."

He turned me in his arms just enough for me to see a grey stone...building? It seemed too large to be a house yet too small to be a castle, but it had features of both. It was idyllic and charming in true Cullen fashion. I could only enjoy the view for a few seconds before he rushed us inside in a blur, and we were in a room which almost resembled a hospital room with all the medical supplies and equipment.

"Carlisle, it's her!" Edward announced and my favorite paternal vampire showed up instantly.

"Iris, it's so wonderful to see you. Sorry, to cut this short, but I need to work on you quickly."

Edward placed me on a bed where Carlisle waited with supplies to start an IV. I internally sighed at the thought of a doctor performing the task—it was a running joke among nurses whenever a patient would second guess an RN's ability and request a doctor to start their IV because doctors had so little practice at venous insertions. Edward chuckled and squeezed my hand, but didn't say anything.

The IV was inserted and taped up with fluids running within ten seconds. Ok, fine, Carlisle wasn't a usual doctor...Edward laughed again, obviously drunk with happiness at our reunion. He sat beside me on the bed, pulling me under his arm. I didn't fight him. His eyes were a dark gold, but he didn't appear to be uncomfortable. How different things were from only hours before in my timeline.

Edward leaned over to kiss me on the cheek. "I'm totally fine now, love. Please just focus on your own recovery." He whispered into my ear, nuzzling my hair and placing more gentle kisses along my jaw.

"Ok, Iris, your antibiotics are running through your IV. I also gave you some antifebrile medication and a narcotic for pain. We should see a major improvement in your condition throughout the night, though it may take several weeks for you to fully recover."

"Yes, she will be fine." I heard a female voice chirp merrily. Alice!

I wanted to jump up and hug her, but my stupid body wouldn't cooperate. "Al—" I began but she cut me off as I coughed. Edward winced as I did, rubbing my back.

"Hi, Iris. It's so nice to meet you after waiting for you all this time. Sorry I couldn't be faster earlier. It's kind of hard to see you for some reason...Edward says it's because of your drifting." I nodded a little in response. "Well, I'm telling you now. I don't like it. You better figure this out because I'm not going to spend eternity not being able to see my sister!" She pouted, and I could have laughed if it didn't feel like my lungs were filled with two gallons of water.

"I wish we would have had these drugs as an option forty years ago." Carlisle mused as he felt along my now-swollen arm. Yeah, you and me both, Doc.

Edward smiled knowingly to himself but went back to peppering me with kisses. He was so obviously overjoyed to be back with me, and I couldn't blame him. I had only just seen him and was already craving his touch. He had waited thirty-eight years without knowing where I was or if I was alright.

"I...love...you..." I breathed, already feeling the slightest bit better since arriving even as I winced as Carlisle wrapped my wrist.

"You have no idea how much I've missed that." Edward whispered, pretending it was only us in the room. I blushed at the thought of what he might do when we were really alone. Edward chuckled. "All in good time, love. Just rest now. I'm not going anywhere."

I rested my head on his chest, and finally relaxed and allowed myself to drift off to sleep for the first time in what felt like thirty-eight years.

Like, Follow, and Review please and thank you! :)