A/N: Thanks to jansails for character insight and writing a couple of lines!

BPOV

I knew that no matter how long I lived, I would never forget the expression on Edward's face when I said I didn't want him. It was the most blasphemous thing I could ever say and a complete lie. Edward looked as if he cared, as if my words hurt him more deeply than anyone could possibly be hurt. When he responded by saying he would always want me, I wasshaken to my core. I'd never seen him so vulnerable. I almost broke down, wanting to admit I was lying and ask for him to choose me instead of Tanya. But, I quickly remembered the truth. He didn't love me, and then his words felt cruel instead of loving. By pretending to want me, to try to give me hope that this was all a misunderstanding...it was unbearable. I feared for my life. I feared I would cease to exist. Another false word from Edward like that and I would be forever destroyed.

Thankfully, he showed mercy and left.

I collapsed into a heap on the floor. My eyes rolled back and darkness overwhelmed me.

When I woke up, I was in the hospital. An IV was in my arm and a monitor was beeping. I sat up, panicking. What was I doing here?

I looked around the room and saw Renee sleeping on a small sofa across from my bed. The clock said 4am. I breathed deeply, trying to keep myself from having an anxiety attack. The last thing I remembered was my confrontation with Edward.

Did it really happen or was it a dream? I wondered, briefly. But, the pain I felt seeping out of my chest confirmed that it did, indeed, happen.

I didn't want to wake Renee, so I hit the call button for a nurse. Within a minute, a woman walked in the room.

"Hello there," she greeted. I glanced at Renee, then back at the nurse.

"How long have I been here?" I asked quietly.

"Two days. You're being treated for severe fatigue and dehydration." She took a folder from a shelf on the wall. "Dr. McAllister is taking special care of you. She's ordered you to be here for a minimum of three days, to replenish your fluids."

I frowned. I hated hospitals. I wanted to leave immediately.

"You've been practically unconscious since you were admitted. She may want you to stay here for a week, to make sure you're completely well."

"No!" I complained. "I don't want to be here."

The nurse smiled compassionately. "The doctor should be here around 7am to check on you. You'll be able to talk to her then."

I sat back and sighed. "Thanks," I muttered. The nurse nodded and left the room.

I closed my eyes, a migraine headache suddenly overwhelming me.

My life felt completely out of control. My future with Edward and the Cullens had been taken away from me, if it ever existed in the first place, and now my body was not able to handle the stress of Edward rejecting me.

"It's going to be okay," I whispered to myself. "You're going to survive this…"

I expected to feel sad if I ever had my heart broken, but I didn't expect it to be physically painful. I rubbed my temples and groaned. But, the headache was nothing compared to how I felt throughout my entire being. My spirit was crushed.

Suddenly, the nurse returned to the room. "Are you in pain?" she asked.

My eyes flew open. How did she know? "Um…yeah, I have a headache."

"I can get you some Tylenol. Would you like that?"

I nodded meekly and she left and returned quickly with a cup of water and medication.

"Get some rest. Dr. McAllister will be here in a few hours and if your vitals are good, she may let you finish your recovery at home."

I felt a bit encouraged, but could not smile. "Okay," I replied.

There were no more tears to cry and I could not sleep, so I watched the clock. The minutes ticked by, sun shone through the window announcing the arrival of dawn, and Renee stirred just as the doctor entered the room.

"You're awake!" the doctor and Renee both chimed at the same time.

"I'm feeling much better," I lied, as Renee came to my bedside and squeezed my hand.

"Bella, I'm Dr. McAllister. It's good to see you awake…." she began to repeat what the nurse told me and I nodded, listening closely, waiting for the opportunity to demand I be discharged. As she spoke, I noticed several people dressed in business clothes behind her, as well as a man who looked like a doctor. I began to worry.

"Why are there so many people here?" I interrupted.

Dr. McAllister looked dismissive. "Oh, it's just my assistant and the board of directors. I'm the president of the hospital and am on my way to a meeting. But, I wanted to check on my most important patient first, and I insisted they come with me."

My mouth dropped open in shock. I glanced at Renee who looked equally surprised.

"I had no idea," she murmured. "Why are you treating Bella? Is her condition that serious?"

Normally presidents of hospitals did not tend to patients personally. It was highly unusual.

The doctor smiled. "Dr. Cullen called and told me his dear friend was in the hospital. I promised him I would make sure she got the best possible care."

Taking my chart, she turned and started barking orders to the nurses who had also entered the room. I looked down, nervous and embarrassed. How did Carlisle know I was in the hospital and why did he call the president and, no doubt, make a generous donation, to ensure I received the best possible treatment? Did he really care for me or was that something he did for his pets?

I turned to Renee. "Did Edward call? Did you tell him I was in the hospital?"

She shook her head. "No, dear. I don't know how Dr. Cullen found out, I haven't spoken to anyone about this except Phil and your father."

"You told Dad?" I groaned.

She shrugged. "Bella, I had to, he's your father and he cares for you. You're also under his insurance. I had to call him to get the details for the paperwork. I told him that you and Edward broke up and you had food poisoning…"

"Mom!" I hissed, embarrassed that she was talking to Charlie about Edward and me. I'm sure Charlie was thrilled that we broke up, but I didn't want him taking my being sick out on Edward. I hoped he wouldn't bother him or the Cullens.

"What?" she asked sincerely. I rolled my eyes. "Nothing…."

Dr. McAllister turned to face me. "Bella, your vitals look good, fluids are being replaced. You should be able to go home tomorrow morning, if you continue to improve."

I sighed in relief. "Good." I did not want an extended hospital stay.

She smiled, patted me on the shoulder, shook Renee's hand and left the room, her staff and board of directors following after her like she was a mother hen.

Breakfast arrived and I forced down some orange juice and toast. Renee looked exhausted, but determined to stay by my bedside.

"You can go home, Mom," I encouraged her. "I'm feeling better and you can get some real rest, go to see Phil."

She looked unsure. "Really? You wouldn't mind?"

"I'm fine," I insisted. "Go!"

"Okay, okay," she murmured, kissing my cheek. "Call me if you need anything. I'll be back at dinner time."

"I will."

I closed my eyes when she left the room and focused on breathing. Talking, eating, simply being alive, it all seemed to take so much effort. I drowned myself in memories of Edward, trying to remember the details of every moment with him – our first kiss, the hours we spent in our meadow, how his lullaby to me sounded.

Maybe I had made the worst mistake of my life. Maybe my insecurity was clouding my judgment. Maybe I could beg Edward to take me back. After all, he did come all the way to Florida, the sunshine state that threatened to expose who he really was, to see me. That had to mean something. I didn't even listen to him or demand an explanation. I was too afraid of what I would hear. I was a coward. But, I couldn't get Tanya's words out of my head. He doesn't love you. He will grow bored with you eventually.

I had to have some self-respect. I had to have backbone. Maybe Edward found me "fascinating" now, but one day he would tire of me and move on. It was better in the long run if I made a clean break. I shouldn't postpone the inevitable. But, I had to live with the fact that the way I felt him would never change. It was beautiful misery.

"I love you, Edward, and I always will," I whispered to no one but myself, as the tears began to fall once again.

JPOV

"You don't believe that," I told Edward. "This is not the best decision Bella has ever made."

"I do believe it," Edward growled, annoyed. Since he'd met Bella he'd had a constant smile on his face, always humming a song, laughing more than he ever had in the last fifty years since I'd known him. But, his demeanor had entirely changed. He had a scowl on his face, his body language was tense, and his emotions were spiraling.

He was walking back to the rental car at an inhuman pace and Alice and I frantically tried to keep up without drawing attention to us.

"What are you going to do?" Alice asked, quietly. She was focused, undoubtedly searching for Edward's future.

"I'm leaving. I'm going home."

He got into the car, almost taking the driver's side door off its hinges, and then rolled the window down when he saw Alice and I remain on the sidewalk.

"Aren't you coming?" he snapped.

Alice looked at me and I nodded. We weren't going anywhere.

Edward rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he muttered and speed off into the distance.

I pulled Alice into my arms to give her a strong hug. She was upset, shocked, confused. I felt the same way, but not to the degree Alice did. She loved Bella like a sister and her behavior was unsettling.

"Should we try to talk to her?" I asked, kissing her forehead, sending waves of love to my mate.

Alice shook her head. "No. She won't talk to us, either. I don't understand. It was like overnight she didn't want us anymore. This isn't like Bella. She loves us. Something must have happened."

I tried to express my thoughts delicately. "She's human," I reminded Alice. "Perhaps our world became too much for her to handle. It was unusual the way she welcomed and accepted us. Maybe it suddenly caught up with her and she realized it wasn't what she wanted."

Alice was annoyed. "No. Impossible. She loves Edward. She loves us. You can't deny it. You've felt it the last six months."

"I have," I agreed. "But, not to belabor the point, she's human, Alice. They change. We don't."

She frowned. "I'm going to find out what happened. Something happened."

When Alice set her mind to something, there was no stopping her. She was persistent. If it would make her feel better, I'd help her with whatever she needed.

"Alright, what should we do?"

"Why is it so difficult to see Bella?" she growled. "It's been so fuzzy since she left."

An ambulance drove by, sirens blaring and it pulled up in front of Bella's apartment building. Alice looked at me in panic, and we quickly went to the scene.

The EMTs were annoyed. "Seventeen year old woman has collapsed. We were here earlier today, right? It's probably drugs."

I didn't like the condescension radiating off the EMTs. How were they going to take care of Bella if they didn't respect her and just thought she was some junkie? In that moment, the possessiveness I felt, the urgency I felt to protect Bella, made me realize how much she had become one of us. I considered Bella to be family.

And despite how I tried to blame her behavior on being human, I was just as curious as Alice to find out what caused her to walk away from Edward and all of us, too.

I growled and Alice placed her hand on my arm. "It's okay, Jasper," she assured me.

We waited in the shadows as they went into the building and brought Bella out on a stretcher. Renee was crying and Phil was trying to comfort her. Bella was unconscious. I felt nothing radiating from her.

It was now my time to assure Alice. I knew she was seconds away from jumping from the darkness and going to be with Bella. I put my arm around her, to hold her in place.

"What hospital, ma'am?" the EMT asked Renee, showing more concern than he actually felt.

Renee wasn't able to speak; she was so concerned for Bella, so Phil answered for her.

"We usually go to Memorial Hospital," he answered.

"Okay, does someone want to ride with the patient or will you follow us?"

"I will!" Renee squeaked, jumping into the back of the cab.

I looked down at Alice. "We should call Carlisle. He'll know what to do."

She nodded. "Yes. If we can't be there with her, she needs the best possible care."

"We shouldn't go to the hospital?" I asked, surprised.

Alice was sad. "I don't think so. Bella will get upset. But, I want us to stay nearby and watch her in case she needs our help."

I called Carlisle as Alice and I hailed a cab to take us to Memorial Hospital. He offered to fly out to Jacksonville, but Alice was afraid the attention would embarrass Bella. In the past Alice had no problem smothering Bella with attention, which she always shied away from, but we didn't want to do anything to push Bella further away from us. Instead, Carlisle offered to call the hospital president and demand the best care for Bella.

For the next two days, Bella was unconscious and I'd never seen Alice so worried. We took turns checking on her, when Renee was asleep and the nurses were distracted. There was no word from Edward. He still hadn't had time to replace his phone and returned mine to me when we arrived in town. Alice was watching him carefully, but Edward kept changing his mind, making it impossible to see where he was.

It was difficult for me to be in the hospital, with all the pain and worry, but in the late hours of the night when everyone was sleeping, on the third day, I went to check on Bella. As I stood outside her room, I heard her wake up. The floodgates of her emotions opened. It was pure Bella. She was scared, impatient, worried, confused, but the most overwhelming feeling was pain. Bella was heartbroken. It was almost exactly the same tenor of emotion that Edward was feeling when Bella told him she didn't want him anymore. My eyes widened in surprise. Some how, I didn't expect this. When Edward was in her room, she was afraid and disgusted. It truly seemed like she didn't want him. But, now, she was full of longing, regret and sadness. It didn't make sense.

The hospital president arrived with her staff to attend to Bella. The emotions exuding from the doctor were sincere. I was relieved to know she cared about Bella and wanted to see her recover, although there was a tinge of excitement, probably as she thought of Carlisle's donation. Bella was worried, then suspicious. She was smart and noticed everything.

I was hiding in a supply closet next to Bella's hospital room. The doctor and her staff left, and then Renee left the room. Bella was alone for the first time and I considered going to talk to her, but the emotions radiating from her were so intimate and fragile, they almost paralyzed me. Devotion, longing, regret, determination. Her feelings were deep and pure.

"I love you, Edward, and I always will," I heard her whisper. My mouth dropped open. I was not often shocked to my core, but after her previous behavior these words floored me.

Just as I was about to go to Bella, comfort her and gently demand answers, my cell phone buzzed. It was Alice.

I escaped from the closet and quickly made my way outside. "Bad idea?" I asked, knowing Alice was calling me to warn me not to go to Bella's room.

Alice laughed, which was a pleasure to hear. "Yes. Bella needs time to think."

"You're happy about this?" I asked.

"Yes, because I just received good news," she sighed in relief.

"And what's that?"

"Edward didn't leave town. He's still here. Although he may not realize it yet, he's not going to give Bella up without a fight."