Saturday
POV: Bella

Despite Alice's warnings that we were going to be late for the appointment, we were actually rather early due to her maniacal driving that reminded me so much of Edward's. I wondered if speeding was a passion that ran in the family.

Alice foresaw Charlie arriving in exactly three minutes so she helped me out of the car to wait by the hospital's front entrance.

"What are we standing here for?" I asked, confused as to why we weren't going inside.

Alice grimaced. "I actually told Carlisle to meet us here; he'll help you inside. I don't think I'll be able to control myself in such a …"

I understood as she trailed off with an apologetic expression. Now that she mentioned it, I didn't know I was going to keep from fainting when there was going to be so much blood around. "Oh. Then what are you going to do during the appointment?"

Alice sighed. "I'll be back at home since Charlie's decided to drive you home."

I had to admit, I was disappointed that my short time with Alice was cut off rather abruptly. When she wasn't being a bossy makeover-ist, I actually enjoyed talking to her.

"Look," she said, gesturing with a nod of her head to the doors. "There's Carlisle."

Edward's vampire father was dressed in his usual scrubs with a stethoscope draped around his neck. With his normal-paced gait and serene smile, he fit in so nicely with humans. It was immensely difficult to realize that he wasn't one himself.

"Good afternoon, Bella." He smiled politely at me and I smiled shyly back. He nodded at Alice who gave me a brief hug before turning to go. Carlisle held out a hand. "Shall we?"

I allowed him to gently tug me along to the elevators which were, thankfully, not too far.

Carlisle went into doctor mode as I hobbled next to him. "Have you been experiencing any pain, Bella?"

"Nothing." I replied honestly. "Why couldn't we have taken this thing off earlier?"

"It's always best to leave casts on even after the bones mend." He explained. "It might seem like the pain is gone, but that's only because you're not putting your leg to use. If you remove your cast too soon then you're more inclined to put additional weight on it despite the bones not being fully healed. That's why I decided to wait, but I think you've been wearing it long enough."

"Yes." I groaned, agreeing wholeheartedly.

Carlisle chuckled and led me into one of the rooms. "Your father should be here in less than a minute, so I'll just retrieve your files."

I sank into the chair, trying not to breathe in the familiar horrible smell of the hospital. There was pungent scent of medicine and disinfectant that made my nose crinkle and eyes tear up.

My eyes drifted towards the different posters stapled onto Carlisle's office walls. Strangely enough, there weren't any labels of human anatomy, or warnings of cancer or related things. Carlisle had chosen to go for the more inspirational quotes and sayings, and illusional posters. I figured it was his way of distracting patients from getting needles or injections.

In a basket in a corner, I inspected several toys, unopened and still in their packaging. It was cute to imagine Carlisle working on child patients. He definitely had the patience and ability to.

"Bells?"

I glanced back at the door. "Hey, Dad."

Charlie sat in the seat next to me. "You okay, kid?"

I nodded. "My leg's absolutely fine. But you really didn't need to take waste your lunch break on this."

He shrugged, leaning back. "It's my job to be there for you. No big deal. Where's Edward?" He asked abruptly.

I stared at him in surprise. "He's went on a little camping trip with his brothers. He'll be back on Monday, I think."

Charlie nodded, his expression grim. "That's good. You should get some distance from him."

I didn't say anything. I knew that whatever Charlie had bore towards Edward on the evening of our first date had ended that night itself when I'd announced to Charlie that I'd be moving back to Phoenix.

According to Charlie, Edward was the reason I'd "fallen down the stairs". I didn't blame Charlie for thinking that way, especially since I was his daughter and that he'd only been fed the partial truth, but I still hated his thought process.

Lucky for me, Carlisle re-entered his office, saving me from having to respond.

"Good afternoon, Charlie. It's a pleasure to see you again." Carlisle said swiftly, carrying his medical bag.

"Carlisle." Charlie said gruffly, nodding. "Good to see you, too."

The removal of the cast went fairly quick. It felt relieving to finally get that stupid thing off and thrown away. The tearing of the bandages was probably the only painful thing I experienced, but Carlisle managed to remove that fairly quickly for me to actually process.

It was also icky to look at and feel since my calf was drenched with sweat from being cooped up in that thing for so long.

"Alright, Bella." Carlisle said in his professional tone. "Before you leave, I think it would be best if you could practice walking back and forth - just to see that you have the right footing. It might take a while for your leg to get used to the removed pressure."

I felt rather silly, parading inside of Carlisle's office with him and Charlie watching, but I knew that if I had to stumble at all, it would best to do it in here instead of outside.

"Try going slowly at first," Carlisle advised. "Then increase your pace."

Indeed, it felt rather disconcerting without the bulkiness of the cast, but after a few rounds, I managed to pull through.

"Well done, Bella." Carlisle nodded in approval. "Not to worry, Charlie, she's fine now. Now, if you'll just sign here …"

I droned them out as I thought back to Edward's upcoming birthday. I definitely wanted to do something special for him, not just because I loved him, but also because it would be (hopefully) a pleasant surprise for him; he hadn't had a birthday in so many years.

But what could I get for someone who already had everything?

I needed to talk to Alice.

Alice,

You still need to give me some suggestions as to what to get him. I've got plenty of ideas, but I'm sure he'll probably already have whatever I have in mind. Is there some book or music CD that he wants?

What time are we going shopping tomorrow? I'll need to inform Charlie since it's a Sunday and he'll be home.

Reply soon, or maybe even come over.

Love,
Bella

PS: Are you actually planning on throwing a "party" with the rest of the family? Wouldn't that be a little awkward?

I didn't need to make my meaning – about Rosalie – clear. Alice would understand that.

I quickly pressed 'send', signed off from my email and made my way into the shower. I hoped Alice would have replied by the time I got back.

This was driving me crazy.