This is, in effect, the last true chapter. The next is a bit more of an epilogue.
----*----
While my hands were getting stitched up, Renée saw my tattoo. She was too worried about Bella to say anything. "Fell thru a window?" my Phoenix-based orthopedic specialist asked when he came down to see me.
"Bella did," I replied, sticking to the story I helped Edward come up with. "I pulled some of the glass out of her leg and cut up my hands."
"I think," the resident stitching up my hand interrupted, "that you need a refresher course in First Aid."
"All that I care about is that my hands heal quickly so I can return my soon-to-be ex-boyfriend's car. He'll probably kick me out of the band for it."
----*----
Titus actually didn't mind. None the less, Charlie and I took a plane back down to Phoenix.
----*----
"Mom," I waited outside Bella's hospital room. "I think it's time I told you the truth about what happened this past fall. I was in a gang and I squealed. They set me up. I didn't steal Ms. Potter's car."
Renée pulled me into her arms. "I know. Francisco turned himself in. They got his brother on a murder charge."
"Speaking of Francisco," I was crying. I didn't want to tell the next truth. "I got an abortion just before." I sunk onto the floor. "I'm a monster."
She slid down to sit cross-legged beside me. "Oh, baby," she cradled me. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. You made a mistake."
I cried for hours.
----*----
"I'm immune," I told Dr. Cullen again. "I saw the marks. That monster defiantly bit me."
The doctor was shaking his. "Impossible." He gently examined my left hand. "I've never seen any thing like this."
Pulled my hand away. "Do you think it has something to do with my CP? I mean, it worked on Bella."
"That is what I think. Also, I do believe that you and Bella are not truly identical."
That caught me off guard. "No freakin' way." I looked at Edward. Oh my god! Is this some sort of joke? Bella and I have been mistaken for each other off-and-on since we were little.
Dr. Cullen read the look on my face. "Your surface DNA appears to be the same but it's just a guess."
----*----
I was holding Bella's unbandaged (not sure if that is a word) hand when she woke up. "Liza," she whispered, "are you okay?"
Mom tried to smile. "Bella, honey, you're the one who fell down two flights of stairs and broke your leg."
"Some glass," I explained, sounding very professional. "Severed your femoral vein. Lost a lot of blood. Lucky it wasn't the artery. That would have spurted blood everywhere. Not a pretty mental picture."
Edward was doing a good job at pretending sleep, but he chuckled softly then.
Renée looked at him. "He hasn't left since they put you in here. That boy really does love you."
I took a deep breath. "He's nicer than I thought." It was my form of expectance.
----*----
Edward and I had spent nearly all of the three nights Bella was out talking.
"So, vampires don't sleep." I commented. "You sparkle. You run fast and you only die if you burn."
"If you call it dying." Edward said bitterly. "We probably just cease to exist."
"Atheist?" I questioned.
"Carlisle's father was a minister in England. He thinks that if we're good enough, we'll get in."
"You don't agree with him."
"We're monsters, Liza. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I did something to Bella." He took a deep breath, "or you. That's why both of you have to go to Jacksonville."
"We're staying in Forks," I replied in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Why?" he hissed. "Isn't this warning enough?" He pointed at Bella with his thumb. "Corderas estúpidas." (Stupid lambs)
I didn't ask. "For one thing: I've got MisFire to worry about."
"Is that what those three are calling themselves now?" he asked himself. "What next?"
I snorted. "That's what we're calling ourselves." I corrected. "I'm the lead singer now. I take music very seriously. Can we get back to the subject at hand, please?"
He nodded. "What's the second?"
"She loves you," I replied. "She'd go anywhere you go. My third point happens to be a question. What would she do if you left?"
He looked at her, desperate. "She wouldn't…"
"I know my sister," I replied. "Has she told you about dance classes?"
"No."
I looked down, gathering the bitter memories. A crying thirteen-year-old. The swirled images of our classmates laughing at us. The threats no one but me took seriously. Bella, pale, her head in the toilet. An empty pill bottle. I looked Cullen in the eyes, showing him. "See. That's why we quit dance. Bella's not stable."
He put his head in his hands. "She did mention that she couldn't dance."
"It was as much my fault as theirs." I whispered. "I practiced really hard and got really good. It got to the point that I was put in front and she was kept in the back. She stayed in because I didn't want to be alone. I won't let it happen again."
----*----
"Mom," Bella asked, coughing. "Where's Edward?"
Renée moved enough so Bella could see his still form. "He hasn't left."
"Where's Charlie? I have to apologize." Bella looked panicked. "He must be so worried."
"Go find him, Mom," I said. "I won't leave."
----*----
Charlie was less than happy on our plane trip home. "Eliza-May, what were you thinking?" Bella was leaning against Edward, sleeping.
"I was worried." I explained. "Titus was going to go with me, but I knew you wouldn't have approved…"
"Hell yeah, I wouldn't have. Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?!?"
His anger almost left me at a lost for words. "Dad, I'm sorry."
"Are you?" he demanded. "You really don't understand. I thought I'd lose both of you, and you didn't come out of the encounter unscratched."
"Dad, I'm fine…"
He was staring at my arm. I groaned. I was still wearing my tank top from the house in Phoenix. "What is that, young lady?"
"Dad, I can't afford to get it removed. I've had it for ages. I'll keep it covered, I promise. As soon as I get a job, I'll save up to get it removed."
We were silent for half an hour. "You really have changed, haven't you?" he asked.
I just smiled and closed my eyes.
----*----
The final chapter will be shorter than this one, I think. I'll put it up in a few days.
Anna