AN: OK, it's taken forever, no excuses, I know. I just had trouble writing this chapter. Last chapter was not my finest work, but I seriously tried hard on this one. I've spent about 3 hours+ about a week on it. I had a major writing buzz hit me while I was in the shower and I missed American Idol because of it...pouts... Enjoy,

Please do my poll people, it determines whether or not THIS STORY CONTINUES!

Edward POV:

Bella looked to her bleeding hands, and then to me, eyes wide and mouth open. Faster than she could have ever ran on her own she whipped out of the hospital bed, her hair flying behind her. I chased after her faster than any human possibly could. I brushed past the worried and bewildered staff, past the double doors, and into the parking lot. I slid over the hoods of passing cars as they honked and skidded to a halt, tires screeching. I caught up to the small girl and grabbed her thin, trembling, arm, barely able to stop her. Her head snapped back to face me.

"Please," I begged, "Please, believe us, believe me. It's true, every word." I looked into her eyes and pleaded for her acceptance. She probably thought I was insane, or if she by some miracle believed me, was most likely running for her life.

"Are you crazy or pretending? I can't—I, I never, you would—", she looked at her hands, then back at me. Each word burned my heart, every syllable hitting me like a boulder, crushing me. All I wanted was to be human like her, to be no different than the girl before me.

Bella's big beautiful eyes were wild and fearful, her small frame shaking. I was sure she'd be sobbing if I weren't touching her. She, apparently, realized it too, and it threw her over the boundary of intact and controlled to unpredictable and unstable.

"Bella!" I quickly tightened my hold on her wrist—trying to stop her from recklessness. I was hurled to the ground with a resounding crash akin to rocks clashing together. My head swayed as I jumped to my feet to see her and the Volvo gone. I fell to my knees just as rain began to fall.

…

I grabbed the hospital's phone at the front desk, scaring the woman currently working there. My other hand was balled in a fist and I didn't even notice that my fingers had left imprints on the telephone were they'd been—my usually controlled strength was surfacing along with my frantic panicking. I stabbed twice the square number button that read nine and punched the one.

"Hel—"

"Chief Swan, she's missing." I said as slowly and coherently as I was able to at the moment.

"Who's missing? Who is this?" Chief Swan's voice was startled.

"Edward Cullen, I'm at the hospital, Bella was here and she's—"

"Wait", Charlie Swan said, his voice growing anxious, "Bella—Bella was at the hospital?"

I couldn't stop my voice from being impatient, "Yes, she was…injured at the—"

"WHAT! AND I WASN'T CONTACTED—"

"Charlie, Bella's missing!"

"She—She...WHAT? WHERE IS SHE, CULLEN!". He barked.

"Sir, I'm afraid I can't answer that myself."

The line died.

…

Bella POV:

I drove as long as could while still being able to see past the abundance of tears that was slipping down my cheeks. Heavy exhales throbbed my chest; the hiccuping started and refused to cease. I swerved off whatever road I had recklessly driven on and parked, not bothering to lock the doors or even check to see that it was out of harm's way. Still in my hospital clothes I tore off the laces of my shoes and ripped them off, scratching my feet in the process, I didn't mind: the pain felt good, reality in the world of fantasy that was swimming behind my eyes. I hurled my shoes to the ground and set off sprinting, gaining speed as it started hailing.

The wet rain and hard, small, chunks of ice mingled with my tears— hot salt water with the cold precipitation— until I couldn't tell the difference between what was streaming down my face. After a while I succeeded in ignoring my throbbing feet, the pine needles and thistles that covered the forest floor dug into the soft underside of my feet. My breaths came ragged and uneven, my body shaking, from what —fear, pain, exhaustion— I didn't know or care. Something inside me, some fragile piece of me was breaking down. The need to crack open and cry had bottled up, building pressure, until the overflowed and exploded. I'd spent too long being tough, never crying or showing signs of weakness, too stubborn or scared to be the disappointment to the team, never feeling strong enough. I hated myself for being this fragile; showing this much weakness, but the rational side of my brain had been kicked aside by this overwhelming instinct to shut down.

My legs burned and stopped moving, hurling me to the ground. Everything shook and I closed my eyes, tears still coming out through my shut lids. The cold numbed my pain, and each drop of rain and hail that hit my skin made me feel more real, more alive, and saner. Eventually my tears stopped coming—even though the rain didn't— and I lifted my head, wincing as I did. My sight was still blurry and shaking but I stood up anyway, my legs on fire. I stumbled along, tripping and being thrust to the ground, coming up scratched and bruised. Yet, I felt stable, I could control my mind now, if not myself physically. I felt better than I had in months, years maybe. It was true what they say: it is a blessing to cry.

"BELLA!" A desperate voice screamed, cracking in the middle, Charlie's. I calmly tripped my way through some sort of thorn bush to the direction of his voice, him calling my name still ringing in my already buzzing head. I tried to call out to him, but all I could come up with was a strangled moan. I fell to the ground again, this time unable to get up.

"Chaarr", I tried my voice cracked and dry, "Charlliiee!" As hard as I tried my voice was hardly more than a tortured whisper. Then the cold hit me like a bolt of lightening, stunning, powerful, unearthly, and overwhelming, I gasped and gagged, seeing a pair of fast boots rushing to my side, the image in front of my eyes trembling. The voice was muted in my ears " Bella! Bella, no, please, no..."