Watching the news was turning into a daily, habitual thing in the Cullen house. With Bella safely away from the flu's path, I was able to look at the situation in a more reasonably analytical way. Since the first case, 21 people have been reported dead; 9 from Washington. 39 people had been infected in total and it didn't appear as if there was anything that was going to slow it down anytime soon. There were scientists working on the case in every state, some even in other countries, nervous that they could be next. Seeing a news crew in the street wasn't as exciting as it started off as.

The reporter on the television was discussing the possible reasons behind the epidemic when there was a loud scream upstairs. Alerted and confused, Emmett and I exchanged worried glances and ran up the stairs to Alice's room. We were about to barge in when Emmett put his hand in front of me to stop. He knocked on the door.

Perhaps it's not something that Alice would appreciate us walking into... Jasper is in there, too...

I rolled my eyes and shoved pass him, opening the door to find Alice with her head in her hands and Jasper reassuring her.

"What happened?" I asked, more relaxed as I saw that nobody was in immediate danger.

"I can't see..." Alice whined.

This time I looked over at Jasper.

Her visions are gone.

"What? Alice, what's wrong?"

Alice temporarily lifted her face from her hands and glared at me.

"My visions aren't working with the Spanish Flu, anymore. Which means that a werewolf is involved." she growled angrily.

I sighed a breathe of relief. I had been worried that her scream had been about a vision she had, not her loss of them.

"And why are you relieved? Now I can't see when something goes wrong or who gets infected!"

"Well, all things considered there are a lot of things that are worse than losing your visions.. although that definitely does constitute a problem." I allowed.

She stubbornly glared and nodded her head, leaning on Jasper for support.

Perhaps you guys should...

I nodded my head in Jasper's direction and pulled Emmett out of the room with me.

"Why are we leaving?" he complained as I closed the door behind us.

"Because there is nothing we can do." I answered simply, internally laughing at his blank stare in reply.

"I'm home." Carlisle announced from downstairs. I could hear movement coming from rooms as Rosalie and Esme left whatever they were doing to greet him. I shot Emmett a look that told him not to enter Alice's room and then went downstairs to welcome him as well.

"Anything new at the hospital?" I asked. This was another habit of mine. Even though the hospital that Carlisle worked at hadn't received any patients from the flu, he was always first to receive new information.

"Actually, yes." Carlisle said, placing his keys on the table. "A student from your school has become infected."

Rosalie paused on the stairs and walked back down. "Who?" she asked, bewildered.

"I'm not allowed to say." he replied. "As doctors we have to keep the patient's privacy.. especially with such media."

I wonder if she even knows Mike Newton...

I opened my mouth in shock and at the same time Carlisle turned his attention towards me.

Did you...?

I nodded my head, assuring him that I had heard. He sighed and Rosalie looked quickly between the both of us.

"Fine." she pouted, resuming her travel up the stairs.

"It's important that you don't tell anyone... he's entitled to confidentiality..." Carlisle finally said after Rosalie was safely upstairs.

I carefully dodged agreeing to not tell anyone. "Is he alright?"

Carlisle took a short breathe. "I really can't tell you that, Edward."

I know that he's going to tell Bella...

I held in my smirk and nodded my head in understanding. He smiled. "Thank you for understanding."

As much as I detested Mike, Bella deserved updates. She had even requested it before she left. So far our phone conversations had amounted to nothing more than talking about her day and how much we loved each other. Whenever she asked a question about what was going on here, there was nothing that I could tell her. But she would definitely want to know about this.

"Where are you going?" Carlisle asked suspiciously.

"I'm just going to see Charlie... he didn't have a lot of notice of Bella leaving and I want to see if he's okay." I quickly lied.

Carlisle looked me in the eye for a moment and then nodded his head. Whether he knew that I was lieing or not, I wasn't aware. If he did know that I was, his mind never hinted it. Trying not to over analyze everything, I got into my car and drove towards the hospital.

xXx

"Newton?" I asked the secretary. I had purposefully picked this new employee... someone who wouldn't know my relations to Carlisle. She quickly fumbled through her papers.

My first day here and I'm already so disorganized!

"Oh! I'm sorry... it says that only family members are allowed to see him or get information." she said, quickly putting the file away.

He is definitely not a brother.. although he could be a cousin..

"But I'm his cousin." I debated.

She pulled the file back out, not willing to debate my association with Mike.

"Micheal Newton?" I nodded. "Room 201."

"Thank you so much." I said, before walking the familiar halls of the hospital to room 201. I opened the door slowly, careful not to make a lot of sqeaking in case he was sleeping.

"Cullen?" came his voice. I shut the door behind me and walked to a chair next to his bed.

I had never seen Mike in such bad shape. His face had the familiar blue tint that only those infected had and I could feel his fever from where I was sitting, feet from him. Even as I sat there he made no move or gesture. It looked like he was having trouble breathing.

"Hey Mike." I said, trying my best not to sound hostile or sympathetic. The latter was harder considering how much grief he'd caused me with his crush with Bella.

"Where's Bella?" he asked, breathing between each word.

"She's at her mother's." his eyes closed at this fact.

"Is there anything that I can do to help you?" I asked, concerned. As much as I didn't like Mike, he was a person. And who couldn't help but love Bella.

"There isn't anything you can do." he said, still taking his deep breathes. "Although I wish that I could see Bella." His thoughts turned to the kind of thoughts that a person who was about to die were thinking. He was giving his last mental farewell to Bella.

"Mike, you aren't going to die." I said seriously.

He smirked. "Whatever you say, Cullen. But why are you here anyway?"

"I know that we aren't exactly the best friends." I said, emphasizing the word best. "but you're Bella's friend and she cares about you. I have no reason to dislike you and I need you to get better."

Mike just chuckled a breathy sigh and continued looking at the ceiling.

"I wish I could just talk to her.." he whispered to himself. I sighed at my weakness and pulled out my cell phone. He turned his towards me at the gesture.

"Look, Bella is on speed dial, just press one. You can talk to her for as long as you want and I'll be back tomorrow to take my phone back. Tell her that if she wants to talk to call the house phone."

Mike looked at me, stunned. I waited for him to take the phone. After a few more seconds of hesitation, he lifted a shaking hand and took it from me.

"Thanks, Edward."

"No problem. Oh, and I'm your cousin, alright?" I said as I walked towards the exit.

Mike chuckled once. "Whatever you say."

Once I was outside I waited for him to dial so that I could hear the conversation.

"Bella? I miss you.. yeah, he lent me his phone.. no, nothing so urgent... yeah..."

I left as he continued to talk. Not even Mike wanted Bella to worry unnecessarily about him, regardless of how much attention she'd give him for it. Although I did think that she deserved knowing that he was...sick. As much as I disliked Mike, I couldn't say that I hated him. He purposefully hadn't told her that he was sick so that she wouldn't worry.

Any questions? feel free to message me :P And please review! With school here it's my only joy in life.