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Moving Forward

After Edward and I made it through our first day back at school, each day afterwards became easier. It still hurt to know Angela wouldn't be there, and it was still hard to walk by the room where Mike had held us hostage, but little by little it got easier. A week later, Edward and I found ourselves sitting in Kate's office. I gripped Edward's hand tightly in my own as we waited for Kate to enter the room.

"It's going to be okay, Bella," Edward said as he bent to place a kiss on top of my head. "We can do this."

"I really hope you are right," I replied.

Kate was going to start doing some desensitizing exercise with us today to help us adjust to loud noises, and I was more than a little nervous. The incident from the restaurant was still very clear in my mind and I wasn't eager to go through that again.

"We made it through school, and we are making it through physical therapy. We can make it through this, too," Edward said as he looked down at me with a small smile. I nodded and leaned up to press my lips gently to his, but the sound of the door opening caused us to jump apart.

"Hello you two," Kate said with a smile.

"Hello," I replied.

"Okay, so as we discussed, today we are going to re-introduce loud noises and work on getting you to process them without a lot of anxiety," Kate said and Edward and I both nodded.

"We are going to start with something simple today," Kate explained as she went to her book shelf and pulled out a large medical textbook. "I am going to drop this book."

"Okay," I said slowly.

"The sound of a book dropping is loud, and since you are both back at school it's something I want you to get used to," Kate explained, "Now, the first time that I do it I want you to be facing me so you can see everything that happens. Once you are comfortable with that I will stand behind you and do it."

"Okay," I said

"Alright," Edward agreed.

"Good. Now take a deep breath and try to relax," Kate said. Edward and I did what she asked and then watched as she raised the book and let it go. I watched as it fell and then landed on Kate's desk with a loud thump. I froze, and I could feel Edward stiffen beside me.

"Take another breath," Kate said as she watched the fear on our faces. Edward's hand found my mine as I took in a shaky breath. I heard Edward's equally shaky breath beside me, and the feel and sound of him helped anchor me.

"Very good," Kate said when we were fully relaxed, "no flashback?"

"No," Edward replied as I shook my head no as well.

"Good, let's try again," Kate said. Kate dropped the book multiple times in front us and pretty soon we were able to handle the noise without freezing. We still flinched a bit, but Kate assured us that was a normal reaction for anyone.

"Now that you are use to the sound of the book, I am going to try dropping it on the table behind you." Kate explained as she walked behind us. I tightened my grip on Edward's hand as I waited for the noise. Kate waited a few minutes, and when she finally did drop the book I jumped and buried my face in Edward's neck. Edward was a statue beside me.

"It's okay," Kate said calmly, "take a few breaths."

Kate came back around to face us and set the book gently on her desk. Once Edward and I had calmed down, she spoke.

"Unfortunately, our time is up for today," she said, "You both did great work, you should be proud of yourselves."

"Okay," I said quietly.

"We will work with the book again next time," Kate said as she made her way to the door. Edward rolled out of the door behind Kate and followed behind Edward. Our parents were waiting for us when we walked out into the waiting room. Once we made our next appointment, Edward and I along with my dad and Esme made our way downstairs. Our parents knew that our appointment was a tough one and they didn't push us to talk about it.

When we made it to the parking lot I said goodbye to Edward and got into the car. I looked at the hospital and sighed as we drove away. I would be back there tomorrow for physical therapy. Luckily, Edward had physical therapy tomorrow too. The only time physical therapy wasn't totally horrible was when Edward was there at the same time. It was always nice getting to sneak peeks at him while he worked.

My dad picked up dinner for us on the way home, and while we ate I told him about therapy. Charlie hugged me and told me how proud he was of me. After eating I went upstairs to get ready for bed, since the emotional afternoon had taken its toll on me and I could barely keep my eyes open.

The night and the next day at school passed quickly, and before I knew it I was having my arm pulled by Charlotte during physical therapy. Once I was done with the stretches, Charlotte handed me a small weight, explaining that lifting it would help to rebuild the strength in my arm. I was frustrated at how challenging it was to lift the small five pound weight.

I had just barely managed to lift the weight once when Charlotte gasped; the sound startled me and I dropped the weight.

"Charlotte, why did you do that?" I said with some annoyance.

"Bella, turn around," Charlotte said as she looked at something behind me. I turned around and let out a gasp of my own when I saw what was going on.

Peter had Edward's wheelchair sitting right in front of two bars. I held my breath and watched as Edward grabbed the bars and pulled himself up to a standing position. Tears of pride filled my eyes as Edward took a shaky, slow step forward. Edward's face was a mask of intense concentration as he slowly made his way to the end of the bars. Once he successfully made it to the end, he turned and looked at me with a bright smile. I smiled back as tears of joy slide down my cheeks.

"Go," Charlotte said. Not needing to be told twice, I hurried over to where Edward was still standing.

"Edward, you walked!" I said with a happy breathless laugh.

"Yeah, I did," Edward said, the bright smile on his face shining like my own personal beacon. I stood on tips toes and captured Edward's lips with my own. Edward's lips wee frantic on mine but we were soon forced apart when the need to breath arose. Edward pressed his forehead to mine and sighed.

"I'm so proud of you," I whispered.

"Okay you two," Peter said from beside us, "Edward needs to get off his leg now." I blushed as I remembered we weren't alone, and Peter and Charlotte had just witnessed our makeout session.

"Sorry," I said and stepped aside so Peter could help Edward into his chair.

"No, you have no reason to apologize," Charlotte said as she came to stand beside me. "That was definitely something to celebrate."

"You are both doing wonderfully, and you deserved that moment," Peter said.

"Thank you," Edward said.

"I think that is enough for today," Charlotte said.

"Absolutely," Peter agreed, "Edward, we just need to get those crutches we talked about, and then you two are free to go."

"Crutches?" I asked.

"Peter said that I am ready to start using crutches around the house," Edward said, "I still need to use the chair at school, or if my leg is hurting."

"Edward, that's great," I said as we made our way out of the physical therapy room.

"Thanks," Edward said as we stopped outside of Peter's office. Peter went inside and came back out a minute later with Edward's crutches. It took him a few minutes to explain to Edward how to use them, but once he had, Edward and I made our way to the waiting room.

Charlie had driven us to physical therapy that afternoon because Carlisle and Esme were having dinner with some medical executive from a hospital in Seattle. Edward had told me that he wasn't sure who the person was, just that this dinner was a big deal and his parents couldn't get out of it.

"How did everything go?" Charlie asked when we found him.

"It was great. Edward walked," I said and the pride in my voice was clear.

"That is great," Charlie said as he gave Edward's shoulder a little pat, "I'm proud of you."

"Thank you," Edward said and I could tell he was slightly embarrassed.

"You got some crutches too, I see?" Charlie said.

"Yes, sir," Edward replied.

"Edward, what did I tell you about calling me sir?" Charlie said.

"Sorry Charlie," Edward said.

"Better," Charlie said with a smile, "Now are you two ready to go?"

"Yes," we both answered at the same time. Since Edward's parents were at dinner and Alice had a date, Edward was going to come over to our house for dinner. Once we made it to the house, Charlie headed out back to start the grill while Edward and I hung out on the couch. Charlie had wheeled Edward's wheel chair into the living room and Edward had used his new crutches to get to the couch.

Charlie brought the burgers in when they were done and Edward and I headed into the kitchen. Edward once again used his crutches and I could tell he was very happy. We were just about to eat when the phone rang. Charlie answered and quickly took the phone into the other room. Charlie reentered the room a minute later with a grim look on his face.

"I have some news for you two," he said, and before we could say anything the doorbell rang.

AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thank you to everyone who left a review. I know I usually thank you guys personally in my author's note, but my computer decided to randomly shut down while I was in the middle of doing it. It would have taken too long to do it over and I wanted you guys to have this chapter. I'm sorry but please know that I love each and every one of you for leaving a review :)