Ch 7 Questions

As I woke up, everything seemed strange to me. I almost felt like I was under water and I felt very disoriented. I had already become half awake several times, and fallen back to sleep seconds later. Most of the times I had become semi conscious, I could tell I was still in the car, still safe in Edward's strong cold arms. But the last time I was slightly awake, I could feel I was being carried, but I was too tired to fully wake up and learn where I was.

This time I could tell I wasn't in the car, and I was fairly comfortable. My arm was almost unbearable, and I wasn't quite tired enough to be able to ignore it, and fall asleep again. But I also was too tired to open my eyes. There were no sounds, and I wondered if I was alone, or if everyone was just keeping quiet. Then I suddenly realized Edward's arms hadn't been around me, and my eyes flew open.

I was in a cozy looking hotel room, I noticed the bed I was in was huge, and the pillows were very comfortable. Bits of sunlight poked through the edges of the green blinds that covered the large window. The room was fairly big, even though it only had one bed. I wondered how expensive this room must have been. In the corner was a table with food. Edward was sitting at the table, his face in his hands. My heart sunk as I realized he still felt guilty about everything that had happened.

I started to get up, to approach him and tell him I was fine. But Edward noticed my movement and was kneeling next to the side of the bed in an instant.

"How are you feeling?" he asked as he lightly put his cold hand on my forehead. "You still have a little bit of a fever."

"I do?" I felt so oblivious to my own health. That explained why I felt so strange and exhausted. I didn't want Edward to worry about me, so I had already decided I wasn't going to complain about anything. "I feel alright," I said answering his earlier question.

He shook his head, "Bella, don't try to cover how you're feeling. Please tell me the truth about how sick you think you are. You've been asleep for almost eighteen hours."

I had to repress a gasp, I couldn't believe I had slept that long. I mentally checked my body over, and assessed how I felt. But I still tried to completely ignore my arm, I wanted Edward to stop worrying about me, the pain wasn't unbearable, at least not yet. I didn't think it was broken or sprained, because I was able to move it a little. Edward had specifically asked me about how sick I felt anyway.

"My muscles are pretty sore, I feel very weak, and I'm really thirsty," I told him truthfully. "I probably just have a mild flu."

He seemed to relax a tiny bit at my answer, probably remembering how bad a lier I was. But he still looked concerned, "I bought you some food, it's on the table for you. You should probably get something inside you."

"I am pretty hungry too," I admitted with a smile. I slowly pushed myself up with my good right arm and stood up. I felt a bit dizzy, but overall I figured my health wasn't too bad. I walked to the table and sat down. The food consisted of a lot of different fruit, a bagel, and some small boxes of a variety of cereals. There was some packages of unopened disposable dishes next to the large tray of fruit. "I am really glad you have this food ready for me," I said as I picked up a large strawberry.

He smiled his crooked smile, "I thought you would be"

I felt so relieved to see him smile like that. I wanted things to go back to normal. The long sleep I had already seemed to have removed almost all of my stress. My head felt clear, and I felt calm and relaxed for the first time in days. I really was glad Edward did not seem to be as stressed anymore.

Edward opened the small fridge at the other end of the room and pulled out a pint of milk, two bottles of orange juice, and a small container of cream cheese. "I had Alice and Jasper get this food and bring it over before they left last night," he said as he found places on the crowded little table to set things down.

His statement made me think of several questions. "So you got to ask me a bunch of questions, now is it my turn to ask some?" I asked.

"Of course, Bella," he said sincerely. "You have every right to ask about anything."

"Where's Alice, Jasper, and Emmett?" I spoke between nibbles of food.

"They ran back home last night, so they could meet up with Carlisle and discuss what we're going to do next."

"Why are we here, and where are we? Shouldn't we be with them?" It felt like the more answers I got, the more questions I had.

He smiled wryly, "I don't think you would have wanted me to carry you for hours of running at vampire speed, in the middle of the night, to get back to Forks." Then he frowned, "Besides, I could tell you were getting sick, I didn't want to put you through anymore yet. That's why I decided to stop here and let you rest."

He was definitely right, I wouldn't have wanted to be carried back to Forks, and it did feel nice to rest in the calm quiet room, alone with Edward.

"We drove most of the day, so we could all stay out of the sun," Edward continued. "We are in Indiana, and Alice stopped here when it grew dark. Emmett headed back right away. Then, like I said she and Jasper bought food, so I could stay with you in case you woke up, and they ran back. We'll catch a plane once you think you've rested enough."

"What time is it?" This was the last of my simple questions.

"It's fairly early, seven AM."

I sighed, "So, what are we going to tell Renee?" I wanted to call her, and be able to assure her everything was fine, but I didn't think I could do that without an explanation to what I'd requested of her.

"We haven't thought of anything, that's something everyone was going to discuss back home. We'll figure something out to tell her."

I nodded. I was full, and I stood up and started to put the extra food away, still being cautious with my arm. "I think I'm ready to go home as soon as you're able to go out," I said glancing at the bright edges of the window. "It was nice to sleep comfortably, but now I want to apologize to Charlie, and get caught up in school. I just want to be back home."

"In the mean time, why don't you continue to rest?" Edward said. "I want you to feel better."

Resting did sound desirable. This flu really still had me tired, and I almost felt like I could even go back to sleep. I went back to the comfortably bed, and carefully sat on it and arranged my body so I could sit up against my pillow. Then I looked at Edward, still standing by the table, watching me. "Do you want to continue to rest with me?"

He smiled slightly and noiselessly got on the bed next to me.

There was one more question I really wanted to ask, even though I had already been told the answer. I just wanted to hear a sure answer from Edward one more time. "I just want to be sure," I started timidly and quietly. "Is James really dead, or gone, or whatever you want to call it?"

I felt him stiffen a little, "Yes, I can promise you, you will never see James again. He is gone." Edward spoke with such confidence that I believed him. But his voice sounded like there was another problem, and some other danger was on his mind. I tried to think what could be bothering him, and I remembered Alice had told me Victoria had still managed to escape. I was about to ask what we were going to do about Victoria, and if she was even a danger to me, but Edward spoke first.

"It's starting to rain. Maybe we can head back today, lets just check the weather to be sure it's not going to clear up later." As he said this, he picked up the remote, and turned the large TV on to the weather.

I watched closely as well, I was excited that I might get to be home by the end of today. The weatherman didn't disappoint, it was supposed to rain all day.

Edward pulled out a cell phone phone. "Hey Alice, is it safe to come back today, and how will weather be at the airport?" The conversation only lasted a couple seconds. Then Edward snapped his phone shut, and turned to me. "Do you want to find an airport and go home now?"

I nodded. This change to be able to leave had happened so fast. It seemed like Alice's weather prediction back home was the usual weather for Forks, and Port Angeles was going to have no sun either. Edward got up, and with his vampire speed, he had everything packed in a second.

Just a few hours later, we were both sitting on a plane, ready to go to Port Angeles. Thankfully, the weather was not bad enough to cancel any flights. A while after we took off, I thought about the last time I was on a plane heading to Port Anglelas. Last time, I was dreading going where I was going. It amazed me how much had changed in just a few months. This time, the plane was taking me home, and I wanted nothing more than to be there. I carefully readjusted my position so the edge of my back was against Edward, instead of my arm, and snuggled closer to him as I thought about why Forks had become a different place for me. I started to daydream about the first times I saw Edward, the first conversations I had with him, the time we went to the meadow. . .

"What are you thinking about right now?" Edward asked me politely, bringing me out of my pleasant dream world, and back to the present. Edward still seemed to be as frustrated as ever about not being able to hear my thoughts.

"I was Remembering some of my favorite memories." I noticed I felt sleepy again. I was sleeping way too much lately.

"So what are some of your favorite memories?" His voice was lighter, and more relaxed.

"I bet you already know," I said dreamily. My mind was already floating back to my dreams where I left off.

"Maybe not, I can no longer say I'm a mind reader when I'm around you," he teased.

"Well, right now I'm remembering the first time you kissed me." I had my eyes closed, picturing him slowly coming closer, remembering the feeling of his lips on mine, and how I had less control than he did.

"That is one of my favorite memories as well." His voice sounded almost as dreamy as mine.

We were both quiet for a long time. I fell into an uneven, feverish sleep. Sometimes I was awake, and when I was I continued to reminisce. I began to think how being with Edward was worth everything I went through the past week. Then I would fall asleep again. The last time I woke up my mind unwillingly started to drift to last week. This time I was glad when Edward's voice interrupted my thoughts.

"We are about to land," he said quietly. Right after he said this, the plane began it's dissent.

"How are we getting to Forks?" I knew Edward wouldn't make me run with him.

"Alice is waiting for us with my car. I can hear her thoughts now."

A while later, after we landed, and we were getting off, I groaned, suddenly remembering what we had to figure out. "I really hope we can think of something convincing to tell Renee."

"We will," Edward reassured me. "I'm sure between all eight of us, we'll be able to think of something.

Then, a little ways in the distance, I could see Alice waiting for us. Seeing her familiar face made me even more impatiant to get home. This was going to be one time I would enjoy riding in a car with a vampire behind the wheel.