A/N: I wrote most of this before Breaking Dawn, so I apologize for the discrepancies. I'm going to keep it like this, I think, just because BD was sort of crap.

"Do you think I used too much morphine?" Alice whispered. There were other whispers, heavy breathing.

"I think so, but do we have enough blood?" Jasper asked.

"We have enough blood, dude." Emmett said, annoyed. "I drained twelve bears and didn't drink a drop, just filled a hundred and thirty water bottles. There is definitely enough."

"A hundred and thirty? Holy hell." Jasper said. Emmett nodded.

Edward looked at Carlisle. "Will she remember Sophie? What happened?"

"Either way, we'll have a difficult time explaining Rosalie's disappearance– when she gets back, that is." There was resignation in Carlisle's voice.

Someone was stroking her hair. She could feel the ridges of their fingerprints pulling at each individual hair on her head. There was no blood in the room except her own.

"We'll have to keep her away from Nate for a long time. Until they both have it under control. Otherwise, they'll tear each other apart," Esme said sadly.

Everyone's tone of voice was mournful, but Edward couldn't quite relate. 'Forever…We'll be together for all time.' He couldn't help but realize that this was the excuse he had been looking for to change Callie. He bit his lip, ashamed of himself, but unwilling to take it back. He knew the truth of it. This made both of their lives, their life together, much easier to work with.

She was already more beautiful. Her hair now shined like a bonfire even in the dark. Her freckles didn't fade, but her skin was as white as the moon. Her eyes were rimmed in long, thick, black lashes and her lips seemed fuller. Her wounds were gone completely and there were no scars on her body anymore. She still looked undeniably like the old Callie, but it was as if everyone was seeing her through rose-colored glasses.

Her eyelids flickered, and suddenly, from beneath those lashes, she looked up at them with blood-red eyes. Edward's breath caught in his throat.

'Did I do the wrong thing?'

They left him alone with her after she was given six bottles and satiated enough to think. He gave her another one with a bendy straw in it to sip on while they talked.

"Do you know who you are?"

She sipped and nodded. "I'm Callie." Her voice was perfectly melodious.

"Do you know what you are?"

She bit her lip in a way that was so like old Callie that Edward suddenly felt a pang of regret.

"A vampire."

"Do you remember your life?"

Her brow furrowed. "A bit. Flashes and pieces."

"Nate?" Her face was blank. "Carlisle? Esme? Jasper?" No response. "Jacob? Leah? Anyone?" She shook her head. "Do you remember me?"

She looked him straight in the eyes. Hers were becoming brighter, shimmering with the golden tinge of being satiated. He thought he saw a flash of recognition, but then she became confused.

"What's wrong?"

She put a hand on her chest. "I'm so used to my heart pounding in my ears when I think of you. It's weird, not having it there."

Edward was caught between joy at her memory of him and terror. He hadn't thought about her heartbeat, feeling her pulse in her entire body as it reclined against him. The regret overwhelmed him, though he kept his face as smooth as stone.

Despite the façade, she realized exactly what was in his head and said, "Don't worry, Edward. I'm here."

Her voice was still her own, and it comforted him, but a question formed in his head. "How did you know…?" She simply shrugged.

"You're not that hard to read, Edward."

His brow furrowed. "Yes, I am."

"There's no reason to get defensive."

He pressed his lips together for a second. 'She reads me like a book,' he thought to himself. 'Is that her skill?'

"You're right. There's not." He stood, handed her another bottle filled with blood, and said, "I'll be right back. I have someone to check on."

She noted the truth in his voice and nodded. 'I wonder who.'

Edward rushed down the hall to where Carlisle was tending to Nate.

"Callie doesn't remember anything, Carlisle. Nothing but me. And I think she has a special sort of skill."

"What do you mean?" Carlisle said, standing.

"I think she can see right through me."

"Like x-ray vision?"

Edward rolled his eyes. "No, like, through my pretenses."

Carlisle coughed. "Edward, you're still in many ways a teenage boy. Your pretenses aren't that hard to see through."

Edward glared at his surrogate father. "I think she can read my motives, too, and tell when I'm lying. Not just guess it, but know it. It's strange."

"We'll have to keep an eye on that one. Meanwhile, Nate hasn't woken up yet."

"Should I be worried?"

Carlisle shrugged. "Callie woke early. Give him another few hours."

Edward looked at Nate, laying on a leather couch. His musculature was much more defined, like Emmett's, and his hair had turned platinum in its shine.

The morphine had apparently done its job; Nate was quiet but tense. Edward tried to keep out of his head, not willing to know how it felt. "Think of me if you need me," he said, getting up. He wandered back to Callie.

In her room, she was examining every small trinket she could get her hands on, amazed at the new and sudden clarity she was privy to.

"Callie?"

"I heard you come in," she said without stopping her observations. "I also heard your conversation with Carlisle. You think I have a special power?"

Edward nodded hesitantly. She paused for an infinitesimal fraction of a second, as if she was tucking the thought away in her head, then said, "Nate. My brother." He nodded again. "He is a vampire too, now?" Another nod. "That is probably for the best." She was talking at the speed of light and Edward found it hard to get a word in edgewise.

"I'm thirsty," she said. Her thirst wasn't as bad as her desire to get out and test out her muscles.

Edward smiled wryly. "I can read your thoughts, you know."

"How could I forget?"