"How're you feeling?" Bella asked after she entered. She set her bag on the small dining table.

"I've had worse," Edward tried to laugh, but his headache chose that moment to pound harder. He groaned as he sat on the bed.

"What's wrong?"

"Headache," he replied, rubbing his face. "I think I have a fever."

Bella placed a hand on his forehead and gasped. "You're burning up! Have you taken any medicine, or done…well, anything?"

"No," he admitted as she helped him lie down. "I just woke up and went back to sleep, really."

"Do you want to take paracetamol, or just…try and sweat it out?"

"'Cetamol's fine," Edward mumbled. Honestly, he didn't care either way; he just wanted to sleep.

It took Bella a moment to retrieve the painkiller and a glass of water, and when she returned to the bed, Edward tried his best to swallow everything without gagging or making a mess.

"That should make you feel better in a bit," Bella placed the blanket over him. "Are you warm enough?"

"'M fine," Edward yawned as he blinked drowsily. Before his eyes drifted closed, he spotted Scheduler standing by the door with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow.

…

Edward left Jasper's body as soon as his host was deeply asleep. He could hear Bella fussing around the tiny kitchen – probably preparing his soup – but instead of watching her like he wanted, he dutifully approached Scheduler instead.

"Really, Edward?" she asked. "I thought we agreed that you'd care for him?"

"I'm sorry," Edward apologized for what felt like the nth time since he began his fifty-day journey. "But in my defense, this was kinda inevitable. I mean the guy works two jobs, practically never takes a day off, and he barely has anything to keep him warm or fed.

"Plus, I don't control him all the time. But when I do, I always make sure he gets something filling to eat and stuff."

Scheduler sighed, but she could admit that he was telling the truth. Ever since Edward began borrowing his body, Jasper's eating habits had improved thanks to Edward's unchanged appetite, and because of Edward's recent visit to his condo, he had more clothes as well.

"I suppose you have a point," she conceded. "I just...I don't like it when something happens to him. It doesn't seem fair that he has to bear burdens like this when they aren't really his fault."

"I'll try to help him better," Edward promised. "Even after all of this is over, I'll help him."

Scheduler smiled. "That's good to hear," she said. She moved to Jasper's bedside, and pushed some hair out of his face.

"He's starting to sweat, at least."

Edward exhaled in relief. "Okay. That's great. The painkiller Bella gave must be doing its job."

As if she was just reminded of the presence of another person, Scheduler angled her body so she could see Bella. Her grin widened, and she turned to Edward.

"So? What did I tell ya?"

Edward couldn't help but grin back. "Yeah, yeah," he replied sheepishly as he sat on the couch. A sudden thought entered his mind then, and his smile dropped.

"But," he said. "What if...what if Bella's not really here for me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what if she's here for –for him," Edward pointed to Jasper. In a flash, he was standing up again and pacing. "You said it yourself – she's probably confused as fuck about what she's feeling. Or for whom her feelings are for. What if she's really here because she likes Jasper?"

"Okay, okay, easy," Scheduler gripped his arm. "First of all, you need to calm down before you have an aneurysm."

"Can spirits even have aneurysms?"

"Second," Scheduler ignored the question. "You can't know that for sure. Yes, it's Jasper's face and voice that Bella sees and hears, but it's still your words and your actions that come through."

"See, that's just it," Edward threw his hands up. "It may be my personality, but it's still Jasper that the rest of the world sees. Bella probably just thinks Jasper and I are alike, and since he wasn't a massive dickwad to her in high school, she chose him."

Edward collapsed on the couch again and rubbed his eyes. "God, what is happening?! What am I supposed to do?"

Scheduler rolled her eyes. "For pizza's sake, Ed. Pull yourself together and stop assuming things! You're not a mind reader, alright? Quit making presumptions about what's going on in Bella's brain."

"But how can I not?" Edward replied. "I just hate that I was such a douchecanoe towards her. If I wasn't such a blind idiot, maybe I could have avoided the whole mess with Rosalie and Bella and I would be...together."

"Okay, look," Scheduler took a deep breath. She kneeled in front of Edward, and tried to meet his eyes. "You can regret all that you want and think about all your shoulda-coulda-woulda's, but you still can't change anything about the past. What you can change is the future. Even if Bella – and I'm in no way saying that this is true – likes Jasper that way, you can still win her back once you get back to your own body.

"Just...don't start dooming yourself already, 'kay? Focus on your mission, and everything'll fall into place."

Scheduler's words had its desired calming effect. Edward smiled gratefully at his guardian. "Thanks, Sched. I reallyneeded to hear that."

"No problem."

Everything was relatively silent for a while until Scheduler let out a giggle.

"'Douchecanoe'? Really, Ed?"

"What? Jane says it a lot. It kinda stuck."

Scheduler began to laugh again until the clang of metal hitting the linoleum floor rang out. It turned out to be the spoon Bella accidentally dropped while she tried carrying a bowl of soup towards the bed. Not bothering to pick it up, Bella placed the bowl on Jasper's bedside table and softly began to shake him.

It took a second for Edward to realize that she was trying to wake him up.

"Uh, you might want to get back to Jasper now," Scheduler suggested when she became aware of what was happening as well.

"Shit," Edward muttered as he rushed to Jasper's body. Luckily, he managed to possess him before his host became awake.

"Hey," Bella greeted when Edward opened his eyes. Her smile was too glorious for him not to return it.

"It's almost lunch time so I figured you'd be hungry," she continued as Edward tried to sit up. He felt better than the last time he took over Jasper's body, but he was just so uncomfortably hot.

"Oh gosh, I forgot to ask. How're you feeling?"

"I'm hot," Edward grumbled. He tried to open his coat, but was sufficiently hindered by its large buttons.

"You're sweating a waterfall," Bella murmured, pushing his hands away and working the toggles more efficiently. Despite his bad shape, Edward couldn't help the dirty thoughts that flew to his brain as Bella undressed him. Well, she was just removing his coat, but she was undressing him all the same.

"There," she grinned triumphantly when she managed to get him out of the garment. "I guess you'll need a change in shirt, too, huh?"

Edward looked down and saw his shirt darkened with sweat stains. "Yeah, that would be a good idea."

"Here," Bella slowly handed him the bowl of soup. "You can go ahead and start eating – it's tortilla soup, by the way – and I'll go find you a shirt. I mean, if you don't mind me going through your clothes, of course."

"Bella, it's no problem," Edward chuckled. "Go right ahead. It's all in the wardrobe."

As Bella dug through Jasper's meagre clothes, Edward sampled the warm broth she prepared. He almost groaned in pleasure and nostalgia as soon as the flavors hit his tongue – Bella's tortilla soup was just as good as he remembered.

He had taken about ten spoonfuls of the stuff when he noticed that Bella had yet to return with his promised shirt. Glancing over to the wardrobe, Edward saw her standing in front of its open doors. They blocked his view, unfortunately, so he couldn't gauge her facial expression.

What could she possibly be seeing in there that's so special? he thought. Heh, maybe she discovered Narnia.

Or maybe she's awed by Jasper's total lack of clothing.

Shut up, Bella doesn't judge like that.

Edward watched and waited for her to move or do anything, but she just continued to stand and…stare? He wasn't so sure. Finally, when his curiosity got the better of him, he called out her name.

"Bella?"

"Wh – oh, sorry!" Bella jumped at the sound of his voice. She quickly grabbed something inside the wardrobe, and returned to him with a grey shirt.

She handed it to him with a slight shake in her hands. "I – um – let me take that," she took the bowl and placed it on the bedside table. He noticed that her voice had changed, and she wouldn't look him in the eyes. "Do you need me to leave so you can change or –"

"It's fine, it's fine," Edward assured. He was bewildered at the sudden change of her demeanor, but he didn't let it show. "I can do it in the bathroom."

"Are you sure you can walk?"

"Bells, it's alright. It's not like I'm crippled or anything. Besides, I think I'll take a quick shower while I'm at it," he ran a hand through his wet hair as he stood up. "The sweaty look doesn't exactly suit me."

Bella's responding laugh was a pitch higher than normal and sounded weird, but Edward just let it go. He figured she was embarrassed from probably thinking of him changing or taking a shower.

Oh Bella. Too modest for your own good sometimes.

…

Despite being a little out of it for the rest of her stay with him, Bella was still great company and helpful when Jasper's fever made a comeback. Edward hated seeing her leave at around five in the afternoon, but he knew she had other responsibilities. Jasper was well again, at least, and the next day, Edward was as good as new.

He was so energized that he even decided to make his first actual attempt at getting a tear.

After a thorough search through Facebook in the library, Edward found quite a few old classmates who were currently staying in the area. He decided to go for the friendlier ones first – Maggie Sims and Gianna Bisognin – and was happy when they immediately responded with an affirmative to his invitation for coffee later in the day.

Edward wasn't sure if those two were particularly susceptible to crying, but he knew they comprised Forks High's joyful, over-enthusiastic prom committee. If they were capable of being so emotionally high that they literally squealed and described everything as 'so cute' all the time, then they were sensitive enough to cry at his sob story, right?

Plus, he was pretty sure they had a crush on him at some point, so that could be to his advantage.

Work flew by, or at least that's what Edward felt like. Maybe it was because he was nervous about trying to extract tears from two of his unsuspecting classmates…or maybe it had something to do with Bella's behaviour. She still greeted him and smiled when she'd see him, but Edward felt like something was just…off.

It seemed an awful lot like she was avoiding him.

Stop overthinking, Edward thought in a voice that sounded a lot like Scheduler's. She spent the entire day with you yesterday! Hell, she missed a day of work just to help your sick ass. And she has a job, too, remember? Quit it with the negativity.

Edward nodded at his inner voice's words. Bella was Heaven's head baker – of course she was going to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. It wasn't like she was hiding or anything. He sighed; he really should stop seeing things where there aren't any.

Eventually, the end of his shift came, and Edward found himself waiting outside of the café for Maggie and Gianna. He buried his hands in his pockets and looked around until he heard their all too familiar giggles coming down the street.

"Oh my gawed, it's Jasper!" one of them shouted once they were near. "Mags, look! It's Jasper!"

"OMG, hi!" Maggie, Edward presumed, clapped happily before pulling his neck down for a hug. She quickly let him go, though.

"Sorry," she flushed slightly. "I forgot you're not really a hug person."

"It's fine," Edward smiled. "I was just…ah, a little shy back then, but hugs are…okay."

"Oh, okay. Great," Maggie grinned back just as Gianna reached for his hand. "It's so awesome to see you again, Jasper."

"You, too. Both of you," Edward gestured to the café. "So, shall we go inside?"

At their confirmation, the three entered Heaven, and occupied a slightly hidden table. Edward wasn't sure where Bella was at the moment, but he wasn't too keen on her seeing him with two other women.

"I have to say, I was more than a little shocked when you decided to chat us up on Facebook," Gianna said while she hung her coat at the back of her chair.

"Yeah," Maggie nodded. "It was a nice kind of shocked, though."

"Oh. Well, I'm just glad you ladies agreed to meet me," Edward gave them a charming smile.

Both of them giggled. "So, what's the occasion?" Maggie asked. "I mean, not that we need an occasion to meet up with you, it's just…well, you weren't exactly Social Susan in high school."

"I found the silent, brooding type kinda sexy, actually," Gianna noted.

"I just wanted to see you two again is all," Edward lied convincingly before he began his real agenda. "But…I did want to talk to you about something, too."

"What is it?" Gianna asked. She leaned on her fists in interest.

"Well," Edward paused to take a deep breath. "I'm sure you remember Edward Cullen?"

"Of course! Who could forget him?" Maggie said. "With that pretty face, toned body, and powerful mind, he's set to take over the world."

Thanks to Jasper's overactive blood vessels, Edward's ears turned red. "Er, right. Him. Well, he got into an accident recently, and he's now in a coma."

Gasps escaped both ladies.

"I-I heard of something like that happening," Maggie began in a shocked tone. "But never did I think that Edward Cullen was the victim!"

"Oh, that's horrible!" Gianna exclaimed. "Is he okay?"

"He's still in a coma, but he's stable," Edward replied. "His family really needs support right now, though. You can just imagine how difficult this time is for them."

"Is there anything we can do?"

Yes, I need you to cry for me, Edward thought but instead, he said "Your prayers would be greatly appreciated, and I'm sure his parents would love it if you'd go and visit."

And your tears, dammit! I need you to give me tears!

"We should totally do that," Gianna said. "Where is he staying?"

"Northwestern."

"Yeah, we really should," Maggie agreed. "And we should bring flowers and balloons, too! I mean, those hospital rooms can be so dreary sometimes; it can do with some cheering up."

"You're right," Gianna nodded. "His parents must be there all the time, too, so maybe we can get them cookies."

It didn't take long for the two to get sucked into their own little world as they arranged what to bring to Edward's hospital suite. Edward was happy that he found two more people who still cared about him in a way, but he was still incredibly frustrated.

That's what you get for trying to get sympathy from the fucking prom committee, Edward grumbled in his head. Of fucking course they're just going to react to the news of your coma with more planning.

He was very grateful when the two said goodbye a little while later; his mood was now in the dumps, and he wasn't up to socializing with them anymore.

That night, Edward's mood just got worse.

While still in Jasper's body, he decided to walk around Chicago in an attempt to clear his head. His failure to secure any tears certainly made a large dent in his confidence, but he was trying to keep a positive attitude. He couldn't give up – there was too much at stake.

And as if to remind him of that, he spotted Jacob's car parked in front of a pub.

Edward didn't bother to think – he just entered the establishment and scanned the place for his former best friend. Sure enough, he found him sitting in a booth with some people he recognized from Cullen Architecture, and none other than his equally as evil fiancée, Rosalie.

"My day just keeps getting better and better," Edward muttered to himself as he stealthily occupied a table near theirs. He figured he'd might as well do some eavesdropping.

"…so amazing, Jake!"

"Yeah, congrats man!"

"Thanks," Jacob replied with a huge grin on his face. "I can still hardly believe it!"

"Well, believe it. You deserve it."

What the hell is everyone going on about?

"Hey, hey, maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves here," Jacob tried to calm the atmosphere down, but it was obvious that he didn't mean what he was saying. "Maybe it wasn't me Carlisle was talking about."

"Are you kidding?" another guest retorted. "Jake, you're one of the hardest workers the firm has. No doubt it was you Carlisle was referring to."

"He's right, Rosalie simpered as she placed a seemingly innocent hand on his chest. "And who else would be better suited to help Carlisle run Cullen Architecture but you?"

"Well, we can't know for sure yet," Jacob shrugged in false modesty. "Though maybe you guys are right. Guess we just need to wait for that board meeting tomorrow before we find out if I'm getting promoted."