Carlisle didn't want to go through the surgery. He just didn't. The past two months had taken its toll on him, and he didn't think he could go through another huge event.

"I'm so tired, Es," Carlisle squeezed Esme's hand in his own. "I don't think I can do it."

"What about everything you'll leave behind?" Esme sobbed. "Edward needs you. I need you."

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart," Carlisle told her sincerely. "But right now, I just can't be convinced. The fact that I still have this chance of living while our son continues to be in a coma…it isn't fair."

"I know it isn't," Esme said tearfully. "But Edward is doing alright, dear, and I know he would want you to go through it. He'd want you to live."

"No," Carlisle shook his head. "As long as Edward is still asleep, I can't bring myself to say yes to the surgery. For now, I just want to lay here right next to my son."

Esme disagreed wholeheartedly with her husband's decision, but she knew how stubborn he was and how hard it was to sway him from any plans he makes. She had no other choice but to pray that both her boys would be alive and healthy by the end of everything.

Rosalie, on the other hand, felt the complete opposite. She was absolutely ecstatic when Carlisle and Esme told her the news of the man's predicament. She had to act like the concerned future daughter-in-law of course, but inside, she was rejoicing.

"It's all falling into place, Stefan," Rose gushed on the phone as soon as she left the hospital. "I don't have to do anything after all. Carlisle's done it himself!"

"That's excellent news," Stefan croaked from the other end of the line. "See? I told you you can do this by yourself."

"You're right. I really should've listened to you from the beginning," Rosalie told him. "Jacob's proven to be nothing but a distraction."

"Can't let anyone weigh you down, girl," Stefan paused to cough. "But you're young. Soon you'll learn that in the world we live in, can't trust anybody but yourself." He gave another loud, hacking cough.

"Are you okay?" Rose asked as she entered her car. "Your cough sounds like it's gotten worse." When she had visited the elder man in Seattle a few days ago, he was strapped to a machine and suffering from some sort of lung-affecting disease she had forgotten the name of.

"Eh, it doesn't matter. I'm as well as an old codger my age can fare," Stefan replied. "But let's not talk about that right now. Did you get the e-mail I asked Miranda to send you, by the way?"

"No, I haven't checked my inbox yet," Rosalie said. "What's in it?"

"Got in touch with my nephew last night – the hacker. Let's call it an early Christmas present, if you will. Just be sure to use it at the right time?"

The call ended, and Rose pulled her phone away from her ear quickly to check her e-mail. Sure enough, amongst all her unread work-related messages was one from Stefan with the subject 'surprise.' After waiting a few seconds for it to load, the contents were revealed to her, and she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face.

"I knew it was a good idea to contact that old geezer," Rose chuckled to herself. "Looks like I can still get some good use out of him before he kicks the bucket after all." She tossed her phone back into her purse and drove off, now armed with the passwords to Cullen Architecture's bank accounts.

…

Edward could just not believe his luck. As if he didn't have enough problems already, his father's refusal to have his brain tumors removed had to be added on top of them, too. Now the pressure to find more tears was even greater – a feat Edward didn't believe was even possible.

"Is there a reason why You're torturing me like this?" he asked, glancing briefly at the ceiling. He flew up the stairs to Jasper's apartment before continuing his rant. "I know You don't give us any more than we can handle and all that crap, but I think You're seriously overestimating my abilities here. I'm just a man, for – shit!"

Edward nearly jumped a foot in the air when Scheduler suddenly appeared.

"Who are you talking to?" she asked, perching on the couch.

"Jeez, you scared me," Edward grumbled. "And I was just…thinking out loud."

"Right," Scheduler raised an eyebrow. "So do you plan on continuing that or would you rather explain to me what the hell you've been doing this week?"

Edward said nothing; he was too busy observing her features – her face, her voice – and confirming in his head that the girl in front of him was indeed the girl he'd seen in his vision, if you could call it that.

"…were doing! Are you even listening to me?"

"Huh?"

Scheduler sighed and muttered unintelligibly.

"What were you thinking, Ed? Tricking Irina, going to Forks, kissing Bella? I thought we already agreed to stop making risky decisions?"

"I-I'm sorry, I guess. I won't do them again."

"And now you're not even really paying attention to me. What's got you so distracted?"

"It's a bunch of things," Edward sighed, collapsing on a dining chair. "I – Everything is just a wreck, Sched. The tears, Rosalie apparently stalking me now, my relationship with Bella, my dad's tumor…plus, you haven't been answering any of my calls. Where've you been, anyway?"

"I'm sorry I haven't checked in as often. There just had been a ton of unfortunate events all over the world these days – typhoons, landslides, floods…I needed had to make a lot of deliveries."

"Wait," Edward said when he realized something. "Typhoons, floods? So when you say you're making a delivery, you're actually delivering…"

"Souls," Scheduler finished, nodding her head. "That's pretty much what I do. I mean, who else would escort them to the next stage after death?"

"Huh, never really of that."

"Yeah, but enough of that. Give me all the details of what you've been up to. I only know the major shenanigans you got yourself caught up with, and I'm curious about the stuff you mentioned earlier."

And so, Edward did his best to recap all the important elements of his adventures the past week. He tried to be as honest as he could, but he did edit a part or two out.

When the part about knowing Scheduler's past life was about to come up, though, he didn't know what to say or do.

"You fainted?" Scheduler's eyes widened. "Good Lord, are you okay? Or, well, is Jasper? It wasn't because you weren't eating enough, was it?"

"No, it wasn't because of that," Edward shook his head. Guess I know why she's so protective over him now. "Hell, I eat more for him now than I do when I'm in my own body. I…I don't know why, I just started getting dizzy then before I knew it, everything was black and I was on the ground.

"Something weird happened, though. I- I actually left Jasper's body after that."

"What?"

"Yeah. I didn't mean to, I just…left. Does that mean anything?"

Scheduler thought for a second. "I don't know. I don't think so. But carry on with the story. What happened next?"

"Jasper was still out of it, thankfully, so I managed to possess him again. And then I…" Edward paused. He was warring with himself over whether or not he should tell her about the connection he discovered between her and Jasper.

"You…what?"

Ah, fuck it. "I kinda had a dream. Or a vision, really. Of the past."

"Go on."

"It was…a memory of mine, I guess, of one of the fairs my high school held. I saw my sixteen-year-old self hanging out with Bella."

"Okay. And was that all you saw?"

"Well…no," Edward admitted. "There's more. I saw Jasper there, too. He was there with…you."

Scheduler looked puzzled. "With me? What do you mean?"

"I mean you were there, Sched. You and Jasper were holding hands and trying to sell some roses to Bella and me."

"That's impossible," Scheduler shook her head furiously. "How could I be there? Maybe it was just your imagination messing with you."

"It wasn't," Edward insisted as he got up from his seat to retrieve a book from the desk. "I dug through some of Jasper's stuff last night to try and see if what I saw in that vision was really true, and managed to find our high school yearbook. Look at this." He opened the volume to a specific page before handing it to Scheduler.

"It's you," Edward pointed to a picture. "You're Maria Kennedy."

Scheduler was quiet for a long moment, and when she spoke, her voice was uncharacteristically timid and shaky "But…I can't…" She reached out a finger to trace her face on the glossy page. "And…And Jasper? You said we were…?"

"You were together," Edward told her softly. "It looked like you guys really cared for each other, Sched. Look at the pictures at the back."

With a hesitant hand, Scheduler flipped to the back portion of the book, and noticed immediately the photos Edward was referring to. There, amongst the other candid shots of the student body, were the clear images of her and Jasper in each other's arms, smiling at the camera, and flashing each other goofy faces.

"How can this be," Scheduler whispered. She wrapped her arms around herself. "Why don't I remember him?"

"You said before that you don't remember your life before now," Edward reminded her, his tone still quiet.

"I know, but…look at these pictures, Edward! I," she gasped. "I loved him!"

"Hey, are you okay?" Edward was starting to get concerned now. Scheduler was standing up and absolutely shaking like a leaf. "Maybe you should –"

"And now I'm gone," Scheduler looked helplessly at Jasper's sleeping form. She glanced at the yearbook again, the pictures of her and Jasper jumping out at her like it did before. "This is just…I can't…"

"Scheduler?"

Before Edward could say anything more, she disappeared.

…

"Jasper! Hey Jasper!"

Edward stopped at his tracks and turned around. It was Saturday – his day off from Heaven – but he really didn't feel like spending it alone in Jasper's apartment especially after Scheduler's sudden departure. His mind was a flurry of thoughts, and he expected a walk to clear his head.

He wasn't expecting someone to recognize him, though.

"Uh, hi," Edward replied hesitantly to the stranger. "How's it going?"

Nice, Cullen. Real smooth.

"I'm doing okay," the woman smiled at him. "You ready to go?"

Go? Go where?

Stranger danger, man. Just walk away and don't look back.

"Yeah, I'm ready," Edward heard himself say, ignoring the warnings his mind was throwing at him.

"Great," the woman touched his arm briefly before gesturing to her side. "I know the hospital's not that far, but I just came from my mom's so my car's with me. It's alright if we just take that, right?"

"Um, yeah, that's totally fine."

After a short walk filled with awkward silence, Edward found himself inside a blue Altis next to the strange girl who apparently had some sort of date with Jasper. He figured she wasn't some kind of psycho murderer with her dainty actions, but he was very curious about what they were supposed to do. She mentioned something about a hospital; perhaps they were visiting someone?

"You know, I thought you were going to ditch me for a second," the woman said after a couple of minutes on the road.

"I wouldn't do that," Edward replied because he felt like that would be something Jasper would say.

"Yeah, I know," she chuckled. "Sorry. Guess I just never pegged you for a guy who'd be late. Anyway, we're here."

Edward looked out the window to see Northwestern standing right outside. Quietly, he followed the woman's lead right into the lobby.

"Hi, Alice!" one of the nurses greeted them as they passed by. "I thought it was your day off. What are you doing here?"

"Just…accompanying a friend," the woman – Alice – nodded her head in Edward's direction. "This is Jasper."

"Oh. Oh," the nurse blinked knowingly as she giggled. "Right. Well, Jasper, I'm Nina. It's nice to finally meet you."

"You, too," Edward smiled, but inside, he was still completely confused. Did this mean Jasper and Alice were dating or something?

"Um, we have to get going," Alice interrupted, the blush on her cheeks reminding Edward of Bella. "We're going to see Dr. Fisher."

"Alrighty. We still on for Benji's birthday later?"

As the two women continued to chat, Edward wondered about what Jasper had been up to whenever he would leave his body. What the hell did he need to go to the hospital for? He wasn't sick or anything – not to Edward's knowledge, anyway.

Before he could ponder more on the topic, Alice pulled him to the elevator where she pressed the button for the third floor. It didn't take long at all for them to reach it, and soon, they were in front of a set of double doors.

"Don't be nervous, okay?" Alice said reassuringly. "Dr. Fisher's really nice, and she's the best hypnotherapist in the whole city, so you'll be in good hands."

What? Edward thought as his eyes grew to the size of saucers. Hypnotherapy? Jasper, what the fuck did you get me into?!

It was too late for him to back out, though, as Alice had already opened a door, gently guiding him inside.

As panicked as Edward was, he couldn't deny that Alice had been telling the truth earlier. Dr. Agnes Fisher was indeed very kind and welcoming. She spoke in a soothing voice, and encouraged Edward to relax on the bed he had reluctantly laid on. He tried his best to obey, but he was still too wary of everything that was happening to really ease himself.

"Now," Dr. Fisher rolled her chair next to the bed, glasses now perched on her nose. "Let's talk about what's been going on with you lately. You've been experiencing memory lapses, correct?"

"Um, sure. I mean, yes, yes I have."

"But these lapses are selective. Alice mentioned that the only moments you don't remember are those from the time you sleep after working at the diner until you wake up for your shift."

The time when I possess Jasper, Edward realized. To be honest, he hadn't really thought that Jasper would notice any changes in his life, which was stupid in his part. Of course the man was going to recognize that something wasn't normal.

"Jasper?"

"Sorry, what?"

"I said we're going to be start the session now. I want you to trust me, okay?" Dr. Fisher smiled warmly. "Close your eyes, breathe deep, and relax your muscles. Concentrate only on my voice."

Edward closed his eyes and took a deep breath as asked. As he listened to the doctor's soft words, he could feel himself falling into some sort of trance.

Almost as soon as soon as that happened, though, he felt himself jolt awake and out of Jasper's body. He saw Scheduler standing nearby, watching with an unreadable expression, and he swiftly got off the bed.

"Sched," Edward placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sched, are you okay? And what's going on? I left his body again!"

Scheduler didn't appear to be listening, however, as her attention was on Jasper completely.

"What is it that you've buried, Jasper?" Dr. Fisher asked. "Is there something you've been repressing? Something you've desperately been trying to forget?"

"Maria," Jasper gasped suddenly. Scheduler gasped, her hand going to her throat, as Jasper continued.

"You…You left me. Never had time for me anymore. Your career…always the theater first…"

Scheduler began to sob, but of course the doctor heard none of it. She pressed Jasper to keep going despite the tears running from the corners of his eyes.

"And you…died. Left me all alone forever…mom, dad…Maria…all gone. I have no one…"

"Jasper, no!" Scheduler wept. She all but threw herself on the bed to try and grasp his hand. "I'm here, Jasper. I'm here. I'm not leaving you again. I'm so sorry."

"Maria…" Jasper choked again, more tears falling into the pillow beneath his head while Scheduler's cries grew louder.

And Edward could do nothing but to stand where he was and watch.