"Bella!"

"Hi Esme. It's good to see you again. You here for a late lunch?"

"No, I'm afraid I can't stay long," Esme shook her head. "I just wanted to come here to thank you."

The confusion must have been apparent on Bella's face as Esme reached for her hands over the counter and explained. "Carlisle's agreed to the surgery."

"That's wonderful!" Bella exclaimed. "But Esme, I had nothing to do with that decision."

"You still helped," the older woman assured her. "You brought your friend with you. Jasper. Whatever he said when you came to visit finally convinced Carlisle to do it."

The smile that was already on Bella's face widened, though in a way, she wasn't that surprised. If anyone could work through Carlisle's stubbornness, it was his equally as stubborn son.

"I came here to thank him, too," Esme continued. "Is he here today?"

"Yeah, he is. Would you mind waiting here for a sec?"

"Not at all, dear."

Bella ran around the counter and disappeared around the corner. A moment later, she returned with a very surprised Edward in tow.

"Mo – Mrs. Cullen," he corrected himself quickly. "What are you doing here?"

"Really, dear, it's Esme," his mother insisted with a light chuckle. "You really are too polite sometimes."

"Sorry."

"It's alright," she waved her hand. "Did Bella tell you why I stopped by to visit today?"

"Um, no," Edward said, scratching the back of his neck. "She just said that I had a visitor."

"Oh. Well, I have the pleasure of giving the good news then. Edward's father agreed to the surgery!"

"He did?!" Edward couldn't believe it. "That…that's amazing!"

"And I have you and Bella to thank," Esme looked at him, then Bella, then back to him. "I don't know what you told him, but whatever it was made him change his mind." She moved forward, and pulled Edward into a warm hug. "Thank you so much."

Edward hadn't been anticipating the embrace, but he didn't complain. He wrapped his arms around his mother, mentally swearing to himself that this would not be the last time he would get to hold her close.

"When is his surgery scheduled?" Bella asked after the two pulled away. It was all she could do to stop the tears that were threatening to spill down her cheeks as a result of watching such an affectionate scene.

"Tonight," Esme told her. "Dr. Laurent wants it to fall through as soon as possible, and he said he was available in a couple of hours, so...that's when it'll happen."

"Oh, okay. Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Just your prayers will be enough, dear," Esme sighed. "At this point, that's all any of us can give."

…

As soon as his shift ended, Edward said goodbye to Bella, and rushed to Jasper's apartment. He wasn't sure what time Carlisle's surgery was, but he had no intention of missing it. That necessitated leaving Jasper earlier than usual, however, but he figured his host wouldn't have a problem with that.

"I'm off to the hospital," Edward informed Jasper once he was settled in bed. "You're fed, bathed, and you're resting now, so you won't have any more problems. Anyway, you'll probably be gone by the time I'll be back here, so take care of yourself, okay?"

It felt a bit silly at first, but Edward had gotten used to talking to his host even though the latter clearly couldn't hear him. He considered Jasper as a close friend now, though, and speaking to him helped his sanity a little.

After checking that nothing was out of place, Edward was just about to run out the door when his phone vibrated almost violently in his pocket. That stopped him in his tracks. Only one person knew his number, and it was very person he was desperate to speak to.

"Sched," he exhaled once he answered the call. "Thank God you called. I've been worried sick about you! Are you okay?"

"Edward?"

Okay, that's definitely not Scheduler's voice…

"Uh…Scheduler?"

"This isn't your Scheduler, my son," the person at the other side of the call chuckled. Though the voice was completely unfamiliar, Edward felt strangely calm as he listened to the caller's comforting tone.

"Not to be rude or anything, but who is this?"

"Hmm, well, I have a lot of names, I suppose," the man mused. "But I believe your Scheduler would often refer to me as 'The Big Guy Upstairs.'"

The words didn't register with Edward for a second, but as soon as realization set in, his eyes widened, and he almost dropped the phone in complete surprise.

"Y-You're The Big Boss? As in…God?"

"Yes," a chuckle resonated form the other end of the call. "I'm sorry, did I shock you?"

"A little bit, yeah."

"There's no need to be afraid," The Big Boss assured him. "I was just hoping I could talk to you. Is now a good time?"

"Uhh…yeah. I mean, yes, Sir. Uh, now would be okay. Or any time is good, really."

"Excellent! If you don't mind, I'd rather we spoke face to face. There's a car downstairs waiting to take you here. I'll see you in a moment, alright?"

"O-Okay," Edward stuttered before the line went dead.

Holy fu-freakin cow, he thought. Did that really just happen?

It appeared that the conversation wasn't just his imagination, since there was indeed a white car waiting outside of the building when he checked through the window. Not wanting to keep his meeting partner waiting, he dashed downstairs and into the vehicle.

Edward couldn't see who his driver was, but he was too nervous to care. He was about to see God; to say his nerves were a frazzled mess was an understatement.

He didn't have much time to focus and prep himself as the ride ended earlier than he expected. With a deep breath, he left the car, and stepped through the entrance of a park – the very park he had decided to wander around in after leaving Bella his goodbye letter weeks ago.

How am I supposed to know it's Him? Edward wondered in his head while he looked around.

The Dude is God. Literally. I'm pretty sure He'll make sure you recognize Him.

How's He going to do that? A nametag that says 'the Almighty Creator' perhaps?

Or maybe a giant neon sign pointing to Him.

That'll work, too.

Edward snorted at his own thoughts at the same time he laid eyes on a distinguished-looking man sitting on a nearby bench. There wasn't anything particularly distinctive about him that jumped out at Edward, but he just knew that that was The Big Boss.

Alright, Cullen. Keep calm and collected. Now is not the time to screw anything up.

Nodding in agreement with his own advice, Edward walked towards the bench with as much confidence as he could muster.

"Hello, Edward," The Big Boss greeted when he was close enough. "It's very good to see you."

"It's, ah, nice to see You, too, Sir," Edward replied with a shaky smile.

"Relax, son," The Big Boss laughed. "I'm not going to unleash the power of the high heavens on you like what you're thinking right now."

"Sorry," Edward rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm just…I wasn't expecting to see You today. Like, in the flesh. And I didn't expect that You'd look like that either. I mean, not that you look horrible or anything. You look awesome."

Okay, word of advice? Stop. Talking. Pronto.

"Well, thank you," The Big Boss's tone was amused. "I'm curious. Who did you think I'd look like?"

"Morgan Freeman," Edward admitted before laughing at his ridiculousness. "Sorry. After watching Bruce Almighty, that image kinda stuck. The way You look right now's fine, too, though." He wasn't lying, at least. The image The Big Boss had apparently decided to present Himself as was that of a handsome, older gentleman who had salt and pepper hair and gentle eyes.

"It's okay. Why don't you take a seat and we can have a little chat?"

Edward felt less nervous than before as he obeyed, but he still couldn't stop his hands from wringing themselves.

"How are things going with your journey? Okay so far?"

"Yeah," Edward nodded, his eyes going to his cuff. "Well, it's been difficult, and I've only gotten one tear as of now, but, that's progress, right?"

"Indeed it is," The Big Boss agreed. "How about your Scheduler?"

"She's great," Edward answered honestly. "She's really easy to talk to, and she's good at keeping me in line." He paused to smile. "I was wondering, though…is she okay?"

The deity beside him sighed. "I'll be honest with you, Edward, she's not. Maria's really torn up about her past that she can barely function. This is exactly the reason why I wipe the memories of schedulers clean before I send them out; if I don't, they'll be too focused on their own agendas to carry out their missions."

The guilt that had been creeping up Edward's spine finally hit him full force. "I…I'm so sorry, sir," he apologized sincerely. "It was my fault she found out, but if I'd known that her past would affect her so much…"

"Well, what's done is done. Hindsight is twenty-twenty as they say," The Big Boss shrugged slightly. "As Maria is indisposed at the moment, however, she isn't fit to be your guardian, and you won't be able to contact her."

"Oh. So what happens now?"

"As soon as Maria is feeling better, she'll resume her duties. For now, I'll take over for her if there's a pressing matter that you need guidance in while she's gone."

"O-Okay."

"Good. Now, before I leave you to watch over your father's surgery, I just wanted to remind you of how much time you have left to complete your mission. You only have sixteen days, Edward."

"Sixteen days?!" Edward sputtered. How had he not noticed the time flying by?

"I know your time is limited, but I believe in you, my son. You can do this," The Big Boss placed His hands on his shoulders in a supportive, fatherly gesture. "Stay strong, and be careful. Never forget that you have people who are on your side now, and that I'm always here for you. Remember, I'm just a phone call away."

Edward could do nothing but nod, and in a fashion very similar to Scheduler, He disappeared at the blink of his eye.

…

He didn't know if it was the leftover adrenaline from his divine encounter earlier, or his panic over how much days he had left, but Edward felt anxious.

Logically, he knew he didn't really have anything to worry about – only the best doctors were working on his father, but he just couldn't help but feel a little jumpy as he watched the operation through the glass of the waiting room.

Think about something else for a second, his mind suggested as he took a seat on one of the hard plastic chairs. Maybe you just need a little distraction.

His task seemed like a good enough topic to ponder on. Gripping his cuff, Edward slowly exhaled while he thought of another tear-collecting strategy.

"Sympathy doesn't seem to work," he grumbled to himself. "Or sympathy from school acquaintances, anyway. Maybe I should just make my sob story even more of a sob story..."

That felt too…mushy for him to pull off, though, especially since he wasn't exactly the most emotional person on the planet. Plus, he wasn't sure how to make his tale more pitiful. He was rich, successful, and about to be married to a person everyone thought was perfect. Save for his accident, there really wasn't much about the story that can be made to look sad without spilling any sensitive details.

After a minute or two of thinking about it, Edward figured that he could just do what he did to get the first tear…except he had no idea what he did.

"Am I supposed to have another breakdown?" he asked no one. "Or threaten to give up?" God, he hoped not; he didn't think he could handle another emotional collapse.

The sudden commotion inside the operating room interrupted Edward's distraction time. In a flash, he was on his feet again with his heart pounding rapidly, and his anxiety returning stronger than before.

"What's going on?" he asked, though none of the surgeons in the other room could hear him. And even if they did, they were too busy clamouring around the operating table to answer. Edward knew then that whatever was happening was not good at all.

"Hey!" he shouted fruitlessly, his palms slamming on the glass. "Dad!"

He craned his neck the best he could, desperately trying to see past the wall of people that were blocking his view. He immediately saw a doctor holding up the two paddles of a defibrillator before yelling "Clear!", and pushing them on Carlisle's chest.

Edward didn't study medicine, but he knew what that meant.

They were trying to revive his father.

"No," he whispered weakly. "No, this isn't happening…"

His eyes flew from the doctor, to Carlisle, to the ECG machine in the corner, and back again. Though his thoughts were going a mile a minute and it felt like he couldn't register anything, he could tell that the surgeons weren't succeeding in their attempts to bring his father back to life.

"You can't die, Dad" he shook his head almost angrily. "You just can't. Fuck, none of this was part of the deal!"

"Edward?"

Edward sucked in a shaky breath when a warm hand rested on his shoulder. Slowly, he turned around and faced the last person he wanted to see at that moment.

"Dad."