Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
A/N- Capricorn75 has bullied me into posting the rest of it. Thanks.
On the third day, I woke up to Fox News talking about how the liberals were destroying America and were allied with the Al Qaeda. My mouth tasted like old socks, there was a permanent crick in my neck from sleeping on the waiting room couches, and I felt greasy all over from not having showered in three days. It was going to be a half hour before the visiting hours started, so I went to the cafeteria to the coffee machine to get something. I had sent Charlie home for clean clothes and medications. He had had excruciating back pain trying to sleep in a bed asides from his own.
After some morning sludge, I went back up to the ICU waiting room to wait. I'd wait forever. Her fever was persistently staying around 100. I worried about the damage it would do to her little body.
At six am, I was waiting at the ICU doors to be let in. They opened open up five minutes early. I washed my hands carefully in the sink before touching Jeannie.
Her personality hadn't come back, but she was still coughing like a Whooping Crane. They had her in disposable diapers, but that was it. She had been on the IV ever since the first day. Her little cheeks were ruddy. I looked down at the physician's name that checked on her- I saw a pair of initials scratched in several times since she had been in the ICU. I couldn't read them.
"Hi, Figgy," I said. "Feeling any better?" I asked.
She just sighed and a weak cough came out. She was sitting up, at least.
"Hi, Bella."
"Edward?" I asked, turning around. He was in the ICU. I didn't want him seeing me this messy.
"Just coming in to check on my favorite patient before I finish my shift," he said. "She's improving."
"Good," I said, resting my chin on the crib railing.
"We're going to downgrade her from the ICU, soon," he said, reaching into the crib to stroke her head. "She broke her fever this morning."
"You're kidding!" I cried.
"Yeah. I just asked them to keep her admitted until she's maintained twenty-four hours without a fever," he said. "You can go home, now. I know you haven't left your daughter's side."
I was surprised he had kept tabs on me. I hadn't even known if he had been anywhere near the hospital since we left the ER. Personally, I didn't want to know.
"Edward?" I asked. "Be honest with me, because I can't stand any bullshit right now. Why didn't you call me?"
"Don't turn this around on me," he said, signing the physician's roster. "You know why I didn't call."
"Edward, I'm not up for mind games right now," I said. I looked down at the clipboard- those were his initials up and down the paper. He had been checking on my Jeannie Beannie in the ICU, even though was an ER doctor. I looked up and he was gone. I felt bitter towards him, but my tiredness won out.
I sat in the waiting room, sipping coffee that tasted terrible while watching bad TV, still. I was waiting for them to move Jeannie out of the ICU. I saw the doors open and a group of transport techs were moving the crib. I jumped up, tossing the coffee in the closest garbage can.
"Jeannie!" I cried, running to the crib. She was asleep in the crib. "This is it?" I asked. "You're moving her?"
"Yes, Dr. Edward downgraded her out of the ICU today," he said. I followed them to the hospital room and called Charlie to tell him about the move. I collapsed on the couch.
When I woke up, the lights were out and a blanket was draped over me. Jeannie had pulled herself up to standing and was looking at somebody, who was talking softly to her- Edward!
"Edward?" I mumbled.
"Bella," he said. "Just checking on Jeannie."
"Edward, what did you mean by 'don't turn this around on me' when I asked why you didn't call?" I asked, too groggy to help being blunt.
"I did call, your number was disconnected," he said.
"My phone is working just fine, is that why you thought I had financial trouble?" I asked.
"No, it's not," he said. "Not the number that was on your phone on New Year's Eve. You changed it."
"Edward, I have the same cell phone number I've had for the past five years," I said.
"Is this your number?" he asked, pulling out his Treo and pulling up a phonebook entry under my name. It was one digit off. I laughed out of fatigue.
"Edward, that's not my number," I said.
"It's not?"
"Didn't you check it with Alice?" I asked, between weary giggles.
"Alice would start asking questions," he said. "Bella, calm down."
"I'm going on day four without a sleeping in a decent bed or taking a shower," I said. "I've had nothing but cafeteria food and mud that passes for coffee. All this because my baby has been hospitalized and in the ICU and you're telling me to stay calm after you didn't call me back after I fucked you on an end table like a prostitute?"
"Your daughter's awake," he said, sounding annoyed.
"I don't care at this point," I said. "My kid almost died. I'm just happy she can hear me talking trash. That night was traumatizing for me!"
"Traumatizing, my ass!" he snapped. That was completely unlike him. "Please don't tell me you're so boring that's the dirtiest position you've ever done it in."
"No, it's not," I said. "I just don't know you that well. That whole thing- it was lust. We were using each other. I started comparing you to my husband. That's not fair to you. I know that I'm not ready to be with somebody new, yet. That's why I said I can't pursue a relationship with you right now."
"It's OK to compare me to him, just don't expect me to be like him," Edward said. "And don't feel guilty. I enjoyed it, too. I just wish you'd come back to me."
"Good sex doesn't equal love," I said.
A/N- By now, you should know reviews are like cookies to writers! Leave me some!
