Chapter 20

BPOV

I was sitting in the living room, watching a fashion show with Alice. I was actually bored by it. Fashion was never my thing.

Jasper and Emmett were outside playing football. Rose was in the garage tinkling with the cars. Carlisle was in his study. Esme was dusting the shelves and pictures in the living room. Edward, my Edward, was playing the piano with Sophie in his lap. I could hear the soft sound of Claire de Lune.

The music soon moved into a different sound. It was soft and gentle. I recognized it as my lullaby. Edward had written it for me when we were fourteen. Well, I was fourteen, Edward was fifteen. It was a birthday gift from him.

Alice was too engrossed in the show to notice me walk over to Edward. I stood behind him and bent down to put my chin on his shoulder. I wrapped my arms around his stomach and watched his fingers dance over the black and white keys.

Suddenly, the shrill of my cell phone flooded into the room, ruining the peaceful moment with its loudness. Edward didn't stop playing as I went towards my purse. I dug out my cell phone and the caller I.D. said, 'Renee.'

I sighed and laughed at my erratic mother. She always had to talk to me when something exciting happened to her. I flipped the phone open and kept my eyes on Edward, watching him interact with Sophie as he played.

"Hello?" I answered smiling.

The sound of crying made that smile disappear faster than it appeared.

"Bella! Oh, God! Oh, Bella!" my mother sobbed.

"Mom? Mom, what's wrong?" I asked, frantic.

By now, Edward stopped playing and everyone was crowded around me. Oh yeah, they have super hearing.

The only reply I got was Renee's sobs.

"Mom, calm down. Tell me what's wrong," I said.

She took a deep breath. Her breath made the phone crackle.

"Oh, Bella! It's horrible," she said, a little calmer, but not by much.

"What happened, Mom?" I demanded. I was really starting to get worried.

"It's Elizabeth and Edward! There was an accident," Renee sobbed again.

My eyes automatically flew to Edward. His eyes were wide, staring at my phone.

"Are they okay?" I asked, fearing the worst.

"Oh, Bella! Edward, he's…..," more sobs, "he's dead." She was sobbing full out now.

Alice took Sophie from Edward. He squeezed his eyes closed, burying his head in his hands. Esme wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Tears leaked from my eyes.

"And E-Elizabeth?" I asked, scared of the answer I would get.

"She's in the hospital. It's critical. Bella, they said she's not going to make it," Renee sobbed. I understood why Renee was so torn up. Elizabeth was her best friend, practically her sister.

That one sentence was all it took for Edward to break Esme's vase. Sophie started crying, sensing that something was wrong with her daddy. Edward put his forehead on the glass wall, closing his eyes.

It hurt me to see Edward so torn up inside. Edward use to be really close to his mother. He went to her about everything. Now that his mother is just about dead and he can't even see her one last time, I could understand why he's in so much pain.

I quickly formed an idea in my head and looked at Alice, who nodded with a sad smile. Edward's head snapped towards her, then to me, before turning it back out the window.

"I'll be in Phoenix in a few hours, Mom," I said, before hanging up.

I walked over to Edward and laid my hand on his shoulder.

"Go see her," I said. He looked up at me again, then to Alice again. She must have confirmed something for him, because soon she passed Sophie to Esme, and was upstairs packing bags.

Edward pulled me close. I pulled his head to my shoulder and he sobbed quietly. Esme calmed Sophie down and Carlisle went to call for a plane.

Me, Sophie, Carlisle, Esme, Edward, and Alice were going to Phoenix. Edward was going to see his mother before she died.

Two hours later, we were on a plane heading to Phoenix. I had called Charlie at work and explained what happened. I told him I would be home in about a week.

When we landed, it was night, which was good for the Cullens. We rented a car and headed straight to the hospital. The plan was that I would go talk to Elizabeth first, then Edward would come in.

I went up to the receptionist. It's a good thing this town is big. We really don't need people recognizing Edward.

"Hello, how can I help you?" she asked, looking at Carlisle and Edward. I spoke.

"Yes, we're here looking for Elizabeth Masen's room," I said.

She looked at her computer before muttering, "Room 4810."

I thanked her and walked towards the room. I knew this hospital too well. Renee wasn't there, which made everything easier. I kissed Edward's cheek before opening the door.

Elizabeth looked up from her bed. She was covered in bruises and had an IV and heart monitor hooked up. From the way she looked, it looked like she would be fine. But I learned that the internal bleeding in her brain was killing her because the doctors couldn't stop it.

"Bella," she said softly, a smile on her face.

"Hey, Elizabeth," I said, sitting down in the chair next to her bed. I place Sophie in my lap.

"Sophie," she smiled softly at her granddaughter.

Tears fell softly down my face. Elizabeth saw them and took my hand.

"Don't cry, dear Isabella. I'm going to be with Edward and Eddie," she said. I smiled softly. She always called Edward Sr., 'Eddie.' She was the only person I allowed to call me 'Isabella.'

"Just Eddie," I said, trying to bring up the subject. She gave me a confused look.

"What do you mean, dear?" she asked. I looked down, then back up at her, taking a breath.

"If I showed you….someone, would you promise not to scream? It's going to be kind of a shock," I said.

She nodded slowly, her brow furrowing. Edward always looked like Elizabeth when he furrowed his brow just the way she's doing right now.

I got up and went to the door. I opened it and motioned for Edward. He hesitated at first, then slowly walked in the room, turning to face his mother.

Well, there it is! So my vacation was awesome! Gatlinburg was BEAUTIFUL! Hehe, so I got a couple of stories about it! We went up there with my aunt and uncle and twin cousins. So one night, we wanted to go to this steakhouse called, The Peddler. When we got there, we realized it was an expensive restraunt (did I spell that right?). Anyways, we were worried how much money it was going to cost us to eat there. So, we sit down and my aunt comes in with her family. We order our drinks and food. An hour and 45 minutes later...no food. We've each had at least 4 drink refills! Our waitor comes out and we ask about our food. His response, "I'm so sorry. We have a party of 20 and a party of 30 and I totally forgot to put in your order! Desert on us!" So he leaves to go put in our order. There was no way in hell he was going to just pay for desert, because 1) we were about full on bread and would barely be able to eat our food, and 2) we would probably get some crappy desert. So when they finally came out with our food 20 minutes later, he said it was all on the house and we only have to pay for drinks. That was more like it. So once we were all stuffed and satisfied, he brought the bill. My family only paid 8 dollars, originally it would have been at least 100 dollars. My aunt's family paid like 27, because my aunt had a few bottles of wine. So my family walked out only paying 8 dollars. My shrimp cost 23 bucks! It was crazy! My mom ordered the same thing, my sister got chicken fingers, which was like, idk, 13 dollars OFF THE KIDS' MENU! My dad got a steak which was at least 28 dollars. I think we did pretty good! Hehe! So, another story: They had this chair lift thing that went up the mountain, it's like a ski lift. It wasn't til I was on, that I realized the mountain side was at least an 80 degree angle. No exaggeration! I had a death grip on the bar! I'm terrified of heights, especially when the only thing that's holding your chair up is a thin cable! If the chair fell, you would go rolling down the mountain, and there was no stopping yourself! It was too steep! So, the next day, I wanted to do the tram, which in my opinion, didn't think was as scary. It was a bigger ski like thing, except it looked like and old VW van, ya know, from the 50s? And it had 3 cables, so i felt a little better, thinking it wouldn't go as high! HOW WRONG I WAS! The damn thing goes at least 200 feet in the air! AND THE DAMN THING ROCKS! It took all my might not to pee my pants and scream and cry like a little baby, cause I'm 16! And there were 2 very hot guys on there about my age! Hehe! So I sucked it up. But not before both my aunt AND MY DAD said, "It's okay, Taylor. Just hold onto that pole. When we fall, it won't save you, but it'll make you feel better." Notice that they didn't say, 'if we fall,' they said, 'WHEN we fall!' I was about ready to shit my pants! On the way up, it wasn't crowded, so I got to sit down. On the way back, however, it was CROWDED! I learned that the damn thing can hold 120 people! We were on 1 of the last ones, so I was squished. Bad thing about it: I'm super claustrophrobic, scared to hell of heights, and I was forced to stand up, which didn't help the situation! Good thing about it: I was squished up next to this hot guy that actually talked to me! Hehe, I feel like a little school girl! He was like,"Are you scared of heights?" and I nodded. He then said, "It'll be alright. There's no way this thing is going to fall." Hehe! But what was really bad, the guy who drove the thing was a jokester...you see where I'm going with this. He kept screaming, and I quote, "WE'RE GOING TO DIE!" everytime the damn thing rocked! He did it cause he knew I was petrified! He was taunting me! People in TN can be cruel! Haha, but overall, I had a fun time! I would suggest it to anyone! So, I hope you enjoy this update and not kill me for the cliffhanger! :) I'll try to update as soon as I can! Enjoy your summer!

~Taylor~