Author's note: I forgot to mention in the last chapter that there will be some cursing in this story, mostly on Bella's part. I don't mean to be so out of character, but it just always bothered me that she never said anything more than "damn" only like once or twice throughout the entire series, so I wanted to make her a bit more normal and make her curse mentally, at least. Also, in future chapters, she may be a little mean towards Rosalie in her mind. Sorry! I just feel like if I were Bella, I'd kind of hate her. Anyway, here is the second chapter!
The weekend passed without any relief from worry. I stayed with the Cullens, and although I knew when Edward would wake up thanks to Alice, I couldn't help but want to be as close to him as possible, just in the off chance that something happened. Carlisle wouldn't permit me or anyone else to go in to see him. He'd said that all Edward was, was thrashing around, sweaty, and most likely unconscious. Just the fact that he'd told me my perfect no-longer-vampire boyfriend was sweaty was enough to make me feel dizzy. So many changes, so little time!
Sunday night, Carlisle insisted that I sleep at home and attend school Monday morning.
"But how am I supposed to focus on school when I know Edward will be waking up human at seven in the morning?" I complained. I realized that I sounded childish, but I was anxious to see my Edward human, and to make sure that he was okay.
"Bella," Carlisle explained to me, "when he does finally wake up, I'm going to need to have him already in the hospital, and I'm going to have to look after him constantly for at least a week or two. The Spanish Influenza is a nasty disease that struck the turn of the century! Yes, modern medicine can help him immensely and do believe me, Bella, he will be fine, but he's going to be extraordinarily sick at first. I'm basically going to have to quarantine him to his hospital room."
I pouted, but it didn't seem to affect Carlisle.
"I'll tell you what," he said to me. "Come to the hospital after school. Ask for Edward Cullen, and someone will direct you to his room. I'll be there, too, and you can visit him for a bit. He probably won't feel up to talking much, but I know you'll feel better. Would you like that?" he asked me.
I nodded up and down quickly. Seeing that I was content, Alice drove me back home.
The next day at school seemed to last a year. The CD in my car played "I'd Rather Be With You" by Joshua Radin on the way to the hospital after those hours of hell. It brought out my emotions stronger than ever, and I pushed my truck to go 50 miles per hour the entire way to the hospital, though it groaned in protest.
Once I parked in the visitor's lot at the hospital, I ran inside and found the nearest service desk. "Edward Cullen?" I asked the cheerful, white-haired lady. She smiled at me and pointed down the hallway to my left.
"Go down that way, take the elevator up one floor, and it'll be room 206 on the left," she told me. I quickly mumbled a "thank you" to her and sprinted down the hallway and to the elevator.
Once I reached room 206, Carlisle came outside to greet me with a smile.
"Hello, Bella! Edward just woke up from a nap about ten minutes ago. You're just in time," he sounded cheerful.
"Is he alright?" I asked.
"Yes, he'll be fine. He is improving at a higher rate than I anticipated, actually." Relieved, I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding.
"Just one thing," Carlisle turned to me. "Edward is very sick. I know you've received your flu shot only a few months ago, but I still am very anxious about you possibly catching something from him. Maybe you can just hold hands. You know, hold off on the kissing for a while?" I looked down to my feet and blushed profusely, but gave him a soft "yes" and stepped inside the room.
On the bed in front of me, I saw the sorriest sight I've ever seen in my life. There was my human Edward, red-faced from his fever with hard breaths heaving his chest up and down. Some of his bronze hair stuck to his forehead from sweat. His head was tilted slightly off of his pillow to try to see me without having to get up. He was still perfect; still my Adonis.
"Bella," he croaked out. I couldn't help it. My smile was uncontrollable and I started to tear up a bit. This was such a special thing that no one else in the world ever went through, and I was happy to share it with Edward. I had to stop myself from running into his arms and hugging and kissing him endlessly. I had to remember that not only was he human and not as indifferent to my body weight anymore, but he was very sick right now and needed to rest.
"Edward!" I walked to him and rubbed his arms. It was strange that they were warm. It was something, I thought excitedly, that I'd have to get used to. "How are you doing? This is such a weird circumstance, isn't it?" I laughed.
He nodded and laughed weakly, which sent him into a coughing fit. I immediately regretted making him exert himself too much. I'd have to keep the excitement down, I supposed.
"I'm sorry," I said sadly. "I don't want you to feel worse than you already do."
"That's quite alright, love," he said quietly. His voice wasn't as inhuman as it had been before, which was to be expected. But it was still as lovely as ever, and it certainly still made me swoon. It was deeper and manlier than I had expected. I sighed contently and looked into his green eyes. They were almost pure emerald, which shocked me. They were striking against his bronze hair and pale skin that was hardly colored any more now that he had blood flowing in his veins again. His jaw was not quite as hard as it was when he was a vampire, and his facial expression was softer, but he was beautiful just the same.
He took my hand in his, and I sat on the edge of the bed next to him.
"Carlisle says I should be better very soon," he said hoarsely.
I smiled at him. "I'm glad! I want to see what you're like as a human," I told him honestly.
"I'm not much different than when I'm a vampire, love!" he laughed. "The only differences are physical, like having green eyes instead of gold or red. And the fact that I won't be running as fast as lightning, or hunting for blood. I'm going to take you out on a real date, sweetheart!" His eyes were wide and he looked as excited as a little boy on Christmas morning.
I couldn't help but laugh at his display. "You always take me out on real dates, Edward! But I know what you mean. I'm glad I won't be the only one eating anymore." Just then, a thought occurred to me. "Our nightly sleepovers… we won't be able to do them," I said, sounding a bit dismal.
"I know, love, I know," he responded while rubbing my hand with his thumb. "But I still think that this is more good than bad. You have no idea how incredible it feels to be near you and not have a primal urge to kill you. It's the relationship I always dreamed of having with you," he smiled as he spoke.
I laid down gently on the bed next to him. "You should get some rest, you know. The more you sleep, the sooner you'll be better. And the sooner I can have you all to myself!" I said lightly.
"Mhmm," he mumbled. He was already drifting off to sleep and I didn't want to disturb him.
And then, I got the chance to do something that he'd only gotten to do to me; something that I never thought I'd have the opportunity to do. I watched him sleep. For just a few minutes, I watched him as his breaths came labored to him in slumber, and I wondered if he was dreaming. Did Edward sleep talk like me? I couldn't wait to find out.
Carlisle stepped into the room quietly a few minutes later. I got up onto my feet and grabbed my car keys out of my pocket.
"I'll come by and visit tomorrow, if that's okay with you," I told him.
"Of course, that will be perfectly fine. I'll see you tomorrow then," he said with a smile. I walked down the hallway to find the elevator again, feeling more excited than I had in quite a while. Edward would be alright, and we would be humans together.
God, I loved that man.
Author's note: I just want to mention a few things. 1) If you don't know "I'd Rather Be With You" by Joshua Radin, listen to it! I think it's very good. You might too. 2) For the sexual experiences in later chapters, I'm sorry to say, there won't be straight up lemons. I love reading lemons, but for some reason, I just can't get myself to write any! So for that, I'm sorry. It'll still be good though, and I'll definitely be a lot more descriptive than Stephenie Meyer was! 3) Sorry I haven't really mentioned any of the other Cullens besides Carlisle and Alice yet. I will later, it's just that this story is mainly about Edward and Bella, so that's what I'll be focusing on for the most part. 4) There will be quite a bit of weed/alcohol mentioned in this story. If you don't like that stuff, then this story will not be for you! 5) Lots of things will be quite a bit out of character, especially when substances and embarrassing human actions come into play (like going to the bathroom and shaving), but that's just because those things aren't mentioned at all in the actual books.
6) I am working on my style of writing. I write like I speak, so there are a lot of long sentences with a ton of commas that I should just separate into smaller sentences. I'm trying to go back and edit these, but it's hard because in my head, since I speak that way, it sounds best. Kind of like that last sentence, ha!
7) MOST IMPORTANT: If you have a funny/quirky scenario that you want to see human Edward and Bella go through, let me know and I'll take it into consideration!