"You think you got the best of me
Think you had the last laugh
Bet you think that everything good is gone
Think you left me broken down
Think that I'd come running back
Baby you don't know me, cause you're dead wrong

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone
What doesn't kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter
Doesn't mean I'm over cause you're gone

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stronger
Just me, myself and I"

- What doesn't kill you, by: Kelly Clarkson

Hourglass:
Chapter 13

-Bella POV-

I feel the last vestiges of sleep slip away as I slowly wake up. My body is stiff, and I still feel really tired from sleeping in an awkward position at Rosalie's side. But all of my aches quickly fly to the back of my mind, and I let out a deep breath that I didn't know I've been holding. I feel a huge weight lift off of my shoulders.

Rosalie is awake, and most of all, she's going to be okay.

With tear-blurred vision and a sniffling nose, I leave the room with Emmett, allowing Doctor Cullen and his nurse the required space for removing Rosalie's oxygen tube.

"Officer Crowley stopped by with this while you were out," Emmett says once we reach the hallway and close the door. He turns toward me and places my cell phone into my hands.

"Thanks," I respond as I scroll through my contacts for Rosalie's half-brother, Jasper's, number.

"Wanna go outside with me? I don't have very good reception in here." I look up at Emmett.

He nods. "Sure."

We walk side by side in silence, and when we reach the parking lot, I hit the send button and wait for our lines to connect.

My stomach feels like it's full of lead, and I can feel the nausea creep back up on me again. In the back of my mind, I'm wondering how the hell a person can throw up so much without eating anything.

I know my sore stomach is just nerves. I am absolutely dreading having this conversation with Jasper.

"Yello?" he answers with his usual southern twang.

"Hi, Jasper. This is Bella, Bella Swan. Rosalie's friend," I say.

"Howdy, Miss Bella. What can I do you for on this fine day?" Jasper is always a laid-back, cheerful person. He is kind-hearted and friendly to everyone. It's going to be so painfully hard to hurt him by telling him this, but he deserves to know; Rosalie is his sister for goodness sake.

"Uhm, Jasper, there's been an accident…" I start, but he quickly cuts me off.

"What? What kind of accident? Rose? Please tell me Rosie is okay?" His voice is urgent, and I can tell he's frightened. Rightfully so.

"She's…she's okay. She's gonna be okay, but she's hurt pretty bad." My eyes well up with tears, and my throat feels like I'm swallowing rocks. The heat in my head is unbearable, and it takes everything inside of me to blink back the tears and fight the sobs that are threatening to break free.

I need to be strong…for Rose.

"What kind of accident was it, Bella? Was that idiot drivin' recklessly again? I told that fucker he had better be careful with'er and take care of my little sister," he says menacingly.

"It's worse than that. Royce. He attacked Rosalie, Jasper." It takes him a beat to process what I've just told him. As soon as he catches on, the silence is broken by a loud crash on his end of the line, and I hear him curse loudly.

"Son of a bitch!" he bellows.

"I'm comin' home, Bella. Tell Rosie I'm comin', okay?" His voice is full of desperation and panic.

I sigh heavily and grip the phone tighter to my face. Somehow, I know she'll be safer with him here.

"Thank you, Jasper," I murmur softly.

"Thank you, Bella. For everythin'." The line disconnects.

I give Emmett a watery smile as I attempt to pocket my phone in my pocket-less scrubs.

"Can you hold this for me, Em? I don't have any pockets," I say. He nods, and I give my phone back to him.

"Well, what'd he say? Is he coming up here?" Emmett asks after I get my emotions under control.

"Yeah, I think he's on the next flight out," I respond.

"From Texas, right?"

I nod. "Yeah, his mother lives there. He moved down there for college and decided to stay with her after he finished."

"That must have been hard for Rosalie."

"It was hard on both of them. They used to be really close. We hung out a lot when we were younger, but he moved away during our freshman year. They were close until we graduated. They wrote letters and called each other a couple of times a week. Rosalie and I even went out there and stayed a few times during the summer, but eventually they drifted apart. He wasn't ready for her to grow up, and she didn't want to live in his shadow anymore."

"I'm guessing Royce played a part in that?" Emmett asks.

"Doesn't he always?" I ask wryly.

Instead of answering, he leads me back inside the hospital, but we split up at the reception desk. He heads downstairs to the cafeteria to find us something to eat while I make my way back to Rosalie's room.

When I reach her room, the nurse is just leaving. She smiles warmly at me and tells me that Rose is still pretty sleepy and needs her rest. They have her on a morphine drip for her pain, so I'm not supposed to hang on anything she says. She's not lucid.

When I enter the room, Rose smiles as bright as she can with a bruised face and a busted lip. She motions me over to her with her un-casted arm, and I smile back as I softly grip her fingers.

"Bella," she rasps.

"Oh, Rose, I'm so glad you're okay," I say softly as I stroke her hair with my free hand.

She leans into my touch as if it is soothing her, so I continue to stroke her hair.

Suddenly she speaks again. "Charlie sent me weed."

My mind stalls, I'm momentarily stunned at what she's just said. I quickly do a scan of the room to see what she's staring at so lovingly. I locate a bright orange pot containing a wild looking spider plant. I chuckle softly at her and shake my head.

"No, Rose, that's a spider plant. It's not…weed."

"It looks an awful lot like pot to me, Bella. Look, there's hundreds of little marijuana plants on there." She pulls her hand free from my grasp and points toward the plant.

"Rose, I assure you, the chief of police did not send you weed for you to get well soon." I chuckle.

"Medicinal marijuana, look it up," she slurs/rasps softly.

"I'll definitely do that." I roll my eyes playfully.

"So, who was that big guy in here earlier?" she asks suddenly.

"Emmett. He was one of the EMT's that brought you in. He waited with me last night; he didn't want me to be alone."

"At first, I thought Royce had sent him here to kill me," Rose responds with tears in her eyes.

"He doesn't look bad though. You can tell when people are bad. Their eyes are bad, too. Just like them. Bella, did you know that the eyes are windows to the soul?" Rose rambles.

"No, I didn't." I've never seen her so talkative.

"He might not be one of Royce's hit men, but I bet he's packing." Did I just hear her correctly?

"What?" Surely I heard her wrong.

"His wiener…I bet he's got a big kielbasa in there." She sighs thoughtfully.

What. The. Fuck?

"Pardon me for not being able to catch up to your train of thought, but why the hell are you thinking about Emmett's…wiener right now?" I ask, slightly disturbed as I try to stifle a long overdue laugh.

"I'm just hungry, I guess," she replies with a sigh.

I try to shake the disturbing mental images from my mind. There are some things you cannot un-think.

"Royce's is like a Mike-and-Ike," she says after a brief pause.

I choke on my laughter as I hear a knock on the door.

"Come in," I call, still trying to recover from my laughter.

"Hey." Emmett smiles and walks into the room with some food.

"I hope you like sauerkraut," he says as he opens up one of the Styrofoam containers.

"Oh fuck," I wheeze and howl with laughter when I see kielbasa and sauerkraut sitting in the container.

"Nice," Rose says appreciatively before promptly passing out, leaving me alone to explain my hysterics to a confused-looking Emmett.

Authors Note: Yeah, I know...I'm an asshole. It's been forever since I've posted a chapter for Hourglass...but I'm seriously not giving up on this story. I have it all in my head and some of it is written. I know where it's going, the plot is all thought up...I promise you, this story will be finished...and will go back to it's regular weekly posting schedule. I just need a while to get caught up... I'm not sure exactly how much time I need right now, but I'm hoping to get all caught up soon. Thanks for understanding...and for continuing to read this. :-)
Also, to my new readers and everyone who has put me on author alert. I love you all HARD...exactly as much as I love all of my current readers. You're all the sprinkles to my cupcakes, and I'd be nothing without you. Each review/alert put a smile on my face. So, thank you. Love you guys. *Blows kisses* You complete me. *Draws a heart in the air with finger* :-) *Cheesy grin* Okay, tootles babers'!

xxoo,

Missy