CH17
Bella woke up with a raging headache, a dry throat, and tubes coming out of her small body in every direction. Her eyes roamed the bright room, blinking against the harsh light, before landing on a sleeping Jasper, beside him, a wide eyed Alice Cullen. Or was it Hale now? "She's awake." Alice whispered, her fingers gripping the arms of the chair so tightly her knuckles were turning colors. "She's awake!" her elbow nudged her husband, fiancé, whatever he was, until he awoke, his blue eyes disoriented. "She's awake!" Alice's voice hit an all time high as she ran from the room, only to come back seconds later followed by multiple nurses. "SEE! She's awake!" The nurses ran to Bella's side as Jasper whispered something to Alice and walked out of the room.
"Can you tell me your name, dear?" The nurse, who's nametag read Sue Clearwater, asked and Bella was struck with a moment of confusion. If she were in a hospital, the nurses and physicians taking care of her should have known her damn name.
"Isabella Swan." She replied, her voice hoarse and painful. "And I don't mean to be rude…but shouldn't you guys know that?" The nurse's answering laugh did nothing to calm Bella's nerves, or her erratic heart beat, which was echoing around the small room, but the small cup of water being offered to her was enough to placate her questions for the moment.
"Miss Swan!" a loud, manly voice startled her, the water spilling slightly down the ugly robe that her body was wrapped up in. "I'm Dr. McCarty, and may I say, you're one very lucky girl." He lifted her chart, his eyes moving as he read each line. "How are you feeling today?"
She took a moment to check herself, moving her muscles slightly, wiggling each finger, before answering the man. "I actually feel a lot better. Better then I have in a very long time."
The man smiled down at her, his teeth a brilliant white. "I'm very glad to hear that Isabella, is there any questions you have for me today?"
"What happened?" Her voice was still hoarse, sounding harsh in her own ears, so she took another sip of the water in her hand. "How long have I been here?" She stared directly at the man before her, studying his face, looking for any signs that that there would be bad news, but his smile never faded. She found that extremely annoying and wondered how his patients dealt with such a happy man all the time.
"You've been here for a little over two weeks." He replied, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. "You collapsed during your friend Alice's wedding." He pointed his thumb over his shoulder, right at the small girl behind him. "And just in case you want to act to act like you don't remember this loud mouthed harpy back here, I'll sign off that you have some type of amnesia. I offered it to Jasper too." Alice stomped her foot behind him, but Bella smiled. Dr. McCarty's annoying happiness seemed to be contagious. It was obvious that they had all spent a lot of time here, and had gotten to know each other. "When you first came in, I wasn't sure that there was much I could do for you. There wasn't a single donor in the system that could help you, and the prognosis was grim." Behind the doctor, Bella could see her father and the Cullen's enter the room. All but one specific Cullen. She wondered if he had gone back to Chicago, gone back to work, back to that Tanya bitch he brought with him, but she quickly shook the thought as the doctor moved on. "That's when Edward offered to help." Her eyes shot toward the door again. Esme had her head laid against Carlisle's chest. Both their eyes brimming with tears. "Without him, you wouldn't have made it."