~Until Your Heart Stops Beating~

-Edward's POV-

"Rosaline…" I brush back a few strands of golden hair from Rosaline's face, seeing her face was flushed. I had been trying to wake her for minutes, but nothing. I was beginning to worry that she had fallen into a coma.

"Edward... help me..." She whispers back, the first sign that she wasn't in a coma. This was good. Now if only I could get her awake.

"Rosaline..." I whisper back and place both my hands against her cheeks, heat pouring from them like a stove.

"Edward, they're coming..." I narrow my eyes at her words. She was dreaming, I could tell that much, but what about? What was coming? Suddenly she starts to breathe heavier, her heart racing as tears fall from her closed eyes.

"Wake up..." I shake her head lightly. I watch her eyes dart back and forth beneath her eyelids. Her hands start to shake, perspiring. She was having a nightmare. This was an adverse effect to whatever drug Bromley had given her. "Rosaline, you have to wake up...!"

I place my hands on her shoulders, shaking her fervently. She had to wake up now or she might never wake up again. Bromley was supposed to have given her a psychedelic hallucinogen, but this was something else. I place two fingers to her wrist and feel her pulse sky rocket. Her heart was beating too fast, to the point she was at risk for cardiac arrest.

I had known Bromley would give her something. He never liked the humans' conscious when he put them into the farm. Whatever it was that he gave her, he had given her too much.

"Rosaline please, wake up...!"

"HOW! TELL ME HOW!" She suddenly screams out, startling me. I take her head between my cool hands again and hold her head up. I hold one eye open to see her eye blood red and pupil dilated. I let her eye go and slap her face gently with the pads of my fingers.

"Wake up, Rosaline." I call a little louder and slap her face again. I watch a tear roll down her face.

"Wake me up, Edward…" She begs softly as more tears roll down from her closed eyes, "WAKE ME UP!"

I put my hands on her upper arms and shake her wildly, hoping to wake her from her unnatural sleep. Suddenly her eyes snap open. She looks around fervently, seeing she wasn't where she thought she was any longer.

Kneeling before her, I must have seemed like a blur of black and white because her eyes darted from left to right, unable to focus. Or maybe she was thinking she was still in her dream. I see her start to doze off again, but I shake her hard against the concrete wall behind her. Her shoulders smack the concrete.

"Rosaline, you have to stay awake. We have to go. Someone's bound to have heard you screaming." I tell her and cup her face again, forcing her to look at me. I could see now that both of her eyes were bloodshot and pupils dilated.

"Go?" She asks half awake and tries to force her eyes to focus on me. I nod my head at her and try to get her to stand, "Go where? Where's Edward?"

"I am Edward and we're leaving. I'm getting you out of here." I help her to stand on her wobbly feet.

"I have to find Edward..." She mumbles and takes two steps before legs buckle, the drugs still prominent in her system. I catch her and help her stand up straight again. She tries to walk out of my hold again.

"Stop." I tug on her arm, stopping her from moving forward anymore. "Hold on."

I quickly pick her up, her arms and legs dangling loosely. Her head falls back and I see her struggle to keep her eyes open. I see her squint at the bright lights above us as we pass by each of them and walk out the door of her cell.

"Where are you taking me?" She asks, tears rushing to her eyes as I carry her hurriedly through another door and start down a flight of stairs. "Am I going to the farm?"

I take a quick look down at her, sorry that I had let this happen. I shake my head, stumbling over my words in an effort to soothe her.

"No, no not the farm. My house for now." I reply softly as she bounces up and down in my arms. "You'll be safe there for now."

"No..." She shakes her head as several tears escape her eyes, "Leave me alone...!"

She begins to cry softly and tries to will her body to move out of my hold. Her movements are extremely sluggish and unsuccessful against me. Her head falls limp again as she stares at the ceiling lights that pass by. Tears run from her eyes and down the side of her head into her hair.

"Edward... I want Edward...! Please, he told me to trust him. I trust him." She begs as a cry escapes her lips.

"It's me, Rosaline. I'm right here." I whisper to her as I grab another door knob with my hand beneath her knees. She mumbles 'no' over and over again, begging for me despite me being right there. "Shhh. You have to be quiet. Please, be quiet. Just for a moment longer."

I hear my footsteps smack against cement and hear the rushing of cars as they pass by in the streets. I unlock the car and then place Rosaline on her feet a moment to open the passenger door. She leans back against the car, struggling to keep herself up.

"Please, just take me to Edward… please. He will explain. He knows me. I know him. I trust him." She rambles, her head obviously foggy and heavy with the way it bobs, "I have to tell him..."

"Rosaline, get inside the car." I command and help her to sit in the seat. I shut the door and run around the front of the car. Rosaline rolls her head from side to side, calling out my name. I open the driver door, take off my suit jacket, and hop inside. I toss my jacket over Rosaline like a blanket and pull out my keys.

I start the car, the engine roaring to life, and the small television in the dash pops on to the last station I had been watching. I pull out of the Bromley Marks parking lot and hit the road, driving as fast as I can home.

Rosaline rolls her head and looks at the small screen in the dash. I can tell she can't make out what is happening on the screen, all the lights and colors probably blending together in swirls. She suddenly starts to cry again and rolls her head away from the flashing lights.

"Violent scenes in London today as police clash with protestors over the conflict over the new blood rationing scheme. Demonstrators argue that the blood allowances are too strict. The government bodies are failing to provide alternatives. Similar scenes have been occurring across Asia and the Middle East in recent times."

"Oh Edward..." Rosaline moans out and shakes her head from right to left. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

I look over at her, pulling out a cigarette from my suit jacket. I stick it in between my lips and light it, opening the back windows a crack so the smoke wouldn't blow towards her.

"What? What are you sorry for? You didn't do anything." I ask and she looks to me, her eyes struggling to focus. I look back at the road and then at her for a long moment, cigarette hanging out of the corner of my mouth. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"It's Edward..." She gives a small laugh and then shakes her head, new tears stinging her eyes. "He refuses to feed on humans… but if he doesn't eat he'll turn into one of those things. One of those scary monsters."

I saw nothing, but swallow hard as the cigarette dangles from my lips. Her concern strikes me, it tears at me.

"His ears are already pointed" She raises a hand to her own ear, finger druggily tapping the tip of her ear. She lets her hand fall and cries again. "I should have told him... I need to tell him about everything. I have to..."

My eyes narrow at her a moment before I look back out at the road. I scratch the side of my head, feeling the tip of my right ear in the process. I stop and rub my ear with my thumb and fingers, a prominent point that hadn't been there the last time I checked. It was making me worry.

I pull down the visor and look at the screen. I turn my head a little to get a better view and see she was right. I did have a pointed ear. I continue to stare at the screen until I hear beeping ahead of me. I look out the windshield and see I had drifted into the next lane with a car coming straight at us.

I quickly turn the wheel sharply as Rosaline lets out a scream, hanging on to her door for dear life. The other car swerves and skids, smashing into a fenced-in breaker for the neighborhood behind us. I hit the breaks, sending Rosaline head first into the dash.

"Oh fuck!" I curse, the car coming to a stop. I turn off the car and lean over Rosaline, pushing her back in her seat. "I should have put your fucking seatbelt on!"

I curse a few more times and look over her head. I see blood. I smell blood. There's a bump on her head, broken and bleeding. It was slowly becoming black and blue, but she seemed alright. I open my door to go and check on the occupants of the other car to make sure they were alright.

I look over at the other car that had smashed into the breaker, seeing it smoke and sparks flying in all directions. I jog over and toss my cigarette to the ground. I see the driver door open and a woman steps out.

"You alright?" I ask as I see the outline of a crossbow in her hand. I put my arms in front of my face instinctively, an arrow piercing through my left forearm. "Ow! Ow, what're you doing?"

"Get back!" The woman steps out of the car fully and loads another arrow, aiming it at me. I put my hands up in front of me, trying to get her to not shoot again.

"Whoa, wait a minute. What're you-"

"Don't come any closer!" The woman calls out as other start climbing out of the truck. A man gets out from behind the driver seat.

"Shoot him again!" He calls out and reaches a hand back into the truck for someone to take.

"No, don't!" I start, but fall silent as I examine them all. "...you're human. You're all human."

"Shoot!" The man calls out again.

"No! Don't shoot me again!" I shout back, "Don't I'm a-"

Sirens filled the night air, causing me to look back at where my car had stopped. I inwardly curse for leaving my door open and look back at the humans.

"Listen. I-I can help you." I start, looking to each of them, "Come on! Come get in my car!"

I turn from them and run back towards my car. I stop when I realize they weren't following and look back at them.

"I'll help you! Come on! Let me help you! Get in my car!" I urge them to follow me. They all look at each other and then follow behind me. I open the back door nearest me and the man and a teenage girl get into the back. I close the door and lean into the driver seat, hitting the daytime driving button.

The windows go black and the screens pop on to help when you're driving. Movement catches my eye and so I look over at Rosaline, who had begun to stir.

"My head..." I look over at Rosaline, who moves her head right and left as if to wake herself up. The woman with the cross bow moves closer and looks at Rosaline, her eyes widening.

"She's human." She assesses, looking back at me with an incredulously glare. I stare at her a moment and go to reply, but Rosaline's voice stops me.

"Edward? What's going on?" I look back down at her and lean closer to her. I place a hand on her head and move some hair out of her face. My fingers graze the bump on her forehead, making her wince. "Ow, that hurts! What happened?"

I ignore the look that the woman in the back seat gives me as I examine Rosaline's wound. I could only imagine what she was thinking.

"I'm sorry. We had an accident." I apologize as the sirens get louder. Slowly, I back out of the car and watch the red and blue lights grow brighter as the cars get closer. I look back in the car at each of them. "Try to keep quiet for a few minutes."

I grab a hold of the arrow in my forearm. I rip it out, growling like a dog, and throw it far away.

"Edward...?" I look back at Rosaline in the car to see her at least half awake. With her eyes heavy, she narrows them at the wound on my arm.

"Yeah?" I ask softly. She stares at me and then her gaze falls on my shirt that was stained with blood. She quickly becomes more awake and leans closer, outstretching a hand toward my arm.

"Oh my God, what happened to you?" She touches me gently and then stops, looking about herself. "Whose car am I in? How did I get here?"

"Mine. Now, keep quite for a moment." I look at her a moment longer and see her nod her head. I grab my suit jacket from Rosaline and pull it on, then shut the door. I wave down the cops and they pull up. They roll down their window and look me over.

"Are you okay sir?" One of the cops asks, looking me up and down.

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, I'm okay." I answer, fixing my jacket.

"Did you get a good look at them sir?" The cop nods his head towards the empty truck across the road.

"Uh, no. Not really. You know it happened so fast and they didn't wait around to see how I was so." I reply, looking over at the smashed truck.

"We believe they may be human sir. Did you see where they went?" The cop asks. I look around again, pretending to try and remember. I run a hand over my mouth and point in a random direction.

"I think they went that way." The cop nods at my answer and rolls up his window, driving off. Once the car was gone the humans jumped out of the car.

"Thank you." The woman with the cross bow speaks up as the others run in the opposite direction of the cops.

"Are you okay?" I ask and she nods once, beginning to run after the others. I run a hand over my mouth again and walk back to my car.

"Happy birthday Ed!" She calls back as she and the others disappear into the night. I open the driver door and look inside at Rosaline.

"Rosaline?" I call to her and climb inside. I shut my door and lean over to her hunched form, leaning against the door.

"Edward." She speaks up and sits up straight in her seat. I could see her brow sweating and see that her face was flushed again. A trail of blood led from hairline to chin. I place a hand against her cheek, feeling her fever as if it were a burning flame. She grabs my hand and presses it firmer against her cheek. "...feels so good..."

"That's because you're burning up. I have to get you home." I respond and quickly start the car. I get us back onto the road and drive as fast as I can without drawing any more attention to us.