The Fic Lab Prompt #13: 9-1-1, what's your emergency

AN: Be sure to read previous chapter for Part 1 first

Part 2: EPOV

This is our anniversary week. One year ago today, I proposed to Bella Swan. In two days it will be our wedding anniversary, the anniversary of the day she became Bella Cullen. The anniversary of the happiest day of my life.

We're back in San Diego, reliving that magical week of one year ago. Tonight, I am recreating my proposal, and tomorrow morning, after we make love, I'm going to tell her I can't wait, that I want to get married right away. This is the anniversary present Bella asked for…she wants me to recreate that magical week from last year. That magical week that Bella doesn't remember.


Bella had been in a coma for three weeks after our car accident, the worst three weeks of my life. The doctors kept telling me it was to be expected. That her brain needed time to heal. That it was too soon to worry.

But I worried anyway, of course I worried. My love, my life, wasn't waking up.

I prayed night and day for Bella to wake up. I couldn't lose her. We'd just gotten married, it couldn't end already.

I had been lucky in the accident and came away with only a broken leg. It had required surgery, but that still seemed minimal compared to Bella's head injury and coma.

I refused to leave the Bella's side once I was discharged a few days after my surgery. The nursing staff was a godsend. They rolled a cot into Bella's room and let me sleep there each night. I wanted to crawl into Bella's bed and fall asleep with her in my arms, but I knew that wouldn't be safe. I didn't want to hurt her with my cast and I was terrified of jostling her, terrified of any movement that might exacerbate her brain injury.

Three weeks after the accident, Bella finally woke up. I felt like I could breathe again, the constant pressure on my heart was lifted. My angel was awake and I had to believe that nothing would ever be bad again.

As I answered Bella's questions, explaining exactly what had happened, it soon became apparent that Bella had no memory of the magical week we just spent together. She had no memory of my proposal, no memory of our wedding, no memory of the fact that I was now her husband, not just her boyfriend.

The last thing Bella remembered was driving to the airport before our trip to California.

The doctors said it was a form of post-traumatic amnesia. The memories of the accident would most likely never come back, and for that I was thankful, but the memories of the week before may eventually come back. They couldn't confirm nor could they say what exactly would trigger the memories if they did come back. There are still so many unknowns with the brain.

My heart broke, both for myself and for Bella, that she didn't remember our magical week. She asked me to describe it, over and over, and I gladly did. I would show her pictures from the wedding at the courthouse, I described the proposal, I described how we spent our days between the engagement and the wedding, I described what we were feeling, everything I could think of to try to trigger her memories, but it never happened.


It's been a year now. A year of healing, a year of laughter and a year of tears. I've seen a strength in Bella over this past year that I never knew she had before. She puts everything she has into celebrating life, cherishing each and every moment with me, with our friends and with our families. It's as though by collecting new memories she can make up for the missing ones.

But I still see a sadness in her eyes and in her smile, especially when the subject of weddings comes up, as it has recently with our friends Alice and Jasper. She's so happy for them, but I see that it also makes her sad. I miss her pre-accident smile, the one that shone like a spotlight, illuminating everyone near her.

But regardless of everything we've gone through, I treasure my life with Bella. I can't want for anything more than spending the rest of my life with her and fulfilling her every wish but one.


So now we're sitting at the same restaurant in La Jolla, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, at the same table we sat at last year. When Bella asked me to recreate our wedding trip, I couldn't refuse. If she can't have her original memories, I will make sure I give her replacement memories.

I see Bella's face light up when the waitress brings out the same Tiffany box cake I had ordered last year and places it on the table in front of her. As I move to get down on one knee, prepared to ask her to marry me once again, I hear Bella gasp. She quickly turns to look at me, and smiles with tears in her eyes, just like last year.

I recognize this smile on her face. It's the smile I haven't seen in a year. I hold my breath as Bella lets out a relieved laugh, reaches down to pull me up and grabs me in a big hug.

"I remember, Edward, I remember it all. As soon as I saw the cake, it all came back," she says as we're both laughing and crying and hugging each other. "I remember everything now about that perfect week. Thank you, Edward, for loving me, for taking care of me, and for putting up with my crazy idea to recreate everything. It's all perfect."

And just like that, the magic is back.