Chapter Seven

"Well, good morning nurse Swan," Edward said as he walked in with his covered breakfast tray.

"Good morning Mr. Cullen," I said as professionally as I could. "I need you to start eating immediately so I can administer your medication.

"So very professional you are," He said as he sat down at the small, round table. "Would you like to join me."

"I cannot join you, Mr. Cullen, I have work to do."

"It must be nice." He said.

I looked over my shoulder at him with a raised eyebrow, wondering if he was being serious or just teasing me.

"I'm not being a jackass, I truly meant that," He said as he uncovered his tray. "Being in this shithole with nothing to do is starting to take its toll on me. I think I'm becoming just as stupid as the animals I'm surrounded by."

"You sound very high and mighty for a man wearing the same-colored jumpsuit as the so-called animals that surround him." I said as I turned back to my computer.

He laughed. "I am better than them, nurse Swan."

"How do you figure?" I asked, refusing to turn and face him again.

"For one, I live in a very nice, very swanky penthouse in the heart of New York." He said.

"Having a nice house doesn't make you better than anyone else."

"I went to a private school and got the best education money could buy. And I went to an elite ivy league college. Harvard, in fact. One of the best."

"So your dad threw some money at your schools to accept you. Big whoop."

"Oh I got in on my own merit." He said very proudly. "I always pulled A's. I have a business degree from Harvard. I did it all on my own. The only thing my father paid for was my tuition."

I couldn't take it anymore, so I finally spun in my chair to face him. "Having money doesn't make you better than anyone else. And bragging about it certainly doesn't make you look any better."

He smiled slowly. "So, are you better than the inmates here?"

"Yes I am," I said quickly.

"And why is that?"

"Because I'm not a criminal." I crossed my arms. "I've never broken the law. I am a good, functioning member of society. I am a good person."

"I'm a good person too." He said, still smiling.

"No you're not. Money doesn't make you a good person."

"No, it doesn't, but giving generous amounts to charity certainly does." He said. "I give a little over a million away each year to various charities."

"Name one charity you give to."

"St. Jude's."

"That's too easy, their commercials are always on tv. Name another one."

"Alright, I doubt you've heard of this one, but I gives a hundred grand to the S.A.F."

I paused, knowing the abbreviation quite well. I knew about the charity because it was the name of the small charity that helped my mother get started. She always went to their events once her art made traction and she donated as much as she could afford to them. She constantly talked about how she wouldn't have made it as an artist if it weren't for them.

"Okay," I nodded slowly. "So, every rich person gives to charity. You just write it off in your taxes later and you get the money back."

"I just cannot convince you I'm a good person." He chuckled.

"After last night, no." I shook my head. "You did something to that guy who almost but didn't mug me."

"So you think I should've let him get away scot-free?"

"I don't think you should've… done whatever you did to him!"

"Ah huh," He nodded slowly. "So you thought it was better I didn't do anything to him?"

"Yes. I asked you to leave it alone and you did whatever you wanted. That's not cool."

He stared at me for a moment. "And you still think you're a good person?"

I blinked in confusion. "What the hell does me being upset that you did something to that guy have to do with me being a good person?"

"You didn't want me to do anything to him."

"Yeah and?"

"So you think it's better he remains on the street, where he can hurt another woman? Rape her? Kill her? You think that's better?"

"No, I think the police should handle such things."

"And did you tell the police?"

"I—," I was stumped. No. I didn't call the police. The hospital didn't even offer me the option and I hadn't thought about it because the guy didn't technically mug me.

"Mm hm," Edward nodded superiorly. "You were fine letting him wonder the streets?"

"I can still call the cops and tell them."

"Are you going to call the cops?"

"I… maybe… I don't know!"

"Right." He said as he turned to his meal. "A lot of women don't go to the cops when crap like this happens. I get it. They don't believe you. And if they did, you probably had to jump through hoops before they believed what happened. I took care of it. He's not going to hurt anyone else again."

I looked down at my hands for a minute. It was a tense, silent moment as I thought of my question.

"What did you do to him?" I finally asked.

"You really want to know?" He asked.

I thought about it. Did I want to know what Edward had Jasper and his friend do to that guy? If I knew, then would I become an accessory to the crime?

"Y-yeah," I said.

He stared at me for a moment before smiling. "Jasper and Emmett paid him a visit. They roughed him up and told him not to fuck up again. He's going to be sore for a few days, but he'll be fine. And hopefully, he won't try to mug anyone else."

I bit my lip, wondering if I should believe him. "You're telling me the truth?"

"Nothing but the truth."

"So you're not worried that I'm going to call the cops on you and tell them what you did?"

"A mugger learned a very valuable lesson and now he's no longer mugging. Do you think the cops are going to go to the trouble of finding this guy and getting him to talk."

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. "I-I don't know. Maybe."

"What would your father say? He's a cop, right? What do you think your father might say about what I did? Do you think he'd arrest me? Or the guy who tried to mug you?"

I turned away from him, not wanting to answer that. I knew my father would've wanted to do more than just arrest the guy who tried to mug me. He'd probably kill him. That's why my father was a small-town cop. Less crime. He always said that if he ever caught someone doing something horribly wrong to someone else, he wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet between their eyes.

"Alright, I'm finished." Edward said.

"Okay, let me see." I told him as I stood; he had some of his fruit cup and half of whatever meat was on his plate. His medication said he needed to eat a full meal and I couldn't count this as a full meal.

"Edward you need to eat more. I can't give you your medication unless you eat more."

He made a face. "Nurse Swan, I'm not trying to be difficult, but I truly cannot stomach anymore. This food makes me sick."

"You're going to get really, really sick if I give you your medicine without you eating a full meal."

He sighed, staring at the food.

"Could you please eat more of the fruit cup, the rest of your meat, and just three bites of your bread and vegetables? Please?"

He sighed again before looking up and smiling at me, "Only for you, nurse Swan."

I blushed at his words as he grabbed his fork and started eating what I asked him to eat. I stayed beside him, making sure he actually ate it and didn't throw it in the trash or spit it into his napkin.

"Great, see that wasn't so bad," I said as I pulled out his medication. "I know the food here isn't appetizing, but you need to eat—,"

Edward groaned a little, cutting off my words. I turned to him and noticed that his face looked a little green.

"Are you okay?" I asked as I slipped my gloves on.

"Fine, I'm fine." He said, holding his stomach. "Just give me a moment, please."

"Let's wait a few minutes and let the food settle," I said, now concerned if he'd be able to take the medicine. He looked like he was going to throw up. I pulled out an alcohol wipe and held it to his nose. "Just breathe this in. It'll help the nausea."

He managed to smile at me even though he was wincing in pain. "Thank you, nurse Swan."

I waited exactly five minutes for Edward's stomach to settle. His face seemed to go back to its normal color, or at least close to it. He was a little paler than usual. I made him drink a small cup of water before giving him the pill.

"Do you need me to break it in half?" I asked as I dropped the very large pill into his hand.

He grinned. "No thank you, but you are very considerate."

He tossed the pill back and drank the rest of the water. I placed my stethoscope onto his chest and listened to his heartbeat. One of the side effects was rapid heartbeat and it was only dangerous if it didn't slow down after ten minutes.

We only made it to minute two before Edward's arm suddenly moved me out of the way. I gasped, and held my arms up to defend myself, but when I looked up to see and hear him retching over the nearby trashcan, I knew he was moving me out of the way, so he didn't vomit on me.

"Oh crap," I said as I hurried to the sink and grabbed a cool, wet washcloth. I placed it on the back of his neck. I rubbed his back soothingly. Even though I didn't like him that much, everyone deserved to be comforted as they vomited. It was not a fun experience.

He threw up the entire contents of his stomach. I placed my mask over my face to block the smell as I looked over his shoulder. I could see the pill he had just taken as clear as day, it didn't even have the chance to dissolve before he threw up, so I knew it wasn't a side effect of the pill, but rather, nasty food.

When he finally stopped vomiting, he sat up and shuddered. "I really hate the food here."

"It looks like it doesn't like you much either," I said. I reached into the cabinets and brought out an unwrapped toothbrush, along with some toothpaste. "Here, go in there and brush your teeth. Let me see if I can't find you something better to eat."

I walked to my lunchbox and pulled out my microwavable meal while Edward brushed his teeth in the bathroom. By the time he finished washing his mouth out I was pulling the meal from the microwave and placing it on the table.

"I know it's just microwaved chicken and veggies, but it's a heck of a lot better than the prison food." I said, giving him a fork.

"Well thank you Bella," He said as he sat down. "This is so much more appetizing than the slop they serve."

"What have you been eating, if the food makes you that sick?" I asked.

"I only eat a little bit of the food, whatever looks the most harmless. And then I mostly survive on commissary. I've eaten more peanut butter sandwiches than I can count, but it helps me stay full."

I nodded. "We'll have to arrange something with the food. You might have to start bringing your commissary with you and eating that. I don't want you to get sick."

"Whatever you need me to do, I can do," He smiled at me. "Where did you find this meal? Did you pull it out of thin air? It would confirm my theory of you being a magical woman who's just visiting this realm."

"No it was my lunch," I said, giving him a tight-lipped smile and an eye roll at his flattery.

"Your lunch," He paused his eating, "I don't want to eat your lunch. Now you won't have anything, and you can't starve."

"I'll be fine Edward," I said as I leaned against the counter. "You have medication you have to take with food, this is the quickest solution."

He sighed and grabbed his fork. "I can never leave a lady without a lunch. Is this the kind of food you like? Chicken and vegetables?"

I shrugged. "It works. I tried eating the Italian box dinners, but they taste like crap. So I stick with the safest option. Which is chicken and vegetables."

"You like Italian food?" He asked.

"Love it. Grew up on it." I smiled. "My grandmother was originally from Italy, and she always made these huge Italian dinners every night before she passed away. It was the best part of my day."

"That sounds really sweet," He said as he finished the meal. "I am sorry I took your lunch."

"Don't worry about it," I told him. "I can just eat the lunch they give you guys. I have a pretty tough stomach."

"Absolutely not. I would never, ever let you eat something so vile," He said with a sigh.

"It's fine Edward." I told him, giving his shoulder a quick pat. "My goal is to make sure you don't get sick again, okay? So just eat that and let's hope for the best."

"Fingers crossed," He said. "However, it is tempting to get sick again. You are so kind and gentle."

I snorted. "Well enjoy it because it's the only tenderness you'll receive from me."

Edward smiled as if he doubted that.

Arrogant jackass.