Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or its characters

August 13, 1941

Bella

I dropped the chart on top of the other patient's charts I'd seen today and fell back on the chair, giving myself a small break before getting my last patient of the day. It'd been a long, long day giving out the required shots to soldiers. In fact, these last three weeks have been incredibly busy since we've started working at the hospital. It was learning all the new protocols, getting to know the staff, patients and even the town we've found ourselves in.

I've written to my parents a couple of times since we've gotten here, telling them all about the people we've met and worked with. I've left out all details about Alice's new beau, not wanting to give my father a reason to hop on the first boat to Hawaii and drag her back to Washing. My mother had written back several times as well, letting us know all the latest town gossip as well as filling me in on Marcus Vulturi. It hadn't escaped my notice, nor Alice's, that my parents had a goal to make sure I didn't forget about Marcus Vulturi, no matter what.

When we weren't at the hospital working, Alice and I spent a lot of time with our housemates and some of their boyfriends from the Air Corp, exploring Hawaii, going to the beach and different bars, and seeing everything Oahu had to offer. Of course, given the fact that my sister, along with several other housemates with the exception of Angela, were dating members of the Air Corp, and that said members were friends with a certain gentleman, my goal to completely forget that Edward Cullen existed was void. There was no avoiding the man no matter how hard I tried. I couldn't decline every single invite my sister had to hang out with her and the others simply because he would be there, I wouldn't let his presence hold me back from having those experiences with my sister. I refused to let him spoil my time in Oahu.

So, I did what I do best every time we were in each other's presence, I ignored him. I don't think we've crossed a single word since the first night we met. I wasn't interested in having a conversation with him and he seemed to feel the same way, but not just with me, it seemed he had an aversion to speaking to anyone. Sometimes I wondered why he even bothered coming at all to some of these gatherings, given he spent his time only speaking to his friends and avoiding Jessica Stanley's advances.

After my short five minute break, I took the last chart and walked out of my exam room. I tried my best not to look at the far right corner in the waiting room where I knew he was waiting to be seen. I saw him when I came out to get Thomas Sandler for his vaccine and I hoped he'd be gone by the time I came back out. But no, there he was along with a couple other patients. Flipping my chart open, I opened my mouth to call my last patient but the words got stuck in my throat when I saw his picture and name.

This had to be some kind of sick joke.

My fingers clenched the chart I held tightly and I had to remind myself not to clench my jaw. It was simply the effect this man had on me. I cleared my throat, biting back my tongue and called out his name.

"Edward... Cullen." He looked up, surprised when he realized I was the nurse in charge of him. The heat in my cheeks was almost unbearable. I cleared my throat again and squared my shoulders. "Follow me, please."

Turning over my heel, I sped walked back down the hall to my exam room. When I turned back, he was right behind me, having caught up to me in just a couple of strides. The man was impossible fast. Those deep emerald eyes of his sought mine out as he approached the door. Biting the inside of my lip, I motioned for him to walk in ahead of me. He did and as soon as I was out of his sight, I let out a breath and closed my eyes.

"You can do this," I whispered to myself, clutching his chart against my chest. "You can do this. You can do this."

With another deep breath, I walked into the room and headed straight for my desk.

"Please step behind the yellow line," I said.

He did as I asked, not bothering to let me know he was in position since I had my back turned to him. When I turned back, I noticed he was in casual clothing today. A pair of blue pants and a black button down shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. I forced myself to look away from the veins that were popping out of his forearm before he noticed.

"This is just a procedure since your chart shows your last eye exam is past due. Have you experienced any problems as of lately?" I asked.

"No," he answered, quietly and the word almost didn't sound like a word at all with the way he said it.

"No complications or discomfort?"

"No."

I nodded, taking note of his answers on his chart. "Please cover your left eye."

He did.

"Read the second to last line from left to right and from right to left," I instruct.

"F. D. P. L. T. C. E. O. O. E. C. T. L. P. D. F."

I nodded again. "Cover the right eye and read the same line both times."

"F. D. P. L. T. C. E. O. O. E. C. T. L. P. D. F."

"Okay. Please, take a seat." I pointed at the empty chair next to my desk. Grabbing my stethoscope, I waited until Mr. Cullen was seated before motioning him to sit forward and pressed my stethoscope on his back. It was oddly firm. I could feel his eyes following me as I moved and I tried my best to avoid his gaze. "Take a deep breath."

He did.

"And exhale slowly."

He did.

"Again."

He repeated the process as I listened.

"Okay, your lungs sound good," I said, before moving on to his heart. The sound of the steady beat of his heart was almost overwhelming, and I wasn't sure why. Perhaps because it was him. "Your heart also sounds good-"

"Why are you ignoring me?" He asked, breaking his one word streak.

My eyes meet his. "I am not ignoring you, Mr. Cullen, you're my patient. If I ignored you that would mean I would be neglecting my job," I said.

"You're acting very cold, Isabella, and what's with Mr. Cullen? That's my late father," he said, annoyed.

"Well, I cannot call you by your own name simply because you and I do not have a friendship or a relationship of any kind." Also because calling him by his own name humanized him a bit too much in my eyes. "I am a nurse and you are my patient, who happens to be best friends with my sister's boyfriend and who I will unfortunately see regularly, but that does not mean by any measure that I have to treat you any differently from the way I would treat a stranger who walks down the street."

"Don't you think that's a bit harsh, Miss Swan? Like you said, we will be seeing each other regularly since my best friend is now dating your sister," he replied.

"Well, that has nothing to do we me." I turned around and walked back to my desk.

"Is it because of what I said at the party?" He asked, leaning his elbow on his desk and his chin on the palm of his hands. The man had the audacity to look coy when I glared at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Mr. Cullen," I said, feigning indifference.

"You do not? Well, then I must be awfully undeserving of such poor bedside manners."

"You would know of poor manners, wouldn't you, Mr. Cullen?" I snapped.

"There she is." He grinned, leaning back on his chair. "For a second I thought you had gone soft on me."

I gritted my teeth, annoyed that he had gotten a reaction out of me, but by God, this man was irritating.

"Let me go get your vaccine and you'll be free to go, Mr. Cullen," I said, in my most polite voice ever.

Mr. Cullen sighed, standing up at the same time as me. His warm hand gripped my arm, halting my attempt at bolting out of the room and turned me back to him. I gasped, pushing against his hard chest to keep from colliding against him and fell back a step. His hand slipped away from me and he folded his arms over his chest.

"Would it help if I apologized?"

"Didn't you send Jasper on your behalf to apologize three weeks ago?" I asked, sourly.

"Oh, I would never send anyone to apologize on my behalf for I hardly have anything to apologize for." I glared at him. The sheer arrogance of the man knew no limits. "But since I do not want there to be anything jeopardizing my friend's relationship with my sister, then I will do the grown up thing and apologize."

"How generous of you," I mocked.

Mr. Cullen's jaw flexed and I realized that my behavior was getting the best of him, as much as he wanted to act that it wasn't.

"I apologize for my behavior at the party. It was unnecessary and imprudent," he said, slowly.

"And rude," I amended.

"And rude."

"And hardly gentlemen like behavior."

His jaw flexed again and he took a deep breath. I had to bite back a smirk as he tried to control his growing irritation.

"If you say so."

I opened my mouth, about to accept his apology because I too did not want my fight with Mr. Cullen jeopardized my sister's relationship, but I stopped myself. Was I really going to give in that easily? I wasn't done irritating now that I could see how much it affected him.

"Are you sorry because you said those things about me, or because I heard you say them?"

Mr. Cullen closed his eyes, and he mumbled something under his breath as he rubbed a hand over his face. I allowed myself the opportunity to smirk at his reaction. I curled a brow when he looked at me again.

"What difference does that make?"

"Oh, it makes all the difference, Mr. Cullen. One would suggest that you acknowledge that what you said should have never been spoken that way about a lady. The other that you are only apologizing for the inconvenience of having been caught behaving in an un-gentleman-like manner." I gave him a small shrug. "It may also influence whether or not I accept the apology, but if you want our little tiff to come between my sister and your best friend simply because you refuse to clarify-"

"Okay, fine. I apologize for what I said about you at the party. Happy?"

I hummed, folding my arms and tapping my chin with my pen. Mr. Cullen was now at a point where his hands were clenching and unclenching.

"I accept your apology."

Mr. Cullen let out a breath. "Good."

"Good? What do you mean by good?"

"Nothing in particular, Isabella. It's just good," he said.

"Would a thank you kill you?"

"Tell me why would I be thankful toward a woman who has been nothing but a handful?" He snapped back, stepping closer to me.

I stepped back. "I do not know what you are talking about me being a handful when I've hardly spoken a word to you since that night at the party."

"You have been avoiding me."

"Oh, did you just notice that? I tend to do that with people I don't like."

Turning over my heel, I rushed out of the room before he could stop me. I stopped halfway down the hall, giving myself a chance to take a breath. The whole interaction with him left me heated and with a racing heart. I needed to give him his damn vaccine and send him on his way as soon as possible, I couldn't stand to be in his presence any longer.

I walked to the medication room to get the vaccine when Alice and Rosalie walked in behind me. They were both giggling when they walked in to dispose of their used syringes and other equipment.

"I don't think Jasper will like it, but I have to admit some of them do have very cute butts." Alice laughed, grabbing more supplies.

Oh, no!

I'd forgotten where this damn vaccine goes. I groaned, slamming my items on my tray. "God, why does it have to be butts?"

Rosalie turned to me and arched her brow. "Izzy, you haven't complained about it all day. What happened now? Who's there waiting for their shot?" She crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for my answer.

I shook my head, refusing to answer as I gathered my supplies. Jessica just happened to be walking in when Rosalie asked the question.

"Oh, I know who is there," she said with annoyance, perhaps because she was the one who wanted to give him the shot. "Edward Cullen."

Alice gasped, turning to me. "Edward is your patient? Oh, you can definitely see through his jeans he does have a nice and round butt."

"Oh, shut up, Alice!" I walked out of the room.

"Butt hurt!" She yelled at my back.

I took another cleansing breath before walking back to the exam room. Mr. Cullen was leaning against my desk, arms crossed over his chest. He began unbuttoning his shirt as he asked, "Does this vaccine go in the arm?"

I cleared my throat, uncomfortable with the situation. "Um, well… N-no, the vaccine has to go somewhere else."

He frowned. "Where?"

I didn't answer, hoping my silence answered the question for him. It took him a second before it dawned on him and for the first time since I've met him, Mr. Cullen looked sheepish. He nodded, looking just as uncomfortable as I was.

I cleared my throat again, placing my tray on my desk with shaky hands. "I-I'm going to need you to turn around and… drop your pants."

Mr. Cullen nodded and turned around. I swallowed the knot that formed in my throat at the sound of his belt being undone and his zipper being pulled down. I kept my gaze away as long as I could, focusing on the task at hand.

"The drug is kind of strong so it will sting," I said.

Suddenly, an idea came to mind. After all, this was the asshole I met at the party and that disrespected me. Sure, he apologized, but I could also get something out of this. A little payback for his behavior.

I looked at him, his back turned to me and his pants lowered enough to expose one cheek and I bit my lip, trying to hold back my laughter. This was the most exposed I'd ever seen him. I couldn't laugh, it's far from being professional. But looking at him closely now, I couldn't help but momentarily agree with my sister. Mr. Cullen did have a nice behind.

Looking down at the syringe I was holding, I made up my mind. I wiped cotton soaked in alcohol on his butt cheek, and without warning him, I stuck the needle in hard, pressing in the tail.

Mr. Cullen groaned loudly, his body jolting at the sudden injection. I pulled the needle out and quickly wiped away the blood.

Leaning in around his arm, I said, "Now that's for what you said at the party."

And I ran out of the room before he had the chance to stop me.

Author's Note:

I mean... he kinda deserved it lol

Chapter Five Preview -

"The world is filled with various opinions, Mr. Cullen, many of which all cannot agree with, but only listen. That's what keeps an individual from being ignorant."