When I come to the second time around, the woman is gone, and in her place is a large stranger who looks absolutely bored out of his mind. I try to sit up and my small movement catches his attention. His head snaps towards me and he glares, looking at me with so much hatred I almost feel myself wanting to cower in fear.
"Who are you?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper. After everything I've gone through, I hated that I still felt so weak.
"The unlucky guy who has to keep watch on your spoiled ass," he spits out, stalking closer. "If you think we're all just going to sit back and watch you double cross us just because you have the royal family wrapped around your finger, you little whore-"
"That's enough," a high pitched voice scolds. A small woman, with short dark brown hair in a white coat walks in, looking furious. That must be the doctor.
"I'm sorry," I push myself up against the back of the hospital bed.
"Not you, dear," she assures me before turning to the man. "How dare you speak to one of my patients that way. Get out, Paul. And don't you think for a second that I won't be reporting your behavior. You'll be lucky if they let you clean the stables," she sneers. The man gives me one last hateful glare before stomping out of the room.
"The nerve of some people," the woman mutters under her breath. "Hello Isabella. You were out for a week. Not to mention you scared us quite a bit earlier."
"I'm sorry," I apologize again, hating that I was causing these strangers so many problems.
She shakes her head. "You really should stop apologizing. None of this is your fault. I'm Dr. Cullen," she hesitates before continuing. "I'm also his sister."
My confusion lasts only a second before the realization hits. She was Edward's sister too. This must be Alice. And that also means he had to be here somewhere.
"Are you going to kill me?" I can't help but ask. Was what that man said right? Did they all see me as a traitor?
She looks shocked that I would ask such a thing. "Not if I value my own life." She comes over to check the monitor and IV. "Let's not try to rip this out this time, alright?"
I look down at my IV which was moved to my other arm. Huh. I must have accidentally yanked it when I freaked out earlier.
"Is this a hospital?" I finally ask, feeling calm enough to start fishing for answers.
"You could say that," she answers cryptically. I think she sees what I want to ask next because she continues. "You're in Ruthenia."
My eyes widen. The lost kingdom? "Ruthenia doesn't exist anymore." I remember learning about the fall of Ruthenia and the disappearance of the king and his family during my tutoring sessions.
"To the public, yes. Although, I don't think I'm the best person to explain this to you," she tells me. "Everything looks great, and your cuts don't seem to be in danger of infection. They're healing nicely," she writes something down on her clipboard. "Besides that, how are you feeling?"
"I feel gross," I admit and she laughs.
"We'll you're still hooked onto too many things for you to take a bath or shower but I think I can get you a toothbrush," she offers.
I enthusiastically nod. "Yes please."
Dr. Cullen is back in a flash and even though I have to brush my teeth and spit in a cup since she won't let me leave the bed, I already felt infinitely more presentable.
"Are you up for some visitors? He may be my brother but you're my patient first. If you don't want to see him, you don't have to and he can just suck it," Dr. Cullen tells me with a smirk.
Did I want to see him? Was I even ready to see him? Could I handle it emotionally?
"Can I see um… your sister first…Rosalie?" I ask. I was stalling, and I think we both knew it. But she seems like the safer option of the two at the moment until I stop being a coward and face Edward.
Dr. Cullen looks like she wants to say something but just nods, walking out of the room.
I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding, trying to clear my head before Rosalie walked in.
There's a light knock on the door before it quickly opens and Rosalie slowly walks in, approaching me like I was some wounded animal.
"I guess I didn't get to introduce myself earlier," she says, giving me a warm smile. "I'm Rosalie, but my family calls me Rose. You can too. May I call you Bella?" She asks. I nod. I hated being called Isabella, even more so now.
"Well, you scared me, Bella," she looks upset. She seems so sincere when she says this, but could I believe her?
I don't say anything, waiting for her to offer some kind of explanation of what is going on. Sure, I could have heard it from Edward but for some reason it feels less daunting coming from Rosalie.
She sighs, taking a seat in the chair next to my bed. "We truly had no idea if my brother had safely made it to Alynthia. He wasn't answering and the GPS on his phone was disabled. Apparently, he lost it. Had to get a new one."
When I don't respond, she continues. "I'm going to tell you a story, okay? But I want you to promise me that you won't speak until I finish."
"I promise," I whisper and she smiles.
"Around 40 years ago, Alynthia did not exist and in its place was a kingdom called Ruthenia, which I'm sure you've heard of," she starts.
"Ruthenia was ruled with fairness and honesty, for the good of the people. Then, one day, a power hungry tyrant staged a coup, not by the citizens of Ruthenia, but with the royal soldiers of Elisor, in order to overthrow the royal family in pursuit of greed. Villages and families were destroyed, and innocent civilians were killed. The royal family had no choice but to hand over power with the promise that the citizens would continue to be protected. As far as the public knows, this tyrant killed the royal family and proceeded to take the throne for himself. Under his rule, things appeared normal on the outside, but it was anything but. Citizens were unfairly taxed to the point where most lived in poverty and struggled to feed their children. Illegal practices like trafficking of people and movement of drugs started just so the tyrant and his allies would have more power and more money. Then, five short years after he forced his way into power, he fell sick and passed away, leaving the throne to his son who was ten times worse. Rumor has it that this son poisoned his father so he could take over the throne sooner."
She meets my gaze. "That son is your father."
"What?" I look at her in shock. "No! That's not true, we would never do those things! These awful awful things! You're lying!" I shake my head, not allowing myself to believe what she's saying.
"You promised you'd let me finish," she reminds me.
I quickly wipe the tears in my eyes, slowly nodding for her to continue.
"Despite what the public believed, the royal family was able to escape before the tyrant killed them, along with a large group of their most trusted people who refused to stay behind. Leading his people, the fallen king founded a new community to temporarily act as Ruthenia while he planned the next course of action. Power was never what he was after and if it weren't for the people who were left behind and the unethical things that Alythia was secretly doing, the royal family would have been more than content in continuing their life in this small community. But the fallen king had a duty to his land and to his people and so he spent the rest of his life coming up with a plan to take back what was his, which he then passed on to his son, who, when the time came and opportunity struck, passed that on to his son. As the true heir, he had a duty to take back his kingdom and save his people.
"And so, the true heir created a plan, to have one of his men infiltrate the castle, posing as a guard, until he was able to find his way in. The guard reported back that the castle was often left fairly empty, and there seemed to be no threat. The true heir headed towards the castle but on the way was injured and when he woke up, he was met with the Princess who had brought him back to the castle, with no intentions other than kindness. The true heir was confused and sure she had ill intentions. Surely the son of the tyrant could not have raised such a pure-hearted creature. And yet, as time went on, the true heir saw that the Princess was a victim too, and fell in love, having to weigh his duty to his kingdom and his desire to protect his love. But she was betrothed, and the true heir knew that if he truly did love her like he had claimed, he would let her go, just so she could get far away from the clutches of her father.
"But as it turned out, her betrothed was also a cruel man, and the true heir felt powerless to protect his love unless he told her the truth and convinced her to run away with him. But before he could come clean, she found out about his lies and she felt betrayed, believing that he lied about not only who he was but how he felt about her. In the midst of this, the son of the tyrant used this rift to falsely accuse the true heir of a crime punishable by death, and with no one to confirm or deny his true whereabouts and identity, he was taken away to be executed. The true heir was heartbroken about his love and lost any will to live, allowing himself to be condemned to this fate, feeling as though he deserved it for everything he had put the Princess through. But in the last second she risked her life to save him, vouching for him and demanding his release on the condition that he leaves and never returns to the kingdom. As they parted ways, he tried to get the Princess to come with him but she refused, bound by the duties to her kingdom. And as he watched her walk away, taking his heart with him, he vowed he would do whatever it took to save her from her fate so that she would never have to feel any kind of pain ever again."
When she finally finishes, I feel like I can breathe again. It was hard to hear her lay it all out, and to hear the things that were never said. But I don't know how much of a difference it makes.
"That's a nice story," I mumble, looking down at my hands.
"Bella," she sounds frustrated.
"So Edward is the true heir," I shift my focus. "The true king."
"That wasn't really the point," Rosalie looks like she's struggling to stay patient with me.
"I don't know what you want me to say," I admit. "Your story sounds like a fairytale. Fairytales aren't real life, certainly not my life."
I don't know what to feel. A part of me, the part that wants to protect myself from any more pain, is telling me that he lied for his own benefit. He used me and betrayed me even when he knew I wasn't who he thought I was. The other part of me is screaming that he's the only person who ever gave a damn about me. That even when he was pretending, he still cared. That he was always there when I needed him the most.
I think that part is winning out. I want to believe that I meant more to him so badly. But can I truly trust him this time or do I still have on rose colored glasses?
"What do you have to lose by giving him a second chance? By trusting him one last time?" Rosalie asks.
"Everything," I try to keep myself from crying. "I already lost my mom, my family, my home, my people, everything I've ever known. And I've already had my heart broken once. I-if it happens again, I wouldn't be able to handle it."
"Oh, honey," Rosalie scoots closer, wrapping me delicately in her arms, giving me a gentle hug. I take comfort in her warmth and can't help but cry into her chest.
"I'm sorry," I pull back. "It's not fair to you."
She gives me an incredulous look. "Because he's my brother? Please. I don't think I can ever tell you how much it meant to us that you went out of your way to do what you did when we first met. Yes, I love him but I would never let him hurt someone as pure as you. Lord knows you're one in a million."
I snort at her assessment. I think she means as naive as I am.
"Emmet told me all about you," she says.
"Emmet?" I turn to question her but realization dawned. "He's the guard."
"And my husband," Rosalie looks a little sheepish.
"Your- you know what, I'm too overwhelmed to even act surprised."
"If it's any consolation, he loves you like you're his sister. He's still beating himself up that he wasn't able to stop your father from hurting you," she tells me.
"It's not his fault. Emmet was always really nice to me," I tell her. I always took comfort in the fact that Emmet would be there with his cheerful attitude, even if I felt lonely.
"Do you think it'd be okay if he came by to say hi sometime? He was really worried too."
"I'd like that," I finally smile.
Rosalie nods. "So," she looks towards the door. "What do you want to do?" I know she was talking about Edward again.
I feel my anxiety start to bubble up again and I know I can't put it off any longer.
"I'd like to see him," I tell Rosalie.
I can tell she's trying to hold down her excitement that I had finally relented. She stands up just a little too fast, lightly squeezing my shoulder before walking out the door, presumably to get Edward.
What do I even say to him? Should I thank him for saving me? Or do I still hold that grudge? If what Rosalie said was true then, how could I do anything but forgive him? I just didn't know if I was strong enough to do that.