I am completely out of my element with this one, but decided it was time to try to branch out. Please bear in mind I am completely intimidated to even attempt to write in character, so it isn’t entirely in character. Be nice to me, as I am ridiculously nervous to even try this.

Gulp.

Anyhoo, we’re picking up in Twilight, directly after Edward sucks James’ venom from Bella.

Antidote-- a substance which can counteract a form of poisoning.

La Tua Cantante—your singer.

BPOV

The fire in my hand cooled bringing me relief…and then a sudden, intense rush of pain back to my broken leg.

With great effort my eyes fluttered open, just to find him.

And there he was in a blur of red and tears, and I willed my hand to reach for him, but it simply wouldn’t.

“Don’t try to move, Bella,” I heard Carlisle’s voice calmly command.

“Carlisle—Carlisle! Edward, he’s—“ I heard panic in Alice’s voice and my head jerked sharply, trying to protect him in any way I could, because something was definitely not right.

“Edward? God…Edward?” Carlisle was talking much too fast and my hazy mind couldn’t keep up, and the next thing I heard was the sound of a boulder cracking and the floor next to me trembled.

Then there was nothing.

I woke up in a hospital, casted and bruised and with Edward’s name on my dry cracked lips.

“No, baby, I’m here. Mom’s here,” I heard Renee, then saw her as she was two inches from my face.

“What…where is he?” I choked out, my heart rate picking up because I just knew, if he could be here, he would be.

“Take it easy, Bella,” my mom said, brushing my hair back. “Edward is fine, he had a few injuries but his father insisted he treat him back home.”

“Injuries?” I sputtered, because Edward simply couldn’t be injured. It was impossible, he was either dead or alive…never just injured.

“I didn’t get specifics, Bella. I’ve been more concerned with you. You fell down steps? Broke a window? I just—“

“Clumsy, mom, remember? I’ll be fine, I just want to get back to Forks, as soon as I can—“

“Forks? No, I want you here, at least until you make a full recovery, we don’t need injury on top of injury.”

“I’m going back to Forks.”

“Is this about your boyfriend? Because, Bella,”

“Yes. No. I just, Forks is my home now, I’ll recover faster there and you and Phil don’t need me—“

“Phil and I want you there—“

Renee got cut off when Charlie walked in, looking surprised to see me awake.

He came over and awkwardly kissed my forehead.

“You gave us a scare, kid,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Sorry, Dad.”

A few nurses came in, then a doctor, then a blood draw and it was determined I’d be there another two days.

“When I get out, I want to go home with you, Charlie, to Forks.”

He kind of beamed at me, obviously happy I thought of Forks at home, then he caught Renee’s glare.

“Can I see you in the hallway?” Renee asked him.

“Look, you can battle it out all you want. I’m going home. And before you conference out in the hall, could someone hand me the phone?”

I got away with the attitude because they were just grateful I was still alive and talking at all, I took advantage of it.

Charlie gently put the phone at my side, careful of not crossing its wires with my tubes, and they looked at me expectantly.

“I’d like some privacy,” I said.

“Sure, sure,” Charlie said, then they shuffled out.

I quickly picked up the receiver and dialed Edwards cell phone number, wincing at the IV in my wrist.

Voicemail.

He always answered for me…and especially now, I mean, how could he not answer?

I shook off dark thoughts and dialed Alice’s number.

“Bella,” she answered, before I even heard the ring.

“Alice—“

“I’d ask how you are, but I know it’s only a broken leg and a few bumps and bruises—“

“Where is he? What happened?” I demanded, because Alice was trying to distract me and I knew it.

“He’s here, Bella—“

“Put him on.”

“Well, I can’t right now. He’s occupied at the moment and—“

“Alice, this is killing me. What. Is. Going. On?”

“Bella…I don’t—we’re not sure yet. Carlisle is—‘

“Is he alive?”

“Yes.”

A relief I didn’t know I was searching for coursed through me and my limbs went weak and my heart pounded.

“Alice, I’m coming home in two days…and when I get there, I’m coming to him—“

“Of course, Bella. I already know that.”

“Just…he’s okay, right? I mean—“

“You will be fine, Bella,” Alice answered, but I could only hear what she didn’t say.

Edward.

The next two days I kept myself busy by relentlessly calling Edward’s cell phone, which he never answered.

I harassed Alice, who lightly and not so subtly avoided all my Edward queries.

Finally, I was reduced to sobs on the phone, because my nerves were shot and because I hadn’t heard his voice in far too long, and because I just didn’t know.

Alice sighed heavily and waited for me to finish.

“Okay, Bella, I’ll be at the airport. I’ll bring you directly to my house…and…we need to have a talk on the way.”

“A talk?” I asked tentatively, wanting more information now, but knowing I’d pushed her enough already.

“Tomorrow. Rest well, Bella, you’ll need it.”

Then she hung up, leaving her cryptic message to bounce in my head and drive me insane.

I squirmed in my tiny airplane seat next to Charlie, waiting for the rest of the passengers to exit, with the crutches it would be easier for me to just wait until the plane was nearly empty.

“Alice is going to take me to see Edward, she’ll be waiting for me,” I told Charlie, purposely springing it on him at the last minute so we wouldn’t have to debate it the whole ride home.

“Bells, do you think that’s a good idea?”

“Sure, I feel great and you’ve been stuck in Arizona for a few days, I’m sure you can’t wait to get out to La Push and fish, and I’m sure the station has been missing you. You’re busy and I’m sure Carlisle won’t mind looking after me and my injuries for awhile—“

“Okay, okay,” he chuckled. “Geez, Bella, are you okay? You seem awful tense.”

“Just anxious to put this whole thing behind me,” I said, accepting his hand when he offered it to help me out of my seat.

Charlie fumbled with the bags in the airport while I leaned on the crutches and strained my neck, looking for Alice.

She found me first, of course.

“Hi Charlie,” she greeted brightly. “Don’t you worry for one second about Bella, she’ll be fine. Esme is making her dinner right now and Carlisle is still off from the hospital looking after Edward, so she’ll be just fine, now you take care of yourself and I promise to have Bella home soon,” Alice rambled, all the while edging me away from Charlie, who looked dazed and confused by whatever the hell just happened.

“Very smooth,” I said dryly as she whisked me to the parking lot.

“Thank you,” she said, shuffling me in to the passenger seat.

Once both the doors were slammed I turned to her.

“Spill it.”

“Okay, look. I don’t have many answers—“

“Tell me everything you know. Where is he?”

“Home.”

“Is he okay?”

She hesitated and I asked a different question, not quite willing to face the possibility that he wasn’t okay.

“Why hasn’t he called me?”

“He can’t.”

“Why?”

“Take a deep breath, Bella.”

I held my breath.

“He’s sleeping.”

I didn’t get it.

Edward doesn’t sleep—ever.

“Alice, that’s just…what?”

“Exactly. He is asleep. Soundly. And he’s, well, he’s different looking.”

“Different?”

“Kind of, but barely noticeable—I doubt most humans would notice, but of course you will and—“

“What do you mean he looks different—Alice, what the hell is going on?”

“Brace yourself. Okay, where to start…Look, the second Edward sucked the venom from your blood stream I lost his future—I couldn’t see him—“

“Oh God—“

“Don’t panic, Bella. He’s alive. He’s here, just—“

“Go on with it,” I said, dazed and not quite sure what the hell was going on.

“Right. I couldn’t see his future and then he just…fell over.”

Ahh, the boulder crash and trembling floor.

“Why? Why did he—“

“Stop interrupting if you want to know,” Alice sighed, and I watched the speedometer near 100mph and for once I was glad to be going so fast. “We bought him home, the whole time he was completely unconscious, as he is now, which in itself is just impossible—and we just have been researching and keeping vigil and Carlisle did everything he could think of and then, well, then…we heard a heartbeat.”

My own heart stopped for half a second and I couldn’t even see, I couldn’t comprehend her words and I couldn’t stop the squeezing in my chest.

“Bella?”

“I…”

“I’ll give you a minute,” Alice said.

So we drove in silence, but my mind didn’t work anyway, so I told her to tell me more.

“Well, the sound got stronger and then the smell, he started to smell mouthwatering and Carlisle recognized it immediately, it’s Edward’s human blood. Soon, he got soft and his cheeks had actual color and his hair lost most of the coppery tone, it’s more of a deep brown now and—“

“Are you? What are you saying?” I gasped out of my constricting throat.

“I’m saying he’s most likely not one of us anymore…he’s one of you.”

And because the weight of that was entirely too much to handle, I promptly fainted in the passenger seat.