Chapter Twelve
"Edward Anthony, you better sit your sorry ass back down in that recliner or so help me..." Alice seethed from her perch on Jasper's lap. The two of them were sitting on the couch across from where I was trapped under about ten blankets and an umpteen amount of pillows. My arm was propped up against a cushy beanie pillow.
"Alice, I have to pee," I lied.
"Nuh-uh," she answered, shaking her head. "That's what you said last time and you almost tore your stitches out trying to get upstairs. You need to chill the fuck out and enjoy your little mini vacation while you can."
"Mini Hell's more like it," I muttered, causing Jasper to snort and spray Alice with the Sprite he had been sipping.
"I heard that, Edward!" Alice screeched as she reached for the nearest box of tissues to dab her shirt dry. "Don't make me call mom. She asked me to stay home and keep an eye on you, so stop making my job so friggin' difficult."
"She asked for you to keep an eye on me as in 'if I text you needing something, run downstairs and grab it for me,'" I scoffed. "I'm pretty sure she didn't mean for you to call Jasper over and the two of you to sit here with me the entire day. Trust me, I'm injured enough. I don't need to sit here and witness the two of you trying to eat each other's faces. My retinas weren't injured in the accident, but I'm starting to wish they had been."
"Shut the fuck up!" Alice screamed, standing up. "I'm so tired of hearing you joke about this. Grow up and stop being a fucking tool. Sit down and watch the fucking movie you picked out or I'm going to call mom and tell her what an ass hat your being."
Uh-oh. Alice said 'fuck' three times in less than thirty seconds, a direct inclination that she's about to blow a gasket.
"Fine, Alice. I'll be good." I rolled my eyes. The truth was, I was extremely restless. I had been home for almost a week and not able to leave the living room except to use the bathroom. The incision on my chest and the giant cast on my arm enabled me to even be able to take a fucking shower, so instead of allowing my over protective mother the pleasure of giving me a sponge bath, I'd been wiping down with a wet washcloth and unscented baby wipes.
My dad had given me direct orders that I needed to remain relaxed and somewhat inclined to make sure that I didn't compress the lung that was healing. I'd spent the past six days sitting in this fucking recliner, eating in this recliner and sleeping in it. Yes, it was comfy and plush, but it wasn't my bed.
My family waited on me hand and foot and that pissed me off to no end, but they wouldn't relent. Granted, I sort of needed the bed rest; my entire body was sore and it was still excruciatingly painful to breathe deeply or talk loudly. I tried to get up and walk around after everyone went back to bed the other night and ended up crying like a bitch against the kitchen counter until my father found me. After that I was on watch, but Alice was taking it to the next level. She slept on the couch and I was surprised she hadn't set up booby traps for me just in case I tried to get up at night. I wanted to go sit on the front porch, but Alice argued that Jasper wasn't strong enough to help me, so I sent a text to Rose asking her to bring her strong boyfriend over for the day so that he could help me out.
She replied saying that they were held up for a bit, but they'd come as soon as they could, much to my disappointment. They both had been too busy this week to come see me and I was starting to feel a little neglected by my best friends. She also informed me that they were bringing an extra person, but I just figured it was Bree, Emmett's little four year old sister.
I watched a couple of minutes of the God awful movie that I regrettably picked out, trying to ignore the sound of hushed whispers and lip smacking across the room. The pain started to increase and I knew I was due for another happy pill soon, but I didn't want to interrupt Alice. I had been the reason why she was stuck in the house on a Saturday instead of driving out to Port Angeles with Jasper. It drove me nuts that they couldn't seem to keep it PG while they were in the room with me, but I didn't want to piss her off anymore. She is the keeper of the meds and I didn't want her to deny me pain relief. I gave up on the movie and was just about to try to convince myself into taking a nap when my phone buzzed with a text from Rose.
You know I luv yah rite? it read, so I sent her a reply asking her to elaborate.
Just kno that I wuld never do NE-thing 2 piss u off kay? Im only tryin 2 help, she replied.
I was clearly confused until the front door swung open and three sets of footsteps headed for the living room. Alice and Jasper broke apart as soon as they realized we had company and the three of us were more than surprised when we realized who the third set of footsteps belonged to. Bella Swan stood behind Emmett looking down at the floor and shaking like a fucking leaf with nerves. Her bottom lip was fully sucked into her mouth and I could tell that she was stretching the end of her shirt out by the way she kept pulling and twisting at it.
"What's she doing here?" Alice asked, not bothering to be polite to our guest. Back in the hospital room after Alice informed me that I rudely kicked Bella out of my room, I begged her to go and get Bella to allow me to apologies for how rudely I acted, but Alice refused. She thought that deep down inside of me there was a little part of me that was tired of Bella's shit. I told her she was full of it.
The only thing keeping me from getting a hold of Bella myself was my lack of her number and the fact that I couldn't get up and walk to the bathroom without suffering immense pain, let alone getting in a car and driving to her house. Alice refused to help me out and continued her 'I hate Bella crusade'. As close as I was to Rose, I didn't want to bring her into my problems, thinking maybe she sided
with Alice. I was evidently wrong on that account.
"Edward called and invited us over," Rose shrugged. "I told him that we were bringing an extra person and he didn't say there was anything wrong with that."
Alice's eyes turned into little slits as she eyed the fidgeting girl behind the big hulk of a boy. Her hand rested on her hip, her tiny foot tapping harshly against the wood floor. "She's not invited into this house. You need to leave," she directed towards Bella.
"Now listen here A-" Rose started, but Bella cut her off.
"It's fine, Rose. I know I'm not welcome here," she said softly, just above a whisper. "It's not like I came here on my own. Rose practically forced me into the car without telling me where we were going. I'll just go and call my mom."
"No you won't."
"That sounds like a great idea."
Rose and Alice spoke at the same time, scowling at each other as they spoke. "This isn't your house, Rose. You need to be respectful," Alice said.
"And you need to stop being such a little bitch, Ali," Rose snarled. "Seriously, if you focused on something other than yourself for five goddamn minutes, you'd realize that Edward's turning into a fucking emo after what happened at the hospital."
"I have noticed!" Alice leapt forward, but Jasper grabbed her. I tried to stand up, but couldn't manage to; the pain was doubling as I started to get excited. I attempted to get their attention, but I couldn't yell or talk loudly for that matter, so their yelling drowned me out.
"No you haven't! You weren't even there when he woke up later!" Rose yelled, her hands tightly fisted that her knuckles were white. I knew she was close to punching the shit out of my sister, but there was nothing I could do. "You were too busy making out with Jasper out in his car when he woke up."
"What does this have to do with anything?" Alice questioned. "He didn't want her there. He told her to get the fuck out."
"He did not tell her to get the fuck out, you drama queen. He told her he didn't want her there." Rose rolled her eyes and turned to me, her face full of regret. "You woke up later that night, Edward. You were pretty fucking high as a kite, but you told me that you sent her away because you didn't want her to see you all banged up after your accident. You couldn't bear for her to be in any pain, so you sent her away."
"You're lying," Alice accused.
"Bitch please." Rose rolled her eyes before turning to me. "The only reason Emmett and I haven't been over here every day is because we were with Bella. So Jasper is going to take Alice upstairs and Emmett and I are going to help you out to the porch so that you can get some fresh air. Then you and Bella are going to talk."
Alice scoffed, but Rose just sent her a death glare. "You and Bella are going to talk because it's obvious that shit needs be to be settled before one of you starts cutting yourself. Seriously, the two of you make me want to go hang out in a goddamn Hot Topic or some shit."
Alice looked over at me in question. "You're going to listen to this bullshit?"
I nodded at the moment, not caring that she was the keeper of the pain medication. She huffed and grabbed Jasper's arm pulling him up the stairs and slamming her bedroom door roughly. Bella was still staring at the floor, fidgeting like a crack addict, not making any inclination that she was with or against the plans.
And then there were four.
"Alright, Edward. You're looking a little shitty, so let me know where your pain meds are before we try to move yah," Rose instructed, pulling blankets off of my lap, careful not to jostle me too much.
Ten minutes later, I was sitting on a low to the ground plastic chair that Rose covered with blankets to make it cushiony. I had taken my pill with a few crackers and was just waiting for it to take effect to dull the ache in my chest and arm. Bella was sitting directly across from me with her back against one of the pillars that held the roof up. She had yet to look at me.
"Alright you two. Emmett and I are going inside to watch TV. Just call if you need something," Rose said.
"Yeah, no fighting. Eddie's already messed up enough," Emmett joked before giving me a wink. "Don't do anything I would do."
I watched the door shut before I turned back to Bella, who was playing with the strap to her walking boot nervously. I rested against my pillow enjoying the warm sun that I hadn't seen in days.
"So are we going to talk or just sit in awkward silence?" I asked after a few minutes.
"Um, talk I guess?" Bella said quietly.
"How'd you know I was in the hospital?" I asked, keeping my eyes closed because I liked the way the sun made everything red under my eyelids.
"I was there with Garrett. I had called him after you left and asked if he could talk to me. He was headed for the hospital to do something and came to pick me up. We drove past your car." Her voice broke off. "They were pulling it up onto a tow truck and I just knew something bad happened to you."
"I'm sorry," I whispered, opening my eyes and looking down at her.
"You got in an accident and almost died and you're apologizing?" Bella asked her voice full of confusion.
"Well, I know how hard it must have been for you to see that," I replied, shrugging my shoulders. "I'm sorry that I was so rude to you when you came in. I mean... I'm sure it took guts to even come to the hospital and then I treated you that way."
"You weren't as bad as Alice evidently told you that you were." Bella smiled, looking up at me for the first time and wincing.
"Do I look that bad?" I tried joking.
"No, no. You look perfect, Edward. I mean... for someone with a broken arm and other injuries. I'm just happy that you're alright for the most part. Garrett told me that it wouldn't be a good idea to go to the hospital. I think maybe he was worried that you had died in the accident and was worried about how that would affect me. I refused to let him take me home and I practically attacked the nurse until she gave me your information." Bella stopped talking and her face flushed.
"What happened? Did they give you trouble?"
"They did until..." she choked nervously. "I told them I was your girlfriend and then she sort of gave me your information willy nilly. That's dangerous, you know? I mean anyone could have said that."
"Eh, it's fine. I'm pretty sure you're the only one that used that excuse," I shrugged.
"Anyway, I sort of contemplated it for a while, whether or not I was going to go in after what happened at my house," Bella continued as she wiped her eyes. "And then your friends showed up and Emmett sort of made my decision for me."
"Yeah, he's pretty persuasive," I chuckled, wincing in pain only a little.
"Nah, just huge and intimidating." Bella giggled before becoming serious once again. "When you told me that you didn't want me there I figured it was because I'd ruined any chances of being friends with you. I accepted it. Rose showed up at my house the next day and she and Emmett have never really left except to go home and sleep. And then she forced me here today."
"Yeah, she learned that from Emmett. I'm glad you're here. I couldn't exactly come over to your house to apologize and I don't have your number, and it doesn't' help that Alice is acting the way she is. I'm sorry about that by the way."
"No, don't be," Bella defended. "You two are close. I know that. Don't ever apologize about that. She's right anyway. I'm pretty much acting like a damn yo-yo with you."
"Huh?" I grunted in confusion as she scooted closer to me.
"I lied, Edward. It's all a part of my guilt over Jake and Vanessa. Garrett came over and hung out with Emmett, Rosalie and I, and helped me realize that, especially in these past couple of days," she smiled before continuing, "I started to like you and that's why I pushed you away."
"That doesn't make sense," I blurted out.
"Let me finish please. I started to feel things for you and I immediately thought back to Vanessa and Jake. I felt guilty about being happy, Edward." Bella started to cry and I wanted so badly to get up and comfort her. "How can I be happy without them? How can I move on with my life when they never got to live theirs?"
"That's just it, Bella," I sighed. "They're gone and now you need to live your life to the fullest or their deaths are in vain."
"I know that now. Garrett's going to make one hell of a psychologist," she said, smiling.
"So what does this mean?"
Bella stood up and walked over to me, kneeling in front of my chair and taking my hand in both of hers. "Edward Cullen, will you go on a date with me?"
No comments:
Post a Comment