Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Edward

I gripped the hand rest tight, feeling my heart speed up once again. The plane had been shaking slightly every few minutes, reminding me of the crash. It scared the shit out of me, and I wished someone had a sleeping pill to give me. Mrs. Cope had no trouble, however; she'd fallen asleep right away on my shoulder, drooling away.

The plane jerked to the right, hard, and I yelped loudly, grabbing my overexerted heart. Mrs. Cope finally woke up with my jump and looked up at me, confused.

"Something wrong?" she asked, taking in my terrified form. The flight attendant stared at me like I had shit on my head.

I rubbed my chest, trying to make my heart slow down so it would jump out of my body. I took a deep, shaky breath and shook my head. "No, just freaking out again."

She rubbed her sleepy eyes and patted my arm. "How much longer?"

"About thirty minutes ago they announced it would be one more hour, so about a half hour, I think. Wish it was sooner. I don't think my nerves can take much more of this."

It was nearing midnight by the time we reached France. Mrs. Cope was falling asleep again, and I was exhausted after ten hours on a plane. A local airport two hours away from Paris had given us permission to land there, and Mrs. Cope handed me a passport when we walked off. It had my name and picture and all my information.

"How the hell did you manage to get this?" I asked, confused. My original passport had gone down with Flight 1107.

"Don't ask. Just thank your father's large bank account." She talked to a woman at the entrance, making sure we wouldn't be harassed and chased with cameras at the airport. The woman led us through the sliding doors, and I noticed the wall televisions all turned on the news. My face was on the TV, as well as Mrs. Cope's, from when we'd walked out of the hospital. It was very strange to see myself on every television in sight. I hadn't really looked in a mirror in so long, but seeing myself on the big screens, I realized how different I looked. It wasn't a drastic change, but I still saw every adjustment. My face was thinner, a bit sunken in. My beard was gone, so I could see how much more my jaw line stuck out. My hair was longer, making it twice as messy.

I looked…older.

A few people stared at us as we strode by, but luckily, no one dared to take a picture or follow. We climbed onto a bus after retrieving what little luggage we had.

I looked to Mrs. Cope and cocked an eyebrow, silently asking what she planned to do next.

"Let's just get a hotel for the night," she said, yawning. "I'm sure Paris will still be there in the morning, and I doubt anyone is awake anyway."

I smiled at that. Alice was most certainly awake, probably obsessing over something for her wedding. In a few hours, she would be a lawfully wedded woman, and I was sure just that fact was freaking her out right about now. Jasper was probably sleeping like a baby, not at all worried about any of it. I chuckled, my sleepy imagination running away with me.

We grabbed a room at the closest hotel we could and Mrs. Cope passed out quickly. I, however, sat down on the windowsill and stared out at the stars. I wondered what time it was back in Florida and whether my Bella was looking at the same sky I was looking at. Had she woken shortly after I left, immediately asking for me? Was she terribly angry with me? I hoped not, but I completely understood if she felt that way.

I wished ten o'clock would come more quickly so that I could hurry up and see my family, and then rush back to the States. I cringed slightly-that meant another plane ride.

I was very, very tired, but I couldn't stop my mind from wandering. I leaned my forehead against the cool glass of the window and sighed. The more I looked up at the stars, I could make out a perfect constellation of two beautiful, wide set, doe-shaped eyes.

I missed my girl, and I wished I had never left. Someone was definitely going to tape the wedding, and I could have just seen it in the future. I could have kept trying to call my family instead of flying all the way over here. I should have woken Bella up and held her close to me, assuring my love for her and promising that we would finally move forward after all the fuss was over.

At the very least, I should have left her a note. Oh, God, I felt like such an idiot. I gripped my hair, furious with myself for not having thought about that. I rolled my eyes at my stupidity and got into bed. I tossed and turned for a while, unable to quit badgering myself.

I sort of felt bad for not wanting to be here; I hadn't seen my family in two months, and still I wanted to jump on the next plane back to Florida with no concern of how they'd feel about it. And then I felt bad about feeling bad, because if I would miss the wedding and rejoin Bella, she would be disappointed that I put her before my family. Or would she be completely happy if I ignored them for her? That didn't sound like her, though. I tried to push these thoughts away; I was here now, and that was all that mattered until I could get back to the USA. I would go to the wedding and have a happy reunion with my family and then go home and have a happy reunion with Bella.

I did successfully stop thinking about everything that was going on, but every time I closed my eyelids, I saw her. Bella, running in the sand. Bella, swimming naked with bubbles coating her skin, her gorgeous legs moving surprisingly graceful as she circled me. Bella, moaning my name loudly, her breasts bouncing below me in sync with my thrusts.

I'm going to miss that island. The thought ran through my mind before I could stop it. It seemed like one of those "be careful what you wish for" moments. For so long, Bella and I wanted to get off that island, but now I wished we had a little more time there. That is, if Bella hadn't broken her ankle.

At first, when we found the little spit of land, we thought it was going to be hard. Impossible to survive. And it was…difficult. But if there was anything I had learned on that island, it was this: a human can adapt to anything. But it wasn't just adapting. We had thrived there. If it wasn't for our families and the possibility of getting hurt without medical help, I would grab Bella and return in a heartbeat.

I knew I sounded like a girl, but the island had been magical. It was a lot better than the place I was now, for sure. It was a hell of a lot easier, too. I sounded like a caveman, wanting to take Bella and hide her from the world, keep her all to myself where the world was simple and the only thing we really worried about was the storms.

I stared at the ceiling, the paint peeling away in several places.

I think I fell asleep a while later, but there was no telling with the digital clock in military time. I was too lazy to translate it to regular time.

"Edward! Wake up!" I felt something soft hit my shoulder hard, and my eyes flew open.

"What the fuck?" I mumbled sleepily. I blinked sleep from my eyes and tried to focus on the stocky form in front of me.

"Edward! I slept late! It's already eight thirty!" Mrs. Cope shouted. I jumped from the bed and looked at her.

"We'll never make it in time now!" she said.

"Yes we will!" I ran to the bathroom, grabbing the first shirt and jeans I could find. I dressed quickly, skipping the shower. Mrs. Cope and I brushed our teeth at the same time, fighting over the one sink.

Mmm, toothpaste.

We ran out of the hotel room and onto the street. I got us a taxi while pulling on my shoe.

We jumped into the yellow car and when the man asked me where to go, I said, "The…Basilique du…," I tried to think of the damn name, "Sacre-Coeur!"

Mrs. Cope slammed the door, and I instantly panicked. We didn't have any French money. The taxi driver groaned.

"Is too far! You take bus!" he yelled at me angrily. Mrs. Cope threw some foreign bills onto the front seat with the man, and he grabbed them, shutting up quick.

"Where'd you get that?" I asked.

"I had them from the last time we came here," she explained.

I looked down at my lap dumbly. If I didn't have Ms. Cope, I would be pretty screwed right now. I felt like an irresponsible child, unable to help with anything.

The first hour of the ride was silent. The driver put the radio on some French station, and I even recognized some of the songs from when my old high school teacher would make us sing along. I stared out the window at the beautiful scenery, trying to ignore the emptiness in my chest. I hadn't eaten in so long, and I could feel it getting to me, but I knew if someone shoved a five dollar foot long in my face, I wouldn't even be able to take one bite. Did every man feel this when he was separated from the one he loved? I couldn't even imagine how much worse it would be if we broke up. I would either starve to death or go crazy.

Those thoughts brought out another fear.

Oh, God, what if she doesn't want me when I get back? What if she's so angry with me for leaving that she leaves herself? Now I was just being irrational again; Bella couldn't leave because she had surgery the day before. But there was still the nagging thought of her not wanting me when I returned.

Yeah, you should have woken her up before you left, doofus. Smart move, you idiot.

And now I was even talking to myself in my mind. I would not be right again until I was with her. All my time spent with her on the island had made me dependent…and pathetic. Not so much dependent on her helping me, no-that wasn't it. I was dependent on her company and her love. Going so long having and wanting just her, she felt like a drug to me.

And now I was having withdrawals.

A while later I looked at the clock, and it read 10:00, which was the time when the wedding started.

"Could you drive faster, please?" I asked the driver, my impatient tone mismatching my words.

"We get there at ten thirty," he responded, glaring at me in the rearview mirror.

I'm going to miss Alice walking down the aisle.

Mrs. Cope patted my hand, probably thinking the same as me.

Finally, thirty minutes later, we pulled into a parking lot near the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur. It was paper-white, and beautiful. I had to crane my neck just to see the top of it.

"C'mon!" I said to Mrs. Cope. I wanted to run, but I couldn't leave the poor old lady on her own. We walked quickly to the side doors of the church and saw many tourists visiting the bottom floor. I guessed the wedding would be held on the second floor, so I took Mrs. Cope's hand and led her to the nearest staircase, ignoring the CLOSED sign. I ran up the first staircase, quickly trying to find the next one. I had no idea where I was, but I could faintly hear a pipe organ playing music. I could feel myself getting closer, and just the thought of my family being in the same building as me gave me goosebumps.

Then I ran into a security guard. At first, he was kind to me, talking quickly in French, probably telling me I wasn't allowed here. Or maybe he was asking if I was the long lost brother of the bride? Yeah, right. If only my life was so lucky. He was the only one, though, and he was short and stocky. When I made sure there was no gun on him, I ran past him. He called after me angrily, chasing me, but I knew there was no way he'd catch me.

"Non! Vous ne pouvez aller là! Arrêtez! C'est uniquement pour les personnes avant une invitation!"

"Edward! You're going to get us in trouble!" I heard Mrs. Cope shout.

I ignored both of them and ran up another staircase, still not having a clue as to where I was going. The stairs took me up into a room that resembled an attic, with old wooden chairs and spider webs everywhere. I was about to turn around and go back when I saw a screen to my far right.

Looking closer, I saw that it was not a screen, but a large window. I walked over to it and looked out, but instead of seeing outside the church, I was looking into the hall. There were chandeliers hanging in the large room right across from where I stood, huge white ribbons coating the pillars. The big painting of Jesus and some angels was lit up, and I looked down.

There was Alice. And Jasper. And a priest. My sister and her fiance were kneeling, doing whatever they do at weddings. I was at a loss for words, simply touching the glass in front of me. Alice turned her head to look at Jasper, and even though I was so far up and away, I could still see her smile. Seeing my sister's face-well, really just her profile-after so long made me smile like a maniac. She turned her head back to face the priest, and I looked at the guests sitting below me.

I saw my dear Uncle Darren, his blond afro making it impossible to mistake him. My Aunt Jemma was sitting next to him, whispering to the lady next to her. I could make out other people, Jasper's parents, Alice's friends from back home.

I saw the back of my mom's head, leaning on my dad's shoulder. I smiled slightly at the look of them, just imagining what they were thinking right now.

A few minutes later Alice and Jasper got up and faced each other, said their vows and kissed. Then they faced me, but I knew they wouldn't just see me; I was over twenty feet above them.

I could hear footsteps coming up the staircase. Fuck. The guard had found me. He started cursing at me in French again and pulling my arm to make me move.

"I'm her brother!" I told him, pointing below at Alice. He didn't understand me, or maybe he was just ignoring me. I thought back to my French classes.

"Sa frère! Sa frère!" I said, pointing at me and then Alice again, but he still kept pulling on me. I fought him off and looked back through the window. The married couple was walking back down the aisle, and I had to get Alice's attention before I got arrested.

Feeling extremely like Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate, I started banging on the glass and waving to make Alice see me. "ALICE!" I shouted over and over. The security guard got back up and took hold of my waist to make me move. I pushed him with one hand and banged on the glass with the other.

Oh, man, am I in deep shit if they don't see me.

Finally, Jasper must have heard my commotion and looked up, meeting my eyes. His jaw dropped and he stopped walking abruptly. Alice noticed his hesitation and looked to see what was distracting him. I smiled wide and started jumping up and down when she saw me. Her jaw dropped, too, and she looked back at Jasper and asked him something. He shook his head and they both looked back at me. The guests started to notice, too, and I saw my mom run over to Alice, looking up at me.

More guards came to help the man trying to restrain me, and I couldn't fight off all of them. They pulled me away from the window and back down the stairs. A cop handcuffed me and started leading me out.

"No! My sister's the bride! You can't do this! Just ask her! Please!" I shouted. I tried to dig my heels into the floor to keep him from taking me. Then I saw a big blur of white, fluffy and thick and suffocating me.

"You're alive! Oh, Edward!" Alice's voice cried. Her arms gripped me tight and her veil was in my face. "Let him go! He's my brother!" The handcuffs came off in a second, but then I was strangled by more arms and fancy dresses.

"Edward!"

"You're really here?"

"I thought you were dead!"

"What happened?"

I looked into Alice's watery eyes and said, "Sorry I'm late."

She made a noise between a sob and a chuckle. "Well, you could have at least dressed a little nicer." Everyone burst out laughing.

I smile and fought myself out of the chaotic hugs and kisses, looking for a different face. My momma.

Her green gaze met mine, and I saw that there were tears in her eyes. She was standing by my dad, just looking at me, not moving. I walked over to her slowly, and once I got close, her arms shook as she opened them wide for me. She held me as tight as her little arms would allow, and I smelled her caramel hair. It smelled like her garden, just like it always had, and that comforted me to no end. She pulled back to look at me and wiped the tears away from my face.

"You're really here, son? I'm not dreaming?" she asked. I shook my head.

"Yes, I'm here, Momma," I said. My dad hugged us both.

When we pulled away again, I looked around at everyone.

"Don't any of you know how to answer a damn phone?"

We rode to the reception in a limo, all of us together because Alice didn't want to be separated for even ten minutes.

"So then, we found this little piece of land, and we were both starving, so we swam to it as fast as we could. Been there ever since." I explained our survival to my family on the way there.

Emmett shook his head before giving me a noogie. I fought myself out of his clutches and glared at him. "Sorry, bro. I just thought I'd never be able to do that again. I couldn't help myself." I tried to fix my hair again.

"So how'd you get off the island?" My father asked, still wanting to hear the rest.

"The Coast Guard came a few days ago and got us. Bella's ankle got broken the day before that, so we were lucky."

"Bella. Huh, why does that name ring a bell?" My mom said to herself. She looked at me strangely the whole time I talked about everything that had happened, like she was trying to figure something out. I didn't explain how Bella and I had fallen in love. I figured I would tell them at a more appropriate time.

Emmett laughed a little before saying, "So you were stuck on an island with a girl for two months, eh, Eddie? What'd you do for fun, huh? Play catch?"

I rolled my eyes at him but said nothing. Let them think what they want. My mom just kept looking at me with that strange expression. She noticed that I caught her and looked away, saying, "Well, you're here now. That's all that matters. I'm so sorry we never got your calls, Edward. I never kept my phone with me, and we were just so busy with everything."

"Well," I said, looking over to Rosalie with a smirk, "apparently one of you actually answers." She burst out crying, and I felt horrible and happy at the same time.

"I'm so sorry, Edward! I really thought it was a prank call! I swear!" she said.

"What are you talking about, Rose?" Emmett asked, confused.

"Edward called on your phone while you were in the shower, and it was an unknown number, so I answered. He told me it was him and I thought it was someone playing a sick joke! We could've known he was alive days ago had I listened!" she said.

"It's okay, Rose. It's no big deal," I said, silently happy with her apologizing. I'd never heard her do it before, and this was good enough payback.

We arrived at the reception then, and I went straight to the food before I could get attacked by anyone else.

I grabbed a plate of nothing but shrimp poppers and sat down. Bella was still in the back of my mind, but with all the happiness around me, it was a bit easier to ignore for the time being. As soon as this reception was over, I was going back to America. I heard Alice's tinkling little laugh as I stuffed my face.

"I guess the shrimp poppers won't be wasted after all," she said happily.

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

Edward

I got about four hours of sleep in my little room of insanity. The nurse strolled in every few hours to check on me, and every time I would ask her about Bella, but it was useless. She knew nothing today.

At eight in the morning, she brought her cell phone to me and told me Mrs. Cope had called at the hospital. I called her back quickly, hoping she had some information, or at least she had gotten in touch with my family.

Answering on the second ring, she said, "Edward?"

"Yeah, it's me. Did you get a flight?" I asked. There was noise in the background coming from her end of the line.

"I did. I just arrived in Jefferson, so I should be with you shortly."

"Good." I didn't really know what else to say. I wanted to have conversation face to face.

"Are you really okay, Edward? I turned on the news while I was getting everything ready, and it was all about you and a girl. You both survived?"

"Yes. And we'd been on that island ever since."

"Is the girl okay?"

I don't know at the moment because these bastards won't let me see her.

"She broke her ankle just before we were saved. I haven't seen her since we got to the hospital," I finished, resisting the urge to glare at the nurse. I knew it wasn't her fault, but this was absolute bullshit. I wanted my girl, and I wanted her now. Every second apart from her made me more and more frazzled, and I was going to blow up by the end of the day. I felt like I could even feel her somewhere in the hospital, like she was drawing me to her. I was the south to her north, and these selfish idiots couldn't be decent enough to ignore one policy.

I heard Mrs. Cope gasp from the ear piece. "I hope she's alright. Is that how you two have managed for two months? You took care of each other?"

"Mrs. Cope, I really don't want to discuss this over the phone. Can we just talk when you get here?" I asked impatiently. She agreed, and I hung up, still not feeling any better, but glad that someone I knew was aware that I was still kicking.

An hour later, I still had no news on Bella, and the nurse showed Mrs. Cope to my room. When she saw me, the biggest smile stretched her wrinkled face, and she walked slowly to me as if she were afraid I would disappear. She sat on the edge of the bed and stared at me silently. I smiled back at her.

"It's really me," I said, shrugging. She started to cry and wrapped her arms around me.

"Your momma is gonna be so happy," she said in her southern voice. "It hasn't been the same since…well, you know."

I nodded. "How bad was it?" Part of me didn't want to know, but another part just wanted to hear about my family. Not letting go of me, she backed away and took my hands.

"It was horrible, Edward. They were in France when they heard, and they called me from the hotel. You know I never watch the news, so that was when I found out." She still looked at me in disbelief. "I just can't believe you're alive. I'm so glad that you are, but I don't know…how. I mean, there was a funeral and everything. We all thought you were gone."

"They still think I'm gone!" I said, exasperated. "You and probably all the world knows I'm alive right now, but they won't answer their damn phones! And they can't blame it on not having service! Rosa-fucking-lie answered when I called, and the idiot hung up on me!"

"She hung up on you?" she asked, surprised.

"Yeah, she thought it was a prank call," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Let me call her," Mrs. Cope said, pulling out her cell phone. I sat there, full of hope for a whole minute before she said that the call went straight to voicemail. "I tried calling the others earlier, but you're right-no one is answering."

I looked around at the white walls that had driven me insane all night and morning, thinking.

"You said Alice's wedding is in three days, right?" I asked.

"Two now, actually," she told me.

"So she rescheduled the wedding? After she found out?"

"Yes. And I think she was hoping that planning for a another wedding might take her mind off what happened for a bit, even though it didn't work. They all took it hard. I'd never seen your father cry in all my years living with the Cullens."

I sighed. I really wanted to be at that wedding. All this time I had thought she got married without me there, and now I had a chance to see my baby sister tie the knot. And I was going to take that chance.

"I want to go to Alice's wedding," I told her, debating. She nodded, as if she knew beforehand that I would choose that.

"I packed us some bags, just in case. When's the soonest you can get signed out of here?" she asked.

I thought about it for a minute. Could I really do this? Leave Bella here and go to France? The separation would surely kill me, but what was it doing to Alice right this moment? I'd been with Bella every single moment of every day. I hadn't seen my family in over two months. My sister would never get married again, and I would have to live with that if I stayed here. Bella loved me; she would understand. I ran a hand through my hair.

"I can leave now…sign myself out," I replied. Mrs. Cope seemed to question it for a second.

"Are you sure you're okay, Edward? I don't want to leave this hospital without knowing there will be consequences for your health."

"I'm sure," I said, my voice flat. I tried to gain excitement at the thought of seeing Alice walk down the aisle, but with the expense of leaving Bella, I just couldn't be happy at the moment. Mrs. Cope left to get my suitcase from the rental car, whining that I had to shave my beard before I went anywhere.

Maybe they would let me see her just one time. I just wanted to tell her where I was going and promise her that I would be back as soon as possible. I definitely didn't want to just leave without her knowing where I was.

I was thinking of ways to get the staff to let me see her before I left when Mrs. Cope walked back into the room with a suitcase.

"We'll have to book a flight now if we want to make it in time for the wedding," Mrs. Cope said, digging through the suitcase frantically.

I groaned internally. "Can't we just take a boat instead? No offense, Mrs. Cope, but I am really against the idea of being stranded on an island with you."

She glared at me playfully and threw a shirt, pants, and razor into my chest.

"A boat wouldn't be fast enough, you silly boy. Don't you want to see Alice's wedding?" she asked.

"Of course I do. I just…really don't want to get on another plane. Ever."

Mrs. Cope sighed and looked out the window at the continuous chaos taking place in the parking lot. "I can get a private plane, if you'd like. I think that would be less likely to crash, but it would cost a fortune." She looked at her cell phone again for the fifth time in the last ten minutes. "I just don't understand why your father won't answer his goddamn phone. He gave me this stupid cell phone so I could call him for emergencies, and now I actually have an emergency, and HE WON'T ANSWER!" She screeched in frustration, and I cowered back. The woman could be scary when she wanted to.

"A private plane sounds better," I conceded, trying to change the subject and get her to calm down. "But…I really need to do something before we leave."

"What's that?" she asked curiously. I waited for a few moments, contemplating how to tell her I had fallen in love.

"I really need to see my girl before we go." The look on her face was priceless. It was total confusion and annoyance wrapped into one.

"Girl? What girl? What are you talking about? Did you meet someone before you left or something? Cause I didn't get any calls from women asking what happened to you," she said.

I inhaled deeply, counting to five. I'd never said these words in my entire life, and I knew I would probably sound extremely crazy saying them now.

"I met someone, yes." My answer was lame, but I still wasn't prepared to talk about Bella to anyone. I'd thought about introducing her to my family, but never like this. I figured if I ever got off the island, she would be with me the entire time and I would know how to go from there. But she was in a room somewhere in this hospital, breathing the same air as me but still out of my freaking sight.

Mrs. Cope raised her eyebrows to get me to continue, and I tried again. "The girl from the plane. The one I was stranded with. I'm in love with her, Mrs. Cope. And the goddamn doctors separated us. I haven't seen her since we landed." I looked at my feet the moment I saw her jaw drop.

"I can't believe this," she whispered. I looked up at her and saw a small smile on her face. She was happy for me. She was silent for a few moments before speaking again.

"Do you think they'll let you see her? We really need to leave soon, Edward."

"Honestly, no, I doubt they'll let me see her. I've been asking almost every hour, and the answer's been no every time. She's supposed to have surgery today on her ankle." I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the wall.

"Well, I guess it can't hurt to try again," I said, getting up from the bed. I wobbled a bit when my feet took on my weight, and figured it was from avoiding the nasty food. Mrs. Cope gave me a worried look, but said nothing. I walked to the bathroom to change and shave, and when I came out I felt a bit lighter-at least, my face did.

"Oh, now I see you," Mrs. Cope said, rubbing my now bare chin, "you look like my Edward again."

I touched my face, ignoring the pang in my heart. I wanted to do this with Bella. I wanted her to be the first person to see me without the horrible beard she had gotten used to. I squirmed around a bit; I'd forgotten what it felt like to wear underwear.

"How about you get yourself signed out while I use the bathroom real quick? Let's meet next to the doors, okay? I'm not letting you battle the crowd outside by yourself," Mrs. Cope said. I agreed and walked out of my room for the first time in hours. I started walking to the desk to ask if I could see Bella just once before I left when a light bulb went off in my head.

They weren't going to let me see her, and I had to face that fact. But so what? She was in this hospital somewhere, and was I just going to take orders from people I would never see again anyway? Hell to the fuck no!

I looked around the hall. No one had noticed me yet because of my new street clothes. Nurses and other workers in uniforms passed me without a second glance. I smiled on the inside-this might be easier than I thought.

I'll just check this floor, I dealt with myself, and if she's not in any of these rooms, I'll just ask to see her even though asking is pointless.

I started with the first door on the left. I stole flowers from a nearby vase and pretended to be just a concerned visitor. Good thing it was visiting hours, otherwise I'd be screwed.

The first room turned out to be occupied by an old man sitting up in bed and flipping through channels on the high raised television. He looked up when he heard the door open. I waved the flowers lamely.

"Sorry, wrong room." He nodded, bored, and I closed the door again, feeling slightly embarrassed. The emotion wasn't strong enough to deter me, though, so I continued. Sorry, wrong room. Sorry, wrong room. I was starting to sound like a broken record. The next few doors had been the same-two women, a teenager, and a guy missing an arm. No Bella.

I was on my tenth door when someone actually caught me.

"Hey, aren't you that stranded kid? Shouldn't you be in your room?" I turned away from door number ten quickly, hiding the flowers behind my back.

Argh! I looked back at the door. What if this is the door? What if Bella's just behind this giant rectangle of wood? I thought, going into a frenzy. I glared at the man in front of me. "No. I was just leaving."

"Good," he started, "I'll escort you back to your room."

What do I look like, a child? I thought, fuming. "No," I stated firmly, "I'm leaving, like signing myself out leaving." He gaped at me, and I walked past him without another word.

I walked straight to the desk and the woman sitting must have seen my expression because she attended to me right away, asking if she could help me.

"Well, I fucking hope so because it doesn't seem like anyone else around here wants to. That island's looking pretty damn good right now compared to this place. At least I got stuff done right," I said angrily. She looked frightened immediately, and I felt guilty. Taking a deep breath, I started over. "Look, I just want to leave. Just let me sign myself out and send my blood test results to my parents' address in Chicago."

She looked like she was going to argue at first. "My sister's getting married in less that forty-eight hours. So I need to leave…now." She nodded and started conversing with a woman next to her. They handed me papers to sign, signifying that I knew I was leaving against doctor's orders and that I wouldn't hold the hospital responsible if something should happen to me. I could hear whispering from a distance away; one woman was saying I was crazy for wanting to leave and that the island must have screwed me in the head, while the other woman said something along the lines of, "it doesn't matter to me if he's insane, I'd still hit that." I chuckled lowly and decided to give one more try.

"Would it be possible for me to see Bella before I go? I just want to see her. Please?" I asked to no one in particular, laying on the charm real thick. The women who'd been gossiping started again.

"I heard that those two had a thing on the island."

"Ah! No way!"

"Yes way! Girl, that's gonna be all over the news like when Angelina kissed her damn brother."

"Well, shit, wish I'd been on that plane. Island sex with that? Hooo, Lord have mercy! Broken ankle or not, that bitch is luuuucky!"

"Shut up! He'll hear you!"

I pursed my lips to keep from laughing. The receptionist right in front of me talked to another woman and they both shrugged, looking back at me.

"We asked Ms. Swan last night if you could visit her even though you're not a relative, and she said yes, but just a few minutes ago she was sleeping. We'll let you see her, but you can't wake her up, okay?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

My heart fluttered. She was asleep, but at least I would still get to see her. I agreed to not wake her, and the woman told me which room. I had to take an elevator one floor up, and soon I was opening the door to where she was staying.

She was lying in the white hospital bed, slumbering away. The moment I laid eyes on her, I instantly calmed down. All the stress from being away from her and from everyone getting on my nerves had taken a toll on me. It had honestly been so much easier when it was just her and me on the island. Now we had to put up with rules and other people's bad attitudes. The only materialistic things I really missed was good food and air conditioning. Maybe when I got back from France, we could immediately move in together and grab some Big Macs to celebrate.

She was pretty pale, but not enough to where it worried me. I could tell she had showered also, and her hair was much cleaner than when I last saw it, spread out across the pillow. I put the stolen flowers down on the end table and sat in the chair next to her. Part of me wanted to wake her, but I knew I just couldn't. Simply seeing her was enough; we had our whole lives ahead of us to enjoy now. I took her hand; it was neither cold nor warm. I wished she would talk in her sleep so I could hear her voice before I left.

I stared at the beautiful face before me, willing her to awaken on her own. She didn't though, so I just continued admiring her. I traced the apple of her cheek lightly, then the silky skin of her eyelids, and finally her full, luscious lips. I caught sight of the clock on the wall and saw that I had been making Mrs. Cope wait almost thirty minutes. I would have to go now. I kissed the string ring that she'd promised to keep on her finger, and then I kissed her lips chastely before standing up.

"I love you," I whispered to her sleeping form, praying that her surgery would go well. Tearing myself away was the hardest thing I'd ever done in my entire life, and I had to keep telling myself that I would see her soon. I would come back right after the wedding, I vowed. Then we would make plans as to where we would live and other things like that.

The click of the door sounded louder than it probably should have, and I walked away quickly before I could run back to her.

Alice is getting married. Alice is getting married. I chanted this in my head as I took the elevator down again.

I told the lady at the front desk to tell Bella where I'd gone and that I promised to be back as soon as possible. She informed me that there was still a mass of reporters outside the hospital, and she got security to meet me at the exit. Mrs. Cope was standing there unhappily when I reached the sliding doors.

"I have been waiting for you for ages!" she said.

"I'm sorry. I had to see Bella," I explained, hoping she'd understand.

"You got to see her?" she asked.

"Yeah, but she was sleeping."

The security guards were going to escort us out of the hospital to make sure we could leave without being harassed. Mrs. Cope had called the local private air base and hired someone to fly us. I was surprised how easy it had been until she told me the price.

There was a taxi waiting outside, but I could barely see it with all the people in the parking lot. Vans with satellite dishes on the roofs decorated the crowd. It was all so strange to me. Had they even left since yesterday?

Five burly men walked around Mrs. Cope and me through the automatic sliding doors. Two in back of us put hands on our shoulders to guide us since we couldn't even see over the men in front of us. Automatically, when we hit the humid air outside, the reporters came swarming, shoving microphones between the men's bodies.

"Step back," one of the men ordered, but only two of them actually listened; the rest ran to keep up with us.

This is crazy! I thought. I felt very much like a celebrity, but not at all in a good way. How did famous people deal with this all the time? I was already aggravated, and I hadn't even been chased for a whole minute yet.

"Edward Cullen! What was your experience on the island like?"

"Mr. Cullen, how would you describe the plane crash? How did you survive?"

Did they really think I was going to answer any of that? The security pushed some of the people out of the way, but it didn't deter them one bit. Microphones were still being rushed to my face in any way possible. One guy was even trying to hop over the men's heads to get a glimpse of me. I could see three cameramen following, trying to keep up with their cameras focused on the scene.

"No comment."

"Edward, can you tell us about your relationship with Isabella Swan?" This question seemed to rile up the others even more.

"Why did you save her, Edward? How did she break her ankle?"

"What are your plans now that you're leaving the hospital?"

The chaos seemed to continue on forever, even though it was only about two minutes. When we finally reached the taxi, the security crowded around the door. I helped Mrs. Cope into the backseat and followed behind her, thanking the men who had helped us and wishing they could continue to stop the madness once we were gone.

"Leave me alone!" I said quickly to another reporter who was practically trying to crawl through one of the men's legs. I shut the door, and the taxi driver sped off, taking orders from Mrs. Cope.

The driver was an old man, one who didn't seem to care about everything going on. It didn't bother him much until he looked into his rearview mirror.

"Well, I'll be. Them bastards are following us!" he said.

I turned my head to see and sure enough, the media had jumped into their vans and were currently trying to catch up with us.

"This is crazy!" Mrs. Cope voiced my thoughts from earlier. "I mean, when I walked into the hospital, it was bad, but I wasn't expecting this."

"You guys are on the radio, too," the driver said, "They say something about every twenty minutes or so. That's how I found out what happened. Congrats on being alive, man." He waved at me, and I smiled, not really knowing what to say to that.

He turned on the radio to prove his point, and a man and woman were talking about Bella and me.

"I would really like to know how the hell they survived anyway. Do you know if we're going to learn that full story anytime soon, Bob?"

"Well, Sally, I hear talk that Ofera wants them on her show. Maybe they'll say yes to that, and then we can all see for ourselves."

"Isn't that just amazing? Such a tragedy strikes-that plane had almost two hundred people, right?"

"Yep, big load on the way to France."

"Yes, back to what I was saying-such a tragedy strikes two hundred people, and out of that two hundred, only two of them got lucky. Just amazing. Simply amazing. And to find land?"

"Oh, yes. But they were saying yesterday that the boy admitted he really had to fight to get out of that plane. So it wasn't just luck, Sally."

"And to be on a deserted island for two months! Imagine how hard that must have been!"

"Sources say that they believe there was an affair between the two survivors. We'll have more on that after our commercial break. You're listening to Seventy-Eight point Nine WYRK. Don't touch that dial!"

"Damn," was all Mrs. Cope could say. I was speechless. If this was on the radio, what was on television? I put my elbows on my knees and cupped my face in my hands. If my family hadn't seen that shit, then they must be hermit crabs in human bodies.

I took a deep breath and tried to clear my head. I refused to look back and see the vans following us, and I made the driver keep the radio off. I couldn't take any more for now.

Our driver took a few shortcuts and got mixed with a bunch of other taxis, and we eventually lost the stalkers. It seemed the farther away I was from Bella, the more my heart hurt. When I got back, we were never getting separated again. Ever.

Climbing aboard the private plane was very scary for me. The last time I'd done it, I almost died, so I was extremely hesitant. Our pilot kept assuring us that we'd be safe, but he kept stuttering his nervousness around me. He must have known who I was by then and how much I really didn't want to be there. Still, I faced my fears and prayed to God I could survive this one, too.

Mrs. Cope could see how tense I was and tried to calm me before we took off.

"C'mon, Edward, I know it's hard. But please be happy. Your sister's getting married!"

I thought of Alice's face, always smiling and energetic. Then I thought of Bella's face the last time I'd seen her with her hair spread out on the pillow and her little nostrils flaring slightly when she breathed.

I knew this was completely worth it for the sake of my sister, but I couldn't help but miss her.

Update

Hey guys. I don't know how many of you actually follow me on this blog, but apparently some of my ff viewers still do and wrote to me about it the other day so I figured I'd explain on here, too.
I had scoliosis surgery recently, and honestly, it's hell for me to even roll over, much less write. I'm trying, though. Just be patient. I haven't given up on Stranded, it's almost finished and there's no reason for me to abandon my baby.
I know there's only 16 chapters up on here, but if you want the other 22 or 23 chapters (I honestly can't remember right now how mnay I have posted) you can always find me on fanfiction.net under the penname dangerousandbeautiful. I have other stories up that have been updated, too, simply because they were more fun to write right before my surgery.
I'm getting better every day. I'll be writing more in no time. I promise. Meanwhile, watch Harry Potter. Seriously, it's better than Twilight movies anyway.