"Dreams feel real while we're in them. It's only when we wake up that we realize something was actually strange."-Dom Cobb, Inception
"Goodbye, Edward." I whisper.
"Come again?" Alice cocks her head to the side and her hair bobs around her face. They're in cute little ringlets today, and they match her personality perfectly. Bubbly and bouncy. Tigger.
"Oh, nothing Alice. Just mumbling to myself. I'm so full of energy, you know?" I state, changing the subject before she senses my fascination with her fraternal twin. She seemed like a lady who would always no what's up. Not a gossiper, in any way, but had the knack to know everything about everybody without snooping. It was a weird thing, but that's how I felt about her.
"That's completely normal, the first time you're injected with this." Pixie taps the Paraquin bottle still in her dainty left hand with a middle and index finger, then sets it down on my beside table. "I'll give you a tour, like I promised, kay? Alright." Alice tugs on the sleeve of my hospital gown. I resist. I didn't want Edward seeing me all greasy and unattractive. I shake my head.
"No, Alice- please, I really need to shower." Alice wrinkles her nose slightly, confirming my statement. Do I smell that bad? Whatever. I don't care what Tigger Pixie thinks. Renee has taught me in her own way not to be ashamed for anyone. Except when I'm around her. She makes me feel like shit whenever I'm in her presence.
"Fine. 'common!" I let Alice grab my sleeve and she thrusts me out of my cot. I stand there, shaking, with a hand on my head from a sudden head-rush as Alice deletes my name from my former cot and walks briskly away. She stops a few feet from the sliding door. "Hurry up, Bella! You smell." I chuckle a little under my breath and practically fly over to Alice. It feels like I could run for hours and not get tired or even out of breath. Paraquin sure is some powerful stuff. I'd like to have it on hand.
"This, way." Alice links her fingers through mine and it feels so nice, I almost cry from her simple gesture. I've never been touched like that before. Alice turns her head to look at me and she sees the moisture. "Bella, sweet, what's wrong?" Her green eyes penetrate me, so I lean down to cover my blush.
"It's just very overwhelming, this whole place. The energy..." I shake my head as if I'm lost in my thoughts... But really, it couldn't be more simple. I take too many pills. I wake up in a strange hospital. They tell me I've been sleeping for a really long time, but obviously, it's just some paperwork mishap. Maybe they got some internal server malfunction in their computer, and another patient got mixed up with me.
"Oh I know, Bella. It must be so strange to someone who can't remember a thing before they got here." she gives me a small smile and pats my head with her little palm gently. "It's also weird that you don't even remember coming. All of you should at least have that in your memories."
"What do you mean by all of me?" I ask.
"Whoa!" Alice steps back towards the right wall of the narrow hallway, dragging me with her. My back hits the wall and all the air escapes from my lungs, laughing at me for not being able to hold them in.
"What the hell?! Watch where you're going!" Alice shouts to a man, who's lugging a huge cart filled with medical supplies -mostly old-fashioned computer screens and monitors- over to the room we just left. He turns around and shouts with a booming voice. "Sorry, Alice!" He laughs and continues jogging dangerously fast with the squeaky cart.
Alice scoffs and shakes her head slightly while flipping him the bird. I giggle a little on the inside. Her tiny little finger making such a rude gesture is down-right hilarious. As if she could take him, who's she kidding? My eyes scan the receding bulky frame and notice Alice wouldn't stand a chance against the menacing mass of that man. He's wearing heavy looking boots with faded jeans, and a long sleeved black shirt. I clearly see the massive muscles coiling in his arms as he pushes the heavy cart. Nope, Alice would be a goner.
"Alice, do you know him?"
"Sure I do, he's my half-brother, Emmett." Alice states matter-of-factly, and I wonder in what world could they ever be related considering their immense differences. But then again, they only shared one parent.
"Um, related by father or mother?"
"My mom, Esme. Carlisle is my step-father." I guess that makes sense. Carlisle is too slim to pass on his genes to Emmett. So Edward has a step-father, and a half-brother. Any other relatives I should know about? I can already tell this will be a complicated family. "Oh I see. I've heard of your husband, Jasper, any other relatives I should know about...?" I ask.
"Well," Alice replies as she leads me into a room walled with tiles. Community bathroom. "Jasper has a sister, Rosalie, and she and Emmett have been dating since they were teenagers. Carlisle is currently married to my mother -in case you were wondering- and Edward... he's always been just one in himself."
Score. He's single. Although I find that hard to believe. But then a sickening thought comes to mind. "Is he...gay?" I mutter, almost too low for Alice to hear. Pixie's voice chimes loud with a guffaw, and tears run down her face. I've never seen anyone laugh so hard. She quickly wipes the tears away and I almost laugh too, but I don't find it all that funny.
"No, Bella, I don't think so." She chuckles a bit more and hands me a small travel-sized bottle of shampoo and conditioner, and a midget-sized bar of soap. "Here."
"Er, thanks, Pix- Alice." I stutter and take the toiletries from her. I walk all the way back into the corner of the room, where it's most private. There are some other girls showering in here. I stare at the wet tiled floor because there are no curtains, just tiled walls separating each shower.
"Sure thing, Bella! I'll wait outside so I can give you the tour when you finish." Alice cries out from the opening, then shuts the door. I walk into the segmented area of the shower I choose at the left hand corner of the room. I shower quickly, not wanting to attract any attention, but all eyes are trained on me. There are only about four girls in here, but I can't be for sure, because it's steamy from the hot water.
One of the girls staring at me is very beautiful, from what I can see. She has bright blue eyes and golden hair cascades down her back in ripples all the way to her waist. Her skin is pale and smooth and I'm immediately jealous of her beauty.
Another girl stands almost near the entrance, washing her head because her hair is barely there. Close-shaved. She has very dark skin and soft brown eyes and by her peaceful expression I can tell she's a very nice and gentle person, unlike the catty presence of Goldilocks.
One of the four girls finishes her shower, wraps herself in a towel, and heads out the door before I can see what she looks like. We're down to three, not including me.
The next girl looks vicious and wild. Her abnormally thick red hair poofs out all around her face, giving her a fierce appearance. Her hazel eyes are almost golden in color and if looks could kill, I'd be dead right now.
Because she's staring straight at me.
Blushing unwillingly, I look down and wash all the shampoo out of my hair before wrapping myself in a puffy white towel I find on the edge of a tile wall separating me from an empty shower. I scrub my hair with another towel until it's only damp. I grab my hospital gown and toiletries Alice gave me and make my way towards the exit.
"Hey you!"
I freeze, and then slowly turn towards the direction of the sound. It echoes off the walls. It's coming from Goldilocks. I sigh with relief that it isn't the fierce lioness scrubbing herself near the right corner shower. I would've rather of had it be the nice-looking one by the entrance, though. I wouldn't be as freaked out.
"Wh-what?"
"You're a Subject, aren't you?" Goldilocks cocks her head to the side and water streams down her neck. "I haven't seen you here before."
"Um, no... I don't know. I just got here." I fiddle my fingers and bite my lip like I usually do when I'm nervous. Goldilocks scoffs and rolls her eyes at me. I'm immediately intimidated.
"That's impossible. No one leaves or arrives on the Cullen Project C21-0 until we reach our destination."
"Why can't anybody leave?" I ask incredulously. I wouldn't ever want to leave this safe haven, with nice pixies and weird medicine and hot doctors. But someone else might.
"It just can't be done. Don't you remember where you are...?"
"No... I don't remember this place at all, um, Ms... what's your name?" I dare to look up to her to wring out an answer. My weak attempt to look fierce and strong must be laughable, but Goldilocks speaks.
"I'm Rosalie. But let me get this straight, you have no idea how you got here and why you are?"
Emmett's girlfriend.
Everybody in the community wash house is staring at me, including the dark-skinned nice one I've decided to call Cope, because that was the last name of the secretary at my school, who was always so nice to me and gave me lollipops like a kid whenever I came into her office.
The thing that scared me the most was the lioness's stare from across the room. I look down.
"No." I say again, and I'm beginning to wonder if they think it's my favorite word. All three of the girl's eyes go wide with shock and they mutter amongst themselves. I can't take it anymore. I rush outside to try to find sweet Alice the Pixie who feels like home. Or what a home should feel like. I slip on the wet surface of the tiled floor and go flailing into one of the separator walls of a shower. Good thing it's there though, I'm able to catch my fall by clutching onto it for dear life. My towel starts to slip off my body but I catch it and bring it up tightly around my chest.
Amazingly, I'm able to run out of the bath house mostly unscathed while the others talk wildly behind me. My neck stings from having to take the gauze off to wash, and some of the soap had seeped into the wounds. I don't care. I need to find Alice.
I break through into a hallway filled with people. My eyes quickly scan my surroundings but I see no pixie flying about. There's doctors holding hand-helds and nurses fixing their hair and the occasional worker pushing a cart. But where is Alice? She said she'd wait for me. Now I have no where to go. Why would she leave me here? Helpless and vulnerable in nothing but a towel. Sweet, kind Alice. My only friend here on the Cullen Project C21-0.
My feet start pumping before I tell them too, and I thrive on this energy. I could run for miles. I'm blindly pushing past people but I ignore their stares and snide remarks when I get them all wet.
"Hey, watch where your going lady!"
Shut up. I need to find Alice. Without her, I'm totally lost in this hospital.
I whiz past Emmett and I almost tip him over -if you can believe that. I must have caught him off his guard. I ignore Emmett's shocked look and his wet shirt that I rammed through. But I do smack myself inwardly for not stopping and asking him if he's seen Alice the Tigger Pixie. But I'm already sprinting round the corner and down a hallway. There's no time to go back. I need to find Alice now or I'm obviously going to cry. I feel the moisture creeping up into my lids. I reign them in. No one can see me this weak.
Bam!
I should've known something this cliche would happen. I should have known it would be Edward's rock hard chest I would collide into. Edward huffs as the the wind gets knocked out of him but he doesn't double over. He falters a few steps and I watch helplessly as my face comes into dangerous proximity to the cold metal ground. I squeal a little and my hands can't shoot out fast enough to break my fall. I'm waiting for the impact, but there is none. My towel is slowly slipping off my body. I grab for it and I can't seem to get a grip on it but I don't care. Edward's hand is locked around my wrist like a choke-hold. My head is literally inches from the hard metal floor.
"Jeez, Bella!" Edward says, and slowly lifts me up to face him. My towel is slipping dangerously close to the demolition zone and I hoist it up almost to my neck. I feel very vulnerable and scared so I can't help it when the tears spill over relentlessly over my cheeks like faucets. "Are you okay?"
I shake my head no, and tug my arm in Edward's grip. Edward releases my wrist immediately. I use it to add extra support to my runaway towel. I'm shivering from the drafty air of this place, and being wet doesn't really help my situation, either. I duck my head and turn around.
"Hey, wait!" Edward's firm hands grasps my shoulder and slowly twists me around. "What's wrong? Where's Alice?"
"I don't...know." I blubber, and I wipe a few tears that have escaped from their prison. "I was in the shower and when I got out...she wasn't there waiting for me." My lip is quivering so I hold it back with my teeth. I usually do this when I'm beyond nervous or humiliated, which at the moment is both.
"Shh, it's all right, Bella." Edward sighs and runs a long fingered hand through his jungle mass of hair. "I'm sure she just went to the restroom." I
nod, this makes sense, but Alice doesn't seem like she would leave me for a thing so simple. Something has happened. I can feel it.
"I...er, do you have some extra clothes laying around? Girls clothes. I'm kind of... not very..." I stutter, and hoist up my towel to make a point. Edward laughs.
"Yah, I'm sure you're not very comfortable in that..." He struggles for the right choice of words. "...State of dress." He chuckles a little and I blush deeply. I pretend to stare down at the floor but really I'm gazing at his exposed feet exposed through his camel colored sandals. They're pale and slightly hairy and extremely sexy. I watch his toes squish together and then release as he shifts his weight from foot to foot.
"We have some clothes laying around you can have," Edward continues and waves a hand as a signal for me to follow. I do and his back turns away from me as he leads the way down the hall. I take this time to notice that he's not dressed in his lab coat, but faded jeans and a tan, long sleeved shirt rolled up to the elbows, exposing an impressive set of muscles elongating his forearms. I blush a little and even though he can't see my expression, I duck my head again. I'm beginning to feel like an ostrich.
Edward finally comes up to a small linen closet and opens it without a word. He presents a pair of gray sweatpants, and a white form-fitting long sleeved shirt. I accept them greatfully. I'm glad that he had the decency to know how cold it is in the hospital, and a skimpy pair of shorts and tank top would not go well with me.
"Thanks...Edward," I give him a small smile. "Do you know where I can change?"
He nods. "I'll show you to your room."
My room? Since when did I have a room? I thought hospitals made you share. Or maybe they just have a lot of space to fill. After all, this place is huge.
"Since when do I get a room?"
"Since you started blacking out at random intervals." He chuckles darkly and I fume at him. It's not my fault. I can't control that. My brain needs to protect itself and these past few -Hell, I don't even know how long I've been here, days-? have been... strange.
"That's not my fault, my brain needs to protect itself."
"From what?" Edward cocks his head to the side and raises an eyebrow. I consider this answer for a few moments.
"From...myself."
Edward raises both eyebrows this time but shrugs it off and leads me down never ending labyrinths of hallways and stairs. "How long have I been sleeping?"
"Before or after you woke up from the sleep unit?" Edward inquires. I know the answer to the first one, which my brain just entirely shuts down and refuses to believe, so I go with the latter.
"After."
"Two days." Oh. Not as long as I would've thought, but longer than was reasonable. "Why didn't you wake me? I didn't have to sleep so long..." I shudder at the thought of ever having to sleep again, where I re-live all the moments with my mother... and Phil.
"No, you're right, your brain needed to protect itself from all the shocking events you've gone through. Carlisle said you'd come around on your own time."
"I see." Just don't ever make me do it again. I silently made a vow to never drift into the terrifying world of my dreams.
"Well, this is you." Edward halts at a medium sized metal door with 2-F7 painted carefully onto it. Floor Two, Section F, room seven. That's how these kinds of things worked, right? Edward carefully places his right index finger on a small pad inlaid in the doorknob. I watch a thin string of light creep up and down the pad of his finger and then there's a click of a lock and a soft beep.
"Welcome Mr. Cullen" reads a screen set in the metal door below 2-F7.
Cullen!
So Edward's step-daddy owns the hospital? I've known he would be filthy stinking rich alone just from being a doctor but now I guess his family owns the entire hospital. My luck has run out the door today. Could me and this beautiful man be any further apart? I glance at him through my lashes. He's pressing random buttons on the touch pad and asks me something I can't hear. I'm too mesmirised by the sound of his voice and the way is lips move together.
"Er, what? Sorry..." he must think I'm mentally challenged.
"I said put your right index finger on the pad, please." Edward points to the fingerprint scanner on the doorknob. I obey and feel a slight prickling in my finger as it scans my print.
"Welcome Ms. Swan" now reads on the screen of the door. "I've programmed you into the room so you are the only one who can get in now except for Alice and Carlisle, since Carlisle is your doctor and Alice your nurse. You're free to program anyone else in if you trust them to go into your room freely."
I nod. This is high-tech. Very high-tech. I'm able to turn the knob and open the slightly heavy metal door to an average sized room about the length and width of my living room back home. There's a small, halographic television resting on a glass stand on the right wall. A queen bed rests in the top left hand side corner and the gray silken sheets look so comforting I'd like to snuggle in them all day. A simple glass nightstand accomodates the bed and there is a giant gray rug covering the floor of ashen metal. There's a locker-type wardrobe a few yards from the bed, and I spot another door set in the wall that leads to somewhere.
"Wow, this is really nice." I exclaim and brush my fingertips across the gray silk sheets. This room is in a major need of color but I'm not going to complain. "Where does that door lead?"
"Personal bathroom." Edward states and I notice he's leaning on the doorframe of the entrance.
"Aren't you going to come in?" I ask rather bravely and hoist my towel up higher. I swear these things need saftey pins. I set the clothes Edward gave me on the bed and wait for an answer.
"I actually have a lot of work to do before the Subjects wake up so if you'll excuse me..." Edward coughs slightly. I must be bad company because he wasn't even dressed in his doctor's etire.
"Oh...yah, er, bye then, Edward..."
"Goodbye Ms. Swan, enjoy your room. Once I find Alice I'll tell her to come here straight away to take you where ever you want to go. I'll tell her to bring an antiseptic and bandage for you neck, also." And with that, Velvet turns on his sandal-clad heels and disappears down the hallway. I sigh, and close the door softly. I hadn't even noticed the pain in my neck until Edward left. His presense is both a soothing balm of distraction and an aggriavating sense of discomfort. I pull on the sweatpants and shirt. I have no underwear or even a bra and socks. I'll have to ask Alice for some once I see her. Oh, and give her a big hefty piece of my mind for leaving me like that.
Although, the walk with Edward was kind of nice. No matter how little words were shared, I got to see him today. I smile and flop on the silken bed, feeling the sheets, the sweet softness of it all. My energy seems to he going down some but in no way am I tired. I hope Alice gets here soon so she can show me around the hospital. But deep inside me, I know the only reason I want to see Alice is so she can give me a dose of Paraquin. I never want to sleep again.
End of Chapter Five.
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