𝘊𝘏𝘈𝘗𝘛𝘌𝘙 𝘛𝘞𝘌𝘕𝘛𝘠-𝘍𝘐𝘝𝘌

(the cursed witch, act one)

NINA WOKE TO A BRIGHT, WHITE LIGHT AND GRUMBLED.

Her eyes adjusted slowly as she gazed at the unfamiliar room she was in. The wall beside her was covered in long vertical blinds; over her head, the glaring lights blinded her. She was propped up on a hard, uneven bed — a bed with rails, it reminded her of the bunk bed she had when she was little.

The pillows were flat and lumpy. There was an annoying beeping sound somewhere close by. Nina hoped that meant she was still alive. Death shouldn't be this annoying and uncomfortable.

Her hands were twisted together with about a dozen clear tubes, and there was something taped across her face, under her nose. She lifted her hand to rip it off, feeling it itch.

A cool hand caught hers. "No, you don't."

Her head whipped to the side, she almost regretted the quick movement, but the sight of his face made her forget about the feeling of blood rushing to her head. "Edward?" She muttered, his face unclear in her sleep-hazed eyes. Tears poked at her eyes as she began to recall bits and pieces. "I'm so sorry, Edward."

"Shhhh," He shushed her. "Everything's all right now. You don't have to be sorry for anything."

"What happened?" She still couldn't remember it clearly. All she could remember was getting there and seeing the trackers face before her mind turned to mush.

"I was almost too late. I could have been too late," He whispered, his voice tormented.

"I was so stupid, Edward. I thought he had my mom."

He shook his head. "He tricked us all."

"I need to call my mom," She muttered.

"Alice called her. Natalie is here — well, here in the hospital. She's getting something to eat right now."

"She's here? I need to apologize–" She tried to sit up, but the spinning in her head accelerated, and his hand pushed her down gently onto the pillows.

"She'll be back soon," He promised. "And you need to stay still."

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her everything," Edward admitted, gazing at her nervously. "I figured it would be easier for you... if you didn't have to say it."

"Does she..." Understand?

He nodded, hearing her thoughts, sifting through them. "She's forgiven you. But she is planning on having a very long talk about self-worth with you."

Nina grumbled.

Edward grinned. The sight of his smile almost made her forget where she was. Almost.

Her eyes only averted when she saw in the corner of her eye, a huge lump that was her leg. "How bad am I?" She asked, realizing she couldn't even move it.

"You have a broken leg, four broken ribs, some cracks in your skull, bruises covering every inch of your skin, and you've lost a lot of blood. Natalie and Carlsile gave you a few transfusions. I didn't like it — it made you smell all wrong for a while."

"Must've been awful," She teased gently. "How– How did they do the transfusion?"

"Natalie had to give you some of her blood since... Well, not very many people around her have blue blood. Carlisle did the needle work and Emmett and Rose watched the door, not letting any unsuspecting humans in."

"How did you do it?" She asked quietly. He knew what she meant immediately.

"I'm not sure." He looked away from her wandering eyes, lifting her gauze wrapped hand from the bed and holding it gently in his, careful not to disrupt the wire connecting her to one of the monitors.

She waited patiently for the rest. He sighed without returning her gaze. "It was impossible... to stop," He whispered.

"Impossible. But I did." He looked up finally, with half a smile. "I must love you."

"Don't I taste as good as I smell?" She asked, laughing softly and ignoring the feeling of pain it brought to her body.

"Even better — better than I'd imagined."

"I'm sorry..."

"I know," He reassured her, nodding his head slowly as his fingers played with hers. They were warm again, just as they were supposed to be. "Jasper could feel the remorse radiating off of you even while you were in a coma. But I will be accepting apologies for the next five months for nearly taking yourself away from me forever."

She apologized again.

"I know why you did it." His voice was comforting. "It was still irrational, of course. You should have waited for me, you should have told me."

"You wouldn't have let me go."

"No," He agreed in a grim tone, "I wouldn't."

Her mind was beginning to clear which led to a fraction of the unpleasant memories to come back to her. Her brows furrowed as she shivered.

He heard her thoughts and instantly his hand was on her cheek, rubbing slow circles against her non-cut cheek. "You're safe now. He's gone. He's never going to hurt you again."

What happened to him?

"Well you did most of the dirty work." He coughed. "By the time we got there, he was inches away from death and on fire. Emmett and Jasper took care of finishing the job."

She glanced slowly at her hands. She could only see her fingertips but she was happy to see they were no longer black.

"I didn't see Emmett and Jasper there."

"They had to leave the room... there was a lot of blood."

"But you stayed."

"Yes, I stayed."

"And Alice, and Carlisle..."

"They love you, too, you know. If they could have, they would have all stayed."

A flash of painful images from the last time she'd seen Alice reminded her of something. "Did Alice see the tape?" She asked anxiously.

"Yes." A new sound darkened his voice, a tone of sheer hatred. "She was always in the dark, that's why she didn't remember."

She tried to reach for his face, but this time, something stopped her. She frowned as she saw the IV pulling at her hand.

"Gross," She winced.

"Really?" He asked, slightly amused. "You ran off, with your own free will, to meet a sadistic vampire that you knew would kill you. And yet... a needle makes you afraid?"

"Glad I amuse you," She sighed. "What did you tell everyone else? The doctors?"

"Well I got a little bit of revenge with that one–"

She chuckled, "Oh no."

"You fell down two flights of stairs and through a window." He paused. "You have to admit, it could happen."

"Fuck you."

He grinned, stopping her hand that had attempted to smack him and leaning down to kiss it. "I came down here to talk some sense into you, to convince you to come back to Forks. You agreed to see me, and you took a cab out to the hotel where I was staying with Carlisle and Alice — of course I was here with parental supervision," he inserted virtuously, "but you tripped on the stairs on the way to my room and... well, you know the rest. You don't need to remember any details, though; you have a good excuse to be a little muddled about the finer points."

"The broken windows... How is that one going to work out?"

"Alice had a little bit too much fun fabricating evidence. It's all been taken care of very convincingly — you could probably sue the hotel if you wanted to. You have nothing to worry about," He promised, stroking her cheek with the lightest of touches. "Your only job now is to heal."

She glanced over at the heart monitor and sighed when she heard it beep erratically at his touch. "That's going to make this more embarrassing than it should be."

He chuckled, and a speculative look came into his eye. "Hmm, I wonder..." He leaned in slowly; the beeping noise accelerated wildly before his lips even touched her. But when they did, though with the most gentle of pressure, the beeping stopped altogether.

He pulled back abruptly, his anxious expression turning to relief as the monitor reported the restarting of her heart. "It seems that I'm going to have to be even more careful with you than usual." He frowned.

"I was not finished kissing you," Nina complained, rolling her eyes. "Don't make me come over there."

He grinned, and bent to press his lips lightly to hers. The monitor went wild.

But then his lips were taut. He pulled away.

"I think I hear your mother," He told her, grinning again.

"Don't leave– please?" She asked quickly when she saw him move.

"I won't," He promised. He glanced behind him at the extra stretcher. "I'll sit over there, okay? I figure Natalie might want my seat."

She could hear her mother now. She was talking to someone, maybe a nurse, and she sounded tired and upset. Nina wanted to jump out of the bed and run to her, to calm her, promising that everything was fine. But she wasn't in any sort of shape for jumping, so she waited impatiently.

The door opened a crack, and she peeked through.

"Mom!" Nina whispered, her voice full of love and relief.

As she walked past Edward, who sent her a small nervous smile, she sighed, shaking her head as she walked to her daughter. "You never leave, do you?" She mumbled to herself.

Nina grinned at Edward's expression.

"Mom, I'm so sorry–" Nina told her, as the woman took a seat on the very edge of the bed, being mindful of the cords and wires that surrounded her daughter.

"I know, sweetheart. You don't have to apologize. I'm just glad to finally see your eyes open."

"How long have they been closed?"

"A little over a week."

"A week?"

"They had to keep you sedated for a while, honey — you've got a lot of injuries."

"I know." She could feel them.

"You're lucky you have a boyfriend with a very... quick-acting family."

Nina bit her lip as she smiled. "I am."

Natalie glanced back at Edward who was looking around as if he wasn't listening.

"I think that boy is in love with you," She told her, her voice low though she knew he would still be able to hear.

The young witch smiled softly. "I think so, too."

Then she sighed and glanced guiltily over her shoulder at the big, round clock on the wall.

"Do you need to go?"

"I could only get so much time off from the hospital. They can't afford to have both Dr. Cullen and I away."

Nina nodded in understanding.

"Dr. Cullen is going to stay with you here though. He can take care of you better than I can. And I'll be waiting for you at home." She paused. "I can tell them all to fuck off if you need me to stay."

"No, Mom, I'll be fine. Edward will be with me."

Natalie nodded, gently kissing Nina's forehead and saying her goodbyes before she slowly, unwillingly left the room, but not before sending Edward a look.

"I'll take care of her," Edward promised.

"If you don't I will kill you."

Edward nodded. "Noted, Miss. Evans."

A nurse came in soon after that, checking all of Nina's tubes and wires. The nurse was checking the paper readout on Nina's heart monitor.

"Are you feeling anxious, honey? Your heart rate got a little high there."

"I'm fine," Nina assured her.

"I'll tell your RN that you're awake. She'll be in to see you in a minute." As soon as she closed the door, Edward was at her side.

"How did you get to me so fast?" Nina asked suddenly.

"Well," He grinned. "Since you stole our car, we had to steal someone else's. It was a good car, very fast."

She smiled. "Did I apologize yet to Carlisle?"

"Yeah."

"Did I tell him I almost crashed on the freeway and ran into six pylons?... And someone's grandma? I mean, I only hit the wheelchair so..."

He smiled. "Yes, darling. I guess we're going to have to continue our driving lessons. Shall we work on high-speed chases next? Or avoiding the elderly?"

"Very funny."

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked suddenly. "About your magic."

"You were so happy," Nina sighed. "You were so happy to not be alone. I couldn't do that to you. I couldn't have only just torn down your walls just to tell you I'm dying. I couldn't hurt you like that."

"Is there anything else you haven't told me?"

"I'm allergic to peanut butter."

"I meant about your magic, beautiful."

"Oh... um–" She glanced at the heart monitor and rolled her eyes. She could see now how he knew when she was lying. The beats were erratic and out of place. "Traitor."

Before she could continue, he was back on the stretcher, this time acting as though he was asleep. Before Nina could question it, a nurse walked purposefully into the room. Edward sat still as stone as she took in Nina's expression with a practiced eye before turning to the monitors.

"Time for more pain meds, sweetheart?" She asked kindly, tapping the IV feed.

"No, no," Nina mumbled, trying to keep the agony out of her voice. "I don't need anything." She couldn't afford to close her eyes now.

"No need to be brave, honey. It's better if you don't get too stressed out; you need to rest." She waited, but Nina just shook her head.

"Okay," She sighed. "Hit the call button when you're ready."

She gave Edward's sleeping form a stern look, and threw one more anxious glance at the machinery, before leaving.

His cool hands were suddenly on her face and she stared at him with anxious eyes.

"It's okay," He whispered. "Calm down. You're alright."

"Please don't leave me."

"I won't," He promised. "Now breathe with me, okay? We don't want that nurse coming back in here and sedating you."

She tried but her heart wouldn't slow.

"Nina." He held her one hand that wasn't covered in gauze, drawing slow circles on her palm. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll be right here as long as you need me."

"You won't leave me?"

Her ribs were throbbing from her crazed breathing.

The gentle movements of his finger eased her slightly. "I swear."

He was closer now, close enough that she could smell his faint cologne. Breathing in the familiar scent, she calmed.

"Better?"

She nodded slowly.

"You can tell me later, okay. Right now just focus on keeping your heart steady."

He could hear only parts of her anxious thoughts and sighed. "I have no problem with saving you – if it weren't for the fact that I was the one putting you in danger... that I'm the reason you're here."

"You're the reason I'm alive."

"Barely." His voice was just a whisper as he glanced up and down her body. "Covered in gauze and plaster and hardly able to move."

He sighed, holding her hand to his lips. Focusing on the warmth she radiated. "This isn't the worst part. Seeing you there on the floor... crumpled and broken." His voice was choked. "Thinking I was too late. Hearing you scream. Hearing your terrified thoughts. I will carry those unbearable memories with me for the rest of eternity... and yet, the worst feeling was knowing I couldn't stop. I believed I was going to kill you myself."

"But you didn't."

"I could have. So easily. If I hadn't... If I hadn't heard your heartbeat slowing so quickly... I wouldn't have stopped."

She knew what he was doing. He was trying to talk himself into leaving her.

"Promise me," She whispered, trying to keep her heart calm.

"What?"

His eyes tightened. His grip on her hand seemed to tighten slightly. "I don't seem to be strong enough to stay away from you, so I suppose you'll get your way... Nina, you should know now why I tried to stay away from you for so long. This life... being with me... it will kill you."

"Why did you stop?"

"Why?" He repeated warily.

"Why didn't you just let the venom spread? You know I'm dying with or without you. It's going to happen and you will keep living. Wouldn't it have been easier to–"

"No," He stopped her. His eyes were black. "I can't let you become like me. A soulless monster... You don't deserve to become that. To lose everything you are."

"You think of yourself like that?"

"How can I not?" He shook his head. "You don't know what you're asking."

"I think I do."

"Nina, you don't know. I've had almost ninety years to think about this, and I'm still not sure."

"Do you wish Carlisle hadn't saved you?"

"No, I don't wish that." He paused before continuing. "But my life was over. I wasn't giving anything up."

She stared at him.

"I can't do it, Nina. I can't do that to you."

Nina sighed and nodded slowly. "I won't make you. But... we are going to have to figure something out. At this rate, I'm going to die before I turn 30."

"We will," He reassured her. "I've already had my siblings start looking into it. We will find a way. A way that doesn't include me killing you."

"And if it comes to that point? To a point where a hospital bed can't heal me? What will you do then?"

"We'll figure it out."

"And where does that leave us?"

He chuckled humorlessly. "I believe it's called an impasse."

Her face twisted in pain. She held a groan.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, eyeing the button for the nurse.

"I'm fine," She lied.

"I don't believe you," He said gently.

"I'm not going back to sleep."

"You need rest. All this arguing isn't good for you. Nice try, though." He reached for the button, ignoring the sight of her rolling her eyes at him.

"Yes?" The speaker on the wall squawked.

"I think we're ready for more pain medication," He said calmly, ignoring her annoyed expression.

"I'll send in the nurse." The voice sounded very bored.

"I hate you," She grumbled.

He only smiled.

"I don't want to close my eyes," Nina whispered finally.

"I'm not leaving you," He promised, now seeing what she had been so worried about. "You're in pain, Nina. You need to heal. And as long as it makes you happy, I will be here. Even if I have to continue fake sleeping on that uncomfortable stretcher."

The nurse walked in again, brandishing a syringe.

"Excuse me," She said brusquely to Edward.

He got up and crossed to the end of the small room, leaning against the wall. He folded his arms and waited. Nina kept her eyes on him, keeping her eyes off of the needles. He met her gaze calmly.

"Here you go, honey." The nurse smiled as she injected the medicine into the tube. "You'll feel better now."

"Thanks," Nina mumbled, unenthusiastic. It didn't take long. She could feel the drowsiness trickling through her bloodstream almost immediately.

"That ought to do it," She muttered as Nina's eyelids drooped.

She must have left the room, because something cold and smooth touched her face.

"Stay." The word was slurred.

"I will," He promised. His voice was beautiful, like a lullaby. "Like I said, as long as it makes you happy... as long as it's what's best for you."

She tried to shake her head, but it was too heavy. "'S not the same thing," She mumbled.

He laughed. "Don't worry about that now, Nina. You can argue with me when you wake up."

She wasn't positive, but she thought she might have smiled. '"Kay."

She felt his lips at her ear. "I love you," He whispered.

"You should. I'm fucking amazing."

"I know," He laughed quietly.

She forced herself to turn her head slightly... searching. He knew what she was after. His lips touched hers gently.

"Thanks, Sparkles," She sighed.

"Anytime."

She wasn't really there at all anymore. But she fought against the stupor weakly. There was just one more thing she wanted to tell him.

"Sparkles?" Her words held struggle.

"Yeah?"

"I love you too."

And then the night crossed over her.