A/N: So, this isn't what you think it is. I'm not ready to write out fully intricate fight scenes and this isn't how I had intended for this story to go...but due to some errors in the plot I wrote out before- you could say that the story wrote itself.. I'll fix it one day, but that day is not today....I'm turning 24 tomorrow and I'd like to enjoy what little youth I have while I can, but here's a treat meant for you as much as it is for me. Only one chapter left of the act! I can't fucking wait to get to the next one, I hated this one with a burning passion and you can kind of tell that I got burnt out with writing the last chapter. But meh- I'll fix it later (says the procrastinator LOL).

Disclaimer

Twilight and all affiliated characters are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I do not own any of the aforementioned characters except Beth and the plot of this story (that is, should it stray from the original Twilight). This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official storyline. I am not in any way, shape, or form benefiting financially from the publishing of this story on this site and am very grateful for Mrs. Meyer's creation. Besides, if I did own Twilight, I'd have bought stocks on Amazon so I could've been rich by now.

Beth quietly watched her sister on the hospital bed, feeling a strange and misplaced sense of ... well, something. The scene was too familiar, too close to home and memories of another life came to her mind, unbidden. Her expression was startlingly blank, as though she'd shut down and turned on autopilot.. Dissociating from reality as it became too grim for her to bear. There was a ringing in her ear, deafening the outward sounds of the heart monitor and the occasional doctor or nurse that walked by every once in a while. Everything was...numb. Bella laid on the bed, prone, left foot propped on a pillow and wrapped up in a new, bright blue cast. Thick gauze was wrapped around her head, padded to high holy hell to stem the bleeding -even then- from the sheer amount of trauma that the tiny brunette had endured. Her face was worse for wear, both eyes sported dark purple bruises around them and there was a thin scratch along her left cheek held together by a small butterfly bandage.

Even now, Beth could recall exactly how Bella had looked when she'd first been taken into surgery, the frantic EMT's giving the nurses and doctors stats and Bella- poor Bella being wheeled in looking like she'd just been carted away from a murder scene, heavy rivers of blood careening down too pale face and clothes bloodied. She remembered how frantic she'd felt, calling out for her sister as Carlisle rushed inside, leaving Elizabeth alone while Edward met with his siblings and mother outside, "for something important", he'd claimed. One of the EMT's commented how lucky she'd been that one of the Reservation's locals had been present around the time she'd "crashed". But Beth didn't feel like luck had anything to do with it-

"Beth?"

She swallowed through parched lips and blinked once, coming back to the present and away from such dark thoughts. All too soon, the sound of the heart monitor became too clear and she'd felt like she'd been sucked back into that hellish nightmare. Her skin itched irritably and she both wanted to stay seated by her sister as much as she wanted to leave the haunting room.

Looking up at the bronze haired vampire, she tried, she really tried to reassure him with a smile, but it must have looked as fake as it really was. His tawny eyes watched her under thick furrowed eyebrows, worry beyond his years ever present in his expression. His lips formed into a frown as he studied her, how her shoulders slouched in his gray sweatshirt he'd loaned her, how her nails were bitten down to stubs and how the circles under her eyes darkened by the hour.

"Let's get you something to eat."

The statement was thrown out there, an escape. She licked her lips again, focusing back on her sister, hesitance coating her very being. Beth really didn't want to leave Bella. Charlie had left, she couldn't remember when, to go home and shower before picking their mom up by the airport in Port Angeles. It had been three days since the accident, and Renee didn't waste any time once she'd heard that one of her babies had been in a serious "car accident".

"I'll take you back as soon as you get something," he promised, extending a hand out towards her and Beth couldn't help but latch on like it was a lifeline.

A sound murmured over the intercom when they left the room, the voice muffled and Beth couldn't hear what was said. Outside in the waiting room, sat Grandpa Geoff and Grandma Helen, the latter having fallen asleep against her husband. The man looked worse for wear, arm thrown around his significant other and looking stressed beyond relief as he ran a hand down his tired face. Beth walked over with Edward in tow, her hand still attached to his, grounding her to the moment.

"We're gonna get something at the cafeteria," she announced quietly, voice almost hoarse from misuse and all the crying she'd done nights prior when Bella was in surgery with Carlisle, wondering- waiting. Alice had, of course, assured her that she would be fine, but that didn't settle the smidgen of guilt that Beth had for not being there for her sister or the fright that she'd faced when she got that call. Her chest tightened and her eyes burned at the memory- No, stop.

"Do you want anything?"

Her grandfather cracked a short, small smile under his bushy mustache, looking up at the two, "Just a cup of coffee ,please, sweetheart." In her peripherals, she caught sight of two more people in the waiting room, not together and sitting as far away as the seating allowed, looking just as distressed and tired. She wondered briefly then, if they too had someone who was fighting for their life in one of the rooms around the hospital.

She nodded, and turned, pulling Edward along as though he were directionless. In reality though, their roles were reversed. She would never admit it, but she felt lost. Unsure in the midst of it all and utterly hopeless. But she promised herself to be strong for them, her family. But Edward had been there, day in and day out with her, waiting beside her and through it all. If she was strong, she siphoned the strength from him, that he provided every step of the way.

The halls were quiet at this time of the night- or morning, as it was when Beth had caught sight of the clock hanging above the nurses station where a familiar Blonde sat chewing away at her gum. Beth had paid her no heed, pulling her friend along without a glance in her direction, but mindful of the stare that watched them keenly when they did. She shuffled along, shoes occasionally squeaking on the cool linoleum floor, sweatpants dragging behind her slightly as they were much too long for her, being made for men. Her hair was probably a mess too, she suspected, but didn't find herself caring much more beyond recognizing that fact. Who was there to care anyways? The halls were basically empty.

Edward pulled her closer, long fingers tangling with hers as they stopped in front of the cashier when they'd reached their desired destination, the tired staff member looking at them through bloodshot eyes. Beth had given a cursory glance at the menu, choosing a blueberry muffin and a bottle of lemonade along with a cup of coffee and a chocolate pudding cup for her grandpa. He hadn't asked for it, but she knew he needed it. He, like her, hadn't been eating much of anything and Beth thought it was funny in the way they had so much in common despite her situation. Neither ate under stressful conditions.

Edward paid and not putting up much of a fight, she allowed him to do so, taking the food as the cashier distributed them across the counter once she'd poured out a cup of (god knows how old a batch) of coffee. From her position, it almost looked like sludge. Inwardly, she grimaced and felt a sense of empathy for the doctors that drank the stuff. She'd never liked it, in either life.

Walking back was a quiet affair, Edward complacent as he held her muffin for her. Beth gave her grandpa his coffee as he requested and then gave him a pudding cup with a not so subtly urging glare. The old man had chuckled and accepted the spoon as well, "Thanks kid." And on his shoulder, Grandma Helen grunted in her sleep, gray hair tickling his neck as she shifted just slightly, discomfort creasing her face.

"You guys should get some sleep," the teen urged, cracking open her lemonade to take a sip.

The man scoffed quietly, "And leave you here alone, missy? I don't think so."

Behind her, Edward cleared his throat, "My father said Bella should wake up by this evening, the medication they've given her for the pain is strong and should only keep her under for a few more hours, so you do have time to go home and get some rest, if you'd like." Beth shot him a grateful glance, capping the drink.

But the man was firm in his decision, shaking his head, "I'd prefer to stay here with the girls, but maybe I can wake her," he gestured down to the older lady drawing the blanket up around her shoulders, but not waking, "up soon and she can go home." Then he winced and tried to move upright against the garishly orange, plastic seat. "My shoulder is going numb."

Beth rolled her eyes, exasperatedly, "We both know that's not gonna happen." But the man shrugged with his free shoulder, taking a slow sip of the provided beverage.

Going back inside was a hard decision, and at Beth's hesitation, Edward offered another out, face free of judgment, "We can go up to Carlisle's office for a while? He'll be in surgery for the rest of the morning."

Then after a moment, she nodded and allowed the vampire to take her upstairs and into an office marked by an ornate mahogany door with a gold plaque marked 'Dr. C. Cullen'. The office itself was beautiful, no doubt Esme's doing as she'd taken charge in the design of their equally beautiful home. On the East wall was a large window that exposed the quickly transitioning black to gray sky as they welcomed the early morning. Opposite that was a lovely painting of a ranch placed on the cherry wood walls, under which sat a green couch. In the middle of the room was Carlisle's desk, large and not nearly as imposing as the bleak cabinets set behind it. Papers were filed neat and orderly on the surface of the wood. A dark leather chair sat behind the desk. In front of the desk were two round, green cushioned chairs that matched the couch. But after a beat, Beth went straight for the couch, the carpet under her sneakers a stark change from the floors outside the room. Without hesitation, she sat down and placed her body horizontally to sit with her back against the arm. Edward pulled at one of the cushioned chairs by the desk, angling it towards her after he'd passed her the long forgotten muffin.

She released a heavy sigh, shoulders relaxing somewhat as she reluctantly began tearing apart the tough muffin that had no doubt been sitting at the display for over the recommended hours. It was dry in her mouth, but she forced herself to chew, her stomach growling angrily once she'd swallowed the first mouthful. She took a sip of the lemonade and sighed again as she forced herself to take another piece of her food, knowing that Edward would be waiting expectantly, urging her to get any form of sustenance after he'd realized that she'd not eaten for almost an entire day.

"What are you thinking?"

She held up a finger then, chewing through a particularly hard piece of the pastry before taking what appeared to be, what once was a blueberry from her mouth and placing it in the bin that Edward lifted towards her in a second. She threw the blue thing into the bin before gazing despairingly at the remainder of the muffin before throwing that in too. Edward waited as she took another gulp of her drink before she spoke,

"I was thinking about how that shitty muffin could have killed me," she replied dryly, leaning back against the arm of the chair and throwing a hand over her eye as her stomach growled again in fury.

Across from her, Edward's lips quirked in what could have been a smile before he urged her again, more seriously. Now, of all times, wasn't the right moment for a joke. He was genuinely concerned for her, after she completely shut down. Her distress had been painted so vividly when Alice had admitted in a small voice that Bella's future had disappeared. The look on her face would haunt him for years to come. To face that all, the uncertainty as she'd called and called and called again only to get no response from her sister's phone.It was only an agonizing half hour later, when Carlisle had received a call from the hospital, another doctor urging him to come in due to a car wreck just near the border of La Push and Forks that they'd all realized it had been Bella. He'd left immediately. The family was unable to do anything before because the wreck happened in La Push and on the reservation. They couldn't risk breaking the treaty.

At her urging through her tears, Edward had driven her, speeding through the traffic at breakneck speeds, weaving in between cars as they tailed the doctor's black Mercedes to the hospital. Beth was a mess beside him. She'd tried calling her dad too, heart already wrung to bits due to the previous news of Waylon's death. He'd finally answered and been driven over by his deputy, too distraught to be able to drive safely by himself.

She began again, tongue searching her mouth for any remaining crumbs of the pitiful snack, "I'm thinking about Bella and what she'll remember from this all." Beth sat up as a thought occurred to her, "What if she remembers something about them?"

What had really happened? Bella had been accosted by a human drinker on her way over to Forks. The woman, Victoria, Edward had remembered from plucking it from their minds, had appeared in front of Bella while she'd been driving on the highway by herself, causing her to swerve off the road and into a tree to avoid collision. Thankfully, Sam Uley had been nearby, a local shifter from La Push, one of the three that had shifted due to the woman and her companion's presence near and around the town. Bella had supposedly been unconscious and bleeding against the windshield when Sam had transformed and scared the woman away. He'd called an ambulance once he'd checked her over but unfortunately it hadn't ended there. After the ambulance had arrived and the two Cullens and Beth had been informed of Bella's admittance to Forks General Hospital, the woman had regrouped, upset that her meal had been lost, and met up with two other males, Laurent and James. The leader of the small nomadic coven, James, tracked her back to the hospital and unfortunately for them, came across the remaining Cullens once Alice had finally seen what was happening. The other, smarter male left once he'd realized the odds weren't in their favor but in the end James had died by Edward's hand once he'd read that he would never give up the chase. It hadn't been a done deal until the tracker had thought about the intriguing scent that clung to Edward like a smoke; he'd smelled Elizabeth's potent scent from Edward and his family. He died shortly thereafter, only managing to dodge Jasper once, before Emmett caught him and held him back while Edward wrenched his ugly head from his shoulders. Rosalie, Alice and Esme ran off to capture the woman, but due to a gift she had, had escaped. They all knew that she would be back one day, her face showing her craving for revenge under all the heartbreak of losing her mate.

It was all a mess, really. But the cover story they'd fabricated with Sam Uley was that a deer had run into the middle of the road and that Bella just managed to dodge it but lost control of the truck and drove into a tree due to the slick roads. Still, it was all up for question if Bella woke up recalling any details about her encounter with the woman before Sam had interrupted her. But Carlisle had warned them all that she might have a bit of memory loss due to the severe concussion she got from the trauma. Beth felt awful for hoping that had been the case, but couldn't think of a better alternative apart from exposing the Cullen's for what they were... But that wasn't her secret to tell, nor was it among any of the options that had presented itself. So if Bella remembered, Beth would have to lie. The thought was sickening. There was already so much that she was hiding from her twin, but there wasn't any other true choice. But Beth would make sure that Bella never found out. This world was too dangerous even without the added storybook monsters and she had to convince herself that she was doing it for the betterment of Bella in the end. She would never know, Beth swore. But the guilt was still there.

"Alice says she won't, and I'm more willing to believe that, than anything else right now," Edward replied calmly, assured by his sister's claims. Nobody betted against Alice's predictions. And this was set in stone, nothing could change the outcome. When Bella awoke, she would not remember.

Beth hummed, only slightly abated, before taking another sip of her lemonade.