I opened my eyes to see a bright light. I blinked a few times to adjust. There were fluorescent lights above me. I turned my head and saw what looked like hospital equipment. A soothing voice came from the other side of the room.

"I'm glad to see you're awake Miss Swan."

I watched the most handsome man I had ever seen enter my room. He had light blonde hair, and his dimpled smile reached his tired eyes. He had to be Doctor Cullen, who had everyone swooning.

Dr. Cullen stepped to the side of my bed.

"How are you feeling?" He asked as he looked down at a clipboard.

"I'm fine." I hoped my parents didn't hear about this yet.

"You gave us a scare when you hadn't woken up when we took x-rays. But everything looks good. Is your head hurting at all? You did have some bleeding." He gently put his hand on the top of my head.

I winced.

"Did that hurt?" Dr. Cullen noticed.

"No, it's fine. Am I free to go?" I needed to get out of there.

"Your parents should be here any moment." I could feel him studying me.

"Oh, great," I mumbled.

I noticed my clothes neatly piled on a chair next to the bed. Embarrassed, I looked down at myself in a hospital gown.

Dr. Cullen sat down at the edge of the bed. "There is something I wanted to ask you before your parents get here."

Oh god. My mind wondered about all the possibilities this conversation could go.

"One of the nurses had to change you out of your clothes to examine you for other possible injuries. She noticed some scars on your legs. I wanted to know if you would be okay to talk to me about them."

What he said caught me off-guard. I had almost forgotten about those scars. The more I realized what he was trying to say, the more I realized why Alice and the rest of the Cullens acted strange when I stripped down into my swimsuit.

"I, uh, just had some problems before. I hadn't done anything like that in months." Come to think of it, I hadn't cut myself since the Cullens moved to town.

Dr. Cullen gave me a gentle smile. "I won't tell your parents about this. But I want you to either come to talk to me or anyone in my family if you're having those kinds of problems again. Okay?"

I blushed. Not knowing what to say, I just nodded my head.

"Good girl." Dr. Cullen's velvety voice sent goosebumps up my arms.

He walked over to open the door, and a crowd of Cullens spilled in.

"Are you okay?" Emmett asked first, almost ramming into the bed.

"How's your head?" Jasper leaned in close to inspect my head.

"Does anything hurt?" Rosalie stood beside Emmett.

"Please say you'll come to the beach again with us someday!" Alice looked like she had been crying. She kneeled at my bedside.

"Do you need anything?" Edward whispered as he stood on the other side of my bed.

I looked up at him. Tears suddenly flooded my eyes.

"Thanks, but I'm fine."

I noticed Dr. Cullen standing in the doorway. Then, there was a commotion coming from the hall. He frowned.

"Excuse me! Excuse me! Where's my daughter?"

I frowned as well. That could only be Renee making all that noise.

"Quiet down! We're in a hospital for God's sake!" And Charlie is chasing after her.

"Let me see my daughter!" Renee shouted right outside.

"She's right in here Mrs. Swan." Dr. Cullen moved out of her way.

The look on her face was almost pathetic. It looked as if the hospital's phone call woke her up out of a day drinking binge. Her hair was all over the place, and her makeup was smudged.

Charlie didn't look much better, to be honest. He looked exhausted from trying to calm her down.

"Oh my God, sweetie! What happened? Are you alright? Oh, my baby!"

Renee stormed past everyone surrounding my bed. They all took a few steps back. Charlie jogged right behind her.

"What were you doing at that beach again?" Charlie asked.

"It was nothing like that dad. A wave hit me and pushed me down into some rocks." I looked over at the Cullens and smiled. "I actually had a great time otherwise."

"Did you know she was going to the beach again?" Charlie glared at Renee.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Renee shouted.

"I was at work, you were at home. You should have known where she was going!" Charlie snapped.

"Oh, yes! Blame me again!" Renee cried out.

I squeezed my eyes shut and took in a deep breath.

"Stop! Just stop it! I can go to the beach if I want to! I don't care about what happened before! I have new friends now and I had fun with them!"

"But baby," Renee whispered.

I understood Renee felt guilty about what happened to me years ago. But seeing her act like that in front of other people angered me.

"No, Renee. You can't say anything after you left me alone the last time."

Renee started to cry into my arms. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"Chief Swan, can I see you and your wife outside please?" Dr. Cullen calmly said.

Charlie nodded his head and grabbed Renee's arm. "Honey, please. We have to talk to the doctor."

Renee shoved Charlie's hand away, "Don't touch me."

It was silent until Dr. Cullen shut the door.

I let out a loud sigh of relief and sank into my bed.

"I'm sorry. Don't mind my parents. They're just crazy sometimes." I tried to laugh it off.

The look of concern on everyone's faces drove me crazy. I felt tears flooding my eyes again.

"It's okay, Bella." Edward walked over to my bed again.

The others followed him.

"Can you tell us what happened at the beach before?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, why did you stop going there? It was so beautiful. Rosalie asked.

I choked down my need to cry. "I used to be good friends with Jessica and Victoria. They invited me to go to the beach with them. I was surprised but happy. They had started to ignore me the week before. My mom dropped me off and would come back after a few hours. Jessica and Victoria thought it would be fun to take turns burying each other in the sand. They buried me up to my neck. We all laughed until they suddenly took off. They never came back and we were the last ones on the beach. All I could do was wait for my mom to pick me up. But she never did."

"Oh my god, what did you do?" Alice asked.

"When did someone come to get you?" Jasper asked.

I choked again, "It wasn't until late at night. I couldn't see anything. I couldn't scream for help. I was afraid some animal would attack me. Finally, my dad got home from work and noticed I wasn't home. He and some of his friends from the reservation finally found me."

"Jesus." Emmett shook his head.

Edward and Rosalie looked at each other and frowned.

Alice hugged me. "I am so sorry, Bella. I'd understand if you never wanted to go to the beach again."

I hesitated but hugged her back. "It's okay, Alice. I really did have a good time with you guys. I'd still want to go with all of you again."

I heard Alice start crying on my shoulder. I finally let myself cry. The others came to hug me as well.

A knock on the door made me jump. It opened slowly as the Cullens unwrapped their arms around me.

"I hope it's alright that I sent your parents home. I told them you couldn't handle any stress right now and needed to stay in a calm environment. Your mother didn't seem to appreciate that. Charlie, on the other hand, understood. He said it was alright for you to stay with us until you feel better." Dr. Cullen smiled.

"Oh, you didn't have to do that. I don't need to stay the night here. I'll be fine at home." I didn't need to rack up a hefty hospital bill.

Dr. Cullen patted my head. "I meant that you can come home with us and stay there tonight. If you want to."

All the Cullen children smiled at each other. They seemed so excited for me to spend the night with them. I felt awkward about the whole thing.

"I don't know." I looked down at my hands.

"Please, please! You'll have a great time, I swear!" Alice begged.

Those puppy dog eyes of hers win every time.

"Alright." I sighed and smiled at them.

Never in a hundred years would I believe I would sleep over at a friend's house again. Surprisingly, I was very excited.