Pacing behind the man bound to the exposed pipe, Bella focused on her surroundings. Water dripped in the distance, the plop plop plop echoing throughout the vacant warehouse. Air whistled in and out of his lungs, laboring under the stress of his wounds. Her own heart roared in her ears, nearly drowning out all of the above. Darkness surrounded her, and if not for her infrared goggles, she'd be blind.
Garrett was gathering his things together when Bella came home from Luscious Bites. Behind him, she spotted Edward sitting on the foot of the bed.
“Everything okay?” she murmured to Garrett.
He nodded, shooting a glance over his shoulder. “Tough PT session today.”
The first few days after the accident were undoubtedly the toughest. Edward hated being stuck in a hospital bed, and there was only so much Bella could do to entertain him. She spent as much time with him as possible while also ensuring Tanya's sabotage wasn't successful. Both Tanya and Victoria remained guests of the state, held without bond because they posed considerable flight risks. As much as Bella tried to put them out of her thoughts, she couldn't comprehend what she'd done to deserve the petty behavior they aimed at her.
Standing alone in the stark white hallway, Bella hugged herself tighter in an attempt to warm up. The others had made a coffee run, and now she regretted insisting she'd be fine by herself. At least she wasn't stuck in her cocktail dress, since Austin and Eric had gone to her apartment to get some clothes for her. The sweatshirt she wore nearly swallowed her whole, a pair of leggings clinging to her thighs as she heaved out a heavy sigh. Raising her shoulder, she inhaled the fresh laundry scent, which should have brought her a sense of familiarity in the midst of the generic hospital decor.
Thankfully, Bella had been entirely too busy to worry about Tanya's antics. Edward was proud of her for not letting that horrible skank ruin her day. They’d enjoyed a fun dinner with their friends; Eric was perfect for Austin, as they were all learning the more time they spent together. He could perfectly temper the too-serious nature Austin tended to fall into without even realizing it. They were obviously in love, making it so much easier for Edward to let go of any feelings of jealousy or resentment he’d once felt toward him. He might have been Bella’s sugar daddy at one time, but that was so far in the rear-view mirror, it nearly didn't exist.
Cleaning was not Bella’s favorite thing to do. She’d spent her share of time doing it at the restaurant, between clearing tables to give the bussers a hand and keeping her workstation in the kitchen clean. However, this was a whole new level of hell. The building wasn’t filthy, per se, but the health department held higher standards for a bakery than they did a florist. What display cases she could keep had to be sanitized, and the new ones had to be unwrapped after delivery and then cleaned before she could put them in their place. Bella had taken to wearing gloves, so she didn’t leave fingerprints on the glass each time she adjusted the position of something. Too many shelves had been Windexed to death because she wasn’t satisfied with the spacing and kept changing them.
Therapy was, frankly, exhausting. Edward didn't know how Bella managed to go more than once a month without having to hide under the covers for the rest of the day like a child in need of a nap.
A large part of Edward—a very large, throbbing part—wanted to give in to his urges. Being domestic with Bella brought back those good memories he'd long since buried. What he once thought could only be a physical relationship, full of quickies and no substance, had grown into much more. Edward had missed her, there was no denying that. If he put thoughts of Bella to the back of his mind, he could live his life without her. Perhaps it would be difficult. Maybe he would only be lying to himself that he was fully happy, but he could have a complete life without Bella Swan. He'd done it once and he could do it again.
Feeling numb for the remainder of the dinner rush, Bella tried her best to block out the sound of their grating voices. Tanya and Vicky's reputations for being ruthless gossips had made them a large circle of fake friends, and Bella was more than happy to be excluded. No one needed friends who were prepared to stab them in the back at the slightest provocation just because it meant getting ahead by a tiny inch. Bella had a job to do, and she was damn good at it. Still, by the time the dinner crowd left, she had to sit in the break room and lower her head between her knees.
Between Bella and Austin, they’d rescheduled the meeting with Seth for the evening so Edward could be there. Bella wasn't sure how she felt about his revelation from the night before. Not that he was better off financially, or even that he’d kept it from her.
Alice was . . . an entity of her own. She was cute, knowledgeable, and not afraid to make fun of herself. Bella thought Alice and Jasper would make a great couple, but that would require Jasper to stop putting his dick in every woman who glanced his way.
