Remember Me (A Twilight fan fiction)

2. Decision

Edward had returned to the hotel where his family was staying temporarily. Phoenix, with its dry heat and ever-present sun, was not a place he would have preferred to remain for any length of time. Fortunately, dressed in long sleeves and jeans, his body had been covered, but the glittering pale skin of his face would have drawn stares from other humans. He kept his head low, covering the top of his hairline with a newspaper, blocking the sun's rays from his sparkly countenance when he entered and departed from the cab. It would have been easy for him to walk or even run the short five blocks to the hotel, but threatened by the sun's exposure, he opted to remain out of sight as much as possible as had the other Cullen's.

He peered out the window of the twentieth floor, his eyes meeting the unforgiving blue of the sky pierced by a flurry of high rise buildings.

"There's always hope," Carlisle told him, standing in the sitting area. The patriarch of the Cullens took his wife's hand in his and squeezed it in a small attempt to soothe the worry from her brows.

Edward turned to face his adopted father and mother, the corners of his lips turned downward. "Bella doesn't remember me. All she remembers is that monster." Even now, he recalled that shameful ghastly reflection of himself in her wide brown eyes.

"The human brain, as you know, Edward, is extremely complex. Bella appears to be suffering from retrograde amnesia." Carlisle seemed to voice this for the group's benefit. Alice sat in the loveseat with her fingers pressed against her head. Seated next to her was Jasper, who stared at the blank sheets of hotel stationery on the coffee table. Rosalie and Emmett stood like statues facing the opposite window.

"Is there a cure?" Emmett asked, turning to face the leader of their coven.

Carlisle shook his head. "I'm afraid not. While it's very likely that Bella may regain her memory at some point in time, there is no guarantee."

"But why?" Edward asked, still uncomprehending this whole situation. "Why is it that she only remembers back to her first week of school?"

"There's no way to know for sure," Carlisle told him. "Traumatic experiences can often cause a person to block the actual events. In Bella's case, her concussion appeared to have erased that time between your first meeting until now."

Edward ran fingers through his already tousled bronze hair. "So, you mean to tell me that our first meeting was more traumatic to Bella than the car accident where she was nearly sandwiched between her Chevy and Tyler's van?"

"You saved her life," Alice said, still rubbing at her choppy dark locks with her fingers.

"Or when she was assaulted by those hoodlums in Port Angeles?"

"Again, you saved her, Edward." Her voice spoke matter-of-factly, but Alice's tone displayed the irritation she was feeling. "Obviously, Bella wasn't as traumatized by those experiences as you think she was."

A fresh wave of guilt washed over Edward. If he had only known, he would not have behaved so harshly toward Bella during that initial meeting in Biology class. Although, he reasoned, he had successfully avoided killing her on more than one occasion. Clearly he could remember that despicable obsession with her scent and how many ways he had plotted to feed on her. During those first crucial weeks, he could barely resist the delicious temptation of her blood. Now, after nearly losing her, the delectable appeal it once carried had now faded.

"In any case, she appears to have forgotten those incidents as well," Carlisle put in, seeing the torturous expression written on Edward's face. Whether it was Edward's fault or not, the younger vampire was likely to accept the blame. Carlisle turned to the most intuitive of the females, hoping to change the subject. "Alice, anything yet?"