A Fresh Start

The Court Date

Author's Note: I own nothing. I just like to play with the characters that were created by Stephenie Meyer. No copyright infringement is intended.

Also, thank you for those of who have commented and offered well-wishes in my difficult time. It means a lot to me. Writing these stories has been my strength (as silly as that sounds) and has grounded me.

Rated M for future lemons (they will come!)

Chapter 10: The Court Date

I woke up the next morning, disoriented and confused. Why was my alarm going off so early? Oh right, first day of school. Blech. This summer went by too quickly. I got up and took a cursory shower. I threw on a Cherry Blossom t-shirt, a pair of jeans and sneakers. I searched fruitlessly to try and find one of my ankle braces. I'm thinking that they didn't survive the move. Eh.

I put my stuff into my bag and poured myself a cup of coffee in my travel mug. I grabbed my cell phone from my nightstand. I lugged my bag and coffee mug to the car and hopped in. I backed the car out and drove to school, much to my dismay. As I was driving, my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hi, beautiful," Edward said groggily. "I wanted to wish you a good first day of school. I hope it goes well."

"If I don't drool during the meetings, it'll be a good day," I snorted. "You sound bushed."

"No sleep. I got no sleep last night. The ER was hopping. All kids. I think they are trying to avoid going back to school," he sighed. "Anyhow, I'm going to crash in my office for a few hours before I have to actually go INTO work today."

"That is not healthy. The lack of sleep, crazy hours and...I mean how do you do it?" I squeaked.

"It was easier when I was younger. Not that I'm old now, but I had a ton more energy when I was 25 as opposed to now at 32," Edward chuckled.

"I have a hard enough time staying awake during an eight hour day at school," I muttered.

"When it's slow, it's slow. That's when we usually crash. The one thing I've learned about being a doctor is I sleep anywhere, through anything. The flipside is that I can also wake up very easily too. Especially when I hear my last name," Edward explained. "When it's hopping, you can't focus on sleep. It's impossibility."

"Have you ever made mistakes because you were exhausted?"

"Remember that resident from our first lunch together?" Edward asked.

"Yeah," I replied.

"That was an exhaustion mistake. They were so tired that their eyesight was bleary and they didn't see the proper dosage of the medication," Edward said quietly. "Thankfully, I never made a careless mistake like that. Though it is a fear."

"Understandably so," I said. I pulled into my school's parking lot and put the car into park. "I'm here. Don't want to be. However the bright side is that I get to leave a bit early because of my appearance in court this afternoon."

"Shit, that's right! I can try and be there for you, Bella. I am not scheduled to be in the ER, just meetings. I can rearrange my schedule if you want," Edward said hurriedly.

"No, I'm fine. Thank you, though," I said, tears stinging my eyes. A few dropped down my cheeks and I sniffled. "This is something I need to do on my own."

"Are you crying, beautiful girl?" he asked.

"A little."

"Why, Bella?"