A/N: Not my usual style at all, but my fingers led me to the keyboard so blame them!
Warning: Sad, depressing.
P.S. See if you can guess who's POV it is. You'll find out by the middle. (It's a One-shot!)
Enjoy :)
The Angel
The joints in my fingers ached and cracked as I extended them, reaching for the glass of water on the bedside table. The glass felt slippery, and unsafe in my trembling hand as I brought it back to my withered lips. Convulsing violently in the glass, the water dribbled quickly down my chin as I took a small sip. The water felt strange against my dry throat and I coughed hoarsely as I lowered the glass back onto the table gently.
My hand fell back onto my lap in defeat and my entire body felt limp. I leaned back slowly against the pillows, wincing as my aching back came in contact with the sturdy mattress. My breathing was labored as my eyes opened slowly and examined my hand.
I felt my forehead crumbled as I weakly brought the hand up to my face, noticing the pronounced blue veins, the discoloration, and the prominent joints beneath my papery skin. Covering most of it was a thick square of white tape, a tan tube disappearing beneath it.
I let my hand fall again, tilting my chin up as I listened. The beeping machine beside my bed was quickly slowly, though the leisurely heart beats were better heard inside of my own eardrum.
I could feel the pain reach it's peak, and I tightened the muscles around my eyes, gripping onto the white sheet, waiting for it to lessen. When it finally did, my body felt like it was melting. All too quickly I could feel myself drifting, my eyes slowly closing.
And then I heard it. A soft voice from outside of my room. I sighed in pleasure, just the sound of the voice seemed to further push me, the sound musical and clearly female. It was impossible not to make out the words the musical voice said, each syllable was clear and steady. "I'm his granddaughter," the female voice insisted, with a wisp of stubbornness and persistence that seemed so familiar.
I was still trying to grasp what was so familiar about the voice when I heard the door squeak open. I struggled to open my eyes, but when I did, I only managed to open them halfway, my eyelids were heavy and kept falling downward as I searched the room.
Suddenly a face appeared above me, and I blinked lazily, willing myself to see it more clearly. Even with my dire eyesight, I could tell that the women was not human. Her beauty was shocking, and the first thought that I could grasp in my slowly numbing mind was, an angel.
"Oh, Charlie," the angel whimpered immediately.
I frowned. The distressed sound of her beautiful voice was heartbreaking. Unsteadily, I picked up the same shriveled hand I had been examining before. I felt a cold hand wrapped around it, the strength it held was obvious as my own felt so fragile in it's grasp.
"Be careful," a different voice warned softly, this voice however, sounded more familiar somehow. It was musical just like the first one, it was clearly male, yet more recognizable, like I'd heard it before.
In reaction to the his words, the angel loosened her grip on my hand, and then she began to weep.
"Charlie, I'm so sorry. I should have been here, I could have helped…" her voice was laced with something that resembled ancient grief and heart ache.
The male voice interrupted her quietly once more, "He doesn't know who you are, love. He thinks you're an angel."
I didn't have time to think about the man's words because an ice cold hand landed gently on my cheek. "Charlie, it's me. Don't you remember me?" The voice whispered sadly.
I felt my brow furrow in concentration. My eyes had since closed and I fought to open them. Soon, my eyelids peeled back slowly and the light flooded in, leaving my blind for a moment as I searched for the face of the angel. Don't you remember me?
"Bella?" I whispered raptly, immediately taking my hand from hers and bringing it up to her face. Her name sounded strange on my tongue. How many times had I wished I could say her name again, see her face…
"Yes," she smiled sadly, placing her hand over mine. "It's me, Charlie."
My eyes searched her expression. Hadn't she been weeping? Her face was dry, but the pain in her eyes was evident.
"Bella," I said again, my lips slowly spreading into a smile.
A small part of my brain was arguing with my bliss, telling me that she was just a hallucination. The Bella in front of me looked exactly how I remember her to look so many years ago, though perhaps, even more beautiful. The Bella in front of me resembled the eighteen year old Bella, not the real one who was surely much older by now. But the part of my brain that rested on this conclusion was very faint, and I could feel it slowly slipping away.
"I missed you so much, Bells," I whispered, my voice barely audible, even to my own ears.
"I've missed you too, Dad" she smiled weakly and then her face collapsed as the machine beside me began to dawdle, "And I always will," she whispered, her golden angel eyes closing in pain.
I could feel my own eyes slowly closing and I did my best to reassure her by gently smoothing my thumb over her cool cheek.
"I'm glad you came to live with me," I whispered, suddenly remembering. "I'm glad you moved to Forks, though it was so many years ago…"
She didn't respond but I could hear the soft murmur of her dry sobs, and I frowned.
Suddenly I remembered the other person in the room. It took me a few moments of intense thinking, trying to pin point the voice, my memory unraveling slowly.
"Edward?" I whispered finally.
"Yes, sir," the voice answered.
"You'll promise, to take care of my little girl, won't you?" I wasn't sure if words had even come out of my mouth as my lips mouthed, but Edward answered all the same.
"I'll take good care of her Charlie, for an eternity, I promise," though his voice sounded far away, his voice was strong, his words burning with a type of guarantee that I didn't understand, though I understood the promise all the same.
I meant to nod, but I couldn't remember if the gestured had been completed. I felt my finger softly stroke Bella's cheek once more before I could no longer feel it, and her cheek disappeared beneath my palm.
"I love you, Bella. Be happy, always," I murmured, using my last bit of strength in those words, making sure she heard them.
Something cold, and marble like, pressed against my forehead, and then I heard the angel speak, her words tumbled through the air like music, softly sinking into me. The words not only flowed through my ear and to my brain, but through my skin and into my heart, as it played it's last beat.
"I love you, Dad, and I'm sorry."
It's my first attempt ever at angst, so don't be too harsh please!