Chapter One- Saying Goodbye

Okay, this is my new story! I just got home from Mexico and I really wanted to post something, so here it goes. Enjoy!

Disclaimer- I, however much I wish I did, don't own Twilight. Nor am I Stephenie Meyer.

BellaPOV

"Bel-la, Al-lice," said mommy. I walked over to her, frowning when I saw how flushed she was. She looked like me when I got embarrassed!

"Yes mommy? Is there a frog in your throat?" asked Alice, using the familiar phrase that our mother always used when our voices weren't working very well. I still wasn't quite sure how not being able to talk had anything to do with frogs, but mommy said that it made sense and I believed her.

"Sweetie, I'm sorry but daddy… went to heaven. And I think that I'm going to go be with him soon. You girls are going to go stay with Edward," said mommy, coughing so loudly that Alice and I took a step back. We immediately burst into tears once her words had sunken in.

"B-but m-m-mommy, I-I wanna g-go with y-you," I said, trying hard to speak through my sobs. I wasn't exactly sure where she was going, but I knew that I wanted to be where ever mommy and daddy were. Tears started to roll down her cheeks so I stopped. I didn't want mommy to be sad. I hugged Alice, trying to make her stop crying so that I wouldn't start again.

"I know sweetie, I'm sorry. It's time to say goodbye. Please go to Edward. I love you girls." She said this and closed her eyes, mumbling something about it being time to go home. We said goodbye and then walked to our room. I helped Alice pack our bags. She was still crying but she was trying to be strong too. I was older by 3 minutes, so daddy always said that it was my job to protect her. And I wasn't going to let her be sad.

"Hey Ali, it's going to be okay. You love Edward! He always takes us shopping, and brushes our hair, and stays with us until we go to sleep." I said, then thinking about my words, added, "Just like mommy." She nodded smiling a little bit at the prospect of going to see the cousin that we hadn't seen in weeks. I grabbed our bags and walked toward the door, stopping only for a minute to look into mommy and daddy's room. I didn't think that either of them was breathing.

"Come on Alice, you don't need to look in there," I said, trying to stop Alice before glancing into the room. Usually she would have anyway, but I guess there was something different about my voice this time. She looked up at me, looking frightened, and ran toward the door. I walked out after her, heading down the street toward Edward's house.

I gave her one of the bags so that I could hold her hand, "it's going to be okay," I whispered, trying to believe my own words. She gave me a look that was so sad that I almost started crying again. She knew that mommy and daddy were… gone, and that things were definitely not going to be okay.

"Wait, something's wrong," said Alice when we got to Edward's door. The door was slightly open, so I tried to push it the rest of the way but Alice held me back. "I think… I think that Aunt and Uncle are gone too Bella. I think that Edward doesn't know that we're coming." She said. I knew that she was right, because Alice was always right.

"Well then we need to tell him that we're here," I said, and walked through the door, shaking her arm off. She followed cautiously, but I could tell that she would rather be back outside. I peeked into the room, feeling slightly guilty because mommy always said that we should knock before going into someone's house.

"Edward?" Alice called quietly, walking toward the study. I followed her, realizing that if Alice was right, Edward would be sad. Edward only went to the study when he was sad. He pushed open the door and I saw that his eyes were all red and watery.

"Alice? Bella? What are you-?" Edward said, stopping when it dawned on him why we were here without mommy and daddy. He reached out his arms and we ran in to hug him without a second thought.

"You girls, are you okay? Are you sick?" he asked, suddenly looking more worried than sad. We shook our heads and he sighed in relief before he started coughing. I noticed that his face was flushed just like mommy's was, and that his eyes were all shiny under the red rims.

"Edward… are you sick too?" I asked him, flinching at how scared my voice sounded. Edward had always been my best friend. He wasn't really our cousin, his family was just good friends with ours. Or at least they were.

"Yes. I'm sorry Bella. I'm going to the clinic but I don't know what to do with you girls" he started, breaking off when the coughing returned.

"We'll go too Edward, we can sit in the waiting room. But you need to go now so that you can be not sick," said Alice, having finally calmed down enough to be her usual bossy self. She was like my best friend too, but she didn't understand that dress-up wasn't as much fun to me as it was to her.

"Alice is right. Let's go." We walked out to door and toward the hospital which was two doors down from us. It was a good thing, because I don't think that Edward could have made it any farther. When we got there they quickly made him go to a room before finally seeing us.

"Are you girls sick too?" asked a tall, scary looking nurse. We shook our heads and she gave us a mean look. "You can't be in here then!" she looked all worked up until a nice looking doctor came over to us and told her to go do something else.

"Do you girls have any parents or family that you can stay with?" He asked gently, sounding much nicer than the lady that had talked to us before.

"Mommy and Daddy are in heaven, and so are Edward's parents. Edward's sick but he's going to get better so that he can take care of us," said Alice, sounding absolutely sure. Pain flashed through the doctor's eyes, but it was gone quickly.

"Do you girls think that you can show me which one is Edward?" he asked. He looked as though he already knew, but followed us to Edward's bed anyway. He was laying on the bed with his eyes closed and breathing shallow. I gasped and ran over to hug him, stopping myself at the last minute. It wouldn't help him if I got sick too.

"I promised his mom," said the doctor quietly. I ignored this, still too shocked at how much worse Edward looked in a matter of minutes. Alice had gone silent and was giving the doctor an odd look.

"You can fix him, can't you?" she said softly to him. The doctor looked frightened, like someone was looking into his soul. I wasn't sure what she was talking about, but I knew better than to bet against Alice.

"I-I'll do everything that I can," he said with a new look on his face. It almost looked like- determination? Maybe someone could save him after all.