Pinned but Fluttering

Chapter 14

Here's a nice, long one for you...the longest one yet!! I'm sure you all have figured out the source of the mysterious voice at the end of the last chapter. I was up grading essays until 4:00 AM, so I hope this all makes sense, LOL!

Enjoy!!!!

Chapter 14

I slowly became aware of a strangely unusual smell...like a combination of undiluted bleach and cherry cough syrup. It stung the membranes inside my nose, so I reached up to cover my nose with my hand.

An icy cold hand stopped my own hand from touching my face. The coldness felt good, quite refreshing actually. I could hear Mrs. Jane's voice in the distance, as if she were across a room from me or something. Maybe even farther away than that. Her voice went in and out of hearing range, as if someone were toying with the volume of a radio.

Finally I managed to pry my eyes open and found myself staring into yet another pair of dark eyes, although these eyes weren't as deeply black as the others I had seen throughout the day. I blinked once, twice, then noticed that these eyes, though dark, were warm and welcoming. There was something oddly familiar about them, too.

A cold hand rested on my forehead for a moment, then a painful brightness flashed into my eyes which I closed quickly, throwing my hands over my eyelids for protection from the excruciating brilliance.

“There you are,” spoke a velvety male voice. “Welcome back, Miss Swan.”

I heard rapid footsteps that could only be Mrs. Jane's, then her anxious voice at my side. “Bella, are you all right?”

“She'll be fine,” the smooth voice said. I wasn't so sure.

Slowly I lowered my hands and reopened my eyes. Orange spots marred my vision for a few moments, then finally I began to see clearly.

“Sorry about the flashlight,” apologized the voice again. Somehow, this voice seemed familiar, too...as if I had heard it long, long ago. It was the kind of voice one heard on television or the radio...distinctive but smooth and soothing. And kind, very kind... “I assure you that it was entirely necessary to check the dilation of your pupils.”

I saw the dark eyes again, and the gentle smile that lit the face of the pale, blonde man standing beside me. He was extraordinarily handsome, almost like movie-star handsome. But handsome was the wrong word. Perhaps beautiful? Gorgeous? I felt a tug on my hand and turned my head reluctantly away from the gorgeous man to see Mrs. Jane standing at my other side, scooping up one of my hands in hers and squeezing it gently.

I blinked again. “W-w-what happened?” I asked unsteadily, reaching up with my free hand to touch my face which still felt weird. I discovered a narrow plastic tube taped across my cheeks and beneath my nose. My skin itched under the tape; it was totally annoying.

Cool hands grasped my hands again. “You need supplemental oxygen for just a little longer. Your oxygen sats were a little low,” said the beautiful man who must be a doctor of some kind, I guessed. I looked away from his stunning face to note he was wearing one of those white lab-type coats. Yep, a doctor.

I could totally handle this man as my doctor....

“You fainted in the parking lot,” answered Mrs. Jane, pulling my wandering thoughts back to reality. “Fortunately, Dr. Cullen happened to be walking by, so he carried you into the emergency room.”

Dr. Cullen? Gosh, I just couldn't seem to escape Cullens today.

He smiled down at me, and I almost stopped breathing; his face was so...so...beautiful. That wasn't really a word used to describe men, but it definitely described Dr. Cullen perfectly.