LIMINAL || 𝙅𝙖𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧 𝙃𝙖𝙡𝙚 [1]

𝟙𝟙 | 𝕀 𝕙𝕠𝕡𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕕𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖

Angela had used words like 'strong willed' and 'determined' when describing Jessica after we'd met. I was steadily learning that what she'd really like to say was 'stubborn.' What Jessica had yet to realize, was that I'd spent the last eighteen years cultivating an equally stubborn and headstrong personality.

"It'll be fine," Angela stepped in before either Jess or I could say anything else. "Besides, Alice probably has some amazing fashion advice she can give us while we're getting ready. You know she's won best dressed two years in a row."

That seemed to satisfy Jessica enough. She reminded us about the nail appointment we'd all booked on Saturday at noon before heading to her own car. For the first few moments of the car ride to the hospital, neither Angels nor I said anything. I was feeling guilty about inviting someone to her house without asking on top of not telling Matt about my test. Finally I couldn't stand the silence anymore.

"I'm sorry about inviting Alice without asking you first. Jessica's right; it's pretty rude."

Angela flipped between the stations on her radio before landing on soft rock. An acoustic Bon Jovi song filled the air.

"It's not a problem, Collins. Really. Jessica has had a hang up about the Cullens ever since she asked out Edward, and he turned her down. She does think they're a little weird, but I doubt she'd make such a big deal about it if that hadn't happened."

I nodded my head along, feeling a little bit better.

"Well anyway, I'm still sorry, but I think we'll have a good time."

"I agree. It kind of reminds me of last year's prom. Bella had broken her leg in this freak accident and now you're in a boot too."

This wasn't the first time someone had mentioned 'Bella' and 'freak accident' in the same sentence, but it was the first time someone had mentioned her breaking her leg last year.

"What was the freak accident?" I tried to ask nonchalantly. My mind conjured images of Edward being the real accident. What if he'd done something to hurt her? He had been giving me weird vibes at lunch for almost a whole month now.

"I'm not sure; something about tripping down stairs when she and Edward went to visit her mom in Phoenix, I think?"

A slice of fear spread across my stomach. So Edward had at least been present when the accident had happened. The guy creeped me out for reasons I hadn't figured out yet, though it probably had to do with the way he looked at me. Like he knew what I was thinking at any given moment. Bella had probably gone to a hospital near the accident, but that didn't mean Forks Hospital wouldn't have received those records at some point.

Deborah was on it the second I walked through the doors. There was an exceptionally long list of visits from that day that needed to be recorded and a handful of phone calls that needed to be made to reschedule some appointments. The idea to take a peek at Bella's file popped up in my mind on more than one occasion, but I kept attempting to push it out of my head. Her dad was the chief of police for Forks; surely he would have noticed if something was off about Edward and Bella's relationship. Even still, the idea continued to linger until I couldn't resist it anymore. I needed a stack of files to record into the computer anyway.

The beginning of her file held the usual papers: copy of birth certificate, immunization records, a list of foods, plants, and medication that she was allergic to, and so on. It was a thicker file, with notes on doctor's visits from adolescence until young adulthood. Bella, it appeared, was an extremely clumsy person. At the very end was the paper I had been searching for. It was a fax from a hospital in California, where she had received medical treatment following a trip down several flights of stairs and-