unconsciousness would be an undesirable outcome

[self_composed]

On Sunday, Bella drives to the movie theater with Angela in tow, and her car breaks on the way home from Angela's house. She calls a tow truck, and calls her dad, and she goes home in the cop car and her station wagon goes on vacation to the mechanic.

On Monday, Charlie drives Bella to school.

As she's been discharged from the car and Charlie pulls away, a van driven by a panicking teenager screams out of nowhere towards Bella.

Making wishes is easy.

It is not automatic. It is not instantaneous.

The van creams Bella, good and proper.

Comments

[edgeofyourseat]

Alice is lying under a tree by the edge of the parking lot, not particularly thinking about much.

He hears the van go out of control; he sits up.

He doesn't have time to make any useful wishes, but his body reacts faster than his mind; he bolts across the parking lot toward her.

[self_composed]

Charlie's faster.

Charlie has the dispatcher on the radio and an ambulance on the phone and himself, shielding Bella from onlookers, interposed between Alice and his daughter, before Alice gets there.

"NOBODY TOUCH HER!" Charlie roars. "YOU DO NOT TOUCH A TRAUMA PATIENT. THE AMBULANCE IS ON THE WAY." He points at the nearest able-bodied student, some sophomore girl. "GET THE SCHOOL NURSE NOW."

His voice is all business, all Chief Swan. But he's got tears in his eyes.

[edgeofyourseat]

For fuck's sake.

He skids to a halt in time to keep himself from actually colliding with Bella's father. Neither lies nor violence will get him past this man. Nothing he can wish for with six squares, eight triangles, and a pentagon will help.

Alice sits down on the ground, buries his hands in his hair, and shudders.

[self_composed]

The sophomore gets the school nurse. Who has no clue what to do with Bella's crushed, unconscious, and very barely breathing body. The nurse leads away the driver of the van, instead, to patch up his injuries; he's walking wounded.

The ambulance appears a couple of minutes later. Paramedics pour out, and Charlie yields his daughter to them and rides in the back of the vehicle with her.

[edgeofyourseat]

Well, it's not like he doesn't know where she's going.

The hospital in town is not that far away. Alice gets up and starts walking.

[self_composed]

An hour later, when he arrives at the hospital, it just looks like a hospital. Bella's presumably in it somewhere.

The lady at the front desk wants to know what he's there for.

[edgeofyourseat]

"My best friend got hit by a car," he says, sounding appropriately unhappy about the situation. "I wanna see how she's doing."

[self_composed]

"What's your friend's name?"

This hospital is tiny and probably contains only one car accident victim, but. Confidentiality.

[edgeofyourseat]

"Bella Swan."

[self_composed]

"And your name? I'll see if you're on her list."

[edgeofyourseat]

His fingernails dig into his palms. "Delaney. Hammond."

[self_composed]

"Mmmm... nope. Are you an immediate family member or someone who's been granted power of attorney or anything like that? Because if so you'd be on here. And you aren't."

[edgeofyourseat]

"Guess not," he says flatly.

[self_composed]

"Well, then I'm very sorry, you'll have to wait till she can receive other visitors," says the lady.

[edgeofyourseat]

"Yeah," he says, and turns around, and stalks out of the building.

Next bad idea: call her cellphone. See if anybody picks up.

[self_composed]

"Hi, this is Bella Swan's phone. Apparently I haven't got it on me or it's out of juice. Tell me who you are and why you're calling and what you want me to do about it at the tone."

Beep!

[edgeofyourseat]

He hangs up.

Okay.

The rules are obviously not working for him here; that means it is time to ignore them.

It is a pretty tiny hospital. Plus side: fewer places Bella could be. Minus side: fewer legitimate reasons people might assume he is wandering around in there. On the other hand, it's not like it's a fucking prison. People come and go.

So he walks back inside.

[self_composed]

"Hello," says the lady at the desk. "I'm afraid no one has been added to Miss Swan's list recently."

[edgeofyourseat]

"Yeah, uh, my storming off in a huff plan was working great until I realized I really need to pee," he says sheepishly. "Is there a bathroom around here I can use?"

[self_composed]

"Yes, just there," says the lady.

The door to the men's room is clearly visible from her desk.

[edgeofyourseat]

"Thanks!"

Off he goes.

And once he is in there, he locks himself in a bathroom stall and sits down on the floor and tries to think of his next bad idea.

It's not looking good.



About half an hour later, Alice emerges from the bathroom. His eyes are a little red. He walks right past the front desk and down the hall.

[self_composed]

"Uh," says the receptionist, but she doesn't complete a thought or get up.

[edgeofyourseat]

Then she is not worth reacting to in any way.

So, what'll it be? Last time he was in this hospital, he didn't spend any time in waiting rooms.

[self_composed]

Charlie's sitting in another waiting room, a bit down the hall from the reception room.

He's on the phone.

"No. No, I don't know, they haven't told me much yet. I just thought you needed to know," he tells the phone.

[edgeofyourseat]

Must be the mom. Alice sits down, some distance away but close enough to hear.