Falling for a Dark Soul

Chapter Thirty-Three

Disclaimer: None of this mine, nor do I claim to be Stephenie Meyer. I just like to dabble in the playground that she created with Bella, Edward and her Twilight characters. No copyright infringement is intended.

As I said before, we're getting close to the end. We're going back to Bella next chapter, leading up to her birthday and the triumphant return of Edward to MAC. Leave me some loving! Thank you for reading!

Chapter Thirty-Three

Bella

Sitting in the waiting room of my psychiatrist, I was growing more frustrated. I liked the doctor who I was seeing, but he was never on time. I'd usually wait, at least, a half hour to see him. I learned that the hard way when I tried to schedule an appointment during my lunch. I ended up missing the entire afternoon, along with a meeting with Jane and Eric of York Towne Clothing.

Suffice it to say, I moved my appointments to the end of the day or on the weekend. Today, it was the former. I'd bugged out of the office a half hour early to make it to my appointment on time, only to wait. I only dealt with this because I'd felt a connection with the doctor, Dr. Daniel Spencer.

He reminded me a lot of Phil.

The door opened and my doctor poked his head out. "Come on in, Bella," he said, giving me a slight grimace. "I'm sorry about the delay."

"If I didn't like you so much, it would be a problem, Dr. Spencer," I chided, following him to his office. "I also understand why you are behind schedule. You actually care about your patients."

"I do care about my patients, very much. Please, have a seat. Do you want some water? Coffee?" he asked.

"Water would be nice. It's too late for coffee. If I drink coffee now, I'll never be able to sleep tonight," I snickered, sitting down and crossing my legs.

"I've got another four hours. I desperately need the coffee," he quipped, ducking out of the office. A few moments later, he came back into the office, handing me a bottle of water and putting his coffee on the side table next to his chair. "How are you doing today, Bella?"

"I'm alright, I guess," I shrugged, sipping my water. "Focusing on work and rebuilding my relationship with Edward."

"How did the belated birthday celebration go?" Dr. Spencer asked.

"He was completely surprised and we both enjoyed our time together," I smiled. "I'm still feeling like it's my fault that he was in that car accident and I know he blames himself for what happened on the night of his birthday. We're both trying to come to grips with what happened, but we're dealing with our guilt."

"Bella, we've talked about this. It was not your fault that he was in that accident. Nor was it his fault for his upbringing that caused his inherent distrust," Dr. Spencer chided.

"My mind gets it, but my heart is taking its sweet time to play catch up," I snorted humorlessly. "I just wish I could move past this guilt, and fear."

"Have you tried driving?" Dr. Spencer asked.

"Every time I try, I end up having to take an anxiety pill," I choked out. "I can't stop seeing those gouges in the mud and the damage to the trees. I see Edward in that hospital room, a sickly shade of gray and with tubes coming out of him, every which way. He's got some serious injuries to his ribcage because of those animals who beat the shit out of him as a kid. It was exacerbated by the car accident. He wouldn't have been in that car accident if I'd only spoken with him that afternoon. I was the one who told him to come back later. I forced him back, driving in a deluge ..."