Edward's Point Of View
The sterile smell of antiseptic assaulted my nose the moment I cracked my eyes open, and for a moment... just a moment, I thought maybe this was a nightmare. Maybe I'd wake up in my own damn bed, with my company intact, my money secure, my future assured.
But the cold stiffness of the hospital bed beneath me, the IV line attached to my arm, the beeping of the monitors around me...
It was all real.
I lay there, frozen, staring up at the ceiling in a daze as the memories came flooding back.
The failed deal. The losses. The fucking destruction of everything I'd built.
My throat tightened painfully, rage bubbling up in my chest like a volcano about to erupt.
"Edward?" Isabella's soft voice broke through the haze, and I turned my head slowly.
She was perched on the edge of the chair beside my bed, her face pale, eyes red-rimmed from crying. She looked at me like I was something fragile. Like I might shatter at any second.
