I could sense myself slipping…fading away. The overwhelming pain that encompassed every inch of my body was now reduced to a dull throb. But it too was slowly vanishing, replaced by…nothing at all. Death was looming over me. I begged death to find me quickly, trying and failing to lift my shattered arms in a futile attempt to draw it closer to me in a weak embrace.

I drew a thin, raggedy breath, shrieking in my mind at the torturous pain that ripped through my chest. I lay there in the street, nothing but a broken corpse, ashamed, humiliated, and…soiled. Roughly-laid cobble stones dug into my back, intensifying my pain to indescribable proportions. Delicate flakes of snow began to fall, soaking my shattered body, and making the rough stone beneath me slick with frost.

I’m ready, I told God, amazed at the composure of my thoughts.

“You’re going to be fine. Stay awake, Rosalie,” said God. My muscles unclenched in relief – it would be okay now. God was with me. I supposed that meant I was dead. Tranquility coursed through me – it was finally over.

He probed my injuries, searching for the extent of the damage done. Daggers of pain shot through my limbs where he touched me. If I had been able to scream, I would have done so. Death had neglected to find me once again. And if I was still alive, then the figure bending over me wasn’t God. It was…. I realized I didn’t know.

“Miss Hale, this is Dr. Carlisle Cullen. Can you hear me? Please try to stay with me. I promise you, everything will be fine.” And then, under his breath, “Who did this to her?”

A vague feeling of irritation washed over me. Who exactly had given him permission to touch me? I just wanted to be left alone to die. Here on this deserted street – this is where it would end. Why couldn’t he see that?

Besides, I hadn’t even liked Dr. Cullen and his family the one or two times I had seen them in society. They were far more beautiful than I could ever hope to be – than anybody I’d ever met could hope to be. Fierce jealously seethed within me, although my sweet façade hid my true sentiments. Thankfully, the Cullens tended not to hold company within my social circle very often.