–

Dylan was on his way to work at the same time as we arrived for my appointment and I pulled him aside desperate to confide in someone about my dream/ hallucination.

“Bella, baby, we don’t have time for this. You’re already five minutes late,” my mom reminded me gently as though afraid that anything but soft-spoken words might break me into a million fragments.

 “Then what’s five more?” I asked, my hand firmly wrapped around Dylan’s elbow.

“What’s up, woman?” he asked with a happy glint in his eyes. Apparently my rebuff last night was forgiven, for he seemed genuinely pleased to see me today. “You look like you had a rough night.” He winked conspiratorially, the cad.

I looked him up and down. Even in his scrubs the guy was F.I.N.E. fine. Yeah, all the Aerosmith I was listening to was affecting my natural thought process. “And you look just fine,” I complained. “Why is that?”

“Experience, baby. So, what’s wrong? You look like you saw a ghost.”

He was closer to the truth than he knew. “I might as well have.” I launched into a quick summary of what I could remember and concluded with the out of place diary and the smell that clung to it.

“Bella! Now!” Renee shouted not sounding at all like her normal laid back self.

“I’m coming,” I answered without taking my eyes off of Dylan’s perturbed face. He seemed genuinely concerned about my confession.

“Go to your appointment. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Wait. Should I tell him I’m hallucinating?”

“God no, woman. Are you fucking insane?” He laughed at the irony of that question considering there was quite a good chance that I was, but he didn’t seem bothered by my craziness.

“Isabella Marie Swan. Get your butt over here right now!”

The smile he gave me was one of encouragement, but something darker hovered just beaneath the surface. Probably wondering what he’d gotten himself into with me and how best to extricate himself without making me suicidal, I thought darkly as I slipped into the all too familiar office and prepared to lie my ass off about how I was feeling today. If Dylan was certain that the truth was such a bad thing, then I’d do my best to make up positive thoughts and feelings.