The Disillusioned by PhoenixRising25
Review by Dragonfly336
Rating: M
Genre: Romance/Suspense, AU
Characters: Edward/Bella
Summary: Bella Swan needs something to put on her college applications, so she signs up to volunteer at Forks General Hospital. There, she meets Edward, a young man with a complicated past. AU, rated M.
The Disillusioned by PhoenixRising25 starts off pretty much like our beloved Twilight, with Bella moving to Forks her senior year to live with Charlie. But that is where the similarities end. Charlie suggests that Bella do some volunteering at the local hospital to “beef up” her college applications. On the first day of school she learns that Angela also volunteers at Forks General and they decide to meet there after school so that she can help Bella get set up. This is also where we first hear a hint of the whereabouts of Edward.
"Hey, Ang, do you ever see that kid there? You know, the one whose parents were killed last month?" Jess whispered conspiratorially around me.
Angela shook her head, a sad frown on her face. I had no idea what Jess was talking about, but from the change in Angela's demeanor, it couldn't have been good.
"That's too bad," Jess said, oblivious to her friend's expression. "He was hot."
I was about to ask Angela what Jess was referring to, when the warning bell rang, signaling the end of lunch and letting us know we had about five minutes to get to our next class.
We then get an EPOV and learn that he is currently residing in the psych ward of Forks General. It seems that our beloved Edward is under the impression that he is a vampire.
Every day it was the same routine; someone trying to get me to eat. Most days it was Sally, but occasionally, it was the tall, mannish woman with the sideburns and five-o-clock shadow. They had a large staff here, but it made no difference to me. If I didn't select anything, it would undoubtedly get reported to Dr. Marshall that I wasn't eating, and that just caused me a bigger headache. I didn't want the IV again, which is what they did the last time I refused food. How they managed to find a needle that would penetrate my skin, I'll never know.
The thing about it is that Edward thinks he has the characteristics of the Twilight vampires, not of the traditional vampire lore. We also learn that he has been in the hospital since his parents were killed and that he is under the impression that he killed them.
Bella goes to the hospital the next day and learns that she has been given a permanent volunteering position in the psych ward, which she is really apprehensive about at first.
I nodded again, unable to speak. I was becoming a bobble-head. Absently waving to Linda, I followed her directions and headed down the hall, my mind churning. Were all the patients in straight-jackets, being force-fed medications? Would I be ripped apart by cannibalistic crazy people? Were there any violent patients in solitary confinement, like Hannibal Lecter? Anthony Hopkins still gave me the creeps, even a couple of years after I first saw Silence of the Lambs. Every possible scary scenario raced through my mind until I looked up, realizing that I had stopped walking. I was in front of a large door, marked both in English and Braille as my destination.
She soon finds out though that she likes being there and working with the patients, especially a green-eyed boy who is very stand-offish with her at first.
The relationship between Edward and Bella develops slowly, which I actually like in this story. I always find it unlikely of them to fall in love at first sight when one of them is damaged and in this kind of situation.
The story takes off from there, with the arrival of the golden eyed Cullen’s and Aro learning of Edward’s condition by reading in a Psychology journal. I don’t want to give too much away of the story, but trust me, this one is worth reading. PhoenixRising25 writes beautifully and I found myself laughing out loud at times when Edward is speaking of his condition. Go read this and you won’t be disappointed!
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