Hey there! So this chapter is a bit more interesting than the first, I hope you enjoy it. It was hard to write, since I don't really know all of this doctoring-surgery stuff, so if I made a mistake, I apologize, but I'm not a medical person, haha! So please review, and here is the second chapter of Virtually Painless.

"All right, Bella. Just breathe though your nose. It'll be over before you know it."

Carlisle's professional voice rang in my ears, but he sounded far away. I felt Edward's cool hands enveloping mine, soothing me, but I barely felt his touch. Jasper's calming waves hit my body, but they only numbed my anxiety. My baby was being destroyed in a matter of minutes.

"Edward…she looks a bit sick." Jasper's bass voice spoke out. "Is she okay?"

I heard him sigh. "She'll be fine. We're here, Bella, sweetie."

I nodded, feeling my head swirl sickeningly. "Carlisle?"

"Yes, Bella, I'm here."

I swallowed. "Is it going to be like… a normal abortion?"

There was a silence, and then he answered, trying to make his voice unalarming at the same time.

"Well… yes and no. The child is obviously stronger than the normal, so I have to operate differently. More like a c section. The membrane is harder… so I'll need to use a sharper-"

"Carlisle… it might be best not to give her the details." Edward was watching the look of increasing horror that was spreading across my face.

"Ah. Right." He rearranged his features, smiling reassuringly. "No worries, Bella. This will be very quick, virtually painless." Carlisle snapped on his gloves, and turned on the overhead light in his medical room. The brightness momentarily blinded me, but my eyes adjusted soon enough.

Soon enough to see the tray of deadly looking metal objects with serrated edges.

Edward's cool hand came down over my eyes.

"Do you mind hiding those?!" Edward said tensely. I heard a quick rattling, a soft thunk, and then silence.

"Shall we start then?" Carlisle took on a commanding, businesslike voice. "Edward, please get the curtains." Edward raised the metal railings over the examining table that I was lying on. He yanked the fabric over the lower half of my body. I was grateful that I wouldn't have to see anything.

Edward snapped on his own pair of gloves, and I realized that he was going to be Carlisle's assistant. Swallowing the sick feeling in my throat, I squeezed my eyes shut and took Carlisle's advice, taking deep, slow breaths through my nose, and out of my mouth.

"That's right, Bella. Just deep breathing." I was surprised to hear Jasper's deep voice right beside me. I opened my eyes, and stared at him questioningly.

"Jasper's here for… emotional support," Edward informed me, smiling at the irony. I nodded, unable to speak.

Sensing my distress, he took my hand, and leaned down to kiss it gently. "We'll take good care of you, sweetie." I tried to smile, but I wasn't quite sure how it came out. It felt more like a grimace.

Edward raised my hand, and put a small clap over my thumb. Within a second, I heard a habitual beeping beside my feet. I glanced around the curtain, and saw a small, expensive-looking monitor flashing to my heartbeats.

"Mmm. Her heartbeat is normal enough. Sounds like we can start." Carlisle assessed. Edward let go of my hand, and with a quick kiss on my forehead, he disappeared behind the curtain.

Carlisle poked his head around the curtain, hooking his mask behind his ears.

"Now, Bella," he said, his tranquil voice muffled slightly by the fabric covering his nose and mouth. "If I'm hurting you at all, you need to tell me right away. That means you need more morphine, so whatever you need to do, just make sure that I know that it hurts. Can you do that?" Carlisle softened his voice, and leaned closer to me. "I do not want to hurt you in any way."

I swallowed the emotional lump that had formed in my throat. "Thank you, Carlisle. I can do that." I closed my eyes again, making myself as comfortable as possible on the table.

Jasper took my hand, and the contact increased the level of serenity that he emitted.

"The morphine please, Edward. And the syringe."

Oh, crap. There went the calm feeling. The monitor beeped unevenly.

Sighing, Jasper squeezed my hand, and the pressure pacified me. It felt good, but it still didn't help the fact that needles were going to-

"All done. Didn't feel a thing, did you?" I heard Edward say, a smile in his voice. "Needles aren't so bad."

I made a face, but already I could feel the morphine setting in, a strange, numbing sense creeping up my body. Soon, I could barely feel my lower half, and I breathed a nervous sigh. Here it goes.

"Bella, I'm going to start now. Anything hurts, you're going to tell me, correct?"

I bit my lip, and managed to whisper out a response. "Yes."

Jasper squeezed my hand again. "Try not to think too hard, Bella. Just let your mind wander somewhere else." His bass voice was utterly soothing, the words rolling off of his tongue like silk. So I tried to ignore the tugging sensation that was coming from my stomach, and listened to Jasper talk.

"Hm… let me think. I'm sure your honeymoon was wonderful, wasn't it?" I heard Edward choke down a laugh, and I blushed. Jasper rolled his eyes. "I didn't mean it like that, though I'm sure that was wonderful as well... I meant the weather. I've been to Isle Esme only once, and I found it quite warm. Do you like the heat?" He was trying to distract me with questions.

I shrugged. "It was very hot there, yes. But it was nice, very beautiful. We went hiking and snorkeling and did a lot of other things." I had trouble concentrating on the conversation; the tugging was increasing, and though it was not painful, it wasn't exactly comfortable. I winced slightly, instinctively.

"Bella? Does it hurt?" Jasper asked me; he must have seen my reaction. The tugging stopped, and Edward stuck his head around the sheet, his face alert behind the surgical mask.

"Do you want Carlisle to go on?" he inquired.

"Oh, no, it's fine. It's just… tugging. Not painful." I reassured them both.

Edward nodded efficiently, and ducked back out of sight.

Jasper rubbed his thumb in little circles on my palm. His cool hands felt good on my skin, which was slightly overheated.

"The operation I going very smoothly," Carlisle commented. I realized he was talking to me, and I paid attention. "Now, I'm going to have to break through the membrane covering the fetus, and the sound will be unpleasant, but it's to be expected, so don't worry."

I gulped. My child… my poor child… it will be in pain.

Jasper felt my grieving emotions. "It won't feel a thing, Bella."

"Hold on, Edward," I heard Carlisle murmur. There was a soft clank, and then he was at my side, running his hand through his golden-blonde hair.

Though I couldn't see half of his face, Carlisle looked slightly nervous, which was very uncharacteristic. I frowned, feeling somewhat apprehensive.

"How do I phrase this…" he started. My jaw tensed, and I stared at him blankly. "Well… to say it bluntly, don't freak out." He met my eyes. "I've never done anything like this before, but I'm going to say I'll try to make it as… painless as possible for the child." His dark gold eyes were apologetic. "I know it's strong… so it might need to be more…" Carlisle struggled for words, and my heartbeats slowly accelerated. "Ah. Well, Bella, I said I'll try my hardest." He took my other hand. "I'm a man of my word."

I felt my eyes prickle a bit in the corners, and I bit my lip.

"Well," I whispered, my voice cracking a bit, "you said you'll try. I can't ask for more than that."

His eyes crinkled slightly, and I could tell that he was smiling under the mask.

"Thank you." And then he was gone, disappearing behind the curtain. I sighed, and Jasper squeezed my hand. I heard the sound of a tool being picked up.

"Let's get this over with, Ca-"

A high-pitched grating noise came from my body, cutting Edward off, and he swore loudly.

"Carlisle, I think it's trying to escape! Dammit!" Edward yelled, and there was a muffled thump as something fell to the floor. Carlisle started shouting out instructions, and the tugging started up again, but this time with a grotesque squealing noise that filled the small room. I covered my ears, and cringed against Jasper's side.

"I need the half-inch serration knife!" Carlisle ordered, his voice intense. I heard a rattling sound, and I flinched slightly. Did he mean… the serration was a half inch? The image filled my mind, and I almost retched from the thought.

"Oh, god, oh god…" I murmured, starting to sweat. Jasper's eyes were strained as he held my hand, a little too tightly to be mollifying.

"Bella, Bella, shh, they've got it under control," he tried desperately to reassure me, but his voice was too tense. I didn't believe it for a second. My breath came in short gasps, and I clutched at Jasper's hand. There was a strong jerk to my abdomen, and very out-of-character word came from Carlisle's mouth.

"Ah!" I cried, surprised from the forcefulness of the tug.

Then, before I could assess what was happening, I was falling into a black hole of unconsciousness.

"Do you think she'll come around anytime soon?"

I heard Edward's musical voice in my left ear, but I couldn't see him.

Ah. My eyes were closed.

I tried to open them, but to my astonishment, they really didn't want to open. I also realized that my body was very unresponsive, sluggish. I attempted to flex my fingers, but they wouldn't budge, either.

"Where's Jasper? Maybe he can fix this." Edward spoke up again, and I was surprised to hear that his voice was oddly calm. Shouldn't he be a little bit more tense, after what just happened?

What did happen? My child… was it… dead?

"Well, he was the one that caused this." A second voice, Carlisle, answered Edward. "Maybe he was an idea."

I heard a ghost of a sound, and then a third voice joined in.

"Hm. I wonder if I made her alert… would that help?" Jasper's bass voice mused.

"It's worth a try," Edward said nonchalantly. Carlisle agreed quietly.

Suddenly, a jolt like electricity ran through my body, throwing off the lethargic sensation like a blanket. My limbs tingled numbly, and then I could feel them come back to me. Warmness flooded my body, and my fingers twitched. Trying once again, my eyes fluttered open, and met three relieved pairs.

"Nice going, Jazz," Edward praised, a sarcastic edge to his voice. Jasper grimaced sheepishly.

"What's going on?" I asked, my voice thick. I cleared my throat, ridding the blockade.

Edward chuckled. "It seems that my brother didn't have control over his emotions." Jasper rolled his eyes, and Carlisle laughed lightly. I frowned, not understanding.

Sighing, Jasper explained. "I meant to make you… drowsy, to numb the sensations, but I was too tense, and the drowsiness came out more forceful than expected." He grinned. "I accidentally knocked you out."

I grasped what he was saying, and I laughed in spite of myself. "I guess that must have scared you guys, huh?"

Edward grinned crookedly. "Carlisle nearly had a heart attack, no pun intended. We thought we had… well, it was scary at the time. I'm just glad you're okay." He leaned down to tenderly kiss my forehead. I sighed, content, and then sucked in a breath, the motion causing pain in my abdomen.

"Stitches," Carlisle confirmed. "Lots of them. But you're healing fast."

I looked around. I was in Edward's room, lying down on his large, golden bed with pillows propped beneath my head. I lifted up the comforter, and my eyes widened. My stomach was back to normal size, or so as much as I could assess. I lifted up the hem of my shirt, and was pleased to see that the bruises were fading, slowly but surely.

"Thank you, Carlisle," I breathed, lowering the comforter and looking him in the eyes. "I owe you so much."

He smiled, his white teeth radiant. "No need. It was the least I could do for my… daughter." I smiled in return, my gratitude utterly sincere. Edward took my hand, and I turned my attention to him.

"So, Carlisle says that if you're good and stay rested, you can start to move around by yourself starting in a week or so. The stitches will have healed the cut by then, and the bruises should definitely have faded." He grinned crookedly. "Good as new."

I squeezed his hand, and realized that Jasper had disappeared.

"Where's Jasper?"

Edward's eyes tightened slightly, and Carlisle cleared his throat inconspicuously.

"He's… greeting someone who wants to see you," Edward answered, his voice normal, but with a catch in the back that was so discreet, it almost wasn't there. I nodded, understanding.

"Jacob," I confirmed. The catch in his voice was understandable, then. Which reminded me of the catch to this situation.

Jacob, my best friend, was soon to be a lot more than just that.

Thanks for reading, please review!