I turned slightly towards the bullet coming through the windshield, only to have it nestle in my left shoulder blade, right behind my heart.

"Edward!" Bella screamed. I could hear three more gunshots, but it sounded as though they were hitting a diamond wall. I tried to look up and see our savior but I was too blinded by the pain.

Damn it! That shield's here!

I gritted my teeth in the pain and nearly didn't hear the car's engine roaring to life again, though it sounded nearly fifteen times as loud.

"Edward, hold on!" Bella said worriedly and I felt wind across my screaming back. Each pulse of my heart sent new bolts of pain down my spine and up my neck, paralyzing me in my keeled over position, whimpering pathetically.

Bella must have stopped eventually, though I couldn't tell you how long she drove. The seconds of agony melted together to create an impenetrable barrier between me and time.

"Oh, Edward…" Bella cried. "Hold still. I'll get the bullet out."

I was about to protest, but I suddenly couldn't move.

"I'm so sorry, Edward." Bella whispered over my small cries. "I should've kept moving. I should've let you keep driving. I shouldn't have distracted us like that. I shouldn't—"

"Bella!" I scolded quietly, though it sounded more like an indignant grunt.

"Sorry." Cold, clammy hands gripped my shoulder lightly. "So sorry."

My wound became inexplicably cold, and soon numb. I could feel movement in my shoulder, though strangely it didn't hurt. It was like there was some weird worm-thing moving just under my skin.

Everything lost its reddish tint as I calmed slowly. I still couldn't feel that shoulder, but I didn't dare try to. Anything was better than feeling a bullet an inch from your heart.

"Edward, are you alright?" Bella whispered worriedly. I could hear her gulp. "Edward?"

"I can't feel my shoulder." I breathed. I lifted my other hand to actually make sure Bella hadn't amputated it, but she stopped me.

"Edward, my shields are very cold. It's numbing you. Just don't move. I'm getting you out."

I could hear a car door open and footsteps across sand. Then my door opened, letting in a rush of cold air.

"Edward, come on. Unlike your monster brother, I can't lift you by myself." Bella said with a small attempt at a laugh. It came out as more of a huff.

"Where are we?" I asked, with a bit more strength now. I grabbed the hand Bella offered me and hauled myself up to a painful stand. I tried not to move my left shoulder. I looked around and saw the desert sunset just disappearing over the horizon, casting a fiery glow on a small cluster of adobe buildings, much like the town I had found Bella in.

"This is as far as we're going today." Bella said, closing the car door while supporting a considerable portion of my weight. "I called Carlisle and he's meeting us here in a few minutes to patch you up."

"It doesn't hurt nearly as much now. What did you do?"

"I numbed your shoulder and then took the bullet out." Bella said simply, but I could see the nauseous worry in her eyes. "There's a very unhealthy-looking scab there that I thought Carlisle might want to take a look at. Make sure it didn't internally damage you."

Helicopter or not, these two are a pain in the ass.

I inhaled sharply and staggered at the thoughts. They were from the same person that found us earlier.

"Edward?"

"Bella, make a shield around us and the car." I said quickly, trying to hear the quiet hum of the copter. "They've found us again."

Bella's eyes snapped to mine.

"Again?" She asked. I nodded.

"They were the ones who shot at us earlier." I glanced anxiously at the sky, waiting for the helicopter to appear on the horizon. Any second now, they would come and try to do away with us again.

"Edward, if I make a shield around us, I can't numb your shoulder any more!" Bella said strictly.

"That's fine. I can always just lean up against it." I countered with a wave of my hand. Bella looked at me in skeptic disbelief before concentrating. The air instantly got colder as I no longer felt the setting sun's warmth.

"Could you see if they've found Carlisle and the others, or if they're just concentrating on finding us?" Bella asked, closing her eyes and sitting on the hood of the car. I nodded, and began concentrating on our tracker's thoughts.

Finally. The person thought. At that moment, I could see a helicopter coming steadily towards us. Why aren't they running? Are they trying to make a heroic last stand? Oh, cliché to the max.

"They've seen us." I informed Bella. She nodded quickly.

Well, they've spotted us. I know that much. That boy is looking straight at me. Didn't I shot him? Ah, the blood stains. Wow. I got pretty good aim!

I let a small but ferocious snarl escape my lips.

Oh, he's pissed. This is going to be fun.

The helicopter was almost hovering above us when it touched down just a few yards from me, though I couldn't feel the wind from its rotor blades. Well, at least I learned one thing from the movies Emmett smuggled into the asylum.

Why aren't they moving?

Three people jumped out of the helicopter with very expensive and deadly looking guns, all crouched and ready to fire. One more person got out, a very plain man, probably an inch or so shorter than me, with very dirty brown hair. Clean, it might have been alight brown. He was smirking, showing off his teeth maliciously.

"Surrender now, and we'll hold fire." He said loudly, though his voice was dimmed considerably, thanks to Bella's shield. "You can come quietly and peacefully back to the asylum."

"I'd rather not." I answered shortly. The man looked passed me to Bella, and his eyes widened and narrowed.

Why are all the hot girls fugitives?

My hands balled up into fists and I growled. How dare he think of Bella like that!

Ha, this guy's funny. No wonder they want him back at the asylum. Entertainment for life.

"You don't understand. I didn't mean to imply that you had a choice." The man said with fake pleasantries.

"That's something we have in common, then." I shot back. The man glared at me and held up his hand. Oh, I recognized this. He was using it as a signal for 'ready, aim, fire'. He brought his hand down swiftly, grinning madly, until, once again, the bullets were deflected by Bella's shield.

I looked back to see how Bella was holding up, and she laughed, at which point I almost melted with satisfaction upon hearing the angel's song.

Ha, ha, they think they're safe. I bet that shield's only got a wall between them and James. I heard thoughts behind us, and looked past Bella to see a redhead leaping like a pissed-off cat towards Bella.

A/N: Yeah... guess who the redhead is! (Note the sarcasm) Um, I guess I'm going to have to put Laurent in here, too, right? I think I will. Partner in crime, that sort of thing. Yeah... I guess that's it for this note!

No worries!
Kylie M.

P.S. Sorry for not putting the disclaimer on this story, I think they're considerably boring!