I thank those of you that are still with me. My computer was down for a little while there, but it's back and I'm workin' on my story as the ideas come to mind. I hope you enjoyed the last chapter and are now ready for this one. Without further adieu…


CPV

There wasn't too much traffic on our way to the hospital. I was very thankful for that. Once we pulled into the emergency parking of the hospital, I left Esme to watch over Edward while I ran inside for a gurney and some help.

"Patrick! I need a hand if you can spare it." I said upon seeing one of my colleagues as I entered the building.

"Anything Carlisle." Patrick replied and followed me outside. "What's going on?"

He asked as we got closer to my car.

"It's my son, Edward. He might've broken or cracked a rib. He's also knocked his head a couple times." I relayed as we reached the car.

"Esme, you remember Patrick?" I commented.

"Yes, of course. Nice to see you again Patrick, I only wish they were on better terms." She replied as she moved out of the way.

I positioned the gurney at the door with hopes of pulling Edward out in one move.

"Alright, I've got his head and shoulders if you'll manage his legs Patrick." I said.

He nodded and moved around to the other side of the car.

"On three then." I said and started counting.

On three, I pulled Edward towards the gurney as Patrick pushed his legs towards me. I heard Edward's sharp intake of air before he moaned and whimpered.

"I'm sorry son. Just a little longer and we'll find out what's wrong." I said softly to him.

We managed to get him on the gurney and headed towards the doors of the hospital when he cried out and tried to find a more comfortable position to lie down in, on his left side.

"Edward!" I called and rested a hand on his forehead.

I actually gasped at the heat I felt pouring off of him.

"Patrick…" I said as I looked up at him from Edward.

I quickly took note of Edward's pulse and didn't like how fast it was going.

"Esme, lock up and head inside." I said and quickly started moving into the hospital and towards the closest nurses' station. "Rachel, which trauma room is available?"

"Oh, Dr. Cullen… umm… looks like trauma unit four is available." She said after typing away on her computer.

"Thank you, we'll be taking that one." I said and immediately headed towards the room.

"I'll handle it from here Carlisle. I'll take good care of your son. You can trust me on that one." Patrick said and I nodded.

Several nurses soon entered the room to help Patrick and I moved out of the way. Taking a deep breath, I stood just outside the door to watch what was going on for a moment longer and gave a silent prayer before I went to find Esme. She was sitting in a chair near the nurses' station and stood up quickly when she saw I was coming.

"Carlisle, is he…" She began, but my phone rang before she could continue.

I frowned and looked down at my phone to see it was Emmett.

"Emmett?" I answered.

"Dad… what's going on? Alice… Alice fainted, or passed out. I think it was too much for her about Edward. What happened to him? Is he… is he ok?" He asked.

"What? Alice fainted?" I asked and ran a hand back and forth over my head.

"Yeah, I think it's the shock of everything that's been going on. She was talking on the phone to Bella…" Emmett was saying. "Dad… what in the world is going on?"

"I'm sorry son. I'm not too sure. Dr. Grayson's working on Edward now. I want to think either a rib is broken or cracked, but we'll be sure once we get an x-ray. "I responded.

"Dad, this is… this is really hard." Emmett said.

I felt so sorry for him and looked to Esme for support.

"I know son, but tell me more about Alice. Is she ok? Do I need to head back there?" I asked.

"No. I've got it. I think she just needs rest or something. I got her as comfortable as I could." Emmett replied.

"If you're sure then, I'll call you back once I have news on Edward. Alright?" I responded.

"Yeah, ok. Sorry." He said.

"Nothing to be sorry for. Take care of yourself and your sister. Be careful. You know we love you right?" I said.

"Yes sir. I'll talk to you later. Bye Dad." He said and hung up.

I sighed and moved towards a chair to sit down and get my thoughts together.

"What was that about Alice fainting?" Esme asked.

"Emmett said all this was too much for her and she fainted." I replied and sighed once more before leaning my head down and placing them in my hands.

This was all too much. My children were suffering and I wasn't sure what to do. Counseling would only do so much. Alice wasn't eating properly, Edward had tried to kill himself for crying out loud, Emmett was taking all this a little better than the rest of us, but who knew how long that would last. My family was falling apart and I wasn't even sure how to fix it. I felt arms wrap around me and I leaned into them. I knew it was my wife. She was always the strong one. I think that's where Emmett got it from.

"I'm sorry love. I wish I could fix all this in one instance, but I don't know how." I whispered.

"It's alright honey. We've got to do this one step at a time. Let's take care of Edward first and then we'll see about Alice. Emmett's got her for now. I have you." She said.

I leaned back to look at her and couldn't help the chuckle that escaped. I knew that was part of the reason I loved this woman. I leaned my forehead against hers and just stayed that way for what seemed like forever.

"Thank you." I said.

She merely smiled and kissed my lips softly. I would've wanted more, but I heard footsteps walking in our direction.

"Carlisle?" I heard and pulled away from Esme to look at Patrick.

"Patrick? What's the verdict?" I asked as I stood to my feet.

"You were right, seven and eight were cracked on his right posterior side while number nine is actually broken. He's got a slight concussion, but he'll be alright. We found his fever to be caused by the bit of pneumonia that's taken up residence in his chest. We've started him on antibiotics and wrapped his ribs so that he's not uncomfortable. They should heal four to eight weeks. We'll keep him for a day or two though I don't like the temperature of his fever. The antibiotics should knock it down, but I want to keep an eye on it." Patrick reported.

"Thank you Patrick. May we go see him?" I asked.

"Of course. I believe the nurses are moving him to his room as we speak. Give them a couple more minutes and we'll have you up there beside him in no time." Patrick said.

"Thanks again." I said and shook his hand.

Esme and I watched as he walked off to tend to other rounds before we went to find out what room Edward had been moved into. One of the nurses led us there and left us to check in on Edward.

"He's asleep for now. Let us know if you need anything Dr. Cullen." The nurse said and left.

I thanked her before she left and turned to look at my son. He looked a little pale, but his cheeks were flushed from heat and there was sweat on his forehead.

"My poor little boy." Esme said as she moved over to his side and rested a hand on his shoulder.

I moved to the bathroom and grabbed a paper towel before wetting it and moving back into the room to wipe up the sweat from his forehead. His breath was a little labored, but I could only guess that was because the medicine hadn't kicked in yet. As if feeling our presence, Edward turned his head towards us and slowly opened his eyes.

"D-Dad…" He started, but winced and attempted to turn from the pain of his ribs in his back. "Mo-Mommy."

He tried to open his eyes, but I guessed the light was too bright and quickly walked over to turn them down. He licked his lips and tried to speak again.

"H-Hurts. It's… hard… to… breathe." He managed.

"I know son. You've got to give the medicine a chance to flow through your system." I said and walked outside the room to do just that. "It's hard for you to breathe right now because you've broken and cracked some ribs."

I reached over and placed the nasal cannula around his nose for him so that he had a better chance to get air into his lungs. He coughed and winced in pain, but after a few minutes he was able to calm down a bit. I breathed a sigh of relief and guessed the medicine was finally moving in his system as I watched him try to fight sleep a few times before succumbing to its plea. I looked over at Esme. She was looking down at our son. I chose that moment to step out and call Emmett to update him and to find out if Alice was still doing ok.

"Hello?" Someone answered.

I blinked confused for a moment.

"Umm… hello?" I questioned.

"Carlisle, I'm sorry, this is Bella. Emmett's out so I answered the phone. I hope that was alright." She said.

"Oh, Bella. I thought I had a wrong number there for a minute. Is he ok? What about Alice? How are you?" I asked.

"He was tired and fell asleep. Alice is resting too. I'm… I'm ok." She responded.

"That's good to hear." I said.

"How… how's Edward? Is Esme ok? Are you?" She asked me.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes as I thought about my response.

"Edward's got a couple cracked ribs, a broken one, and he's fighting pneumonia. Esme's with him now. She's the strongest woman I know and she's taking it rather well. I… I'm alright. Just… tired." I finally said.

It was as if saying the words made it come to term because the next thing I knew, I needed a chair or a bed even. Frowning slightly as my vision doubled for a minute, I quickly looked back to the door of Edward's room and saw it open.

"Honey?" I heard.

"Es-Esme…" I said and took a step towards her before I collapsed.

"Carlisle? Carlisle?" I couldn't tell if that was the phone or my wife, but I wasn't able to answer either one of them.

I closed my eyes and saw, nor heard, anything more.

Esme's POV

I sat with Edward as I watched Carlisle walk out the room, cell phone in hand. I assumed he was updating the kids on their brother. I hoped he's get an update on Alice as well. I turned my attention back to Edward and watched him sleep for a while. I was happy he wasn't visibly in any pain. I sighed and gave a silent prayer of thanks for that. Grabbing hold of his hand, I held it for a moment while I watched him some more. I hated things had gotten to the point that he felt that ending his life early was the only way out. A tear slipped down my left eye. Carlisle said I was strong, but it was only because I had to be. I sighed and wiped the tear away before leaning down to kiss Edward on his cheek. I needed to use the restroom so I walked into it and did my business before washing my hands and coming out. I walked back over to Edward and sat down beside him again. I had to believe about ten to fifteen minutes had gone by so I figured I'd look for Carlisle and see if there was any word. I had just opened the door and saw him standing there before I felt something was wrong.

"Honey?" I called.

"Es-Esme…" He started and then collapsed.

I gasped and quickly walked over to him before kneeling down and calling his name. I heard someone else calling his name as well and looked to see that his phone was still connected to a call.

"Hello?" I asked as I picked up the phone.

"Esme?" The voice asked.

"Bella?" I gasped.

"Esme, what's going on?" She asked.

"I'll have to call you back. Something's wrong with Carlisle." I said.

I heard her gasp.

"Of course. Please call us back later." She said and hung up.

I nodded, but knew she didn't see it. I turned to look at the nurse that had run over and joined me.

"Mrs. Cullen? What happened?" She asked me.

"I'm not sure. I opened the door to my son's room and he just collapsed." I responded.

Another nurse showed up and I realized it to be Rachel.

"Page Dr. Grayson." Rachel said to the other nurse.

The other nurse nodded and quickly got up and moved to a phone.

"Paging Dr. Grayson to ICU. Paging Dr. Grayson to ICU."

I heard over the intercom.

"Dr. Cullen, can you hear me? Dr. Cullen?" Rachel called.

He wasn't responding, but I didn't want to panic just yet. About two other nurses showed up, one of them male, to help move Carlisle off the floor. They had him on a gurney in seconds, but waited for Patrick to show up for instructions on how to handle him. Patrick showed up at a walk, five minutes later, but when he saw me standing there holding onto someone and a few nurses standing near me he quickened his steps.

"Esme, what happened? Carlisle?" Patrick asked when he saw who was on the gurney.

He quickly attempted to shake his shoulder in order to wake him up, but it had no effect. He then pulled out a pen and shined it in Carlisle eyes after lifting his eyelids. He said the pupils responded as they should so there wasn't anything to really worry about.

"We can run some tests, but I really want to believe he's just really overworked and tired. If the bags under his eyes don't speak volumes, we have records of the hours he's been working, non-stop I might add.

"I'm not sure how I want to proceed, but I think I'd rather be safe than sorry, so I'll ask if you'd run those tests." I said.

Patrick nodded and started having the nurses get Carlisle towards the location they were going to perform the tests. I sighed and turned back to Edward's room. There wasn't much I could do at that point. I felt something hard in my right hand and looked down to see that Carlisle's phone was still in my hand. I closed my eyes tightly for a minute and sighed before I put it in my pocket. Moving towards the chair that sat beside Edward's bed, I sat down for a minute and closed my eyes again.

Some time had passed and I wasn't sure what time it was, but looking over at Edward, I noted he had his eyes open and seemed confused.

"Edward?" I asked quietly.

"Mom?" He whispered.

"That's right sweetheart. Do you know where you are?" I asked.

"I… I'm in the hospital? What happened?" He asked.

"That's right sweetie. Looks like you cracked a couple of ribs and managed to break one as well. You also have a touch of pneumonia." I relayed.

"Oh." Was all he said.

I noted the frown on his face and rested my hand on his forehead. His fever wasn't as high, but it was still above 100.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Where's Dad? Wasn't he here too?" He asked.

"Yes sweetheart, he was. He…" I started but had to think of how to finish it.

"He what Mom?" Edward questioned.

"Well, he collapsed in the hallway. Dr. Grayson is making sure that it was just out of fatigue and nothing more." I said quickly as I noted the agitation in his eyes. "He'll be ok with a bit of rest."

Edward tried to get up, but cried out in pain and rolled away from me. I quickly stood and left the room to head towards the nurse's station.

"I'm sorry I'm not sure how long it's been, but my son's in pain again. Is there something that you can give him?" I asked.

"Oh, yes Mrs. Cullen. I'll be right there." The nurse said.

"Thank you. Also, has there been any word on my husband?" I asked.

"No ma'am. I'm sorry." She said and went to get the medicine for Edward.

I nodded and went back to his room. I walked over to Edward and took his hand in my. He squeezed tightly and apologized. I noticed the tear lines and was sad.

"Hold on a little longer baby. The nurse is going to bring you something for the pain." I said.

As if an answer to my prayer, the nurse walked in, needle in hand, and walked right over to the bed.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Cullen. I need to get to the IV really quick." She said.

I moved out of the way and she quickly administered the drug for Edward. I thanked her and watched her leave before turning back to Edward to see if the medicine was working. It seemed to kick in five minutes later as his grip on my hand loosened. I sighed with relief and sat down.

"Thanks… Mom." Edward said and passed out.

I was worried for a minute, but it seemed he was merely sleeping. Just then the door opened and in came a bed before I noted it was my husband on it.

"Mrs. Cullen, he's iron was a little low, but other than that the tests came back negative for anything to worry about. He just needs a good nights sleep and he'll be back to the man you and I, as well as this hospital, know." Dr. Grayson said.

"Thank you so much. Both my husband and son are in your care and I'm sorry to have added so much on your plate." I said.

"Oh no trouble at all. I'm just glad I was here so that I could help them both. How's Edward doing?" Dr. Grayson asked.

"I had to ask the nurse for some more pain meds, but he looks like he's sleeping peacefully now." I replied.

I watched as Patrick walked over to him and laid a gentle hand on his forehead.

"Hummm… fever's still a bit high, but I suspect it's time for another round of antibiotics. I'll see to it that a nurse brings that right in." He said.

Once the nurses were done pushing Carlisle's bed in and made sure that he was comfy, I walked over to him laid a gentle kiss on his forehead. He sighed and turned my way before falling even deeper into sleep. I smiled and turned back to Patrick.

"Thank you." I mouthed before smiling.

He nodded and said he'd be in to check in on us later. A nurse walked in with a needle telling me that Patrick had asked for it to be administered to Edward. I knew it to be the antibiotics that he said earlier and nodded. She administered the medicine and left the room quietly. I sighed and looked at Carlisle for a minute longer before moving back over to Edward.

"My poor boys. What will I do with the two of you?" I asked no one in particular, but it was still met with the soft snores from both of them.

I giggled and shook my head before leaning against Edward's mattress and falling asleep.


Thanks to fact[dot] org for giving me some of the medical advice I needed. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I can't really promise to have the next chapter up before Christmas, but I'll try. If not, Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!