Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. Stephenie Meyer created it all; I just like to play around in her world.
Apologies in order here. I'm sorry I was unable to get out sneak peaks of this week's chapter to those that had reviewed. There were several factors – the need to storm proof my brother's house – thanks Tropical Storm Erika, continued care of him, limited internet, and the need to drive home late last night. So sorry!
As always a shout out to the Fab Five for their support and help - and AngleycDevil & NKubie for all their beta power!
~MF~
Edward POV
The world spun over and over, stopping with a crunch as I landed hard on the interior of the roof. The remaining windows exploded as the car slid before hitting something and coming to an abrupt standstill. The noise was deafening as a thousand pieces of glass shimmered in the air and the metal of the car strained at the pressure of being upended and at a weird angle. Bella had landed on me, which was good, because a searing pain at my side spelled possible trouble. When the car finally settled, I turned to look toward the closest opening and saw concrete and dirt. Bella stirred in my arms, and I let out a deep breath of relief when her dark chocolate eyes met mine. Tiny nicks peppered her skin, but I didn't see profuse bleeding.
"Are you okay?" I whispered, not wanting to alert anyone outside of the car of our location or condition.
"Yeah, I think. I hit my head." Her fingers poked lightly at the crown.
Searching gently through her hair, I felt a small bump, but I didn't feel any wetness that would indicate blood. Wiping the stream of it still pouring down my face from where I'd hit my head during the chase, I held her close and listened to see if I could hear movement outside the car.
"I've got to get out of the car to see if the Suburban is still there."
"What? No!" She grabbed my arm, but I was already sliding her gently behind me, keeping myself between her and what I thought was Alec's lifeless body.
Thankfully, I was proven wrong as a crunch from near the front of the car caused him to jerk. Pulling to prop against the driver seat for a better angle, he began shooting out the shattered windshield.
"Get her out of here!" he snarled, emptying his clip and popping in another quickly.
Using his cover, I scooted until my head cleared through the small gap and brought my gun up immediately. I was a sitting duck as I pulled through the mangled area. The only things keeping me from being shot was that the car has tilted sideways and landed against a tall concrete barrier, Alec's continuous firing, and the embankment. The ground behind me rapidly sloped to a curved off-ramp that went below the street we'd been on. It was a godsend, as the tunnel would offer us shelter.
"C'mon baby." I pulled her from the vehicle, grimacing because I knew I was probably cutting her by dragging her through the glass, but we had to move quickly.
"Alec!" She tried to go back toward the car.
"Go Isabella!" It was difficult to hear him over the sound of the bullets riddling the metal.
I pointed to the underpass. "Get around the corner. Stay to the side away from the cars."
"Cole–"
"I've got to cover you. Go."
Unable to stay on her feet, she mostly slid down the steep hill. When the gun shots stopped from inside the car, I caught a flicker of movement over it. My momentary hesitation was a mistake as fire seared across my left shoulder. I took the man out with a clean headshot even as I felt the slickness of blood across my skin. His accomplice shot toward Bella, chipping off a piece of the concrete over her head as she dove into the opening, but I tagged him in the chest. The scream of sirens was getting louder as I worked down the embankment toward Bella. An order to surrender rang out via megaphone from beyond the car and was answered by more retorts.
Hoping for the best, I used my gun hand to help steady me down the grass and over the guard rail to where Bella leaned against the wall just inside. She was panting and pale. Jumping nervously as a car raced past, she scooted closer to me, and I couldn't help but run my knuckles along her cheek. We were only protected from traffic by the V made by the metal, but I felt safer here than out in the open. Above us a gunfight was being waged.
"Cole, is Alec . . . "
"I'm afraid so." I'd figured he wouldn't quit shooting until he couldn't any more. In the end, the man had at least proved his worth, sacrificing himself to make sure Bella got away.
"Where did you learn to shoot like that?"
"My dad." It wasn't a lie.
Shaking my head to clear the buzzing, I looked to my watch. The stopwatch was running backwards. We had to hold out less than a minute before someone would be here. A helicopter zoomed overhead, and I turned back to catch a glimpse of a gunman leaning out of the side as it turned. Aiming toward the area where the car remained, a round of automatic fire rained down. The car traffic had stopped zooming by us, and I could only assume someone had blocked them from coming into the line of fire as they exited. I felt Bella wrap her arm around my waist, laying her cheek against my arm. Pain radiated from the pressure of her touching me, but I wasn't about to tell her. She was trembling.
"Cole!" she gasped, pulling her arm away. It was red. "You're shot!" she screamed, attempting to come around me to look.
"Stay put. Help should be here in a minute."
"But–"
The sound of a car racing down the tunnel behind us had me moving to pin her behind me, but I slumped in relief seeing the nondescript sedan. Only the FBI would be so unoriginal. The woman I'd met jogging just the day before was driving, and she brought the car to an abrupt stop feet from us.
"FBI," her partner shouted out as he flung the door open, pointing a gun straight at my chest.
Bella screamed as I dropped the weapon I was holding. I wasn't about to attempt to convince him of who I was at the moment, but when I tried to walk, the world went wonky. I heard Bella's voice through a haze but straightened when my prior contact yelled at her partner to lower his weapon.
"In the car, Bella. Now," I ordered hoarsely, accepting the female agent's help to follow.
"Bella?" Her brown eyes were wild, but I couldn't guess as to if it was because of the name I'd called her or the chaos surrounding us.
"Beautiful," I murmured, laying my head back against the headrest as the car jolted forward.
~MF~
Isabella POV
My heart raced as Cole's eyes closed, his head slumping sideways. The front of his blue shirt had turned black from the blood.
"I need something to stop the bleeding!"
My voice was a shriek and the man in front only stopped speaking on his phone long enough to throw me a jacket. Cole startled at my words.
"I'm fine," he said, straightening.
"No you're not." I unbuttoned the ruined shirt and gasped when I uncovered the wound at the top of his shoulder. There was a large gash where the bullet had torn him badly. Pressing on it to stop the blood, I winced when he went pale.
"Isabella, my side's worse," he said in a harsh voice.
"What!" It was a shriek again. "Lean up."
When he did, I tasted bile at the back of my throat and had to breathe through my mouth to keep from vomiting. There was a large cut at his waist that was bleeding profusely. Too much blood. There was too much blood.
"I promise I'm not going to die," Cole joked, arching his eyebrow at me. "But it does hurt like a son of a bitch." He hissed when I pushed the jacket to the side wound, trying to keep him from bleeding out. Putting his head back against the seat, he looked pale enough to be dead.
"You've got to get us to a hospital," I told the woman driving. "Now."
The only acknowledgement she gave me was to speed up even more. It already felt like we were flying, but I didn't think she could go fast enough. Two similar cars turned off a street to our side, one moving in front at a dangerous speed, the other falling behind us. They remained with us for several miles until we turned sharply. Instead of a hospital as I'd hoped, we pulled into what looked like an underground parking deck.
"What are you doing?"
"Orders," the woman stated.
I was about to jump over the seat and scratch her eyes out, when I saw what appeared to be paramedics with a gurney charging through a large opening ahead.
"We're at a service entrance for Grady Memorial," she explained.
The car had barely come to a stop when the door opened and hands reached in for Cole.
"I'm fine." His voice sounded like a growl. "Isabella first."
I couldn't believe he was worried about me, but when the door opened behind me, I jumped out between two armed men. Ignoring their shouts, I ran around the back of the car toward Cole.
Grabbing his hand as he laid back onto the gurney, I had to jog to keep up with them as they raced up the ramp. Other men armed with guns held open the large metal doors for us, and we entered a dark hallway full of cleaning equipment and supplies. Inside, a multitude of armed men and women stood. Some appeared to be watching the opening, but I only saw this as we rushed past them. The next set of doors led to a wider hallway with hospital rooms to each side. When we came to the end, I finally breathed. It was a portion of the emergency room. The noise was deafening as we finally turned right into a brightly lit area.
"Isabella stays with me." Cole's voice left no room for argument, and I saw several of the guys trade looks.
"What have you done to yourself?" a man in a long white coat asked of Cole as the doors were slammed shut behind us.
"I landed on a piece of glass when the car flipped and one of the shooters caught me in the shoulder. Ripped me a nice one," he said through clenched teeth as he shifted to his uninjured side.
Letting go of his hand, I winced as the doctor instructed the helpers to cut his shirt off. The right half of his face was covered in blood from where he'd hit his head, while the left side of his torso was covered in a fine layer of crimson. I felt bad that even though he was clearly in pain and looked like a war victim, I was still ogling his chest.
"Let me look," the man said, bending down to poke at Cole's side.
"Fu–" Cole squeezed his eyes shut, grabbing the metal of the gurney.
"Going to need quite a few stiches there, young man, but I don't think it damaged anything," the doctor said, handing another man a wad of gauze to hold at Cole's side while he looked at Cole's shoulder. After a moment of poking around . . . a moment in which I held my breath . . . the doctor announced, "Same here too."
"Nice way or quick way," the younger man asked.
"Quick," Cole ground out, even though I had no clue what they were talking about.
I gasped when the man upended a bottle of alcohol over Cole's shoulder.
He went rigid, the muscles on his neck standing out as he closed his eyes and a hiss of breath escaped. The man had no empathy, dousing Cole's side the same way. New blood flowed, but the man held compresses to both wounds until the doctor returned with two needles and a suturing kit. I had to turn away as Cole was given a local anesthesia and they began sewing him up.
It all seemed unreal. I hadn't been to an emergency room in the states, but it seemed that they were cutting corners in how he was being treated. Didn't they need to take x-rays, better exams . . . something. It was rushed and strange and . . . not okay. And why were there so many people outside the room staring at us?
"Miss?" A younger female appeared before me, gaining my attention.
"Yes?"
"I need to clean your cuts as well."
"Cuts?"
"Where the glass cut you," she said simply, like I was an idiot. She waved her hand at me to follow her.
It was then I looked down and saw my shirt covered in blood. Suddenly, it all caught up to me.
Lunch.
My mom and dad.
My dad falling.
The blood on my mom's shirt.
The car turning over and over.
Bella?
Bella, sweetie, run for mommy okay. Run sweetheart, as fast as you can and hide. I love you . . . always remember I love you.
It was a pretty lady I'd never seen, but she looked a whole lot like me.
Through a fog, I heard Cole shouting my name, but the flush of heat in my face grew hotter as the world began to swirl around me.
~MF~
Edward POV
"Miss?" A young nurse approached Bella.
"Yes?" Bella's tone was off, but I couldn't see her face to know exactly what was happening. I could sense her unease; it was as heavy in the room as the smell of my blood. I'd wondered when it would all catch up to her, and everything within me strained to protect her. Putting my hand up to stop the doctor's handiwork, I tried to rise.
"I need to clean your cuts as well." The nurse said the words simply, her tone calm. It was clear she was schooled in how to treat people in crisis. For it was becoming quickly evident the events of the day were catching up to Bella.
"Cuts?" Bella's voice was but a squeak, then she began screaming. Turning in a circle, she looked around the room, but her eyes were blank.
"She's going into shock!" The doctor barked.
Unfortunately when the nurse attempted to help Bella, she became combative. Her fluid Italian rolled through the room, but my name and her cries for help punctuated the words.
Pushing up, I winced as several stitches popped at my side. The doctor swore out, grabbing my arm as did the tech helping him.
"Let go. I need to get to her."
Several of the agents from outside rushed into the room to help the nurse, and whether or not Bella saw me through her agony, she held her arms out in my general vicinity as she screamed.
"Give her a shot of Ativan," the doctor yelled.
"What! No." I tried to shake off the doctor's restraints to get to her, but he popped me in the shoulder with a needle as well.
The burn of the medicine was swiftly replaced by a wave of relief. Unfortunately, if it was what they gave Bella, it was too much, and she slumped. Thankfully, the nurse caught her, keeping her from crashing to the floor.
"Agent Cullen." The doctor's voice was foggy. "Let me finish these stitches off and then you can watch over your young woman."
She wasn't my Bella. I doubted she'd ever be. But it didn't keep me from wanting.
I might have actually said those words out loud, if the doctor's quirked lips were any indication. The nurse came toward me with another needle full of the same stuff, but the doctor waved her off telling her I was fine.
I was thankful for his intervention, because I didn't want to be incapacitated. I needed to watch over Bella; her silence and total lack of movement worried me. "She hit her head," I said softly. "Make sure it's not a concussion."
The agents had helped the nurse put Bella on a gurney beside me, and she checked Bella's vitals after my rant, rattling them off as soon as they were taken.
I was grateful when the doctor shook his head. "No, she's fine. Just overwhelmed. Let her mind rest. Which is what I'm prescribing for you as well."
I argued, "I need to contact my boss and get a report on her mother and father!"
"Irina is dead. Felix is in surgery." Jasper's voice came from the doorway, and I turned even though it hurt like a son of a bitch to do so. "The doctor's aren't very hopeful he's going to make it."
"Damn." I breathed deeply seeing the wary look on his face.
He moved slowly into the room, his eyes traveling over me. "You look like hell pretty boy."
"Geez thanks."
Jasper leaned against a metal stool and watched the doctor finish patching me up. I grimaced at one particularly tender tug, trying to ignore the snipping of the threads. It was one of the ones I'd broken loose, so I didn't think the doc would take too kindly to me complaining. When he finished the stitches, the doctor left the aide to dab betadine on his handiwork. He returned to hand me a pill and then pop my arm with another shot. I bit my lip at the sting.
"I'm giving you a tetanus shot, and you need to take the antibiotic to ward off infection. Now let me look at your face." I couldn't help but jerk away slightly at the sting of the cut. It was at my hairline.
"Hm . . . I think we can hold that together with a butterfly bandage," he murmured.
I hissed as he poured copious amounts of alcohol over the wound and applied the dressing.
"Okay, our work here is done," he announced, motioning with his head for the room to clear. He'd been nervous the entire time, and I was thinking he was happy to get away from all the feds lining the wall outside the room.
"What the hell happened?" I asked Jasper as soon as the door closed.
Looking over to Bella he let out his breath. "Little darlin' has no clue of the shit about to hit her."
My heart hurt. No she didn't. Not only did I have to tell her what had happened to her parents, but I had to tell her I'd been lying to her all along.
"Preliminary intelligence indicates it was a hit put out by Stefan and Vladimir Sokolov." He brought his hand up and rubbed the back of his neck. "Word on the street is there is a large price on Felix's head. Irina and Isabella were considered collateral damage."
With the history of hatred between the Sokolov gang and the Rossis, it would make sense the leaders had been targeted, but to follow us in the manner they had reeked of something personal. "I'm not buying it. The men in the SUV were determined to eliminate us."
Jasper nodded in agreement. "Fine work, by the way. I heard from Jake on the way here. You took out two of them. Alec got another two, and the others turned their guns on themselves to keep from being arrested."
My eyes had remained on Bella, even as Jasper continued to fill me in. Finally, though, his words broke through my fog.
"Jake's ordered us back to Seattle. We're to bring Bella with us."
"What!" My voice was almost a growl. "Her dad is in surgery and might not live. Her mom . . . what do they plan to do with the body?"
"I guess we'll have to talk to her to find out," he nudged his shoulder toward Bella. "Either way, she's in protective custody now. They'll transfer Felix if he makes it through surgery to an undisclosed medical facility."
"It's not right, Jazz. To take her away from them right now."
He shook his head and looked down at his hands. "Jacob got the DNA back on the glass you gave him already. They put a rush on comparing it to Renee Swan's blood." He glanced over toward Bella. "She's Charlie's daughter, Edward."
I'd already known that. It was the why it was so important I was confused about.
"I'm going to go make the arrangements to get you two out of here," he said softly.
"Okay," I told him, closing my eyes for a moment.
Jasper woke me when he entered the room, and I sat up quickly at the look on his face.
"Get dressed." He threw me some scrubs.
"What's wrong?"
"Security sucks here. I had to disable someone I believe had less than pleasant plans for you." He sneered then looked toward Bella. "We've got a leak somewhere. One I suspect is being well paid to cough up your location."
Pulling the shirt over my head, I growled. "Where are we going?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "Away from here."
Bella slept during our transport of her through the hospital. We'd tricked the agents sent to watch over us by telling them she needed a CAT scan. Instead of escorting her to the CT department, Jasper led us to a separate parking garage. Where he'd gotten the white Toyota, I didn't know, and I certainly didn't ask. She also slept through our transfer of her to the back seat, only stirring when I smoothed the tangles back from her face. The aide hadn't gotten around to removing the smudges of blood, and they peppered her skin like freckles
"I'd let her sleep, Edward. It would be one less thing we have to deal with."
Pulling into the first bank we saw, he fished out the debit card Jake gave him. "I'm going to pull out as much money as possible. You need to do the same. Jake will pick up on it, but in addition, we're going to need the cash."
"Your plan?" I tucked the blanket we'd taken around Bella, reaching for my wallet.
"We're going to drive to Seattle."
My hand only stilled for a moment. If Jasper said we were driving to Seattle, we were driving to Seattle. "That'll take us a week."
"Yup," he said, turning onto I-75 and hitting the gas. "Plenty of time for you to explain to Bella who she is, what has happened, and why we're on the run."
"Baby, I need you to wake up." Rubbing my thumb across her high cheekbones, I held my breath waiting for her to open her eyes.
Jasper had pulled off the highway and drove at least twenty minutes down the connecting state highway into a small town to find a Walmart and motel away from the interstate. We hadn't gotten far, but I was exhausted. The feel good stuff the doctor had popped me with gone, and my shoulder and side burned like hell. While Bella had slept and I'd watched over her, he'd ventured into the small Walmart for clothes and food first before we obtained a room.
"Hmmm . . ." she mumbled, then snuggled back down into the covers.
She wasn't ready. Considering the time of day, it might be best to let her sleep until the morning. Jasper had gotten two joining rooms, so moving to the door we'd left open between them, I caught his attention.
"I'm going to get in the shower."
He nodded, having already taken advantage of the bathroom. Holding up the prepaid phone he'd brought from Texas, he raised his eyebrow in question.
"Call Nessie. Hopefully even if Jake's being tracked, she isn't."
He nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that was my thought as well, but I wanted to get yours. There's clean underwear and T-shirts in the bag. I also got you some waterproof bandages and Ibuprofen. I'll wait on you to call her."
A hot shower helped make me feel more human, even if moving was a bitch. I used one of the new toothbrushes he'd laid out before popping some painkillers. Toweling my hair dry, I ran one of the cheap black combs through it, grimacing when it stuck up in all directions. There wasn't much I could do to make it look presentable.
Jasper caught the look I threw toward the other room as soon as I opened the bathroom door and said, "She's still out. I don't know what the nurse gave her, but it must have been some heavy duty shit. I checked her vitals, and they're still good."
I'd been worried about her being unconscious for so long, but having been around my father and his medical calls and consults, I knew as long as her pulse and blood pressure were steady we were fine. "I'm going to try and brush out her hair and get her into some other clothes before we go to sleep, so it's probably best she's sleeping." I'd had glass in places I didn't even want to talk about, and I was thinking she needed to be at least changed out of the items she was wearing.
"Ready?" he asked.
I nodded.
He dialed the number quickly and put it on speaker. It only took Nessie two rings to pick up.
"Hello?" Her voice was curious. Jasper's number wasn't one she would know.
"Ness, it's Jasper."
She gasped. "Hold on!" She yelled Jake's name before speaking back to us. "Sugah . . ." I couldn't help but snicker at her nickname for Jasper " . . . are you okay? And what about my man?"
Nessie liked me. It was something with which she liked to torture Jake. It was a good thing too, because it generally kept him in line.
Grinning at Nessie's banter, Jasper said, "Yeah, but let me talk with your worse half."
"Okay, but he's been like a bear for the last few hours. Expect him to act all bitchy and whiny. I swear you two owe me for putting up with him."
We heard Jacob grumbling in the background. "It's Jasper and Edward," she said.
"What the hell! Where are you?" He yelled into the phone, having taken it from Nessie.
"Somewhere," Jasper answered.
"Look, Agent Whitlock, if you think this is funny–"
"We've got a leak, Jacob."
That shut up his bitching.
"Explain."
Jasper glanced over to where I'd taken a seat on the bed across from him.
"There was a trained thug at the hospital trying to get to Edward and Bella. So explain how that happened, when only the FBI was supposed to know where they'd been taken?" There was nothing but silence as Jasper paused. "Bella is so out of it from the shot the nurse gave her, I'm not so sure the woman wasn't in on it."
Damn . . . I hadn't even thought of it. My mind was muddled from the day.
"So for now, let's just say you're the only person Edward and I trust. And I'm not sure how long Nessie's phone is going to be safe." Jasper stared at me for a moment. "We're going to do our best to make our way home, Jacob."
We heard a door close and then the creak of a seat. "Jasper, I need to know where you are. I'll make sure to send someone I trust to get you. A private flight only you, Edward, me, and that person will know about." He went silent for a moment, which worried the hell out of me. "All hell has broken loose. Felix died on the operating table."
My heart seized. Bella had lost both of her parents.
"The initial information we received wasn't entirely accurate. Everything's tracked back to Demetri. Seems Felix was attempting to break away from the family business. The Sokolovs got wind of it, and ingeniously planted some evidence leading Demetri to believe Felix and Irina were turning on the family. It was an organized hit that backfired. Now Demetri has his brother's blood on his hands and a war with the Sokolov gang. They say he's crazed, and he wants Isabella back."
Well he wasn't going to get her.
"Jasper, Edward . . . your cover's been blown, and they've put out feelers for your family."
Jasper and I both stood in reaction.
"What!" Jasper growled.
"Calm down. Alice, Esme, and Carlisle were taken into protective custody. I've got them in hiding, but I need you there as well." The chair creaked again. "Isabella has to know something. Something that could bring it all down around their heads. Demetri might be feeling all responsible for his brother's and sister-in-law's deaths, but it has gone far beyond that. She's the key."
"Where are my parents and sister, Jacob?"
"Safe. Edward, I promise. I thought your dad was going to take out one of my agents when we picked him up, but you're mom's the one who properly chewed me out."
I couldn't help but grin.
"Again, I'm asking you where you are. Half the FBI in the southern states are looking for you."
If everything he said was true, we weren't safe in the motel, but getting back on the road wasn't a much better option either.
Jasper and I traded looks before he said, "We're just before the Georgia, Alabama state line. A little town called Carrollton."
We could hear Jake's deep breath. "Okay. Have you gotten rid of anything traceable?"
"Yes," I answered, having ditched the watch with my clothes at the hospital.
"Okay. Call me on this same number at 8 am your time. I'll have a plan of action then, and then you'll need you to destroy this phone afterward. Okay?"
"Yes, sir," Jasper answered.
"And boys . . ."
"Yeah." This time it was me who responded.
"Good job. I'll make sure your family knows you're okay." He stopped for a moment. "And Agent Whitlock, nice try at not letting me know about Alice. We'll need to talk about this all when the case is done."
Shit. It meant Jake could split us. I guess in the scheme of things, it was the least of our worries, but I didn't want to lose him as a partner. Jacob hung up without saying anything else.
"I'm going to move the car around back where it can't be seen. Maybe change a license plate out here or there," Jasper said.
"Thanks. I'm going to go get Bella cleaned up."
He nodded.
I was brushing Bella's hair when he returned.
"I think we're okay. I took the car over to the business beside us and stashed it behind a dumpster. It won't take me a minute to get it in the morning." He looked to where I was propping Bella's head up with my knee to gently work the tangles out. "Get some sleep. I'm going to stand watch."
I nodded, grateful he was willing. I owed him.
Once I felt I had all the fine flecks of glass out of her hair, I pulled Bella's pants and shoes off. The shirt came next, and I tried my best not to stare at the curves encased in a matching pale pink bra and panties. Taking her to the other bed, I slid one of the overlarge T-shirts on her before reaching under the material and unbuttoning her bra, sliding it off her arms through the sleeves before pulling it off. Removing her panties about killed me. By the time I'd washed her off with a washcloth, it was all I could do not to groan. Even with the coverage of the shirt and her helplessness, I felt the burn of lust. The thin material of the motel's hand cloths had left little to the imagination.
Tucking her in, I took everything back to the bathroom, washing her bra and underwear in the sink to rid them of any glass, before hanging them across the shower curtain. I shook out the bedspread in the tub, hearing the slight pings of glass hit before turning on the water to wash it all down the drain. Having done everything I could think to do to make Bella comfortable, I turned the small light off and drifted into the room. It was dark except for the light that snuck around the heavy shades from outside. It was enough to make out how tiny she looked all alone in the bed.
There was never a question as to where I'd go. Sliding in beside her, I attempted to get comfortable on my right side before checking her pulse again. It was steady.
I fell asleep to the feel of her heart beating below my fingertips.
~MF~
Okay, just so you know. The original chapter ended with Bella fainting, but I figured I owed ya'll something for not responding to review replies, and I figured ending on another cliffie would get me in trouble. So, I combined two chapters - I hope you enjoyed.
So, as you can guess, a big changes coming in next chapter. HA! I think I know exactly what I'll be sending along as the preview for review replies.
