A/N: Hello there! Glad you're still tuning in. Thank you all for reading, reviewing and putting the story on alert. It makes me feel mushy inside.

Big thanks to Chicklette for her beta work, and for being an all around good friend. When I grow up, I want to write as well as you.

Also a great big thanks to my friends over on the TB Wiki, the Sookieverse, and WC peeps. Your support and encouragement is invaluable.

Many of you were quite conflicted about Edward last chapter, and of course many of you seem to be unrepentantly Team Jasper, lol! Still, I think most of you liked that glimpse into Edward's admittedly messed up head. The boy doesn't always think clearly, does he?

Anyway, here's a little more Rose for you, 'cause she's just awesome like that.

Here comes the rain again
falling from the stars
drenched in my pain again
becoming who we are.

As my memory rests
but never forgets what I lost
wake me up when September ends.

Summer has come and passed
the innocent can never last
wake me up when September ends.

Ring out the bells again
like we did when spring began
wake me up when September ends.

"Wake Me Up When September Ends" – Green Day

RPOV

I finally arrived at Bagram in the middle of the night, but Jasper was as good as his word, and someone was waiting to escort me to the hospital. Walking into Bella's room was an exercise in discipline because every fiber of my being was screaming for me to run. I wasn't afraid of much in my life, but hospitals topped my list.

My own stay in the hospital was not only uncomfortable and unpleasant, but so tangled in up in the horror of my young life that I would forever associate hospitals with pain, trauma, and shame. Then when Charlie and Renee died . . . it was bad enough losing Renee immediately, but Bella was forced to make the decision to remove Charlie from life support. I think that day was almost worse than the day I was hospitalized.

I had just turned five, and was playing quietly in the corner so that I wouldn't wake Daddy up. It always put him in a foul temper when I woke him up with my playing and then he'd hurt me, so I made sure to stay quiet as a mouse. That day I was being extra good, and when I heard the knock on the door, I ran to it quickly so that whoever it was wouldn't wake up Daddy. When I cracked the door open to tell them Daddy was sleeping, two men shoved it open all the way and came in, waking up Daddy.

I said, "I'm sorry, Daddy! They just—" but he cut me off with a backhand to the mouth, and a snarled, "Shut up!"

"Shit!" One of the men said. Then he picked me up and sat me on his lap. He gently wiped the blood from my lip. "Aren't you a pretty princess?" he asked and I smiled at him like he was the Second Coming.

"I don't have it, Royce," I heard Daddy say.

"Tsk, tsk," the man called Royce responded even as he brushed the hair out of my face, smiling at me the whole time.

"I'll have the money next week, Royce. I swear," Daddy said, and he sounded scared. Daddy never sounded scared.

"Hale, Hale, Hale," he said in a tone of voice that would be used by a teacher when you forgot your homework. "That's not acceptable. But I tell you what. I'll accept a partial payment now, and then my full payment next week. Think of it as an interest only payment for now."

"Royce, man, I . . . I don't have it. I don't have any of it," Daddy said, cringing.

"Oh, well now," Royce said. "That's a real shame. Joe," Royce commanded his eyes still on me. "Show Mr. Hale here what happens when someone disappoints me."

The other man, Joe, took two steps toward Daddy. "Please god, no!" Daddy screamed.

I was terrified. Daddy was scared; Daddy never got scared. Then I began to cry. "Oh no, Princess. No tears," Royce said as he wiped them away. "Don't be frightened sweetheart."

"Joe," Royce said, and Joe stopped. "Well, Hale, there is one thing you have . . ."

My parents dealt heroin for Royce King, but they'd broken the cardinal rule of dealing—don't get high on your own supply—and owed Royce a lot of money. I found out later that my mother was out turning tricks that day, trying to make up the money they owed him. But Royce King didn't wait for his junkie dealers to pay him. Royce King took what he wanted as payment.

That day, I was what he wanted, and at first I thought he was an angel sent from heaven to rescue me from my evil parents.

...

See notes in chapter 2

a/n: so, Rose has had it rough, but I think it makes who she is now even more incredible. I'm always in awe of survivors, regardless of what they've survived. They humble me and make me hope to be a better person. They're heroes really. Do you have a hero?

Someone asked me how I know so much about Doctors Without Borders. I don't really. I know of them, and I've researched them online. They have a website and they update it regularly with news about their work. This story is a piece of fiction, and as such, some things will be dramatized, but I hope it doesn't detract from the incredible work that groups like theirs perform. Also, while I try to research things I'm unfamiliar with personally, again sometimes I can't access the information or the story demands some flexibility. I'm trying to be accurate with Bella's medical condition, but I'm no doctor. Also, I've never been to Bagram or the hospital there, or even Afghanistan, so while I try to find out all I can before I write, there are limitations to my knowledge. If there are any military or medical peeps out there that have any info that could help, please feel free to pm me!

You should listen to Green Day's song.

Just Like Chocolate has been nominated for a few awards in the Everything's Bigger in Texas contest!

Finally, I'd like to pimp out a little contest. It's a Southern Vampire Mysteries/True Blood contest, and it's all about parodies! \

The current entries need your review love! If you're looking for something good to read, please head over there now: www . fanfiction community/Dead_Pan_Contest/78556/99/0/1/