BPOV

Holding Edward in my arms was amazing. Ever since I called Alice this morning, I was trying to figure out what to do. Should I come here and look for him, or avoid him and let him find me, if I was what he wanted. In the end I knew the answer, Edward would hold it in until he exploded, and when that happened, it would be that much worse for him. I hadn't asked for help when my mom was sick, and it did me far more harm than good. So I went looking for him, with a coffee as a pretense, just in case he didn't want me.

Talking with him and knowing that I was able to help him; that all of my suffering would finally serve a purpose, made me feel good. I was scared of what would happen if I couldn't take away his pain, the hurt look in his eyes last night when I pushed him away, before I knew why he was doing it, was still in my mind. I can honestly say I have no idea if I would have stopped him, if I knew then, what I know now.

"Thanks for the coffee." Edward said quietly.

"You're welcome." I knew he wasn't just thanking me for the coffee. "Are you ready to go see her again?"

"Will you come with me?" He sounded so fragile, like he would barely make it through the hour.

"I'll do whatever you need me to." Edward lifted his head from my chest and we stood up. Edward took another sip from his coffee and we went through the doors and back into the hall. I took his hand as we walked the thirty feet to Esme's room. He paused outside the door and I squeezed his hand. "I'm not going anywhere." He took one last deep breath and we walked in the door.

Emmett and Alice were in there with Jasper and Carlisle. Alice saw me and came over hugging me tight. "It's so good to see you." I hugged her one armed as I was still holding Edward's hand. Edward let go and went to sit in the chair that Emmett had just gotten out of.

"Hey, Mighty Mouse, I'm glad you came." He hugged me fiercely, and I almost lost it for a moment, before reining it in.

Next I hugged Carlisle. "I'm glad you came back."

I pulled back and went over to stand by Edward, putting my hands on his shoulder. "I never left; I went to the hospital chapel. Then I got Edward a coffee and went to find him."

Edward reached up and laid his hand on top of mine, before picking up Esme's right hand in both of his.

I reached into my back pocket and pulled out a Ballet Studio to-go menu and handed it to Carlisle. "If any of you get hungry, call the bar and they'll make you whatever you want and Leah or I will bring it here."

"Thank you, Bella." Carlisle smiled at me and I had a feeling someone had let him know that Edward and I were having problems, something he was unaware of when I saw him an hour ago.

After about twenty minutes, Alice and Jasper went to get some air. Emmett wanted to go for a walk and finally Edward got up. "Bella, where's the chapel?"

"It's on the second floor, across from the elevator." Edward walked over to me and brushed the back of his hand against my cheek.

"I'll be back in a little bit."

"Want some company?"

He turned back and smiled. "No, I want to do this on my own."

So now it was just Carlisle and I. He ran his fingers through his hair and looked as if he aged ten years in ten seconds. "Carlisle, how are you holding up?"

He smiled weakly. "I feel so helpless. I'm a doctor, this is what I do, but I can't do anything to make her better, or make this better for them." He motioned towards the door.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"I could use a shower. Would you mind staying with Esme while I run upstairs and use the doctor's shower?"

"Sure, take your time; I'll stay with her until one of you gets back." Carlisle walked past me and rested his hand on my shoulder, before getting a bag off the dresser top and walking to the door.

I walked over to the bed and sat down in the chair.

EPOV

I walked into the chapel and knelt down to light a small candle. Closing my eyes, I folded my hands and took a deep breath. "God, I don't even know what to say. My mom always said that you wouldn't ever send us more than we could handle, well I can't handle this. Between my mom and everything with Bella, I don't know how to do this. I'm trying to work through this, because I want to be with her, but I wanted kids with her so bad. And my mom, you can't take my mom. I wouldn't survive it. My family wouldn't survive it. And Alice, her and my mom, they are like two pieces of the same thing. You have to give her back to us. Please, God, my mom needs to wake up." I fought against the tears and got up to head back to my mom.

As I got back to the room, I looked in the window and Bella was alone in the room with my mom. I went to go in and I heard Bella talking so I stopped, backing out, but leaving the door cracked so I could hear her. I felt bad eavesdropping, but hearing her uncensored thoughts was just too tempting a proposition.

"…Esme, please wake up. Carlisle loves you so much, and your grandchildren should know you. I know what it's like to lose your mother, and your children will never be the same. Emmett's blaming himself for not getting you out of there sooner, Alice is about to get married, and she needs to have her mother there. And Edward, you mean the world to Edward, and the way he talks about you, he'd never be the same. I've already put Edward through so much in the last week, he needs his mom. On Christmas, you told me you couldn't imagine missing out on your children's lives, well then you need to wake up. Open your eyes and rejoin your family." Bella started to cry and I decided to make my entrance now. I knocked and Bella turned towards the door. "Hey Edward, did you find the chapel okay?"

"Yeah, where's my dad?"

"He went upstairs to take a shower, I told him I'd stay with your mom until someone got back."

I wanted to talk to her, but I didn't want to leave my mom, so I sat on the cot on the other side of the room and tapped the spot next to me. Bella came over and sat down. I stared at my hands for a moment and then looked up at her with tears in my eyes. "Bells, I'm so scared. I don't know what to do. I'm trying to be positive for everyone, and for her, but that's not me. I always go straight to the worst case scenario, so that way I can never be disappointed."

"So talk it out with me. What are you afraid of?" She looked up at me.

I spoke barely louder than a whisper. "I'm scared that she won't wake up. That she won't get to see me make something of myself. Or that she will wake up, but that she won't be my mom anymore. That there will be some brain damage and she won't be all there. I'm afraid that she wasn't proud of me. And I'm terrified of what's going on with us. I know you don't want to talk about it now, but I want you. Being with you is more important than having kids with someone else. I know that, but I'm still dealing with what that means. But I don't want to lose you because I'm taking too long. I don't know...I feel like everything is falling apart."

"Okay, first, don't think about what could happen to your mom until you have to, I know your mind wants to go there, but making yourself sick, won't change anything. You have to believe she'll wake up. And as far as you being a disappointment, that's not possible. Your mother was so proud of you; I could tell by the way she beamed when she talked about you, or how she hung on every word when you would tell a story. Her children are her greatest joy, and there's nothing you could do to change that." She stopped short. She was holding something back and I wanted to know what it was. I reached for her hand and held it in mine.

"And what about my fears about us?"

"Edward, I'm terrified too. I'm glad you've made that choice, and you don't have to work through everything on your own, just get to a place where you can let me in again. You don't have to worry about losing me, I can't end this, remember; I'm in too deep." A tear rolled down her cheek, I quickly used our joined hands to wipe it away. Just then, my dad came through the door and looked at my mother, and Bella called out to him. "She's the same."

My dad turned to see us on the cot. "Oh, I thought you might have stepped out for a minute, sorry I took so long."

"It's fine, feel any better?"

"Yes, thank you. And I think I might take you up on your offer and order some dinner when everyone gets back."

Bella smiled. "Well, Leah should be at the bar bugging her brother, so she'll drop it by."

BPOV

After we ordered food, Edward wanted to grab a nap, saying he wasn't hungry, so we went out into the waiting room, while everyone else spent some time with Esme. Edward fell asleep with his head on my lap, curled up on one of the stretches of armless chairs. I was petting his bronze hair when I heard a throat softly being cleared.

"I guess the train has left the station again." Leah was smirking, holding a box of food. "Where's the room?"

"421, its half way down on the left side. But before you go, I ordered a burger and well done fries."

Leah pulled out my burger and another container and then three bottles of water. She was about to head down the hall, when Emmett came out to us. "Hey Mighty Mouse, how's he doing?"

"He's doing better. By the way, this is my best friend Leah, Leah, this is Edward's brother, Emmett."

"Hey, it's nice to meet you, and thanks for bringing the food over."

Leah shook Emmett's hand and then smiled. "Nice to meet you, too. And don't worry about the food; I needed to take a break from my lesson plan."

"You teach?"

"High School English, I'm struggling to give the facebook generation some culture wherever I can." Emmett laughed.

"Well if they're anything like me in high school, good luck." Emmett picked up the box. "Anything else in here yours before I make off with it?"

"Nope you're good." Emmett took the box off to Esme's room.

"Thanks Leah." I smiled up at her.

Leah sat down next to me. "You gonna wake Rip Van Winkle?"

"No, he needs a break from this for a little while."

Leah looked at me and shook her head. "And when do you get a break?"

"Leah, I love him, and we're on our way to working it out, but this takes precedence."

"He told you that?"

"Yes."

"Okay, fine. How are you feeling?"

I looked at her as she handed me my food and slid over so I could use the seat next to me as a table. "What do you mean?"

"I mean you're in a hospital where his mom is fighting for her life, and you guys are in limbo, and you're acting like the last week never happened. You can't be this fine with it."

I let out a sigh as I started picking at my fries. "I'm not." I whispered. "I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I feel like if I'm not here for him, if I don't make this better for him, then he won't come back. And I know that's crazy, he's told me he wants me, but I feel like I have to do this, because if I can't be there for him during this, he may realize I'm not worth it. And before you freak, I know I'm worth it, Edward told me that more than once. And we are taking it slow, it's just I know what it's like to love him and have him love me, and I want it, bad."

"Alright. But how come I tell you you're worth it for nine years and you roll your eyes at me, but he tells you in a month and you believe him."

"It's the way he looks at me. You can't doubt it when he looks at you like that."

Just then, Edward started to wake up. After a minute he opened his eyes. "Hey Bella, Leah."

"Hey Edward, sorry to hear about your mom." Leah patted his head.

"Thanks. You bring the food?"

"Yes she did, have some of my burger." I held out my burger and her sat up and took a bite, then he grabbed his bottle of water, while I had a bite of the burger myself.

"So, what did I miss?"

Leah and I looked at each other and laughed.

Another chapter is done. This one was a little short because what's happening next chapter all has to happen in one chapter. Thank you all for your support! It's such an amazing feeling to know that so many people are reading and enjoying something I've written. You guys are awesome and I love you all!