A/N: Hey babes, here's the next chapter :). As always, enjoy!

PS: I can not stop listening to Ed Sheeran's new album...on repeat...which I may or may not have pre-ordered like a month ago (I did)...SO GOOD! :D

Isabel woke with a sharp pain in her stomach. She brought her hand to it and felt it grumbling. She focused on the alarm clock that was perched on her night stand,

'11:07 AM'

She'd slept for nearly twenty hours, and hadn't eaten in twenty-three.

She sat up, her weak arms shaking as she pulled her torso above the covers, and slowly pulled herself out of bed. She made her way down the hall and to the stairs, carefully using the railing on the staircase to support the majority of her weight and maintain her balance.

She made it down the first half easily, and took a short break on the landing. She heaved and continued down. When she reached the third step, she felt her foot just barely brush the edge of the wood, and before she knew it she was on her back on the bottom step. She immediately started to cry out, and heard footsteps headed towards her.

"Isabel! Sweetie what happened? JJ!"

Will carefully lifted his daughter as she tried to regain her breath.

JJ came rushing in, Henry close behind her,

"Oh my God, I'll go get the car ready."

"Isabel, we're going to take you to the hospital, okay?"

Isabel rubbed the back of her head and nodded.

As Will drove, JJ sat in the back next to Isabel, Henry on the opposite end.

"I was just hungry so I came to get you guys and I-"

"Shh, it's okay. It isn't your fault, but you have to be careful sweetie, your blood is very delicate and I'm sure you're going to be covered in bruises, and we just want to make sure you didn't get a concussion or hurt anything inside your body, alright?"

Isabel wiped the tears from her eyes and muttered a small "okay".

Xx

When they got to the ER, Isabel was almost immediately rushed off for tests. JJ sat down heavily into one of the chairs in the waiting room, the same feeling of failure returning. Tears threatened to make their way down her face, but she resisted with all her will.

"JJ, what's wrong?" Will asked gently, rubbing JJ's arm as he did.

"I just…don't understand why I seem to be the only person in the world that can't keep her own two kids safe. I mean, it shouldn't be that difficult, it never has been before. Is something wrong with me?"

Will's eyes seemed to cloud over as he heard his wife ask the heart-wrenching question.

"Of course not JJ. The only reason why everything is so difficult now is because our daughter is incredibly sick, and she's more fragile than Henry. Don't beat yourself up, she's an independent almost twelve-year-old, and she's been able to do most things herself for the past couple years, she was just following her habits."

"And what about Henry? How could I have been so careless to just leave him?"

"You're human JJ, not careless. You knew he was safe in his room so you focused on Isabel. and with good reason; she was exhausted and at a low point yesterday. Henry is fine-yes it was a fairly scary accident-but did he get hurt? No. Is he going to forget it soon enough? Yes. It's alright JJ, you have a job and two kids that require more attention than most. I'll take off a few days next week, you can relax. Now does that sound good?"

JJ nodded, wiping the tears out of her eyes.

Will leaned over and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

"I'm always here JJ, I ain't going anywhere anytime soon."

"Good." JJ gave a light smile and turned her attention back to the endless anonymous faces running in and out of the hospital.

Xx

"Well Isabel here is pretty lucky; she not only has a trail of large bruises on her back-almost reaching her neck,- but on her right wrist. She barely got away without breaking or spraining anything."

The ER nurse spat the doctor's notes to JJ and Will as Isabel-who was clearly way past being done with constantly being poked and prodded and asked how she felt-looked up at them, her eyes darting back and forth as she tried to decide if she was in trouble or not.

"I gave her some anti-inflammatory meds and we're going to keep her here overnight so we can monitor her, but she should be able to go home in the morning."

JJ and Will nodded a thanks, then stood over Isabel.

"Am I in trouble?" Isabel's voice was shaky and tears were in her eyes, a combination of the overbearing physical pain she was in and the anxiety over her parents' feelings.

"Oh sweetie no, not at all. You just scared us, a lot." JJ looked Isabel dead in the eyes, wanting her daughter to get full understanding of the situation.

"Princess, when you get hurt, we would never be mad, no matter what. It's just that now it's a bigger deal because you're also sick and everything about your body is compromised." Will rubbed Isabel's arm as he further explained JJ's point.

"I'm not so tough anymore, huh?"

"Your heart is strong, as is your mind. That's all that matters love." JJ leaned down and kissed her daughter's forehead, saying a quick mental thanks for everyone's safety that day.

However, in the back of her mind, JJ couldn't help but wonder how many close calls she would be granted-Isabel could only take so much, and every little thing took a toll on her that was more exaggerated than a healthy child her age.

"Are your pain meds kicking in?"

Isabel shook her head.

"Will, why don't you go get her something to eat real quick?"

Will nodded and made his way out.

"Isabel, Henry, I want to apologize. You both know I love you very, very much, but mommy can't do everything at once. Henry, you know now to always ask for help, and Isabel, I promise to never go too far so we couldn't hear each other, so always call for me-and daddy promises the same thing."

"It's okay mommy, everybody makes boo-boos." Henry said in his perky little voice, crawling over to JJ and wrapping his little arms around her neck.

"Yeah mom, it's alright-I mean you're pretty awesome, but you're not God. I'll be okay, and Henry is fine. Everything's going to be okay in the end, remember?"

JJ nodded, and her heart warmed as Isabel took her hand and rubbed the back of it with her small thumb. JJ would always tell her daughter that no matter what, everything happened for a reason, and now, JJ had to remember her own words.

"Yes, I remember."