Hopefully the intensity of this chapter will make up for the brevity. Out of all the chapters for this I've written so far, this is probably my favorite so be kind when reviewing. As always, read and enjoy!

XXXXX

Damon held a tight rein on his anger until they were out of hearing range of the humans in the hospital parking lot.

"What the hell was that, Stefan? We didn't even find out what was wrong!" Damon's blue eyes were lit with unholy fire as he stared down his brother. Stefan, however, was unfazed by his brother's outburst.

"Open your eyes, Damon. Edward Cullen is suspicious enough of us as it is. We don't need to add to it."

"Fuck Edward Cullen!" Damon nearly shouted, slamming the palm of his hand on the hood of an unsuspecting car.

"Oh real mature Damon. Having a temper tantrum in the middle of the hospital parking lot is not going to help."

"Well, it certainly makes me feel better and when it comes down to it, that's the only thing I care about, right, Stefan?" His voice was heavily laced with sarcasm. Damon knew he was being a dick right now but he didn't have the heart, literally or figuratively, to care.

As he stalked off away from his brother, it began to pour, heavily. "Great. Just fucking great!" he shouted to the sky as the torrent of rain plastered his hair to his face and kicked the tire of another car. Damn, Forks weather. He wondered if he could get away with hotwiring a car. They had both ridden in the ambulance and now were deprived of a way back to the rental house.

Stefan covered his head with his jacket and caught up to him quickly before his brother could do any more damage to the vehicles in the lot. Damon was mostly mumbling angry epithets aimed at him. Every so often, Stefan could catch a word but resigned to say nothing…until Damon whirled on him.

"She was remembering. You heard it. You know what it means. And are we in there where we can know what's wrong with her? Nooooo – " He drags out the word scathingly "…We're out soaking in the God Damn rain because you're afraid of Edward Fucking Cullen!" He angrily stabbed at his hair, his chest heaving with anger.

"No I'm afraid of questions that would inevitably be raised by our looming presence…questions we can't answer. And if you were thinking with your brain instead of your anger, you would see that I am right."

Damon remained sullen and quiet in the rest of the walk to the house. There was nothing left to say. It was obvious Stefan didn't understand his desperation and wouldn't relent. He hated to admit it but the little bunny eater was right. If they pushed it, they might be denied all access to Isabella and that was something he couldn't allow to happen. He saw glimpses of how over-protective a certain Edward Cullen could be while he spied on them the night before. If he was trying to forbid her from seeing a close friend he perceived as dangerous, he would have no problem trying to do that with him.

He had never told Stefan about his little late night visit to the Swan house. Mr Morality would probably consider it an invasion of privacy. He didn't learn anything that was of particular use or anything he really wanted to share, only that apparently, Bella had been through more than any 18 year old girl should. It sounded like someone else, he knew…someone else that had his heart and didn't know it.

Stefan glanced at Damon when they finally reached the house. Damon had been unusually quiet since his meltdown. Grabbing two towels, he threw one to Damon. He caught the towel out of mid air without turning to look at him. Stefan though could see the stony faced profile.

Stefan let out the kind of long suffering sigh that made Damon cringe…and he did.

"I'm worried about her too." Stefan admitted.

Damon rubbed his wet hair with the towel, still refusing to speak. He poured himself a drink and gulped it down quickly. Besides blood, it was the only thing that would take the edge off.

"Are you going to completely ignore me now?"

Damon shrugged as he poured himself another drink, this time letting the nuances of the alcohol flit over his tongue before swallowing. "I'm going by the old adage. If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all. You should be proud."

In truth Damon was scheming. The crow would have to take flight again. He got away with it last night. Whose to say he couldn't get away with it again?

XXXXX

Edward's footsteps quickened down the hospital corridor as soon as his mind registered Carlisle's agonized thoughts. Alice followed swiftly behind, blinded to what the sudden urgency was.

Damn it Edward, slow down. You know I can't keep up if I'm walking human.

But Edward paid her no mind. He was thoroughly focused on Carlisle and the sniffles he detected just behind the closed door. Hadn't he known? Hadn't he felt it…the gut clenching fear that he didn't want to fully acknowledge, that twisted and turned into tangled knots within him?

"Carlisle?" Edward's voice was so ragged that he could hardly believe it was his. He tried to search Carlisle's mind for the reason why his father looked this way but found nothing. He was being blocked again. This time he wouldn't be so easily deterred.

Carlisle nodded as if he knew what Edward was resolving. "I'm going to see if they are ready for her. You may go in for a few moments."

"Please." Edward's plea was desperate and Carlisle wasn't a fool. He knew what his son was asking. Unfortunately, he knew it wasn't his place to tell him. Bella trusted him as her doctor and more importantly as a father figure. He would not break that trust.

"I'm sorry son." He looked at Edward apologetically. " It's Bella's decision whether or not she wants to tell you. It's not my place to do so." He turned to Alice who was watching their exchange quietly. "Alice, why don't you come with me?"

Alice nodded her assent, the pretty pink slippers in the bag on her arm forgotten.

Bella didn't bother to look up when she heard the door slowly open and close. She knew it was Edward. She could feel his eyes practically bore into her as she busied her hands, picking imaginary lint off her hospital gown. Why wasn't he saying anything? Was he waiting for some kind of signal from her?

"Err...hi" she finally said, daring to look up at him. It was all the encouragement he needed. He blurred to her side, taking her hand within his own as he stared at her with his molten golden gaze.

"Won't you…" he swallowed passed the lump that lodged in his throat. "Won't you tell me what they think is wrong?"

He wasn't demanding like she expected. That was good. She didn't know how she would react if he was. Bella had decided to let him know. She could see what the not knowing was doing to him. If she expected him to be truthful with her, she could do no less in return. The "how" of it was where she got stuck. She couldn't just come out with it as if she were telling him what she had for breakfast.

"Do you remember the night we went to Bella Italia in Port Angeles?" Her eyes were serious…unblinking as she focused solely on him and the words she was going to say.

He smiled. "It was one of the first of the very best nights of my life…excluding what happened earlier that evening, of course. It was the night I finally admitted to you and to myself that I couldn't stay away from you any longer."

She nodded. Good. It was good that he remembered. It would make this slightly easier to explain. "It was also the night you told me that you could read minds…everyone else's but mine." She studied him intently searching for any signs that he could see where she was going with this. There weren't any.

Edward looked at her confused. "Bella, what does this have to do with…?"

She placed her finger over his mouth to quiet him gently. "I'm getting to that." When she was assured of his silence, she took away her finger and continued. "I had joked…"-she grimaced – "well, not really…that there must something wrong with my brain. You thought it was ridiculous and we had a laugh about it but…it seems you were wrong…we were both wrong."

Edward visibly stiffened. "Just what exactly are you saying?" He enunciated each word slowly, still trying to grasp the exact meaning behind what she said.

Mentally, she braced herself to say what had to be said. "Based on all the symptoms I've been experiencing, Carlisle thinks I may have a brain tumor."

Usually Edward was able to process much more than several pieces of information at the same time. That's how his mind worked since he was turned. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to recognize the one simple phrase. The words "brain tumor" echoed in his mind like a looming death knell threatening the last vestiges of sanity that he managed to hold on to up until this point.

"Edward?" Bella questioned worriedly when he didn't say anything. It was like he had just turned to stone. His body was so still, she could easily mistake him for a statue if she didn't know better.

"You said symptoms." He locked on the one thing he could process, not trusting himself to go back to that scary place he had just been.

The words she spoke then were almost like they were being said through a vast tunnel and he mocked himself for being so blind. He had two medical degrees. He should have seen this. Instead, he was so arrogant to think that her poor health had everything to do with his leaving that he hadn't looked beyond that. He had mistakenly believed that all would return to normal in time. He almost wished instead for a threat from Victoria or Jacob. At least those were enemies he could see…enemies he could fight. He could not fight this.

"Carlisle can't be sure, of course…not until he does the actual tests."

She was trying to make him feel better…ease his worries. He loved her all the more for it. But for Carlisle to suspect it, it was enough. For Carlisle to be as worried as he was, he knew it had to be bad…maybe even unfixable. He shook the thought from his head. He could not allow himself to think like that.

Edward couldn't' stand the distance from her any longer. He wrapped her in his arms, burying his face in the crook of her shoulder and breathed in the heady scent of her essence. "We'll get the best neurologists in the country…in the world if we have to. Whatever it takes, we'll do it."

Her heart broke for him. He sounded so optimistic that there was something that could be done.

Bella pulled away from him slightly, just so she could look into his eyes. She needed to see them for what she was going to say next. "No matter what happens, Edward…no matter what the tests show… it will be okay. Carlisle won't let it be otherwise." She paused giving him the time to comprehend what she was saying. "I need to know if you are okay with that." If you aren't there really is no point for Carlisle or any of them to do anything but watch me die, she added silently to herself.

A broken sob escaped the taut control he was trying to grasp onto as he tightened his hold on her. He knew what she was asking him in her own roundabout way. He knew Carlisle would go against his wishes but he was also aware that given what Bella just said, that she would not.

In an instant, he saw his future with her…what was left of it, should he deny her…deny them of what they both wanted. And selfishly he had to admit, deep down behind the layers of self sacrifice he had imparted on their relationship, he did want it…wanted her for eternity. He could picture watching agonizingly as she wasted away from the disease that consumed her body. She would suffer in silence, not letting on to the pain she was in for him and the moment she took her last breath he would fly off to Volterra to finish what he started only days ago.

He couldn't do it. Being without her for months, he thought had been the epitome of torture. To hear she had died had made what he felt then almost absurd. But to watch it happen before his eyes, knowing he had the power to do something about it yet doing nothing…it would be too much.

"If it comes down to it," –the words that came from his mouth were guttural with emotion – "I'll do it myself."

XXXXX

"Okay Bella" Carlisle's voice spoke to her through a microphone in the control room. "We're almost ready to go."

Bella was lying down on the mechanical bed waiting for the procedure to begin. The room had been cleared of all personnel and Bella was assured that the only people in the control room were Carlisle and the radiologists. Charlie, Edward and Alice had no choice but to wait either in the visitors lounge or her room.

The machine hummed a redundant tune and the long dark tunnel of it loomed before her. She was tempted to make some offhand joke about Alice falling down the rabbit hole but opted against it. Given the circumstances, it might not be appreciated.

"Bella?" Carlisle's voice spoke again.

"You remind of the great wizard of Oz behind the curtain when you do that." She answered back forgetting to withhold her bad jokes. She heard Carlisle chuckle and smiled.

"We're going to start now. It's very important that you stay as still as possible."

"Stiff as a board…got it." She gave a thumbs up to which she earned another chuckle.

Carlisle, that moment couldn't be happier about Edward's choice in mates…not that it really was a choice. She was everything his son needed. Regardless of her human fragility and weaknesses, she had an inner strength that rivaled anything that he had ever seen. The fact that she was about to embark on probably the most serious test she had in her short life was a testament to that. He was glad his son had relented his stubborn view and decided to do whatever necessary to save Bella. Edward had been visibly distraught but resolved. The MRI didn't hold the same deadly ramifications it had just a few hours ago.

He kept an eye on Bella as the bed slowly moved into the mouth of the machine until he saw only her calves and feet. Buttons were pressed and colored images of Bella's brain slowly came into view on the monitors surrounding the room. Carlisle had always been fascinated by the brain. It was the part of the anatomy that held the most secrets, the part that no matter how much money and time were spent on research, the intricate workings of it still evaded the most genius of scientists.

"Holy Jesus." One of the radiologists whispered horrified under his breath. It was so low, it was barely audible to a human ear. However, Carlisle was not human. As soon as the words were uttered, Carlisle positioned himself behind the radiologist to see what he was looking at. He almost didn't want to know…didn't want to see his fears confirmed as fact.

"What is that? I've never seen anything like it" The other radiologist asked pointing at the screen.

Carlisle just stared at the screen, wanting to rub his eyes to clear them. Maybe what he was seeing wasn't really there. But the other two in the room confirmed that it was.

"I don't know but whatever it is, it's not a brain tumor."