First things first.

This is the real chapter, not an A/N

I AM SO SORRY!!

You have no idea how much sooner I wanted to get this up, but I just didn't have the time.

Here it is.

Thank you to all of my readers, I hope I didn't loose too many of you.

Summer is ending once again.

Oh, and what did you all think of Breaking Dawn? Tell me. )

R&R

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Bella POV

I woke up to the sound of the alarm clock next to Edward's bed. I was surprised that Edward wasn't there next to me, he had actually listened to me and didn't watch me sleep. I sat up in the bed and immediately laid back down because my head was spinning so much. I reached up and touched my head to see if that would stop the spinning and I was met by a layer of perspiration on my forehead and a set of chills running up and down my spine. This was not good, I thought to myself. I tried sitting up again—moving much slower than the first time—and succeeded, but barely. I lifted the covers off myself and swung my legs off the bed. I tried standing on the floor but again was met with the dizziness I grabbed onto the bed post to steady myself and took deep breaths. I stumbled my way over to the door, falling once. I started walking down the hall, leaning against the wall for support. I when I was halfway to the staircase I tried calling out Edwards name.

"Edward." I tried yelling, but it came out hoarse and sent me into a coughing fit. No response.

"Edward." I called again. This time it came out much clearer but it was in a soft tone. I was now at the top of the stairs looking down into the entryway. As far as I could tell, no one was on the first floor, but I started making my way in any case.

My foot landed on the first step with a thud and started a rapid pounding in my head that was not pleasant the least bit. It was like this for the rest of the steps.

Thud.(step)

Pound pound. (Head)

Thud.

Pound pound.

When I finally reached the bottom after the torture I was just put through I looked around the first floor. And I was right, there was no one else here. I wonder where they all got to? I was tried hobbling my way towards the kitchen but I came to a point where I was so dizzy that I couldn't even see the room clearly. The couch in the living room was about 5 feet away, so I went to it and plopped down. It felt like I was on a never ending, very cold, spiny ride. I put my head between my knees and hugged them to my chest.

"Edward," I pleaded silently.

I don't know how long it had been but the spinning was now coming in waves but the chills had gotten worse. I was curled up on the couch pleading for some relief. As a mass of chills worked its way up my back and my stomach doing summer salts, a tear worked its way from the corner of my eye, down my cheek.

All of a sudden I heard the soft creaking of the front door and then someone calling my name.

"Bella?" this musical voice questioned. I at that exact moment another wave of chills came and made me groan in response.

In an instant I could feel cold hands on my face and that made me shiver even more. I opened my eyes a crack and could see that it was Carlisle who had said my name and was now pressing his cold hands to my face.

Soon I heard another creak of the door and Edward was in the house. He spotted us at once and in another moment was standing behind Carlisle's right shoulder.

"Edward, where were you?" I whispered, my voice hoarse.

"We all went for a quick hunt. I am so sorry. I should have never left you or I should have had someone stay here with you. I am so sorry." He explained quickly. He was worrying again and blaming this all on himself. I hated it when he did that, like he could control natural forces of the universe.

"Edward, please stop apologizing," I started in a whisper and was met with a coughing fit. "You have nothing to be sorry for. You all need to eat too."

Carlisle was still working on me, feeling my pulse points and taking my temperature. I knew the questions would be following soon.

"So, Bella...What are you feeling right now?" Carlisle questioned.

'Bing, bing, bing, we have a winner.' I thought and started to gather up all of my emotions. "I am dizzy, cold, nauseous, and I have a bit of a headache."

"How long have these symptoms been going on?"

"I am not really sure, the nauseousness and chills come and go, but I wasn't feeling great before my nap either."

Carlisle turned to look at Edward and Edward nodded. Edward then left the room and when he left its like he took all the calm out of the room with him. It was like my nerves were rattling under my skin and soon all my muscles tensed.

Carlisle, being the observer, noticed. "Bella, you really need to stay calm right now. Edward will be back soon. He is just getting my medical bag. Relax." he said almost making it sound like music. I started to take deep breaths to relax me, but all it was doing was getting me light headed. But like Carlisle predicted, Edward was back in an instant, carrying a small black briefcase. Edward placed the bag next to Carlisle and came to take my hand. His mask safely in place, concealing his true feelings from the world. From me.

Carlisle put a thermometer in my mouth and started rummaging through his bag. He came up a second later with what looked like to be a packet of pills. He took the thermometer out of my mouth and read the number, not showing any emotion.

When he bent over to put the thermometer away I thought I heard him whisper. "102.8...not good...rapid, very rapid." But his composed face was back inspecting me before I had a chance to give it second thought.

"Would you please sit up." Carlisle ordered.

I scooted up with the help of the ever silent Edward. There in body, but not in mind.

"Okay, now Bella, I want you to take a deep breath." he said and put his hand on my chest. I did what I was told, but I was inspecting Edward more to see if anything would slip through the cracks. Nothing.

"Now another." Carlisle commanded again but this time his hand was on my back. After the breaths were done dizziness overtook me again and I laid back again, Edward jumping towards me to help me in some way.

"I think Bella should go upstairs and lie down again. I will bring up some medicine that might help with a glass of water." Carlisle said.

Edward picked me up from the couch gently, like I was china doll, and cradled me against his chest. The iciness of his body sent more chills to surge through me but I tried to suppress the movement for Edward's sake. He took smooth steps, as to not jostle me and made it up the stairs in a breeze. He placed me in the middle of his golden comforter and pulled the blanket out from under me. I was too tired to move myself, so Edward helped get my legs under the blanket and tucked me in. Not wanting to make me colder than I already was, Edward laid on top of the comforter and watched me lay there. I was sure I was a ghastly sight to see. Probably ghostly pale, a sheen of sweat on my face, and almost vibrating from trying to suppress the shivers running across my body. I was tired but I had a few questions for Edward so I tried to shake the weariness off. Edward handed me the pills along with a glass of water that Carlisle had brought up and I popped each one into my mouth with a big gulp of the water.

"Edward," I started off shakily.

"Yes, my angel." I replied soothingly.

"What is wrong with me?" I knew this most likely wasn't your everyday flu, that this probably had something to do with the venom and me.

Edward let out a frustrated sigh and then looked into my eyes. I tried to put on the most pleading puppy dog eyes that I could do but I wasn't sure if it worked or not. But something changed in Edward's posture and I could tell he was going to tell me the truth.

"Carlisle is testing that right now," he said slowly. As if I would fall asleep or loose interest in the next five seconds. "I talked with him a little bit before, while you were sleeping. He said this might be like—"

"Edward, you need to speak up. I couldn't hear that last part."

"I said, that this might be like blood poisoning." he stated unwillingly.

"Blood poisoning?" I confirmed weakly.

"Yes."

"And?"

"And what, Bella."

"What does this mean? Can I be cured or not?" I said in a whisper, not because I was scared but because my throat was extremely dry.

"Carlisle is working out the schematics of your disease right now. We went hunting just on a break so he could continue on with his work more focused. He is getting a lot more information on what is going on."

"But can he find a cure?" I persisted.

"I don't know. But lets not worry about this now. You really need your rest." He brushed some hair out of my face and started to hum my lullaby. I was very tired but I didn't want to sleep just yet, but the lullaby soon worked its magic and I was swirling into my dreamland.

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Edward POV

Bella was quickly asleep two minutes into her lullaby. She was exhausted with everything her body was going through and she needed her rest. I laid there for awhile just watching her sleep. Tonight she was too tired to do any talking and was completely still in the bed. Her motionless form was pale, except for her cheeks which were a slight pink, her hair was matted to her head, and she had goosebumps on her arms. She looked so fragile in that comatose state. Unmoving and sickly. I didn't want to leave but it was about the time that I should check in with Carlisle to see how things were going.

I pried myself from the bed and silently made my way to his office down the hall. I opened the door without knocking, knowing that Carlisle would be too caught up in his work to notice much. When I peered in he was hovering over a medical encyclopedia and had five other books stacked up around him. He was trying so hard to figure out what happened to Bella and I owed him a lifetime of servitude, if I didn't already.

"Carlisle." I said to get his attention. After a moment he looked up from the passage he was reading to greet me.

"Hello, Edward. Come in." he commanded solemnly.

"What new news have you found?" I asked hopefully.

"I have discovered new information about Bella's condition, but son, I have to tell you that it is not good news." he said in his thoughts.

I had expected the worst, but it still hurt to here that this was confirmed. "Alright then, what have you found?" I asked emotionless.

"I have observed that Bella's condition is rapidly deteriorating. The venom is taking over much faster than I had expected and I don't know how long it will be before things go awry. It could be weeks or it could be hours depending on different variables. I am trying my hardest to get the answers quickly."

"I know you are." I reassured even if my posture was sagging, I was trying to stay composed. I silently left the room after my update and went back to Bella's side. I removed a strand of loose hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. I didn't know how I was going to tell her this. How I was going to tell her that things are getting worse not better. I hoped that Carlisle would find a cure soon so that I wouldn't have to tell her, but I knew that was highly unlikely. But there was always hope. Right?

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A/N: Again I am so, so, so, sorry. I really did plan on getting this out much sooner. I have to help my brother move into his dorm tomorrow and then I start my stuff again. I will try to update again soon. I don't know if the next chapter is the last chapter, but it might be. I have been really trying to prioritize and I just need to get back into a balanced routine again. I will try to post soon. As for my other stories, I have the prologue for one and the skeleton and once I get a couple chapters written I will post that. I don't want to post before that so you will get regular updates and not have to wait as long like you do sometimes with this one. I will put the summary on my Author Page soon. As for the other story, I kind of let that one go, I will most likely go back to it when inspiration hits, so I don't know when I will have that posted. Thanks for your continual support.