A/N: Hi, everyone. If you saw the Author's Note I posted the other day, you know I've got a lot going in RL. There will be a little more about that at the bottom, but for now, I finished this chapter for you. :)

Also, if you didn't see the A/N and are wondering what I'm talking about, I've already deleted it, so as not to interrupt the flow of my story.

Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.

Chapter 25

BPOV

The sound of my stomach rumbling roused me from my sleep. Well, that and my baby girl seemingly doing somersaults inside of my belly. Cracking open my eyes, I groaned at the light streaming in through my window, making my aching head throb even more, and I rolled over to face away from it before sitting upright.

Wondering what time it was, I picked up my phone and turned it on to check, and found out I'd been asleep for a few hours. I also saw I had a new text message from Sam.

Hey, B. I haven't heard back from you yet and I'm getting a bit concerned. Give me a call or text me to let me know you're okay. - Sam

I was just about to send him a reply when I was hit with the sudden urge to pee, so I dropped my phone onto my bed and raced into the bathroom. When I was finished, I stepped over to the sink to wash my hands and caught sight of myself in the mirror.

I looked as horrible as I felt. My hair was sticking up on one side of my head from rubbing on my pillow and my eyes were red-rimmed and puffy from crying. After I washed my hands, I took some baby Tylenol for my headache and brushed my hair so I at least looked somewhat normal. Then I went back into my bedroom, sat down on my bed, and snatched my phone up.

I sat there for a minute, wondering how I should reply to Sam's text, when my phone started ringing and his name and picture popped up.

I pressed 'ACCEPT' and answered his call. "Hey, Sam. I was just about to answer your text."

"Well it's about time! It isn't like you to not reply to people's messages, Bella. I was really worried about you," he scolded me, but I could also hear the relief in his voice as he did so.

I sighed heavily into the phone. "I know. I'm really sorry about that. I had a bit of a rough night." And a rough morning, I added silently to myself.

"What happened?"

"I had to be taken to the hospital last night," I told him smoothly, hoping he wouldn't freak out too much.

"What? Why? Are you and the baby alright?" he shouted into the phone frantically.

"Sam, calm down. We're both fine," I said soothingly. "I started having these pains in my abdomen and I didn't know what was happening, so Edward and his friend were kind enough to take me to the hospital where I was then told I was having Braxton Hicks contractions brought on by some minor dehydration," I explained to him.

"That sounds serious. Are you sure the two of you are both okay?"

"It's really not that serious. And yes, we're both fine. They gave me some fluids and Tylenol, and sent me home a while later. I didn't sleep too great, but the pain and contractions stopped, so that's good."

I heard him sigh heavily, letting me know he was upset about something. "That's a huge relief, Bella, but now that I know this...I really wish you would have called me, or anyone else for that matter and filled them in. What if this had been something much more serious?"

I stood up and started to pace back and forth inside of my room while holding my phone to my ear in one hand and the other supporting my lower back. "I get what you're saying, Sam. Really, I do, and if that had been the case, I would have let someone know, but it wasn't," I said seriously. With a small sigh I added, "Besides, I ended up forgetting my phone at home anyways, so I didn't have much of a choice. But if it makes you feel better, I wasn't alone at all. Edward and Jasper kept me company in the hospital, and then Edward spent the night here in case I needed anything."

I was met with utter silence from the other end of the line. After not hearing anything for about 30 seconds, I pulled my phone from my ear to look at it to make sure the call hadn't dropped. The screen showed that the call was still going though, so that wasn't the problem.

"Sam? Are you still there?" I asked as I put the phone back to my ear.

I heard him clear his throat and he said, "Um, yeah. I'm still here." He paused and then carefully asked, "So, um...this Edward guy stayed over, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that was nice of him...I guess."

"Edward is a nice guy." Most of the time.

"I guess so," he murmured quietly. I heard someone calling his name and he sighed. "I have to get going. One of my clients just showed up. Would it be alright if I stopped by later?" Knowing Sam as well as I do, I knew that actually meant 'I need to see for myself that you're okay.'

"Yeah, that's fine," I agreed, though truthfully I didn't really want much company today, but I also missed my best friend.

"Great!" Sam replied, sounding more cheerful. "Do you want me to bring you anything?"

"No, I'm all good."

"Okay, I'll see you then. Bye, Bella."

"Bye, Sam." I hung up my phone and left the comfort of my bedroom to find something to snack on in the kitchen.

I eventually settled on an apple and some peanut butter, so I grabbed a knife and a spoon from the utensil drawer and a paper plate from the cabinet. I sliced the apple up into wedges and then scooped a plentiful amount of peanut butter onto the plate, and then I made my way into the living room to plant myself on the sofa and watch tv.

I was about halfway through an episode of Ghost Adventures when my doorbell rang. I got up and answered the door, finding Jasper on the other side with a bright smile on his face.

"Hi, Jasper. Come on in." I stepped aside to allow him into the house.

"Thanks. How are you feeling today?"

I smiled at him and answered, "Much better. Thank you for asking."

"I'm glad to hear it." He looked at me for a moment with his baby blue eyes and cocked his head to the side a little. "You look like you've been crying, though."

I ducked my head and sighed, "Yeah, well...that had nothing to do with my health, and everything to do with Edward."

Jasper's eyes widened in suprise and then he shook his head and groaned, "Oh, man. What did he do this time?" I was about to answer him when he said, "Wait! On second thought, you don't have to tell me. It's none of my business."

I nodded in agreement. "You're right, but...I don't know...you've known him for a long time right?"

He looked at me curiously, probably wondering where I was going with this. "Yeah, since we were kids," he answered slowly.

"Maybe if I tell you what happened, you could give me some insight on why Edward acted the way he did?"

He shrugged a shoulder at me and said, "I could try, but I can't guarantee anything."

"That's better than nothing, though." I led him into the living room and once we were both seated, I began to explain to him what transpired earlier this morning. He answered some of my questions and gave me some helpful tips on how to judge Edward's moods.

"Oh. I didn't notice anything like that earlier. He seemed fine...happy even...and then he wasn't. I didn't mean to make him upset, I just got concerned," I told him quietly.

Jasper sighed heavily and said, "Bella, look at me." When I did, he continued. "I can guarantee that whatever set him off wasn't your fault."

"How can you be so sure of that, Jasper?"

He then went on to explain that he and pretty much everyone who knows Edward personally has experienced similar outbursts from him before and that I shouldn't take it personally.

That really upset me. "He made it very personal, Jasper. His words...they hit me really hard."

Jasper leaned forward in his seat and kindly asked, "Bella, I know it's none of my business, but do you mind telling me what it was exactly that Edward said to you that bothered you so much?" I repeated to him what Edward said to me about my Jake, and to say Jasper was shocked was an understatement. "Oh, shit!"

"Yeah," I agreed. "But you know what? I kind of was, in a way...but I had to be. Jake...he had a brain tumor. He was diagnosed with it before I found out I was pregnant, and it couldn't be removed. As he got worse over time, I had to know how he was feeling in order to help him manage stuff. That's why Edward's comment bothered me so much," I cried, not even trying to hide my fresh tears.

Through my blurry eyes I saw Jasper lean over and grab the box of tissues I kept on the coffee table and held it out to me. But just as I went to grab a tissue, the door to the guest bathroom suddenly slammed shut, making us both flinch and turn towards the noise, and then the faint sounds of someone vomiting could be heard.

Jasper turned to me with raised eyebrows and a grimace. "I'm assuming that's Edward in there puking his guts out right now?"

I frowned along with him. "I'm afraid so. I hope he didn't catch something from the hospital last night."

"I suppose it's possible," he said as he glanced back towards the bathroom. There was something in his voice that made me believe that's not what he thought, though. He stood up from the couch and nodded in Edward's direction. "I better go check on him and see if he's alright."

"Of course. Tell Edward that there is a brand new bottle of mouthwash and some disposable cups in the medicine cabinet that he can use if he wants."

"Will do," he nodded. "If I need anything else, I'll let you know."

"Okay." Jasper left to take care of Edward and I turned my attention back to the tv. There was a different episode of Ghost Adventures on now, but I couldn't get into watching it. My mind kept wandering back to the two men in the bathroom. I could faintly hear their muffled voices as they talked back and forth for a few minutes, and then I could hear Edward throwing up again and the toilet flush afterwards.

After hearing that happen again, I couldn't help myself. I needed to go and see if there was anything I could do to help, so I got up ad started walked towards the guest bathroom. But before I reach it, the door opened and Jasper stepped out, followed by a very pale looking Edward.

"Hey," I said to them with a small smile. "I was just coming to check on things." I looked over at Edward and gently asked, "How are you feeling?"

He huffed and glared at me. "I've just spent the last ten minutes throwing up. Take a wild guess."

I recoiled at the harshness of his words. I opened my mouth to say something to him, but closed it, choosing not to upset him further. Instead, I turned around and walked back to the living room and took my place on the sofa again. It took an awful lot of willpower to do that and not go back and smack him on the head for being a jerk to me when I was trying to be nice.

A moment later, I heard the both of them walk past the living room towards the front door, but then one of them walked back in my direction. Looking away from the tv screen, I saw Jasper round the corner and enter the room, coming over to stand next to me, with a rueful grin on his face. "I'm gonna take Edward home. He's not in any shape to be around people right now." I nodded at his assessment of the situation. "I was wondering though, if you would mind me coming back over here? I could make use of the alone time to re-familiarize myself with the various sound equipment and music software in the studio."

"That's fine. I'm having a friend over later, but we won't bother you."

"Thanks," he grinned.

"Jasper! Let's go!" Edward hollared from the front door.

Jasper rolled his eyes and said, "I better go now, before he decides to throw a hissy fit. I'll see you later, Bella."

"Bye, Jasper. Good luck."

"I'll need it," he joked, and then he turned and walked back to Edward, and a moment later they both left.

An hour later, Jasper returned.

We chatted for a bit about this and that, and before he got up to go do his thing in the studio, I asked him how Edward was doing.

"He's pretty miserable right now, but he'll be fine." Just like earlier, I got the feeling that he wasn't telling me something important, and while I was willing to let it go the first time, I wasn't going to do it again.

I looked Jasper in the eyes and said, "I've noticed that you are very good at reading people, Jasper, but so am I. What aren't you telling me?" His blue eyes widened for the briefest moment, and I knew that I was correct in my assumption. "I want the truth this time."

Jasper sighed heavily and reached up to rub the back of his neck nervously. "I'm not trying to be disrespectful, Bella. I like you. You're a very kind, caring person. And I can see that you care a lot about Edward. So, because of that I'll tell you what's really going on with Edward right now, but you can't let on that you know, okay?"

I nodded my head at him.

"Good. Edward's not really sick...well he is, but not in the way that you think." I gave him a very confused look and he explained further. "He didn't catch something from the hospital. He made himself sick."

"He made himself sick?" I repeated, wondering what he meant. Then I thought about the fact that Edward was vomiting and came to one conclusion. "You mean he...?" I made a gesture of of sticking my finger down my throat and made a gagging sound.

Jasper looked horrified at where my mind had gone. "What? No! Nothing like that. Sometimes he gets himself so worked up after one of his 'incidents' that he actually becomes physically sick."

"Oh," I replied slowly, finally understanding what he was trying to say. "Now I get it."

"Like I said before, though. He'll be just fine. Edward just needs a little time to deal with stuff."

I thanked him for telling me this information and let him go get to work. I then spent the next four hours watching tv, and working on some sketches until Sam arrived with a big grin on his face.

I was really happy to spend time with my best friend again, although I did have a rather serious conversation with him about his overprotectiveness. He agreed to tone things back a bit, which made me very happy, but for his own peace of mind, he did ask me if it would be alright to meet the people that would be using the studio.

I told him that would be fine, so when Jasper was about to go home a while later, Sam stopped him and introduced himself and talked to him for a few minutes before he actually realized that he kind of already knew Jasper. To my amusement, it turns out that Jasper had sold Sam some weed once when we were teenagers at one of the parties held at First Beach up in La Push. We all had a good laugh over that, and then Jasper left.

Sam stayed for another hour before he decided that it was time for him to also leave. He had a big tattoo job to do the next morning, so he wanted to get home and get plenty of sleep. After he left, I decided to make myself something to eat and then turn in for the night. It had been a pretty eventful day, and I was exhausted.

But before I went to sleep, I wondered if Edward was doing any better. I picked up my phone and pulled up his number and sent him a quick text.

I was just wondering if you were feeling any better and wanted to wish you a goodnight. - Bella

I waited to see of he would reply, but after about five minutes I gave up, thinking that maybe he was already asleep. And when I woke up the next morning and checked my phone to see if he answered my text, I was disappointed to find out he hadn't.

But I was even more disappointed and hurt when I didn't hear from him at all for two weeks after that.

A/N: What did you think?

As mentioned above, I completed this chapter earlier than I thought I would. It was already more than halfway done, so I pushed myself to get it done since I don't know when my next update will be.

I dropped my cat off at the vet earlier today, and she will be having her surgery in the morning. If all goes well, I'll try and see how much time I'll be able to put into writing the next chapter while my cat is recovering, but right now, I'm not sure.

I also want to thank everyone for their kind thoughts and well wishes. I truly appreciate every one of them.

Hopefully, I'll see you all soon! :)