Hey guys! So, yesterday I was hit with this HUGE cold out of nowhere. It was like, 7 o'clock pm BAM. So yeah, not feeling to awesome right now. I don't have time to do review responses because I'm off to take a nap. I just wanted to get this posted because I know a lot of people were eager for it. It's in Paul's pov again because, well, Natasha's not available at the moment.

Hope you all enjoy it!!!!

PAUL:

Paul sighed and thumped his head against the wall. He had grown tired of standing and was now currently sitting on the ground, leaning his head against the wall opposite the doorway. It had been an hour since he left Natasha in the hands of the Cullens and he was going insane. In his hands a bottle of beer dangled between his bended legs. It was half empty and he calculated that it would be completely empty in just a few minutes.

When the door across from him opened suddenly, he blinked his eyes at the light and looked up into the face of Carlisle.

"You can come see her now," was all he said as he walked down the hall and down the stairs. Paul shot up and ran into the room, coming to a stop at the sight of Natasha.

She was lying in a white hospital bed, machines beeping all around her. Wires and tubes led from all over her body to the accompanying machines and her leg was wrapped in a thick cast. Alice stood by her head, stroking her hair in a soothing manner.

"How is she?" Paul choked out as he walked over and took her hand.

"She'll live," Alice said and Paul looked at her expectantly. She rolled her eyes. "She'll live and she'll be human," she said and Paul heaved a deep sigh of relief. Thank God.

"What were you and the Doctor doing?" Paul asked as he let go of Natasha's hand long enough to pull up a chair.

"Healing her. We had to try and get all the venom out. It was not easy," she looked up at him through her eyelashes, trying to tell if he could handle it or not.

"Go on," he urged and she nodded before continuing.

"When Edward changed Bella, he put a shot of venom to her heart to speed up the process. Carlisle got the idea that perhaps a similar shot, except with an antidote, could save someone from being changed. It was risky but it was all we had. When she came in here she had about a 20% chance of walking out of here human." Paul felt his stomach drop.

He hadn't known he had been that close to losing her.

"At first we didn't know if the shot had worked. While we waited, we hooked her up to everything, hoping to have it all under control if and when she returned to her normal state. It took about a half hour before she began to show signs of human life again. It was another half hour before we knew she was out of the danger zone."

"So she's alright now?" he asked and Alice looked up at him.

"Not completely. She's back to normal but she's in a shock-induced coma. Carlisle said she should wake in a couple days but we're not entirely sure." Paul frowned.

"She's in a what?" he asked and Alice rolled her eyes before clarifying.

"A shock-induced coma. The confrontation with Timothy took a toll on her and she's not quite ready to come back to reality. She's shut her body down as a defense. Hopefully she'll realize she's safe and she'll come around soon," she said and Paul nodded, looking at Natasha.

She looked so peaceful, the way she looked when he watched her sleep. The large gauze patch on her neck made him wince. He winced again when he turned to take in her cast.

"What about her leg?" he asked and Alice frowned.

"Broken in six places and a lot of the cartilage was torn. It was a really bad break. Carlisle had a tricky time setting it and it'll take a long time to heal." Paul looked at her with pleading eyes, asking the question he couldn't voice. Alice shook her head slowly.

Natasha wouldn't skate again.

One hour turned into ten. Ten hours turned into a day. A day turned into two. When Natasha's parents had called, frantic as to where their daughter was, Paul had told them what happened, skipping over the part about Timothy. Then Carlisle had transported her to the hospital, just in time for her parent's arrival.

"Oh my baby!" Mrs. Bascov had wailed as she walked into the room. Paul stood up from the chair he had permanently been occupying and Natasha's mother took his place. Paul walked over to Mr. Bascov, wringing his hands nervously. He couldn't remember the last time he had been nervous about talking to another man before and he didn't like it.

"I'm uh...sorry sir...about what happened. About all of it. I know we should have come to you before we left the competition and I know I shouldn't have let her run through the woods-"

"Paul," her father cut him off and Paul's eyes slowly looked at his. "It's alright," her dad said, clapping his hand on Paul's shoulder. "Sometimes we do stupid things. It's how we learn." Paul sighed. Mr. Bascov was being too forgiving.

"I know sir but it's all my fault. I'll never be able to forgive myself and I completely understand if you never want me to see your daughter again. I won't cause Natasha any more problems." Mr. Bascov was shaking his head and Paul frowned.

"It's alright," he said forcefully. "What you've done may have been stupid but there's nothing we can do about it now." Then he grinned. "Besides, Natasha would kill me if I tried to keep her from you. It scares me how close you two have gotten these past few weeks." Paul nodded, knowing he couldn't keep anything else from her father when he was being so forgiving.

"I love her sir," he said and Mr. Bascov's eyebrows rose. "I love Natasha and I will always do what's best for her. I know a father finds it hard to let his daughter grow up and go out into the world but I want you to know I'll keep an eye on her for you. I'll make sure to watch her when you can't." Mr. Bascov's eyes widened at Paul's bold statement. Then they calmed and he smiled.

"You're a good kid," he said before stepping around Paul and walking over to Natasha. Not wanting to intrude, Paul turned and headed out of the room, breathing a sigh of relief as he did.

Maybe he could grab some food while he waited.

Natasha still wasn't awake and Paul was starting to go slightly insane. He hadn't left the hospital since Carlisle had brought her in. He was grateful to Doctor Cullen for letting him stay with Natasha 24/7, even though he wasn't technically family. Whenever her parents showed up however, he booked it down to the cafeteria as soon as he could without seeming awkward. He still felt like they should blame him more than they did. Not wanting to give them reason to dislike him though, he had taken the ring off of Natasha's finger before she was taken to the hospital and kept it securely in his pocket. He almost constantly had his hand in his pocket as well, feeling the ring between his fingers as a happy reminder of what was to come when Natasha finally woke up.

After she had been in the hospital for almost two days Chris showed up. He ignored Paul as he carried the bouquet of lilies over to the bedside table. Taking the seat Paul had just occupied, he reached for Natasha's hand and stroked it with his thumb.

"Hey Tash," he said softly as he leaned over to look at her. "I came as soon as I could. I can't believe this all happened to you. If there was anyone who deserved this the least, it was you. I promise as soon as you wake up I'll bring over the trophy we won. It belongs to you more than me."

Paul stood in the doorway watching the whole interaction with folded arms. As Chris went on, telling Natasha how she didn't deserve to be in this situation, he felt increasingly worse. It was his fault she was in here and he wondered if Chris would confront him about that.

He didn't have to wonder for long.

"Hey," Chris said firmly about thirty minutes after he got there. Paul glanced up and saw Chris was addressing him.

"Hey," Paul responded hesitantly. Chris stood up from the chair and walked over, stopping when he was directly in front of Paul.

"You know what you are?" he asked and Paul shook his head. In this kind of situation, he knew it was best to let the other person have their say. "You are a fucking bastard." Paul internally winced. "You're the one who did this to her. She wouldn't even be in here if it weren't for you!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Paul whispered harshly. He beat himself up enough about all this; did Chris have to do it too?

"I don't think you do. She was doing just fine up in Canada with me. We won the competition!" he only paused a second. "We had a shot at the next Olympics!" he nearly cried and that hit Paul like a punch in the gut. The Olympics? He had no idea. Chris seemed to understand his shock. "Yeah, she didn't know it either. I was gonna tell her when I got back from the competition," he said as he looked back at her. "Like hell I'm gonna tell her now."

"I'm sorry," Paul said in the most sincere way possible. He really was. He had never actually apologized to another guy before, excluding Mr. Bascov. Usually he just fought it out and then called it even. He was putting himself out there and it felt uncomfortable. Chris didn't seem to notice though.

"Yeah well you never did think of anyone but yourself," he said and Paul scowled. "Didn't you ever stop to think for you second that maybe Natasha and I were doing just swell for ourselves?"

It all made sense.

"You like her," Paul stated. At Chris' silent response, Paul nodded. "I get it. I'm sorry okay? I'm sorry I took Natasha from you, I'm sorry I made her get hurt, and I'm definitely sorry she won't ever skate again," he paused and took a breath. "But I won't apologize for being in love with her."

"Fuck off," Chris threatened under his breath and Paul shook his head.

"Hell no. I'm here until she says otherwise and since the odds of that happening anytime soon are unlikely, I'll be here for a while."

Chris took a threatening step forward, then another. He continued this way until he was chest to chest with Paul. Paul stood up at his full height, a full six inches taller. Chris however, held his own and continued to glare.

"I hate assholes like you who go and fuck everything up for their own satisfaction," he stated and Paul bared his teeth with a snarl. He sure didn't want to phase here but if Chris didn't lay off it soon he was going to.

"Has she woken up yet?" a chipper voice sounded from the doorway and both guys turned slowly.

In the doorway Kim, Sam, and Emily stood with wide eyes. Paul looked down and realized he had subconsciously taken hold of Chris' collar, pulling him close in a threatening manner.

"What is going on here?" Sam asked, always the voice of authority. Chris yanked his shirt loose from Paul's grasp and turned quickly, shoving past Sam and out into the hall. After watching him leave, Sam turned and raised an eyebrow at Paul. He was clearly waiting for an answer.

"Nothing," Paul said gruffly as he turned and walked back to his seat by Natasha. Sitting down, he leaned over and took her hand in his, hoping Sam would just let it all rest.

He did.

Four days after she had been in the hospital, a group of about ten guys walked in. Paul lifted his head in surprise, frowning before he realized who they were.

Her dad's hockey team.

After the incident with Chris, Paul was hesitant. What if they reacted the same way? Even worse, what if they all professed they liked her too? He didn't think he could handle that. Luckily, hating him didn't seem to be on the agenda as one of the guys broke from the rest of the group with a smile on his face.

"Hey," he said, stepping forward to shake Paul's hand. "Paul right? I'm Scott," he said as Paul shook his hand. "We came to see Natasha," Paul nodded, gesturing to the bed.

"She still hasn't woken up," he said as they all walked around her. He noticed a couple of them were holding bouquets of flowers and one of them had a bunch of balloons in his hand. Paul smiled. They really were like her brothers.

His smile was immediately taken over by a frown. Jealousy. These guys had been closer to Natasha longer than he had and therefore they probably knew stuff he didn't. He didn't think it was fair. He raised his eyebrows as another one of the guys came over.

"Thanks man, for taking care of her," he said as he stuck out his hand and Paul shook it. "I'm Ralph. Sorry about how we acted when we met you before. We're just a little protective of our girl here. Obviously she's in good hands."

"She is," Paul said, wondering why he felt the need to reassure them. Ralph nodded.

"That's good to hear," he said and Paul released a breath. At least they approved of him.

The guys stayed for thirty minutes before beginning to funnel out. There was only so much ten guys could do in the room of a comatose girl before they grew bored.

"Thanks," Scott repeated as he shook Paul's hand again.

"Anytime. I really care about Natasha and I'll take care of her with every piece of my body," he said and Scott nodded, frowning.

"Good. We may all like you but if we find out you've done anything else to hurt her, you'll be sorry." Paul frowned. Anything else? Scott nodded at Paul's questioning face. "We know about the fight you had a little while back. She was crushed. Do something like that again and I can guarantee you'll have us to deal with." With that final word, Scott turned and walked out of the room, the last one to leave.

Fight? Paul was confused. Unless they meant the episode when he and Natasha hadn't talked for five days because of his...revelation. That had to be it.

"Paul," a soft, feminine voice whispered. Paul's head shot to the side so fast he heard his neck crack.

Natasha was still laying lifelessly, the monitors still beeping calmly. Frowning, he went into the hallway to look for Carlisle. He found him talking to a nurse, clipboard in hand.

"Carlisle," he said as he walked over. Carlisle turned to the nurse and handed the clipboard back.

"I'd up the dose to twice a day and then tell me how that works," he said and the nurse nodded before walking away. Carlisle turned to Paul with a raised eyebrow.

"Natasha just spoke. She said my name," he said and Carlisle frowned before starting a brisk walk in the direction of Natasha's room.

"Sometimes this happens. It may be that she's beginning to wake up. Again, I can't guarantee anything but I'll check her out."

In the room, Carlisle leaned over Natasha, checking her eyes with his small flashlight. He checked her pulse and read a couple things on the computer monitor before turning to Paul.

"She's starting to show signs of returning to us. I'd give it a couple hours. Let me know if anything changes," he said before turning and walking out. Paul smiled as he sat down next to Natasha and picked up her hand in his.

A couple hours.

Well? I'm sure a lot of you are breathing sighs of relief right now. Personally, I hate stories where the imprint turns into a vampire. Lame! But it was fun reading all your reviews telling me you hoped she wouldn't be one. Glad it wasn't too obvious how it would turn out!

So yeah, review and let me know how you feel about Natasha staying human!!!!