Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, but I do take credit for ripping them from Twilight and turning into doctors and hot SWAT guys!

So here we are...the prologue event. Big thanks to Sihaya9 and SassenachWench for helping me get it out for you guys!

Those of you who actually are in the medical profession, please forgive me if I get some of this wrong. I swear I did my research, but I'm sure it's not quite as realistic as it could be. I did my best! And to the law enforcement community, I understand I am taking HUGE creative license here...there's no way in hades these boys would be allowed to go in...no way, no how...but then again we wouldn't have a story if they didn't...so please just sit back, suspend reality ever so slightly, and enjoy the ride!

Without further ado...I give you...THE CHAPTER!


The Angel's Kiss

BPOV

I walked through the big glass doors to the main lobby of the hospital, immediately struck by how much busier this part was than usual. I hated to see what I was about to face in the ER waiting room. I rushed to the locker room, put my purse away, making sure I was ready to face the chaos of the day that lay head.

I was soon joined by the rest of my intern class. We all groaned and complained, spending the last few seconds before our Residents came in to apprise us of where we were expected to fill in today and in what capacity.

Dr. K came in alone. She quickly brought us to order, informing us that the ER was way too chaotic for more than one resident to get away. She began passing out orders to the rest of the groups who left immediately, saving her own team to last. It hadn't passed my notice that she had yet to sentence anyone to triage. My stomach boiled in dread.

Finally, she approached the four of us with a comforting smile.

"Okay girls, this is how it's going to be, Silver and Chase will be assisting the surgical team in triaging cases sent their way. When a patient is referred to you, you will assess with more detail and report to the surgical residents, giving their rating on a scale of 1 to 5 with level one being most critical. Brandon, you will be working waiting room triage with Swan."

We both groaned and slumped, feeling defeated and undervalued.

"Now you two stop that," Dr. K chided us, "I only chose you because you have the best bedside manner and are the most adept at quickly assessing trauma levels. I trust the two of you to make the most informed decisions. This job is important. Assess incorrectly and you could bring one hell of a lawsuit down on this hospital. Swan, you take the waiting area north of the door, Brandon you take the south. I leave it to your own personal discretion and know you both have the brains and talent to make the best decisions. If someone isn't in your opinion in need of the high care level of this hospital, legally we can't encourage them to leave, but inform them that they will most definitely wait a minimum of twelve hours before they will be seen because all patients of higher need that come both before and after them must be treated first. Politely inform them that they might find faster treatment in personal physician's office or the urgent care center two blocks down on Ohio. Low concern waiters should be given the yellow number stickers and told to wait in the main waiting area upstairs. Are we clear?"

We both nodded. The four of us rushed down to join the chaos of the ER. Before we even reached the hallway that led to the ER, we were instantly hit with the rumble of many voices speaking, all blending together into a loud meaningless hum. The annoying rumble was coupled with the heavy, slightly sour odor that often accompanies countless bodies squeezed into a small space. I looked over at the counter to see a very stressed out looking Tanya, shuffling papers on the verge of tears, as a tall man with salt and pepper hair yelled at her over the counter that separated them.

She looked up as I passed. I sent her a small smile and a sympathetic look before crossing into the side of the waiting room designated to me.

I tapped the shoulder of the poor intern currently filling the role, to alert him I was about take over, whispering in his ear, "Tag, now run before they catch you."

He shot me an exhausted smile, handing me the cards and stickers from his pockets with a look that said 'good luck you're going to need it.' He disappeared into the crowd, getting angry glares as he traveled past. The second he was gone, the mob descended on me.

After ten minutes of having twenty people talk at me at once, I stepped over to a chair and stood on top of it putting my hands in the air and yelling loudly.

"Now listen up. The more you talk over each other, fight each other, and fight with me, the longer it takes me to help you. So you have 2 choices; you can either A) grow up and wait in line like we were all taught in kindergarten, or B) I can walk away and you can just wait out here all day long. The choice is yours!"

The crowd grew quiet. While I got dirty looks, they did straighten up a bit.

"Thank you."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Mrs. Lancaster sitting quietly with Ethan on her lap as he cradled an arm with tears running down his face. I smiled at them and continued on.

"If you would please form an orderly line beginning here, we can sort you out. I also ask that you not push, shove, or cut in line."

A misshapen line formed in front of me. I began sorting through the patients, one by one. About one in every ten patients was critical enough to be sent to the admitting desk where Tanya was hurriedly tried to work everyone through the system. About one in five were injured badly enough that the urgent care center would not be much help and needed to stay on premesis, but the rest were all carefully encouraged to go down to the urgent care center or take a yellow sticker. About half growled at me, taking the yellow sticker, stomping off to sit in the main lobby.

An hour into my shift, the line was finally starting to move along when my favorite little patient came to stand in front of me. I smiled at him and asked what caused his injury this time, only to find that he had slipped getting out of the bathtub, hitting his arm on the edge. I gave them a level 4 tag and sent them to Tanya. My decision earned the ire of some of the others waiting behind them who griped that he had a broken arm and all the rest of the breaks had been sent out with a yellow tag. I did my best to briefly explain that HIPAA laws didn't allow me to discuss his condition, but I was one of his physicians and being aware of his medical history knew things that they did not. They grumbled as they watched mother and son cross back to wait patiently in the orange plastic chairs in front of the one window situated in the ER waiting area.

Just as I thought I had gotten through most of the patients already waiting when I arrived on my side of the room, I was accosted by a group of yellow stickers who returned to yell as they circled around me.

Rumors of my actions regarding Ethan had reached the main waiting room. They began spouting cries of discrimination, although I'm not sure what I was discriminating against since I had sent away people of all ages, races, sexes, and creeds. The group surrounding me was a good sampling of all of the above. I once again tried to keep my cool while explaining in the same manner what I had explained before.

Soon, someone from the group returned with a HR representative and a cocky intern, who began to berate me for my discrimination practices and I lost it.

"Excuse me, but I was chosen for this job because I am well known for both my bedside manner and my ability to work well in crisis situations. My superior has confidence in my abilities and if you don't think I can do this job then I'll be happy to hand it over to you, Dr. Price. In the meantime, if you even deigned to look at said patient's chart you would plainly see that the patient suffers from a case of Osteogenesis Imperfecta. He is under the care of an Orthopedic Specialist in this very hospital and is under standing orders to report to this ER in the events of breaks so that an Ortho can come down and reset the break for the patient. Now, if you wish to send him to the urgent care center where he'll be sent right back down here to Ortho, then you're a bigger jerk than I even realized. Now in the meantime, I have more patients to get through if ANYONE is to be seen at all today!"

The entire group watched with wide eyes before the HR person turned on the asshat, better known as cocky intern Dr. Michael Price. She griped him out before telling the yellow tags to return to the main waiting room and stay there or their yellow stickers will be taken back and they can wait until EVERYONE that comes to the ER has been taken care of first.

The group finally left. The ones waiting in the area near us all clapped loudly for me, making me blush, before I turned back to the newly formed line that had assembled while I was distracted.

I noticed in the hallway outside the ER that Dr. Trevor Sellers, aka Dr. Creepy Slimeball Jackass, was talking with a few other doctors. They must have been waiting for more patients to be called back after going through the admitting paperwork. I looked back down to the small girl in front of me, trying to assess if her breathing difficulties were a basic panic attack or if there was something bigger going on with her, when a loud noise followed by several loud gasps filled the room.

I looked up to find a tall man dressed all in black with a long black trench coat and black ski mask standing in the middle of the waiting room doorway, brandishing and AK 47 in one hand and a Desert Eagle handgun in the other. He ordered everyone to get down.

Screaming and panic ensued. I yelled across the room for Alice to get everyone out down the hallway behind them. I personally was helpless, because my half of the room was at the end of the building. Our only route of escape was to walk past the gun wielding psychopath.

Tanya sat trembling, her face nearly green, as the gunman stood with his handgun trained directly on her. He ordered her to come around and join us in the waiting room. Then he started yelling for Trevor Sellers at the top of his lungs.

I took several deep breaths, trying to settle the panic growing in my body as the gunman shifted his weapons toward us, directing everyone to sit along the far wall. He selected the tallest ones to stand in front of the single window to block the view of anyone outside. He backed across the room, closing the double doors to the hallway, sliding the locks into place at the top and bottom of the doors. He then moved to do the same to the other doors leading to and from the waiting area.

I looked around the room, noticing I still had two level two patients, five level threes, at least ten level fours and about a dozen level fives. There was also a handful of patients yet to be triaged, and SHIT, Ethan and Mrs. Lancaster...FUCK.

I fought to keep my mind under control. I needed to keep my head about me because I needed to figure out how to 1) help and maybe even treat these patients if I can't actually get them out of here, 2) try to talk down this psycho who had been pushed beyond all reason and get him to trust me, and 3) keep up the faith that my boyfriend, my brother, and the rest of my boys are already on their way.

I looked at the other side of the room, relieved to see that Alice and the patients on that side had gotten clear of the area and were safe. I began to scoot around, asking everyone if they were alright, trying my best to check on my most critical patients. Suddenly, I felt him behind me, his hot breath on my neck as his voice whispered in my ear. Chills ran down my spine...I knew that voice!

"Ah, ah, ah, Dr. Bitch, you stay put. You are my star hostage after all."

I turned with a gasp.

He laughed, pulling the mask off revealing the man I had been hiding from for over a month, the man who was supposed to be in the custody of the federal government, the man who was out to kill me for some reason...James "Wingnut" Trager.

He smiled at me, looking smug, as he slowly trailed the muzzle of the gun from where he held it at my temple down my cheek, across to my chin, down my neck and past my cleavage. He shoved it into my stomach so hard, I felt like I was going to be left with a large bruise.

"Lucky for your bitch ass, I'm not out for you anymore, not after that jackass served me up on a silver platter to the feds. He knows if they get me, I take down Mr. B down with me, and that opens up the market for him to take over. I have to admit, he's good."

"Who?"

He snorted, grabbing me around the shoulders and pulled me up in front of him like a shield, "Your little former boyfriend of course, Dr. Trevor Sellers himself."

I looked at him over my shoulder, too in shock from the new information to really absorb due to the fact that I was being held at gunpoint in front of his body. He chuckled darkly.

"Geez lady, for someone who's supposed to be smart, you sure are a dumb-ass bitch."

I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes. "Of course...it all makes sense now. The new insurgence of medical grade drugs on the street, the change in tactics..."

The boys had kept me pretty well apprised of all the goings on since I had first been put on lockdown. They kept marveling over the new developments on the street. It was pretty obvious there was a new sheriff in town, and that sheriff was smarter, trickier, and far more influential than his predecessor.

"Of course it's a doctor, and of all the doctors, it shouldn't surprise me it's him...but how is this supposed to help anything? Hell Trager, he was standing in the middle of that hall not ten minutes before you came in with your guns held high, causing chaos. I'd bet he's probably 1/3 of the way back to Springfield by now. He's definitely not going to just hand himself over to you. The cops won't hand him over if they get their hands on him, they'll figure out what he is. They'll keep him for themselves and still find a way to take you out."

"Unlikely," he snarled, pushing a button to open a suitcase full of small bricks labeled C4 with a little device on top that I assumed was a remote detonator. He picked it up cradling it lovingly.

"This will assure me that won't be happening." He made sure the safety was flipped over the trigger and slid it into his pocket.

We could hear the chaos outside. Dozens of sirens flooded the street and lights flashed through the single window in the ER waiting area, making the room flash in alternating blue and red tones. Tanya's desk phone began to ring.

James smirked and mumbled 'right on time' before dragging me with him to the counter, picking up the phone, answering with a haughty tone.

"I'm sorry. The ER is currently undergoing a change in management. Try calling back later when you can send in Dr. Trevor Sellers. He and I have some business." He hung up the phone, leaning against the counter with a smile as he surveyed the scene before him.

Only seconds later, the phone began to ring again. He made no move to pick it up.

I heard a couple of kids begin to cry. I began working on Trager, trying to talk him into letting some of the people go.

"This isn't helping your case, Trager. At the very least, let out the most critical patients...they've already been triaged. Anyone with a card with a 2 or a 3 are in need of medical assistance immediately. Please consider releasing them. Maybe if you offer to trade the hostages then they'll find a way to get you Sellers."

"No," he growled at me in disgust.

I sighed. The ringing phone was already driving me nuts and giving me a headache.

"Can I at least answer the phone to give them a little peace of mind?"

"No, you can't talk to your brother and his little friends. No."

"Please, Trager, it won't be them. Chicago has dedicated hostage negotiators that deal with these situations. My brother and his friends are actually an infiltration team; they have no connections with negotiations at all."

"I. Said. NO."

I sighed. "Fine, if you won't send the hostages in need of immediate medical attention out, then can I please try to treat them? All I need is for you to escort me to the door to that hallway. Let me get a cart from the med room right by the doorway and fill it with a few supplies. I can bring it right in here and do it in front of you. Please, let me help them."

He sighed, grumbling that if anyone died before he had Sellers that he would never get him. He finally tucked the handgun in his pants, keeping the AK out in his hand, running his now free hand through his hair.

"Fine, but I'm keeping and eye on you. If you try anything funny, I will start shooting hostages, beginning with your little blonde friend over there that's got the bun in the oven."

I looked at him with wide eyes wondering how he knew about Tanya, our friendship, and her pregnancy. Before I could wonder any more about that, I nodded my head in agreement.

He unlatched the door, watching as I made my way to the medication storage room, grateful it had been left unlocked. I rifled quickly through the medications, grabbing pain pills, ampoules of intravenous meds, including a strong sedative that I pocketed along with a medium sized syringe. I moved over to grab styptic powder, bandages, gauze, stitch kits, wraps, braces, and a couple of slings. In case things got dicey, I nabbed a few hidden surgical blades, a chest tube, a crash cart, a few large needles and valves, along with a valve bag mask. To round it out, I picked up a box of snack cakes that were left in there from the faculty's Thanksgiving party in case I had any diabetics that might need some sugar.

By the time I pushed my way out of the storage room, my cart was overflowing. I pushed it in front of me while awkwardly dragging the crash cart behind me toward the door.

"Took you long enough...two more minutes and Blondie was going to be history."

I rolled my eyes. "It takes time to gather all the needed supplies. I think I did pretty damn good myself. Hopefully this is all we will need."

"You better as fuck hope so, because that ain't happening again. bitch. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it." I spat back at him as I pushed the carts through the doorway.

I set them up in front of the counter so I could work on patients in the middle of the room where he could see everything I was doing. I settled a few supplies on the counter and began. I started by asking the level 2 patients to step over and asked Tanya to assist me with the patients.

The ringing phone was getting really distracting as I tried to listen to the chest of a man who was suffering from dangerously high blood pressure. He showed no other signs of immediate danger, so he was placed at level 2, in deference to the patients in full blown cardiac arrest and on the verge of bleeding out; they fell under level 1 care. I finally sighed, turning back to Trager.

"Would you at least take the damn thing off the hook if you're not going to answer? I can't hear!"

He groaned, motioning for me to come over. I stood in front of him in annoyance.

"You've got one minute tops. Tell them who you are, tell them you are providing medical care to the hostages, tell them my demands, and nothing more. Tell them not to call again unless they can give me Sellers...otherwise I'll call them."

I nodded, picking up the phone.

"H..hello?"

"This is Captain Marcus Corelli. May I ask who I'm speaking with?"

"This is Dr. Isabella Swan. He told me I could answer, but I don't have much time to talk. He's timing me. He's allowing me to provide medical care to the injured. I'm not sure I can really provide proper treatment to the more critical patients, but I'm doing my best. He has one demand. He wants Dr. Trevor Sellers. He has a personal vendetta. He says not to call again unless you can send Sellers in, otherwise he'll call you. I will tell you now, Sellers is a person of interest for you..."

At this point he pushed down the button disconnecting the call.

"Un,un,uh, princess, you tell them that and they won't send in my boy at all. Mr. B wants him dead and me to keep my mouth shut, which I intend to do."

I sighed, raising my eyebrow, nodding toward my patient in silent request to return to him. He used his gun to gesture towards him. I crossed the room to resume providing care for the elderly gentleman with high blood pressure.

Things were pretty quiet for the next few hours as I did my best to care for my patients with the supplies I had at my disposal. We were all waiting to hear anything new.

Once I had done all I could, I sat back and looked toward the window longingly, hoping my boys were out there and knew I was safe. I'd give anything to hug Edward in that moment. I closed my eyes, trying to push away my worries that I could possibly not make it out of this alive. I knew one thing for sure. I would definitely be the last to leave.

EmPOV

I was in a cab halfway to the station when the page came in. I called in and began to gag when I heard the message. The ER...someone had taken hostages in the ER and I knew that Bella was working ER today. Oh Fuck!

I banged on the thick glass separation between me and the driver. I insisted he turn around and take me back to the hospital. When he argued I pulled out my badge in one hand and my sidearm in the other. He gasped and quickly turned around. A block ahead, I saw another cab do a u-turn at the same time and figured it must be Edward.

Both cabs squealed to a stop at the road block. Edward and I reached the barricade at the same time, flashing our badges at the blue and whites working crowd control. Edward's hands were tugging at his hair and I was holding my hand over my mouth, trying to keep in breakfast. We just looked at each other helplessly before rushing to the mobile HQ trailer.

Jasper was already there, holding Alice close to his side as she was telling the officers what she had seen. She sobbed against Jasper's chest when she explained that Bella was on the far side of the room, cut off from any exits, and the gunman's firearm was trained on Tanya when she left.

Edward vibrated in his spot next to me and I was fucking terrified for Bella. I knew she was smart and strong, but I still had to fight the urge to go and crash through the door to rip the motherfucker's head off. Nobody fucks with my baby sister and lives to tell about it. One way or another, that asshole was going down!

EPOV

Jasper ran his hands over Alice's head comfortingly, visibly relieved that she was free from danger, but still obviously stressed about Bella. I moved over to the call center, asking what they had heard so far. They explained that only one phone call had been answered so far from the perp, who asked for Dr. Trevor Sellers as his sole demand. I shivered at the familiar voice as they played back the recorded message.

A second after I recognized the voice, a different voice filled the air from an incoming call filtering through the speakers, filling my heart with joy. Bella...she was safe! I saw Emmett and Jasper's posture relax slightly as we listened while she explained the situation at hand and what was going on. She started in telling us how Sellers was a person of importance to us, but was cut off, assumedly by Trager.

I could feel my lower jaw trembling and my eyes stinging as I thought of my Bella being at the mercy of that lunatic. My fingernails dug painfully into the palm of my clenched fists. I turned and stormed out of the trailer, ducking behind it. I was focused on resisting the urge to punch something, when I felt a comforting hand on my shoulder. I turned to look into a pair of comforting blue eyes.

"Oh God, Dad...Bella's in there!" The man who had filled the roll of my father for the past seventeen years pulled me into a tight hug, tears rolling down both of our cheeks.

"I know, son, I know. Your mom's on her way too. She's in hysterics as well. We all love Bella, son. She's going to make it out of this. In the meantime, she is a strong capable woman who can handle herself in a crisis situation like nobody's business. Trust me, I've seen it myself. I can't think of a more capable student in my employ that could handle this situation any better than your Bella. Just be strong for her, son."

I nodded as we both fought to get our emotions back under control. If I didn't straighten up, the chief would come in and yank us all the minute he figured out we had such a close personal relationship with Bella. Fuck that, we were going to be the ones to go get her, no matter what anyone said. They could can all of our asses later, for all the fuck we cared, we just wanted our girl out of there!

The next several hours were torture as we waited for more information, trying to converge all of our intel into some sort of actionable solution. The truth was, he had knocked out the security cameras, had stationed tall hostages in front of the window in order to completely conceal our view of the room, removing all options of utilizing snipers to resolve the situation. We were flying deaf and blind and still weren't even sure that there wasn't more than one gunman.

At the three hour mark, we heard chatter though the speakers from our high eyes that there was movement in the window. We all rushed to the screen in time to see someone attending to the men standing in the way of our view. I recognized her ring before I saw her face peek around one of the tall men being forced to stand in front of the window. Bella looked up, locking eyes with one of our operatives, and began to gesture behind the backs of the men as she pretended to use her stethoscope to examine them.

We watched closely, beginning to put the facts together as she gestured numbers and used sign language and pantomime to provide logistics. My Dad patted me on the back in a gesture to imply 'see, told you she was capable of dealing with this.' I nodded, watching intently as Emmett and I pieced together her message with our unique insight into the mind of Bella.

One Gunman, 2 guns seen, AK-47 and large handgun looked like Desert Eagle, and 1 knife, lots of C4 with remote trigger. 38 hostages including herself...she was the only doctor.

Far too quickly, she was once again gone from view. My heart clenched tightly in my chest at the absence of her face. If I could see her, I knew she was okay, but the rest of the time I had no way of knowing if she was still safe or not.

The commander brought everyone together, including our new intel into our strategy, as the rest of the guys and I struggled to focus. The Desert Eagle handgun was highly disconcerting. It was one of the few handguns capable of containing .50 caliber armor piercing rounds. If he had .50 cals in it, he would only have 7 shots, but those shots could take out 7 officers regardless of our body armor.

Frustrated with the lack of eyes on the scene, the chief wanted to send in the tech team to install covert cams in the ventilation system. Unfortuantly, the tech team had left the day before for a federally required technology enhancement program. While the order for their return had been dispatched, they would not arrive for another two hours. The commander was frustrated enough that he finally began to wear down to our constant requests to send Jasper and I in. We had just finished this training in Minnesota, barely a month ago. The training was fresh and the motivation was definitely solid.

We were glad to finally be doing something, because sitting still and not knowing what was going on in there was the worst kind of hell. Never in my whole life have I ever been so scared.

The person I loved most in this whole world was in that room with a man who I knew for a fact had held a gun directly to her head at least once, perhaps more than once. The anger and the fire that boiled up inside me at that thought made me want to bust right through the doors and kill him with my bare hands. Since that wasn't possible, then keeping busy actually advancing the mission had to be sufficient. I had to do something...anything...and I was desperate to get eyes in that room so I could keep a first hand view to make sure my girl was safe.

Armed with schematics and my Dad's help, we worked out a plan for entry and silent insertion of wireless cameras and microphones to keep eyes in the room and gather intel. Fifteen minutes later, Jasper, Emmett, Andy, and I were in the hospitals entry way, just above the concourse that connected the ER to the main waiting area.

Jasper and I had packs ready and were preparing to crawl into the shaft when Emmett grabbed our arms tightly.

"Be careful, guys. Remember, Bella needs this to happen safely and quietly. I know you both love her, especially you, Edward, but as long as you've cared about her; I have sixteen more years on you. Keep my baby sister safe and don't do anything stupid!"

We both nodded, patting his hand before sliding into the tiny space, army crawling through the shafts. At the third intersection, we turned left, sliding down the shaft toward the ER level. There we snaked through the maze of continually shrinking interchanges until we were finally above the far side of the waiting room.

I maneuvered the camera to get a view of the room through the small screen we had with us. I felt my breath quicken when I saw Bella sitting next to Tanya along the far wall, her arm rubbing Tanya's bicep comfortingly as she glared at Trager who was pacing in front of them gesturing wildly and ranting.

Japer positioned the microphone and we could instantly hear the voices from the room through our earpieces.

"Fuck no, you can't take them to the bathroom! We have to stay here."

Bella's voice was steady and calm as she glared back at the psycho, "Trager, we've been sitting here for five hours. We have pregnant women and children here. They need bathrooms and soon we'll need food and drink, but for now we really need to go to the restrooms. It's either that or you'll have to suffer the smell for the rest of the time we are here, because there's only so long we can all hold it."

As he paced back across the room, Bella's gaze snapped directly at the camera. I saw her smirk for the briefest of seconds before she snapped back to Trager so as not to give us away. I smiled and thanked God for my beautiful, smart, strong girlfriend who I was going to convince to marry me as soon as I could.

Once we had the devices in place, Jasper began to shift and maneuver his way back through the labyrinth of tunnels we came through.

I sat there a while longer, fighting the need to rip out the vent cover and drop into the room to be with Bella as Trager pointed the gun directly at her body to emphasize his point as he argued with her. My heart stopped for a moment before it began a violent rampage in my chest, beating so loudly I was almost afraid Trager could hear it in the waiting room below. Being this close to her and not being able to protect her was completely unbearable. I was ready to do just about anything to get her out.

Finally, after a few seconds of hearing Jasper whisper-yell for me to follow him, I pulled myself back through the vents and back to the van to watch from afar. My heart fought desperately to return back to its home, waiting in that room with the dangerous gunman.

BPOV

I was beginning to get frustrated and actually very worried about my patients and my patience...neither seemed to be faring well. Finally, I snapped on Trager, insisting that he needed to give everyone a restroom break at the very least.

I was about to lose it completely when is saw movement in the corner of my eye, high above Trager's head. I saw the glint of something move slightly and I realized it was a flexible camera of sorts. They really were still out there and they were getting some surveillance to help them keep tabs on what was going on in here. Thank God!

I realized quickly that I was smirking and staring, so I shook off my face to glare at Trager again. Thankfully, he was too busy in his own little rant to notice.

I continued to nag him for fifteen minutes, recognizing that Mr. Johnson's water retention was getting worse. He probably needed to void badly, not to mention the little kids. Ethan was hiding a pee pee bounce as he tried his best to stay still and not wet himself.

Finally, Trager gave in, allowing us all to get up and move slowly to the restrooms, one small group at a time until everyone had gone. I took my bathroom time as an opportunity to fill the syringe in my pocket with the sedative, in hopes of getting an opportunity to use it, before tucking the now full syringe back into my pocket.

Once everyone was situated again, we went back to our waiting pattern. Generally when you think of a hostage situation, you think it is intense and action packed. While some parts are, what they never relay in the movies and in books is how absolutely boring the hours and hours of waiting can be. I'm sure it was even more so for those who weren't keeping constant watch on the condition of others in their care.

We were on hour eight of the standoff when stomachs began to rumble more insistently. Suddenly across the room, Mrs. Sandusky began to rock back and forth in her seat. I noticed a sheen of sweat had formed on her body since I had last checked her. I had been keeping a close eye on her glucose levels all day, noticing that she seemed to keep getting weaker and weaker. Trager had refused to let me give anyone the food, even to the diabetics. Now she was bottoming out. I knew what was coming, but wasn't fast enough to stop it. By the time I had taken two steps across the room, she was already passed out on the floor, shivering and beginning to seize.

I yelled for Tanya to bring me the cart, ordering everyone to step back. I took the jacket on the floor from a nearby patient to prop under her head. I quickly injected Mrs. Sandusky with an anticonvulsive and pulled out an IV, dosing it with a glucose solution to help replenish her system. I inserted the IV into her arm quickly in an attempt to hydrate and help raise her glucose levels. It took several minutes before she was finally stabilized. I left Tanya to watch her. I stood and rounded on Trager, sick and tired of his twisted game.

"Listen up, motherfucker. You almost committed your first murder of the day just then by not allowing me to treat this woman. She and several others are getting to the point where they are beyond my help. If you would have just let me give her some food earlier, we would have been okay. Now look what happened, you piece of shit! Now you listen, and you listen good! Sellers is gone, they're not going to find him, and all you're doing is wasting innocent lives here. Why don't you go pick up the phone and talk to the negotiators...start making some deals, trade some of the more critical patients for some food maybe and start to work a way out of this mess? It's been eight hours, you know as well as I do that Sellers has already skipped town to save his own ass. He is probably halfway to some foreign tropical country right now, ready to sit on a beach and sip cocktails. You're not going to get your vindication this way."

James listened to me with growing anger, but he didn't stop me. When I was done, he snarled at me, ordering me to sit down. He began pacing again in agitation before his own stomach growled. He walked over to grab a snack cake off the cart, tearing it open with his teeth, taking a bite, and then spitting it out.

"What the fuck is this stuff?"

I snickered, "Organic wheatgrass muffins. They taste like shit, but they would have served the needed purpose if you had actually allowed me to feed it to my patients with diabetes, ya jackass!"

James threw the muffin to the ground and stomped over to the phone. He picked it up and froze, finding himself unaware of who to call. He stared at the numbers blankly before hearing the voice that had a permanent tap into the line over the receiver.

I heard him mumbling a few orders before finally hanging up and stepping in front of me.

"We're sending out Fatty McBitch down there on the floor, along with Blood Pressure McGhee, and Water Retention Walter in fifteen. You will take them out and come back in with the food. You don't come back, they all die."

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. "Like I would leave everyone else behind without a doctor, anyway."

Trager cocked his head and looked at me strangely, obviously not capable of comprehending the concept of caring for others and a sense of duty. He shrugged it off, ordering one of the stronger men to help me grab the gurney from the hallway and two more to help shift Mrs. Sandusky onto it for transport.

He stood in the doorway, watching as one of the guys and I walked quickly up the hallway to grab the gurney stationed near the corner, where it intersected with the back hall. I walked down to the end of the gurney, jumping when I felt a soft warm hand touch my arm. I didn't look because I didn't want to tip off Trager, but the hum in my body let me know exactly who it was.

"I love you more than anything," I whispered, looking straight ahead as Jordan, the guy helping me, looked at me like I was insane.

"I love you too, Bella. We're going to get you out of this, I promise love. I promise."

It broke my heart to hear the desperation in Edward's voice. It took every bit of strength in my body to walk away from him in that moment, but there was a room full of over thirty people that needed me. As much as my self preservation instincts made me want to run away into the safety of my boyfriend's arms, I knew I couldn't abandon my patients.

We pushed back through the door and the men helped me shift Mrs. Sandusky onto the gurney. Mr. Johnson held her IV bag, gripping the side of the gurney to walk along with me. Mr. Talbot held on to the other side as the three of us shuffled through the door into the open outside. Paramedics escorted by SWAT members rushed to the door to assist the injured. Emmett ran up to me, pushing a cart of food.

His voice cracked as he spoke. "I love you, Bella. I'm so proud of you. I promise we will get you out of there."

"I love you too, Em. I have faith in all of you. I wish I could hug you, but I don't know what he'd do. I need to hurry and get back in there."

Emmett grabbed my hand on the cart, squeezing it. He watched as I backed my way toward the door with the cart in tow, keeping my eyes locked on my brother until the last possible second.

When I reached the door, it opened and Jordan helped me bring in the cart with the food. It was filled with chips, cold cut sandwiches, and several flats of bottled water, which we distributed to everyone in the room. We all ate greedily in an eerie quiet, filled with nothing more than the sound of smacking mouths.

EPOV

My heart was beating so wildly, I began to wonder if it would beat right out of my fucking chest as I used my angled mirror to watch Bella walk toward my position in the back hall. I was going to be so close to her, and yet I couldn't take her and run like I wanted. I knew she wouldn't go, even if I tried.

When I watched the monitor on my wrist and heard the conversation in my earpiece, I was filled with a combination of unimaginable pride and deep consuming panic. She would walk back into the danger of that room no matter what, because she would never leave even one single person behind. Honestly, even if she weren't a doctor in charge of their care, I'm pretty sure Bella would still insist they send everyone else out first. It was just in her nature, the selfless yin to my selfish yang.

It seemed like it took forever for her to get close to me. Even though it broke every piece of protocol in the book, I couldn't stop myself from reaching out to touch her, to remind myself she was real and she was okay. She didn't see me, probably didn't even know I was there, until I touched her, and yet she knew it was me.

We confessed love and made whispered promises in the few scant seconds she was by my side. Then she was gone. I had to literally grab the railing that ran along the wall to keep myself from following after her and being a human shield to keep her safe.

I looked across the corridor at an ashen Jasper, standing sentry on the other side.

"Dude that was the stupidest fucking thing I've ever seen you do, but I think it helped her."

I nodded as we each took a knee, waiting for our next orders.

EmPov

Is it possible to be so fucking proud and so fucking furious with someone at the same time? Bella's selfless need to stay with the hostages and take care of them made me fill with pride to be able to say she's my baby sister and yet the big brother in me wanted her safe.

Since she had been the obsessive focus of this nutcase for the past month, I couldn't help but feel that she was also the most in danger from the situation. She was already marked for death, so what would keep him from killing her flat out after it was all said and done?

Everything happened in slow motion. The doors began to open and out she walked, pushing a gurney with the assistance of two weak looking men who seemed to be doing less assisting and more using the gurney as a crutch to lean on. The paramedics rushed out first with SWAT escorts to help the patients. As soon as they were clear, I rushed out with the food loaded cart.

It was against every law of nature not to pull my baby sis into my arms and hug her. I wanted to comfort her like I did when we were little, to tell her that monsters weren't real. They were only in her imagination. But monsters were real. She was standing face to face with one this very day, and holding her own against him I might add.

I couldn't hug her, but I couldn't resist squeezing her hand that held the cart before she started to back away from me toward the door. I fought to keep my lunch down. The overwhelming feeling that this could be the last time I would ever see her hit me like a brick wall. My heart was pounding in my chest and my hands vibrated at my sides as I watched her step away slowly, then finally turn when she reached the door, shooting one last look over her shoulder before the door closed behind her.

I knew I wouldn't see her again until we instituted the mission plan. I turned tail, stomping into the trailer to watch the feed where I would count away the seconds until we started the raid, trying to hide the fact that I was wiping away tears as I walked.

BPOV

Night began to fall and the room grew dark as the main power to the room shut off, leaving Trager and the rest of the hostages panicking. I smiled knowing that things were going to come to a head soon.

Night was the SWAT team's best friend. You can't see them, but thanks to night vision goggles, and what was most certainly a night vision capable camera mounted in the ceiling above us, they could definitely see us.

I began shifting the hostages under the rouse of gathering them together to keep them calm. when in reality I was assessing possible entry points and the best locations to keep them out of possible crossfire. I had them about halfway situated when I heard a loud noise and all hell broke loose.

I yelled for everyone to cover their eyes and lay on the floor a second before I heard someone shout "One Away." I covered my eyes, hearing the loud bang that left my ears buzzing and seeing the bright flash of white light even through my closed eyelids and shielding fingers.

Unfortunately, Trager knew it was coming too, turning his back to the blast. In an instant, he grabbed me around my shoulders with my wrists secure in his grip to keep me from fighting back, while holding his massive handgun to my head, his AK abandoned to the floor. I wondered why he would give up the automatic assault rifle for a handgun until I remembered it was a Desert Eagle. While it could hold magazines with smaller caliber ammunition, it also had the capability of firing .50 caliber armor piercing rounds.

I couldn't see much in the darkened room, but I could pinpoint familiar panic stricken voices commanding Trager to let me go and he wouldn't get hurt. This only made him tighten his grip with a vindictive laugh.

"Oh, all the boys are here to save the little bitch. Guess what, you didn't provide me with the dirty Dr. Sellers, so guess who gets to die in his place?"

He pushed the gun harder into my head, causing me to shift in his grip, freeing my right hand from being bound. It gave me a second to reach into my pocket and grab out the sedative filled syringe, flip off the cap, and plunge it deeply into his thigh muscle. I pressed the plunger with strong force, pushing the liquid into his muscle with painful speed. Since I couldn't sink it directly into his blood via a major vein, the effects would be slow acting if even effective, but hopefully, at the very least, it would cause him distracting pain and numbing.

He jerked back in pain, releasing my other hand which I used to knock the handgun out of his grasp, pushing it away from us with my foot. I dropped to the floor, clutching the AK and sending it hurtling across the floor towards the voices of my boys and away from the dangerous attacker.

I turned back in time to see the flickering light emerge from his pocket. I lunged for it just as I heard a shot and saw it drop from his hand to the floor. I grabbed the trigger and scooted back quickly, keeping it safely in my hand.

Trager dropped to the floor. I could barely see his outline through the minimal lighting in the room, noticing he slumped into a crouch, cradling the shoulder on the opposite side of his body.

I scooted back a bit more, worried he might still be capable of finding me, only to brush my hand against the Desert Eagle on the floor. I slid the remote trigger in my pocket and picked up the gun, feeling to make sure the safety was off in order to protect myself if he did come my way.

I heard the boys shouting orders and saw them approaching him in formation, and then everything happened in slow motion. I saw Trager reach into his boot on the side I was, the one that none of the guys had a perspective to see. I watched in horror as he grabbed out a second Desert Eagle, leveling it at the guys from down by his boot.

I screamed and began to pull the trigger in the exact same second I saw the bright discharge from his muzzle. My gun discharged a nanosecond later, knocking me back on the floor. The round hit Trager in the side, right under his arm, at the same instant that several other weapons fired with loud pops.

I watched in horror as one of the SWAT boys dropped, but in the dark with full armor, I had no idea which one, at the same time that James dropped to the floor motionless.

The room was full of screaming and crying as the hostages continued to panic at the traumatic sight they had just witnessed.

I scrambled over toward the dropped officer, praying it wasn't one of my boys, and yet knowing in my heart it was.

Before I even reached him, I could hear the ragged sucking breath and knew instantly the bullet had been a .50 cal that breeched his Kevlar and punctured his lung. My only hope was that the damage wasn't more extensive.

The lights came up just as I reached up, grabbing the shoulder straps to release the clasp and remove the body armor so I could assess the real damage. I reached behind to feel that the bullet was embedded in the Kevlar plating in the back of his jacket. I sighed in relief, knowing that at least we didn't have to dig out the bullet.

I immediately set to work, plucking a 14 gauge needle off the cart and attaching a one way valve. I grabbed the utility knife off the officer's belt and used it to cut away the t-shirt beneath to reveal his wounded chest.

I immediately recognized the toned chest in front of me and the small lip shaped birth mark just above the gunshot wound. I froze as I remembered when he told me that when he was little, his mom had called the birthmark his angel's kiss.

I shook my head, pushing myself to deal with the trauma first and not freak out. I reached for the needle, inserting it between the second and third intercostal space at the mid clavicular line. I held my breath as I waited to hear a reassuring gush of air as his lung expanded, before I shifted my attention to slowing the bleeding.

I was hoping they would hurry and let in some surgical staff because he needed to be taken up stat. I continued to work, struggling not to focus on who it was that I was working on.

I was successful until I heard his ragged voice through his mask and I lost all focus and composure. A sob squeaked from my throat and tears began to fall, as I struggled to see the temporary dressings I was attempting to apply.

"Bella, I love you. Never forget that I love you, sweetheart. All I am is yours, forever."

I was hiccupping gasps of air as I struggled to continue putting pressure on his wound, wondering when the goddamned medical staff was going to get here already.

"I...I love you, Edward. You're going to be okay you hear me? Don't you go saying your goodbyes to me! Don't you fucking dare! I love you, so don't you give up on me or I'll never forgive you." I gasped out between sobs.

I felt his weak hand reach up and cup my cheek a moment before I felt a set of hands over mine. Another strong set of hands pulled me away from him. I screamed and cried, trying to fight my way back, until I heard my brother's voice in my ear.

"Shhh...Bells...shhhh...its okay, honey. Let them take care of him. You know they have to take him to surgery now. Carlisle is going with him. He'll be okay. The best of the best are here to work on him."

I grabbed tightly to his waist, watching as they worked on Edward. He cried out as they shifted him onto a gurney, and began to wheel him away. When he began to get further away, I finally wiggled out of Emmett's arms. I ran up to the cart, kissing his forehead before he disappeared through the doors.

"I love you, Edward Anthony Masen! You fight for me...you hear me? I need you damn it, so fight for me!" I yelled as they wheeled him further away. I turned and buried my aching head into my brother's strong comforting chest and sobbed.