A/N: Oh, friends. I woke up and had six reviews waiting for me in my email. Thank you so much. I've gotten away from seeking affirmation through reviews, but those were nice and made me happy after a rough week at work.

I thought I'd throw this chapter your way a week early. The story is is finished in my Dropbox and just waiting to be beta'd. I hope you enjoy this chapter. MarinaNamaste is my busy beta. You should check out her stories.


The truck drove like a dream! It purred like a kitten and the interior was nicer than Edward's Volvo. I thought about how I reacted to him going back to Seattle. I'd never stood up to him like that before.

It felt good.

Being back here and hearing Jake apologize, well, it did something to me. As I thought about how I'd been living for that past five years—no, it started before Edward and I got married—I realized that I always bent to meet his needs and he never bent to mine. Ever. It'd been getting progressively worse over the past few years. He'd become more paranoid if I had to go to work more than a couple of times a week, and he always asked if I was going to meet someone other than Jessica.

I wasn't bending this time. There was a huge chance I could lose my father and I wasn't going to go back to Seattle just because Aro called with a snare in some real estate deal.

I pulled into a parking spot in front of the hospital. I sat in the cab of the truck for a few more moments, just reveling in the modernized nostalgia of the moment. The seats were the same fabric, but they'd been redone. The big hole in the middle of the bench was no longer there. Someone had detailed the crap out of it and the chipped paint was all retouched. The chrome was all shiny and looking new. I ran my hands over the steering wheel again. It was new and covered in soft leather. It was understated elegance—not garish.

I was going to have to get to the bottom of what Jake really did. His sisters ran non-profits. There was no way Rachel paid for all those renovations to their home on that kind of salary. I didn't know what her husband did, but all those appliances were industrial grade and brand new. I got a glimpse of Jake's rabbit while we were in the brand new garage, and it had the same understated elegance as the truck. There was no way that a motel he bought in La Push only five years ago could yield that much profit.

And where did he go to school? How did he know about Seattle IPAs? Where was his luggage? If he traveled so much, what did he do? Where did he live most of the time? He talked about Quil and Embry, but where were they?

Maybe I could get some information out of Charlie. That was it. I'd ask Charlie. I switched the engine off and pulled open the door, which opened and closed like a new car now. It didn't look like an old beater truck anymore, it looked like a restored classic, so I locked it.

I walked into the hospital and waved at Ester at the information desk. I'd met her yesterday and the instant I told her I was Charlie's daughter, she lit right up like a light bulb and told me where to go. She smiled at me again as I breezed by, but she flagged me down.

"Bella, that doctor from Seattle, the one who's gonna fix up Charlie's heart, he's upstairs. You should meet him. He's so handsome and so nice!"

"Thank you, do you know his name so I can ask for him?" I asked. I would like to meet the man who's going to crack my father's sternum.

"Dr. Cullen. He's brought a specialty nurse and some equipment has been delivered, too. Mr. Black came by earlier today to make sure he had everything he needed," she said with a smile.

My heart stopped. There were two shocking things she said that I needed clarification on and I started with the second.

"What does Jake have to do with any of this? We're talking about Jacob Black, right?" I asked for clarification.

"Well, yes. He's the one who oversaw the renovations of the new heart surgery wing." I must have been standing there with my mouth open. "Well, it's not a new wing, but he helped renovate that wing where your dad is and update all the equipment. It's the Harry Clearwater Memorial Heart Center," she said proudly. "His wife was so pleased. She still works a rotating shift of three twelves, she'll be off until the day after tomorrow."

"Jake did that?" I asked again. What did he do?

"Yes, ma'am. And he's been making sure all the arrangements are set for your father," she smiled happily. I had so many questions I wanted to ask, but I had to get to the first thing that stopped my heart.

"Dr. Cullen? Dr. Carlisle Cullen?" I asked.

"Why, yes!" she said. "Do you know him? I know you live down I Seattle. Are you the one who called him?"

"No, I didn't. And, no, I don't know him. I'm sorry, Ester, if I seem rude. But I really have to get up there," I said and headed towards the elevator.

"It's okay, sweetie, go and see your father," she called behind me while I punched the elevator button. "We're all pulling for him!"

Dr. Cullen was going to perform the surgery on my father? There was no way Edward knew about that. Of course, that would explain his quick departure. But surly he would have told me. The elevator doors opened and I saw a very handsome man standing at the nurse's desk who looked like a blonde version of Edward. I knew that had to be him. I approached him slowly.

The nurse stopped speaking to him and she looked a little annoyed that I interrupted her conversation, but I only had eyes on him. He looked down at me and smiled. Tall and lean, I looked over the features of his face and they were my husband's. His hair, not bronze and wiry like Edward's, but their coloring was very similar.

"Dr. Cullen?" I asked a little hesitantly. He seemed a little amused by my assessment of him, but I'm sure he got that all the time.

"Yes, I am," he replied, gently.

"I'm Bella Swan-Cullen. I think you're my father-in-law," I said. He looked at me with searching eyes. He started at the top of my head, his eyes lingering on the scar above my left eye, then into my eyes, and down the rest of my face. After he'd taken in my chin his eyes moved back up to mine and he smiled. It wasn't a crooked smile, but full-on, genuine smile.

"It is nice to meet a person with such a fitting name. But, is your father Charlie Swan?" he asked a little confused. The nurse looked a little appeased that I wouldn't be a threat to her flirting. She turned back to her paperwork.

"Yes, you're the surgeon that is going to operate tomorrow, correct?" I asked. "You didn't know we were related?"

"No, my dear, I didn't. Dr. Gerandy called me for a consult and I offered to come and show his staff a new procedure, having heard of the completion of the new surgical center. What a pleasant coincidence. Well, I hope it is pleasant on your part," he added.

"Very. Edward refuses to speak of you at all, but I've heard Aro talk about how talented you are."

"Well, Aro has always been kind to me, even after my wife died. I've tried to reach out to Edward, but you can't force the unwilling," he said, with a sadness in his eyes.

"So you really didn't know of a connection?" I asked, just to clarify. It was all so remarkable.

"No, but now that I know, I'm going to triple check that I don't make any mistakes," he smiled again. There was no trace of Edward's arrogance or hostility. I liked him immediately.

"So, Edward doesn't know you're here?" I clarified again.

"I didn't tell him," he answered. "Is he here? That might not be a very pleasant meeting."

"He went back to Seattle about an hour ago. Work, he said." He must have sensed something in my tone because I saw face soften even more.

"Ah, yes. He works with my former brother-in-law now. I'm sure there is an important land grab in process as we speak." His tone was sardonic with a hint of mirth. "I'm sorry," he added. "Being married into the Volturi clan can be very difficult. Aro has four ex-wives to prove it. My Esme was the exception to that family rule." He looked sad for a moment and then brightened up.

"Have you seen your father today?" he asked, pulling himself out of his thoughts.

"Not since this morning. I am very anxious to see him again," I replied.

"And Jacob Black didn't know who you were when he made arrangements?" I asked, just to clear my mind.

"What? No. I didn't meet Jacob until today. My arrangement is with Dr. Gerandy. But Jacob has been very helpful in ensuring all the equipment I need made it here safely." He eyed me curiously, like he could read my thoughts.

"Well, let us go in together. I'd like to introduce myself to your fater," he said and gestured for me to lead the way. "Thank you, ma'am," he said politely to the nurse who swooned at his gentle voice. He followed me at a respectable distance, this whole day was becoming more and more surreal.

I knocked once and then entered and dad was sitting with the tray in front of him, picking at his food. "Hey, dad!" I said and went directly to him and kissed his cheek.

"Hey, sweetie," he said. His voice was gravely like he'd just woken up. He looked at the door and then to Dr. Cullen. "Where's Edward?" he asked.

"He had to go back to Seattle for business. But Jake gave me the truck to use. It's absolutely amazing!" I gushed. He smiled, but there was a hint of sadness. "And," I continued on, "this is your surgeon, Dr. Cullen."

Dr. Cullen stepped forward and shook Charlie's hand. Charlie looked at him skeptically. "That's the same name as…"

"He's Edward's father, but Edward doesn't know he's here. It's quite the coincidence," I explained.

"Dr. Gerandy told me he called one of his med school friends," Charlie said. "Jus' goes to show you how small the world is, don't it?"

"Well, when he called for the consult I thought it'd be a good opportunity to show the surgical staff up here the technique I've been working on for a few years. With the new surgical center now open, it seemed like a good idea. Do you mind if I use you as a teaching moment? I don't want to do anything that would make you feel uncomfortable," Dr. Culled said.

"Doc, you're gonna pull veins outta my leg and then fiddle around with my heart. That's all gonna be uncomfortable. Might as well let people learn from my pain. And in a place named after my best friend who died because it wasn't available, you go for it," Dad explained.

"Dad, you need to eat," I said, looking down at his unfinished plate.

"And you've got to do it soon, because there's no food after six o'clock today," Dr. Cullen said.

"I really want a burger from the diner," Charlie grumbled. "And some decent coffee."

"Dad, you can go a few days without a burger," I chided. "But maybe I can help with the coffee."

"Well, I do have some particulars to go over with you," Dr. Cullen said, looking from Charlie to me. "Why don't you go get him a decent cup of Joe, I'll go over this boring stuff, and I'll be finished before you get back."

"How's that sound, dad?" I asked.

"Sounds good, kid," he said, looking back at Dr. Cullen.

It only took fifteen minutes to go down the street to get him a cup of his favorite coffee. I loved driving the truck again and this was a great excuse. I hadn't noticed the consul Jake installed to hold drinks and small items until I was trying to figure out where to put the hot beverage. I waved at Ester again as I breezed through the lobby and back up to dad's room. Dr. Cullen was placing Charlie's chart back on the rack on the end of the bed when I came back in.

"Here you go!" I announced, placing the cup on his tray. He'd finished most of his dinner.

"Thanks, kid," he smiled at me and reached for the cup.

"Are we all set for tomorrow?" I asked Dr. Cullen and look between the two.

"Looks like it," Dr. Cullen said with a smile. "I only have one concern. Your dad is AB negative and the hospital is low on AB negative and O negative blood." To door opened and Jake walked in. "I can see here, that you are AB positive and I'm a little concerned about the supply, in case something goes wrong."

"I'm O negative," Jake said, striding over to stand next to me. "How much do you need? Hey, Bells. Charlie," he added nodding at both of us.

"Hey, Jake!" my dad greeted him. Jake patted his leg, which was right in front of Jake, and I smiled at him. But he was looking at Dr. Cullen waiting for answer.

"Well, the procedure I'm showing the staff is meant to minimize the need for transfusions, and we technically have enough, but I'm not comfortable with that," he replied. "I like to have a buffer. And if there happens to be another emergency, I don't want to leave the hospital depleted. The hospital has reordered, but it'll take a few days, so a donation is easiest and cheapest."

"So, how much do you need?" Jake asked again, obvious that none of that mattered to him. I looked at him and my heart fluttered at the apparent love for my father and complete willingness to do whatever he could for him. Dr. Cullen looked him up and down. Jake was huge. His hulking frame which stood at no less than six feet four inches and he was all well-defined muscle. His too-small t-shirt made sure everyone could see that.

"I'd wager I could safely take two units from you, but you wouldn't be able to work out for a few days. You're red blood count will too low to carry oxygen to your cells if you put too much strain on your body," Dr. Cullen said.

"Done. I could use a break anyway," Jake agreed. "Where do I need to go?" he asked. Jake had always been so open, giving, and willing to help when and where he could. I'd just forgotten to what extent.

"I don't know," Dr. Cullen answered. "Let's go find that nice nurse and I'm sure she can direct both of us." He turned and looked at me. "We'll be back a little later."

"Thank you, Dr. Cullen. And Jake, thanks," I said. He looked at me and I know he saw the tears I was holding back. He'd always seen my unshed tears.

"Sure, sure," he said with a small smile and a nod. He followed Dr. Cullen out and I turned back to Charlie. He was taking the last swig of his coffee and he set the empty cup down on the table.

"Bells," he said with that fatherly tone in his voice. He wanted to know how I felt about Edward leaving.

"I'm okay. I'm kinda glad he left. It's kinda nice just to be me and not worry about what he'll think about everything." I blurted it out without giving it a thought I shocked myself. I clapped my hand over my mouth. "I don't know why I said that."

"Yeah, ya do," he said. "You don't gotta hide those feelings with me. I a'int gonna tell no one. I'm glad you look like you today." I tugged on my braid and I smiled then frowned.

"Did I really look that different yesterday?" I asked. The clothes and make up were such a part of my routine now, it was normal for me.

"No," he replied. "But you look more comfortable today for whatever reason. If you could look this comfortable all dolled up like you were yesterday, I wouldn't have said nothing." I thought about that. So much had changed in the last day.

And most of it was me.

Charlie watched me as I chose the smaller chair and pulled it up to the side of the bed. When I was situated I grabbed his hand. I had to tell him part of what I thought about while I drove up here from La Push.

"Dad, I'm so sorry I quit calling. As much as I'd like to blame Jake, it hasn't been him," I admitted. He took a deep breath and kept quiet, knowing I had to get the rest of this out. "I haven't really figured out why, but I know it's been so wrong and I'm sorry you had to have a heart attack for me to figure some things out."

"Oh, Bella, you're here now. Jake and Rach have been taking real good care of me. And now, it seems, your father-in-law is going to fix my ticker," he smiled and raised his eyebrow.

"Yeah, what about that? Weird, huh?" I mused. "That was a complete shock to me. Edward never talks about his father. All I knew about him was that he was a surgeon. I didn't even know he was a heart surgeon. That's one of the reasons I'm glad he's not here. Do you think…" I was going to ask if Charlie thought that Edward set it all up, but Dr. Cullen said he was an old friend of Dr. Gerandy. It's just a great big coincidence.

"Dad," I changed course, "what does Jake do for a living?"

"He runs hotels," he answered, offering no more.

"But that doesn't make sense," I said. "He told me he travels a lot, but he's only mentioned the hotel in La Push and maybe expanding the restaurant there. But, Dad, he's got stuff. Like the truck, and the remodeling of their house, and his car." My mind was going over all the things I'd been noticing individually and adding them all up.

"Has he told you about his jet?" Charlie asked with a giant smile.

"What?" I asked. "Are you joking? You're joking. Jake does not have a jet. You're joking, right?" I didn't know what to believe anymore.

"Well," Charlie chuckled at me, "he shares it with his business partners." I was about to ask a hundred more questions when the nurse came in to check Charlie's vitals.

"Okay, chief, we have to get you all cleaned up for the big day tomorrow. You ready for your bath?" the nurse who flirted with my father-in-law asked.

"Is there an errand I can run for you?" I asked, a little uncomfortably. "You know, while you 'get cleaned up?'"

"No, Bells, I'm good," he said.

"Well, then I'm going to go get some snacks for later tonight," I announced. I didn't want Charlie to feel uncomfortable as much as I didn't want to be uncomfortable.

"Whatcha need snacks for?" Charlie asked.

"If you think I'm leaving the night before your surgery, you're crazy," I said, smiled, and left the room before he could argue. I wandered down to the gift shop and browsed around, just looking at the trinkets that people could pick up last minute for the friends and family. I lingered in the section for babies and smiled sweetly at the images of the little humans. I'd never really given children much thought since Edward was against having children. And, since I'd never really given it any thought, I'd just figured I didn't want children, either. But every once and a while I felt that biological need to create a little version of me. I always just stamped that down knowing that Edward was never going to budge on this issue.

I finally left the gift shop and headed to the cafeteria. I picked up some veggies, an apple and two bananas, a couple of bottles of soda and water. The roast beef sandwich looked pretty good, too, so I grabbed that, too. At the last minute I also added a few bags of chips to the tray. I figured I'd given the nurse enough time to bathe my father properly and headed back up to his room. I was afraid that they wouldn't let me bring all that food into his room, but no one stopped me.

I saw the nurse at the desk, so I figured she was finished, but I knocked lightly on the door before entering. I saw that Charlie was asleep and I was a little disappointed.

"Hey," Jake's voice came from the corner. He was sitting in the recliner in the corner.

"Hey," I said back. I set the tray down on the table near the chair. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay," he answered. "But the Doc said I need to take it easy." There was some of the purple sticky tape wrapped around his arm keeping a cotton ball in place where they had drawn the blood. He looked at the tray and then back at me. "Who are you expecting to feed?" he asked with a smile.

"I figured you'd get hungry a little later. I didn't know how long you were going to stay, so I just…" I trailed off, looking at my sleeping father again.

"They sedated him," he said, seeing my disappointment.

"I was hoping I'd get to talk to him some more. What if he doesn't…" I couldn't finish my sentence. I was so overwhelmed with emotion. I felt relieved that I'd apologized and Charlie was so forgiving. I was worried that he might not make it. I was sad I didn't have more time to talk to him tonight. I was confused by the appearance of my father-in-law and how genuinely nice he appeared, which brought me back to Edward. I was angry at Edward. I was furious with him for so many reasons that I couldn't even think of them all. "What if he doesn't…"

I didn't hear Jake move I was so overwhelmed, but I did feel his strong arms embrace me. He was so warm and so comforting that the dam I'd spent years building around my emotions just broke and the sobs wracked my body while tears poured down my face. He held me for a few moments and that just made it worse. I gasped great sucking breaths of air between sobs and it wasn't getting any better. Jake finally picked me up, as if I weighed nothing, and carried me back to the recliner. He sat down and cradled me against his chest while his hand caressed my hair.

He didn't shush me, he didn't chide me, and he didn't laugh at me. This was ugly crying at its best and he just let me slobber all over his old t-shirt. And I cried for a long time. He just sat with me, rocking me in that recliner until I had cried myself out. My face was wet and my nose was blocked when I finally stopped. I felt him reach over to the table where I'd placed the tray of food and he handed me a bunch of Kleenex from the box. I sat up and blew my nose and blotted my eyes.

When I was finished, I looked into those onyx eyes I'd always loved. I felt very uncomfortable—I was sitting on my ex-boyfriend's lap while my husband was back in Seattle. Yet, I felt at home, too. I could tell he sensed my dilemma. I panned his eyes, and I could see he was just as sad and just as worried as I was. And that felt so, comforting.

And I made a decision. I laid back down against his chest and wrapped my arm around his waist. I felt his arms close once again around me and I felt his sigh through my whole body. His right arm left me and I felt the chair recline, which was, admittedly, much more comfortable when he laid back and we were both able to stretch out and adjust.

We didn't say anything. We just lay there. I don't know how long it was before I fell asleep, but I liked to think I imagined his soft, warm lips press against my temple before I floated off to oblivion.


Thoughts?