AN: Sorry this chapter took me a while, but I've been working 45 hr weeks at a daycare (as well as battling a cold/cough/sinus infection contracted from said daycare) so needless to say it's kinda hard to come home and do something with my brain.

Thanks again to all of you who have left encouraging words. Getting reviews is right up there with calorie-free chocolate and finding large bills on the street. :D Hope you guys enjoy this lovely visit from Rosalie…

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I was doing what I could not to panic. Edward sat beside me, his eyes alert and his posture solid. He kept muttering reassuring words, telling me I had nothing to worry about, but the way he was gripping my hand told me differently.

I shivered, imagining Rosalie, who was alarming enough when calm, in a blind rage. This situation would not end happily, no matter who triumphed, and all of us knew it.

"Come on, Carlisle," Edward hissed under his breath, untangling his hand from mine and rising to his feet. Yes, Carlisle, I agreed silently. Carlisle would sort this out. Everything would be just fine.

That is, if he arrived in time.

Emmett stood to join Edward, looking just as stoic, but for his tightly clenched fists. "I'm going to watch for her. I'll warn you when she gets close."

Edward nodded and I wrung my hands nervously. "Is there no place we can hide? Or run?"

Edward shook his head, pulling me to my feet and into his arms. Even now, his scent pushed away my other thoughts. "You've forgotten our sense of smell. You couldn't possibly hide anywhere on our property and not be discovered. If we ran, she would merely give chase, and I will tire faster carrying you. Her anger will only increase until she is able to resolve it – or we take her down," he told me softly. "I've been through the options over and over again, and sitting tight until Carlisle gets here is our best one."

I nodded, trusting him implicitly, but still frightened. Frightened of what the others would do to Rosalie, frightened of what Rosalie might do to get her hands on me. What if she wasn't coming here at all? She didn't necessarily know I was here – and what if she went after Charlie?

"Charlie!" I gasped, pulling out of Edward's embrace.

"She's coming straight here," Edward told me simply, and I relaxed. "She's doing a damn good job of blocking me, though. I can't tell where she is anymore."

"Why, she's right here," said a new voice, one that needed no introduction. Faster than I could comprehend, I was yanked away from Edward and pulled forcefully against Rosalie, who towered over me. Just like that, I was her hostage, for she hardly needed a gun to harm me. "Be very, very quiet, both of you. Make a sound and I might forget how soft her bones are." She demonstrated her meaning by pressing gently on the top of my head. "Like paper," she muttered, lightly testing the thickness of my skull.

Edward looked thunderstruck, as if even he couldn't believe how fast she had swept me away from him. "Rosalie, please, please, there is no need for this. Look what you're doing. Think about what you're doing, please," he begged her, his voice softer than breath. The look of utter helplessness on his face was far more frightening than the knowledge of how easily Rosalie could end my life.

Rosalie smiled boredly at him, grabbing me by the hair and yanking my head back to expose my throat. "What can you possibly want with this worthless human, Edward? How can you possibly have a fulfilling relationship with someone who breaks," she paused, pulling my knuckles to meet my elbow as if my arm was made of playdough," so easily?" Both bones in my arm split apart with a set of neat pops, and I screamed through my clenched teeth. For a moment I couldn't breath as my arm seethed with agony.

Somewhere amidst my panic and pain, I caught a glimpse of Edward. The ruthless beauty of his face made my heart catch even now, despite the despair and fury that clouded his features. He took a few steps forward, only to be halted by Rosalie's sharp command. "Stop," she ordered calmly, trailing a manicured fingernail over my throat. "Or it'll her flimsy little neck next."

Emmett must have heard me scream, because I could hear him thundering down the stairs.

"Oh, Rosalie, no!" he cried as he stepped onto the landing and saw what was going on. "What have you done?"

"You stay where you are, too. Unless you'd like to be responsible for Isabella's very painful death."

There was such rage in her that I could feel it rolling off her like hot lava from a volcano. I looked back to Edward for comfort, meeting his eyes reluctantly. His soul was in his eyes. The rage there contested Rosalie's, and I saw his eyes dart between mine and Rosalie's several times before he rushed at her, making a grab for me. I reached out for him, but Rosalie was too quick. She jerked me out of the way, and I felt several of my ribs cave in under her iron grip. I sagged, my body limp with pain, but Rosalie held me up with an arm around my chest.

"Rosalie, no! Oh, no, oh God, Bella," groaned Edward, his mind visibly working to conjure a new plan.

"You want to be more careful, Edward. She's so very fragile," taunted Rosalie, pulling up my shirt to reveal the hideous red and blue bruise forming on my side. I battled for breath, realizing that one of my lungs had been punctured, and it probably wasn't the only thing that had been. There was no doubt that I was bleeding internally, and if something didn't happen fast, I'd be a goner.

"Please, Rosalie, she'll die!" shouted Emmett, looking terrified at the fact that he wasn't in control of the situation. Edward's expression was frantic, savage. He looked ready to rip Rosalie in half, and there was no doubt in my mind that he was able.

"Yes, she will," sighed Rosalie, her voice a mockery of regret. She planted a knee into my back and bended me until my spine gave a sickening crack. My mouth opened to scream, but my punctured lung stifled it. Pain shot through me like electricity, but my legs hung uselessly, paralyzed. My mind reeled with it, adrenaline making me jittery as I clung to consciousness, my gasps shallow. Air. I needed air so badly.

"Rosalie!" A new voice thundered, though I was too delirious to know where it came from. Carlisle. Carlisle was here. Safety.

She dropped me and I collapsed, landing on my bad side with a sickening twist to my fractured vertebrae. I moaned softly as I felt Edward's cool hands grasp mine. It hurt. Everything hurt. I was going to die. I loved him so much. God, it hurt.

"No, no, God, no! Bella, please, not again, you can't do this to me again. Say something, you must speak to me, love," he demanded, his voice filled with tears though I knew he couldn't shed any. His voice strengthened my hold on consciousness, and I saw them all above me, Carlisle, Emmett, and Rosalie. Rosalie's eyes were wide with terror, shame and self-loathing. The rage was gone. Resolved. She turned, and was gone.

Carlisle's cool fingers probed at my stomach while Edward clung to my hand. I tried to breathe. Why couldn't I get any air?

"Her abdomen is rigid, she's bleeding internally. Probably four or five fractured ribs on her right side. The right lung is punctured, which is why she's having trouble drawing breath. Bella, can you speak?"

"Yes," I answered, my voice little more than a croak. I noticed that I had stopped hurting so much. The pain was ebbing away. "It doesn't hurt much."

"We need to get her to the hospital, Carlisle! Why the hell aren't you doing anything?"

"Edward, she's bleeding out. She needs major surgery, and by the time we get to the hospital – "

"No!" Edward shouted, loud enough return me to alertness. "No, you can fix this, Carlisle! We can fix it together. We'll do it here if we must."

"Edward – "

"Edward," I cut in, reflexively bringing my free hand to cover his. "Listen to me."

"Bella, shhh, hush, save your breath. You're going to be fine."

"Not if you leave me like this, I'm not," I gasped, panting laboriously, oddly aware of how close to death I hovered. Charlie once told me that a wounded person should only worry about dying when it didn't hurt – and it didn't. I couldn't feel my body at all, even the bits that weren't paralyzed. Just a ghastly tingling now and then. It really wasn't so bad.

Carlisle seemed to catch on. "You must bite her if you wish to save her," he told Edward, who had clearly realized this himself.

Edward's face was contorted with agony as his eyes darted frantically back and forth over my body, as if there was another way to fix me if he only thought hard enough. "Oh, Bella, Bella," he moaned, the words spoken like a plea, bringing my knuckles to his lips.

"We have a very restricted window of time here, Edward," said Carlisle, his voice soothing but strong. "You must make a decision very quickly."

"Please," I coughed, panicking at the suggestion that Edward still had a decision to make. Surely, surely he would save me. "Don't let me die, Edward. I'm not ready to die yet."

A choked sob escaped his throat, and he leaned down to press a soft kiss to my mouth. "Never. I would never let you die," he promised fervently. Resolve triumphed over the devastation in his face as he kissed me again. Relief flooded through me as he ducked his head. He kissed a spot on my neck, just under my ear, before biting down hard.