While knowing I had a shift today at the hospital and errands to do before that, I had spent the night tossing and turning. My mind was like a cosset tape, replaying my afternoon with Seth over and over in my mind. His smell seemed to last in my bed until the early hours of this morning when I was still lying awake. Every time I thought about his little crush on me a year ago my stomach fluttered more and more. A part of me wished I had just closed the space between us and landed my lips on his, but then Leah would pop into mind.

After drinking a large cup of coffee I had gotten myself dressed in my scrubs and had pulled my hair up, collecting the power tools I needed to return to Billy. It's been on the back burner of my to-do list for a while now, but he's been asking me to come visit anyways. He's been pretty affected through all this change too. He's apart of the council so he oversees and deals with all things that occur in the pack, he can't simply choose a side.

I think if I were to pick his brain he would be leaning more towards Sam's pack. In their minds they are trying to protect the majority while Bella is just one person, carrying a potentially deadly being inside of her. None of them want to harm Bella or an unborn baby, but they also have instincts they are drawn to follow. Even Leah has had struggling thoughts regarding this, but ultimately she wants Bella to be protected and believes in her right to have this baby. Seth would never hurt a thing, so there was no way he would harm either of them.

Billy happens to love Bella though, she's Charlie's daughter after all. His lifelong friend. Poor Charlie hasn't seen Bella since the wedding and I just know it drives him crazy hearing all her excuses. Luckily Jake visits him often, putting his mind at ease. He thinks if Jake believes Bella is really fine, then she must be.

I pull up to the tiny red cabin, collecting all the tools in my trunk. I had borrowed them to hang up some things in my apartment now that Quil and Embry can't help me.

It's a warm day but there's a beautiful breeze in the air and the sky is full of fluffy white clouds. It looks like Billy's yard has taken a bit of a toll now that Jake isn't home as much and Rebecca is moved away. Rachel is rarely home at all and is definitely too prissy to help out with yard work. For a moment I imagine what my father's house must look like without me cleaning it, but I push it out of my mind or the guilt will suffocate me. I have no time today for that.

I give Billy's front door two loud knocks before walking in, a warning so he knows I'm coming without the expectation that he has to come open the door for me. I find him in his kitchen, still eating breakfast. It looks like he went a little heavy on the bacon today. Grinning at him I hold up the bag of stuff, "Where can I put these?"

He rolls his eyes but a grin threatens to pull at his lips. "On the back porch is fine." I walk through the kitchen and pull open the door, noticing how much stuff has over taken this deck. All the gardening stuff Rebecca used to use to make the yard more than just grass is now just thrown into one corner and several pairs of shoes lie around. Various tools lay dangerously around, I can't imagine Billy can safely wheel around out here.

I take the tools and place them neatly back on the shelving he has installed in the little shed closet that's attached to the porch. Quickly, before he realizes what I'm doing, I also put away the bags of soil and gardening tools as well into the shed and put the other tools away. I line up the various sneakers nearby the door, but out of the way. For a moment I think to sweep, but I know he'll realize and throw a fit about me "babying" him.

Normally Rebecca was the one to do all the cleaning and organizing. She cooked, took Billy to all of his appointments, watched out for Jacob, and was always a level head when it came to Rachel. Once she left their little house slowly started coming apart. Jacob normally does well but with the stress of the pack and Bella, he hardly comes home.

Billy will never admit that he needs help, never wanting anyone to believe being wheelchair bound puts him at a disadvantage. Truly it has nothing to do with the wheelchair, it has everything to do with having had to raise three kids alone while grieving his wife. He never expected that sort of stress on him and then he couldn't walk anymore on top of it. He was heavy on labor when he was younger, he always took care of the yard and upgraded the house often to keep it in shape. His wife would make it homey and make sure it had that female touch to it. Rebecca fell into the motherly role early on, which probably took a toll on her as well.

No one was going to ask Rebecca to stay in La Push forever, but I doubt they expected her to fall in love and move so far away so young. Rachel resented the idea of being the motherly-daughter and never helped in that sense. She was a troubled child for most of her life and she now struggles adjusting to being an adult. Losing her mom really took a toll and she didn't cope well. Jacob hardly remembers his mom, but you can tell he struggles without her too.

I wipe my hands on my pants before walking back inside. Billy doesn't look up from his food, so I hope he didn't realize what I was doing. I make a mental note to come back and clean up outside better, do some planting and gardening for them. I'll tell Billy it's a thanks for all that Jake has done for me, which isn't half a lie. Jake's the closest thing I have to a brother and he has always looked out for me, my entire life. He takes care of me just as Billy has too since my dad's struggled to do so. "So what's been keeping you so busy that you can't come visit?" He teases, although I know he's partially serious.

I let out a breath, taking the seat beside him. I pluck a piece of bacon off his plate and hum. "The hospital and going to the Cullen's to help out mostly, but I'm hoping I'll have more time soon." Truth be told I don't see having much free time in the future, but Billy doesn't need to know that. I'll figure it out, I'll visit, I'll help him out.

"How's Bella doing?" He glances up at me, looking genuine. He loves her like she's his real niece.

I nod along, "She's doing good, she's focusing on keeping her strength up." I don't mention the blood smoothies. "She sleeps a lot but when she's up she's always in a good mood."

He smiles at that. "That Bella is a strong one. Did you hear about Quil imprinting?"

My mouth nearly drops open at that sentence. Quil has grown to be one of my closest friends, nearly as close to me as Leah. This rift between the pack has separated us physically, but we still keep in touch somewhat over text. I love him to death, but he's quite the player. He's a flirt, a real charmer, and he never knows how to settle down. He has a bit of a reputation in the Res, but he's damn proud of that. He's the very last person I ever thought would imprint. "Seriously?"

He nods his head, chuckling at my reaction. "Yeah I was surprised too, but it's almost like Taha Aki knows how to punish him. He imprinted on Emily's niece."

I frown, trying to recall her niece. "She has two nieces?"

He shakes his head. "No, he imprinted on Claire. She's only two years old and he'll have a long way to go before he'll ever be able to be more than a caregiver to her. It'll teach him responsibility, patience, and boundaries." Billy and Old Quil have a strong belief that imprints teach us a lesson far past how to love and how to be loved. They believe it's a way Taha Aki points out their strengths and weaknesses and controls their fate in order to ensure they turn out to be good people and good caretakers of the Res.

Billy believes Sam had imprinted on Emily, rather than Leah, because it taught him he cannot control everything. Sam has always been a perfectionist and control freak. He wants things a certain way and when he stepped into the role as Alpha that only made things worse. The pack had a lot of issues starting out and when Sam imprinted on Emily things had sort of altered for the better, not for Leah of course.

Jared had imprinted on Kim, his long time girlfriend. Old Quil has a theory that without Kim, Jared becomes far too reckless and quick-witted. Kim keeps him grounded, reminds him he needs to come home in one piece or she'll be left a grieving widow.

"Wow, all things Quil needs." He laughs at that, shaking his head. "I can't believe he didn't tell me." Have we really grown that distant?

"He hasn't told anyone, I know through Sam. Quil's just been trying to figure things out, Emily's sister was only visiting for a week and she has no knowledge of what he is. He's been dealing with Sam and Emily, trying to figure out what he can do. Even now as she's a baby he feels a very strong need to be protecting her and caring for her. She lives nearly five hours away." My stomach sinks for him, I couldn't imagine the stress of that situation. Especially it being his Alpha's niece and she's merely a baby. She's so vulnerable to the world and he lives in a dangerous supernatural world.

"I thought Jake would be next to imprint." I admit. I think there has to be some reason why he's so attached to Bella, it can't just simply be a crush. Old Quil has looked into it though, there's no active imprint between the two. Him and Bella has always given me hope for me and Seth.

Billy's eyebrow raising, giving me an odd look. "Hoping it'll be you?"

I snort at that, making a face. "God no."

He scowls, "Would it be so bad to be a part of my family?" He opens his arms, as if presenting his home.

"It's not you, it's him." I reach forward, patting his hand. He lightens up at that.

"I heard the two of you kissed, I thought for sure there would be something there someday." He collects his plate, wheeling into the kitchen to place it into the sink.

Even Billy knows about the spin the bottle game? Jesus. "It was a peck." I insist. "How do you even know about that?" I swear Billy knows and hears everything, he's like a little drama queen. When we were all in high school he always knew who liked who and he would enjoy stirring the pot. I think he needs a hobby or better yet a girlfriend. Rachel tried for years to make him date, but Rebecca always insisted he was not ready.

"I have my ways, girl." He wheels back over to me. "If it's not Jake, then who has your heart?"

I raise an eyebrow at him, "I thought you knew everything, you tell me." I challenge. A part of me is always feeling a little caught, like everyone knows who I care for and just no one says it to me. I think I hide it well, but if Billy knows then I know I'm not that great at it.

"For your sake I hope it's no one in the pack." His words make my stomach plummet. I don't want to admit it but there's so much hope inside of me that Seth is going to be right for me someday.

"Why?" I ask a breath later.

He shakes his head, his long hair flowing. I can see some grey pieces have grown, but overall Billy looks great for his age. "Because none of them deserve you and you shouldn't be grounded to La Push forever, you should be able to decide your fate and not have Taha Aki do it for you. I'll tell you this, if it's ever Paul I will rip his throat out and hang it on my wall. You hear me?"

"Consider yourself heard." I grumble.


Three hours into my shift at the hospital and I'm already eager to get home. Carlisle has busied himself with the task of getting all his paper charts sorted out so I've been bouncing between helping him with that and helping the nurse's with the few cases coming in today. We're short staffed, but it's a slow night. We've had maybe three people come in and none of the cases needed much attention. Carlisle had them in and out within minutes. He's not a leisure type of doctor, he gets the job done and gets people discharged so there's always room at the hospital in case of an emergency.

"Gwen." Carlisle draws my attention up to him. He walks around his desk, looking thoughtful as he leans against it. "Something has been on my mind for a while and I wanted to talk with you about it." I pause my organizing and rise up off the floor, ready to listen. He wets his lips, "As you know Bella's pregnancy is coming to an end soon and of course it's going to be unpredictable as to when she'll go into labor." I nod along. "I want to make sure you are prepared as much as possible in the event that I'm for any reason..tied up and cannot help." He folds his hands on his lap, staring me down.

I pause before him, "Why would you be tied up?" I swallow. I'm ready to assist Carlisle in anything he needs, but to do the whole birth without him, no way! Bella is a complicated case and a person I love dearly, I couldn't imagine being responsible for that on my own. I hardly have experience birthing normal babies with no expected complications.

"We have to be realistic. The pack will somehow get word that the baby is coming and they will want to fight. We don't know what will happen, not even Alice yet knows, so we need to be prepared for all possibilities. So, I want you to start shadowing me in the pregnancy unit." I haven't spent much time in Peds, simply because Carlisle spends most of his time as a GP.

Doubt and fears swarm through me, but I push them aside. "I'll do anything I can to help out." That's true, even if I feel my heart racing and my stomach hurting at the thought of it.

Before he can say anything more the bell goes off, alerting us that a new patient has checked in. We drop the conversation and head straight to the intake area of the hospital. I spot the splattered blood on the ground before my eyes have a chance to land on the girl freaking out on the table. It takes three nurses to calm her down enough to keep her from falling from the table and into the pool of her blood. I can't seem to understand where it's all coming from.

Her whimpers and cries as they hold her down send a cold shiver down my spine, but still I go to her side. The nurses and Carlisle begin communicating what could be happening while I focus on the patient. She's young, maybe a little younger than me, and she has long blonde hair. Her body is pale, paler than normal and her breathing is coming out in wheezes. That's when I notice the bite mark.

Without thinking I clamp my hand over the bite, applying pressure to minimize bleeding. One nurses calls out that she has also found another source of bleeding on her wrist. The girls eyes shoot to me, and fear is painted in them. "It's okay, everything is okay." I say it to every patient, but this one needed it most. "I'm here, my name is Gwen, we're going to help you. Can you tell me your name?"

"Olivia." She wheezes out. "I'm-I'm not from here! I'm visiting my Aunt in Forks." She winces when another nurse clamps onto another wound.

"Olivia, I'm Doctor Carlisle. Do you remember what happened to you?" Carlisle's voice is a mixture of calm and sternness, he wants to know how he can help as quickly as possible because she is not in good shape.

"A man-some man attacked me! He attacked me! I just felt something hot and sharp press into my skin, it happened so fast and all over. I think there's another one on my shoulder." She struggles to point in the general direction of it. "I think I passed out but when I came to I just started walking and I realize how close I was to here. I feel so dizzy." She groans, placing a hand on her head. She looks sweaty and awfully pale.

I move her hair, finding another, smaller bite there too. Carlisle orders the nurses to move quickly in disinfecting and patching up the bites, which he refers to simply as "wounds". He and another nurse discuss plans for medication that will work for a possible infection as well as her pain. Olivia groans and whimpers as the nurse's patch her up, especially feeling tender where her neck is concerned. I start her IV drip to allow her to get hydrated and I grab her extra blankets to keep her warm, noticing how cool her skin is to the touch. Once the nurse comes back with the medication I administer it to Olivia, who takes it willingly.

"Olivia do you know what the man looked like?" Carlisle moves to her side, asking her in a gentle voice.

She shakes her head, staring forward with a concentrated expression on her face. "I hardly remember anything. I remember blonde hair and hazel looking eyes, he was tall and white. That's all I can remember right now." She whimpers when one nurse finishes up on the bite at her wrist. "He smiled the entire time like he liked hurting me." She sniffs, a few tears running down her cheeks. Carlisle instantly has a tissue in hand, ready to hand it off to her. She mutters a "thanks".

"You're safe now Olivia, we're going to keep you a few hours for observation and we're going to prescribe you medication that should minimize a chance of infection. Gwen here is going to take your description of the attacker and report it to the police for you, do you know your Aunt's phone number?" She nods her head meekly. "Alright I'm going to send a nurse over to get that from you and we'll have her here in no time." He gives her a soft smile, and pats her hand.

"C-Can someone stay with me please?" Her voice cracks and so does my heart.

Immediately I move to her side. "I'll be right here the whole time, don't worry about a thing, we have you."