Disclaimer: I own nothing.

I couldn't just leave you guys hanging on that cliff another day.

EPOV

"I love you, Edward."

Her words were almost incoherent, then she started falling. I was grateful I had the speed to catch her before her head hit the wooden floors of the cottage that we had turned into our little oasis. When I caught her I felt the extra warmth radiating off of her. It wasn't her normal heat, it was much worse.

"Bella, please! Bella, listen to me, please, please, please, Bella, please!" I begged, shaking her gently.

"Carlisle!" I called, I hoped I was loud enough so that he could hear me.

I had never once been this panicked, all of my medical training went out of the window, all rationale, I couldn't collect any coherent thoughts. It had all left with Bella. I was holding Bella when Alice came in seconds later, followed by Carlisle.

"Bella, Bella, no, oh please, no, no!" I was sobbing.

I suppressed the involuntary growl building in my chest as they quickly approached Bella.

"I don't know what happened, she seemed out of it when she woke up, just minutes ago. She looked confused, and then she passed out," I said in a rush, I couldn't contain my panic.

"Edward, she'll be okay. We need to take her to the hospital now." I didn't miss the urgency in Carlisle's voice. "I'll go in front of you, get a room ready for her." An infection, pneumonia, maybe...?

"Stop," I said curtly, I couldn't take Carlisle hypothesizing on what could possibly be wrong with her. He nodded in apology, and then was gone.

We were off right after him, Alice drove while I held Bella in the back, hoping my cool hands on her face would somehow help her. I could tell the fever was bad, but how could it have gotten this bad overnight? It was such a quick downward spiral, and there was nothing I could do.

"Hurry up, Alice," I demanded. She was driving fast, but it still felt like it was taking forever.

"It'll take much longer if we get pulled over," Alice reminded me gently, I nodded knowing I was in no condition to be the lookout for police right now, my entire focus was on Bella.

It felt like an eternity getting to the hospital, Bella never once woke up, my only slight comfort was her heart, it was still beating, but I could hear the strain of each heartbeat. I still didn't understand, she had been fine yesterday. We were laughing, talking, cherishing each other's company, and now we were back here, in this wretched hospital. I had never harbored ill feelings toward a hospital before, but now I could barely stand the sight of it.

It took everything in me not to run in at my fastest pace, rules be damned, but I kept an agonizing human pace. As soon as we walked in Carlisle took over, removing her from my arms. I tried to follow him, but Alice forcibly led me to the waiting room.

It felt like another eternity waiting for Carlisle. Alice was blocking me from her thoughts, she was probably searching through Bella's future, I cringed at what she could be seeing.

I heard Carlisle walking down the corridor, too slow for my liking, and I shot up from my seat. I knew that I had just frightened people with my sudden, abrupt movement, but I couldn't have cared less. It was only Alice's grip that kept me standing in place, though I could have broken free quite easily.

He walked through the large double doors, and nudged his head in what I assumed was the direction of Bella's room. He kept me out of his head as we painstakingly walked to Bella's room. I had never resented our human ruse until now, everything felt like it was moving too slow, like no one felt the urgency to help Bella that I did.

Other people saw and watched us as we passed by, I tried to pay no attention to their thoughts. We finally made it to Bella's room, I rushed to her side. I pulled a chair right next to Bella, where I intended to stay until we left together. I held onto her hand, which was still much too hot in comparison to my cold hand.

"What happened, Carlisle?" I asked quietly.

"I'm waiting for some blood tests, but I believe it's an infection," he sighed. "The main two concerns right now are the fever, it's much too high, I've given her medication to break it, but well- you know how serious a fever can be. The second is the infection leading to pneumonia. We have her on a course on antibiotics and steroids for her lungs but her immune system has been compromised, we'll have to see how it goes." His voice was that of a doctor, calm, collected, and yet filled with compassion.

However, his thoughts were more scrambled than normal, he was worried. It took quite a bit to worry Carlisle, I tried not to think about what that implied.

"Can't we just change her now?" I was trying to think of any solutions to make Bella better, anything to bring her back to me.

"I wouldn't," he cleared his throat unnecessarily, "I don't know that is the best course." 'She may not make it through the transition, her heart it's working too hard as it is, it's too risky. I'm sorry.' He finished in his thoughts. I felt myself go cold, I felt physical pain emanating from my chest.

"We'll keep a close eye on her, she's resilient, Edward, she'll be okay," he said, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. I simply nodded, I couldn't think of any words that would make any of this okay.

"When will she wake?" The only thing that could comfort me is Bella awake, laughing, talking, smiling, looking at me with those beautiful chocolate eyes, anything really. I thought really hard about her eyes, how it felt like you could drown in them, and how if you looked really closely you could see little flecks of gold. Would I ever see those gorgeous eyes again?

"Her body is trying to fight the infection off, Edward. You know that, it's a defense mechanism, it will depend on how she responds to the antibiotics." He was carefully monitoring his thoughts from me. After a minute, Carlisle spoke again, "Should I call Charlie?"

I nodded. I barely noticed Carlisle leaving, all of my thoughts were of Bella. I noticed her normal backpack and oxygen tank in the corner of the room. I opened it to find her journal. It had been a while since I had read anything she had written.