A/N: Okay all my awesome readers, I am so sorry that this chapter was a day behind schedule! Trust me... I would much rather be writing than anything else! I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I look forward to hearing your reviews! Thank you for all your thoughts! HAPPY READING! :-)

CHAPTER FIFTY

(BPOV)

My body felt utterly numb as heat enveloped me, the sudden feel of it making me gasp when a voice broke through the sound of my sobbing. I shivered violently from the heavy and pounding rain, feeling the warmth protectively wrap itself around me, as strong arms urgently gathered me to them. My head spun as a disbelieving cry left me from the sound of the husky voice coming from above me.

"I'm here. It's okay, honey. I'm right here."

I looked up, seeing him there and not daring to believe it to be true.

I was hallucinating. My mind was doing this to me again... easing some of the torment by creating an image before me that wasn't real.

"No-" I cried out, knowing this was all in my head. The pain had driven me to see him, even though he wasn't really there.

A fresh sense of agony ripped through me with the awful realization as the strained and husky voice spoke again.

"Bells, it's okay, honey. I've got you."

A sudden and vicious roar shook the ground beneath me then, as my eyes flew open to see Sam in wolf form emerging from the tree line with Paul fast behind him.

"No!" Jacob assertively shouted. "Don't! She is with me. Rana- Go back... I will look for you after- They don't know you and they will kill you."

The words he spoke left me confused until I saw a woman standing off to the left of us, her long black hair draping over her shoulders as she watched us with golden eyes.

I felt the heat invade me then, warming me through my soaked clothes and erasing the bone shaking cold that made me feel as if I were frozen. My head spun as warm lips pressed to mine, and in an instant, I was being moved. I felt disoriented as the lips left mine and the rain disappeared. Charlie's voice was there, somewhere in the background of everything, but it sounded so far away from me. I heard Billy's voice clear when he spoke next.

"Jacob... son?"

I closed my eyes, unable to keep them open as darkness crept in around me. I had been going on like this for too long, my body was surrendering from the many nights of no sleep and the lack of substance from days of being ill. I fought it, the best I could, feeling warm arms carrying me in through the house. The voices around me frantic and coming together all at once in my head.

"It's me, dad. Just me."

"She's been sick like this for days." Billy quickly replied, his voice clearly strained with emotion I knew he was holding back.

"She's freezing. How long was she out there?" Jacob asked, his tone laced with tangible concern.

"Not long- but she's been really sick-" Charlie added.

"I know. I felt it... all of it. I was too far away for too long." Jacob replied, his warm arms cradling me to him as I tried to force my eyes to open, but it was useless. My body wasn't yielding to me. It had been pushed to the breaking point.

Despite Jacobs warmth, my shivering began again and I felt him move me to the couch. When he tried to let me go, I clung to him as if I were drowning, my eyes fluttering open long enough to meet his. I knew with that one look from him that he was not a figment of my imagination, or a damn dream I was going to wake up from any moment. His gaze was full of the love and warmth I knew so well.

He was real. He was here. My Jacob had come back to me.

"Don't let me go." I cried, feeling the panic claw at me at the thought of not having his arms around me. "Please. Don't."

Jacob hauled me back up at the sound of my desperate plea, his arms tightening their hold as he spoke to Billy and Charlie.

"She has to get out of these wet clothes. It'll only make her worse. She's sick enough. She has to get warm- fast."

Another shiver made my teeth chatter and I felt Jacob move, quickly taking the stairs to head for my room, his softly spoken words surrounding me.

"You're gonna be okay, honey. I promise. I'm here now. I'm right here."

I struggled to stay awake long enough for him to help me undress, stripping me down out of the soaked clothes and keeping me close to him, while helping me dress in dry sweats he pulled out of my drawers. I noticed then how his own tattered jeans were soaked and covered in dirt, how his russet skin was now marked in scars and dried blood. I stilled, my eyes struggling to focus on the deep pink lines that were rapidly healing before me.

"Jacob-" I breathed. "What happ-"

He pulled me close to him, wrapping his arms around me with a shaky breath.

"Don't worry about me. I'm okay, honey. It's you I'm worried about right now. You're my only concern."

"You came back-" I replied, my tears spilling down my cheeks with my hushed words.

"I'll always come back for you, honey- always. As long as I have breath in me." He replied, his hands cradling my face. "I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner. I ran... for three days straight. I could feel you- with me- that something was wrong with you."

He sat me down on the bed, pulling the comforters back and drawing me into his arms once more. I relaxed into his strong embrace, feeling the ache in my body ease from his touch and my chills disappear as he tucked my head under his chin. He hurriedly wrapped the blankets around us, his breathing fast and worried.

"I'm so sorry, Bells. I tried-"

"You're here with me now. That's all that matters."

He pressed a kiss into my hair, gently pulling my body even closer to his. "Tell me what else you need?"

"Just you-" I whispered, closing my eyes as his breathing evened out and his heartbeat slowed down some.

"I'm never leaving you again, honey." He sighed, running his fingertips through my hair. "You can rest now. I'll be holding you when you wake up."

Upon hearing his last few words, I succumbed to the days of pure exhaustion and sickness my body had been trying to fight for days on end.

My body stayed cocooned in Jacob's embrace as the hours passed and I awoke just as the evening crept in, my room dark and my eyes flaring open in panic. They strained to see in the darkness when I first bolted upright, a sob building in my chest from the fear of Jacobs return being all just a dream. I tried to get out of bed, until a hand caught mine and a voice filled the quiet room.

"Bells- honey-"

His strong arms were around me before I could respond, his lips brushing against my ear with his comforting words. "You're okay... I'm here."

He turned the bedside lamp on, touching my cheek with the backs of his fingers, his gaze still concerned when it met mine.

"How long have I been out?"

"Fourteen hours, honey." He replied.

"I thought - you were- a dream."

His soft lips claimed mine in a hungry kiss, the passion of it stealing my breath away. I climbed into his lap, wanting to be as close to him as I could. To never let him go.

"I love you, Bells."

"I love you, too...-"

There was a sudden knock on my door that forced us to pull apart when Charlie peeked his head in, his face reddening for a moment when he saw Jacob moved me off his lap.

I swallowed hard, knowing that Charlie was being gracious given the circumstances. I was grateful for his graciousness. He knew how hard the past two weeks had been on me and I knew this was where his kindness came from.

"Bella, if you're feeling up to it, Billy and I have dinner downstairs. You two care to join us?"

"Yeah, I'll be down in just a minute."

He nodded in reply and headed back downstairs, his face still red and his embarrassment clear now.

I turned back toward Jacob, seeing the dried blood still on his russet skin and feeling my eyes sting with tears when I touched the scar on his chest, the look of it still angry when compared to the others.

"You're not healing-"

"I'm okay, honey." He assured me, taking my hand in his.

I met his gaze and saw the remorse in it when he touched my face, his warm hand caressing my cheek. I closed my eyes, basking in the feel of his touch. I had ached for him for days. Wishing he would return to me.

"I'm not hungry. I can't eat-" I softly admitted to him.

"I could make you soup?"

I shook my head, feeling my stomach churn at just the mention of it now.

Jacob sat up further, his eyes sweeping over my face as I tried to get to my feet. Dizziness made me still as I swayed, unable to keep my balance.

"Bells..." He cautioned, helping to steady me with his hands. "Let me get you something to drink."

I tore away from him, running across the hall into the bathroom and just making it to the sink before throwing up.

Jacob was fast behind me, his hands gathering my hair as I finished. I turned on the water, rinsing the contents down and glancing at him apologetically.

"I can't keep anything down- It's been like this for days." I sighed in frustration, rinsing my face and brushing my teeth.

"I'm sorry, honey. I wish there was something I could do."

"You're here... that's everything." I replied, turning on the hot shower and reaching for him. "You must be hungry and exhausted."

"I'll be alright."

"I'll wait in here with you, if you wanna shower. I know you need your rest."

"I need you." He replied, pulling me into his arms. "I want you better... that comes before anything I need."

I locked the bathroom door and stripped down, seeing his gaze full of adoration when he stripped off his ragged jeans and moved me into the shower with him. I washed his back and chest, my fingers looming over the scar that was new. The size of it making my eyes water.

Something... or someone had hurt him... attacked him.

Jacob saw my reaction when the water rinsed his russet skin clean, leaving the scar even more angry looking.

"I had to get back to you...-" He began. "- and I have more I want to tell you... when you're feeling better, honey."

His hand reached for the soap and he began to wash my skin, his lips brushing mine when he finished.

"Promise me you'll tell me later?"

"I promise." He replied, pressing me to him as a moan left me from the feel of his naked skin against mine.

I kissed him thoroughly, my body craving to be with him after all the nights he had been gone. I had missed his touch so damn much.

He lifted me with ease, pressing me against the shower wall as my legs wrapped around his waist. His look so full of love that my tears returned.

"I missed you so much, Bells." He whispered, his arms holding me tightly to him.

We stayed in there till the water ran cold and we were forced to step out. Jacob wrapped me up in a towel, placing a soft kiss to my lips. I turned to gather my clothes when the sight of a small blue box resting beside a basket on the shelf in the corner made me stop in my tracks. My mind raced as I picked it up in my shaking hands, seeing the box unopened and counting the days in my head.

Once over... twice over.

Twelve days...

Jacob wrapped his arms around my waist, his cheek touching mine and his movements stilling when he saw the box clutched tightly in my hands.

I shook my head, feeling him tighten his hold on me, as I started to shake in his arms.

"Honey-... are you late?" He asked me in a whisper, his hand reaching out to take the box from me when I turned in his arms and met his knowing gaze.

"... twelve days... I- I didn't even-"

"You're twelve days late for your period, honey?"

I nodded, feeling as if someone had just knocked the wind out of me. I slowly sat down on the edge of the tub, replaying how sick I had been for the past two weeks as the color slowly drained from my face. Jacob crouched down in front of me, his hands reaching for mine.

"Bells - It's gonna be okay, honey."

I tried to focus on what he was saying but everything felt as if it was moving in slow motion now.

"I'm never late, Jacob." I breathed, my body trembling in front of him.

"Come here-" He pulled me up, wrapping his arms around me as I tried to think back to the date of my last cycle.

How could I have missed a whole period?

"I think - I'm pregnant, Jacob."

He slowly pulled back, meeting my gaze when I spoke this aloud to him. Something in his eyes telling me that he somehow already knew this. I sucked in a sharp breath as the hands of time seemed to stop.