I'm going to warn you ahead of time that this is one of those sad chapters for Jacob but it I swear it has it's purpose and in a few chapters you'll see why. Please don't get discouraged. Please read the author's note at the end. Thanks to my beta, Kate Pedroso, for her hard work and opinions.

Disclaimer: Majority of these characters belong to Stephenie Meyer and her Twilight series. Some are my own...I know you can tell which is which. Stephenie, I hope I did Jacob justice.

I woke the next morning with a start, sitting up in bed as I tried to find my bearings. I looked around to see the four walls of my tiny room. I looked down at my body, my hands searching for any signs of injury. A sheen of sweat covered my body and my heart was racing. When I realized it had just been a dream I felt some sort of relief. I covered my eyes and let myself fall back onto the mattress.

The remnants of the dream I had were clear in my mind, but fading fast. In it the pack had been patrolling the La Push border when we were caught off guard by a group of unknown vampires and forced into a fight. There were four females and one male, all with the same golden eyes and beautiful features that the Cullen's had. There was only one explanation for this; this was the Denali coven. Even though there were fewer numbers than there had been with the newborns, these vampires were more experienced. They fought more with their heads and less by instinct and they had powers they could use against us. I couldn't quite recall what they were or how they used them, but I could remember the kind of damage they had done to us. I had looked around and saw fallen forms before being caught from behind myself. I remember my dream form writhing on the ground in pain as I saw one of the females come towards me, her eyes now black. Her hands reached forward to finish me off. I heard Bella's voice scream "No!" before a hard, pale form threw the female off me…that was when I woke. Billy was right; if it came down to war we wouldn't all walk away.

I shook my head, forcing the thoughts out, though the knot in my stomach was still there. I had never had such a vivid dream before. I sat on the edge of the bed and took a few deep breaths, willing my still racing heart to slow. It wasn't working, and I was starting to feel lightheaded. It was too warm in my room and for the first time since becoming a werewolf I felt sick; really sick. I ran to the bathroom and turned the cold faucet as far as it would go. I stepped into the shower and sank to the floor of the tub, feeling the icy water pummel my skin. When I felt as if I could breathe again I lifted my face into the spray, hoping it would completely clear my head. After a few minutes it did the trick and I felt a sense of release flow through me.

It's just a dream, I reassured myself I was glad that no one was there to see me like this. I would never live it down. I could imagine how much crap that Quil and Embry would give me if they saw me curled up like a very big baby in the bottom of the tub because of a nightmare. That thought made me laugh and I relaxed a bit more. I stood in the shower and soaped myself up.

As I scrubbed my scalp I thought about last night. After the meeting we had made our way back to Sam's in silence. The threat of what could happen with the other coven was hanging over our heads…well, most of our heads. It hadn't stopped Seth, Collin, and Brady from nearly skipping with excitement, especially the latter two. They thought that if it came down to another fight we would include them in the action this time. Oh so eager.

Then again we had all been that eager before the fight with the newborns. It was a chance to test ourselves, to see how we could perform. Even simply watching the Cullen's fighting each other for practice had given us glimpses into how to fight any vampire more skillfully. It didn't make it any less dangerous, but it did make the challenge more inviting.

I had been so eager for the fight that I even left Bella for it. There have been times since then that I wondered if it would have made a difference if I had stayed. A big mental roadblock popped up as my mind started to wander into unwelcome territory. Stop it, it doesn't matter now! Sometimes that little voice saved me from a whole lot of hurt. I had gotten good at repressing those kinds of thoughts. Bella is a friend, simply a friend. Though I would have preferred something more, it was definitely better than nothing at all.

I rinsed and got out of the shower, wrapping a very large towel around my waist. The cool air on my wet body sent shivers down my spine. I walked out to the kitchen, grabbing the OJ from the fridge. I looked out the window as I sucked down the juice straight from the carton. It was raining buckets outside and it looked dark although it was already mid morning. As I stood there my mind again wandered back to the night before.

It had started raining on our way back. I had leaned my body over Billy's as much as possible, trying to keep him dry and warm. It hadn't worked so well, and by the time we got to the house he was soaked and shivering. I had taken him into the house and sat him down at the table. Emily tried to warm him with coffee while I grabbed a towel to help dry him off. He looked tired and haggard.

"Billy, are you feeling alright?" Emily asked. "You look very pale." Her face was full of concern and she reached forward to put her hand on his forehead, but Billy just waved her off.

"I'm fine, just tired."

"Do you want to go home?" Sue asked. She would have to give him a ride since I had my motorcycle.

"Yes. Sleep sounds good right now." He closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair. "I know there is a lot you guys want to discuss but not tonight. We've got some time."

Sue looked to me. "Jake, will you help me get him to the car?" I nodded and picked Billy up.

"I'll be home soon, Dad," I said as I put him in the car. He looked half asleep already and just mumbled an acknowledgement.

I had gone back into the house and sat with the guys most of the night, discussing the meeting and what the news of the Denali coven could bring. We hadn't really gotten anywhere with it by the time I left.

The phone rang, bringing my thoughts back to the present. "Hello?"

"Hey, Jake, its Charlie. Is your dad there?"

"His door is shut, but I can wake him up if you want me to." I looked over at the clock. It was close to ten 'o' clock now; I was surprised Billy wasn't up yet.

"No, that's ok. I was just checking to see if he wanted me come down there for the game or if he'll be coming here. I haven't talked to him for a few days and the game starts at noon."

"Hmmm. Well I'll ask him as soon as he wakes up. Why don't you plan on him coming to your place. I think he needs to get out of the house, and I don't mind dropping him off." Billy had been spending way too much time by himself in the house lately, mostly because I wasn't home, and it would be good for him to be around Charlie. He needed to get away from all this drama that was causing him so much stress.

"Sounds good. Have a good day, Jake."

"You too, Charlie," I said, and then hung up. I finished my juice and tossed the empty carton in the trash before heading back toward my room. I paused at Billy's door but hesitated before knocking. I'll give him until I get dressed and then wake him up.

Back in my room I saw that I had torn my bed apart in my sleep. The blanket and pillows were on the floor and the sheet had been pulled from two of the four corners. I threw everything back on the bed with a promise to myself that I would make it later. I went to open my dresser drawer and nixed that idea. I'm going to have to do laundry. I winced; it was one of my least favorite chores and I usually avoided it at all costs. I pulled on a clean pair of boxer briefs, a dark blue tee, and a pair of jeans. I gathered the rest of my clothes and my dirty linens in a pile on the bed. At least there's no need to worry about separating everything; all I have are darks.

I walked to Billy's room and put my ear against it, listening for sounds of movement. There were none so I knocked. "Dad? Are you up yet?" I got no response so I knocked again before opening the door. "Dad?"

Billy was like a lump in the bed; one I couldn't see because he was bundled in under his blankets. But that 'lump' was shaking so hard the bed seemed to be vibrating. "Dad?" I said again, confused. I walked around the other side of the bed until I could see his face. "Oh my god!" I got down on my knees beside him. I could only see his face, but he looked like death warmed over. He was almost completely white with dark circles under his eyes. His eyes were small slits, not open but not quite closed. His hair was plastered to his face and the sheets around him were soaked from his sweat. I pulled back the covers to see him better. He was curled in the fetal position, still shivering. "Dad, what's wrong?!"

He only moaned in response. My heart started racing again, this time with worry. "Ok, I'm going to take you to the hospital." I wrapped his blanket back around him, picked him up, and hurried to the car. I gently placed him in the passenger seat and ran to the other side.

I drove as fast as I dared, occasionally taking peeks at Billy to make sure he was still breathing. He never stopped shivering, which both relieved and scared me. "Hold on, dad. We're almost there." I pushed the car as fast as it would go, knowing Charlie wouldn't ticket me anyway.

I pulled into the ER entrance and lifted Billy out of the car as I bellowed for someone to help me. I was just through the sliding doors when a male nurse brought a gurney over. "What happened?" he asked as he wheeled the gurney to a cubicle. "Sir? Sir, can you hear me?" Billy didn't respond so I answered.

"I don't know; I went into his bedroom and found him this way." I stood aside as all sorts of staff came to Billy's side. They poked and prodded him as they cut away his shirt. "Where is Dr. Cullen?" I asked frantically. "He saw my dad the last time we were here." He will know what to do.

"He's been paged. What was he here for?" the male nurse asked as he took Billy's temperature while another nurse started an IV and another put a mask on his face.

"He fell and cut his leg open on a knife last week."

The nurse pulled up Billy's pant leg and pulled aside the dressing over the cut. The stitches were still there; we had had an appointment to have them removed tomorrow. The skin around the stitches was flaming red with streaks running up his leg. There was some sort of yellowish stuff oozing from between the stitches and the skin was inflamed.

"Oh my god," I breathed.

"This cut is infected." His demeanor was very business-like.

Carlisle entered the cubicle then, nodding in my direction before turning back toward Billy. "Rick," he said, greeting the nurse. "Catch me up." They spoke in medical terms I didn't understand so I just paced at the end of the bed, blocking them out and staring at my dad. He hadn't opened his eyes yet or answered any of their questions.

Carlisle's voice brought me out of my trance. "Jacob, has Billy been complaining of pain or fever at all? Did he tell you he was concerned about this injury?"

I put my hands on my head as I paced, running my fingers through my hair. "No. He never said anything about it. He has been tired a lot this last week, quiet. I thought it was just stress." I raced through the words but I knew he would hear each and every one. I felt extreme guilt was over me. I should have been home more. I should have known something was wrong. I could have done something for him! "Is he going to be ok?" My voice pleaded with him to tell me what I wanted to hear.

Carlisle pulled me aside and looked me in the eye. "He does have an infection, I can tell you that right now. I will need to run some tests and do a complete assessment. I want you to go sit in the waiting room and I will come and talk with you as soon as I have a plan. Ok?" I stood there, looking back in the direction where Billy was laying. "Jacob?"

"Yeah," I said, bringing my eyes back to him.

"Go." He pointed in the direction of the waiting room.

I walked out and sat down, still dazed from the events of the morning. I don't know how long I sat there before a cool hand rested on my shoulder. I looked up expecting Carlisle but found myself staring into the eyes of a young, blonde receptionist.

"Hi, I'm Angel. I need to get some information from you for our system. Could you fill out this form and bring it back to the desk, please?" Her smile was compassionate and sweet. I only nodded in response. I quickly filled out the boxes and blanks before getting up and handing it back to her at the desk.

"Can I use your phone to make a few calls?" I didn't know what else to do; I couldn't think straight.

"Of course. There is a private phone over there." She pointed to a small area with a phone in the corner.

I dialed Sam first and let him know what was going on. He promised to make a few calls, including one to Charlie letting him know Billy wouldn't be stopping by. Then I just paced the room. All of the worst case scenarios were running through my head and all I felt was guilt with each and every one of them.

After awhile the receptionist came over to me again. "You're wearing a hole in our carpet," she teased in her soft voice. "Can I get you anything? Water? Coffee? Soda?"

I knew she was just trying to be helpful, but I couldn't focus. "No, thanks." I stopped pacing though, thinking I was making her nervous, and sat down in one of the tiny, uncomfortable plastic chairs. I found another way to fidget though, bouncing my leg up and down. I was impatient for an answer, to know what was going on.

"Jake," a voice said from behind me. I bolted to my feet and turned around to see Emily and Sam enter the waiting room. She rushed over and hugged me. "How is he doing? Is he ok?" she asked as she pulled me down with her into the chairs.

"I don't know. They haven't told me anything except he has an infection…from the cut in his leg." I went back to bouncing my leg, staring at the wall. "He just wouldn't wake up this morning. He couldn't say anything."

"I'm sure he will be fine, Jake."

"He looked horrible, Emily. I don't know what to do." I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees and my face in my hands. I felt a big, warm hand on my back. I felt better having these two here, but it didn't alleviate how scary the situation was.

"We're here for you, Jake. We're here." She put her arm around me and rested her head on my shoulder.

Not long after Embry and Quil arrived, followed by Leah and Sue, and then Charlie. I didn't know how much more I could take with all the questions. I just wanted to know what was going on myself. I was thankful when Emily fielded the questions for me.

About an hour after I had first arrived with Billy, Carlisle came to the waiting room with a woman. They were speaking in low tones together and we all stood when they entered. I could only assume she was a doctor. She was wearing blue scrubs with a white lab coat. She was very tall, with tan skin and short dark hair.

Carlisle nodded to everyone. "Jake, can we talk?"

"Anything you have to say you can say here. This is family." I didn't want to say it, but I didn't want to go anywhere either; I needed the support.

"Alright," Carlisle said. We all sat back down, Carlisle and the woman joining us. "Jake, your father has a very serious infection which has spread to his blood. We are going to have to admit him to the intensive care unit to keep a close eye on him and to give him IV antibiotics to fight the infection."

"Is he going to be ok?"

"I won't lie," he started. "His condition is serious, but we will do everything possible for him….which leads me to introduce Dr. Riese to you." He motioned to the woman next to him, who raised a hand in greeting. "She is on the surgical team here, and I asked her to consult on your father's case."

I looked at him, confused. Fear was clawing its way through my chest. I could feel Emily shift beside me. "Surgeon? Why would he need a surgeon?"

Dr. Riese spoke up, pulling out a blank pad of paper and a pen. "Your father's infection is not only in the blood stream, but in the surrounding tissue as well." She started to draw what appeared to be a leg and continued illustrating her point as she explained. "Some of that tissue has 'died', so to speak. The longer that dead tissue is there, the greater the chance of the infection spreading to tissue that is healthy. What I need to do is surgically remove that dead tissue so there is only healthy tissue left. Between that and his IV antibiotics he should be able to fight the infection off."

"You want to cut out part of his leg?"

"We will remove only as much as we need to."

"But what if you don't get it all, or what if the IV antibiotics don't work?" I was terrified of the answer but needed to ask anyway.

"Worst case scenario is that we may need to amputate." I heard a gasp from beside me and a sob from behind me. I hadn't realized I was holding my breath until it all whooshed out of me. Amputate. Amputate. Amputate….the word flashed over and over in my mind, but the doctor's voice brought my attention back. "I have full confidence that the IV antibiotics will work with the infection in his blood as long as we can contain the infection in his leg."

I looked at the doctor, not really seeing her. "Do what you have to."

"I will need a surgical consent form signed, your father won't be able to do it himself," she said as she stood.

Carlisle spoke up once again. I had forgotten he was even there. "He isn't of age to consent."

Dr. Riese looked at me, surprised. "I'm seventeen," I answered.

She nodded slowly. "I will need consent from a family member. Your mother? An older sibling?"

"My mother passed away and I have two older sisters, but neither of them live in the area." I was starting to get frantic now.

"We can do this by phone," Carlisle said to me softly, reassuringly. "You just have to give me a number where I can reach one of them."

"Oh, I didn't call them, tell them." I had been so worried I had forgotten to call my sisters. I hadn't seen either of them in over a year and we didn't talk much on the phone, but I still felt guilty for forgetting to call. I looked around at the others in the room.

"I have their numbers," Sue said, tears still wet on her face. "Let me call and tell them what is going on first, and then you can talk to them." Carlisle nodded and Sue went to the phone in the corner to call.

"How did this happen?" I asked Carlisle.

"It isn't uncommon for injuries like this to become infected. Your father is diabetic, so that can sometimes make it harder for them to heal. I had talked to your father last week, after you left, about making sure to control his diet for optimal healing. I won't go into the specifics about how everything works, but he understood. You said he was stressed. Was he eating ok?"

"I don't know. I haven't been home much the past week." I hung my head in shame, consumed in it from head to toe. Emily placed one on my shoulder, Sam one on my back, and Carlisle laid a hand on my knee. He was so close now the smell was almost overwhelming, but my mind wouldn't trigger enough feeling to be disgusted. "Why didn't he tell me something was wrong? I could have done something."

"I'm sure he was worried, Jake. He knew you were too and I bet he didn't want to add to it," Emily said. She was trying to make me feel better, but it only made me feel more selfish.

"Jacob, there is nothing you could have done unless your father had said something to you about how he felt," Carlisle said. "And you are helping him now by being here. They are moving him to the floor as we speak. When he is settled they will call and you can go up." He gave my knee another pat and then stood and went to the corner to speak with Sue.

I stood up and started to pace again. There was too much adrenaline pumping through me now to allow me to sit still. I looked over and saw Leah in the corner. She was quietly sitting in the corner, her tears almost dry on her face. I was surprised; I didn't expect this kind of reaction from her. Lately she had been so cold, distant. She looked up to see me watching her and she stood.

She slowly walked over to me. "I'm so sorry, Jake," she managed to get out before her face crumpled and she burst into tears again. Her reaction completely shocked me, and I didn't know what to do. I awkwardly reached out an arm and patted her shoulder. She came in closer and laid her head on my chest, still crying.

I looked up at Emily questioningly. What do I do? Emily just shook her head and shrugged. I put an arm around her shoulders and just let her cry. "He'll be ok." Now I was the one trying to reassure. Gee, we sure changed places fast.

"I'm sorry, I'm being an idiot," she said as she pulled away, wiping at the tears on her face. She looked around and found a tissue box on a nearby end table. "It all just reminds me of the last time we were here." The tears continued but slowly, silently.

Of course; last time she was here Harry passed away. I knew what it was like to lose a parent, but it had been a long time since my mother died…I couldn't imagine losing one now, especially now. Billy was the only parent I had left. I don't know what I would do if I lost him. Fear started to spread up my chest, making it hard to breathe. I can't think like this right now.

"I'm sorry, Leah." I reached out and gave her a quick hug. The fear was swelling uncontrollably inside, burning me; it was starting to turn into panic.

I've got to…I've got get out of here. If I stayed there I was going to scream or break down; or worse. I took quick strides toward one of the doors to the waiting room.

"Jake..." Emily began. I knew she would try her best to make me feel better, but I didn't want that right now; I just needed to be alone. I held up a finger to her, letting her know I needed a moment, and continued out of the room.

I found the nearest bathroom and went in, locking the door behind me. I ran the cold water and splashed my face with it. It didn't stop the panic and tears overtook me. My body started to shake uncontrollably until my knees could no longer support me and I collapsed to the floor.

So you got a longer chapter and somewhat depressing some might think. BUT, it all has a purpose and I can't get where I'm going without it! This chapter was extremely hard for me to write because I didn't know if I was writing in enough detail for you guys or if I'd be too technical if I added more. Kate tells me it worked out fine but I'd like to know what YOU think too. (For those of you with some medical background, don't get angry with me. haha I was trying to make it understandable.)

Kate also told me that she thought it might be a good idea to write a chapter in the Cullen's perspective about the whole Denali/Pack drama. What do you think? Do you want a Cullen POV to see whose side they might take? Leave a review and let me know.