A/N: Thanks for all the reviews guys! I really love the feedback, so keep it coming. And I apologize for the erratic length of the chapters, I tend to break where I naturally feel the story needs to break, and haven't been paying attention to word count. I'll try to improve on that in the future! Also, I apologize for only getting one chapter up tonight, hopefully I'll be able to get one up each day until the story ends. If you have any suggestions about where I should take the story, please feel free to leave them in my reviews! Thanks again!

I do not own Twilight or it's characters.

I faded in and out for the next couple hours, being shaken awake lightly, and then more roughly, by an extremely concerned Jasper.

"You have to stay awake!" he pleaded with me, desperation in his face.

I knew I could die if I fell into a deep sleep with a concussion, but at this point I hated myself enough to want to never wake up. Not to mention the pain in my ribs and my lungs and my head was only growing as time went on, and breathing was becoming so difficult I was wheezing instead of exhaling. The lines that had been nonexistent in Jasper's stone face before were becoming more and more pronounced as each minute ticked by and my breathing sounded worse and worse. As I was fading out again, I faintly heard the sound of the front door opening and slamming rapidly, and furious footfalls on the stairs. I felt Jasper move quickly to the door, opening it for whoever was rushing in.

"BELLA?!" I heard my angel shout. I forced my eyes open to see his glorious face twisted into a look of horror and fear.

"Move Edward, I have to see her now." said Carlisle calmly, as he gently pushed Edward away from my bedside.

"Jasper, take Edward outside, I have to examine Bella. No one needs to be here for this."

"NO! I need to stay, I need to help her!" my angel screamed, he looked like he thought I was dying.

"It's, okay Edward." I choked out between gasps, trying desperately to keep breathing. I didn't want him here to see my body anyway.

"I love you" he mouthed to me as he allowed Jasper to push him backward into the hall. Those three whispered words hurt me more than any physical pain I was experiencing currently. I knew he meant them now, but when he heard the whole story, when he realized I was no longer pure, he surely wouldn't feel that way about me anymore.

Carlisle's had been rifling through his medical bag and finally extracted a preloaded syringe. Normally the needle would have frightened me, caused me to become queasy and maybe even faint, but right now it didn't matter what Carlisle was going to do to me. I already felt like I was suffocating.

"This is just a painkiller Bella, Jasper tells me you're in excruciating physical pain", he told me in his doctor's voice. He must have injected it into my arm while he was speaking, because when I finally turned my head to him the syringe was empty.

His brow was furrowed and his eyes were lingering on the bruised welts on my neck.

"I'm going to have to examine your chest now Bella, my guess is a couple of your ribs have broken and that is what is making it so hard for you to breathe."

I nodded slightly and Carlisle went to work quickly and thoroughly, first bandaging my aching ribs and then cleaning my cuts. I glanced at his face every so often but his expression never changed, he must have a lot of practice keeping an unreadable face being a doctor. The new bandaging around my ribcage aided my ability to breathe a lot, and the pain medication certainly seemed to be effective on my head, that I was grateful for.

"Thank you Carlisle" I breathed quietly as he shone his pocket flashlight into my eyes, checking my pupils.

"You're welcome Bella" he replied seriously. "I'm sure you'll want to see Edward now. I know he needs to see you. Afterward, you are going to need to come to the hospital for scans. It doesn't have to be a big deal, I can get you in and out of an MRI without a scene, I promise".

Carlisle seemed to be searching my face for some kind of agreement, but I couldn't give him one. I would not go to the hospital. What if someone found out and tried to get me to talk to a social worker? Or worse, the police? I was not going to talk about this. I didn't even know how much the rest of the family knew. I just wanted it to go away.

Carlisle sighed unnecessarily and went to find Edward for me. As soon as he left the room, my exhaustion subsided completely, now replaced by overwhelming anxiety. I was definitely alert and wide awake; I could almost feel the adrenaline swimming through my nerves as I listened for Edward's feet on the stairs. What was I going to tell him?

Before I could register the door opening, Edward was by my side, perched on the edge of his bed. His eyes were still full of terror as he stared intently at my face, as if he was trying to hear the thoughts he had never been able to before. After a few moments of this he spoke.

"Bella what happened to you? Jasper is blocking his thoughts from me, and all I can get from Emmett is some ridiculous story about you falling on your head!" his voice was rising in what seemed like hysteria, barely able to contain himself he continued. "Please Bella, speak to me, tell me what happened, tell me everywhere you're hurt, before I go mad!"

My eyes welled with tears, and as hard as I tried to fight them back, they came pouring out at full force. I was terrified and humiliated, but I knew I would be pointless to lie to Edward now. I suspected that Jasper was only blocking his thoughts so that I could tell Edward myself, in my own time. I appreciated that, but it would only cause both him more anguish if I refused to admit what had happened now.

Edward's cold hand was cupped under my chin, wiping away my tears as they continued to fall. His other stroked my hair, futilely attempting to calm me down. The terror in his eyes has warped to concern, silently begging me to speak.