A/N: Did I throw you for a loop? I hope so. Holy plot device, Batman!

Hah.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. Though I really think that Edward Cullen should have been in my stocking this year...

BPOV

My hands shook as I stood in the waiting room of Maryland General Hospital with Edward at my side. We were waiting for the nurse to come back and escort us to Jacob's room. The other guys weren't here; they'd left to get some food and rest. I couldn't blame them, because I knew that they hadn't left his side since the accident happened.

Seth was the only one who hadn't suffered any injuries from the crash. Quil and Embry both had some nasty cuts and bruises, but that was the extent of their injuries. Jake had been the only one in front of the van, which was lucky because the front passenger side looked like a massive wrinkle, according to Seth.

I shuddered to think of losing any of my guys. I'd been on the road with Wolf Runner for years, and before that, I practically grew up with them.

I felt tears well in my eyes as I stood there looking around the plain waiting room. It was empty except for Edward and myself. The walls were a dull robin's egg blue color, no doubt meant to soothe worried families. There were generic pieces of art along the walls; things like nesting birds and serene landscapes.

I hated this room with a passion.

Edward grabbed my hand tightly in his, and that's when I saw the nurse returning. She looked tired, worn. Her scrubs were greyish blue and wrinkled. Her hair was pinned up on her head, but pieces were falling down around her ears. Her shoes squeaked as she crossed the linoleum floor to reach us.

"Ms. Swan? You may go in now, but you may be asked to leave because they're going to wake him up from his coma today," the nurse said.

My gaze flicked to her identification strung around her neck on a festive beaded chain. "Thank you, Nurse Gaynor," I said wearily.

I turned to Edward and squeezed his hand, knowing he couldn't possibly want to come with me. It was awkward enough for him to be here, in Maryland with his girlfriend while she freaked out over her ex-boyfriend. My shoulders tensed as I looked up at him.

Edward just squeezed my hand in return and leaned down to kiss me gently on the cheek. "You'll be okay. You're strong. Go. Jake needs you," he whispered.

"Edward, you are... you are amazing. Thank you for coming here with me. I owe you so much," I said in return.

"Just take care of your friend, Bella. I'll wait here, okay?" he said.

I nodded and took a deep breath, releasing his hand and walking deliberately toward the room I knew Jacob was in. This was terrifying on many levels, but I braced myself and opened the door slowly, not sure what to expect.

Jake was lying on the hospital bed, surrounded by machines. I gasped when I saw his face; it was swollen and covered in bruises. There was a white bandage wrapped around his head, and both of his legs were in those slings that hang down from the ceiling. I knew he had some broken ribs, but the gown covered him from neck to knees, so who knew how horrible his torso probably looked.

I shivered in the cold room, overwhelmed by the horrible smell of the hospital. That smell never failed to give me a headache, bringing me back to my younger days.

I'd been extremely clumsy and accident-prone while growing up. I was a frequent flyer at the hospital ER in Forks, and my parents had our family doctor on speed dial. Luckily, as I'd grown out of my awkward teenage years, I'd also grown out of my clumsiness.

I was by no means graceful now, but it had been a few years since I'd had an accident that required any hospitalization. I was relieved to realize that hopefully, I would be successful in avoiding this horrible hospital smell.

My thoughts snapped back to Jake, and I walked over to the chair beside his bed. I sat and reached for his hand, holding it gently in my own. My skin was cold and clammy, while his was warm and dry. He had a series of scrapes and bruises across his hands and arms, and I ran my finger across them gently.

"Jake? It's me... Bella. Seth called me and told me about the car accident. Your dad will be here soon and I'll be here for a while if you need me," I said in a whisper.

Who knew if he could hear me, but I figured all those people on Lifetime movies talked to the coma patients, so I figured it couldn't hurt.

"I got here last night. Edward came with me. He's in the waiting room right now," I went on.

Suddenly, I felt awkward as I wondered if maybe I shouldn't be telling him about Edward right now. What if it pissed him off or something?

I sat in silence for a time, racking my brain for topics. I decided maybe I should keep it light for now. Who knew what Jake could feel or understand, but I wanted to do my best to keep him in high spirits.

"I don't know any good knock-knock jokes. How about I tell you a funny story about Alice? The other day, she dragged me to the mall so she could heap a bunch of unwanted clothes on me. We were in this really snooty shop and Alice was talking loudly, like she always does. She was making dirty jokes and disturbing the other shoppers.

So the sales lady came over, and she was super bitchy. She was so judgmental. I was trying to hide my laugh, but we both lost it when the lady's pocket started ringing. The song was 'Fuck Her Gently' by Tenacious D. She looked like she was gonna have an aneurysm!"

I paused for a moment, laughing quietly as I remembered the look on the woman's face. Alice's reaction was even funnier, however.

"So you know what Alice did? She just smiled really big and said 'Well...you lucky girl, you!'"

I laughed so hard then, I snorted a couple times. The sales lady had puckered up and blushed like an old schoolmarm. We'd bit our lips to keep from laughing in her face as we put down the clothes we were holding and walked out of the store while she stood there as still as a statue.

I looked down at my small hand holding Jake's larger one. I sensed our connection in that touch, even though he was unconscious. Jake and I had been friends forever, and I missed him dreadfully. Even though I was no longer in love with him, I still longed to have him around. I wanted to be able to tell him when something funny happened, or to go hear his band play.

I wanted that old friendship that used to make us both feel so happy and connected.

I sat beside him silently for the next hour, wondering if he would be okay. I knew his broken bones would heal, but what if he had something wrong with his brain? What if he had amnesia or something, and forgot everything he knew?

What if Jake wouldn't be Jake anymore once he woke up? My mind reeled at the torturous thought; I couldn't imagine my life without his warmth and humor. I felt the hot tears running down my face as I sat up and leaned over him, kissing his forehead through the bandages.

"Are you a friend of Mr. Black?" asked a voice from the doorway.

I looked up and saw a young doctor standing just inside the room. I nodded. "That's good. He's gonna need help when he wakes up. We're actually going to start that process in the next few minutes, and it's going to be difficult so it might be in your best interest if you aren't... in here for that," he said gently.

I choked a little but still managed to nod my head once more. "Do you think... do you think he'll be okay once he wakes up?" I asked futilely. I knew they couldn't possibly know the answer to that until they could examine him.

"That's hard to say, I'm afraid. You can come back in a few hours and if he's able to see visitors, you can see him. I'm Doctor Evenson, by the way," he said, striding across the room to shake my hand.

Doctor Evenson smiled kindly at me from behind his black horn-rimmed glasses. I noticed he had a very nice face. His eyes were bright blue and he had blackish hair and a close-cut beard. I pegged him around thirty years old.

"Thank you, Doctor Evenson. I'm Bella. I'll be back," I replied as I shook his hand.

I turned to leave the room, but before I closed the door, I turned back and said quietly, "Please take care of him."

I found my way back to the waiting room, and sighed in relief as I saw Edward lounging in one of the cushy chairs with an old Rolling Stone magazine. I smiled hugely at him when he looked up, and his return smile was filled with concern.

He stood up as I crossed to him and grabbed the magazine from his hand so I could toss it on the stained coffee table. "They're going to wake him up from the coma now, and they said he can't have visitors for a few hours," I told him.

Edward wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. "What would you like to do while we wait?" he asked.

I looked thoughtful. "Maybe we should go eat something?" I asked.

We'd been here since last night, and I hadn't eaten anything of substance since before I got the call from Seth. Edward had tried to coax me into eating some dinner from room service last night, but nothing appealed to my stressed stomach.

I knew I needed to eat, though, so we headed out to the rented car and used the GPS to find a restaurant. I voted for Italian because I knew it would sit better in my stomach than something really heavy, like Mexican.

We ended up at this quaint little bistro in the middle of a square that had lots of little shops and a big fountain in the middle. It looked expensive, but Edward just pulled me out of the car and told me he was going to feed me whether I wanted him to or not. I gave in and let him lead the way.

After we were seated, the waitress came and took our order. I sat back in my chair and regarded my incredibly beautiful man across from me. "Edward," I said.

"Bella," he replied.

"Why are you being so great about all of this?" I asked.

He appeared to consider this for a moment while he swirled his bread in the red wine and olive oil. I watched his hands, transfixed. Finally, he answered, "Because he's your friend. Yes, it bothers me that he's your ex and that he cheated on you, but you still love him and I love you. I couldn't bear to see you so upset. It was within my power to help you, so I did."

I sat there with my mouth hanging open, wondering how I'd managed to find such an amazing man. "You are too much, do you know that?" I said.

Edward just looked at me and smiled that perfectly crooked mega-watt smirk of his before biting off a chunk of his bread. "I know," he said and shrugged.

I laughed and turned my head to look out the window. There was a tattoo shop located kitty-corner from the restaurant. An idea began to form in my head and I turned back to Edward. "How long has it been since you got your last tattoo?" I asked, looking innocent.

"About a year, why?" he asked.

"Well, I've wanted to get another one for a while now. Maybe after lunch we can go over there and check it out?" I said, pointing to the tattoo place.

His head turned and he looked across the square. "Sure," he said and smirked again. I felt the anticipation sing in my veins; I loved getting tattoos.

Edward had his tattoos and I had mine, and sometimes he would stroke his fingers over them in the aftermath of our lovemaking. I smiled at the private thought and asked him what he wanted to get.

"Well, actually, I've been designing one that would represent The Volturi album. It's really personal to me, and there's a lot of good imagery I can play with. For instance, the good vampires have this symbol that represents who they are. I think I'd like to get that," he said.

Our food came then, and I dug in with more enthusiasm than I thought I would. My stomach grumbled from the delicious aroma of the pasta, and I took a huge bite. Edward was more graceful, twirling his pasta with a fork and spoon before bringing it neatly to his mouth.

I rolled my eyes as he leaned over to wipe some sauce off of my cheek with the pad of his thumb. My irritation with his perfection faded when he brought his thumb to his mouth and sucked the sauce off, however. His eyes locked on mine and I felt the heat between us burn out of control.

"Mmm... I'd like another taste of that," he said in his rough velvet voice.

I gulped and brought my water glass to my mouth with a shaking hand. I took a big gulp and set it down without breaking eye contact with him. Finally, I said, "Anytime."

Edward's golden eyes darkened to a light brown and I saw his lips curl ever so slightly. You could cut the sexual tension between us with a knife. Suddenly, I just wanted to get out of here so I could jump his bones. Hell, I'd jump him right here if I didn't think that would get us arrested.

Just then, our waitress returned to the table and asked how everything was in her chipper voice. The hypnotic spell he had me under broke and we both leaned back in our chairs. I took a deep breath and we continued to eat our lunch quietly.

After Edward paid the bill, we walked over to the tattoo shop and looked around. The artists seemed to know what they were doing, so we decided to go ahead and get something. I went first, and the guy drew up my idea on the transfer paper while I waited in the chair.

The other tattoo guy finished the girl he was currently inking and went to get Edward from the front. I smiled as Edward told him what he wanted to get, taking his shirt off in the process.

Nobody knew better than I did how sexy a shirtless Edward could be. His muscles were perfectly defined, unmarred by any blemish. I felt myself beginning to heat up as I watched them ripple across his chest and back.

I had to concentrate on not squirming in my seat to relieve some of the frustration building inside me. The guy, named Aaron, came back with my tattoo and applied the transfer to the skin along my spine. I shivered at the touch of his cold fingertips.

Edward's tattoo artist was drawing as he questioned Edward, and Edward nodded often to show he liked the way the sketch was shaping up. We didn't tell each other what we were getting, but I knew he was going to get his tattoo across his right pectoral to balance out the lion on the left.

I pulled my shirt up, keeping my chest pressed against the vinyl chair as Aaron started my tattoo. I flinched at the initial shock of the needle, but eventually relaxed and rested my head on my folded arms so I could watch Edward.

The other guy, Tony, finished the drawing and put it on the transfer paper. He applied it to Edward's skin and told him to go look in the mirror so he could be sure he liked the placement and everything. Once the design was approved by Edward, they walked back to Tony's station and they settled in to get started.

I watched Edward's face as Tony started tattooing him. He never flinched or pulled an uncomfortable expression; he just sat there and laughed while he joked with Tony. I admired his calm, because I was fighting to keep the pain from showing on my face.

I smiled when Edward looked over at me, checking to see how I was doing. We were a bit too far away to talk without needing to raise our voices, so we just communicated with our eyes and hands.

Over the next two hours, the electrical buzzing of the needles filled the shop. The skin around my spine went numb and I stopped feeling any discomfort. I continued to watch Edward. The tattoo on his chest was taking shape. Tony began the shading on his while Aaron wrapped mine and told me I could get up whenever I felt ready.

I walked over and stood next to Tony and Edward so I could peek at his work. There was an infinity symbol above a sphinx inside a circle. I wondered what it meant.

Another thirty minutes later, Tony completed the tattoo and wrapped it while I wandered the shop, looking at the flash on the walls. Edward put his shirt back on and walked to the front to pay.

"Hey!" I said. "I know you're not paying for mine, too, Edward." I dropped my hands on my hips and cocked one side while I gave him a stern look.

"Shhh... of course not. Let's go," he said as he put his hand on my lower back and went to push me out the door.

I braced my legs and looked up at him. "You just think you can follow me around, paying for everything?" I asked incredulously.

"Uhh... yeah?" he said with a grin.

I just rolled my eyes. "Between you and Alice, I'm surprised the credit cards haven't melted from all the use they get," I said.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go see Jake," he said, pushing me back to the door again.

A/N: So my hubby made a cameo in this chapter. Who could he be, who could he be? Haha. Thanks for all your reviews, everyone! -HIE