Okay, okay! So I realized that I am a complete and total epic failure at updating in a timely fashion lately! For that I really, truly apologize. It's no excuse but I really had a hard time writing this chapter and a few of you might not be happy with it and I apologize up front.

And not only have I had writer's block in trying to get this just right, but I've also been a working fool lately. I have worked more hours than I care to mention. I will mention however that it involves many double shifts and a lot of sleepless nights as well as a very messy house at the moment. So my dilemma tonight was try to finish the chapter for you all or clean my house. I hope you're all happy that I chose to finish the chapter.

So, no more rambling, here is my next chapter! I will warn you that it's not all sunshine and roses this time!!

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or anything that has to do with it. That honor goes to the great and talented Stephenie Meyer. I do however own my computer that has been continuously watching the new Eclipse trailer. Have you seen it? I'm so excited for June 30th!

BPOV

I had this uneasy feeling way deep down. Something just wasn't right. When Edward and I got home I went to charge my phone up and after seeing all of those missed calls I got a little worried. Who would have called me that many times and not left a message. I thought about is some more and then decided that if it was important they would have left a message. Edward and I decided to grab a little something to eat and then laid down for a nap before work. It was Monday so that meant I only had 4 days of work this week since we had taken Sunday off. I drifted off to sleep in the arms of the man I love.

I could hear footsteps behind me. I turned around but didn't see anyone there. I kept walking but I couldn't really see where I was going. It was so dark in here. Why was it so dark? I knew that I was in some type of building but I had no clue as to where I was. I searched frantically for Edward.

"Edward?" I called out over and over again but he never came.

That's when I heard the voice behind me. I knew that voice, but from where? "Bella, why are you running? You know we are meant to be together." the voice said.

"No, I love Edward. He's the one I'm meant to be with." I told him.

"Silly, silly Bella. Edward is gone and you will never see him again." the voice said to me.

I started crying. "What do you mean he's gone?" I asked in a shaky breath.

"Just what I said honey. He's gone. I took care of him. You'll never see him again."

I broke down and fell to my knees. I couldn't lose the love of my life. He was all I had ever wanted. Then I felt these hands come up and grab my shoulders and lift me into the air. His hot breath was right next to my ear. "Bella, you will be mine forever and no one else will have you. Do you understand me?" he asked.

I knew that voice but I still hadn't looked into his face. I didn't want to. I didn't want to believe that it is true. If I looked into this monster's eyes I would see the truth.

"I said do you understand me?" he said again.

And with that I fell back into darkness.

"Bella, Bella? Honey wake up. It's just a dream." I heard the words of an angel. My angel.

I looked up and I could feel the hot tears streaming down my face. I looked into Edward's eyes and when I realized that he was really here with me I threw my arms around him and hugged him as tightly as I could. He snaked his arms around me too and rocked me back and forth.

"It was only a dream baby. I've got you." he softly said.

"Edward, oh my god I love you. It was so awful. It was the worst nightmare I've ever had. Don't leave me please. Never leave me." I cried into his chest.

"Bella, what are you talking about?" He asked me with concern lacing his eyes. He placed his hands on each side of my face and pulled it up to look at him. "I will never, ever leave you. You are my life." He said and then gently kissed my lips. He wiped away the tears from my eyes.

"So, do you want to tell me what your nightmare was about?" he asked. I knew we had already had this discussion about not keeping things from each other so I figured I really should tell him.

"Well…." I started out. "I was in a building and I was looking for you but I couldn't find you. Then I heard someone and he was telling me that you were gone and that I would never see you again and that I was meant to be with him. He said that he took care of you." I said with tears welling up in my eyes again.

"Oh baby." He said while wrapping his arms around me even tighter. "I've got you love. Always! I'll never let anyone hurt you."

I hugged him back and soon fell back to sleep.

Edward woke me up about an hour later and said that we had to get up and get ready for work. We took separate showers seeing as how we didn't have much time before we had to leave for work. I went first and then quickly dressed in my scrubs and started to dry my hair. Just as I turned around to go get my tennis shoes, Edward came walking out of the bathroom with a towel slung low on his hips. I stopped in my tracks and I could feel the arousal starting inside of me. He looked at me and gave me his crooked little grin.

"I love how you look in your scrubs." Edward smiled at me.

"Yeah, well I love how you look in a towel." I smirked back. "And as much as I'd love to rip that towel from your hips and take advantage of you, we really do have to get to work." And then I turned around and bent down to pick up my shoes. Just as I bent down I felt a little sting come across my ass.

"What the hell?" I screamed. I turned around and saw Edward naked as a jay bird and holding the towel that he had snapped at my ass. He was laughing at me.

"You will pay for that Cullen!" I said to him.

We finished getting ready and then headed down to the garage. I decided that we should take my car tonight since it didn't get driven all weekend. We made it to work in no time flat and then parted ways after a kiss goodbye. As I walked towards the lab I looked down at my hand and saw my beautiful engagement ring sparkling and catching the lights in the hall.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Tonight had been a night from hell. Not only had I had trouble with most of my instruments not wanting to work properly and having quality control issues for most of the night but the nursing floor had been full and extremely busy. I think I had drawn blood cultures on at least half of the patients on the East Wing and then we had somebody on the vent in Intensive Care which meant that I was getting Arterial Blood Gases every 1 to 2 hours. It was 1 o'clock in the morning and I was on edge and I didn't know why. I can usually handle the pressure pretty well but everything seemed to be getting to me. And to top it all off, I was feeling really sick to my stomach. I was starting to wonder if I had eaten something that just didn't agree with me. I thought back to what I had eaten. We had brunch with Edward's family at the restaurant and Edward ate the same thing I did so if I was sick he should be too. Then when we got home I had salad. And before I came to work I had a glass of milk and a couple cookies. When I got here I had some coffee that I had gotten from the break room. Lauren had made it right before I had come in so I knew it was fresh.

Maybe it was the milk, I thought to myself. It had been in the fridge for a couple of days and I didn't look at the expiration date. It seemed to taste okay but who knows.

Ugghhh. Just a couple more hours to go and I could go home. I thought to myself. Then, just as I was about to go set up a urine culture a wave of nausea overtook me and sent me running to the bathroom. I got in there and literally threw up everything I had eaten today. Oh, god how I hate throwing up. But I was really hoping I would feel better after I was done. Yeah, no such luck. I continued to throw up for a few more minutes before I could finally get up off the floor and go rinse my mouth out at the sink.

I heard the door to the bathroom open up and saw Heidi walk in. I remembered that Heidi was the nice receptionist from ER. Edward had told me how nice her and her husband were. I smiled up at her the best I could but failed miserably.

"Oh my god Bella. Are you okay honey?" she asked me in a soothing voice.

"No I don't think so. I had this terrible feeling come over me and I have been getting sick in here for a little while. I was really hoping that it would go away but it just seems to be lingering." I told her.

"Let me go get Edw…." she started to say.

But I interrupted her immediately. "NO." I almost shouted at her. I looked up with pleading eyes. "Sorry, I just don't want him to worry. He's busy working and I don't want to bother him. I'm just going to go get a 7 up and some saltine crackers and see if that helps."

"Tell you what. You go back to the lounge and I'll go get it for you." She said while opening the door for me.

"Thanks Heidi." I said as I made my way back to the lounge.

I decided to go and lay down for just a little while. There were no doctors in the sleeping room so I went in and laid down on the bed. I shut my eyes and just tried to concentrate on not puking again. I guess I didn't even hear the door open until I felt a hand on my forehead. I looked up and saw green eyes staring down at me.

"Why didn't you tell me you were sick?" he said.

I closed my eyes and leaned into his touch. "I didn't want to bother you. You were busy working." I said.

"Bella….." he said pinching the bridge of his nose. "Bella I am a doctor. That's what I do. If you're sick you should have come and told me. It's my job to take care of you."

He sat down next to me on the bed and handed me some crackers. "Thanks." I tried to open the tiny little package but was having no luck. Edward gently took them from my hand and opened the little cellophane package before handing me a cracker.

"How long have you been sick?" he asked me.

"I've been feeling nauseous for a couple of hours now but I just got sick for the first time a few minutes ago." I told him.

He put his hand back to my forehead. "It feels like you might have a fever. I'm going to bring you back to the ER and then we're going to call your boss to have someone come in and cover for you so we can get you home." He told me.

"Really Edward, that's not necessary. I can make it through the end of my shift." I struggled to sit up while telling him I was okay.

"Bella, you are not okay. You are coming back to get checked out and that is the end of this discussion honey." He said in a fatherly tone.

"Okay." I whispered.

Then before I could protest he had picked me up bridal style and was carrying me back to the Emergency Room.

EPOV

Heidi had just knocked on the door to my office and had peaked her head in. "Hey Dr. Cullen, can I bother you for a minute?" she asked me.

"Of course Heidi. What's up?" I asked her.

"Well, I'm sure she's going to kill me when she finds out that I came to tell you but I just found Bella in the bathroom and she was puking." she said.

I jumped up from behind my desk and started for the door. "Where is she?" I asked.

"I told her to go to the lounge while I got her some 7up and some crackers." she said.

She handed me the soda and crackers and I set off for the lounge. I opened the door but didn't see her. Then I thought that maybe she had laid down and I walked into the sleeping area. There was my future wife curled up on the bed. She looked so frail.

I sat down next to her and rested my hand against her forehead. She felt warm to the touch. I knew the stomach flu was going around in full force right now and I felt bad that it seems to have hit Bella hard.

I had finally convinced Bella, well actually I told her, that she was coming back to the ER with me so I could get her checked out. I walked into one of the examination rooms and called Ben in to help. He was the ER tech on tonight and I was glad that he was here because I wouldn't have wanted to have Lauren, who was the nurse on tonight, in here with us.

"Ben can you grab a thermometer and a blood pressure cuff for me?" I asked him.

"I can get her temp and blood pressure for you Dr. Cullen." he offered.

"That's okay. I've got it." I smiled at him.

I took Bella's temperature and saw that it was 102 degrees. I placed the blood pressure cuff on her arm and grabbed my stethoscope to listen. Her blood pressure was 145/86. I looked down at my angel and saw that she was sleeping. I hated to wake her up but I really needed to get some fluids in her and give her some Tylenol to help with the fever. I walked out to the desk quickly not wanting to leave her for long.

"Hey Heidi, can you do me a favor? Call the Lab Manager and let her know that Bella is extremely ill and is now being seen here in the ER and that she is going to need to call someone in to cover for her."

"Sure thing Dr. Cullen." Heidi replied.

"Ben, can you get me a glass of water and some Tylenol and then the supplies to start an IV?" I asked him.

"Right away Dr. Cullen." he said.

I walked back into Bella's room and bent down to kiss her on the head. "Wake up sweetheart." I softly said to her.

She stirred a little but kept her eyes closed. "Edward I need to get back to work." She said.

"Baby, you're not going anywhere but home. Heidi has already called your boss and they have a replacement coming in to work for you. I'm going to start an IV and give you some fluids and some medication to help with the nausea and then I'm going to take you home and get you in bed." I told her.

She threw her arm over her eyes and sighed. Then I could hear her whimpering. "Bella, baby are you crying?" I asked her as I rushed down to her side. "Honey what's wrong? Does something hurt?"

She sniffled a little before she responded. "No, it's just that I just took a couple vacation days for the wedding and now I'm sick and I'm missing more work. They're going to fire me."

"Bella, they can't fire you for being sick. We're going to get you all fixed up and feeling better and maybe you can go back to work in a day or two. You don't want to be around patients feeling the way you do and risk getting them sick do you?" I asked trying to play on her sympathy for the patients and hoping that I could convince her to stay home and get the rest she needs to get better.

"Ugghh, I hate that you're right." she moaned.

Tyler just walked into the room and was carrying everything I would need to get Bella feeling better. "Do you want me to start the IV Dr. Cullen?" Tyler asked.

"No, I've got this covered." I told him with a smile and he left the room.

"You know I really hate needles Dr. Cullen." Bella said while laying in the bed.

I laughed at her. "Bella, you draw blood from people and you can't handle a little IV stick?"

"I don't mind being on the giving end but I hate being on the receiving." She said while scrunching up her face as I poked the needle into her arm.

"That wasn't so bad was it?" I asked her while kissing her cheek.

"Just hurry up and get me feeling better so I can go home." She grumbled. She was so cute when she's grumpy.

I hung the liter of fluid and gave Bella some medicine to help with the nausea. I had tried to see if I could get another doctor to come in early for me but was having no luck. I didn't want Bella to have to sit in the ER for the rest of the night and wait for my shift to finish but I also didn't want her driving herself home.

I was sitting beside Bella's bed while she slept, trying to figure out what to do, when there was a light tapping on the door. Heidi stuck her head in and smiled at me.

"How's the future Mrs. Cullen feeling?" she asked with a smile.

"She's resting and she hasn't gotten sick again in a couple of hours. Thanks for looking out for her tonight." I told her.

"No problem. Listen Edward, I was going to head home. Would you like me to give Bella a ride?" She offered.

I sat and thought about it for a minute. Bella would probably be much more comfortable in our own bed but what if she started getting sick again?

Heidi must have seen my dilemma in my head and she said "I'll stay with her until you get home if you like?"

"I can't ask you to do that Heidi."

"I wouldn't have offered if I didn't want to. Believe me." she smiled sincerely.

"Okay, let me wake her up and see if she's okay with it and I'll let you know." I told her.

Heidi nodded her head at me and left the room. I leaned over and kissed Bella gently on the forehead while I smoothed the hair around her face.

"Bella, honey, wake up." I whispered.

She started to stir and opened her eyes. "Edward" Was all she could squeak out.

"Hey babe. I can't get anyone to come in and cover for me but I really want to get you home and in our bed. Heidi has offered to take you home and stay with you until I get there. What do you think honey?" I asked her.

"Is she sure? I don't want her to be around me and then end up sick too." she said.

"Yeah honey, she's okay with it don't worry okay. I'll get this IV unhooked and then we'll get you in her car okay?" I asked her.

She shook her head yes and I leaned over to kiss her on the forehead. She still seemed to have a fever so I went to get some more Tylenol to give her before she left. I returned with the Tylenol and a small glass of water for her to take the pills with. She scrunched her nose up after looking at the water.

"Honey just take a small sip to get the pills down. It shouldn't upset your stomach now that I've given you the nausea medication." I told her.

She gave me a half hearted smile and took the pills and the water. I then took the IV out of her hand and then taped up the small hole from the needle stick. I helped her up from the bed and saw Heidi standing in the doorway with a wheelchair. She also had Bella's purse and jacket ready to go.

"I've got all of your stuff Bella. We'll get you home and get you settled okay sweetie." Heidi smiled at her.

"Thanks a lot Heidi. I really appreciate this." Bella said.

"Not a problem Bella. That's what friends are for. Now say goodbye to your Dr. McDreamy here and we'll be on our way." She said while smirking at me.

I leaned down and tried to kiss Bella on the lips but she turned her head away from me. I knelt down in front of her and took her face in my hands.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"I don't want you to get sick too." She said with unshed tears welling up in her eyes. My poor angel was thinking of me when she was so sick and it pulled at my heart strings. I kept my hands on her face and leaned up and kissed her on the lips.

"Don't ever use the excuse of you being sick to not kiss me." I smiled at her. "Besides, I have an amazing immune system. I never get sick." I told her sounding cocky.

I think I heard her mumble something about a 'cocky bastard' and I chuckled at her. I stood up and took control of the wheel chair from Heidi. I wheeled Bella out into the parking lot and over to Heidi's car. It was still dark outside because it was around 3:30 in the morning. Heidi unlocked the car and I helped Bella into the passenger seat.

"Okay baby, I get done at 7 so I'll see you in a couple of hours okay?" I said while leaning down to kiss her one last time before she left.

"I love you Edward." She said while I stood back up.

"I love you too Bella. I'll see you in a little while." I said and then shut her door. She had leaned her head against the window and my heart sunk that I couldn't be there to take her home and take care of her. Just a couple more hours and then I would wait on her hand and foot until she felt better.

I walked back into the Emergency Room and saw that an ambulance was just pulling into the garage. "Here we go." I said to myself as I walked in to find out what was going on with the patient they had just brought in.

BPOV

Heidi really was a very nice girl and I was very glad that she was one of the few women that worked in the ER that didn't have her sights set on my fiancé. She drove me home and helped me out of the car so that I could make my way up to my apartment. If I could have I would have crawled but I figured that wouldn't look right so I slowly made my way upstairs. Thank god for elevators.

"Heidi, you really can go home. You don't have to stay with me. I'm just going to crash in bed and hopefully sleep the rest of whatever this is off." I told her.

"I don't think so Bella. Edward would be pissed at me if I left you after I told him I'd stay. Besides what if you start getting sick again?" she said to me.

"Really, I'll be okay." I said and then tripped over my own two feet because they just felt so heavy. My legs felt weak and didn't want to work right. Heidi put her arm around my waist and helped me the rest of the way to my door.

"Yeah, well if it's all the same to you I think I'll stay." she giggled.

I had just handed my keys to Heidi to unlock the door while I rested against the wall next to it. I closed my eyes and waited and then I heard the door to the stair well shut. I thought it was weird that my neighbors would be up at this time of the morning but I just stayed with my eyes closed. I really didn't care what they were up to honestly. Then I heard a light thud. I opened my eyes and saw Heidi laying on the floor and a man was standing just above her.

I felt my heart quicken and just as I was about to scream a hand came over my mouth to stop me. I tried to fight him off but I was just so weak from being sick. I could hear my police chief father's voice in my head telling me to fight. That's when I felt the cold metal being dug into my ribs.

"Scream and not only will I shoot you but I'll also shoot this pretty little thing down here. Understand me?"

I couldn't do or say anything as silent tears started to stream down my face.

"Bella, I asked you a question. Do. You. Understand. Me?" He said punctuating each word.

I shook my head this time. This was my nightmare coming true. Then I saw him reach over and open the door to mine and Edward's apartment.

"Now I'm going to let go of your mouth now and if you say a word the first bullet goes into her okay?" he said with a small smile on his face.

I shook my head in affirmation to let him know I understood. He removed his hand from my mouth and nodded with his head for me to go inside the apartment. I did and then he followed me in dragging Heidi's limp body behind him. I started to cry even harder. This poor woman was only trying to help me out when I was sick and here she was knocked out by a man holding a gun.

He left her lying in the entryway to the apartment and then looked over to me and he closed and locked the door.

"Bella, Bella, Bella. Do you know how long I've waited to get you away from that asshole that seems to be attached to you at the hip. He never leaves you alone. He's always around. And then this weekend I missed you so much and I kept trying to call you and you didn't answer your phone. I missed seeing your smiling face when I would come into the hospital."

I didn't respond to anything he was saying. This man was crazy. Of course I knew this the moment that I had met him though. He started to walk towards me and I kept walking backwards. I thought about trying to get to my purse where my cell phone was but I would have to try to get around him to do that. Maybe if I kept him talking I could spare myself enough time to come up with some sort of plan. The only thing was I couldn't leave Heidi behind. Dear God please let her wake up soon. I knew I didn't have the energy to fight him off.

"How did you know I was coming home early tonight? How did you know Edward wouldn't be with me?" I asked him.

He laughed at me. "Bella, honey, I've been planning this for a while now."

"What?" I asked him.

"Oh yes. I've been planning this down to the very last detail. I even managed to make sure a little something got slipped into your coffee so that you'd get sick. I wasn't really planning on this little miss goody two shoes giving you a ride home but that's okay cause I'll deal with her later." He said with a very sinister look on his face. "Then all I had to do was hope that the good doctor couldn't get anyone to cover his shift and I knew my plan would work. You see Bella, you're mine. Not his. He can't have you anymore. I knew you would be mine from the moment I first saw you."

He started getting closer and closer to me and I was now backed up against the wall. He brought his hands up to my face and started to lean in closer. I was going to have to think of something to stop him. Maybe if I led him on and made him think that I wanted to be with him. But could I really do that?

As he leaned in closer I knew I had to do something quick so I breathed out his name hoping to stop his advance "James….".

Okay, so I am now officially going into hiding! Please don't send me hate mail! I promise that I won't make you wait as long this time. I will have a chapter out by Friday, even if it kills me. So I know most of you probably saw that coming but it had to happen for my story to continue as planned so please don't hate me! Remember what I always say: I only do happy endings! So keep that in mind!

I also wanted to say I'm sorry for not replying to all of the awesome reviews that you all sent to me this last chapter. The response was amazing! I really wanted to reply but time truly was not on my side this last couple of weeks. But please know that I read each and every one of them and they all made my heart happy! I will reply this next time though! I PROMISE! So please leave me some love so I can send some back!

Remember, Like It? Love It? Hate It? Please review and let me know!!!

P.S.

I really truly had planned to have this out to you last night but I actually fell asleep at my computer proof reading so unfortunately sleep finally won out but I hope you are all still hanging in there with me!!

Dawn