A/N: My sincere thanks as always to AddictedtoEdward and Ms. Ambrosia - the best betas ever!

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

EPOV

When Alice had called from the emergency room, I was fast asleep in the on-call room. I had been working for twenty-three hours straight and was trying to catch an hour or two of rest before another marathon shift began. There had a major traffic accident and the patient I had spent four hours in surgery with had succumbed to their injuries just prior to Alice's call. I was physically and emotionally exhausted and in serious need of peace and quiet to re-charge.

Then Elvis's "Little Sister" began to play and I grabbed my phone, ready to tear Alice a new one.

She never gave me the chance.

The minute she told me Bella was downstairs in the E.R., I was already up and walking out the door. I was tired, cranky and feeling…panic?

That can't be right.

Alice kept talking, mentioning some moron doctor that wouldn't know one end of the syringe from another and I knew exactly whom she was talking about. There was no way I'd let even my worst enemy be treated by Dr. Ford, so there was no way in hell I'd subject anyone I actually knew to him.

I had to be careful being down in the E.R. It wasn't my turf, and if Dr. Bradley caught me here without her permission, there'd be hell to pay. Also, doctors can be possessive and territorial, and if Dr. Ford knew I was taking over one of his patients, I'd never hear the end of it.

I saw Alice standing at the end of Bella's bed, talking with Emmett and some guy who looked vaguely familiar, but I was too tired to try and place.

Bella's eyes were closed. I ignored Emmett and the other guy and lit into my sister. "Have you lost your damn mind?"

I glared at Alice over the chart I had picked up at the end of Bella's bed. They had given her nothing for the pain – idiots – but had given her a mild sedative about five minutes before.

What the hell? Why a sedative and not pain meds?

"Edward – " Alice began to pout.

"Save it. I'm here and I'm probably going to get my ass kicked for it. You owe me big time, little one."

I continued glancing through her chart, still failing to understand why someone would give her a sedative and not pain medication.

Alice's was right. Dr. Ford was a moron.

I put the chart back down on the bedside table and looked up to address Bella. My eyes met her chocolate brown ones and it felt like someone punched me in the chest.

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't focus.

Fuck. Me.

She was still fucking beautiful. Even more so than she had been the first time I met her.

Her eyes were clouded in pain and I wanted nothing more than to wipe that expression from her face, her eyes. I wanted to gather her up in my arms and carry her away from this damn place, away from these people and make her feel safe and loved.

What. The. Fuck?

Only seconds had passed, but I knew if I didn't get a grip, someone was bound to ask what the hell my problem was. I quickly switched to professional doctor mode.

I broke eye contact and asked her how she was, examining her ankle. I touched it as gently as I could and Bella jumped. My fingers tingled where they had touched her bare skin and I glanced up at her. She looked confused, muddled.

"Does that hurt?"

Of course it hurts, you Dickmunch. What kind of question is that to ask?

I went back to my exam without waiting for her to answer the Dumbest. Question. Ever.

I asked her to wiggle her toes and when she did, I was pretty sure we were dealing with a sprained ankle. I would order X-rays just to be safe. Taking a deep breath, I tried to calm myself. I was going to have to look at her face and back into those beautiful, expressive eyes. This could get dicey.

I took the penlight out of my pocket and moved up the bed so that I was standing next to her. She was biting her lower lip and I tried to smile at her, but honestly, I couldn't tell if I had managed it.

I looked at her eyes, checking to see if her pupils were dilated and had her follow my finger to make sure her eye movements were normal. I moved my fingers up to probe at the bump on her forehead and I felt her wince. My eyes flew down to meet hers and I gave her a small smile of apology. Without thinking, I reached up to move a piece of hair that had fallen across her forehead and into her eyes, holding her gaze and getting lost in her big brown eyes.

I'm not sure how long I stood there like that, but I practically jumped out of my skin when I heard Emmett clear his throat behind me. I quickly stepped back from the bed.

"Bella, it looks like your ankle is sprained and you have a concussion. I'm going to order some x-rays so we can rule out a break, just to be on the safe side. I don't think you need a CAT scan; it just seems to be a mild concussion. I'm going to keep you overnight –"

She did not react well to that piece of news. Her voice came out in a whisper so I could barely hear her tell me she couldn't stay overnight in the hospital. I tried to explain to her why remaining here would be in her best interest, but she was adamant that she would definitely not be staying. Her brown orbs were full of panic, but there was clear sense of determination there as well. I was utterly confused and about to go all doctor on her when Alice grabbed my hand and pulled me away from Bella's side.

"Alice, what the hell –"

"Edward, she can't stay here. They had to give her a sedative to settle her down when she got here because she was losing her shit. You have to let her go home tonight."

I ran a hand through my hair. "Alice, she has a mild concussion and I really think it would be better to have here so we could watch her –"

"Jake and I will keep watch over her tonight. I will do whatever you tell me to; I'll wake her up every two hours, I'll shove medicine down her throat, I'll do anything so she doesn't have to stay here tonight."

"Who the hell is Jake?"

Alice huffed. "Jacob Black? Bella's and my best friend since high school?"

She sounded like she was talking to a five-year-old. I think she forgot that I was in college when she was in high school. The only person I remembered from that time was Bella. Since he had looked familiar to me, I supposed I must have seen him with Alice and Bella at some point in the last ten years, but obviously it hadn't been enough to leave a lasting impression.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Ali, you and Jacob aren't doctors, and Bella needs to be watched carefully – "

"Edward, I'm serious. She can't stay here. I'm not sure she'll survive if she had to spend another night in the hospital."

Alice's eyes filled with tears and the truth of what she was saying was written all over her face. She was absolutely convinced something horrible would happen if Bella had to stay here.

I felt that same punch in my chest as I had earlier.

Fucking, fucking stupid. How could you have forgotten what happened to her?

No matter how tired I was, no matter how unprepared I was by my reaction to Bella, I should've realized what was going on the minute I read that she had been given a sedative.

You really are the world's biggest Dickmunch.

Running another hand through my hair, I nodded at Alice and walked back over to Bella's side.

"Bella, although it's against my better judgment, I've agreed that Alice and Jacob can take you back to the apartment tonight. You'll have to sign an AMA wavier stating that you're leaving against medical advice…" I felt like an even bigger dick saying that to her.

I know it'll kill you to stay here, but make sure you sign a piece of paper so you won't destroy my career by leaving. Thanks.

Forget Dickmunch. I just graduated to world's biggest asshole.

"I'm going to have the nurse give you some pain medication now, which should help any discomfort you're having. After the X-rays are done, I'll have someone – "

I broke off when Alice growled behind me. Fucking pixie wasn't going to let anyone but me touch Bella tonight. Now I'd have to figure out how to touch her without anyone seeing my irrational reaction to her.

"I'll wrap your ankle. We should have you out of here in under an hour. Sound okay to you?"

Bella nodded and I left to go order the X-ray and to tell the nurse that I would be looking after Ms. Swan while she was in the E.R. She gave me a strange look, but thankfully didn't question me.

Heading for the area where the vending machines were located on this floor, I tried to pull it together. It felt like I was coming apart at the seams.

What the hell is wrong with you?

"Dude, are you okay?"

Emmett had followed me out. Before I turned around to face him, I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. I had to pull it together. I had no idea what was wrong with me, but something obviously was, and if Emmett caught on, I wouldn't hear the end of it until I gave everything up. Since I didn't know what I'd be giving up, I thought it best to push it aside and figure it out myself later. Once I knew what it was, I could explain it.

Logically.

Could be there would be nothing to explain. Nothing I had to figure out about what was going on inside of me. Nothing I had to face. Nothing I had to confess to.

I probably just needed more sleep.

"Hey, I'm fine. It's just been a long night. Long surgery, and the patient died anyway. I was trying to sleep when Ali called."

Emmett just nodded, but I could tell that he knew something else was up. Thankfully, though, he left it alone.

"Em, do you know that Jacob guy that's with Ali and Bella?" I asked, genuinely curious about the huge Native American man who stood next to my sister and her best friend like he'd take a bullet for them if the need arose.

"Dude, that's Jake!"

Emmett just looked at me like I was stupid when I shook my head, still having no memories of this guy to put him in any sort of context.

"Wow, he was always around Mom and Dad's as much as Bella was, so I don't know why you don't remember him, but you remember Bella." He smirked, and I rolled my eyes. Emmett continued. "He's been helping me move the girls into their new condo this week. Cool guy, he's really protective of both of them, but especially Bella. Wouldn't let her do a damn thing this week."

I just nodded. "Oh."

"I swear that guy would jump in front of a bus if either Bella or Alice asked him to. You can see how protective he is of both of them just by watching the way he treats them. He's not so bad with Alice, but with Bella….he's very careful. He constantly asks how she is, if she needs anything."

What could I say to that? It was great that both my sister and Bella had a friend who looked after them and took care of them the way I would, had I been around more.

Emmett paused for a moment, and he looked almost calculating before he continued. "I've caught Jake looking at Bella when she hasn't noticed and there's just something, well…there. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was head over heels for her."

I could feel the growl move up from my chest and into my throat. It took all the control I had to stop it from coming out of my lips.

"Really?"

I tried to sound disinterested, and it must've worked because Emmett just kept talking. "Yeah, it's weird, but sweet, you know? And I think something's there on Bella's end too. Sometimes I'll see them just looking at each other and I almost feel like I should leave the room, there's so much tension. It's fucking adorable, really."

My fists were clenched and I was biting the inside of my cheek so I didn't flip my shit on my brother or go out and find Jacob Black and beat him to a bloody pulp.

Emmett was staring at me, his head tilted to the left. "Bro, is everything okay?"

He looked almost smug, and I narrowed my eyes, wondering what the hell he was up to. But no sooner than I had the thought, his face held nothing but concern.

"Everything's just fine. I better get back and see if they're done with Bella's X-rays."

"Alrighty, I'm going to give Chief Swan a call and let him know what's going on. After everything that's happened…well, he probably should know about this."

I nodded and followed Emmett back into the E.R., stopping at the nurse's station while he continued through the doors that led to the ambulance bay. Neither Bella nor her X-rays were back yet, so I told the nurse I was going up to radiology to see if I could hurry things along. I had promised Bella I would have her out of here in an hour and I wanted to keep that promise.

Bella and Alice were on their way back to the E.R. by the time I got to the radiology department, but they still hadn't processed her X-rays. It took some cajoling, but I got Bella's films within fifteen minutes, which was record time for this them. Films in hand, I went back down to the E.R.

Alice, Emmett and Jake were gathered around Bella's bed when I returned and I was immediately annoyed. It'd be nice to talk to her without three people breathing down my neck and staring at me while I worked. I noticed Bella move as close to Jake as she possibly could and I found that pissed me off even more than her entourage.

"Guys, can you give me some room to work here?" I snapped at them, and I knew it was uncalled for, especially after seeing the confusion on Alice's face. Emmett snickered, but I ignored him. I didn't have the time or energy trying to figure out what was going on in that head of his.

Alice and Emmett went into the waiting room, and I saw Bella reach up, without looking, to take Jacob's hand. It seemed as though she didn't need to look – she could just reach out and she knew he'd be there to catch her.

I really wanted to rip his head off.

"Jacob, Bella will be fine with me. You can join Emmett and Alice in the waiting room."

"I want him to stay." Bella's voice was a bit weak, but the tone behind them was very clear. He was staying. Period.

Okay, then.

I wrapped her ankle and gave her specific instructions about using ice and heat. When I got to the part about her staying off her ankle since she was still recovering, I stumbled over the word "body" because I was suddenly swamped with images of Bella's body, naked and in my bed.

This is so not good.

I explained the prescriptions I'd given her, which I had left at the nurse's station while I was up in radiology. The nurse had told me upon my return that she had given them to Jacob while Bella and Alice had still been upstairs.

Bella had no questions and I knew my self-control was running out. I was on the verge of beating the shit out of Jacob and grabbing Bella and taking her somewhere far, far away. I quickly signed her discharge papers and handed them to her.

My fingers tingled where hers brushed mine.

Time to get the fuck out of Dodge.

"I hope you feel better soon, Bella."

I practically ran out of the E.R.

Once back in the doctors' lounge on the surgical floor, I lay down, trying desperately to fall back to sleep. All I could think about was the woman I had left downstairs and the feelings swirling around in me. Feelings I hadn't felt in years. Feelings my own girlfriend didn't bring out in me.

My pager went off and I looked down to see it was the trauma unit. Time to go back to work.

I ran my hand through my hair and tried to put Bella out of my mind. My job didn't lend time for distractions. It was time to focus and save someone's life.

But as I made my way down the stairs toward the patient that needed me, I realized that for the first time, in a very long time, there was something bubbling up inside of me, causing a grin to cross my face.

It was hope.