A/N: Back for another exciting update to GOOD ENOUGH!!!

Thanks for being so cool. Thanks to my cool Betas Twike, Profmom72, and Brighterthansunshine.

This chapter is for mjpiper. She is nice to me. I heart her. Please note – the humor here is not meant to offend. If you are a mute or a hermaphrodite – I do not want you to feel like I'm making fun of you. Lucy – I did not base Jacob's character after you. It's purely coincidental. All of it.

Characters are not mine.

Good Enough Chapter 4

My experience with Dr. Dumbnuts wasn't any more pleasant than it had been the day before. Bella was clearly irritated with him as well, especially when he kept asking her to go get him things he'd forgotten and called her sweetheart every time she came back. I could tell she wanted to smack him, but she told me after he left, that she was counting on him for a recommendation to med school.

"I'm sure you could do something to get a good recommendation from him pretty easily," I joked. Bella didn't find the humor in my statement.

"I don't know how things work at the FBI, but I would rather die than do something so unethical, and well, …just disgusting!"

"Relax, Bella. I was kidding."

"Well, it wasn't funny," she fumed. "Come on, you need to walk a little bit and then get back into bed. Those pain meds should be kicking in now."

"Yeah, it's about time," I sighed. I didn't like that she made me wait an hour for the doctor.

Bella helped me up out of the chair and made me walk around the floor a little bit. I hated the way I felt. Every step took an enormous amount of energy, and I was hobbling, half-bent over the entire time. I felt like a helpless child. "I want to go back and lie down," I moaned.

"Come on, let's just go a little farther," Bella prodded holding my arm.

"Oh, it's the two lovebirds out for a leisurely stroll," Emmett bellowed walking off the elevator.

"Hi , Agent McCarty," Bella smiled.

"Good evening, Nurse Bella," Emmett smiled back.

"Care to join us?"

"Sure, I was just coming to check on this bull's-eye here." Emmett whapped me on the shoulder causing pain to radiate throughout my body. I leaned on the IV pole and groaned.

"Oh, sorry, man," Emmett chuckled.

"Okay, let's head back to your room," Bella finally gave in.

As we walked past the nurse's station, Jacob the friendly giant was sitting at the computer.

"Hey guys, watch this," Bella giggled. "Jacob, your surgeon called, and he wants to know how you're feeling after your genital operation."

Jacob looked up at her, rolled his eyes, and shook his head back and forth. "Don't worry, Jake, I think being a hermaphrodite made you more interesting," Bella said with a straight face.

Jacob gave her another dirty look and stuck his tongue out at her. Bella started laughing. Emmett and I just looked at her like she was crazy. "Come on you guys, it's hilarious. You can say anything to him, and he won't defend himself."

"Wait, why not?" Emmett asked amused but still trying to get the joke.

"He doesn't talk… ever. No one knows if he actually can or not, but he just doesn't," Bella explained. "He's the perfect man, really." Bella was still cracking herself up.

"Wow, you seemed like a nice girl a few minutes ago," Emmett said, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Oh Jacob and I are the best of friends. He loves it when I tease him. If you tease him though, I'll kill you," she said in all seriousness.

Bella and I both startled when Emmett finally broke into a loud booming laugh. "Hermaphrodite," he said shaking and laughing. "Bella, I think I'm going to like you."

Finally, we got back to my room, and my body felt like I'd just run a marathon. Bella and Emmett worked together to help me into my bed. I was exhausted. I ached. Nothing felt right. Getting shot wasn't as cool as I'd originally thought.

"Come on, you've got to be on your side," Bella said, stuffing pillows beside me again.

"Leave me alone!" I grumbled.

"Don't be such a big baby," she said and pushed me over. Emmett sat in the chair off to the side laughing at our exchange.

"I'm going to get the rest of your medicine. You should rest," Bella said and walked out of the room.

"She's awesome, man," Emmett said enthusiastically. "I can see why you're attracted to her."

"Eh, that already wore off," I admitted.

"Why am I not surprised?" Emmett sighed. "I thought you said she was the one?"

"We both know I always say that."

"True that, true that. She's cute though, don't you think?"

"I guess. She's just a little too… I don't know – crabby."

"She just made fun of a guy who can't talk and called you a big baby. She's funny, not crabby," Emmett defended her.

"Well if you like her so much, you should ask her out." I was getting annoyed with his arguments. People should be agreeing with me. I just got shot.

"Maybe I will," Emmett shrugged.

"Get out. I'm tired." I closed my eyes.

"No way, man. I'll just sit here and watch you sleep. I want to see Nurse Bella again," he grinned.

"Idiot."

"Moron."

"Jackass."

"Night," I yawned.

"Night, sleeping beauty." Emmett got grabbed the remote off the beside table, made himself comfortable, and started flipping through channels on the TV.

I drifted off and woke up later to hushed whispers and giggles. Of course Emmett trying to be quiet is comparable to the noise level at a hockey game. "How do you get a Kleenex to dance?" I heard him whisper.

"I give up." It sounded like Bella.

"Put a little boogie in it!" I opened my eyes to see Emmett beaming proudly at his joke, and Bella holding her hand over her mouth trying not to laugh. They didn't know I was awake, so I decided to eavesdrop a little longer.

"So, Bella," Emmett grinned and tried to act cool.

"So, Emmett," she said mimicking him.

"What time do you get off tonight?" I could see Bella's blush from across the room. She obviously knew where this was going.

"Tonight's my only night that I don't work a double, so I get off at seven."

"Good, good." I hated it when Emmett said things twice. I've been pointing that flaw out to him for years. "So I was thinking about taking you out to dinner."

"Oh," Bella replied. She glanced over at me, and I quickly snapped my eyes shut hoping she wouldn't notice.

"What's the matter? Edward said you were single."

"Oh yeah, so you already talked to Edward about this?"

"He's the one who told me to ask you. Come on, Nurse Bella. I'm not proposing. It's just dinner."

I opened my eyes again and peeked. This was different. Women were usually lining up to go out with Emmett. Bella looked like the idea made her a little sad. "Why not?" she finally sighed in resignation.

"Great! There's a sports bar not far from here. We can eat and play pool or something."

"Okay. I'll write down my address for you before you leave." Bella smiled at him.

"Cool. High five!" Emmett held up his hand. Bella laughed and slapped it with her own.

I had already given up my dibs on Bella, but something about Emmett taking her out still bothered me. Maybe it was the fact that she looked a little wary of the idea, or maybe it was the fact that she seemed like a good person. I didn't want her to just be another one of Emmett's conquests.

Emmett left after Bella gave him her address. She sat back down next to my bed and started watching TV.

"So you're going out with Emmett?" I asked.

"Uh, yeah. He's seems really fun." She looked at me surprised that I was awake, and that I knew she was going out with my buddy.

"He's a lot of fun," I agreed. "Just be careful. It's hard for him to take anything or anyone too seriously."

"Oh? That's probably good. I don't need anything distracting me right now anyway."

"From your studies?"

"Yes. I could use a break, though. My roommate is always bugging me to go out more. I just have other priorities."

"I know what you mean. Emmett is the life of the party, but I'm more introverted. I'd rather stay home and watch movies or read."

"Me, too," Bella agreed. "I need to have a little fun, though, plus it will get Rosalie off my back."

"Who's Rosalie?" Please don't be that Rosalie.

"She's my roommate and best friend."

Please don't be her. Please don't be her. Please don't be her.

"Rosalie Hale?" I asked, starting to feel a little scared.

"Yeah, do you know her?"

"Yeah, we um, well we went out once or twice. She was um… different?"

Bella laughed and said, "Yeah, she's kind of a ball buster, but that's part of what I love about her."

"Thankfully my balls came out intact, but I don't think she likes me very much."

"That's strange, she always tells me about who she goes out with. Edward…hmmm… the only Edward I remember her going out with was Dr. Cullen's son."

"Hmm, that's strange." I could just picture Rosalie celebrating me getting shot.

"She said his son was really flaky. One day he was pretty much in love with her, and the next he just blew her off. She was pissed, but said he was kind of a prude anyway."

"What! I'm not prude! She was practically ripping my clothes off after five minutes!"

"Wait, you're Dr. Cullen's son!"

"Uh… yeah? They're making me use a different name here. There are some pretty bad people who don't like me right now."

"Oh, wow. That's scary. So you're that Edward." Bella looked like she was trying not to laugh. "Um… don't worry. I know how Rosalie is. You don't seem like her type… At all… Not even a little….Really."

"I agree," I said relieved that she wasn't going to call the ball buster and have her come after me.

"So, wow, your dad is Dr. Cullen. He's amazing. I have so much respect for him. He's mentioned you before, and how proud he is of you. I remember him telling me you were a Forensic Psychologist for the FBI."

"Yeah, my dad is great. My parents are great. They've been really supportive. Listen, you're not supposed to know who I am or who my dad is. If you repeat it to anyone else… well it could be really dangerous for my family."

Bella's eyes got wide, "Oh I would never. No, I promise. I won't tell anyone. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get into your business. God, I'm such an idiot." She looked pained.

"No, no, it's fine. I just don't want your roommate to know where to find me. I kind of like my balls."

Bella's face grew red at my joke, and there was an awkward silence which I kind of enjoyed.

"So how did you come to work for the FBI?" Bella turned off the TV and turned her chair towards me.

"Well, I'd say it was a combination of my natural talent at reading people, my interest in human instinct and motivation, and watching way too much TV as a kid."

"What do you mean too much TV?" Bella asked amused.

"I always wanted to be Magnum PI or MacGyver or James Bond or a combination of the three. OH and the guy from Back to the Future was pretty cool too."

"Yeah, I always loved McFly," Bella sighed.

"So I studied psychology in undergrad, and then a recruiter came and talked to us about working for the government, and it was everything I wanted – psychology, mystery, carrying a gun."

"So is that where you met Emmett?"

"Yeah. He, Alice and I were in the same training cohort, and were lucky enough to get assigned to the same office afterwards. We've pretty much been inseparable ever since. My mom and dad basically adopted them into the family."

"That's great. Rosalie is my closest friend, but I'm not very close with my family. Well, you know how my dad is. He probably thinks we're close, but he thinks watching a baseball game while I'm in the other room is quality bonding time."

"That sounds like Charlie. What about your mom?"

"My mom… well, she's kind of an insane hippy who never grew up. I'm pretty sure all the drugs affected her brain cells. I love her, but I don't have much in common with her. She's just who she is. I don't know what to do with her most of the time."

I couldn't imagine growing up without the supportive and loving parents I had. My heart ached for Bella a little bit. I'd already gathered that she was working hard to pay for med school and get scholarships. Sometimes I took for granted how easy I had it.

"So am I understanding correctly that you are putting yourself through school?" I asked.

"Pretty much. My dad doesn't understand why I want to be a doctor when I already have a decent job. My mom emails me articles about alternative medicine and spiritual healing. I guess my parents just don't really get my passion for medicine. The human body fascinates me."

"Don't say that to Emmett tonight," I warned. "He'll make something dirty out of it."

"Thanks for the tip," Bella smiled, but her eyes didn't light up like they did earlier.

"I know exactly what you mean though, about the human body. Except for me it's the mind. It's like everyone starts out the same, but then their environment and experiences dictate the choices they make, the people they'll become. People are more or less predictable."

"How so?" Bella leaned forward.

"If I know what the first year of a person's life was like, how their parents treated them, and a few things about their personality – I can pretty much tell you how their mind works or what decisions they'll make."

"OK, so profile me agent Masen or Cullen or whoever you are."

"Were your parents married when you were born?"

"Yes."

"Did you have any major trauma before the age of 10?"

"No, my parents got divorced when I was five, but that's about it," Bella told me.

"Okay, you're an introvert, but you like to see the funny side of things too because you've seen a lot of people in pain. You don't like to focus on the pain or you think you'll lose your mind. That has helped to develop your sense of humor. You like to help people because you grew up knowing what it felt like to feel alone and like no one cared. You took that and channeled it into a profession that has caring at its root. You are empathic to a fault. You do what you don't want to sometimes to make other people happy. You are smarter than anyone knows, because you hide it. You don't care about out shining other people, but you care about being your personal best. You are driven in that way. You hold yourself to a standard that is much too high, and it causes you more stress than it should. You are probably a romantic at heart, but you're afraid of getting hurt beyond repair, so you primarily protect yourself. I'm almost positive you wouldn't commit any felonies."

Bella's face looked like it was on fire when I finished. Apparently I was pretty accurate. I always am.

"How did you come up with all that?" she finally said.

"I listen. You don't want to go out with Jessica, you'd rather stay in and study. You're an only child and feel misunderstood by your parents – which led to you becoming a doctor. You're going out with Emmett, because it will make Rosalie happy. You study, you're well read, and you listen to classical music, so you're intelligent. You love Wuthering Heights so you're a romantic. You're too easy. Give me a challenge next time."

Bella looked sad again. I must have really struck a chord with her. It's never easy having someone read your mind like I can.

"It must be hard for you," Bella said.

Huh? What? I looked at her perplexed.

"I mean always thinking you have everyone figured out already. Especially the kind of people you have to study, getting inside their brains and examining their motivations. You must have seen a lot of the worst in people. It's got to be exhausting."

I just stared at her. She was right. It was the worst part of my job. I got to examine the scum of the earth close up. If I were honest with myself, there was a part of me – part of my emotions - that I'd just had to turn off. It was self-preservation. It was the only way the things I worked on didn't make me crazy. No one understood that part of my job. I tried to explain it a few times, but even Alice and Emmett didn't have to go through all the history and psychological assessing I did on the cases. Now, here, shot up in a hospital room, Bella Swan acted like she got it. I wouldn't have expected that from her, and that had me baffled.

"Well, I'm late. Jessica's probably here by now, and I need to go home and get ready. Wish me luck?"

"Oh with Emmett, you don't need luck. You need a tazer." I wanted to get back to the lighthearted banter we had earlier. Things got a little too serious over the past few minutes.

"I've got pepper spray," she winked at me. Bella left the room, and my body started to hurt again. I'd almost forgotten about the pain while I was talking to her. I couldn't shake the feeling that she'd profiled me almost as well as I'd profiled her.

A/N: Last chapter I bribed for reviews and I GOT LESS! I'm going to be honest – I have a problem. I'm competitive and goal oriented and I'm very close to keeping up with the goal I have for this story. Help me. Please help me. I'm back to begging.