Disclaimer: Somewhere in Time and Twilight are not mine.

A/N: Sorry for the late update everyone. I had some issues trying to rework the beginning of the lemon. I tried and tried but nothing seemed right until I went with the naughty nurse idea. LOL Not really, this is supposed to be fluffy, after all. But my last A/N asking who wanted to kiss Edward's boo boos really started the plot bunnies a-hoppin'. I decided to run with it and added a whole new chapter... which is why it took so darn long to post. I hope the extra chapter makes up for my tardiness. And for those of you counting, this chapter has 1000 words more than my average chapter for this story. XD

BTW The title of this chapter is a nod to Jane Seymour who played Elise McKenna (aka Bella Swan) in the movie.

Enjoy!

Chapter 10: Dr. Swan, Medicine Woman

EPOV

As we walk through the lobby, I try not to notice the raised eyebrow of the desk clerk. That man was the only one to witness my both of my earlier trips, first running in through the front full tilt and then walking out the back dejectedly, and now here I am passing through his lobby, yet again, for the third time in the last half hour. This time I have the hotel's honored guest, the famous actress Miss Isabella Swan, hanging on my arm. He's probably wondering whether or not to call security but, luckily, one look at Bella's radiant smile would dispel any thoughts that she wasn't with me of her own volition.

Standing outside her door once again I can feel the tension build just like it did before when we stood in this same spot yesterday. We lock gazes and it looks as though she wants to say something. I want to tell her that I never want to leave her side. That I have been missing her for almost a decade. I don't want her to think I'm completely crazy so I say nothing and wait. She just stands there, looking up at me with those big brown eyes… and then she whispers. It's so low that, I swear, if I wasn't watching her lips as she spoke, I would have missed it. "Will you come inside?" I smile softly and reach to take the key from her hand to open the door for us –and then the spell is broken.

"Edward," she gasps, "What happened to your hand?" Key forgotten, she takes my hand in hers and lightly runs her thumb across my bruised knuckles. Then her head snaps up and, instead of looking into my eyes she takes a good look at my face, her eyes widen as she notices the swelling of my check. I think there must be a bruise under my left jaw the way her eyes linger there. "Edward? You've been in a fight?"

I smile to reassure her. "I'm fine, love. You are safe and I'm here with you that's all that matters now."

She squeezes my hand with trepidation. "What happened? Is this why I couldn't find you last night?" Her eyes narrow on me. "Why did you leave the play early? Where did you go? Where have you been?" Then her mood darkens further and she demands, "Who did this to you?"

I give her what I hope is a dazzling smile and try not to laugh at her kittenish fury. It looks as though my little Bella is about to take on my attackers single handed in retribution; all she needs is a name. "It doesn't matter now, love. It's over, they're gone, and we're together. I won't let them keep you from me. I'm here for as long as you want me." She leans into the hand I've raised to her cheek and I'm happy to see her need for justice lessen as she acquiesces begrudgingly with a sigh.

She takes my hand down from her face and inspects that hand's broken knuckles, too, with a grimace. "You're a mess," she sighs. She then opens the door and pulls me inside by my elbow, all the tension forgotten with the knowledge of my injuries. "Come in, we need to get you cleaned up," she grumbles. She then shoots me a look and I have to chuckle. She is clearly perturbed that I am interfering with her need for justice and maybe a little upset that I had gotten myself into a fight. I'm beginning to feel a bit like a boy being chastised for a schoolyard scrap.

She brings me over to a chaise placed close to a window and pushes me down to sit so that the morning sun is streaming in on me. Bella is on a mission and I just have to smile as I watch her move around the room collecting a basin of water, some hand towels and a glass bottle. This is so unlike yesterday. She seems to have completely forgotten her virginal nervousness at being alone with me in the privacy of her room.

She returns to the chaise and places the basin on the floor to my right, wets and wrings out a towel and then brings it to my face. I sit silently watching her, my hands firmly grasping my knees as she gently wipes the cloth over my brow, down the sides of my face and across the bridge of my nose washing away the dirt from struggling on the floor of the stables. She takes my chin in her hand and turns my face side to side in the light reassessing my injuries. "Good," she says with a satisfied nod as she probes my cheekbone. "It doesn't look near as bad with the dirt wiped off and it doesn't feel like anything is broken." She then turns to rinse and wring out the rag again. "I don't know how I missed this. I was just so happy to see you…" she mutters to herself as she brings the cloth to my face once again wiping over my whole face more thoroughly and even wipes down my neck to my collar.

I swallow thickly. She is so focused on her task that she doesn't seem to notice her proximity to me. She is standing before me bent at the waist with her lips so close I can feel her warm breath on my face. It doesn't help that my body is responding to her ministrations as if they were meant as gentle caresses. It's all I can do to sit here and not take her into my arms; I pacify myself by simply watching her graceful movements and the gentle calculating look in her eyes as she tends to my face.

Bella kneels before me and wets another towel to wash the dirt from both of my hands, careful not to put pressure on my open knuckles. I quietly watch her clean my left hand front and back but I let out a hiss as she grabs my wrist to turn my right hand over. I hear her gasp as she looks closer, pushing up my sleeves and sees the broken skin from the ropes. She then lets out a small whimper when she turns my hand over and sees the slices in my palm from the glass.

"Oh Edward, you have to tell me who did this to you." She beseeches me.

I smile softly at her and shrug. "I did. I had to use a piece of broken glass to cut the rope."

"Edward," she chastises, "You know what I mean." Bella sighs in exasperation and sets the cloth aside. "Please. Tell me what happened to you… and I need you to remove your coat and roll up your sleeves so I can attend to your wrists," she says with a no nonsense attitude and sits back on her heels, crossing her arms, waiting for me to follow both instructions."

"James sent for me before the play was through. He didn't want me to continue to see you," I explain as I unbutton my coat and begin to gingerly try to shrug out of it.

Bella looks surprised. "Mr. Meadows did this to you?" She then reaches up to help me get my coat off by running her hands from my shoulders to elbows pushing the fabric ahead of her hands. It's too fast and a little too rough so I give a small grunt and wince.

"Easy… easy, Bella." I smile at her to hopefully cover up my discomfort. "James tried to ward me off but, when I refused, he had a couple of men knock me out and drag me off to the stables. I assure you, I'm fine." I smile at her again as I lay my coat to the side, unbutton my cuffs and begin to roll them up for her. She bats my hand away, leans forward and begins pulling at my neck tie with quite an angry look on her face. "Bella? What are you doing?"

"I am taking care of you before I go take care of James Meadows." I can't help but chuckle at her. Again, she is ready to take on the world in retribution. "Apparently firing him and sending him packing was not enough punishment for meddling in my personal affairs. I had no idea he was responsible for my being unable to locate you –that he went to such lengths... He simply used your absence to try and talk me into leaving for Boston. I made it very clear that I wasn't leaving without you," she pauses briefly to looks up at me with a blush, somewhat embarrassed by her words, before returning to her explanation and unbuttoning my waistcoat and shirt. "And that under no uncertain terms was it any of his business if I waited for you." With that she pulls my suspenders off my shoulders and is about to remove my shirt but I stay her hands and give her a questioning look. "Edward, I need to tend all of your injuries. I saw that wince." she says with a half smile daring me to argue with her. "I promise to gently help you remove your shirt much slower than I did your coat."

I remove my hands from her wrists and slowly shrug out of my shirt and waistcoat as one as I try not to notice her close proximity as she helps me. It is near impossible as I feel her damp warm hands on my bare skin run down the length of my arms to remove the fabric. She then inspects the bruising at my shoulder. It's tender but it doesn't compare to the ache when I bring my arms behind me from spending the night in that position. She then places both hands against my ribs on my left side and starts pressing and prodding again with a serious expression on her face. I have to let out a laugh and stay her hands again when it begins to tickle too much. "What are you doing?"

Satisfied with my ribs she takes a good look at the rest of my chest. She finally seems to realize my state of undress and how close she is when she snatches her hands away from mine and blushes. She clears her throat and reaches again for the bottle and a cloth before answering me. "I was checking for a broken rib. It appears to be only bruised so I won't bind it unless it hurts to breathe," she says meekly, still disconcerted.

"No, it's fine." I raise an eyebrow at her. "Did you play a nurse in your last play?" I joke in hopes easing her embarrassment.

"No. I have never played a nurse," she smirks. "I do have real life experience, though. I have four older brothers who all fancied themselves pugilists growing up. My mother taught me at an early age how to tend everything from bruises to broken ribs." She then makes a joke herself as she wets the cloth with the contents of the bottle. "I just don't do well at the sight of blood so let's not make this a habit, shall we?"

"Anything for you," I grin at her but my playful mood is cut short by the painful sting of my hand. Instinctively, I hiss and pull my hand from hers and the wet cloth. "What is that?"

Bella stifles a giggle and takes my hand back. "It's witch hazel, Edward. It will help. I didn't think you would appreciate the use of alcohol." She smiles and then proceeds to torture me with the wet cloth, rewetting it and applying it across my knuckles and on both wrists. I do my best to hold my hands still as she tends to them and I bite my tongue to refrain from saying anything I shouldn't. A few little hisses and grunts manage to escape and I notice her fighting to keep the corners of her mouth down as she tries not to smile. The beating I took the night before was easier to endure than this. I've had enough and snatch my hand away when she gently runs the wet cloth over my sliced palm. I give my hand a shake as if it will help with the sting and clench my jaw to keep from blurting any expletives.

"It hurts," I explain, somewhat perturbed at her poorly concealed amusement.

"I'm sure it does," she patronizes me. She smiles and straightens up so we are face to face. My discomfort is forgotten and my heart speeds up as she leans in. I look at her lips as she licks them and it does me in…until my cheek stings when she presses the wet cloth to it. With a loud hiss I abruptly whip my head to the side away from the damned rag. She looks at me through her lashes and explains in the most innocent voice, "There's a tiny little cut on your cheek."

"It hurts," I explain again with a disapproving look.

Bella abruptly sits back on her heels. "Tell me, Edward, is there anywhere that doesn't hurt?" She tosses the rag aside and cocks an eyebrow clearly a bit upset that I'm taking her ministrations for granted.

It's a rhetorical question but I can't help but bait her back. "Here!" I tell her with a smug smile. I bend my arm and point to my elbow. She's amused by my answer and her smile returns. Her eyes light up as she chuckles and then, as if on impulse, she leans forward and places a quick chaste kiss where I'm pointing.

I'm a bit shocked. I hadn't expected that reaction any more than it looked like she planned it. My discomfort is once again forgotten as I realize that she is waiting for me to make the next move. "Here." I raise my hand and point to my forehead. Bella straightens up so we are face to face again and places another chaste, yet lingering, kiss to where I'm pointing.

Neither one of us are smiling now and the tension is back full force. I'm aware of only Bella. She's kneeling between my feet and, straightened up like she is, her hips are brushing the insides of my knees. We are almost eye to eye and I feel like I can't look away from her now, even if I wanted to.

"Here," I say softly in a low throaty voice and point to the corner of my mouth. Her lips turn up just a bit and her eyes close as she leans in the few inches it takes to kiss the spot just beside my lips. My eyes close, too, and my heart is racing as I savor the feeling. She begins to pull away so, I turn towards her and press my lips to hers. I wrap my arms around her to draw her closer and kiss her properly.

I can feel her smile against my lips just like I'm sure she can feel my smile against hers.

A/N: Review, Review, Review!

I have a cookie for anyone who can name the movie I pulled the last bit of this chapter from in their review. I thought I'd really play up the 'nurse' part rather than just have them enter the room and start kissing. A few of you asked about how Bella 'got away' from James so I thought I'd give you a clue to that in there, too.

Due to the positive response, I AM going to do a few sideshots for this story so make sure you have me on author alert for that. I'm going to start with a loooooong elderly Bella POV that will take place on the night she gives Edward the watch and will have Bella remembering meeting him, kissing him, etc. I'll start writing that soon but I won't post it until the end of CBTM since it will contain major spoilers for what is to come.

Please write a review and let me know what you think of this chapter. Is Bella too OOC? I just really liked the scene of him pointing to 'where it doesn't hurt 'for her to kiss and had to put it in there. I hope it works and you enjoyed it. :o)