A/N: To answer your… question, I guess… .Cucumber, she was supposed to have been dwindling? I really don't know. I guess it was a bit too fast to really grasp it… Haha. Anyway, on to the next chapter.

Eight

All I Wanna Do Is Love You

BELLA

I had to be dreaming. Why else would a cartoonish devil and a beautiful angel be fighting over me? "Bella!" they were shouting. "Wake up!" I squirmed. The angel was losing!

"Keep fighting!" I shouted aimlessly. "You can't let me go!"

But that was just it: Why would a dream sequence want me to wake up? "Bella!" the angel called in a faint whisper… or was he yelling? "Bella, you have to wake up. Listen to me! I felt cool, comforting hands on my cheeks, but they must have been his real hands and my real cheeks. The dream Bella did not seem to notice.

I forced my eyes open painfully, struggling to keep them that way. "Edward?" I asked tentatively.

"Yes, Bella, it's me," he said, relaxing his position significantly. He was now sitting, Indian style, beside me, Mike lingering behind him. "How are you feeling?"

"Terrible," I admitted, pressing my fingers to my temples in a feeble attempt to calm the raging headache I was forming.

He smiled faintly. "What do you think you're doing?" Mike demanded, pushing Edward back and sitting down beside me. "BELLA! What is wrong with you?" He shook me by the shoulders.

"M-Mike!" I shouted hoarsely, my head spinning profusely. "STOP!"

"You shut up!" he ordered. I stood up, backing away from him.

"Leave, Mike," I whispered. His eyes widened, fists clenched, face reddening violently.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" he yelled, cornering me.

"I said 'leave'. Now." I didn't know for sure where this little burst of confidence had come from, but I had one good guess: Edward. Just knowing that he was here for me, that he wanted me, was enough to give me a newfound strength and confidence in myself. And honestly, I never could have done it without him.

His crimson face was nearer to mine now, almost touching it. "Isabella Swan," he spat. "Don't you ever come crawling back to me ever again, you hear? Because I won't be waiting for you."

Like that was supposed to scare me! "That's absolutely fine with me," I rebutted, matching his angry glare. "Did you actually think that I wanted to be with you all of this time? You're crazy! Didn't you take into consideration the fact that I would have left you in a heartbeat if I could've? If you hadn't been so abusive and possessive!"

He drew in a deep breath, as if to steady himself, before slapping me smartly across the face. "How dare you, Bella Swan? After all I've given you!" I recoiled, and Edward was at my side instantly. He wrapped his long, shaking fingers around Mike's neck, completely ready to choke him.

"Edward," I cautioned, touching his forearm lightly, an affectionate expression written on my face as I gazed up at him. "He's not even worth it."

"Not worth it?! You ungrateful little-" Mike started to argue.

"I'm sorry, did you have something else to say to Miss Swan, Mister Newton?" When had Emmett come in? I felt a grin spread across my face.

"Yeah, I-" He shuddered, turning around, running smack into Emmett's defined chest. He chuckled. "N-n-n-no, sir."

Edward, too, laughed at his reaction. Mike sprinted toward the door, turning around, first, to shout, "I'm nowhere close to finished with you, Bella Swan!"

Edward's arms closed around my shoulders comfortingly, and I found myself staring intently at his chest as he embraced me. "I'm sorry, Bella."

What was he talking about? "Wh- Are you crazy? Thank me? You probably just saved my life!"

"But Emmett and I… we could have done more… he'll be back for you," he apologized, stroking my cheek gently. I placed my hand on top of his, holding it to my cheek.

"But you were here for me," I answered, just above a whisper. "And you didn't let me give in to Mike. If not for you and Emmett, I would be at his house right now. I'd probably be lying on his couch, breathing heavily, trying to… to…"

The force of all of the dizziness I'd avoided thus far hit me like a freight train. "To what, Bells?" Emmett asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"To stay… alive, Edward… about that hospital…" I reminded him, laughing unconvincingly. I was far from fine, but after all they'd done for me, it didn't seem right to dump the burden of worrying about her on them.

"Right," Edward remembered, pulling me up into his arms again, just as effortlessly as the first time. "Promise me one thing, Bella?"

Who was he kidding? I would have promised him my life if he asked. "Anything," I nodded, snuggling my head into his warm, inviting chest.

"Promise me that you won't pass out on me this time?" I giggled tiredly.

"No problem."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

EDWARD

I was only half joking. I was sure I couldn't handle the pressure of having to revive Bella a second time. She was so delicate… so breakable… and she'd yet to figure out my biggest secret. I could not risk anything with her, or it could mean her life.

Emmett stayed at Swan's a few extra minutes to make sure Mike didn't come back, though deep inside I knew he wouldn't. The only reason he'd abused Bella for so long was because she was too small and helpless to defend herself against him. He knew Mike's type. He was a bully. Emmett and I together could murder him, and he knew that. He might have been a despicable, malignant jerk, but I had to admit that he wasn't stupid. He would steer clear of the two of us if he could.

"Edward?" Bella asked quietly, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yes?" I replied, trying not to let my increasing anger with Mike show.

"Thank you so much for driving me to the… the hospital," she said, taking a deep, and apparently much needed, breath.

"No problem," I told her, tightening my grip on the steering wheel slightly. "Now can you do something for me, Bells?"

"Sure."

"Stop thanking me." From the corner of my eye, I saw the shaky, unsure smile light up her beautiful features.

"I guess I can manage that," she said, yawning.

I glanced at her briefly before turning back to the road. "Tired?"

She nodded. "A bit. Mostly just dizzy."

"Okay. Well we're here," I explained, jumping out to open her door for her. I wouldn't take the risk of letting her trip over her own feet at a time like this. I fastened her arm around my waist and supported all of her weight as we walked into the emergency ward.

"Can I help you?" the nurse at the front desk asked, staring me up and down. I cleared my throat nervously, and her gaze bounced up to my face. This did not go unnoticed by Bella, who stiffened at my side.

"My… girlfriend…" The word felt funny on my tongue, but it fit. "She needs help… I… she… she fell… and… she passed out earlier and…"

"Of course," she interrupted. I stared at her. "Get this woman a wheelchair!" she called out, pointing at Bella. "Room one o' six."

"Thank you," I said quickly, as a short, robust doctor wheeled Bella back into the narrow halls.

She smiled seductively. "You can thank me later." She winked. I shuddered.

"Edward!" Bella was shouting.

"Coming, Bells!" I shouted back. The nurse rolled her eyes dramatically. "I'd better be going. My girlfriend… she needs me…"

Room one o' six was a dark hole at the end of the hallway, with paisley shades and off-white walls. A dark blue vase was perched atop the bedside table to the left of Bella, but it was flowerless. I wondered how the staff could expect people to get well in such a depressing room.

"Anything I can do for you, Bells?" I asked.

"Yes," she whispered hoarsely, her voice worse than before. She shivered under the crisp white sheet. "Sit with me."

"But of course, Madam," I obliged, taking a seat on the bed beside her. "Anything else?"

She laughed weakly. "Nope. All I need is you."

The words were simple enough. It was the seriousness in her voice that caught me off guard. At that moment I knew that I felt the same way she did. It felt great, being on the same wavelength for once. I wanted, needed, to be with her, and she wanted to be with me, too.

"Good. Because that's all I have to offer," I added jokingly, covering her hand with mine. She sat up cautiously, closing what little space there was between us with a sweet, but not too short, kiss. I made myself refrain from using too much energy; she was, after all, lying in a hospital bed.

"Don't… leave me, Edward," she muttered into my shirt. I tightened my arms around her.

"I never plan on it, Bella Swan," I answered in all honesty.

A/N: Hello people. Thank you so much for the wonderful reviews on the last chapter! I am incredibly sorry that it took me so long to update this chapter! I was suffering from writer's block. Never fear, however, because the next chapter will be fluff-filled, and I have no trouble with the fluff. So REVIEW!