Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. 'Nuff said.

Author's Note: Okay guys, this will most likely be my last update for a few weeks. We leave for family vacation Memorial Day weekend and won't be back until the following weekend. So the next week or so I'll be busy trying to get everything organized and ready to go, then we'll be gone, and then when we come back it will take a while for me to get settled back in. We are taking the laptop, so if trying to write while driving down the road on our 12 hour trek each way doesn't make me too dizzy or nauseas then I might try to make good use of the time and post as soon as I can, but if it proves too difficult then I'm afraid you won't see another update until early to mid June. I'm so sorry to do this to you guys, but it's time to go live in the real world for a while. I promise I'll rush back to you guys as soon as I can though. You guys are awesome and I'll see you in a few weeks!!! In the meantime please take time to review. Reviews make me a happy lady!

12. Be Careful What You Wish For

EPOV

I walked out of the hospital with a big goofy grin on my face, probably looking like the biggest douche ever, and I really just did not care. The whole 'taking Bella lunch and talk' thing went so much better than I had ever hoped. I was hoping that maybe she'd at least let me apologize and not beat me to a pulp, but to my shock she actually apologized to me and then even went as far as inviting me to join her for lunch.

Turning down her offer was one of the hardest things I had ever done. I wanted to relish in any excuse and opportunity to be near her. Just being in her general presence made me feel happy and whole; to turn down the chance to do that was just pure torture, but Andy's words kept echoing in my head. Instead, I begged off with a few halfway decent excuses and then hit the jackpot by offering to take her out for dinner tomorrow night. I was so relieved when she agreed to the date…now I just needed to figure out where to take her.

The big goofy grin was still glued to my mug as I sauntered into the station. Yeah, that's right, I sauntered and then got ragged on by all of the guys for the big goofy grin and the sauntering…but seriously, I truly did not fucking care. Bella and I had worked a few things out, she agreed to go on a date with me, and thus all was right with the world; the rest of the asswipes be damned.

Once the teasing had finally stopped the guys and I made our way into the gym for weight training and a little bag work. It was pretty cool to have a job where they paid you to keep in shape. I decided that the place where I would hear the least heckling would be the punching bag so I walked over; grabbing a pair of boxing gloves off of the shelf, I pulled the Velcro tight before landing a right-hook in the middle of the bag. I heard Emmett's laugh behind me as he approached.

"So, has little sis given you a reprieve already?" I smiled at him with the big goofy grin again as he chuckled and walked around the back side of the bag to hold it steady, giving a bit more resistance to my workout.

"That was fast. What'd you do grovel on your hands and knees?"

I landed three more punches, feeling a bit out of breath from the full exertion I put into it. "Nope, I took her lunch and told her how I felt, apologized for how I told her last night, and told her that I wasn't giving up on her."

He let out a little 'humph' with an expression on his face that kind of reminded me a bit of Robert DeNiro. "So what did she say?"

I stopped punching the bag and knocked my gloves together in my excitement as the big goofy grin got winder. "Well, actually before I even got to say my part she apologized to me about some stuff. Then, I told her how I felt and everything; she actually invited me to join her. I said I couldn't and then invited her to dinner tomorrow night instead and she agreed."

Emmett looked genuinely surprised. "After all that drama queen stuff last night all you had to do was apologize and say you weren't giving up on her? And she caved? What the hell kind of magic does that crazy sex hair of yours have and where can I get me some? I can't believe she forgave you so easily!"

I began punching the bag again as my nervousness began to come back. "Yeah, well now comes the hard part. Where the hell am I supposed to take her for supper? Do I bring her flowers? Should I try to plan more than just a meal in case she wants to hang out longer? I mean I've never really done the dating thing before, except with Maggie which really doesn't count because, well, I wasn't actually trying to woo her."

Emmett cackled, "Dude, did you just say 'woo'?"

I rolled my eyes, giving the bag a particularly hard hit, knocking it into his side. "Shut the fuck up Em. I'm serious. I need help here."

Emmett shrugged. "I really don't know what to tell you dude. Rosie's not really the fancy date type of gal. She hates the whole getting dressed up for a fancy dinner or a play or something. My girl's idea of the perfect date is pizza and a car show. She cleans up nice for a night out at the bars or whatever, but she's more comfortable with keeping it simple."

"So go for something she enjoys doing that makes her comfortable?"

"Well, you could always go a little flashier for the first date and then suggest a second more comfortable date. I wouldn't go overboard though. I'd avoid The Signature Room in the Hancock Building or Fogo de Chao. Maybe that little Italian joint she loves so much."

"Nah, can't go there. I took her their Mushroom Ravioli for lunch."

Emmett smiled, "Nice Dude, hit her favorite place and even managed to remember her favorite meal there."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course I remember her favorite meal there. Just like I know that she loves the Mushroom Jack Fajitas at Chili's, the Pot Stickers at TGI Fridays, and the Monte Cristo at Bennigans before they went out of business."

Emmett shook his head, "Dude, you seriously only recently realized you're in love with my sister? I plan on marrying Rosalie someday and I don't have a fucking clue what she likes to eat at any place but Pizza Hut!"

I shook my head as I looked down at my feet. "Yeah, I know…I'm a moron. At least I finally realized though. Better late than never right?"

Emmett smiled and slapped my back twice. "Sure man, but remember, you break my sister's heart this time and I'll kill you."

"I break your sister's heart again and I'll personally hand you my sidearm."

He chuckled before walking away, leaving me to pummel the punching bag on my own once more as I tried to think of the best place to take Bella. I was coming up a total blank.

The sun was disappearing behind the skyline as I made my way toward my aunt and uncle's condo in the Gold Coast area of town. If you met my aunt and uncle on the street you would never assume that they live in one of the most affluent neighborhoods in the city. They were both born into money, inheriting a great deal upon the death of their parents that, along with Uncle Carlisle and Aunt Esme's income from their rather prosperous careers, allowed the two of them to live quite comfortably in a massive and beautiful condo that had spectacular views of Lake Michigan.

The only thing that made me happy those first few years after my mom abandoned me with them was sitting in my bedroom staring out the window at the sailboats floating by on the smooth surface of the lake. I thought about those days as I parked the car and made my way up the steps to knock on the ornate front door of the house that was my home from the age of ten until I moved into the dorms at Northwestern eight years later.

The door opened to reveal my radiant looking aunt, smiling at me with a frilly blue apron tied around her waist. Sometimes I would swear she fucking channeled Donna Reed.

"Come in Edward," she said with as she pulled me into a warm comforting hug. I always loved Aunt Esme's hugs. "Oh, I've missed you so much. How are you?"

As I thought about how my answer today was so much better than it would have been yesterday, I felt the smile reappear on my face. This did not go unnoticed by my aunt who beamed even brighter as she took in my face.

"Really, really good, " was my lame and completely inadequate response. I followed her into the living room to take a seat in my favorite large cream overstuffed armchair.

"Edward Masen, what on earth has you breaking out your most dazzling smile? I haven't seen you smile like that in years!"

I could feel my cheeks heat, which embarrassed me even more because I'm not one to blush. When she saw the blush she squealed in a very Alice like manner and clapped a bit before she began to interrogate me.

"Come on Edward, I'm a boring old career woman with boring friends who have no social life. I need you to make my night!"

I fumbled, trying to figure out what to say when my uncle came floating into the room with a knowing smile on his face. "Hello Edward," he said coming to stand in front of me and pull me into a hug. "I'm glad you could make it tonight son, we've missed you."

"I've missed you guys too Uncle Carlisle," He nodded for me to return to my seat as he made is way over to the wet bar. He poured two scotch on the rocks for us and a flute of white wine for his wife before coming back over to sit across from me in the matching armchair and cross his legs.

"Now, what news do you have for us that has my dear wife looking like a three year old on Christmas morning?"

"His dazzling smile is back Carlisle," my Aunt started in, "and when I asked him about it he blushed!"

My uncle looked at me with a lifted eyebrow before taking a sip of his drink; I did the same. As he brought it back down he stated quietly, "So does this have anything to do with the reason you were seen bringing in a bag from Sicily's to the third floor doctor's lounge earlier today?"

I smiled and I felt the blush return. "Mayyyybe."

He smiled, "And would that meal happen to have been for a certain brunette intern working at my hospital right now?"

"Possibly."

My aunt jumped up from her seat on the couch as she gasped. "So you're finally going to court Bella? It's about time darling," she said rolling her eyes, "you've been avoiding your feelings for her for years."

I looked at her with my mouth hanging open for a second. Finally I closed it with a snap, looking at my uncle who was nodding with a smug smile. "So was I really the last one to know I was in love with her or what?"

"Yep," they both answered in unison before letting out matching snickers. I made a mental note to myself that someday when Bella and I were married I needed to make sure we didn't do that freaky completing each other's thoughts or answering the same way to someone's question thing. I paused for a moment realizing what I had just thought. I had strung together the concept of marriage and Bella in a single thought and it didn't freak me out, it did give me chills, but not bad ones, the thought made me…….happy. I felt the smile on my face grow wider.

And so the Great Inquisition began. I was forced to recount my horrible missteps to the aunt and uncle who raised me. If it weren't for the memory of my father and mother while my father was alive, I would say they were more parents to me than my own had been, but that wasn't entirely true. My dad was a great man and a wonderful father, and while he was alive my mom was pretty amazing too, but once he was gone and she abandoned me; it all seemed to dim in my mind when the pain took over. If it weren't for my need to keep my dad sacred in my mind, I wouldn't hesitate to call Carlisle and Esme 'Dad and Mom', but it just felt like I was betraying my father's memory to do that, and I couldn't very well call Esme 'Mom' and not call Carlisle 'Dad', so I just stuck with the titles I had always used. I think they knew how I really felt about them, or at least I hoped that they did.

As the evening continued I confided how nervous I was about the date and how I felt like a teenager half the time around Bella. Aunt Esme looked a bit disappointed that I had been so cavalier with my love life, or lack there of, that I didn't even know what made a good date. Soon she and Uncle Carlisle were coaching me on things I could do to be chivalrous and places we could go. Thankfully they both knew Bella quite well too after so many years being a part of my life. They actually had suggestions that sounded like they would be things that Bella would truly appreciate.

As we finished off the night, they walked me to the door, each giving me a hug and Aunt Esme gave me a kiss on the cheek before ducking back inside the door to escape the cool Chicago night as my uncle followed me onto the porch. He placed a hand on my shoulder as he started.

"You know Edward, the best thing I can really tell you is to be yourself and go with your heart. You know Bella, probably better than anybody else in her life, except possibly her brother, and even then I'm not sure. Be the boy that I know you really are inside. Show her the love and respect she deserves and everything else will fall into place, but most of all be yourself because the hardest part of a relationship isn't winning your love it's keeping her once you have her and if you are just putting on an act or being something you aren't then you'll never survive because eventually you have to go back to being yourself. You're lucky though because Bella already knows you just as well as you know her and she already cares for you for who you are inside, so remember that and just be yourself. Alright son?"

I smiled at him and sighed. "Thanks Uncle Carlisle. I think that's probably the best advice I've gotten yet."

"Glad to be of help son. Glad to be of help."

He watched me as I made my way down to my silver Volvo and pulled away from the curb before he turned around and entered the house. Instead of driving straight home I wandered the streets of Chicago for a while as I thought about my uncle's advice. He was absolutely right, before I can be or do anything else, I have to be myself…and suddenly I knew exactly what to do on my date with Bella tomorrow night. I smiled as I drummed my steering wheel to the beat of the song playing on the radio, the big goofy smile plastered across my face again. Now that I had a plan, I just needed to implement it.

I got up early the next morning, my plan now firmly formulated in my head texting Bella around the time she needed to get up for work to confirm the time with her. After a few sleep hazed texts back and forth, we had our timeline in place. I made a few calls to set everything up and made my way to the station to begin my workday.

The clock seemed to move incredibly slowly as I anxiously counted down the seconds until I would be with Bella again. I rushed home to get cleaned up, taking extra time to attempt to tame my hair and changing my shirt three times before I was happy. I don't know when the hell I turned into a fucking girl, but at this point I didn't care either. I ended up going with the dark green button down to match my eyes since I had noticed that she seems to like them for some reason. I checked the mirror and my pockets one more time to make sure everything was in place before walking to Bella's.

My hands were fidgeting, causing the bouquet of freesias in my hand to tremble as I rode the elevator up to her floor and stood nervously at the door to her apartment working up my nerve to knock. Never in my entire life have I felt this nervous. I picked up my hand, which seemed to weigh fifty pounds, and knocked on the door in what I hoped sounded like a casual manner. Imagine my disappointment when Emmett answered the door with a funny look on his face.

"She's not here man. She never came home from work."

I listened to Emmett's announcement as my heart dropped to my feet. Did she stand me up? Did she change her mind? Was this some kind of payback for the pain I had caused her? If so it was a good one because the pain in my chest was massive.

"Maybe she just got off late. Your uncle is a doctor right, you know that they sometimes don't get to come home when they're supposed to if something comes up. I really don't think she would just stand you up." Emmett was trying to calm me down and soothe me, but it wasn't really helping very much.

He invited me to sit down and wait; he turned on the TV and we flipped through the channels until we found the local news. We watched the same depressing stories that seemed to flash across the screen between six and seven and then the screen changed just as my phone signaled that I had a new text message.

BPOV

I woke up wondering if Edward was serious about the dinner tonight and what we'd do. Was it a date or was it just an apology dinner? It seemed like a date, and considering his confessions you would think he would want to go on a date, but at the same time I didn't want to assume anything.

I had only been up a few minutes when the text alert rang on my cell phone and I picked it up to see Edward's name. For a moment my emotions flashed back and forth between excited and nervous. Either he was confirming plans or canceling. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know, but I finally flipped open the screen and read the message as a little thrill ran up my spine.

We texted back and forth and by the time we were done I was almost 99 percent sure it was, in fact, a date. Suddenly a new nervous tension filled my body at the thought of being on a date with Edward. How exactly was that going to work?

Thankfully, arriving at the hospital forced me to focus my attentions elsewhere. The day crept by as I went from mundane injury to mundane injury, grateful for the distraction but wishing for something a bit more interesting to really suck me in and make the time go by faster. Just as I realized how much of a monster I was for thinking that since it would mean someone would have to be really ill for that to be the case, I heard the announcement over the speakers; seconds later all of our pagers began to buzz in our pockets simultaneously. It was a code red emergency alert status. All available doctors had to report to the ER to prepare for a major trauma emergency with multiple victims.

I looked at the clock and groaned as I realized that I really needed to be more careful what I wished for. The doctors descended upon the ER in a sea of white coats and suddenly I heard a familiar voice next to me.

"I'm so sorry Bella, you might want to call Edward and ask for a rain check on your date tonight." Carlisle whispered beside me just as the first gurney rolled through the doors, the deafening roar of dozens of ambulance sirens screamed outside. I froze with a shocked expression on my face at the fact that Carlisle knew about our date and that he was right, I was going to miss my first date with Edward and it left me feeling nauseatingly disappointed. I didn't get the chance to call Edward though because I was assigned the next gurney to pass through the door. I immediately followed to help ascertain the full scope of injuries of the bleeding woman, who was screaming for her baby.

I passed from patient to patient, just a few of the hundred and seventy victims injured when an L train derailed. A weakened support beam buckled and misaligned the tracks, which caused the train to jump and fall to the street below. Thankfully it didn't fall onto any of the neighboring buildings and there were no pedestrians below to be crushed by the speeding train's fall, but all of the passengers suffered massive injuries, broken bones, lacerations, and head traumas. We happened to be the closest hospital, thus receiving the greatest number of patients; the rest were divided between Mercy, Reece, and Stoger.

The next time I looked up at the clock it was six thirty. Damn it! Edward was supposed to pick me up thirty minutes ago! He probably thinks I stood him up.I quickly grabbed my cell phone and sent him a short text of apology and explanation before being pulled into another trauma room to assist with another patient.

It was one fifteen in the morning when I finished with my last patient. I slowly made my way out of the ER trauma area through the ER doors, planning to take a few deep breaths of cool air to calm my nerves and collect myself. The horrors I had seen tonight had been the worst yet.

My most injured patient had been so torn open by a piece of jagged metal, which he landed on during impact that his bowels were literally falling out of his abdomen. They had to be reinserted and sewn closed before any other of his injuries could be addressed. There were many others that were close to being as horrifying, but my first patient of the night was by far the worst ghost haunting me at the moment. The entire time we tried to treat her she continued to scream for her baby, and at one point she locked eyes with me pleading with me to find out what happened to her baby. He was only eight months old and was in her arms at the time of the accident. She was knocked unconscious and when she came to she was in the ambulance and none of the EMT's could tell her anything about her baby. Less than an hour later she flat-lined and was declared dead. A little later her infant son was brought in, having been found under a pile of metal debris and was barely alive when he was taken in to surgery.

My night kept filing through my mind in a gruesome slideshow and I couldn't seem to make it stop when I saw him out of the corner of my eye, sitting in the waiting area right next to the ER doors. He was watching me with wide green eyes full of worry, clutching a bunch of white freesias tied together with a lavender bow in his hand. He instantly stood up and rushed toward me pulling me into his arms. I melted into his embrace.

"What are you doing here Edward?" I asked looking up at his green eyes so grateful and yet totally confused.

He leaned down into my ear and whispered, "Silly Bella, I told you I'd wait for you no matter how long it took. Can I walk you home?"

I stretched up on my toes and kissed Edward's cheek. "Thank you Edward."

He nodded and I reached around him, hugging myself tightly to his cheek once more and let his presence comfort me and chase away the gruesome slideshow of my horrible night; the night that should have been wonderful. I felt him kiss the top of my head before I pulled back to look up at him with a smile.

"You ready?" Suddenly my personal belongings in the doctor's lounge locker were forgotten, I smiled and nodded. Edward took off his leather coat and placed it around me before wrapping his arm around my shoulder and leading me out of the double glass doors into the cool Chicago night. We talked quietly while we walked. Suddenly he stopped me in front of a little pizzeria on our way to the apartment, it was still open and he pulled me toward the door.

"What are you doing Edward?" I asked looking at him like he was crazy.

"I promised you dinner and I refuse to take you home without getting something in your stomach. Does pizza sound okay to you?"

I rolled my eyes then nodded and he smiled and winked before turning to the counter to order and pay. We took a seat at the little bistro table in front of a large plate glass window to wait for our order while sipping on our fountain sodas. He looked down at the bouquet of freesias and shook his head as though he had forgotten he had them.

"Oh, I'm sorry, these are for you."

I took them from his hand and closed my eyes to inhale the soft aroma. "They're beautiful Edward and they smell wonderful. Thank you."

He smiled, "They remind me of you actually. You always smell like that Freesia body was I got you last Christmas and so now every time I see them or smell them I think of you."

I felt my cheeks warm as my blush involuntarily stained my face. I couldn't help but notice that Edward, cocky self-assured Edward, had a bit of pink in his cheeks and on the tips of his ears as well.

We ate and chatted casually about anything and everything we could think of. It was actually a really nice time and a very welcome distraction from where my thoughts had been moments before I saw him in the waiting room.

We polished off the pizza and then sat a bit longer, finishing our drinks, before we continued down the street and Edward walked me up to the door of my apartment.

"I had a really nice time tonight Bella. Thank you for letting me walk you home and feed you. I would have felt horrible if I didn't get a chance to feed you before you crashed for the night."

"Oh no Edward, thank you for waiting there for me that whole time. I couldn't believe it when I saw you sitting there. You don't even know how much you helped me tonight." I rushed forward and melted into his arms again, hugging him tightly around his waist. I felt him bury his nose in my hair before kissing my head softly.

"I'm glad I could be there for you Bella." He pulled me away and looked down at me. "You're off tomorrow right?"

I nodded. "Well, since we didn't get our actual date tonight, would you want to go out with me tomorrow night?"

I smiled, "Yeah, that would be nice. Are we keeping our original plans or do you have new ones?"

He smiled at me with a devious glimmer in his eye that I knew meant he had something up his sleeve. "New plans, dress casual and warm. It'll be chilly and you'll need to be able to add and strip layers…okay?"

I nodded with a wink, which seemed to make him happy. "What time?"

"How about I pick you up around three?"

"Okay, see you then."

He smiled brightly down at me before stepping back, taking my hand from his waist and bringing it up to his lips where he kissed the back of it softly. He waited for me to open the door with my key and made sure the door was closed before he turned to walk away. The door had just clicked shut when I realized I still had on his jacket. I yanked the door back open to see him standing inside the elevator.

I took off running to catch him. "Wait Edward, you forgot your coat!" The doors started to close as I got closer and he reached his hand out to stop the door with a smile.

"You can keep it until tomorrow. I wouldn't mind."

I shook my head, "Oh no, it's too cold out there, and you already walked far too far tonight with no coat. I don't want you getting sick and canceling our date tomorrow night. He chuckled before reluctantly reaching out and taking his coat and our hands touched, I felt the warm tingle radiating through my body. Before I knew what I was doing I stepped forward and placed a chaste kiss on his lips and then quickly pulled away, blushing.

"Thanks again Edward, see you tomorrow," I yelped before turning and running back to the apartment and slamming the door behind me.

A/N: Okay, so they didn't get to have their full date this chapter, but the next one should be good if I can get the time to actually write it! Thank you to my wonderful Beta Sihaya 9 for her great work as usual.

I was so amazed this week, we're only 6 reviews away from breaking 300 for this story and today we hit 310 story alerts…That just amazes me that 300 people out there are enjoying this story enough to sign up for email alerts! You guys rock and I am truly humbled!!!

See you guys in a few weeks and please take time to review!