Disclaimer: The original characters aren't mine. They all belong to the wonderful Stephenie Meyer. I just give them foul mouths and damaged psyches.

I'm starting out by giving massive props to Kimpy0464 for her life saving medical beta skills in the pediatric floor section. Thanks hon! Also thanks to my ever faithful wordsmith beta Sihaya9 for her ever vigilant correction of my grammatical/spelling/word over usage snafus! As well as Sassenach Wench our Twilighted Jr. Validation beta.

This is a highly medical focused chapter. I added a bit more layman's term information in Bella's explanations to help aid the readers in understanding, although in an actual medical setting, the additional explanation wouldn't be needed. Just trying to keep us all on the same page while at the same time trying to sound as authentic as possible…most are direct quotes from Ms. Kimpy and I wanted to be sure to give credit where's it's due because she's really good and explaining this stuff in a way for the rest of us non medical field folks can follow! :)

Sympathetic Solitude

EPOV

I counted the ceiling tiles again in the too dark, too quiet room as the annoying fucking clock on the wall ticked each second away with a loud click. I fucking missed my girl. Why did I tell her I wanted her to stay at Emmett's house tonight again? Oh right, I needed solitude...well I got it alright...more of it than I could ever want.

It would have been fine if I wasn't such a dick about it. The second her voice broke when she said goodnight, I knew I fucked up big time. It wasn't even really about her for the most part. She was once again the victim of coming into my room at the really wrong time.

The nurse came in to check my IV and give me my pain pill and I knew it must be nearing 1 in the morning. That was typically when they came in to check me...one, four, and seven every damn night and morning this week. It was any wonder anybody kept their sanity when they had to stay long term in this place!

The nurse stepped out and I settled back into bed, hoping I could finally get some rest, when my door opened with a loud bang. An equally loud bellowing voice filled the room as the lights flickered brightly in my eyes. I covered my face with a groan. Emmett's massive body plowed across the room to my bedside before he flicked me in the middle of the head.

"What in the fucking hell is wrong with you, asshole? Why the hell did my baby sister show up at my door two hours ago in hysterics saying you didn't want her here? What's with wanting some fucking solitude?"

I groaned, flopping my head back on the pillow, my good hand grabbing a large tuft of hair and pulling hard, sending sharp pains into my scalp.

"Fuck, was she really that upset?"

"Of course she was, fuckface! You were pretty cold to her all damn night after she had a shitty ass day at work, then you tell her you want her to go, yell at her, and tell her you want solitude which in girl speak translates to you don't fucking want her anymore!"

I groaned, massaging the bridge of my nose between my thumb and index finger as I thought.

"All fucking day, it was another parade of doctors and therapists. They just wouldn't fucking leave me alone. Then Bella came and had lunch with me before she went up to her new floor and it was great. I told her I wasn't fine, but actually I pretty much was at that point, or at least as fine as I can be while trapped here. Then this afternoon, Elizabeth showed up for an unexpected visit. Mom came in while she was here, making things all fucking intense and stressful and it seemed to last for-fucking-ever. Then Tanya comes and apologizes for this whole load of shit that I guess she confessed to Bella on Thursday. None of which Bella even bothered to tell me about regarding Trager befriending and seducing her before the whole hostage situation, might I add. It pissed me off that Bella didn't tell me about it. After that, the stupid physical therapist came. She made me try to sit up and move into the wheelchair, and that hurt like hell."

I shook my head and reached for my glass of water, taking a long sip since all this talking was making my throat dry. "Not twenty minutes after the therapist left, Bella came in and started chattering nonstop something about a doctor bullying her on the peds floor or something. I mean he made her organize a closet for fuck sake, it's not like he made her wade through sewage or something, but here she was acting like it was the fucking end of the world. She didn't even bother to ask how my fucking day was, and it just irritated the shit out of me. I still hadn't even gotten to process the whole Elizabeth/Esme visit thanks to all the interruptions, and it all just kept going. All fucking night long, visitor after visitor came by with the same inane questions and the same sympathetic looks. I was just fucking pissed at the whole damn world. It wasn't her necessarily. Yeah, she was annoying me. Hell, I'd normally rather have her annoy me than have to be away from her, but after the day I had, I just really needed some fucking space, you know? Not that I've enjoyed it...ever since she left, I've done nothing but feel like shit about how I treated her."

Emmett groaned and rolled his eyes as he flopped down in the chair next to the bed. "You do realize that you hurt her pretty fucking bad. You remember what you said you'd do if you ever hurt her again?" He wiggled his eyebrows at me, letting me know he was actually joking, but it still made me feel like shit.

"And as far as what happened to her at work today, if you weren't stuck in this bed dealing with the nurses and doctors and shit, you know for a fact you'd be the first in line banging down that prick doctor's door, telling him he better get his shit straight, and stop picking on your girl just because she happens to be in love with you and your Dad happens to run this place. We all know that Carlisle is not one to show family favoritism. In fact, I'm pretty sure he holds them to a higher standard. Anyway, long way of saying, if you had your head pulled out of your ass, you'd have been mad as hell about what happened to her today, but instead you blew her off and then threw her out."

He sat back with his arms crossed over his chest shaking his head. "Now I know you're hurting, and you're frustrated, and that brings out the ass in you, as it would pretty much anybody. I'm sure if it were me, I'd be even worse. Add on top of that, people always hanging around here and the fact that before my sister entered your life, you spent all your down time at home in your fucking fortress of solitude or whatever, so that's making it all worse too, but she didn't deserve that. Do you even realize how big of a dick you're being to everyone around here? You're getting a reputation fast in this building for being the world's shittiest patient. Rose even told me that the rumor in the cafeteria is that there are nurses and therapists who are absolutely refusing to take you as a patient...that's how fucking bad you are. Have you once seen Bella try to get away from you? Have you even seen her do more than maybe roll her eyes at you occasionally in response to the way you've been acting? She fucking saved your life you ass, sat by your side every moment she could pull it off until you woke up, and even refused to leave you until the psychologist ordered it. Is this really how you repay her?"

I dropped my head in shame. I knew I was being a dick. The second she left the room, I regretted what I said, and especially how I said it. She really was so patient with me. I was such a huge dick and it had only gotten worse since the cast was put on. The thing was hard and so fucking itchy it was ridiculous. I couldn't sit all the way up because it would put too much pressure on my ribs, but leaning against the bed made it dig into my side and back no matter how many pillows the nurses stuffed around me.

Emmett was right though, she really didn't deserve it. She took really good care of me, always making sure I had everything I needed, even letting me get her off with my hand, even though it was against her better judgment. Then she embarrassed herself by going to an instructor, who was a doctor of mine, in order to ask if she could give me a blow job to release some of this tension that had been building steadily for well over a week. She even offered to try to do it for me, only to find that her suspicions were right. It did hurt too much when I would tense up. An orgasm would probably fucking kill me.

Maybe that was my fucking problem, cum buildup blocking the logic sensors in my brain. I mean I KNEW all of this about Bella. She'd been fantastic, taking care of me, and staying with me, even while she was suffering from the after effects of all the trauma she had experienced that day. But somehow, earlier tonight, that logical part of my brain that knew she was always being so good to me got blocked up. All I could feel was the utter annoyance of her constant presence, her intent scrutiny of me trying to figure out what I would need next, her constant hovering and offering to get me more water, or call for some food, or ask the nurse for my next round of pain meds. I just went into fucking overload, and instead of just nicely asking her for a little space and explaining my shit day, I fucking pouted like a three year old because she didn't ask about my day and then pushed her away like one of the sluts I had used in the past.

I wonder if they have meetings for guys like me? Hi,I'm Edward and I'm a chronicasshole. It would definitely provide a whole new meaning to the initials AA.

"Did she fall asleep okay? I mean she didn't call to talk to me yet, but I assume she's already asleep."

"Yeah, fucktard, I waited until she had cried herself to sleep before coming over here and read you the riot act." Just then, the phone began to buzz on his hip. He pulled it out and growled, staring over at me with narrowed eyes full of anger.

"And now Rose says she's already heard her wake up screaming twice with nightmares, thank you very much, jackass!"

I threw my hand in the air. "Fine, fine, I know I was an ass and hurt her feelings, but could you stop with the names already, it's getting fucking annoying."

He grunted in response as he attempted to type with his big fingers using the tiny buttons of his querty keyboard. Finally, he closed his phone and turned to me with a menacing smile.

"You fix this tomorrow, Emoward, or you're going to get a hell of a lot more than a one a.m. heart to heart. Got me?"

I nodded and watched him cross to the door and shut out the light, then closed the door behind him. The room fell into blackness and I just stared with wide open eyes into the darkness. I was a class A ass and I knew it. I really didn't know what the fuck I could do to fix this. I thought and thought before I finally picked up the phone sometime in the early morning hours just before dawn. I typed out a message awkwardly with my left hand.

Brlla, siorry i am jakass plz comew see me 2dauy durtingurluncgh i love u –E

It was piss poor texing, but hopefully she would figure out the message around my one handed typing bloopers. I closed my phone and settled back into the bed, getting as comfortable as the motherfucking cast from hell would allow me to. Eventually, my exhaustion and lack of sleep caught up with me as the darkness took me over.

I was awoken at seven, but fell back asleep immediately. At eight, the stream of doctors, nurses, therapists, and visitors began. Remembering what Emmett said about my reputation, I just kept my mouth shut, feeling worse about how I had treated Bella with each passing hour.

I watched the clock hopefully as noon came and went. I sighed, feeling defeated, when I finally took the lid off my meal. I groaned at the disgusting looking meat loaf, the mashed potatoes made from flakes and water, and the boring green jello cup. I picked up my fork and was just about to cut a piece off and force myself to chew and swallow, when my door creaked open and there in the doorway stood a frazzled looking Bella.

She shuffled into the room, looking intently at her feet, before settling into the ugly plastic chair across the room. She pulled a sub sandwich out of the bag in her hand.

"That looks a hell of a lot more appetizing than this plate of what they are passing off as food. Wanna trade?"

She looked up with sad eyes before shaking her head. Picking up the sandwich, she took a big bite out of the end, chewing. All the while, she never really looked at me, driving me about a million times more crazy than her watching my every move had been.

"Bella, stop. Please look at me..."

She glanced up shyly though her lashes and my heart thudded in my chest.

"I'm really sorry for the things I said last night. I had a shitty day and I took it out on you. What I really should have done was just told you about my day and asked you to send away the visitors, taking some time for myself. Instead, I wasted all my patience on the random guests and then took every fucking thing out on you. I'm so sorry for that. You didn't deserve it at all, and I am so sorry."

She sighed and nodded before taking another quiet bite of the sandwich, chewing slowly.

"I guess it's true what they say," I continued after a stretch of silence filled only with the chewing of the food in our mouths, "you really do mistreat the ones you love the most. I'm sorry, baby. Can you come here please?"

She looked up at me hesitantly before finally setting down her sandwich and crossing the room to sit timidly on the side of the bed. I reached out, grabbing her hand and squeezing hard. I brought her knuckles to my lips.

"I want to make one thing abundantly clear, okay? I needed some space from everyone and everything for just a little while, but believe me when I say that it was in no way a rejection of you. I may have been annoyed about a few things. I really need you to explain to me why you didn't tell me about the stuff Tanya admitted to you last Thursday sometime, later on, when we have more time. But you deserved for me to tell you what was wrong, not for me to pout like a baby and basically bully you out of the room. Trust me when I say I WAS NOT rejecting you at all. I want you forever, in every single way, and someday soon I'm going to ask you if you'll have me the same way for the rest of your life as well."

I couldn't help but smile as her eyes widened in surprise and her mouth dropped open at my confession. I already knew she was the one for me. I made up my mind that day while she was trapped in a room with a lunatic that I was going to ask her to marry me as soon as I could, but at the time, I didn't know I'd be stuck in a fucking plaster cast for six weeks either.

Since then, I've had over a week to plan, strategize, and evaluate my ideas. It's been one of the few things that had helped me keep my sanity. That was especially true during those long drawn out days since she'd started back to work, when it was just me and the parade of medical assholes, or the long boring nights when she was away from me, staying at Em and Rosalie's.

I knew for a fact that I was not going to be proposing while I was still trapped in this damned cast, so it would still be a couple of months yet. When I did ask her, it would be in a far more romantic setting than on the side of my hospital bed while I was actively resisting the urge to grab the nearest long, straight, rigid piece of material I could find and use it to scratch my back and chest underneath the cast. But teasing her with the fact that my mind was going in that direction was too good an opportunity to pass up.

After a while, her eyes narrowed again as she ripped her hand out of mine, worrying me that she was going to storm out for a second until she moved it and her other to cup my cheeks.

"Don't you ever fucking do that to me again, Edward," she whispered with venom in her voice. "From here on out, you fucking talk to me, do you understand? We have to communicate the good and the bad. If I piss you off, then tell me about it. Dr. Kellison and I were just talking about that on Monday. We're going to annoy one another, it's just a part of life, and we're going to argue and fight and bicker. That's all part of any healthy relationship, but I swear to god, Edward, if you throw that fucking wall up again and shut me out completely like you used to do, I will walk out that door and never come back. I won't go back to that. Do you understand?"

My heart was thundering so hard in my chest, I could feel it in my face and hear it in my ears. She was totally fucking serious. I nodded with wimpy ass tears collecting in my eyes.

"I understand, Bella. I'm sorry. I didn't do it on purpose, though. I've done this shit for years, it's not like I can turn it all off overnight. I don't want to lose you because of this shit. You are far too important to me."

She cut off my ramble by placing her finger on my lips. "I'm sorry, maybe saying it that way was a bit too harsh. I'm not going to walk out over one fight, but I'm serious, Edward. You start rebuilding that wall, keeping yourself hidden behind it all the time again, and we won't survive this. I love you and I don't want to go anywhere, but I also know that I'm not going to cling to this relationship alone while you shut yourself off from the world and hope that you come back to me. I need you here with me, working on us, not pushing me away and hiding. If you need your space, that's fine, but just tell me that instead of pushing me away and hurting me to do it. Okay? Talk to me BEFORE you reach the boiling point and start yelling."

I nodded.

She leaned down, touching her forehead to mine and I felt the warm hum of the comfort that can only come from Bella vibrating in my body, calming my stressed out mind, and exhausted body. Suddenly, I felt like punching myself in the fucking nose. I pushed her away out of habit, but really, what I needed was for her to be with me just like this. To allow her to comfort me the way that only she could. I really was a fucking retard!

BPOV

I walked into the building this morning feeling like I was already six feet under. I walked in a sleepy haze, only slightly cheered by the text from Edward, but more worried that he was going to have another whiplash force mood swing and end up metaphorically punching me in the gut again.

I walked through morning rounds in a haze. My discordant mind made charting much more daunting than usual, taking me longer than it should have. It was already nearly 12:30 when I finally made it to Edward's room.

I walked in feeling tense, hesitant, and down right hurt, but I walked out half an hour later feeling much lighter and pleased that we had actually communicated on an adult level. Now let's hope we could do that before the fireworks and hurt feelings the next time we start to frustrate each other.

I made my way back up to the peds wing to find Angela working vigilantly on the paperwork spread before her. When I walked up to the desk, she looked up at me with a bright smile and a wink.

"Good morning, Bella. I think you are going to have a much better day today. Carmen came in this morning completely livid. She pulled Peters into her office for a full half an hour this morning. I assume Eleazar informed her of the whole situation at home, because I didn't even have to say a word. I don't know if I told you this, but Carmen is the head of Peds and Peters technically works for her. I don't know what was said, but when they walked out, Peters looked pissed and was pouting. Carmen informed me that she would be personally taking over your orientation for the rest of this week. She told me to send you directly to her office. It's the last one down the hall to your left."

I smiled brightly at Angela, thanking her, before making my way down the hallway toward Dr. Salazar's office door. I stood in front of it, admiring the beautiful golden plaque hung on the doorway, engraved with her name in an elegant Old English looking script with a rose vine encircling her name. I studied it for a few minutes before lifting my hand to knock, but a voice interrupted me before my hand hit the door.

"It was a present from my husband last year. I think it's absolutely beautiful. He's really good with gifts."

I turned around to see a gorgeous woman with caramel skin and salt streaked raven colored hair. She had a soft expression in her espresso colored eyes and a small but genuine smile playing on her lips. She looked at me over the top of her crescent shaped eye glasses as she reached out a hand for me to shake.

"Dr. Carmen Salazar, but I ask all of my colleagues to call me Carmen. I find it keeps you from getting overly cocky if you don't try to elevate yourself with a fancy title. Am I correct in assuming you are Dr. Isabella Swan?"

I smiled, "Please call me Bella. It's a pleasure to meet you, Dr., uh, C..Carmen."

She smiled and chuckled, reaching past me to grasp the doorknob as I shifted out of her way, following her into the small space. There was a wall sized window directly across from us. To the left of the door sat a small love seat, while the remainder of the walls were covered in book shelves that were completely full and overflowing. A rather large wooden desk sat, dark and stately, in the middle of the room, free of clutter and only holding a computer monitor, keyboard, pencil holder, and telephone.

"Please, come in and have a seat," Carmen said as she gestured toward one of the two black office chairs sitting on the near side of the desk.

I settled into one and she settled into the large leather chair behind the desk with a sigh. She leaned back leisurely with her hands crossed.

"I want to begin by apologizing for your experience yesterday. There really is no excuse for the man. He, quite simply, is a pretentious ass."

I chuckled and she smiled.

"I have to say though; you did an astounding job with the closet. I'm sure you were pissed as hell, but you definitely did the job you were given to the best of your ability. I have never seen any closet in this hospital ever look that organized and professional. So I give you high praise for your organizational skills."

She chuckled again, shifting to type on her keyboard as she continued to ask me questions about myself and get to know me. Ten minutes later, she stood up and started heading toward the doorway, motioning for me to follow as she continued talking.

"I know you haven't gotten to this point in your training yet, so it will take you a bit longer than is typical for you to transition. When you work on your specialty floor as you begin your Residency, you are not under the constant supervision that you were at the intern level. Technically, though, you are still not a Resident until you pass your intern exam in a couple of months, so we're going to have to create some sort of alternative protocol when it comes to your time here. You will not be under the constant scrutiny of anyone else here, but I do want you to report on a daily basis to myself. In the event that you run across a major event issue that would require more intense scrutiny, or you feel that patient may need transferred to the ICU, I want you to page a senior staff member as back up. Do you understand?"

I nodded and mumbled a "Yes Ma'am," to which she rolled her eyes, but continued down the hallway.

"The area you will be spending most of your time is the infectious diseases ward. Here you will encounter mostly strong bacterial or viral cases being treated with the utmost attention to isolation protocols. You also will find that many of the cases you encounter on this ward have additional health concerns, which usually leave the child more susceptible to infection. Our most common is…"

"Cystic Fibrosis," I interrupted unintentionally, as I followed along with her train of thought.

She smiled brightly at me with a twinkle in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," I continued, "Dr. Cullen gave me some information to help me be prepared for my time here. I also went online to look into some of the most recent research, just to be on top of things as much as possible."

She smiled again, shaking her head. "Well, well, well, you really are a shining star. I had thought Carlisle might be embellishing a little, but I was most definitely mistaken."

"I'm going to go with you today and introduce you to several of our patients. Until we figure out the best way to handle you, I'm just going to have you checking up on them in the afternoons. You and I, or you and another attending on staff will do a short evaluation at the end of the shift to sort of stand in for the basic rounding that you miss out on in the mornings. Once you are released to work in the ER again, you will still be coming here in the afternoons and only working ER rounds during code reds and your graveyard rotations. After I show you around today, I'll leave you at a station so you can better acquaint yourself with the patient's histories."

I followed her to a large door, mimicking her actions as we pulled on gowns, masks, used antibacterial gel on our hands and then placed latex gloves on our hands.

"Eric is a CF patient who was admitted in order to gain control over his diabetes, but during his treatment he contracted a Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. In fact, all of the patients you will be meeting today have the same infection in various stages of recovery. What can you tell me about Pseudomonas aeruginosa?"

"It is a really nasty bacterium which can affect any body system. CF patients are highly susceptible to Pseudomonas infections because it is an opportunistic organism, taking hold in a compromised patient. It is also an organism that has a history of being highly resistant to most strains of antibiotics. If a CF patient gets this infection, their fatality rate can be as high as 50%. The strains usually present in CF patients can be nearly impossible to cure due to antibiotic resistance. The class of antibiotics most frequently used for Pseudomonas are Fluoroquinolones, like Levaquin or Ciprofloxacin. Typically, upon first sign of infection, a patient is placed in isolation, sputum cultures are sent to the lab, and IV antibiotics are started immediately. Lab cultures take 24-48 hours to grow, and it is standard to do a test for antibiotic resistance at the same time. A patient with an intractable Pseudomonas infection would probably end up intubated, sedated, and possibly be on an oscillator, which is a special kind of ventilator that keeps lungs completely inflated with oxygen to maximize the amount of oxygen able to reach the lungs. It is one of the last ditch efforts we use before we have to give up."

Carmen smiled brightly at me with a large nod, "Impressive, Bella, very impressive indeed. None of our patients that you will be meeting today are in anywhere near that precarious of a position. All, so far, seem to be responding to treatment. We are a highly vigilant hospital and tend to catch such things early. Eric has been struggling a little more lately and is getting a bit restless. Let's go in and meet him shall we?"

She opened the door that led to a room containing the sickly young man. Several loud machines kept track of his heart rate and respirations and the low hiss of the oxygen being pumped into his nasal canula met my ears.

"Good afternoon, Eric. How are you feeling?" Carmen chimed as she walked to Eric's bedside. I followed her example while listening intently.

"I'm feeling a little better, Dr. S," Eric rasped weakly while shooting curious looks at me from the side of his eyes. Eric was a fourteen year old Cystic Fibrosis patient who had a laundry list of admits in his case history on the screen in front of me that I was scanning while Carmen conversed with him. The poor boy most definitely knew the ropes of this place by now.

"Good, good. I'd like to introduce you to Dr. Swan. She's a medical student who will start working on this floor this week. You will be one of the patients that I will be assigning to her, so be nice and help her out if she gets a bit confused, okay?"

She winked at me from up by his head as he beamed at me from the bed. "Be happy to, Dr. S. It's nice to meet you, Dr. Swan."

I smiled down at him. "It's nice to meet you too, Eric."

Carmen continued discussing with Eric, asking him if he'd received his afternoon antibiotic dose yet and if he had ordered his supper yet as she read the machines, making notes on the chart that hung next to the equipment. I knew all of this information was more or less in his chart, but rather she was giving him some power and control in his powerless situation. I smiled to myself at how grateful I was to be working with such a compassionate doctor who had such an amazing bedside manner. I was definitely going to learn a lot from her! I watched as she crossed to the computer, inputting the information there. I watched every move intently, wanting to be sure not to miss any important details.

She chatted casually with him while making surreptitious observations; scanning his urine output levels on the screen and the notation that the nurse had made suggesting ordering a urinalysis with a suspicion of a urinary tract infection. I watched Carmen type in the order while keeping up the conversation with Eric. She walked over to him, ruffling his hair as she asked him if he'd gotten to see the new Harry Potter movie before he was admitted and then spending a few minutes discussing the plot and how he felt it compared to the book before bidding him goodbye.

I waved and then we stepped out of the room, removing our gowns and placing them in the disposal bins on the other side of the doorway, utilizing the antibacterial gel again, before moving on down the hallway.

She led me from room to room for the next two hours. Carmen had a special rapport with each child, taking the time to talk to them about their interests and making her visit less of a boring and invasive examination and more of a social visit between friends. All the while, quietly evaluating and making notes in the computer of her finds. I watched her in awe with more than a small bit of hero worship. She was amazing and every child beamed at her when she walked into each room.

At the end of the hall, she stopped me before we entered the next room.

"Charlotte is a new case. Typically, CF is found in infancy, but she was only diagnosed recently. Do you have any theories why that would be?"

"There could potentially be several reasons, but most likely is the fact that the sweat test results for CF can be inconclusive. It is possible to have a milder case of CF, which could be misdiagnosed as asthma, reactive airway disease, or just a history of pneumonias, "chest colds", etc. A misdiagnosis of that sort could take many years to catch on to, because most pediatricians would not automatically go to CF immediately, since in most cases it would have been caught much, much earlier."

Carmen nodded again with a sly wink and then continued the process of gowning up.

"That is true in Charlotte's case. When she continued to get worse and worse, the doctors finally put two and two together, but by that time, she was in pretty bad shape. She is really struggling with the symptoms while we try to find the right combination of medications to balance her out and allow her to live a normal life. Unfortunately, while she was here, she developed the same strain of Pseudomonas that Eric has and had to be moved to this unit. She's only six and is very scared, bored, and just frustrated with everything. She tends to be a little sour towards everyone, so just be prepared."

I smiled brightly, knowing exactly what she was talking about as I dressed along side her and accepted the face mask she handed me. We stepped into the room as she began to speak to the small child on the bed with a muffled voice.

She continued the same in this room as she had the rest, but this was the first child I had seen who didn't reciprocate or become involved with her banter. The little girl scowled at her sheet, taking staggered breaths through her nose, sucking the oxygen through the canula and coughing occasionally as the oxygen irritated her respiratory passageways in spite of the humidity added to ease the irritation. The only time she looked up or responded was when Carmen introduced me.

I smiled stupidly behind my mask, knowing she couldn't see for the cloth, but hoping she could at least see it in my eyes. She narrowed her eyes at me and snarled in my direction as she crossed her arms in a huff.

"Do I really have to have ANOTHER doctor? I already have so many, Dr. Carmen."

Carmen smiled and smoothed a hand over her hair, but the girl recoiled from her touch.

"She's a student, Charlotte, and working with little girls like you will help her learn to be a really good doctor. Do you think you can help her learn to be a good doctor?"

She snorted and shook her head with an eye roll. This poor little girl was so jaded already. The look in her eyes spoke volumes. For such a young little thing, this child was most definitely depressed, as she had reason to be. If Edward thought it was bad being stuck in bed all day in a cast, he had nothing compared to this little girl who had already spent three months in this hospital, trying to get better, and yet meeting barricade after barricade in her path to getting well.

Carmen finished her work, typing furiously on the computer with a scowl, the first I had seen all day. I shifted myself to look over her shoulder and joined her in frowning as we examined her latest test results. Her white blood cells were getting almost dangerously high. Her body was trying to fight it off with the assistance of the antibiotics, but in doing so, it was pretty much over producing, which could be bad as well. Yet Charlotte was showing no outward signs of improvement, in spite of all of her body's hard work. I sent up a silent prayer that she wouldn't have to be shipped off to the ICU for intubation and sedation. I just met the girl, but I was already desperate for her to get better.

We stood a bit longer, examining her chart, and attempting to chat with the girl before finally making our way toward the door. While Carmen headed toward the door, I returned to Charlotte's bedside, finally noticing that nobody was here with her. I felt bad for her. Carmen stopped at the door with her hand on the knob and watched as I reached down to pat her hand as she yanked it away.

"It was really nice to meet you today, Charlotte. I'm sorry you are stuck in this bed all the time like this. My boyfriend is down on the third floor right now in the same boat. He has a cast covering his whole chest and the upper half of his right arm. He's really cranky too, because he's tired of not being able to get up and the cast makes him all itchy. So, I sort of understand why you're not in the mood to talk, but if you decide you would like some company some time, I might be able to persuade my brother to loan me his PSP for a day. Maybe we could have a tournament or something and hang out. Would you be interested in something like that?"

Her scowl morphed for a nearly imperceptible moment into something else I didn't recognize before it settled back into a scowl and she shrugged. "Maybe."

I smiled and clapped my hands once rubbing them together lightly. "Nice! I am going to enjoy taking you on. What do you like to play? My brother is a video game head, so if you have a favorite, he probably has it."

She smiled lightly, fiddling with the edge of her blanket, before looking up through her eyelashes at me. "I really like Lego Star Wars II, do you think he has that?"

I smiled brightly and pumped my fist in the air, "Yes he does. I happen to rock at it, so you better bring your A game, missy!"

She giggled a little and reached over to pull her table closer, picking up a crayon and scribbling on the page a little.

"I'm really good, so maybe you should be the one bringing your A game."

I smiled and patted her shoulder, glad she didn't pull away. "You're on, kid. I have an appointment after work tomorrow and then I have to go have supper with my whiney boyfriend in his itchy cast, but the next afternoon I could maybe hang out for an hour or so after my shift if you'd like."

She smiled and nodded.

I turned and walked toward the door to see Carmen staring at me with warm, and surprised, yet pleased eyes. After we left the room, we threw away the masks, gowns, and gloves and used the antibacterial gel on our hands. Carmen smiled at me brightly.

"I have yet to see someone make that child smile. Good job, Bella!"

I blushed and thanked her. "So does she spend a lot of time alone during the day?"

Carmen sighed, "Unfortunately. When she first came, her mother took time off and was with her constantly, but eventually she ran out of leave from work. The Carrington's also have two other children that they have to be careful with. Once she moved into the ID ward, they haven't even been able to visit at all. She went from having her whole family around constantly to being alone most of the time. Her mother and father trade nights and come from eight to nine to spend time with her, but beyond that, she's alone. The nurses try to spend extra time with her, as well as volunteers, but she really doesn't encourage them to come back. It's really sad."

I sighed. "Yes, it is. I'm glad she was receptive to my idea then. I could use a break from my crabby boyfriend for an hour or two myself!"

We both chuckled as we made our way back to her office where she explained that starting tomorrow afternoon I would be checking in with the kids I met today on my own. If I needed any help or found something confusing or any results or conditions worrisome, I was to come find her in her office.

She took me into the doctor's lounge, settling me at the work station there. She had me log into the system, guiding me to the chart section, and pointing out the children I had met today. She gave me a list of others she wanted me to acquaint myself with since I would start working with them later in the week.

I thanked her and felt myself smiling hugely as I buried myself in the computer screen, learning all I could about the patients. I took time to analyze their newest lab results, noting with concern that both Charlotte and Eric had worrisomely low O2 levels during the last two pulse ox readings. I made a little note in my pocket notebook to check the levels again first thing in the morning.

After a couple of hours, I had read through all of the patient charts suggested by Carmen and had run across one more that intrigued me. She was a sixteen year old girl named Katie who had a particularly rough early start, but had eventually found the right combination of medications to keep her fairly healthy. She was in this time to received IV antibiotics for an infection she had picked up from school that had settled into a less troublesome form of pneumonia. I found myself wondering if she and the rest of these kids were once in Charlotte's shoes, feeling alone, isolated, and frustrated with this disease that seemed to keep knocking them down. I looked at the clock, realizing how late it was getting, and logged off the system. As I gathered my belongings, I contemplated asking some of my other kids if they had any suggestions of things that might help Charlotte without giving away any important information that would violate any privacy laws.

My mind was a flurry of ideas and theories as I made my way back down to the locker room where I showered immediately, not wanting to risk taking any contaminants to Edward with his fresh lung wounds. I changed into some comfortable yoga pants and a tank top before going to his room.

I walked in to find him sprawled out on the bed, one leg peeking out from under the covers, as he chatted happily with his parents. When they heard me, they all looked my way, smiling and I beamed back at them.

"Hey beautiful! Was today better than yesterday?"

I rushed to his bedside and slid into the bed next to him, placing a gentle peck on his lips before letting out a contented sigh.

"Much better, I think I'm really going to love working there."

I turned to Carlisle, "Carmen is Amazing! I think she is my new hero!"

He chuckled and nodded before asking what happened yesterday.

I frowned, not sure if I should share. I finally ended up telling him about my encounter with Dr. Peters, earning a frown and a low growl from him. I continued on with Angela's account of Carmen handling the situation with a firm hand, and he smiled a bit, chuckling quietly.

"Well, if anyone could set him straight, it would be Carmen. There's a reason why she's head of peds. She's great with the kids, but she's not afraid to take a strong hand with the attendings if they get too big for their britches."

I smiled in acknowledgement before the conversation shifted to other things. Finally, they left, leaving Edward and I alone. I settled into the recliner next to his bed. I lay on my side, facing him in his bed. He turned his face to look at me, intertwining our fingers.

"So your day was really good?"

I sighed, "Yeah, it was great. I'm going to be on my own a lot more up there. It will be a lot more pressure, but I'm excited. The kids are really amazing. Some of them have been in bed a lot longer than you, but most of them are still so upbeat, even with how crappy they must feel."

I noticed he dropped his chin a bit.

I chuckled. "That wasn't a jab at you, baby, just a stated fact. Oh, and by the way, I won't be here until late on Friday, either. One of my patients is pretty lonely. I'm trying to cheer her up, so I offered to hang out after my shift and play PSP with her. It was enough to actually earn a smile from her. Carmen said that she never smiles, so that made me feel good."

I watched him sigh gently and then smile at me. "You're a good person, Bella Swan. I love you so much."

I chuckled and rubbed my thumb along the back of his knuckles. "I love you too, Edward, but now we both need a chance to catch up on some much needed sleep that we missed last night. I know we have to talk about the Tanya situation. I promise that we can tomorrow at lunch, or tomorrow night, or something, but I'm just too tired to get into it tonight, is that okay?"

He nodded and pushed a lock of hair out of my eyes.

"Okay…goodnight love," he whispered gently as he pushed the button on his controller to shut off the light above his bed.

"Goodnight, baby."

So do you guys forgive me yet for leaving you hanging at the end of last chapter wondering why Edward was being such a jerk? I hope so. I know it was mean, but I sort of wanted everyone to feel the same "what the hell just happened" confusion that Bella felt when she left the room, having no clue what caused Edward to be like that.