Disclaimer: You all know I'm not Stephenie Meyer by now…nuff said.

Special thanks as always to my betas Sassenach Wench and Sihaya 9. And also a special thanks to Kimpy for once again helping me smooth out my medical stuff, sometimes I can't incorporate everything because it would mess with what I want to happen in the story, but I stayed as close as possible to her suggestions. Thanks again for all of your reviews/faves. You guys keep me encouraged to keep on writing!

Warning, this is another stressful, emotional, heavily medical chapter. Hope you enjoy!

ConcerningCharlotte

BPOV

Edward being home was both a blessing and a curse. He was much happier being away from the hospital, but I didn't like that I wasn't able to have lunch with him. I missed spending a little time connecting and unwinding before my afternoon with the kids began. Even when he was being a cranky jerk half the time, I really missed being able to spend time with him during the day.

I guess another blessing was that it gave me more free time to try to get my Christmas shopping done. This year, I was failing our local economy by doing all my shopping online since I had absolutely zero time to actually get out to the stores and fight the crowds. I did miss wandering Michigan avenue and seeing all the lights and decorations for the season though. I promised myself I would try to get into the Water Tower shopping center at least once before the season was over, just to get my yearly fix of the holiday cheer I always felt there.

Everyone else was taken care of except for Edward. I just couldn't think of anything good enough to give him. Well that's not entirely true. I already planned on giving him what he wanted most of all...me...tied up in pretty red lingerie, a big bow holding it together for him to unwrap. He had reached the point where he could safely receive pleasure and we had spent several nights since his homecoming exploring the ways he could safely give me pleasure, but we still hadn't actually had sex yet. We both desperately needed to feel that connection that hands and mouths just can't replace.

Edward had gone in earlier this week to get his cast replaced. The doctors had been so impressed with the progress of his bones healing that they granted him mercy and provided him with a hard plastic brace he had to wear instead of a full plaster cast. He was now able to remove it to shower and had even broken the rules by taking it off for a cuddle session or two. I was still erring on the side of caution, though.

Earlier this week, I had caught one of my friends, a third year resident who had been assigned to Edward, to ask her if more physically exerting activities would be safe as long as we were cautious. She agreed that we should be okay, so I made my plans for Christmas Eve...our first Christmas Eve together in our apartment, on our own. We had plans with everyone else to be at Carlisle and Esme's Christmas day, but Christmas Eve was all ours.

Now, I'm sure if you asked Edward, he would say he didn't want anything beyond what I already planned on giving him. Actually, I'm pretty sure that if you asked him right now, he would say that if he spent his entire fortune on gifts for me and all I gave him was me in that red negligee that he would still be coming out ahead.

He was quite simply that horny, but I really wanted to give him something extra special that he could open in front of our friends and family. Something that would show him how much I love him, but the truth of the matter is that such a thing doesn't exist. Nothing seemed to fit. I was getting so completely discouraged that it wasn't even funny.

I sat staring at the computer screen in the doctor's lounge with my face resting against my fist in a full on juvenile pout as Alice came floating by, settling into the seat next to me.

"Still haven't found the right gift for Edward?"

I sighed and whimpered slightly, "No, and Christmas is less than a week away. I don't know what to do, Ali."

She sighed with me, resting her head against her fist like me. Finally, she turned to me with a wide smile.

"You haven't gone out for any real shopping this year yet have you, Bella?"

I shook my head and she began bouncing in her chair clapping her hands.

"Then come with me tonight to the Water Tower, Bella. You have to go before the season is over or it won't feel like Christmas at all. Maybe you'll find the perfect thing if you go and look in person!"

I sighed and looked at the clock. It was a Thursday, so I didn't have an appointment with Dr. Kellison. Edward would probably be a little disappointed that I wasn't home right away, but since this was one of his busiest days with a physical therapy session in the morning and his respiratory therapy in the afternoon, he could probably use a couple of hours of peace and quiet.

After contemplating a few more minutes, I turned to Alice with a small smile, "Okay, Ali, let's do it."

She jumped up, squealing and chattering nonstop about the stores we should hit. I groaned, wondering what on earth I got myself into. I picked up my cell to text Edward, letting him know I was going to be late because I had to finish my Christmas shopping. He responded that he was jealous and wished he could get out too, but then told me to have fun.

I was just about to go up to the floor for my rounds when Tanya came storming into the lounge, looking panicked. Her eyes rested on me and she appeared to relax a bit as she made her way straight over to us.

She stood before us, wringing her hands and looking pale and worried.

"What's wrong, Tanya? You look like you've just seen a ghost."

She shook her head and looked down at the cloth she was twisting between her hands before looking up at us with pleading eyes. Knowing there were prying ears all around, we stood up and led her out of the room and into a supply closet across the way to talk in peace.

"I screwed up so bad you guys. I...I don't know...I'm so scared." Tears welled in her eyes as she continued to fidget with the cloth in her hands.

Alice rubbed her back gently, "It's okay, Tanya, what's wrong?"

"It's so humiliating!" She blurted and rubbed roughly at her moist eyes. "I'm so embarrassed, and I don't want to know, but I know I have to find out and make sure. We used a condom, but then there were other things that I was stupid about..."

"Tanya, what are you talking about?"

She sighed and buried her face in her hands. "I didn't even think about it until today when a patient was admitted with an STD and then it dawn on me how stupid I had been! James..."

I groaned when I finally put the pieces of her rant together.

She threw her head back and yelled out, "God, I'm such a stupid moron! I had sex with James during that time that he spent with me in my apartment, and now I'm worried that maybe I could have gotten something from him."

I took a deep breath and swallowed hard, knowing all the possibilities and potential ramifications of each in her pregnant state. She was panicking when really she could be fine. Just because he was a creep, didn't mean he would automatically be carrying some malicious disease or STD.

"Have you discussed it with your Obstetrician?"

She shook her head no.

"That would be the place to start. She should have tested you for everything when you first went to see her as precaution. She can quite easily run the tests again to make sure you are safe. If something does come up, then she should be the first one to know anyway. Come on," I said, guiding her down the hallway with my arm around her shoulder as Alice held her hand on the other side, "OB is one floor below Peds. I can drop you on my way."

Alice walked with us to the elevators and then watched as we got on a car going up. I got off with Tanya on the floor and walked her to the nurse's station, explaining only the necessary parts of the situation. I directed Tanya to call her OB office and let them know I was leaving the orders for the tests with the nurses. That way all her doctor needed to do was call to verify my orders and then they could run them and be all set.

I left her as she spoke to her OB office with shaky hands from one of the triage cubicles before making my way back to the elevators and up to the peds floor. I was running a little late, but not too terribly far behind. Considering that I made my 'consult' rounds with the kids unassisted, it wasn't like I was holding anyone up by my tardiness.

I walked straight to Carmen's office to apologize, only to find she wasn't in, so I headed to the lounge terminal to check the latest chart stats for Charlotte and Eric before I got into their rooms. I walked in to find the boy's club eating lunch while sitting around on their phones and at a couple of terminals talking to their practice offices and in a few cases discussing surgical consults. Most ignored my presence or gave me small polite smiles...all except Dr. Peters and his small band of cronies who shot me death glares across the room.

I settled in and had barely logged on when I heard his gruff voice behind me. "A professional gets to their floor on time, Swan."

"Not that it is any of your business, Dr. Peters, but I had a medical situation that held me up from getting on the floor in time."

He scoffed and I looked up to see his sneer boring into my face.

"Taco day in the cafeteria is not what I would call a medical situation."

I bit the inside of my cheek hard and could taste the coppery essence on my tongue as I drew blood. I slowly counted to ten in my head, attempting to cool the anger before I replied, trying as hard as I possibly could to keep my cool.

"Dr. Peters, I know you don't think much of me, but you have no right to treat me with such ill regard. Basic colloquial manners dictate that if you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all, so I am choosing to end this conversation now. If you will excuse me, I have patients to check on."

With that, I pushed the power button on the terminal I was working at so I wouldn't have to wait for the full logout protocols. I stood up from my chair, grabbed my notebook and stethoscope, and turned to walk out of the room once again with my head held high. I heard him mumble something as I left the room and a low rumble of several of the room's inhabitants chuckling in response.

For once, I didn't feel like I was on the verge of tears after his little episode, but I did feel frustration and anger. I pumped my fists, trying to release my angry tension on my walk down the hallway toward the nurse's station where I was sure Angela would let me log onto her computer real quick to check out the stats before I began seeing the kids. I was halfway down the hallway when I heard a warm male voice calling my name behind me.

I froze, turning slowly to see the tall dark skinned man with mostly gray hair approaching me. He was very tall and slender with a long angular face within which was set a pair of narrow eyes. I was halfway expecting another salvo from the boy brigade, but when he finally reached me, I realized that his eyes held a kindness that I hadn't expected. It was then that recognition dawned on me and I smiled slightly.

"Dr. Salazar, how can I help you?"

"Eleazar, please...I, like my wife, prefer to be called by my first name."

I nodded and pointed to myself, "Bella."

He smiled, "As much as I'm loath to admit it, you'll just have to expect to face this kind of attitude from some of these men on the days when Carmen is away. They keep straight when she's around because they don't want to face her wrath, but the second the cat goes away, the mice get...let's just say, snippy."

I chuckled and nodded.

He smiled back warmly. "If you have any issues today, feel free to come to me. I should be around all afternoon."

"Thank you, Eleazar."

I settled into the nurse's station behind Angela and checked out the vitals on a few of my patients, but in particular Eric and Charlotte, before beginning to work my way around the ward. I started with Eric who was looking and feeling much better these days. The nasal canula was no longer necessary and even without it, his pulse ox levels were consistently at 96 to 98 percent.

"Hey there, Ho there, little Dr. S." He had taken to calling me either little or mini Dr. S because both Dr. Salazar and I had last names that started with S and I was smaller and younger.

I chuckled as I approached his bed. "Hey Eric, you seem to be feeling mighty fine today."

"I'm great, Dr. S. One more day of clear sputum cultures and I get to move back to a regular room for a day, and then hopefully, go back home since everything else is copacetic now too."

I nodded along, "I heard that Eric, that's so great. I'll miss you around here, but I really hope you get to go home for Christmas."

"Yeah, me too," he said wistfully before yanking his rolling tray over his lap and typing speedily on the keys. After a couple of seconds, he looked up with a smile. "So how's Edward doing? You said he got the cast off, right?"

I felt my smile widen behind my face mask. "Yeah, he's doing so much better. I still haven't figured out what to get him for Christmas yet. It's totally stressing me out, but beyond that we're great."

He nodded. "Good to hear little doc, but you better get cracking on that gift. You only have six more days, you know."

I growled behind my mask and looked over his chart again in more detail. "I know, I know. Don't remind me."

He snorted and turned back to his keyboard, typing at lightening speed.

"Whatcha doing on there, Er?" I asked

A big smile stretched across his face.

"Chatting with my girlfriend on AIM," he said, a beep rang from the computer and his smile widened.

"Eric Yorkie! We've been chatting for how many weeks now, I've told you all about Edward, and you've been neglecting to mention that you have a girlfriend? I'm hurt." I said grasping my chest melodramatically and slouching my shoulders.

He chuckled and spun the laptop around so I could see the screen. "Her name's Jessi and she goes to my school. We started dating at the beginning of the school year. I haven't gotten to see her in over a month, which really sucks."

I nodded and then waggled my eyebrows at him, "Well, on the plus side, if you're free and clear of all the infectious stuff then you can spend a nice long afternoon making up for lost make out time."

He blushed bright red and ducked his face. I almost felt sorry for embarrassing him, except that I knew he wasn't the type to stay embarrassed for long and he had certainly had his fair share of jabs at me over the past few weeks.

"Well, thankfully, there's such a thing as online shopping these days or I'd be stuck. I was able to get everyone, INCLUDING my girlfriend, something from the confines of this room. You get to leave every night, so you have no excuse. You need to get that gift things sorted and fast Mini S."

I laughed and shook my head slowly. "I'll do my best, Eric. Now go back to flirting with your girl and hopefully I'll see you tomorrow before you are moved off my wing."

"Okay, Dr. Swan. If somehow you don't see me, it's been great getting to know you."

I put my hand on his shoulder, "You too, Eric. It's been a pleasure."

I left his room with a slightly heavy heart. I was glad he was going home for Christmas, but I was going to miss that little booger. He always made me smile during my rotation.

I rushed myself slightly through Bree and Riley since they both seemed to be stabilized with no major changes and were otherwise occupied with phone calls and texting, not interested in talking today. Makenna was in a bad mood, but beyond that, she appeared to show improvement.

Katie was in a good mood as always and was excited for Christmas, even if she couldn't go home for it. I swear Katie was the bravest, sweetest girl I had ever known. Her boyfriend Garrett was sitting at her side teasing and laughing right along with us as we chatted. I always got the biggest kick out of those two. Eric and Katie were the two that always managed to make me laugh the most.

At the end of the hall was the one patient that I always saved for last so I could spend the most time possible visiting until the end of my shift. I slipped into full coverage and stepped into Charlotte's room to find my favorite respiratory therapist, Sue, arguing with Charlotte about taking her nebulizer treatment. Charlotte hated it because it reeked of a sulfur type scent that smelled strongly of rotten eggs.

"Please, Char, just take the treatment honey. You know you need it to get better."

"No!" Charlotte shouted her face, turning reddish purple in her anger. "It stinks, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and it's not helping. Nothing is helping!" She gasped hard in her anger and I heard a disturbing wheezing tightness in her breath, she obviously wasn't moving very much air.

I rushed to her bedside, making sure the nasal canula was still in place and connected properly before hitting the reset button on the pulse ox machine to get a fresh reading, guessing that for whatever reason it wasn't getting an accurate reading. I threw my stethoscope in my ears, pressing the pad to her back through the opening in her gown. Her breath sounds made me anxious just before the beeping of the pulse ox alarm made my heart stop. I looked up to see her O2 reading of 81...really not good, especially for someone already on oxygen. I moved to the flowmeter for the oxygen to add some pressure to keep her airways more open and listened to Charlotte's chest again. After a minute or two, I checked the pulse ox again to see her level had risen to 88, not great but better at least. It needed to get above 92 to be safe.

I rushed to the phone on the wall to page Eleazar and Charlotte's nurse Amy, only to be met a few minutes later with the phone ringing. It was Angela.

"Bella, what's going on?" I explained the situation and I heard her take in a sharp breath and answer with a tight voice. "Oh, Bella, he was called down to the ER. I hate to say it, but you'll have to page Peters."

I groaned, but ended the conversation with Angela. I sent out the page for Dr. Peters at the same moment that Amy flew into the room and began expertly sliding around Sue, checking stats with a frown.

A few minutes later, he walked in and glanced at me with an eye roll.

"Please, Dr. Peters," I begged from Charlotte's bedside as I held her hand, noticing she was trembling slightly, "I wouldn't have bothered you if I didn't believe it was urgent. Please hurry, it's Charlotte."

He crossed to her bedside as I explained what I had heard. I told him what her O2 levels were when already on 30% FiO2 and how they raised slightly but still not enough to be safe after I increased the output to 50%. I explained my fear that she might need to be transferred to the ICU for intubation and sedation, to which he nodded somberly at my side. He checked the flowmeter and put his own stethoscope to her back to listen to her respirations.

Dr. Peters may be a total jackass, but he was one hell of a diagnostician. He was quick and thorough. I couldn't help but marvel a bit at his unquestionable knowledge.

In a whirlwind of orders and calculations that Amy and I quickly proceeded to follow through with, Charlotte's O2 levels slowly rose above 92, leaving me slumping in relief. He wasn't happy with the FiO2 percentage. He was standing at the computer, updating her charts, while I sat talking to Charlotte, when I noticed there was more going on than simply her O2 levels.

As I sat holding her hand, I noticed her shivering a bit more noticeably. I had been too busy before to notice she appeared slightly jaundice. While I spoke with her, she seemed confused and a little lost, not really following the conversation. I slid my stethoscope in my ears again, listening to her heart a second before sliding the blood pressure cuff that was hanging on the wall next to her bed onto her arm and pumped the bulb, slowly releasing the pressure and listening for the change. These were all things that had led Amy to frown just a moment before, and now I knew why. I didn't have a thermometer handy, but I didn't need it because as soon as I rested my gloved hand on her forehead the heat radiating from her head made me pull away in surprise. If she didn't have a fever, then I didn't know what the term meant.

"It's okay, Charlotte, stay here a second, honey. I need to talk to the doctor."

I approached Dr. Peters while he spoke with the unsettled nurse who appeared to be arguing with him. I stepped into the conversation timidly.

"Excuse me, Dr. Peters, but I think there's more going on here than we originally thought."

"Thank you, Intern Obvious, but I think I have things under control, thank you."

"Excuse me, sir, but what do you think is going on?"

He sighed and rolled his eyes at me stating that Charlotte had been refusing her mucomyst for the past few days and the mucous build up in her respiratory tract was affecting her oxygen exchange. I sighed, beginning to question my earlier evaluation of his work. He wasn't wrong, but he was ignoring some other major symptoms.

"With all due respect, Dr. Peters, I think she's showing signs of Sepsis." I felt Amy grab my arm and squeeze in support. That must have been what they had been arguing over. "The signs are more subtle and probably only those of us who spend more time with her would pick up on it, but she's shivering, feverish, very slightly jaundice, confused, and her blood pressure is quite a bit lower than what is typical for her. I seriously believe that we need to begin running a CBC, urine culture and urinalysis, a venous blood gas, blood cultures, and sputum cultures and be prepared to begin treatment immediately. Also we should consider transferring her to the Pediatric ICU if it's as severe as I fear."

He narrowed his eyes at me, reacting more to my arguing with his diagnosis than truly taking in the facts before glancing over my shoulder at Amy and sighing.

"Nurse Morgan was just intimating the same suspicion." He sighed before clearing his throat. "Okay, Go ahead and draw up the labs and put a rush on them. In the meantime, she's already on antibiotics for the Pseudomonas, but it seems that they aren't sufficient, so let's up the dose. I'll enter the order in the computer. Nurse Morgan, please go get the medication, and Dr. Swan, since you have such a good rapport with the patient, how about you draw the labs while Nurse Morgan takes care of the antibiotic. I assume since you're fresh out of school you remember how to do that using a central line?"

I nodded and thanked him before exiting the room and dashing down the hall with Amy at my side. She dodged into the med room while I went a little further down to the supply room to collect the necessary vacuum tubes for blood collection, along with the swabs to collect the cultures, and a cup for urine collection. I returned to the room quickly, sitting them gently on the side of the cart as I put on a new set of gowns and walked in.

Amy was attaching the new bag of antibiotics.

I walked to the other side of the bed and began talking to Charlotte. I settled on the side of her bed, taking her arm and explaining what was going on, that the blood I was about to take would tell us how to help make her better. Amy offered to collect the blood since it would typically be her job, but I wanted to feel useful. I knew I would go crazy if I had to sit around twiddling my thumbs with nothing to keep my hands busy.

Charlotte started to cry in the whirlwind of things happening all around her. Once again, luck wasn't with poor Charlotte and another roadblock had flown between her and getting to go back home with her family. Eric might be going home for Christmas, but things were starting to look like poor Charlotte might end up missing Christmas altogether.

I sat with Charlotte the rest of the shift, only leaving long enough to go call her parents after volunteering to take on the duty. Even then, I insisted that Amy stay with her while I was gone. At five o'clock, the labs confirmed that Charlotte was in fact Septic and was being transferred down to the Pediatric ICU where she would be sedated and intubated. Tears rolled down my face when I watched them roll Charlotte down the hallway, away from the room that she had been in ever since I started working on this floor.

I heard a throat clear behind me and a hand on my shoulder; I turned to see Dr. Peters looking down at me with more gentleness than he had shown at any point since I first saw him several weeks ago.

"I forget what it's like to be young and idealistic. Years upon years in this job can make you lose sight of what's important. Good job today, Dr. Swan. I made sure you were put on her list of doctors in the ICU. You can stop in and see her whenever you like even though you technically shouldn't be allowed. I'm sure Dr. Cullen would not disagree."

"Thank you, Dr. Peters." He nodded and walked away, leaving me standing in the middle of the hallway outside of Charlotte's room, feeling completely drained and exhausted.

I texted Alice on the way down to the locker room, begging off on shopping, and asking if we could move it to Friday night or sometime Saturday.

You're burning days before Christmas, Swan, but I understand. Go home and rest with your man.

I thanked her, quickly showered, and rushed home to curl up in bed with Edward and try not to cry my eyes out for little Charlotte, who was now in for the fight of her little life. I recognized that I was getting too emotionally involved with my patient, which was a major no, no, but I just couldn't help myself.

(cringing) I know, I know…poorCharlotte, how could I? It's rough, but it will be important to Bella. Hope you enjoyed the medical drama. Our next chapter is the Christmas chapter…fyi ;) Please remember to review!