A/N: Oh, wow. I am stunned by the fabulous feedback I've been receiving. It is truly humbling and gives me warm fuzzies with each review alert I receive. You are all wonderful, and I wish I could answer you each personally. So, just know that I cherish each and every one of you. If you'd like to keep track of updates or be notified of teasers, follow me on Facebook under LisaDawn Fanfiction or on Twitter under (at)LisaDawn75. I'd love to talk to all of you on Facebook, so friend me!
Also, I want to send cyber hugs to my pre-reader and ficwife, EternallyCullen, and to my fantastic beta, Jenny Cullen, aka Jenrar, for all of their help.
And finally, my fabulous ficwife, EternallyCullen, and I have entered a one-shot contest, Showers to Flowers. Check it out and vote for your favorite! It's anonymous, but hopefully you can pick ours out! http: / thewrittenwordrevisited (dot) blogspot (dot) com/p/showers-to-flowers (dot) html?zx=8b2cf30fe8dcde23
"Bella!" Amanda yelled. "Phone's for you."
Bella picked up the receiver on her desk, a feeling of dread in her stomach at the small, flashing light. There was only one reason she would get a phone call at work that she could think of. She pushed the line that was on hold and said, "Hello?"
"Bella, it's April, at the school."
"What's wrong?" Bella asked. She could hear the underlying panic in April's voice.
"It's Matt. He was complaining of not feeling well, and when I took his blood sugar, it was too high to register on the monitor. He started vomiting and almost passed out, so I called an ambulance."
No… No! Please, God, don't do this to me!
"Okay, I'm on my way," she said, her voice quivering, and then hung the receiver up. She looked around wildly, spotting Sheila across the office.
"Sheila," she said, trying to hold her tears in. "The school just called. Matt's sugar went way up, and they're taking him to the hospital. I-I need to—"
"Go, go," she said, worry on her face. "I hope he's okay."
Bella grabbed her purse. "Thanks," she said, before running out the door. She jumped in her truck and sent up a quick prayer that it would start.
It did.
Thank you, God. Now, please, work one more miracle for me.
She sped to Forks Community Hospital, pushing as much speed she could get from her ancient truck. The engine loudly protested, and she again prayed that she would make it.
She was at the hospital within minutes and parked. She took off at a sprint to the Emergency Department entrance, almost smacking into the automatic doors when they didn't open quickly enough. She pushed through and ran to the admitting desk.
"Can I help you?" a bored redhead asked her.
Bella was panting. "Y-yes. I'm Isabella Swan. My son, Matthew, was brought in by ambulance from the elementary school."
"Oh, yeah. Go through those doors and let them know at the desk that you're here," she replied.
Bella nodded and waited impatiently for the double doors to open. She ran through them and up to a man who was at the nurse's station. She repeated the information and was almost sick at the expression on the man's face.
"Yes, Ms. Swan. Your son is back in Trauma Room two. Right this way."
Trauma room? Why a trauma room?
She followed him through the corridors, and tears flooded her eyes. Matthew was on a large gurney, which made him look even smaller than he was. He was hooked up to two IVs and had wires coming out from underneath his hospital gown. She saw they led to an EKG machine. His eyes were closed, and his breathing shallow.
"Where's the doctor?" she asked, her voice shaking.
"He'll be with you in a moment."
And then, she found herself alone with Matthew. She perched on the edge of the gurney and picked up his small hand. He was limp, and his eyes remained closed.
"Matt?" she said softly. "I'm here. Mom's here, and I'm not going anywhere."
His eyelids fluttered opened, and he looked at Bella. "Mom?" he whispered.
"Yes, baby. I'm here, and you're going to be fine."
"'Kay," he said, his voice rough, and he closed his eyes, slipping back into sleep.
Finally, after what seemed to be hours to Bella, a doctor came into the room. "Ms. Swan?" he asked.
She nodded.
"I'm Dr. Carrico. We're going to be moving your son up to the pediatric ward. We'll keep him overnight, and then let him go home tomorrow."
"What was his blood sugar level?" she asked.
Dr. Carrico flipped through a few pages. "It was fine… it was down to three hundred twenty eight."
Fine? In what world is that fine? Bella's eyes widened. "What was it when he came in?"
"Five seventeen."
She nodded numbly. "It was one hundred five this morning. Is there anything you can do? Can you get a specialist for him?"
He flipped the chart closed. "Sorry, but Medicaid won't pay for that unless it comes from his regular doctor. We've notified Dr. Ferguson, and he'll see your son tonight and in the morning to discharge him home. It'll be just a few minutes."
And with that, he was gone. Bella had a million questions that were unanswered.
After another hour of waiting, a nurse finally arrived to wheel Matt up to his room in the pediatric unit. Bella could not understand why he wasn't being placed in the ICU.
"Why is he going to the regular peds floor?" she asked.
The nurse shrugged. "The doctor ordered him to go to the floor."
"But he needs to be on an insulin drip! I know my son, and he could easily go into a diabetic coma," she said desperately.
The nurse sighed. "Ma'am, the ICU is already at capacity with Medicaid patients, and Dr. Carrico knows what he's doing. Don't worry about it."
Bella was fuming inside. Oh, how she wished she could unleash her anger upon them, but she reined it in. They were caring for her son, and she didn't want to make things worse.
They were soon settled into a semi-private room on the pediatric ward; Matt was still dozing off and on.
"How much insulin are you giving him?" she asked his new nurse, Julie.
She looked at her paperwork. "Two units of regular."
Bella shook her head. "That's not enough."
"Ms. Swan, I know that you're worried about your son, but I have to follow the doctor's orders. He'll be fine. Dr. Ferguson will be in soon and go over things with you," she said as she went to check the bags hanging on the IV pole.
After Julie left, Bella sank onto the hard couch that was in the room, putting her hands over her face. She could feel the tears leaking through her fingers, but didn't care. Her son could likely die while everyone in that fucking hospital was telling her it would be okay. Do they not understand that I've been dealing with this for years, and I know what's best for him?
She heard footsteps enter the room quickly and wiped her face. Dr. Ferguson, the doctor Medicaid had assigned Matthew, was at his bedside.
"Dr. Ferguson," she greeted. "I'm glad you're here." Maybe now he'll refer him to the fucking specialist!
He nodded, but did not return her greeting. "Well, it looks like his sugar got a bit too high, but we'll put him back on his sliding scale through tonight and tomorrow and give him some fluids to rehydrate him. You'll be able to go home in the morning."
She gritted her teeth. "What about an endocrinologist? Could one see him while he's here?" she asked hopefully.
He scribbled some notes in the chart and flipped it close. "He doesn't need one. I've dealt with diabetes for years, and he'll stabilize on his own. Don't worry about it," he said firmly, dismissing her.
"We are worried about it," a quiet, yet firm, voice said from the doorway.
Bella whipped her head around, to see Edward standing just inside the room. "Edward?"
Dr. Ferguson pulled his glasses down his nose and looked at Edward over the top of them. "And you are?"
"A family friend and Dr. Carlisle Cullen's son. This child needs to see a specialist, as soon as possible."
He sighed. "Do you know how expensive an endocrinologist is? Are you willing to let your tax dollars go for something like that?" he asked, his lip slightly curled in disgust. "Mr. Cullen, I try to save the state as much money as possible by taking care of problems myself."
Bella felt the tears pouring down her face at his brusque and uncaring tone.
Edward clenched his jaw before speaking. "Are you willing to forsake the oath you took and just let this child die?" he asked harshly.
"He's going to be fine. I've been seeing him for years."
"Yeah. And his blood sugars are so out of control that he is going to end up in a coma! We want a referral to an endocrinologist. More specifically, a pediatric one in Seattle."
Bella was watching the verbal sparring as if she was watching a tennis match. She was speechless, so she continued to let Edward do the talking.
"No, it's unnecessary."
Edward sighed and relaxed his posture a bit. "Fine. Then you're fired. Matthew will not need you as his doctor any longer, and if something happens to him, you'd better hope you have an excellent lawyer."
"You have no authority to do that."
Edward looked over at Bella. "Bella, what do you want?"
She nodded mutely, still unable to speak. Watching Edward come to her rescue was leaving her with a warm feeling inside. It was so nice to be able to rest and not be on the offensive all of the time.
Edward raised an eyebrow. "Then it looks to me like you are fired."
Dr. Ferguson glared at him. "Medicaid decides, not her," he said, pointing at Bella.
"Well, my father, Dr. Cullen, is his new doctor now, so don't worry about it."
"He can't bill for anything. I'm his Medicaid doctor."
Edward glared at him. "We don't give a damn about Medicaid. What we do care about is Matthew – the child in that bed. His services have been switched to my father, as of now." He jerked his head toward the door, letting Dr. Ferguson know he was dismissed.
Dr. Ferguson glared at them once more, before slamming the chart down on the bedside table. "Fine," he spat, and stomped out of the door.
Edward watched him go, and then shut the door. "Bella, are you okay?"
She started to nod, but then shook her head, sinking back down on the couch and burying her face in her hands. "Oh, Edward," was all she could say.
He sat beside her, gently wrapping one arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry, Bella. I hope I didn't overstep my bounds."
"N-no. Thank you. But is your father really going to see Matt?"
"Yes. He'll be up as soon as he leaves the office."
She turned her tear-filled eyes to Edward. "But I can't pay him. I can't…"
Edward squeezed her tightly against his side. "Don't worry about that. I meant what I said about him doing it, regardless."
She started crying again. Suddenly, she looked up at him. "How did you know where we were, anyway?"
"Dad called me, and I didn't want you to be here alone."
She breathed in a shaky breath. "T-thank you," she whispered.
"You're welcome," he said, leaning his head on hers. Her hair was silky, and the sensations it caused to his skin were very pleasurable.
Bella tentatively reached out to touch his hand, but she pulled back quickly. The same energizing spark was still there. What does that mean? And does he feel it? She sneaked a glance up at him and thought she saw surprise in his green eyes. She realized that maybe he had.
Why does that keep happening?
She pulled herself out of Edward's partial embrace and went to sit on Matthew's bed. He was still sleeping.
"Will your dad send him to a specialist?" she asked hopefully.
Edward nodded. "Yeah, we've already talked about it. He's in complete agreement that he needs specialized care."
Her eyes widened in realization. "But what if his card won't cover it because your dad isn't his Medicaid doctor? Shit," she whispered. "So close."
"Don't worry about that either, Bella."
"I'm not taking a pity handout, Edward."
He clenched his jaw again. "That's not what I'm offering. My father is good friends with a pediatric endocrinologist in Seattle. He said he'd see Matt without billing anything."
"I can't accept that," she responded automatically.
"You can, and you will. You know this is what Matt needs. You've been wanting it for years."
She quickly nodded. "I'll make payments." She would dance naked on the Space Needle, if it meant getting Matthew the care he truly needed.
He shrugged. "I'll leave that up to you and Dr. Taplin."
"Thank you, Edward," she whispered, looking at Matt while she talked. "Tell me he's going to be fine."
Edward walked up behind her and lightly placed his hands on her shoulders. He pretended not to notice her involuntary flinch at contact. "You're welcome. And he's going to be fine. Dad will be here any minute and get things straightened out."
At that moment, Carlisle Cullen entered the room. "Did I hear my name?"
"Dr. Cullen," Bella breathed with relief. "Thank you so much for agreeing to see Matt."
He smiled at her kindly. "Not a problem, Bella. Now, what happened?"
She recounted the day's events and the argument with Dr. Ferguson.
"Why isn't he in the ICU?" Carlisle asked with obvious surprise in his voice.
Bella shook her head. "They said in the ER that he didn't need it."
Carlisle disappeared for a few moments, returning with Julie, Matt's nurse. "I want him transferred to the ICU, immediately. He needs to be on an insulin drip, and we need to arrange transportation to Children's Hospital in Seattle."
She hesitated. "Dr. Cullen, he's Medicaid, so I don't know if that will all be authorized."
He gave her a stern look. "Did I ask if it would be covered? You can tell the hospital board that if it's not, they can either bill me or write it off, but this child is in critical condition. I don't care if he's Medicaid or not. Patients are not just Medicaid cases. They're people."
"Yes, sir," she said, her eyes wide. She left the room quickly, and Bella could overhear her outside talking to someone about a transfer.
"What does all of this mean?" she asked, taking comfort when Edward squeezed her shoulders.
Carlisle continued to flip through the chart. "Bella, we're moving him to the ICU for now to try to stabilize his blood sugars using an insulin drip, so it will go in through an IV. Then tomorrow, we're going to move him to the Children's Hospital in Seattle. I have a good friend who's in charge of the Endocrinology Department there, and he's going to see Matthew."
Bella nodded. "Thank you, Dr. Cullen. And thank you, Edward. I don't know how I'll ever repay you."
Carlisle smiled at her just as an orderly came in to move Matt to the Intensive Care Unit. "Just bring Matthew by the house sometime, so my wife can meet the two of you."
She smiled for the first time in what felt like a long time. "It's a deal," she said.