Hey guys, so I'll just leave this here and meet you down at the bottom.

Thank you to kyla713 for looking this over, and to Linda, Heather, Packeh, Nikki and little apollyon for helping me get through writing this chapter. It took a lot of me.

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My thoughts were a chaotic mess after Bella's phone call. Too many worries and scenarios flashed through my mind, making my heart ache with each one. I could only imagine what she must be feeling, how scared she was, and all I wanted to do was take it all away, lay it upon my shoulders rather than hers. Instead, I was stuck a thousand miles away and feeling selfish for wallowing in my own worry and sadness.

I was still huddled on the couch in the surgeon's lounge when somehow my dad found me. I felt his arms go around me, and the numbness slowly ebbed away. He squeezed me tighter, never relenting on his hold as we just sat there. He always knew what I needed. I don't think I ever thanked him for that.

I turned my head to look at my father, my vision blurred by tears I hadn't even realized I was crying.

"Thanks, Dad," I whispered

"For what, son?"

"For always knowing just what I need, even as an adult. Even though right now, I feel anything but," I said as I wiped a new batch of tears away.

My father smiled and hugged me again. "Why don't you tell me what has you so upset, and why you think your world has ended?"

I took a deep breath and told him about all about Bella. How we'd met three years before and how we had been friends ever since. How she'd recently graduated and would be attending graduate school there in Chicago. How proud I was of her. And then I told him what she had said when I called. I expressed to him that she was my whole world, obviously much more than a friend to me. He sat there and listened as I went on and on, finally stopping when I told him that I'd promised Bella that I would find a way to her.

"You're a good man, Edward. Why don't we take things step by step, okay? Form a plan. Let's not jump to conclusions, better to be positive, especially now," he said, pulling me up to stand. "So, why don't you go see if you can hunt your chief down and tell him you have an emergency. Hopefully, you have no major surgeries scheduled. I will wait right here and call your mother to book us flights to Seattle. Then, you will call Bella back."

I nodded my head, robotically turning around and making my way down the surgical unit, hoping with everything in me that Dr. McCarty was there in the office. I knocked on the door, opening it only after I heard him call me in.

He looked up from his desk and paperwork. "What can I do for you?"

I sent off a silent prayer that he would grant me time off. "A family emergency has come up. I need to get to Seattle right away."

He eyed me for what felt like an eternity and pulled out some papers, handing them off to me. "You never ask for time off, so I'll grant you this. By the look on your face, I have a feeling that you are going to need longer than a few days, so those papers are leave of absence forms. Get them to me as soon as you possible, and if you can, please tell me what is up. You know I'll help you out if you need it."

"Thank you, sir. Once I am settled tomorrow, I will call and let you know everything. I'm still not sure what is going on at the moment, but I can't thank you enough for being understanding and granting me this."

"Don't worry about anything, Cullen. I've known you for years now. I know you wouldn't do this unless you had to. I'll cover your rounds and surgeries for today, route the rest of your week out to a few other doctors. You go do what you need to do."

I clutched the papers in my hands as I made my way back to my dad. He was still on the phone with my mother as I sat down, my head falling into my hands.

"I will call you as soon as we land and I will keep you up to date," I heard him tell her. "I will let Edward know. I love you." He hung up and sat down next to me. "She booked us a flight. We leave O'Hare at two. She's heading to your apartment and packing you a bag. She'll meet us at the counter of our airline. Now call Bella."

I grabbed my phone and pressed her name. It rang a few times with no answer, so I called the number she gave me to the house. It rang a few times before Charlie answered.

"Charlie? I called Bella, she's not answering."

"She turned her phone off. I tried to tell her that you would call her back. She's a mess right now. I'm not even sure how to handle this."

"Well." I sighed. "Please tell her we are on our way. That I will be there very soon, just like I promised. We leave at two here, landing about five your time."

"I'll let her know. I'm sure that will brighten her up. She's so scared, it's scaring me," Charlie said, the worry evident in his voice. "What did you mean by we?"

"My dad is coming with me. I kinda called him, freaking out. He's a retired doctor, maybe having him there will help Bella, too."

"Sounds good. Give me your flight number. I'll pick you guys up and take you to Bella's. You know she won't let you guys stay at a hotel. I've taken a week off, even though she insists I shouldn't have. I'll see you guys in a few hours."

We said our goodbyes and left the hospital, then made our way to O'Hare. The minute I noticed my mom standing by the airline counter was the moment I realized just how badly I needed to see her, hug her and borrow her strength. I wished she were coming along because I knew I'd need her, but I didn't want to overwhelm Bella. I wrapped my mom up in my arms and stood there, letting her soothe me.

"Your dad filled me in, and I'm thinking of the both of you. You need to be strong and positive for her right now. If you need me, you know I'll come running." My mother handed off our bags and e-tickets, gave us both hugs and kisses before telling us to get a move on.

The flight to Seattle was excruciatingly long, and the minute we touched down, I couldn't get out of my seat fast enough. We met up with Charlie, who was waiting at baggage claim for us. He and my father shook hands before we grabbed our bags and made our way out toward Charlie's car. I grew more nervous and anxious the closer we got to Bella's apartment.

When Charlie pulled up outside her complex, we grabbed our bags and made our way to her place. Charlie unlocked the door, heading to the fridge and grabbing a beer for both him and my dad. I headed straight for Bella's room, where I found her lying in her bed, curled up in a ball, tears streaming down her face. I crawled in with her, lying beside her. As I pulled her closer to me, she sighed and began to calm down.

"Everything is going to be okay, Bella," I told her and kissed the top of her head.

"But we don't know that, do we, Edward? You, as a doctor, know that none of this is good news." She sniffled and turned around to face me, her eyes puffy and red.

"You're right. But what good does it do to worry now when we have no definitive diagnosis? A biopsy does not mean automatic death sentence, okay? We're gonna face whatever this throws at us, head on."

She looked up at me, exhaustion taking over as she whispered, "We?"

I combed my fingers through her hair and nodded. "Yup, I said we. I'm here for as long as you need me to be, however you need me to be. I'll be taking a leave of absence from work, so I just need to turn the papers in. I hope you don't mind but my dad's also here as well."

Bella yawned, shook her head no, and closed her eyes, so I laid there with her and watched her sleep. I hoped that her dreams were at least a good reprieve from the last few days that she'd had. I couldn't imagine being the one to need tests done, and waiting on nails for results. She was stronger than I believed she knew.

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The next morning was met with rain pounding down outside and a very subdued, quiet Bella. I'd stayed in bed with her all night and held her, and when she woke, she clung to me, telling me she was entirely too afraid to leave her bed.

I kissed her head and held her tightly. "I guess that just means that you follow me into the office, lean on me, hold on to me, whatever you have to do. I'll do anything that needs to be done to take your fears away, Bella." She graced me with a small smile and a hug before we left her room and met our fathers out in the kitchen.

My father and Charlie both stopped talking when we came in and sat down. Charlie handed Bella coffee and toast, knowing she probably wouldn't be able to stomach much.

"Hey, Bella, I'm Carlisle," He said and pointed to me. "Obviously, I'm his dad, which is a pretty hard job if you ask me." He winked at Bella, and smiled. He was trying to lighten the mood, and I appreciated him that much more.

"Nice to meet you. Sorry it is under this kind of circumstance," Bella said, sighing as she leaned back into her chair.

"I'm sure we would have met eventually. And I'm glad we did, though I feel I should warn you now. My wife, Esme, is very excited to meet you. It's not every day that our son drops everything to get to a girl." He smiled again and sat down next to Bella, taking her hand into his. "Bella, my dear, I'm here for the both of you, not just my son. I need you to know this. I know we don't know each other, but I'm here for anything you need. I'm a retired doctor, and I happen to specialize in what you may be facing. So, you have me as an extra set of eyes and ears."

I could see the tears in Bella's eyes as she just launched herself into my dad's arms, whispering a thank you.

A short time later, we all finished our breakfast and coffee and made our way down to Charlie's car on our way to Bella's appointment. She held my hand tightly the entire way, I was sure the blood circulation was being cut off. We entered the quiet office; no one was in as far as we could tell. Her doctor soon came out and greeted us.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Kate Denali. Why don't we all head back to my office so that we can talk? I assume you all want to be with Bella?" she asked, turning around and grabbing Bella's chart.

Dread soon overtook me, and by the way Bella was slowly walking next to me, she wasn't looking forward to it either. We entered Dr. Denali's office and all sat down; Bella next to me, Charlie standing behind Bella as my father hung back by the door. Bella introduced us all before her doctor began.

"I made sure to have one on one time with you before anyone was in the office, Bella. I hoped it would maybe put you more at ease," Dr. Denali said as she sorted through papers and placed them in front of her. "Now, you've been coming to me since you were sixteen for chronic cysts in your ovaries. We've kept on top of things, and I hoped we would never have to be here like this. As you know, at your last visit, you mentioned pain on your right side, down into your pelvis, and that you were experiencing the same symptoms that you seemed to have whenever you've had a cyst. We did an ultrasound where I came across something bigger than your regular cysts, that we usually treated and let go on their own."

Bella's hand was shaking in mine, she held on as tightly as she could, so I leaned over and whispered that we were in it together, that she had nothing to fear.

The doctor nodded my way and continued. "Bella..." She sighed, and I could tell that as a doctor, she deeply cared for Bella, that delivering this news was affecting her, too. "Your biopsy came back and shows that you have advanced cells, showing abnormal growth. You have Stage 1c Ovarian cancer. This is rare in your age group, extremely rare, but I think we caught it early enough that you will have a fair fight. Because you knew your symptoms and came to me, I think we were really lucky to have found it when we did. We normally don't detect this type of cancer until it is well into stage three or four, and usually in postmenopausal women."

The dam inside Bella broke as a sob came free and tears soaked her cheeks. I held her to me, taking the box of tissues that the doctor handed over to me. I had to remind myself that I needed to be strong for Bella. That, in a way, it was good news.

"With that said, I'm going to refer you to an oncologist. I advise you make an appointment as soon as you can. Together, you will form a plan of attack." She handed Charlie a pile of papers and the number to call. I don't even remember how we got out of that office or when we left. I just remember holding Bella.

We got to her apartment, and her dad walked her back to her bedroom and remained there. I didn't want to interrupt. My father sat next to me and hugged me, reminding me that we needed to think positive. He also said he was going to call a colleague of his back in Chicago that specialized in this type of cancer and gather his thoughts, so that maybe he could help Bella some more. My dad was a doctor himself as well, so I trusted him to do whatever he thought best.

Some time later, Charlie came back out and told me that Bella was asking for me. I looked up and saw that his eyes were red rimmed from crying. I nodded my head, wishing I could offer him some sort of comfort, too.

Bella was lying on her bed and held out her arms for me. I slid into them and held her, giving her what I could.

"I had a feeling, and now that I heard the diagnosis, it makes it more real and all I want to do is curl up in a ball and cry. I thought knowing what I was facing would make things easier, but it doesn't. It makes it scarier and all the more real."

We laid there for a while before she stood up, wiped her face and grabbed her laptop, opening up the browser to her blog.

"You don't have to do this, Bella. Take some time," I said, coming up next to her to place my arms around her.

"I have to. If I don't do it now, I never will. I know I don't owe them anything, but they are like family and deserve to know."

I nodded and watched her type up her entry.

Hey guys, I know I've been MIA for a while, and I have my reasons. When I said I didn't feel good, I meant it. I've been in a lot of pain.

I went to the doctor a few weeks ago... they found something and did a biopsy. We just got the results today. I have Stage 1c , almost Stage 2 Ovarian cancer. I have yet to meet with an oncologist, but I assume surgery and chemo is in store for me. I consider you all family, so I wanted to let you know.

With this diagnosis, I find that I can't help but wonder if it's mean/selfish of me to feel somewhat like I'm lucky that cancer hasn't touched anyone that I know, that I didn't have to see them slowly suffer and pass away? But now I'm starting to think that maybe the reason for that was because I was the ticking time bomb all along. I fear that I'm not strong enough for this fight, and I'm scared about how much of all this will impact the one I love.

There... I admitted it.

I'm scared.

I don't want to die.

I tried not to focus on what she wrote about the one she loved. I had a feeling it was me, even hoped it was, but I wasn't going to push that, not now. I watched her as she wiped tears away again, and posted a status on her Facebook and twitter about a new blog post and turn her laptop off. She turned around and curled into me, and fell asleep.

I couldn't bring myself to get comfortable or let go of her. I planned to hold on to her for as long as she'd let me. I kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear that we'd kick cancer's ass before I fell asleep, hoping the journey ahead would be worth all the hurt and pain my angel would endure.

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How are we all? Still hanging in there?