Bella struggled to pry her eyes open. She was met with bright lights and quickly shut them again. She groaned and tried again only to find an unfamiliar male face smiling down at her.

The face began talking, "Good, you're awake, Ms. Swan! I was just about to check your vitals and change your I.V. bag."

"Who… Who are you?" she croaked. Orderly? Nurse? Doctor? She had already gathered she was in a hospital room from the white walls and the robotic beeps of the medical equipment. It made sense, seeing as the last thing she remembered was being lifted into an ambulance.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm nurse Lee," came the reply. "You're at Forks General Hospital in the ICU. I'd offer to shake your hand, but I need to take care of this first," the nurse explained, holding up what must be a fresh bag of intravenous fluids.

Huh? ICU? High tech medical equipment and I.V bags? It didn't quite add up.

Just then a second person appeared at her bedside. "My, my, look who's awake and talking to us."

She was blonde. She was tall. She had a chest that would make any Hollywood starlet green with envy. Bella struggled for a moment to identify her, before realizing that it was none other than Rosalie Hale…err McCarthy… or was it Cullen?

Bella frowned, her thoughts felt muddled and slow. How long had she been unconscious? She looked around but found no clock. The light from the window told her it was daytime, though she wasn't sure what time exactly, or even which day.

"How are you feeling?" Rosalie asked.

"Like shit," she replied, her mouth felt like it was full of cotton. "What happened? Why am I in the ICU?"

Rosalie was about to answer, but was interrupted by the nurse. "How much do you remember?" he asked, adjusting the speed of the drip and noting it down carefully on his clipboard.

"Not much," Bella admitted, furrowing her brows. "Hurting my shoulder, seeing my arm hanging limp at an odd angle, coming here in an ambulance." Her eyes went to Rosalie. "My shoulder was dislocated, but Dr. Cullen reset it, right? Or did I dream that part?"

"No, that really happened. Emmett told me, he helped Carlisle pop your shoulder back into place."

"Oh," Bella slowly moved her arm ever so slightly and flinched. "It still hurts like a fu-… It hurts a lot, but I guess they got it right because it seems to be in working order," she concluded, wiggling her fingers. It was painful, but it was endurable. "Remind me to thank them later," she added, flexing her arm again, trying to work out the stiffness.

She took a moment to make sure nothing else was hurting. Her stomach felt funny, nothurling chunks funny necessarily, but she felt a little bloated and uncomfortable. She tried moving to lie sideways, but it was difficult because of all of the wires and devices that had been hooked up to her body. Apart from that, her limbs felt heavy, and her eyes and throat were sore, but luckily her head seemed to be intact, a fact for which Bella was extremely grateful.

"How long have I been out?" she asked,hoping to bring her foggy and slow-moving thoughts up to speed. An out of whack shoulder wasn't typically something that would land you in the ICU. There had to be more… but more of what? "My memory is a bit hazy, but I'm pretty sure I didn't hit my head."

"Your head is fine and you've only been here overnight," nurse Lee answered, reaching for her uninjured arm, reattaching a clothespin-like sensor that seemed to have slipped off the tip of her index finger.

His gaze turned to one of the monitors briefly and then scribbled something on his clipboard again, most likely taking notes of her pulse and blood pressure. At that thought, Bella was suddenly struck by a strong sense of deja vu. Dr. Cullen had been checking her pulse several times while they had waited for the ambulance and the paramedics to arrive. She remembered him looking and sounding concerned at the time… Why? Shock? Blood loss? Broken limbs? There was something she had forgotten, something she was missing, a minor detail that nagged her at the edge of her mind.

"Just tell me one thing, why am I in the ICU?" she insisted, trying to sound rational and calm. She was only partly successful as she had to struggle to suppress a yawn.

"Try and relax. You just woke up; the rest will come to you in time. That is really all I can tell you at the moment."

Relax! Easier said than done. All the confusion was starting to overwhelm her. She was getting no answers and it waseating away at her brain. "Rosalie, help me out. Tell me what happened; tell me what's going on? Why do I feel like I've been run over by a truck?!"

Rosalie narrowed her eyes and stepped closer to the bed. "You sure you want to hear this from me? Wouldn't you rather wait for your doctor to get here? …or Edward at the very least? He shou-…"

"Edward is here?" Bella interrupted, feeling the anxiety rise in her chest. "Is he okay? Was he injured too?"

"He's fine, no need to worry about him. He's been here all night. I offered to sit with you, so that he could go down to the cafeteria and grab something to eat. Jasper, Emmett and the boys are with him. We brought Anthony with us when we came here. The little guy needed to see his daddy."

"Anthony…." Ugh, there was that nagging feeling again. "Anthony needs his daddy."

"Yeah, he's been through a lot. Do you remember your car going off the road?"

"Uhm," she thought about it for a second and then gave an affirmative nod. "It slid off the road like a bar of soap, but that must have been the day before yesterday, or something… ages ago, before we came to Forks, when I still thought I'd make it to the airport… Damn ice, damn white, wet, cold mess!" She yawned again and put her head down on her pillow.

"Damn white, wet, cold mess indeed. Do you remember the amount of snow the boys had to shovel to clear the driveway?"

"Not really, no." She furrowed her forehead, staring at Rosalie. "There is something about the snow… but I can't seem to remember. Why can't I remember? And why am I so tired? What is-…"

"Try and relax! You had yourself a helluva night, but you're awake now and everything else will sort itself out with time," nurse Lee cut in before she could finish and then in nearly the same breath he moved on to another subject entirely. "How is your breathing, Ms. Swan? Your voice sounds a bit hoarse. Are youfeeling any shortness of breathor tightness in your chest?"

"No, why would you ask that?" Bella questioned, thoroughly confused. "My breathing is perfectly fine. My throat is a bit dry, that's all," she added. "Wait, did I have an oxygen mask on at some point? In the ambulance maybe?"

"Possibly. They often crank up the oxygen in the ambulance on the way to hospital, so that wouldn't surprise me," the nurse verified, checking his notes. "If you like, I can get you some water when we're done here, but first, a few more questions. Do you feel cold or light-headed? Any numbness to your hands and feet?"

"None…or well my feet are cold, but they are always cold…" Bella trailed off as a memory hit her. "Hey, Rose I remember us giving Anthony and Elliott a bath. You 'accidently' emptied a bucket of water over me. It was cold, well not the water, but I remember my clothes being all wet and freezing cold later on."

She could tell by Rose reaction that she was spot on, especially with the 'accident' part.

"That was… well that was your own fault. You weren't supposed to go outside in those clothes. That was never part of the plan," Rosaliereasoned apologetically, before asking "Do you remember going outside? Do you remember going to the pool house with Edward?"

Her expression was cautious, but also calm, waiting. Waiting for what? Here questions were obviously leading to something, and Bella was growing frustrated.

"Um…vaguely… we went there to talk, in private, I think."

"Do you remember what you talked about?"

"The weather, maybe?" Bella suggested, not really having the first idea. "Anthony, probably?" It was a safe bet. The little boy was more often than seldom the centre of conversation. Not the sort of conversation that required privacy, thought. Another thought crossed her mind. "I think… no, I'm pretty sure that Edward was screaming mad at me."

"And…" Rosalie prodded when she didn't continue.

"And what?!" she snapped, feeling agitated beyond reason. "What part of 'screaming mad' don't you get? He was upset alright, upset at me for leaving, upset at me for not telling him stuff, upset at me for not telling him about the baby." Her outburst was followed by a sharp intake of breath as the meaning of her own words hit her.

"The baby!" Her hands went immediately to her abdomen as she realized the one small detail her brain had omitted."OMG the baby… and the snow…. and the roof!" she gasped as more realizations followed in rapid succession.

Her heart was pounding, her head was spinning, and her eyes were watering.

"Ms. Swan, don't forget to breathe!" the nurse instructed, but his voice seemed to be coming from far away. All she could hear was the furious rush of blood in her head and the beeping from the monitors beside her bed going haywire

Someone was hovering over her. Rosalie… "Bella, don't go passing out on me now. Edward will kill me if he comes back and finds you like this. Your baby needs you to stay calm!"

"My baby…. Is my baby alright?" She struggled to a sitting position, but the I.V. in her arm got in the way.

A firm but gentle hand pushed her back onto the bed. "Your friend is right, you need to stay calm."

"I need to know… I can't…. I.."

"What you need is to keep your blood pressure down. Don't pull the I,V. out because it will only do more harm than good."

Even in her panicked state she knew the truth in those words. She choked back a sob and forced herself to take a deep breath.

"That's better. I'll get Dr. Barnett for you. He'll answer all your questions, but first lean back, close your eyes and show me you can take nice slow breaths."

"There is still a baby in there." Rose gripped her hand, the one that had been pulling at the I.V. cord. "Did you hear me, Bella? There is still a baby in there. Edward told me they let him listen to the fetal heartbeats."

"Fetal heartbeats?" Bella heard herself parrot back ina breathless whisper.

"Yes, he said they were crazy fast ones," Rosalie smiled. "He also said they were a bit irregular, but don't worry, I remember Elliott's being that way too before he was born and he turned out just fine."

"Is that normal?" Bella asked, turning to nurse Lee in hope of reassurance and comfort.

"A fetus's heart beats twice as fast as a grown ups heart."

"But it shouldn't be beating irregularly, should it?"

"Well, it's not the norm, but it's not totally unheard of either. Now close your eyes and keep breathing. I'm going to step out for a sec and get that doctor for you, okay?"

A dozen responses whirled in her muddled mind, but one thought took precedence over all the others - a beating heart. A steady heartbeat or an irregular, fast one didn't matter. All that mattered was the fact that there was in fact still a heartbeat.

…

Ironically Bella fell asleep again the minute her own pulse slowed its panicked, slightly erratic beat. The next time she woke someone else, someone who wasn't Rosalie, was holding her hand.

Esme.

She opened her eyes to find Edward's mother sitting in the plastic chair next to her bed. Bella had no idea how much time had passed. The room was darker, but her mind was only marginally clearer. Was it still the same day? Hours? Days? A whole week could have passed for all she knew.

"What time is it?" She didn't realize she had asked the question out loud until she saw Esme jump in her seat and snap to attention. "Isabella!" she exclaimed. "You startled me, but I'm glad to see you awake."

"S'ry, didn't mean to scare you." Her throat was raspy from disuse.

"Oh, it's all right. You just caught me off guard. I guess I was spacing out." Esme said with a gentle smile, as she got out of her chair to press the nurse call button. "But enough about me. How are you feeling? How's the shoulder?"

How was she feeling? Bella didn't know, she felt fine, but was she really? Her hand, the one that wasn't hooked up to any wires, instinctively went to her belly. One thing was for sure; her shoulder was the least of her worries.

Esme was watching her intently, waiting for an answer no doubt. When none came she said, "It's half past two in the afternoon. They told us the first twenty-four hours would be critical. They were worried, initially, that the trauma and the impact from your fall would cause contractions ora miscarriage, but thankfully those scenarios are looking less and less likely with every passing hour. So far things are looking real good."

"I…really? Things are looking good?" Bella felt relief wash over her. "Tell me more," she insisted, eagerly.

"I would, but I really don't know anything more at this point. I'm sorry. You have no idea how sorry I am, about this," her voice grew thick and full of choked emotion. "Oh, my gosh, I'm getting all emotional on you. I promised I wouldn't…. I'm not supposed to say or do anything that could upset you. Doctor's order."

"We could try and talk about something else," Bella offered, even though every fiber of her being wanted to know how the baby was doing. "How is the rest of the family? How is Anthony?" she inquired instead, giving Edward's mother a tiny smile.

"We're fine," Esme assured her, returning the smile with a shaky one of her own. "Tony is fine, he's better than fine, he's awesome. Some anxiety, of course, but that's only to be expected, given all the new faces and changes around him."

Bella grimaced, picturing Anthony throwing tantrums over getting dressed and fed by someone he wasn't chummy with. "I bet he's been a handful."

"It's okay, dear. No one is getting much rest, that's for sure, but they don't call it the terrible twos for nothing," Esme chuckled.

"So everyone is doing okay?" She couldn't bring herself to ask the question she really wanted to ask.

Edward… Where was he? Rosalie had already assured her he was fine, but he was still nowhere to be found... still missing in action. Was he truly okay or were they dancing around the subject to try and keep her from worrying about it, about him? Didn't they realize that she'd worry a lot less if they would just tell her what was going on.

Esme's voice broke through her muddled thoughts. "Everyone is fine, dear. Everyone, including Edward," she reassured her, as if reading her mind. "He had some cuts that needed to be cleaned and bandaged. That's all though, no broken bones, no internal injuries, just a large bump on his forehead and a slight concussion."

"Oh….alright…" But where was he? She didn't care that he was upset with her—she just wanted to see for herself that he was doing okay. Another possibility dawned on her. Could he be staying away on purpose?

Once again Edward's mother seemed to sense where her thoughts were at. "We talked him into taking a nap. Carlisle's is letting him use his office. Actually," she said, checking her watch. "I think he set his alarm at three o'clock, so he should be back here any minute now."

Just then someone knocked on the door. "Ah, there he is," Esme announced, but she spoke too quickly, because in walked a nurse.

It was not the same nurse as before, this one was a brassy haired blonde, in her late thirties with a little too much makeup and not quite enough fabric in her uniform to cover her assets in an appropriate manner. When she spoke though, her words were nothing but kind and compassionate.

"It probably doesn't feel like it right now, but you have been very lucky, Ms. Swan," she told Bella, inspecting the bandage on her arm. "Pregnancies can be delicate things as it is. Escaping a collapsing building with barely a scratch is nothing less than a miracle. And I heard from Carli-… Dr. Cullen, I mean," her eyes flickered briefly to Esme, before returning to Bella. "I heard about your car accident the other day. You've been very lucky, I'm telling you."

"Lucky is an understatement," Bella agreed, feeling her eyes grow moist as another memory came rushing back to her. She remembered watching the roof cave, realizing it would come crashing down on them. She remembered thinking she had drawn her last breath. She remembered thinking they would all die, all three of them.

To still be alive and breathing way beyond just 'lucky' and to still be pregnant was indeed a miracle.

Esme, however didn't seem to like to hear that kind of talk.

"Have you paged Dr. Barnett? " she interjected, turning to the nurse. "There are lots of questions that need to be answered and I'm sure Isabella would prefer to have it all explained to her by her doctor."

"Of course. I was given strict orders from Carl-… from Dr. Cullen, to page both him and Dr. Barnett the minute Ms. Sw-…."

"Then, how about you go do that, Irina" Esme huffed, rapping her nails against the armrest.

Blimey… Edward had mentioned, once or twice, that Alice and Esme were a lot alike. Bella could see it now, the similarities. Being assertive bordering on pushy was apparently a family trait.

"I'll get right to it," the nurse, who's name apparently was Irina, laughed, thankfully not the least bit intimidated by the other woman.

"Don't worry, Esme and I both cuddle babies in the NICU every other week. We know each other real well," she winked at Bella as she reached for the chart at the foot of the bed.

"Small town," Esme sighed and shook her head in a 'you know how it is' way... "Everyone knows everything about everyone."

"You say that like it is a bad thing," Irina remarked with a smirk. "In a bigger town, you'd need a bigger hospital which in turn would mean more women - patients and nurses- flirting their asses off with every single one of our lovely doctors."

Esme looked like she wanted to snap back with something colorful or damn right snarky, but she didn't. Instead she merely rolled her eyes and said, "With every one of our lovely, SINGLE, doctors, you mean. Speaking of lovely doctors who are single, I believe you were about to summon Dr. Barnett."

Bella didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but when it came down to it, she was actually too tired to do neither. Her eyelids were feeling heavy again. Damn, was it normal to grow tired this quickly? Should she be alarmed?

"Ah, didn't you hear? Andy is back with his old girlfriend, the one with the crazy cats. Gotta keep up with the hospital gossip. I'm off now, but don't hesitate to push the button if you need anything," nurse Irina said, throwing a wave over her shoulder as she headed out the room.

The door slammed shut and they were alone again.

"Sorry about that!" Esme was shaking her head. "I swear she's a genuinely nice person and a competent nurse. She just loves the sound of her own voice a little too much. And don't get me started on the amount of makeup that woman wear…." she blabbered on for a while without realizing he was talking more or less to herself.

Staying awake was becoming a battle that it appeared Bella couldn't win. Her surroundings were fading into a blur as exhaustion once again set in. "Is it three o'clock yet?" she asked weakly, struggling to keep her eyes open, even though it was no use. She was already a goner.

"Soon…Don't worry, I'll sit with you," Esme promised, patting her hand. "Get some rest, Isabella. I'll wake you when they get here."

Despite desperately wanting to stay awake, within seconds she was once again fast asleep.

Someone said something and Bella hummed reflexively in response, even though she had absolutely no idea of what the words had been said.

"Isabella?" the voice repeated and this time she her eyes fluttering open.

A big chunk of time seemed to have passed again. The light from the window had faded into nothingness; indicating that the afternoon was coming to a close.

"Ed-edward?" she croaked, even though she already knew the other person in the room wasn't him.

"I'm afraid not." Dr. Cullen replied, moving into her line of vision, "It's great for my ego though that you mistake me for someone half my age," he joked, but it was clear by his body language that he was in full doctor mode. The white coat and the stethoscope dangling around his neck were tale-tell signs that he was on in fact on duty. Hopefully that meant that Bella would get some answers… finally…

There was so much she wanted to ask and all the health-related concerns should probably be addressed first. However, there was one question that overpowered everything else.

"Wh-er's…?" she wasn't surprised that her voice sounded hoarse and faint. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Where is he? He's avoiding me, isn't he?"

"Who? Edward?"

"Yes, please tell me the truth."

Rather than answering straight away, Carlisle poured a glass of water and carefully moved it toward her face.

"Here, drink this." He conjured a bendable straw in the glass and waited patiently while she drank thirstily of the water.

When she indicated that she was finished, he put the glass back on the table and leaned forward again.

"At the risk of sounding like an old fart, stuck in a stereotypical husband-wife relationship, sometimes when a man avoids his lady love or partner, it's not meant as a statement of any kind, sometimes he just needs time and space to work through things in his mind and heart before he's ready to talk about it with anyone."

"Yes, but that doesn't sound like Edward at all," Bella looked up at the ceiling to try and keep her emotions in check, taking a few deep breaths. "I hurt him. I never meant to, but I did and now he can't even stand being in the same room as me."

"I can assure you that if he is, in fact, avoiding you on purpose, it's not for lack of care. He sat by your bedside all night, holding on to your hand as if his life depended on it."

"I suppose it's better this way," Bella sniveled, few wayward tears making their way down her cheek. Damn hormones! "Lately it seems as though we can't be in the same room together without jumping at each other's throats."

"The first step to breaking a pattern is recognizing it. Pausing and thinking before acting and reacting is a big step for Edward.

"If that's what he's doing… I'm still not convinced."

"Look, I'll tell him you've been asking for him. I'll tell him his absence is causing more stress than what is good for you," Carlisle offered sounding almost apologetically. "That's all I can do at the moment. I really don't think I should be taking sides in this."

"No, of course not. Tell him I miss him, but if he doesn't want to see me, let it go." Squaring her shoulders, she wiped the wetness from her face with the back of her hand. "Forcing him won't do any good. I just need to know that he's okay; him AND the baby."

"That's why I'm here, to answer your questions." Carlisle patted her hand and began to rise from his stool. "But first, let me raise the bed for you, so that we can have this conversation eye to eye."

"Uh-uh, so it's that kind of conversation, eh?" Bella asked warily, but nodded for him to go ahead and shift the bed into a more upright and comfortable position for her.

"Sorry to be the bringer of doom and gloom. It's not all bad though, I promise. Before I get started, you should know I'm not your attending physician. However, both Edward and Dr. Barnett have agreed to let me consult on your case. I understand if you rather wait for Dr. Barnett to get here before we continue this discussion."

"Don't be silly. It feels like I've waited hours already. I need to know… no, I HAVE to know what's going on!"

"Aright, I'll tell you everything I know. Just remember to stay calm," Carlisle warned, pulling off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. "We had a bit of a scare last night. Your blood pressure spiked, which wasn't all that surprising, considering the circumstances. Unfortunately though, stress on you means stress on the baby. The fetal heart rate was a little higher than what's considered healthy."

He held up his hand to stop her from interrupting before he had got it all out.

"You were a little dehydrated, so we've been pumping lots of liquids and nutrients into you. You've also been given a pregnancy safe muscle relaxant and a mild sedative. That's why you've been drifting in and out of sleep all day long. It seems to have done the trick because both yours and the baby's vitals are looking much more stable now than just a few hours ago."

"Does that mean the heart rate is back to normal? That the baby is okay?"

"It means we're getting there. Aside from being a bit on the fast side, the fetal heart beats were also a bit irregular. Extra beats were detected. It's a condition we call atrial ectopic beats. It doesn't necessarily have to effect or harm the fetus in any way. In most cases this issue tends to resolve on its own without treatment. It's extremely rare that it's anything to be concerned about."

"How rare?" she asked in a quiet, small voice, fear seeping through her veins.

"I've made some phone calls, and spoken to a few people specialised in fetal cardiology. Statistically only one or two percentage of the cases are due to an underlying structural heart disease or cardiac tumor."

"Is there a test you can takeor is it a wait and see situation?"

"You'll be on bed rest for a while, during which time your blood pressure and the fetal heart rate will be monitored closely. Then after two weeks, if the condition still persists, the next step will be a fetal echocardiogram, which is basically an ultrasound scan of the baby's heart."

"Why don't do that ultrasound thing straight away? Isn't it better to knowwhat we're dealing with up front?"

"Honestly, getting your blood pressure stabilized is of higher priority at the moment. Have your obstetrician explained the risks involved with high blood pressure during pregnancy?"

"I know about preeclampsia. I know that it is a serious condition, which is why I need to have my blood pressure and urine checked regularly."

"That's correct, yes. However, with no swelling extremities and no protein in your urine, it's not something you have to worry about right this very moment." He paused offering a smile. "See I told you, it's not all bad news. Now in order to decide on a suitable course of treatment for you, we would like to consult with your regular OB, with your permission, of course."

"Of course, I have her contact information stored in my phone…" she raised herself up onto her arms and began scanning her surroundingsfor any clues as to where her phone might be. Then she remembered, "I believe Alice has my phone…or possibly Edward."

"That's okay. I wasn't expecting you to rattle that information off the top of your head anyway. We'll get to it in due time." He motioned for her to lean back and get comfortable on the bed again and then waited until he had her full attention before continuing. "Now, aside from preeclampsia, there are other potential risks we need to look out for."

"I've been told that a high bp can cause less blood to flow through the placenta, which from what I understand can mean that less oxygen and fewer nutrients are delivered to the baby."

"Yes, and this increases the risk for a number of pregnancy complications, including intrauterine growth restriction, preterm birth, placental abruption, and stillbirth."

"And with my baby already being on the small side…" she trailed off,not wishing to vocally continue on that train of thought for the moment.

"We are talking worst case scenarios here." Dr. Cullen leaned forward on his chairand rested his elbows on his knees. "Many pregnant women with high blood pressure goon to have perfectly healthy babies. Remember, a positive outlook can go a long way. The ultrasound scan Dr. Barnett has planned for tomorrow should tell us more."

"Tomorrow?"

"Yes, tomorrow. While we don't have one of those fancy 3D/4D ultrasound facilities here in Forks, it just so happens that one of the most experienced sonographer in the whole Seattle area lives in Port Angeles. She'll be here first thing tomorrow morning. You know what they say, if you can't go to the mountain…"

"…improvise."

"I was going to say, 'bring the mountain to you', but improvise works too. I'll do anything to ensure you get the best possible care while you're here. That being said, I think I've covered everything that needs to be covered today,unless you have any other questions for me?

"I… I feel like I should have a ton of questions, but at the momentI can't seem to … It's just overwhelming and… all…I seem…. to…do…is…cry…." Here we go again…. She closed her eyes and took a breath, trying to get a grip on her emotions.

"It's not a weakness Isabella. If you weren't showing any emotion I'd be worried about you."

"I HATE crying," Bella sobbed. "This is so embarrassing. I'm usually more in control."

"Let me take your mind off it then. Maybe I can even give you something else to think about. Something that is completely irrelevant to your health, but perhaps very much relevant to your peace of mind."

"What would that be…?" she found herself asking, even though she wasn't really sure that she could handle much more of anything , especially anything that would cause her to get even more emotional than she already was.

"Well for starters, Jasper has managed to track down his estranged cousin."

"Peter?"

"Yes, he's currently island hopping in Thailand. They have managed to exchange a few text messages, but he is in an area with really bad reception. Peter will try and get a call trough as soon as he reaches Bangkok, but that will take another day or two from what I understand." He rubbed his hands together in acalculating way. "So that gives you plenty of time to write down whatever questions for Pete that you want to pass on to Jasper.

"Oh… Not at all what I expected, but this is great, I guess." She pulled a shaky hand throughher hair and of course it got stuck. At least it was distraction. "…wait, you said for starters. There is more?"

"Ah well…. I'm not sure who contacted who, but from what I've gathered Alice has spoken with your co-worker, Clearwater is it? "

"Seth Clearwater, yes. Actually I left instructions for Alice, specifically asking her to contact him."

"That's good. I was a bit worried how you'd react to that part. Alice tend to meddle in things that are not her business. So anyway, Clearwater is on a plane on his way here right now. He too will be here first thing tomorrow morning."

"What? But…" Her mind was definitely distracted now. "The holidays…Christmas... his family…Why would he drop everything and just…? Why?"

…..

AN: sorry it took me so long to get this out. My computer has crashed. I think the Video Card is dead. If I'm right the good news is I shouldn't have to lose any data. The bad news... I've never changed a video card before and I'm not sure I can do it myself. I might have to send it away to get it fixed or buy an entire new computer.