A/N

Well here's a nice long Chapter to keep you beauties hooked
Hope you enjoy

I place both my hands on either side of his head and close my eyes, concentrating wholly on his mind. But there's nothing. Not a voice or an emotion, nothing. I can't even see myself through his gaze that he no doubt has on me.

"Erm, are you alright?" he asks me out loud, I open my eyes to find him looking at me expectedly.

"I can't hear you" I breathe, completely mesmerized by the fact that his mind is entirely silent, as if there is no one here. But here he is; I can see him with my very own eyes. In all my 30 years of life, I have never experienced such a thing. Every mind no matter how young, old, sick or perverted has been accessible to me. Except one mind, his mind.

"I said…are you alright?" he asks again looking a little concerned.

"Yes I'm fine I was just…..praying. Amen." I stand up and distract myself from this revelation by getting my surgical instrument kit and medical bag from off the sofa. I chance a quick look at the time, 3:15 am so much for an early night. I let a big yawn which I quickly cover and head back over to Edward.

"Are you…sure you're alright to, you know be doing something like this" he asks skeptically nodding his head towards my surgical kit that I just opened up.

"I'm perfectly capable of treating your wounds Edward, and besides do you really have much of a choice?" I question, looking down at him pointedly with both my hands on my hips.

"No, I guess not" he admits. I start taking out all the materials I'll need, luckily I had recently sterilized all the equipment so I didn't need to bother doing it again.

"Are you allergic to anything I should know about? I inquire, taking out the small glass bottles of local anesthetic, penicillin and morphine and lining them up on the coffee table.

"No, I'm good" he mumbles

"Good" I reply, now taking out the needles. I lay them on the table with some other materials needed for stitching. I grab some kitchen paper and wet it in the water from the bowl and kneel down beside Edward. I start wiping away some of the dried blood around the laceration on his side, so as to get a clearer view of where to place the sutures.

"I need you to hold this" I say, handing him the lamp with the removed shade from it so it's now just a bulb connected to a base. He takes it from me and holds it on its side against his chest so the bulb is a few inches above the laceration.

"Perfect". I start filling up one needle with morphine, another with anesthetic and the last with penicillin. "This is going to sting a bit" I warn, as I take his left arm looking for a vein.

"It's ok,…I can take it" he says boldly

"Ok, short sharp scratch" I put the needle in his vein and push down on the syringe. "That was penicillin for any infection you may have from your wounds, this next one is for pain relief." I look up at him to see if his listening to me and from the light of the bulb I can see that he has the brightest shade of green eyes I ever seen, shining down at me through his swollen gaze. I swallow nervously feeling a little flushed all of a sudden, what was that?

I give him the morphine and lastly inject around his wound with local anesthetic to numb the sensation of the sutures. I wait a little while for the anesthetic to kick in.

"I like your accent…by the way" he says randomly.

"Thank you" I say quietly as I pick up my tools and begin the simple running suture to his wound.

"Are you from London?" he probes after a little while, speaking a little less breathlessly now. I can tell the morphine is working, which is good.

"No, 120 miles north from there in the nations' second capital city" I answer, my eyes never leaving his wound

"What cities that then?"

"Birmingham" I say easily.

"Like Birmingham Alabama?" he says, trying to make a connection with the two same named places.

"Yea, but without too much emphasis on the end with the 'ham' it's more of a 'um'"

"Birming-um" he says with a pause on the last syllable.

"Yea just like that" smiling I continue with the sutures.

"You have a nice smile" he says effortlessly "You should do it more often".

I look into his mind to see if his lying and hear nothing. Damn him and his thoughtlessness.

"Your gonna make my head big with all these compliments you know" giving him a quick glance. He smiles at me with that same crooked grin of his and I'm flushed again. Jesus what's with this guy and making me feel all hot? I focus my attention back on his wound and actually revel a little in the quiet. Usually when I'm mending a patient, I'm plagued with their thoughts of anxiety and distress no matter how much I try to shield them out, but with Edward I hear nothing, which makes quite a nice soothing change.

"So what kind of doctor are you? He asks after a little time.

"I'm a cardiothoracic surgeon fellow, you know, heart and lungs" I clarify. I peek up to see him looking a little confused as he glances round the apartment.

"So you're a heart surgeon and live here?" he says openly.

"Yea, I don't start making the big bucks until I'm certified." He looks at me with a little apprehension. "Don't worry I'm still fully licensed and trained to be a doctor, just not fully certified in my specialty." I explain

"Like an apprentice heart surgeon"

"Yea precisely" I reassure as I finish putting in the last suture. "So are you gonna tell me how you ended up like this?" I query to him.

"I tripped and fell" he replies bluntly

"That must have been quite a trip" he smirks

"You could say that". In situations like this, I'm typically able to suss out a lie within seconds but not tonight, so I just let it go. I take out the scissors and cut away the excess thread and get out the bandage roll to start dressing it. I finish wrapping up his freshly sutured wound and take the lamp back off him.

"That was quick" he remarks.

"I don't mess about, and lucky for you I happen to be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to suturing so you'll have very minimal scarring if any at all" I gloat a little. Now that I've finished with the wound on his side I get up and get the blanket for him to cover up in.

As I unfold the blanket I can't help but stare a little at his smooth naked torso and arms. His fair skin, although bruised in the centre of his chest and rib cage, still almost gleams as his flat toned muscular midriff shifts ever so lightly with each intake of breath. I take in the size of his biceps and although not overly big there still very strong looking. I also can just about make out an intricate tattoo design of some sort, spanning the entire circumference of his right arm from the top of his shoulder and just stopping in the middle of his upper arm. I lick my lips as they have now suddenly gone dry. I look at Edward to see him watching me closely with an unmistakable smirk across his face causing the corners of his eyes to crinkle.

"I was checking to see if you had sustained and further injuries" I justify and quickly cover him up with the blanket. I take some more kitchen paper and wet it again and position myself closer to his face, I gently move his head so it completely horizontal on top of the arm of the sofa. Softly I begin wiping away at the dry blood and assess the abrasion across the bridge of his nose. Although bruised and deep he doesn't seem to have broken the bone like I first suspected. I pinch it gently to check and it's not.

The cuts to his right eye and top left corner of his mouth will both need suturing too. I put the soiled kitchen paper on floor beside me and quickly get up to grab a slim silver flash light from my medical bag. I return and flash the beam into each of Edward's rich green eyes. What shade is that called? Jade? No, Fern? No there lighter than that. Emerald. My breath hitches as his pupils dilate responsively. Jeez get it together Bella what wrong with you girl? I put the flash light down and pick up the needle with the local anesthetic and start numbing his facial wounds. I guess without being able to hear his thoughts I'm able to pay closer attention to him physically, that's all, no biggie.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Edward blurts out; breaking the silence of the room and making me jump slightly. I laugh as it's very rare someone is able to make me jump and at the complete randomness of his question. "It's just that I wanna prepare myself in case some big beefy jealous man come bursting in here and sees his girl knelt down next to me" he says cunningly

"You can't be serious right now?" I say laughing "Well Edward, rest assure that there's no big beefy jealous man due to burst through that door anytime soon"

"Good, cos he would've got an ass whooping"

"Hmm alright then Rambo, now keep still, unless you want me to jab you in the eye with this thing" I say waving the needle for him to see. I finish numbing his cuts and reach over to pick up my tools to start on his nose. I catch him watching me.

"What are you looking at?" I say daringly

"You sure you haven't got a boyfriend?" he asks seriously

"Why are wanting to fill the vacancy?" I joke as I begin suturing his nose.

"Yea maybe" he answers after a little while.

"Well, I have to warn you there's a very difficult Bella general knowledge test, followed by a grueling interview with a panel made up of the fiercest women I know, and don't get me started on the egg and spoon race through an assault course."

With that Edward erupts into the most delightful musical laughter which quickly seizes as he clutches his side from the pain of his fractured ribs.

"Ahh" he moans, I stop suturing as he keeps moving his head. I wait patiently for him to go still again, and then resume. He closes his eyes and takes quick shallow breaths. The morphine must be wearing off. I put on my stethoscope and take a listen to his chest, I sit him up and take a listen to his back which is bruised in places as though he'd been kicked or stamped on. It's clear, so I lie him back down and continue to finish up his nose; I put a bandage on it and timely move to his cut above his eyebrow.

"You can sign me up, anyway" he declares once his able to talk again. I laugh quietly and shake my head; this man really is something else. "Why don't you come and work for me?"

"As what?"

"My personal physician, of course" he states grandly

"You couldn't afford me" I say finishing up and bandaging the suture above his eye.

"Whatever your salary is, I'll triple it" I look at him to see whether his being serious or not, but by the determined expression on his face he looks to be quite sure of this proposition. I wait a while before answering even though my mind is already made up

"That's very kind of you Edward, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to graciously decline" I say looking straight into those bright emerald eyes. I've worked too hard to get to where I am to quit and be some guys night nurse, no thanks.

"You sure" he asks as I start on his lip.

"Positive, but thanks", his lip takes no time at all and I quickly finish dressing it with a small bandage. By this point I am beyond exhausted by all means as a quick look at the clock tells me it's almost 4:30 am. I stand up and stretch allowing all the bones in my back to flex and head over to the kitchen to get a glass of water. I bring it over to Edward, who takes it off me.

"You do realize I meant an alcoholic drink" he says raising one eyebrow at me

"If anyone deserves an alcoholic drink mister, it certainly isn't you and most definitely is me. Now hush and drink your water" I say dismissively and start cleaning up and putting my materials back in my bag.

"Bella" Edward calls, for the first time tonight, the sound of which leaves unexplainable goose bumps all over my arms and back. I turn around slowly and look at him.

"Thank you, you know, for everything you've done for me tonight. I really appreciate it and I won't forget it, ever" he says in a voice so silky smooth and luxuriant, that I have to steady myself slightly on the back of the sofa.

"Your welcome, Edward" I reply faintly feeling flushed once more.

I pick up the plastic bowl up off the coffee table the contents of which is full of crimson water and carry it over carefully to the kitchen and pour it down the drain. I quickly rinse it out and put it back in the cupboard along with everything else. I come back over to the living room and pick up my lamp, medical bag and instrument kit and head to my bedroom, before doing so, I turn to Edward.

"The bathroom is just down the hall and to the left, feel free to use it" I tell him and carrying on to my bedroom where I begin to put all my things back. I hear the bathroom door open and close and the light switch on. I grab a few pillows off my bed and quilt and head back out to the living. Passing the bathroom I make way to the other sofa and dump my pillow and quilt on it. I notice the pile of blooded kitchen paper and pick them up and put them in the trash in the kitchen. I faintly hear the toilet flush and the tap running in the bathroom and make my way over to the sofa. Edward comes out of the bathroom and looks over at me with the blanket still wrapped around him, he shuffles back towards the three seater sofa where he sits carefully and lies back down slowly. He turns his head to face me.

"You sleeping out here?" he asks

"Yea I want to make sure you heart doesn't stop beating again" I say "and I want to make sure you don't steal anything either" I say light heartedly. I get up and switch off the light and make my way back to the sofa in the dark. I get under my quilt and lay my head back on the pillow. I close my eyes and breathe deeply and just as I sink into unconsciousness I swear I hear Edward say

"Just you heart"

I awake the next morning to find myself on the sofa in the living, as the events of last night slowly gather back into my conscious mind I quickly turn to see Edward spread out asleep on the sofa. I smile involuntarily at him.

The bruises on his face have now come out and he has a whopper of a black eye with a heavily bruised cheek. I frown wondering how such a seemingly nice person got so badly hurt. I look over at the time 11:10 am, oh for fuck sake, well there goes my morning. I get up and head to the bathroom where I quickly relieve myself and clean my teeth. I look at my reflection in the mirror. Well don't I look a hot mess? With the bags under my eyes and my hair looking like a birds nest and just generally feeling like I could do with eight more hours sleep, I open the draw and grab a elastic band and brush in an attempt to tame this fro. I finish my hair and splash some water on my face, dry it and head back out.

Edward is still asleep on the sofa so I decide to make some coffee and turn the radio on quietly. My stomach grumbles and I check the fridge to see what we have in. Peppers, cheese, milk and bingo, eggs.

God bless you Alice. Working as a surgeon, time is a luxury so every week I give Alice some money for her to buy groceries as I never get a chance to go. I take out the items and a frying pan from the cupboard and set to making breakfast. Before doing so I head over to where Edward is, and figure it would be the polite to do, to wake him and ask him if he wanted an omelette or something.

As I get closer I remember the phenomenon of not being able to hear his thoughts. I try again now and still nothing. I know it's him and not me because I can hear the thoughts of the neighbors' teenage boy, Simon having private time with his hand and dirty magazines. His mum, Debra is approaching the door about to knock and ask him if he has any dirty laundry. On the other side where the elderly couple Mr and Mrs Cooke live. Mr Cooke is sat at the dining table reading the morning newspaper, an article on a violent shoot out that occurred last night in an abandon warehouse police were called in the early hours of this morning to investigate. "Bella" my mind snaps back to itself as I look down to see Edward still asleep on the sofa.

"Bellla" Edward mutters to himself as small smile breaks out over his sleeping face. He sleep- talks or medically termed 'Somniloquy'. I wonder why his saying my name though, I wait a while to see if he does it again but doesn't. I decide to wake him up instead.

"Edward" I call as I awkwardly prod him in the arm. "Edward wake up" I say, this time giving his arm a little shake. "Edward, would you like some coffee?" I say a bit louder shaking him a bit firmer. All of a sudden him grabs onto my wrist hard and wakes up with a start. For a moment he just stares at me, confused, with my wrist still in his grasp. "Morning Edward, any chance you could give me back my wrist please?" I ask calmly. He begins to come to his senses and quickly let's go of my wrist.

"Sorry Bella, you startled me" he says apologetically

"That's alright, you want a cup coffee or some eggs" I ask rubbing my wrist with my hand.

"Yea that sounds great" he says and begins to sit up slowly rubbing his eyes.

I head back into the kitchen and pour two cups of coffee, I take the sugar out the cupboard and call over my shoulder "Edward, do you take sugar?"

"No thanks"

I clutch my chest and quickly spin around to find a topless Edward standing on the other side of the counter.

"Jesus Edward, do I need to lend you Barney's bell or something?" I say to him willing my heart beats to slow down.

"Why would I need Barney's bell?"

"So I can hear you coming, you turnip. You frightened me half to death" I explained.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't intend to scare you" he says a little guiltily. I hand him his cup of coffee which he blows and sips quietly

"No it's my fault, I guess I'm not used to people being so…quiet" I relent

"Let me take you out for dinner next weekend" he blurts out suddenly.

"You wanna take me out for dinner?" I ask a little confused. I can't remember the last time someone asked me out to dinner. He nods his head and takes another sip of his coffee, never taking his emerald eyes off me.

"I don't know Edward, what day where you thinking?"

"Saturday night? 8 o'clock at St Antoine's bistro" I look at him and he takes my hand in his and places a soft sweet kiss on the back, his piercing green eyes boring into my dark brown ones. I take a deep breath.

"OK" I say with an unrecognizable girlish giggle. Get it together Swan what's wrong with you. I clear my throat a little "Sure why not?" I say a little more firm. Edward flashes me a beautiful smile which I can't help return as I take a sip of coffee. He releases my hand and I distract myself with making eggs. I open the crate to find one single lonely egg in the box. I shut it down quickly and look up at Edward.

"It seems we're out of eggs" I tell him awkwardly

"Don't worry, its fine. I should probably be heading off now anyway. Could I use your phone?"

"Yea sure, I'll just go get it" I walked down to my room to get my phone that was still in my bag from last night. I take it out and head back to the kitchen; I quickly unlock it and hand it to Edward. I started packing the things back in the fridge. Then I hear Edward talking very fast into the phone in what I think sounds like Italian. I haven't got a clue what he is saying as I can't use his thoughts to translate like I usually would. Whatever his saying he doesn't sound very happy. I try not to look as though I'm eavesdropping so I head into the living room and start folding up the blankets and quilts.

Edward stops talking,

"Hey Bella" he whispers I look up to see he has turned round to face me with his hand covering the receiver. "Where are we?" I reel of the address and he repeats it verbatim into the phone and continues his conversation in Italian. I carry on clearing the up the living and Edward says a few more things and ends the call.

I look up at him to him running his hand through his bronze-blonde hair making it stick up.

"Is everything OK?" I ask

"No, but it will be" he says cryptically, drinking his cup of coffee.

I leave it at that and carry my quilt and pillow back into my bedroom. I head into my medical bag and pull out a small container of pills. I walk back out to find the living room is empty, I hear some noises from the bathroom and assume his in there. I turn on the TV and flick through the channels mindlessly trying to organize all the things I need to do today. First of all I need to give mum a ring and tell her I got her letter, and then I need to head to the bank and transfer some money. I hear the bathroom door open and turn around to smile up at Edward he gives me a crooked smile and a cheeky wink in return and joins me on the sofa in front of the TV.

"Here" I say handing him the container of pills

"What's this?"

"Its co-codamol, there pain relief pills for your ribs. It the least I can do for practically breaking" I confess

"Thank you Bella, and don't feel guilty for saving my life. You had to do, what you had to do" he says reassuringly. Opening the container he takes two out and swallows them.

"Don't take more than two, four times a day. If you feel like coughing, hold a pillow against your chest, it will soften the impact"

"Yes Doctor…"

"Swan, Doctor Swan" I finish. I turn to watch the TV just as the news come on. "Breaking News: Is there another crime war starting, right under our very noses. Judy Matthews reports live from east side Chicago where a warehouse gun fight broke in the early hours of this morning. Judy, are you there?" Edward takes the remote off me and quickly switches off the TV.

"What are you doing?" I ask, no doubt with a confused expression on my face

"I hate watching the news, it's too violent" just then the intercom rings and I get up and head over to the phone on the wall and answer it.

"Hello" I say

"Hello, is Edward there. I'm here to pick him up" replies a deep husky sounding voice

I turn around to see Edward buttoning up his shirt; "It's for you" I call over to him

"Tell him I'll be right down"

"He'll be down in a sec" I say and hang up the receiver. Edward walks over to me with his suit jacket in his hands. I take it from him and carefully help him into it. He hands me a pen.

"Write down your number" he says offering me the back of his palm. I stare into his green eyes briefly and jot down my number on the back of his palm. He takes the pen off me and writes down a number on the back of my palm. Gently he wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me closer to his chest. Bending his forehead down so that it's resting against mine he whispers tenderly,

"Questo non è un addio, il mio bellissimo angelo Guradian". My breath hitches as he then places a delicate kiss on my forehead, opens the door, and leaves.

Questo non è un addio, il mio bellissimo angelo Guradian = This is not goodbye, my beautiful guardian angel

Well there we have it chapter three. Please leave a review :-) xxxx