Thank you to all who are reading, reviewing, and following my stories. I am very happy that my portrayal of Edward's character is coming off accurately. Edward may just have his day later on but for now I'm focusing on my pro-Jacob literature. Then again, Edward may remain the antagonist in my stories because I tend to see Jacob as the stronger of the two; plus he is hotter and alive, LOL. Thank you for the encouraging reviews, they mean the world to me and they tell me that I'm quite possibly doing something right here. With that, onto the story, ladies and gents!

A/N: I do not own any part of Twilight, it's characters, or its themes; this, we all know.

Chapter Eleven: Diagnosis and Prognosis

Bella POV:

"Wait, I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you correctly. Could you repeat that, please?"

Jake and I sat in Dr. Cullen's office, receiving the update on my father's condition. I shook my head in an attempt to clear my ears out and I gaped at him while he patiently repeated his statement.

"Bella, I'm sorry to tell you this, but it appears that your father has suffered a severe heart attack. His brain was without oxygen for quite some time before the paramedics reached him and it appears that we were unable to revive him."

It felt as if all of the air had been sucked out of my lungs, and the room itself began to shift on its axis. My father, Charlie, dead? My ears began to ring but that's when I realized that he was still speaking.

"Mr. Swan has been placed on a ventilator to assist his body with retaining steady breathing patterns and to regulate the inflow of oxygen; to allow his body the opportunity to heal itself and to regain consciousness on its own. I will speak honestly, the chances are very slim, but there's still a chance."

That was all that I needed to hear. "So Dr. Cullen," I croaked, "when will we know, you know, if it worked, after all?"

His eyes radiated warmth but he didn't smile, "That's hard to say Miss Swan, but we would normally allow three weeks before reassessing the progress and the next course of action. Now did your father have a living Will expressing his wishes in an instance such as this?"

I shook my head, I had no idea of even where to start looking for anything like that in the chaos that was my mother's filing system. Oh, mom! I stood as I realized that she should be here for this. "Has anyone called my mother?" Dr. Cullen quickly called a nurse, "Yes Sharon, could you please contact Mr. Swan's wife? I'm sorry; could you give me her name?"

"Renee, um, Renee Swan. But honestly Dr. Cullen, it would be better if I called her. Otherwise she's likely to have a coronary at home or get into an accident on the way here."

He nodded solemnly and stood, "Well then, you are free to use my office and my telephone if you wish. I'll step out to give you some privacy."

I thanked him quietly as he left, and as I went to pull my phone from my pocket I realized I had lost quite a few pairs of clothing since I last had my phone. There are so many places that it could be and it wasn't very likely that I would find it. Seeing my scramble, Jacob slipped his phone from his pocket and handed it to me. I dialed the number without seeing the numbers, and placed the phone to my ear listening to it ring. "Pick up, mom. Come on, pick up damn it!" It rolled to voicemail after the fourth ring and my mother's distracted greeting came on the line. I couldn't bring myself to leave a voicemail, what would I say if I did. Oh yeah, mom, dad's in the hospital on a ventilator after Billy accused you of cheating on dad and apparently I'm someone else's kid. Oh yes and one more thing, I'm a werewolf. This was definitely a conversation that needed to happen between live people, or their voices in the least.

I hung up and immediately hit redial listening to the line ring again. My mother didn't answer until the fifth time that I called and she sounded quite irritated. "Jacob, honey, I don't mean to be rude but I'm trying to get in touch with Bella or Char-…"

"Mom!" She immediately stopped talking the moment I heard her voice, then she became upset, "Where have you been?! I have been calling you and your father all afternoon. Have you seen or heard from him? We're supposed to start dance classes tonight and I really hate to be late. You know Zumba is supposed to be a lot of fun but you have to be there early in order to learn the steps before the class actually starts or we'll be totally behind."

I allowed her to ramble for just a few moments out of respect for her but I was grateful when she finally paused to allow me to answer. "I'm sorry I don't have my phone, I lost it earlier today. But mom, listen to me, you guys won't be going to Zumba class tonight. I need you to come to Forks Community Hospital, dad has had an accident."

I could sense her beginning to panic and I halted her immediate questions, "I will answer all of your questions once you get here but please just focus on getting here safely as quickly as you can, okay? Okay mom, I love you, and if you need me call Jake's phone. Yes, I love you too, I'll see you when you get here, ask for Dr. Carlisle Cullen. Okay, bye."

Handing the phone back to Jacob, I walked out of the office searching for Dr. Cullen. I quickly found him at a nearby nurses' station, filling out information on a patient's chart. As I approached he looked up and smiled warmly. "Yes Miss Swan, were you able to reach your mother?"

I nodded, "Yes sir, thank you for letting me use your office. My mother will be here as soon as she can, but for now could you take me in to see my father please?"

He closed the chart and handed it to the breezy nurse behind the desk, "Most definitely, if you would please follow me, his room is right this way." He led Jacob and me through the maze of hallways and through two elevators until we reached the ICU wing. We found my father in a private room, for which I was extremely grateful. He lay covered from the chest down in a triplicate layer of blankets in a sickly shade of pistachio ice cream green which left me squeamish. My eyes fell upon the monitors which stood next to his bed, held and innumerable group of tubes and IV lines which were helping my father stay alive. It was odd to me that he appeared perfectly fine in every other way, with no discernible scratches, bumps, or bruises. Oh, how appearances can be deceiving.

Jake brought a couple chairs to the side of his bed opposite all of the monitors and guided me to sit down. "You've had too much excitement for one day, you're making me nervous, please sit down." I was grateful for the relief for my poor shaking knees so I quickly sank down into the chair. Dr. Cullen turned to go, "If you have everything you need, I'll get back to my rounds. If you have any questions, the nurses' station is right down the hall here, or you can use the call button on the remote there by the bed. There's a T.V. in the corner if you'd like to use that as well. We have cable here so there has to be something on, even during late night hours. Once your mother arrives, I'll have someone bring her back. For now, I know it's easier said than done but don't stress yourself and try to rest. Your father is getting some well deserved rest now and you'd be wise to do the same. I'll be back to check on his status at the latest tomorrow afternoon about this time. Feel free to page me if you need me prior to that time." We nodded our thanks and he turned and strode out of the room.

Eventually we pulled our chairs closer and Jake turned my chair around so that I could lean back against him, and rest. He leaned his head back against the wall and in true from he was snoring softly within ten minutes. I forget that while he is a werewolf, he's still part human and he still needs sleep too. I fought it for awhile but it wasn't long until my eyes were too drifting closed.

My eyes opened again as my mother came in, sobbing quietly at the sight of Charlie but also attempting to keep quiet as not to wake me or Jake. I slid from under his arm, heavy with sleep and she and I retreated out to the hall where we could speak freely.

Her eyes were rimmed red with tears streaming her cheeks, her face full of questions she couldn't bring herself to ask. As I had since I was young, I took on the role of the parent with my mother. I wrapped her into my arms and stroked her back as she cried. "It'll be okay, mom. Dad is strong, he'll fight through this. Before we know it, he'll be back to normal and out fishing with Harry." She nodded, pulling back from my embrace.

"Thank you honey, I needed that. Now tell me the truth, how bad it is? What happened exactly?"

I blanched, not looking forward to this part of the story. I decided that now was not the appropriate time to bring up the council's accusations, so I only provided the need to know information.

"Apparently during an argument dad was having with Billy he became very upset and according to Dr. Cullen he had a severe heart attack. His brain was without oxygen for an extended amount of time so he lapsed into a coma after they were unsuccessful in reviving him. They have him on a ventilator and monitors to help him heal and hopefully to wake up on his own."

Her eyes were wide as she took in all of the information. When she did finally speak her voice was small, "Bella honey, do you think he'll wake up? You don't think he'll...that he'll…?"

I knew what she was asking; unfortunately I couldn't reassure her that our fears wouldn't come to pass. I just hugged her tightly again and whispered, "We have to hope for the best here, don't let your mind get ahead of us here. Dr. Cullen is still very optimistic. Now go inside and have a seat, I'd imagine it couldn't hurt for you to talk to him about things in our lives to help. Just talk quietly because Jake is sleeping. As for me I'm too awake to sleep now, I think I'm going to go down to the cafeteria for some coffee. If he wakes up, please let Jacob know I'll be back shortly okay?" She nodded and I gently steered her into the room then turned and asked for directions to the cafeteria downstairs. Through my grogginess I surprisingly made my way there and quickly made myself a cup of coffee, then sat heavily in a booth in the corner. After having sat down for less than two minutes, I heard a familiar voice.

"Hello again, Bella, would you mind if I joined you?"

Oh dear lord, does this boy every give up?