Thank you for all of the incredible reviews, it was so so motivating for me. I simply could not keep away from writing more these last couple of days, so here is another chapter (albeit perhaps a bit shorter, but I prefer to update as I go instead of try to write longer chapters). For fellow music lovers: I am always listening to music while I write and for this chapter I had In Circles by Patrick Watson on repeat, should you like to check it out!

Carlisle's POV

She looked up at me, her eyes narrowing while simultaneously becoming more unfocused.

Suddenly she moved to stand up, "I better go."

I frowned. "I can't let you do that." My voice was firm but not unkind. Despite that, my words obviously displeased her.

"You can't let me?" Her features twisted into a smirk, and her body swayed slightly as she stood. "You don't get to decide, Carlisle."

I wanted to sigh. "As a doctor, and as someone who cares for you deeply, I cannot in good conscience let you leave in such a state, Bella. How much did you take?" Her eyes struggled to refocus on mine but her irritation was clear as day. I paused before continuing, allowing the emotion to seep into my voice, "I'm really worried about you."

She didn't respond at first. Then, shrugging off my concerns, she mumbled, "I'll be fine, I promise."

A rare surge of frustration pulsed through me. Shaking my head, I responded in an almost tremulous voice, "Don't make a promise like that, Bella. Two weeks ago I was watching your skin turn blue, I was listening to your lungs stutter and slow. Don't promise me you'll be fine when I nearly watched you die on the stretcher beneath my own two hands." I couldn't help the rising inflection in my tone. The fear I had been subjected to since that day, coupled with the fact I had been unable to discuss it with my family, was finally breaking free from the confines I had placed around it.

Beneath the drowsiness that was steadily overcoming her, she appeared abashed. I internally chided myself for allowing my feelings to take over and cause her more guilt.

I continued, my words softer and quieter than before, "Please, you need to rest. Let me bring you back to your house-"

"No!"

Her outburst took me aback, her sudden lucidity and the fierceness in her eyes a stark contrast from the relaxed hazy state she had been falling into.

I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to discern more from her. "Okay…perhaps we could go for a drive then."

"I'm not going anywhere with you, Carlisle." She eyed one of the chairs next to my desk. Without explaining herself any further, she collapsed into its cushions. "And don't think you can just shuffle me out of here with some supernatural strength, I'll just start screaming." Her words irked me, they were such a drastic change from the Bella I had known before. Did she really think I was capable of ushering her out of here against her will? To more or less pick her up and kidnap her? Simply stated, her words stirred within me a great sadness. That she could feel so much ire and distrust towards me was devastating. Though of course, not unfounded.

I had the decency to look chagrined, and looking towards the floor I whispered, "I would never-"

"Why did you leave?" She leaned back, her elbow propped up on the arm of the chair, her head leaning against the palm of her hand. Her eyes were closed , and if it weren't for the troubling subject of conversation, I would have said she looked at peace.

"Sorry?" Though I had my suspicions about what she was referring to, I wanted to be sure.

"You said I would have had to leave with you. But you left without me. And now look where I am!" Upon speaking the last sentence she laughed, the sound void of any humor.

"It's complicated." I knew it was an easy out, but I needed to gain some extra time with her. I needed more time to sort out my thoughts.

She scoffed, her eyes opening little more than a sliver. "I'm sure it is. Whatever, forget about it." She forced her eyes open further and stared for a moment at my desk before clumsily reaching for a pen and a pad of paper. I watched as she scribbled down a phone number. "Here. Just send me a message. When you have the ID and stuff. I will tell you where to meet me."

"Do you have a safe place to go, Bella?" I glanced at the piece of paper from across the room, committing the number to memory.

She sought out my gaze with a mocking grin, "It's complicated."

Another heavy silence settled over us. We were in a stalemate again. But this time I refused to make the same mistake as two weeks prior, for I could not let her return to whatever situation had brought her to this moment. My mind raced between different hypotheses, my imagination getting the best of me as I conjured up possibility after possibility of who could have caused the bruises. Who or what could have enabled the obvious addiction? What could have caused her to come to me and ask for counterfeit papers? In a whisper too low for her to hear, I agonized, "What have we done to you, Bella?"

Her eyes had closed again, and while her breathing had noticeably slowed it was not slow enough to cause me concern, though I hadn't written off the possibility completely. It was all the more reason to remain near her for the next few hours. From across the room, I continued my analysis of her current state of health, while she appeared to drift in and out of sleep. Eventually the hand that was supporting her head slipped and she jerked awake.

I jumped at my opportunity. Setting the cup of water in front of her, I sat down on the edge of my desk and quietly urged, "Please, Bella, let's go for a drive, I promise to answer any questions you ask of me. But if I stay here they will expect me in the ER soon. Let me tell them I have to leave for a family emergency and then I will drive you wherever you'd like. Even if it's just to the nearest bus stop."

In her half-asleep state she seemed to absorb my words and think over them. "What about your car? My scent. The others will know I was here." Her question surprised me, but I was relieved to see that she was considering my offer.

I hurried to reassure her, "I have ways of taking care of that. Your secret will remain a secret for as long as you ask it of me, Bella."

It looked as though all of the fight in her dissipated at once, the smirks and the outbursts from earlier now nothing but a mere memory. Instead, a look of pure exhaustion settled into the creases of her eyes as she nodded her consent. My own wave of relief crashed through me. Moving to sit behind my desk I picked up the phone and called down to the emergency room to alert them of my situation. As I spoke with the head nurse, I kept an eye on Bella. Her expression vacillated between a content, yet empty smile, and an exhausted, unfocused gaze. When the receiver clicked back into place she lifted her head and watched me, waiting.

"Shall we?" I stood and extended my arm in her direction. She rose slowly and looped her arm through mine, leaning heavily against me. As we moved towards the door I scooped up her bag with my free hand and swung it up onto my back. She didn't say anything, but I could feel the way she seemed to deflate against me. I glanced down at her quickly and then returned my gaze to the stretch of hallway before us.

"Everything will be alright, Bella. You'll see."