A/N sorry its been a while all. here's a short chapter.

Chapter 40

A cold hand gripped Bella's. There was a sharp pain in the tip of her finger then pressure. The scent of blood made nausea well in her throat.

"Do you really think it's a good idea to be doing that here, Doc?" Charlie's voice was shaky, yet somehow sarcastic.

Carlisle, calm as ever, replied. "I assure you Chief, my family has themselves under control."

"Yeah," Charlie scoffed, "I'm sure you thought that on her birthday too."

A strained silence filled the air only to be broken by a beeping sound.

"Lower than I thought it would be." A note of concern crept into Carlisle's words.

"How bad?" Charlie choked out.

"Her glucose levels are dangerously low, but we will get her fixed up. There is no need to worry."

"Easier said than done doc."

"I am aware." Carlisle said softly.

Bella's eyelids felt too heavy, her whole body did. She tried to move, tried to speak but nothing happened. She felt trapped inside herself.

"Doc, my mom was a diabetic. Do you think… Is that why… is Bella getting sick? Is she going to suffer through all that?"

"Has Bella had problems with her sugar levels in the past?"

"No… Not that I know of… her mother, sometimes she forgot to tell me things like that."

"Hmm," Carlisle hummed thoughtfully. "I wouldn't worry too much. Although diabetes can be genetic, I don't believe that is what is happening here. It's more likely, with all the stress of the past few days, Bella has skipped a few meals."

"I think we all have." Charlie admitted.

"Do you know the last time Bella ate?" Carlisle asked.

"No," Charlie huffed, " I made her breakfast yesterday, but she rushed out the door without eating it. I went to bed as soon as I got home last night so I don't know if she ate then. I tried heating up her food this morning, but again," he sighed. "she left without eating."

"What about you! Do you know the last time Bella ate!" Charlie practically growled. "You convinced me that Bella needed her rest yesterday. Did you consider her need for food as well?"

"I tried to get her to eat last night." Edward's voice came softly to Bella's ears. A jolt of joy shot through her.

"Right, when you showed up to my house after I was in bed."

"I stayed outside."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you want praise for finding a way around my rules?"

"You claimed to not care if I 'frolic with the wolves in the trees'. You also never said Bella couldn't come outside."

Bella wanted to laugh. She never heard Edward sound so much like the teen he was, (and wasn't,) before.

"I brought her food last night, but I am afraid I could only get her to take a few bites."

She felt the sting of an IV then the cold numbing sensation traveled through her arm.

"What is that?" Charlie asked.

"I am giving her Dextrose. This should get her glucose levels up high enough to be out of the danger levels. Then she could eat on her own."

Bella must have drifted off because the next thing she was aware of was Edward's scent surrounding her. His cool breath washed Over her face and his cold arm lay around her waist. She breathed in deeply, but that seemed to be the only thing she could do. She was still stuck in her unmovable prison.

The next time she became aware of her surroundings Edward was gone. The hand that held hers was warm. She breathed in the familiar scent of soap and rain. "Come on kid, wake up." Her father whispered against the side of her head. She wished she could tell him how much she wanted to.

She must have drifted off again because, an even warmer hand held hers, soft lips pressed against her knuckles. "Bells, honey, you have us all worried sick. If your objective was to get us all in one room without fighting, mission accomplished, you can wake up now… please." she drifted off once more.

Unsure of how much time had passed Bella was finally able to blink her eyes open. No-one sat beside her, but a sea of blurry faces stood before her.

Two of them rushed forward. One jerking to a stop. The other became clearer as he got closer. "Dad?" Bella's voice was raspy, her mouth dry.

"Easy Bells," Charlie said, placing his hand on her shoulder. A cup was passed to him. He brought a straw to her lips. "Take small sips kiddo."

The relief she felt when the cool water flowed over her tongue was more refreshing than she imagined it could be.

After placing the water down Charlie wrapped his arms around Bella in a great big hug. "Don't you ever do that to us again, you hear me. From now on no more skipping meals. You will eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. Full meals, not just a few bites. The whole plate you got me."

"Yeah, dad, I have to start eating dishes. All the food and the plate."

He helped settle her back in the bed and brought his rough hands up to cup her face. It shook her to see the tears in his eyes. "I don't know if it was me or your mother that you got that sarcasm from but I'm sure glad to hear it."

"You, dad, definitely you."

He kissed her forehead then sat back with a grimace. "About your mom."

"Dad, what did you do?"

"She doesn't know how serious your condition is, or was, but we needed to know if you have had any problems like this in the past."

"What did you tell her?"

"We told her you passed out from your sugar being too low. And then it took me an hour to convince her not to jump on a plane before she would give me any information."

Bella grimaced, "I'm sorry dad."

"It's fine. All that matters is that you're okay. Now I should go stretch my legs. You have others impatiently waiting to talk to you."

The blurry faces had become more clear, or at least one of them did. Edward's pained eyes met hers and for a moment she was lost. A strong aggressive, feminine voice broke the spell, "Move your cold dead ass out of my way Eddy, I'm next."

Edward stepped aside to reveal Leah propped up with crutches under her arms.