*Comes out from hiding with a white flag* Don't hurt me! I know it's been forever and I'm soooo sorry. RL is really crappy lately. No excuses. Here's your update my lovelies.

~*~TLaDoIS~*~

Previously in Chapter 5

"What happened?" he asked in a whisper.

Her face tinged in pink that quickly turned as red as a tomato. With her eyes closed, her face crumbled and her nose scrunching up. Quickly she shook her head, silently asking him not to pry any further.

When she opened her eyes, Edward seemed distressed. He hated that she was sick as much as she did. She didn't like to see him so worried so she down played it, giving him just enough information so he would drop the subject altogether.

"Just…just gross stuff that I don't want to talk about."

Edward blanched at her response for a brief second before coolly rearranging his face. He looked down at the flowered duvet and nodded his head in response.

"Okay," he said sweetly. "I just want you to be okay."

Isabella blushed again at his sweet response. He always knew just what to say. She loved her best friend and thought about how lucky she was to have him – even when everything else in her life didn't seem so great.

~*~TLaDoIS~*~

Chapter 6

Sometimes years pass by so quickly people look back on their lives and wonder where the time went. Sometimes years pass by so painfully slow people wonder if it will ever end.

By age twelve, Isabella had had so many experimental surgeries she'd stopped counting. Edward knew though. Edward knew that it was nine and the new one that was being discussed would be number ten. At the ripe age of twelve, Edward didn't claim to know everything there was to know but he was sure that another surgery was a stupid idea. Isabella was visibly weak and adding another surgery would make things infinitely worse. He hated the thought of watching her suffer through another surgery and long recovery.

He wished he was a doctor so he could cure his Bella.

It was Isabella's recovery from her previous surgery -number nine- that cemented Edward's want…no...need to become a doctor. Though she wasn't always better, he felt that his help and presence was much needed. He'd seen his Bella get better the more he helped with her care. He was determined to make a difference in her life. What he hadn't really thought of…something that Isabella had never told him…was that he already had.

Isabella had only been home for a few days but Edward could see her continued deterioration. She was weak and needed to eat but she refused. She and Edward sat quietly in her room watching reruns of iCarly. Renee had brought her a bowl of broth, a few salty crackers and a large glass of orange juice. Upon seeing the orange drink Isabella turned her nose up immediately and refused everything before her. Renee simply sighed and placed the tray on the night stand, hoping she'd eat something sooner than later, before walking toward the door.

"At least try to eat a little something? Maybe some crackers," she turned and pleaded. Isabella nodded with a blank stare and turned back toward the television. Renee slipped through the door and downstairs with a tear in her eye.

Edward felt bad that Miss Renee had gone through so much trouble to make Isabella's lunch for her not to eat it. He wanted to help prepare her lunch but his Bella had asked that he stay with her and watch television instead. He'd readily agreed –as per the usual.

"Aren't you even a little hungry?" he'd asked her during a commercial break. It was close to one in the afternoon and his own breakfast was long since gone. His stomach had growled a few times in the last ten minutes but he didn't want to leave Isabella's side.

She furrowed her brow and scrunched her nose up at the thought of eating one more bowl of soup. She was so very sick of soup. "No," she responded in a small voice, still staring at the television screen. But remembering it was Edward by her side and not her mother she decided to voice her grievances to her best friend. She turned toward Edward, who was sharing her propped up pillow. "She knows I hate beef broth soup and she knows I hate orange juice but look," she pointed over toward the blue tray holding said items, "she brings them anyway. If she wants me to eat something she needs to learn how to cook something else. I'm tired of soup. Maybe I wouldn't be so sick if I could have something else to eat. Something…something good."

"Oh," was his only response. They both turned back toward the TV but neither were really watching.

Edward hadn't thought much about what Isabella ate so much as he thought about the fact that she wasn't eating it. Miss Renee did make a lot of soup. After pondering the idea, he thought he'd be sick of soup too…as much as Isabella ate.

With an idea firmly planted in his head, Edward popped up from the bed and threw a quick, "I'll be right back," toward Isabella before shooting out the door, down the stairs and out the front door. Isabella was sure he was just going to his house to eat something much more appealing than beef broth soup and orange juice.

Edward made quick work of removing anything school related from his backpack, dumping the contents onto his bed in a rush. He made it down the stairs from his bedroom in record time, heading toward the kitchen with one goal in mind.

"Whoa," his mother laughed as he zoomed past her. "Where are you off to in such a hurry? And what are you doing with the jelly? Edward? Edward!"

In his haste, Edward had tuned everyone and everything out, set with only one goal in mind. Lunch.

"Sorry, Mom." He had enough sense to slow down and acknowledge his mother before he got into trouble. "I'm taking lunch to Bella. We're gonna have a picnic in her room."

"Well that's very nice, Edward, but don't you think Miss Renee already has lunch planned for Isabella? I can make you a sandwich to take over and eat with her."

Edward shook his head vehemently and turned to finish packing his bag with contents from both the cabinet and the refrigerator. "She made her soup and she doesn't want soup. She always eats soup."

Esme furrowed her brow but dropped the subject. Surely, she thought to her herself, he's over exaggerating. "Alright, but you bring all this stuff back when you're finished, young man."

He hugged his mother in response before running out the back door and back to Isabella's house.

Miss Renee heard Edward come and go on a fairly regular basis and didn't think twice about the fact that he just walked right through the front door and up to Isabella's bedroom. She thought he'd probably gone to get his own lunch while Isabella tried to eat something. At least she'd hoped she'd eat something, even if it be simply crackers. Isabella wasn't faring well after her latest surgery. She'd drawn into herself more and was much more thin and sickly than Renee imagined her becoming. She was worried for her baby girl.

Isabella heard Edward on the stairs before he basically crashed through her bedroom door. He'd accidentally –on purpose- bumped his shoulder on the door frame, which in turn spun him a few times before he stood by her with a huge grin on his face. Isabella laughed at his silliness and was grateful to have him as her best friend.

Isabella's eyes widened as she took in the items Edward spread across her bed. Ritz crackers, canned cheese, peanut butter, jelly…the list went on and on. He took the tray with the food her mother had brought for her and pushed some of the things around to make more room. She watched with fascination as he took her boring crackers and squeezed the canned cheese onto them with a swirly flourish on top. He made little peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with the Ritz crackers, stacking them neatly into two piles. Finally, he added cheddar cheese Goldfish crackers to her boring beef broth soup. He'd effectively made a mini picnic on Isabella's bed.

She smiled at the thoughtfulness of her best friend. She knew he had to have been hungry but also knew that it was something special he was doing for her. Her cheeks heated a little as she looked to her friend who was beaming with a broad smile, waiting for her approval.

She looked toward the blue tray that now held a wide array of food and her mouth watered. It looked…good. She giggled at the thought of actually enjoying a meal…even if it were a simple one.

Edward picked up a peanut butter and cheese cracker sandwich and handed it to his Bella, while taking one for himself. They toasted to silly lunches with even sillier friends.

After the one sandwich, Isabella realized just how hungry she was. She sampled everything on the tray before deciding that the canned cheese on saltine crackers was her favorite.

About half way through, Edward realized he'd forgotten drinks. He eyed Isabella's orange juice, wondering if she'd mind if he had a sip or two. At that point, Isabella wasn't too proud to have a drink of juice herself. Although it certainly wasn't her favorite, she felt she could sip a little to wash down the peanut butter before stuffing more cheesy crackers into her awaiting mouth.

She picked up the large cup of juice, none too aware that Edward was watching her with envy. She took a sip, trying her best to filter out the large pieces of pulp with her lips pressed just right. She squinted her eyes at the taste but swallowed anyway, deciding the cheese crackers were worth it. As she looked at Edward over the rim of the cup, she realized how rude she'd been. He'd brought her a delicious lunch and hasn't even thought to offer her juice to him.

She pulled the cup from her lips and extended her arm toward Edward.

"I'm sorry. I didn't even think about…do you want a drink?"

Edward thought about it for a mere nanosecond before taking the proffered cup and taking a few gulps.

The difference between Isabella and Edward? He loved pulp in his orange juice while she hated it. He smacked his lips as the cool juice ran down his throat.

"Ahhh," Edward rasped as his thirst was instantly quenched. "Thank you."

He placed the cup back on the tray while Isabella nodded to him in acceptance with a mouth full of squishy cheese.

~*~TLaDoIS~*~

Over the years, Charlie and Renee Swan had reached out to one specialist after another to find a way to help their sweet little Isabella. During an emergency and out of complete desperation they reached out to Carlisle a time or two but ultimately left Isabella's health in the hands of specialists – citing they didn't want to take advantage of their friendship between the two families.

While Carlisle agreed that it would be a conflict of interest, he couldn't help but think it was just too convenient an excuse. Because Isabella had only been in his care twice –and very minimally at that- he wasn't able to diagnose anything specific. But one thing he was sure of…something wasn't right.

~*~TLaDoIS~*~

Surgery number ten went as well as could be expected. Dr. Michael Rowland had made quick work at removing Isabella's appendix. Though he wasn't originally positive that it was the cause of her problems he was certain that, given Isabella's poor health, it was probably in her best interest. He had only been brought in on the case a few days prior. His colleague, Dr. Zuckerman, had presented the patient's issues, past surgeries and unexplained illness' with a weary look in his eyes. He could tell that his friend was at his wits end. It wasn't like Benjamin Zuckerman to give up but it seemed this one case could be his exception. Michael agreed to help in the matter as long as his schedule allowed.

It was then that the two man team was formed. They vowed to study the patient's case more closely and get to the bottom of this little girl's problems.

~*~TLaDoIS~*~

As Isabella awoke from her stupor she noticed two small but happy details. One, her mother was nowhere to be seen. Two, her single balloon from Edward was tied around a bag of Pepperidge Farm Cheesy Goldfish. She felt a flutter in her tummy at Edward's thoughtful gift. As she started to fall back to sleep she wondered what the butterflies in her stomach meant.

Leave me some love!

AN: Oh so very much thanks to my wonderful team of ladies ( MandyLeigh010, BellaScotia1, batgirl8968 & AddictedToFic) who probably have enough going on in their lives to deal with me…but they do anyway…and I LOVE them for it. Everyone welcome my newest beta AddictedToFic. I will miss my old beta FicObsessed but she's got a full RL right now. I wish her all the best.