"Blood and guts"
Disclaimer: The characters and their characteristics, and anything to do with Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer.
Edward's POV
The first time I went to medical school I was accepted right away. There was very little preparation. I already had excellent grades a few applications, an interview and I was in. But times change, now that physicians are making more money everyone wants to go to medical school. A 4.0 GPA is not enough anymore, oh no, you need volunteer experience, leadership skills, medical experience, and of course multiple letters of recommendation.
When Carlisle asked me to go back to medical school I had agreed without giving it too much thought. I had really enjoyed all the things I had learned the first time. I knew he needed me to help; I would pass on all the new information I learned, and he would become a better doctor. It was important to him and it was the least I could do considering all he had done for me.
I flipped through the pile of papers I had to fill out, and sighed, this was going to be very tedious. It really did not matter where I was accepted; we could move we did it all the time. But we had only been living in Maine a few months and I knew that my family would like to settle down for a while. It was cloudy enough, and living near Arcadia national park had its perks in terms of hunting. I felt myself smile as I remembered outrunning Emmett to feast on a bear he had been eyeing from the cliff we had been scouting from. He had been so angry he had thrown a boulder at me and inadvertently squished my meal. Rosalie needled him about being a poor sport once we returned home. It was not the fact that I had beaten him that I enjoyed the most it was extra-competitive side that it awakened in Emmett. I would have to watch my back, not that he could sneak up on me with my mind reading abilities, but he would be ready to out best me at whatever activities we do in the next few weeks.
Enough daydreaming, I had paperwork to do. The list of required classes was no real obstacle I had taken more than the required course work. I figured that my GPA might make up for my lack of leadership roles. It was very difficult to be student body president when your existence depended on keeping a low profile. I had dutifully endured meeting with the science club, and other academic organization so that should take care of my extracurricular activities. It was difficult to modulate my strength enough to play sports, but thanks to my extra talents I had earned a strong standing on the debate team. It was very beneficial to know an opponent's defending arguments before they even spoke them. That left only a few more sections that I had to account for. I paused; I reread the section on the letters of recommendation. Three letters were required, two had to be from physicians not just any physician, but from physicians whom you had shadowed for medical experience. One letter would be easy enough one of the perks to having a doctor in the family but the second letter… that could be a problem.
"Jasper…Carlisle!" I took the stair two at a time to Carlisle's office. Jasper having heard my call, slipped in quietly behind me.
"Edward?" Carlisle put down his book and turned in his chair expectantly.
"I need some help…. some help with my medical school applications." I hated to ask for help, but there was little I could do without them.
Jasper snorted. Then what do you need me for? I've never been to medical school. . He held his hands up defensively as thoughts of being near humans rolled through his mind. The idea of Jasper in a hospital made me shudder internally.
"We might need your services in forging some documents." I handed the application to Jasper and pointed at the fine print at the bottom of the page.
"Hmmm" Jasper drummed his fingers against his smooth chin, as he considered the problem. "Forging a letter from a doctor? This could be interesting."
"May I?" Carlisle extended his hand politely and Jasper handed him the application. His eyes zipped across the application, and then he sighed. "We can not forge the letters, Edward."
I felt my eyebrows rise, "Uh… why?"
"I received a call about a young man I wrote a letter for a few months ago. If a school is seriously considering accepting you it is likely that they may contact your references" If they find that you lied on your application, they certainly will not accept you. Carlisle placed the application directly in the middle of his desk and riffled through some folders in the corner.
"Did you know it would be this difficult when you asked me to apply? Why doesn't Rosalie apply again?" I was annoyed; it felt that I was being asked to complete an impossible task. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jasper slip out the door, he must have felt the frustration rolling off of me.
"I knew it would be challenging, that is why I asked you," he said looking intently into my eyes. My annoyance began to quell and I realized he had chosen me over Rosalie for a reason. He thought I was up to the task. "My associate Dr. Randolph, who works in the ER with me, has agreed to let you shadow, and write a letter. Edward, you will have to shadow in the hospital with real patients."
I swallowed reflexively. "With real injured people? And… and with blood?"
"That is a possibly," Carlisle leaned back in his chair. I understand if you have changed your mind, if you do not want to do it.
"No, I'll do it." The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. I could not let Carlisle down.
"I'll call Dr. Randolph," he picked up the folder again and reached for the bulky phone.
I sank to a chair and my mind spun. I had heard Carlisle's thoughts of some of the things he had seen at the hospital. A pit of dread filled my stomach at the idea of being so close to humans, around open wounds, and bags of donated blood. The idea of even touching a human filled me with a sense of panic. I expended a lot of effort in avoiding physical contact with humans, what would they think about my cold touch? What would the monster inside me do in this new environment? When I was home with my family I felt normal amongst my own kind there was nothing to awaken the thirst in me. At school in my college classes I was an oddity, no matter how normal I tired to be, no matter how human I acted I still felt like a vampire. I still had the cravings, and I had to be on guard at all times.
"Tuesday," I heard Carlisle say. He was no longer talking on the phone.
"What did you say?" Had I heard that right?
"Tuesday, Edward," he repeated. It will be okay both Dr. Randolph and I work in the ER that day. You will not be alone with the humans.
Tuesday… black Tuesday, I thought.