Chapter One: A Dying Wish
Carlisle
1918. The stage was set before me like my own personal nightmare. Dying, ailing people all around me while I stood useless, unaffected and spared, due to my condition.
I paced the bright room, death palpable in the air. I had not taken a breath since entering the hospital, afraid of inhaling the despair that clung to my person. With a grunt of frustration and misery, I threw my hands into the air. "Can I do nothing for these poor souls?" I muttered, my voice cracking at the end of the sentence.
A nurse approached, her eyes wary and downcast. She had been working for the past night without sleep. I could tell as her stride seemed stripped of hope, face impassive. She had learned of death in our field of work.
"Sir, you're needed." She stated simply and then departed. I straightened, putting on a calm façade before I encountered the dying. It pained me to see any creature in this form of pain and I unable to do anything but ease the fever slightly. My icy skin seemed to soothe many and at least relieved a small amount of their suffering.
The room I entered held only one patient. Odd, I thought by not paying it much mind. I approached the bed and looked down. The woman was young, not grossly so but enough for it to be a misfortune that the influenza would claim her life.
Her skin was a waxy yellow and glistened with sweat. And yet, her eyes were alight with a fierce determination that stunned me. Clearing my throat, I laid my hand on her forehead. The skin was warm and she did not withdraw from my touch. A fever, as was expected.
"Miss Mason." I took a seat on the chair that was next to the bed, trying to fight back the humanity that threatened by calm mask. The woman looked around at her name and coughed.
"No need to see me, doctor. I'll be dead before the next hour." Her voice was raspy and soft but not weak. I rose for a moment to check the medicine that was doing little to help her. But suddenly, she clutched at my shirt collar, pulling me closer with surprising strength,
Shocked, I allowed her to pull me closer.
"Just save my Edward." She whispered to me, a strange emotion in her voice.
I nodded to her. "I will do what I can, miss."
She shook her head, left-to-right slightly. She winced slightly before continuing. "No. You do whatever it takes. Even if others can not do what you can. Save my Edward."
I gasped, staring into her eyes. Something gleamed there. Did she-but-it was not possible. Was she giving me permission?
The light from her green eyes suddenly disappear and the hand clasped on my shirt went limp. She was gone. I, however, did not move. Unable to do anything, my mind seemed frozen.
My hand was still up, curled around nothing but air. Hurriedly, I exited the room and entered the main area where the dead were stored.
I glanced around the packed room and my eyes feel upon a body that was undoubtedly her son's. He had the same unnatural shade of bronze hair. Lids half-covered his deep green eyes but they were the same as hers. I fought to keep my walk brisk and human as I made my way towards him. A few feet away, I realized he was still alive. His chest fell, albeit a bit slower then usual, up and down as he fought for each breathe.
It was then that I made the decision. In that moment, I realized that my loneliness would be no more. That this boy, this Edward, would be the first to join my family. Emily's words still in my head, I approached him, slightly shaken still by the incident. The boy's eyes shot open and a feeble hand reached for me, just as his mother had.
"Mother…" The thought remained in the air unfinished but the question was still there. Before I could answer, he looked away from me, pain molding the face into a mask of agony. The answer was in my eyes. He shook convulsively, the tremors taking hold of his already weak body.
I could do nothing but hold his hand as he trembled. Several times, his hand tightened around mine, vice-like. "Dr. Cullen, please. Make it stop." He muttered during that long period. I could only nod, my own pain making it impossible to speak. "I will." I muttered, wincing at that thought of what I was to do. He would be taken over by a whole new pain, increased ten-fold, soon enough.