(DISCLAIMER: I do not own Twilight, New Moon, or Eclipse or any of it's characters.)
CHAPTER 1: SURVIVAL
carlisle. day 1, early morning
It wasn't the best morning, but it was no better than any other that we had had lately. I'd been spending a lot of my time at the hospital, only leaving to keep the humans thinking I was human. It wasn't a good time for the family. Edward was gone, and everyone seemed to be mourning the loss of their brother. Edward seemed to visit less and less often now.
It wasn't just his absence though, it was Bella's too. It was like losing two members of the family in one fiery blow. No one was untouched.
It was 7 o'clock, my shift had started, but I had arrived over an hour early, making rounds, keeping busy. My constant presence at the hospital was far from unwelcome, I was the best doctor in the entire city, as small as it was. But being a doctor for more than several human lifetimes could do that to a vampire.
"I've got a woman who was mauled by a bear, mostly minor injuries, but there's several puncture wounds to the neck and one of her ears is going to need to be reconstructed. Surgery's in OR 2 as soon as they get her prepped, do you want in?" Dr. McGrath, one of the best surgeons the hospital had (the best before I came along), came up from behind me at the nurses' station.
"Mauled by a bear? In this region?" As so-called vegetarians of the vampire species, eating only animals, you kind of got to know what was lurking in the forests and where they were. Bears. Here. Not so much. "That's kind of unusual."
"I know. Crazy, huh?" The female doctor smiled, looking at me with the all-too-familiar look of lust in her eyes. "Do you want in?"
"I've got another surgery in ten minutes, I'll come by when I'm done if your still operating." There was a fairly obvious look of disappointment on her face.
"What do you got?"
"Appendectomy."
"Fun." She replied, sarcastically.
I chuckled, "I'll come by afterwards."
carlisle. day 1, approx 3 ½ hours later.
Exactly three hours, thirty eight minutes and twenty four seconds later we were closing the patient of a successful appendectomy up. It was a great rush, standing over the operating table, saving someone from their own malfunctioning organs.
From themselves in a sense.
The chirp of my pager was near non-existence when I grabbed it off my belt clip and looked at the message on the tiny screen. I went to the phone at a human pace, dialing the number.
"Hello?"
"Hey, we have a patient that needs emergency surgery. Bowel obstruction. They're prepping him now."
"Okay. Do you know how they're doing in OR 2?"
"I don't know. I can check for you though."
"No. It's alright. I was just curious."
carlisle. day 1, after work.
I breathed a heavy sigh as I arrived back home. It was an old, large structure that Esme had restored. It was a darker building than we were used to living in, and everything about it seemed to portray the dismal existence we had entered into. The floors were done in a dark wood, and the walls were in shades of dark blue. Most of the furniture was black and deep shades of chocolate, and there lacked the piano and large windows we had in all of our former residences.
It was depressing, even for a vampire. Like living in eternal night.
As I opened the door, to my surprise, I heard a familiar voice: "Hey, dad."
carlisle. day 2, early morning.
"Pretty busy, last night?"
"Yes. Sorry I couldn't get around to seeing your patient. How was the surgery?"
"I felt so bad for the poor girl," McGrath began, "She had a cut coming down from her ear across her jaw, and claw marks that come from the side of her neck diagonal right to the bottom of her rib cage." She was using her hands to describe the injuries, "And another from the bottom of the cage all the way to her hip."
"Huh. I'll have to drop by and take a look." McGrath's eyes widened at the idea of it. She'd get a chance to show off to Dr. Cullen, spend some time with Dr. Cullen. Her thoughts were naked on her face. "What's her name?"
"Jane Doe, I guess they didn't find any ID on her."
"What's the room number then? I'll come by before my shift ends."
"She's still in the ICU, curtain eight."
carlisle. day 1, evening.
He looked worse than when I last saw him. He sounded sadder since I last talked to him.
Hearing my thoughts, he just shrugged. "I just came up to spend a day or two." I nodded. It was better than not seeing him at all. I gave him a short smile.
"How have you been doing?" I asked, as we began walking toward the sitting room.
"The same." Miserable, I thought. He shrugged and dropped into a chair.
We are going feeding tonight, do you want to come? I had already noted that he didn't appear hungry, but the family would want to spend as much time with him as they could before he disappeared again.
"Sure."
carlisle. day 2, after work.
A feeling of uneasiness and dread seemed to fill my entire being. I wasn't sure what to do. After hundreds of years worth of experience, not knowing what to do, it was a rarity. Usually, I didn't mind, but this time.. I'm terrified.
I don't know.
Just be careful what you think. Open the door and be normal. Normal.