Disclaimer: All publicly recognized material is not mine. It belongs to Ms. Stephanie Meyer. I just decided to play with her characters a little bit. Althea is my own creation in which I shoved into the Twilight universe. I am not getting paid for this. I write for pleasure and the enjoyment of others.
What if Bella Swan had an older sister? An older sister that stayed with Charlie while Renee took Bella? What would change? Who would really be Bella's true mate? Who would be Althea's true mate? Time line will be moved around my writing pleasure.
Today is the first day of my new job. I am officially a paramedic. I now work for Clallam County in Washington. Granted I will be stationed at Forks fire department covering Forks, La Push, and the miles upon miles of forestry surrounding the area. I would also be working with my dad. Charlie Swan the resident chief of police. I have been dreaming about this job since I first learned that my name Althea means "one who brings healing" or just "healer." Once my dad told me that I knew that I wanted to help people. And so once I graduated Forks high four years ago I set out to Port Angeles to go to College and get my bachelors in Emergency Medical Science.
I just moved back home a couple of weeks ago and immediately applied to Forks Fire and Rescue department. Within days I was told I got the job. A few days after that dad told me that Bella my little sister was coming to live with us.
With me being 21 nearing 22 and Bella just turning 16 I was older by almost six years. My parents had me very young. My mom Renee was only 17 and my dad Charlie was 18 and about to go into the academy. Growing up I knew that my parents didn't really fit together. They were too different. My mom was a hippy with no sense of direction while my dad was the mountain that was enforced and strong willed. He wanted the white picket fence and 2.5 kids where the wife would always be by his side. My mom wanted to travel the world and couldn't hold a job longer than two weeks. It was a big surprise when Bella came along. I think that it was a last ditch effort to try to stay together but a year after Bella was born mom wanted a divorce.
Renee took Bella and I stayed with my dad. My mom had claimed that we were already too much alike and he wouldn't be lonely. My dad fought for Bella know how flighty Renee could be but the court ruled in her favor and even said my dad was lucky he got me out of the divorce. I visited Bella and Renee every spring break and fall break. Leaving my dad with his buddies from La Push. Bella visited every summer for about a month. Bella never really liked the weather of the fair state of Washington but when she was 13 I had a discussion with her about how hard dad tries to make her happy and how much he worries when she is not there with us. She grew up a little more that summer and I was proud of her. I knew that I would not have to worry about her upsetting dad when I went off to college in the coming fall.
Even though we did not grow up together Bella always looked up to me. It was because of me she out grew her phobia of blood and clumsy stages. It was because of me that she now wanted to become a nurse for the emergency department. I couldn't be any more proud of my sister, and I know my dad couldn't be any more proud of his daughters. The way he talks about us to everyone who will listen is just ridiculous.
When dad said Bella was coming to live with us I could not contain my excitement. I mean yes I was almost 22 and still living at home but I had just moved back from Port Angeles and didn't feel any pressure to find my own abode so with dad I would stay. And now Bella would be joining our household. She was supposed to be coming into William R. Fairchild International Airport tomorrow and me and dad would both be picking her up. I could not wait.
"Althea are you ready?" Charlie yelled up the stairs. Since we both had to be at work at seven am sharp he was going to drop me off at the fire station which doubled as the EMS station.
I looked myself over in the mirror one more time. My long dark brown hair was pinned up in a bun. My tanned skin (thank you grandma Mary for giving me the gift of tanned skin) was bright and fresh looking. My hazel eyes were greener today to match the dark hunter green uniform I wore. My boots shined and were free of any dirt or mud. I knew I looked over eager and excited but all my training prepared me for this day and I could not believe it was finally here.
"Yeah dad I'll be right down." I hollered back at him as I grabbed my huge duffel back and sped down the stairs.
"You get off tonight at 7 right?" he asked not even looking up from the newspaper as I plopped my bag on the ground to get a cup of coffee.
"Yes sir, when does Bella's flight land tomorrow?"
"Around four. They are still letting you off early right?" He asked as his mustached lips twitched into a smile at the thought of Bella being home.
"Yep, it kind of helps when your dad is the chief of police." I poked him with my finger as I said this causing him to laugh.
"Yeah, yeah just don't throw my name around all the time." He teased.
"Alright dad lets go we don't want to be late!" I gathered up my bag and walked to the door with my coffee mug in hand.
"Okay kid let's go." And we were off.
The ride to work was silent. It usually is with me and Charlie. He is a quiet person and I am too. Although once you get me with a patient I usually open up try to get them to talk as much as possible.
"Thanks for the ride dad. Have a good day and stay safe." I called to him as I got out.
"You do the same. See you tonight."
I waved goodbye and he sped off to the police station which was just down the road.
With a smile on my face I walked into the station. I pretty much knew a lot of the people here. Forks is a small town and while it is in Clallam County I would be based out of a small fire and rescue department. When I was in school I had a lot of shifts in Port Angeles. Port Angeles is a big city and has a lot of tourists, so there was a lot of excitement there. I knew here in Forks and La Push I would not have a lot of excitement but to me it was worth it. This is where I wanted to be.
"Swan in the house!" I heard as walked through the door of the station.
"Hey Littlesea! How's it going?" I answered back to the man who was by the coffee maker. He was a La Push native who had been working for Forks Fire and Rescue for about ten years. He was a good friend of my fathers and also mentored me during my education. He volunteered himself to be my partner.
I was super excited to begin this journey, and with Jason Littlesea at my side I knew that we would conquer anything.
"Geeze Althea call me Jason." He laughed as he gave me a side hug.
"Alright, alright. How's the fam?" I asked as I clocked in.
"Ah you know same ole same. Collin turns 14 this weekend so Sherry wants to through a party at the beach and invite a whole bunch of people. Wanna come? Bring Charlie and Bella if you want?"
By now we were at the counter getting our equipment.
"Sure sounds like fun. I'll let dad know."
"Swan you getting the drugs today?" Lead supervisor Larry Fields asked.
"Yes she is! Larry you know it's her first day, newbies get the drugs." Jason laughed slapping me on the back.
I just laughed and signed out the drugs. They were the good stuff like morphine and fentanyl and such.
"Truck three today guys." Larry told us.
"It's truck three every day Larry." Jason said with a laugh
"We have ten trucks Jason everybody gets the same truck. It makes the people happy when they get the truck that they had the day before. That way if they mess something up they can deal with it themselves." Larry said with a smile.
"Yeah we all know we don't share well."
"Hey I gotta swing by the tribal center sometime today." Jason said as we inventoried the truck.
"Sounds good, is old Quil going to be there?"
"You know it. That old man practically lives in that place."
"I haven't seen him in about two years." I pulled on my sunglasses and hopped into the driver's seat. While Forks didn't have that much sun the days could be a little bright.
"You haven't seen much of anybody but us at the station for the last two years, and that was only when you dropped by to see your dad." Jason informed me as we set out to get some much needed breakfast.
Not much happened in our sleepy town. Sometimes there were some accidents, some illnesses, and the occasional lost dehydrated hiker but Forks and La Push were both pretty quiet places to be for EMS.
"Yeah, how have the people down in La Push been?" I asked
"Oh you know fishing and tourists. Every day is about the same. Billy Blacks son Jacob has Billy's diabetes under better control than his girls did. And Harry Clearwater's ticker keeps acting up so Sue's got him on a real strict diet. Then you got the old aunties who forget where they put their rugs and they fall. Other than that every things the same ole La Push."
We finally made it to the dinner only to see that my dad was already there getting his breakfast in and talking to the locals.
"That's good. Billy's girls were great and all but they were too concerned about themselves and not about helping Billy out. I'll ask dad to pop in on him today when we get off and see how little Jacob is holding up."
We got out and were greeted with a warm welcome into the dinner. Many of the locals that I had grew up knowing said help to me. It felt good to be back home. I love the small town life. I don't think I would ever want to live anywhere else.
"Hey Althea and Jason come sit with us." My dad called to us. He was seated with three of his officers at a large table.
As someone working in EMS you learn to eat quickly because you never know when you will get called away.
"Medic 3 we got an accident just off route 101 on fishing Lake Road Medic 3." Came over the radio interrupting the morning cheer.
"Status of patients?" I asked into the radio.
"Unknown at this time. Call in by a passerby." Mary-Beth the dispatcher responded back through the radio.
"Ten-Four Medic 3 is in route." I responded
I looked over to see that my dad was dispatched to the same call and smiled know that today was going to be the start of a great career.
We put some cash on the table and hauled tail out to the crash with lights and sirens.
Growing up in the area that I worked in gave me a lot of advantage. I knew where I was at all times and I knew just about everyone. It was also a disadvantage because I knew everyone there was bound to be a day that I responded to someone I knew. Today was that day it seemed.
We pulled up to the scene to notice that fire was already there. It looked to be just a minor crash. One vehicle that looked like it took the turn too sharp and spun out. Nothing too serious other than the fact that the young high schooler had hit another car that was about to take the turn. Both vehicles had minor damage and both drivers were outside their vehicles and walking around.
The young high schooler was Mike Newton. His family owned the local sporting goods store. The other driver I had never seen before. He was tall, pale, and blonde.
"What do we have here Brian?" I asked the fireman in charge of the scene as Jason got out equipment out.
"Mr. Newton took the curve too fast and spun out then he tapped Dr. Cullen's car with the tail end of his. Both patients deny any injuries."
"Dr. Cullen?" I asked in surprise. Yes I had heard that Forks just recently got a top doctor but I had not had the pleasure of meeting the good doctor.
"Yeah he was on his way to the hospital." Brian explained.
I nodded and walked over Mike Newton.
"I got Mike Althea check on the Doctor." Jason said, stopping me from going to Mike. I nodded and wondered about his problem with Doctor Cullen but put the thought away to ponder on later.
"Hi Dr. Cullen, I'm Althea Swan. I am a paramedic do you mind if I check you out?" I asked giving him the same greeting I would give anyone.
"Good morning Miss Swan. I don't mind, however I did explain to Mr. Smith that I am fine. Mr. Newton barely hit my vehicle with his own. No spider webbing, no airbag deployment, not a thing. Just some cosmetic damage that will take nothing to fix." Dr. Cullen explained.
"Alright well let me check you over then we can see about you denying treatment and transport. How's that sound?" I asked.
"Sounds fine. It is nice to meet you by the way Ms. Swan. Charlie has talked about you joining our EMS crew nonstop for weeks now. I really do not need any interventions. I have already taken my own vital signs." He said stopping me from pulling out the blood pressure cuff.
I sighed knowing that I would not get anything from Dr. Cullen. They really are right when they say doctors are the worst patients.
I asked Dr. Cullen or Carlisle as he insisted I call him the basic questions and of course he had the perfect answers. As I finished with my assessment we talked about how nice it would be to work together. Carlisle seemed really interested in bettering the hospital and being there for the people of Forks and La Push. I was ecstatic that we for once had a top notch doctor who didn't care about making money, he only cared about helping the people.
As I finished up dad came up and took Carlisle to the side to fill out vehicle collision paperwork. I looked over to Jason who had also finished his assessment on Mike Newton. It looked to be as if both patients were going to refuse transport. I don't blame them the incident was very mild and barely any car damage happened.
"Well that was fun." I remarked once we were back in the truck.
"Another day in paradise, eh?" Jason joked.
And so began our first day.
Around 3 we made it out to La Push. I got out with Jason and we made our way to the door. Just as I was about to open the door it was flung open and I collided with a hard body. I stumbled backwards and would have fell if it were not for the strong warm arms holding me steady.
"I'm so sorry." A deep voice rumbled from a wide strong chest that my face was currently flushed with.
I blushed up to my roots. Heat filled my face as I backed away and looked up and up at my attacker and savior.
My mind went blank as I stared into eyes so dark that they were nearly black. Dark hair cut short but still long enough to grab ahold of sat messily on his head. His chiseled face was tan and his kissable lips were an enticing shade of pink that were curling up into a wide smile that showed off white perfect teeth.
I could not look away. I barely noticed that even though I had stepped back his hot hands were still on my waist. I didn't notice my partner Jason giggling at my situation. I didn't even notice that there were two other guys in the doorway behind this man in front of me. All I noticed were his soul searching eyes and all I knew was that I could look into those eyes for days and know everything would be fine.
"Sam you okay bro?" A voice asked from behind him.
Sam what a nice name. I thought a little bit dreamily.
"I'm… great. Are you okay?" He answered and asked me once again. Jason thumped me on my head to bring me out of my stupor. As I broke eye contact to turn and glare at Jason I could have sworn I heard a light growl. I turned back to the man Sam and raised my eye brow in question at whether it came from him or I imagined it. He gave no answer.
"I'm fine. Thank you for catching me….?" I trailed off hoping to catch his name.
"Samuel Uley but I go by Sam and you are?" He asked in his deep voice. It wounded like velvet and I could listen to him speak for days on end if it were possible.
"Althea Swan."
"Uley you going to let my partner go anytime soon?" Jason asked interrupting the moment. I groaned at the thought of Sam letting me go. It just felt right standing in his arms. Like it was meant to be.
"Uh yeah sure. So I will see you around Althea?" He asked reluctantly bringing his arms down to his side. I smiled at him and went to answer but Jason interrupted again.
"Yeah she will at Collin's party this weekend. Then you and her can do the weird stare into each other's eyes thing there. For now though I need to talk to Old Quil about something. Come on Althea." Jason said as he pulled me into the building pushing past Sam and the other two guys.
"Bye Sam!" I yelled just as the door was closing.
"Bye Althea I will see you soon." He spoke back to me.
I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face. This dreamy man literally walked into my life and even though I slightly knew him from years ago I couldn't wait to get to know this Samuel Uley and I couldn't wait to see him again.