Carlisle's POV
I waited outside the quarantine room, looking on as the ward nurse mopped his brow. She felt sorry for him, the worry was written plainly on her face. 'He's so young.' she always fretted after tending to him. 'It's just not fair that someone so young should be taken like this.' . She held his raised hand tenderly and then looked my way. Running her hand over his forehead once more, she left the room hurriedly. "He wants to speak with you," she murmured, as she passed by me at the doorway, giving me a wide berth, as always. I entered the room silently and pulled a chair over to his bedside. I looked down at the poor young man, his features serene, and his body momentarily pain free as the medicine I had administered earlier coursed through his veins."Am I going to die?"
His whisper was faint, but I heard it quite clearly. I tried to keep my overwhelming feeling of pity for him from my eyes. "We're doing all we can, but your illness is very advanced." He nodded slowly, comprehension dawning in his eyes, before he turned away from me and tried to clutch his bible in his weak hands. He was going to die, that was certain. The Spanish influenza epidemic had struck our fair city of Chicago hard, with thousands of people losing their lives. He was just the next one of many unfortunates that would soon die. His father had already succumbed days ago and his mother had passed the day before. The poor boy was so ill, he wasn't even aware of their deaths. I didn't see much point in informing him and making his final hours full of grief as well as pain. His mother was the reason I was here sitting here beside him now. Her last words ran through my head as I stared down at her boy. "Save him Dr. Cullen! I know you can! You can do what no other doctors in the world can do. Make him strong and beautiful again. Please!"I stared down at him once more, not sure that I could take this young God fearing man. He would surely hate me for what I was thinking of doing.
"Don't let my boy die, Dr. Cullen!"
I winced as Elizabeth Masen's words rang out in my head. I had decided, finally. I would save her boy – the only way I knew how. I leaned down and stroked his fevered brow as I grasped his hand; I whispered reassurances in his ear. His eyes closed as his lips curled into a slight smile. Then the screaming began.