Chapter 1

It would have been much quicker for Carlisle to travel to work on foot. Public transportation was much slower for him, but he didn't want to draw attention to himself. The old adage "When in Rome…" was what he learned to live by, and it had served him well through the years. Most people commuted by train to downtown Chicago. A car was an inconvenience and parking was almost impossible. Even in the predawn hours, cars filled the streets with everyone bustling to their destinations. Therefore, he was taking the train to work.

Nevertheless, the one good thing about public transportation was that people avoided eye contact. It required the same unspoken etiquette as being a passenger in an elevator; one might glance or smile at a stranger but then one would avert one's eyes. No one wanted to appear peculiar by staring at another person, but it was impossible to ignore him. He was 6'2", well-built with pale skin, golden blond hair, and blue eyes. He garnered enough attention at the hospital where he worked, from the staff as well as the patients. His movie star looks, as he had been told, always drew attention. No matter how much he wished to, he could never completely blend into a crowd.

He walked up the stairs, hoping that the train wasn't late. It would ruin his plan for getting to work early. He would use the time to relax and plan his day, including reviewing the students on his roster. With his photographic memory, it would not take long to learn the preliminary facts about them. He had to admit to himself, he was a little excited about his new teaching position. Being a physician was no longer as fulfilling as it once was. His friend had pointed out that he needed a change, something he had been reluctant to do, but now he was beginning to see her point as the prospect of doing something different gave him a renewed sense of purpose. As he prepared for work that morning, he could not shake the prophetic feeling that his life was finally about to change.

It was before sunrise. There were commuters already on the platform but not as many as there would have been a little later. The Redline had finally arrived. Doors opened and people spilled out going to their destinations. As Carlisle climbed onto the train and started to walk to a seat, someone rushed into the car, bumping into him. He felt something hot and wet splash him and then looked down to see that coffee was all over the front of his shirt and pants.

"Oh God… I'm so sorry." The boy awkwardly placed a paper bag in his teeth, held the now mostly empty cup in one hand, and tried to wipe off the coffee with a small thin napkin with the other hand, all the while holding a paperback book under the same arm.

"No, don't bother. It's alright. I have to change when I get to work anyway."

The boy grabbed the bag out of his mouth with the hand holding the soaked napkin, clasping the book under his arm.

"But you're not hurt are you? That coffee was hot."

"No. I am fine. Please don't worry."

Carlisle was rethinking that walking option. The boy was about to draw undesirable attention to him, and he was unable to take a seat now that his clothes were dripping wet. He hated being wet.

"Why don't you take a seat? You look like you have quite a load there," Carlisle said.

Carlisle noticed that the boy was trying to maneuver a large stuffed backpack, the paperback, a bag of what smelled like donuts, and a now empty cup of coffee. His thick glasses were hanging on the end of his nose, appearing to defy gravity. After fumbling around a bit, the boy managed to place the backpack on a seat, himself and the donuts in another. He still had not figured out what to do with the cup.

"Here, why don't you let me hold that?"

"Are you sure you don't mind?"

"No. It's not a problem"

"Thank you, Sir."

Carlisle grabbed the empty cup from the boy and held it as he stood next to him. The boy was able to straighten his glasses and finally stopped fidgeting. He noticed that the boy appeared to be in total disarray, maybe because his hair looked thoroughly windblown. It being Chicago - windblown hair was not uncommon, but he had never seen hair that disorganized nor that color. It was a strange bronze with strands of gold and red throughout. What came to mind were the various shades of autumn leaves. The boy was wearing a faded Spiderman tee shirt, faded jeans, and black sneakers. He was tall, about 2 inches shorter than himself, lanky but well-built for his size. The boy looked at least fourteen years old, but it was hard to tell with the glasses and the thick hair falling into his face.

The train continued on for another 15 minutes before Carlisle reached his destination. He looked down at the boy who had apparently fallen asleep; his head was hanging down and soft snoring sounds could be heard.

"Hey, son, you'd better wake up. You're going to miss your stop," Carlisle said, gently shaking him. The boy jerked his head up, nearly dislodging his glasses again.

"Thank you, sir."

"No problem, son."

Carlisle got off the train and headed toward the hospital. He tossed the empty cup into the trash can on the way. Once inside the large white building, he made his usual greetings as he passed colleagues and staff.

"You know you're supposed to put the coffee on the inside of your body, right?"

"Thank you for pointing that out, Emmett. I've always wondered how that worked."

Emmett was a security guard at the hospital. He was 6'6" and 250 pounds of solid muscle. Yet, he had the pleasant comfortable demeanor of a best friend and the mentality of a circus clown.

"Are you sure you're supposed to be teaching the new recruits? I'll hate for someone to come up missing the wrong body part."

"I'm training third year medical students, Emmett. No one is taking any body part."

Carlisle could hear Emmett's loud snorts as he walked to the locker room. Once inside, he grabbed a pair of scrubs in his size and headed to the shower room. He undressed and climbed into the shower to wash off all the coffee, taking his time relishing the hot water running down his body. He was thinking again of the boy on the train. He seemed like a nice kid but he also felt that the boy seemed lost for some reason. Maybe he was just projecting. He had been feeling almost depressed until he found his new job.

He could now hear someone in the locker room. The new students must be arriving. He thought he had gotten there early enough to beat the crowd. He heard someone coming into the shower room. It couldn't be, he thought. Suddenly, the door to the shower opened. He turned around to see him - the boy from the train.

Nude?

What in the world…?

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize this was a single shower," the boy said as he stood there without his glasses, squinting.

"Don't be sorry, just get out!" Carlisle shouted.

The boy turned and fled, leaving the shower door wide opened.

Carlisle quickly finished his shower, dried off and dressed. There was no sign of the boy when he entered the locker room.

What was he doing here in the first place? Was the boy so lost that he followed him there to the hospital? No, that didn't make sense. The boy was naked. He must be mentally deficient.

I am going to have to rethink my commute. There are just too many weirdos on the train, Carlisle thought.

When he reflected on it, the boy did have a nice body. He could still detect his lingering scent; it was like honey and sunshine, altogether a very pleasant aroma. Stop it, Carlisle. You could go to jail for thoughts like that those these days. He was just a boy, a very strange one at that.

Carlisle stuffed his soiled clothes in his gym bag and left the locker room.

He walked to his office to gather the information on the new students for the rotation, and then walked to the ER. The medical students would be his babies so to speak. It was his duty to raise them into responsible, safe, caring doctors. They were standing just off the nurse's station with various looks of fear and excitement. He was quick to put them at ease. He didn't believe in the intimidation factor when it came to training doctors. How can you teach doctors to be compassionate if you didn't show them any?

Suddenly, there was a familiar sound of running from a distance. That was not the sound one wanted to hear in an ER. Carlisle turned to see…

Him?

Again?

The boy abruptly stopped in front of the other students, wearing scrubs and a lab jacket.

Carlisle was trying very hard to suppress his anger, which was quickly surpassing his frustration. This was not how he imagined his first day. "Wait! What are you doing here?" he shouted at the kid.

Without waiting for an answer, he turned to Jessica, the nurse behind the desk, and quietly spoke to her. "Call security and Dr. Dharva. We need Psych down here. Now!"

"Yes, doctor!"

The boy stood, looking more confused than ever and a little frightened.

The other students were snickering.

This was not a laughing matter. This boy seriously needed help. Yes, he could see that the first topic on the agenda would be compassion. Where was security? Carlisle turned to the boy calmly and started speaking. He didn't want to frighten him any further or cause him to do anything drastic. He didn't know how unstable he was. The boy stood slightly trembling and breathing rapidly.

"OK, everyone, that's enough."

Carlisle approached the boy slowly. "It's alright, son. Why don't you come with me and we can talk."

The boy took a few steps toward him, away from the students.

Emmett finally showed - looking as usual - eager for action. As if his size wasn't intimidating enough.

"Where's the perp?" Emmett shouted.

"I'm sorry, Emmett, I think I can handle this. Just be close by."

"I'm sorry, Sir. I didn't mean to… I mean, I didn't know… I swear…"

The boy's eyes darted back and forth from him to Emmett. He then started to hyperventilate - his breathing became more labored and he was becoming diaphoretic. His pale skin was now almost chalky white.

"It's okay, son. Breathe. No one is going to hurt you. We're going to get you some help."

Suddenly, the boy's eyes rolled back in his head and his body went limp. Carlisle caught him, lifting him up in his arms before he could hit the floor.

"Jessica, get some oxygen!"

Carlisle quickly carried him to an exam cot. The other nurses and interns soon came into action, grabbing supplies. An oxygen mask was placed on the boy as Carlisle checked his heartbeat with his stethoscope. It was fast. One of the nurses removed his jacket. An IV of 0.9 Normal Saline was started in his left antecubital while a pulse oximeter was placed on one of his fingers. Another nurse was taking a blood pressure on the right arm.

"Seventy over forty, Pulse 200, Sat 88," the nurse said.

"Run the IV wide open, get those monitor leads on, and what's the blood glucose?"

"It's 60, doctor."

Not too bad, but he should have eaten that donut, Carlisle thought. "Give him 6mg of Adenosine." Carlisle watched anxiously as the monitor showed the boy's heart rate pause and then resume at a normal pace.

"His blood pressure is 90/60, pulse 60, sat 99%, doctor."

The boy started stirring and a little color was coming to back his face.

"Change the IV to D5.9 at 83 per hour."

Carlisle leaned down and held the boy's hand. He was startled by the electrical current he suddenly felt. He looked around to see if someone had placed the defibrillator paddles on the boy's cot. He then looked at the boy's face as his eyelids fluttered open, noticing that the thick glasses had been hiding the most startlingly beautiful, vivid, green eyes he had ever seen. Under all that craziness and wild hair, he was a very lovely boy. What type of parents let this boy run unchecked and unsupervised? The city was a dangerous place for someone like him.

"Where am I? What happened?" the boy said, disorientated.

"You're at Northern General Hospital. You got excited and your heart started beating a bit too fast. You're going to be alright but maybe you should lay off the caffeine. Can you tell me your name, son?"

"My name is Edward… Edward Masen… Are you going to send me to jail, Sir?" he asked with a shaky voice.

"I should probably handcuff him to the bed."

"No, Emmett! I'm sure he'll be alright. We'll get Dr. Dhar… wait a minute! He looked at the boy who was busy squinting at Emmett towering over him.

"Emmett, could you please stand back from him. Everything's fine."

Emmett reluctantly stepped back a few feet.

Carlisle looked at the boy incredulously. "You're Edward Masen - one of my medical students?

"Yes sir."

"How old are you?"

"I'm sixteen, Sir," the boy said, still looking nervous.

Carlisle was shocked again, but this time figuratively.

"May I have my glasses, Sir? "

"Sure, son, here they are."

Carlisle reached over to the table and then gave the boy his glasses.

"And my hand, Sir?"

"Oh yes, sure." Carlisle let go of the hand he had forgotten he was still holding. He somehow felt strange once he was no longer in physical contact with the boy.

"So… I'm not going to jail, Sir?"

"What? Why would you be going to jail?"

"You know, Sir."

The boy leaned toward him and whispered. "For seeing you… you know…"

It finally dawned on Carlisle that the teen was referring to the shower incident.

"Oh no, that was nothing… I mean… It's OK. I understood it was an accident."

Now, Carlisle thought. Emmett was suddenly standing a little closer.

"Emmett, I won't be needing your services. You can continue on your way. It was all just a misunderstanding. I'm sure you have better things to do."

"No, I don't."

"Emmett! That will be all!"

"OK, OK. I'm outta here. But don't be surprised if it takes a little longer for me to respond next time."

Emmett walked away grumbling.

"May I get dressed now, Sir? I don't want to miss my first day."

"Look, Edward. I'm sorry about all this. I didn't know you were one of my students. I didn't expect someone of your age, and you could easily pass for someone younger."

"I know. I get that all the time, Sir."

"You're going to have to stay here as a patient for a few hours, just for observation. We also need to make sure your blood work is normal, and I should call your parents as well."

The boy suddenly jerked up into a sitting position.

"No! Please don't call my father! I'm fine. You said it was just for observation anyway. There's no need to worry him."

Carlisle thought the boy was going to hyperventilate again. His heart rate had climbed and he was perspiring. He started grabbing his hair in his hands, tugging hard. Carlisle grasped the boy's hands, and gently pulling them down to his sides. He again felt that strange tingling sensation but ignored it.

"Edward, please calm down. You're going to make yourself sick again. We have to tell your father. You're a minor. It's the law. If it makes you feel any better, I'll talk to him myself."

The boy lay down and turned on his side, facing away from him, becoming very still and quite. After a moment, Carlisle could see his shoulders shaking. Carlisle pulled the curtains around the cot. He wasn't sure what to do. It was policy to notify the parents when treating a minor, yet he felt guilty about putting the boy in his current predicament. The boy obviously had problems at home.

Sitting down on the cot next to the boy, Carlisle gently placed his hand on his shoulder. The boy immediately ceased trembling and his shoulders relaxed. Carlisle himself had always avoided touching his patients unless clinically necessary. He hadn't even realized what he was doing until he looked down at his hand slightly caressing the boy. It felt surreal, yet natural. Finally realizing the inappropriateness of it, he pulled his hand away and stood up.

"Okay, Edward. I won't call him, but if there's a problem with your blood work, I will have no choice."

"Thank you, Sir," the boy said with a sniff and slightly unsteady voice. He remained facing away from Carlisle, curled into a fetal position. He did indeed look very young at that moment. All he needed was a teddy bear and his thumb in his mouth. Carlisle resisted the urge to brush his hair from his face and offer words of comfort.

What is wrong with me? Carlisle thought. Maybe taking this job wasn't such a good idea.

The rest of the day was thankfully uneventful. The day was spent mostly getting the recruits familiar with the facility, staff, and procedures. Edward was able to join the group once his labs came back normal and an outpatient echocardiogram was ordered. It was admirable the way he was able to jump right into the game. Initially he was embarrassed, but the red flush to his face gradually faded. It was obvious he was used to being the odd man out. The other students would still snicker at his awkwardness and make fun of him, but he was either completely oblivious or shrugged it off. He would get extremely excited over learning new information and would ask intelligent, insightful, well thought out questions. He would also be the first to answer a question correctly. Carlisle asked about a diagnosis and proper tests to be ordered for a patient. The 35 year old Caucasian female had come in with complaint of upper abdomen and back pain. The patient was obese and worked as a secretary for a temp agency. She had no medical history, did not smoke or drink, and had a normal EKG. Mike Newton had immediately suggested possible gallbladder disease and ordered an ultrasound. Mike's father was on the medical staff there and Mike acted as though he knew the answers, just from being a doctor's son. He was smug and boisterous and always the first of the students to make fun of Edward. Edward's answer was to also order a spiral cat scan as well as cardiac enzymes, and a stress test if the serial cardiac enzymes were normal. Michael argued that the EKG was normal, and since she had no Cardiac history and she was only 35, it was a waste of the hospital money, especially since she was uninsured. Although the spiral CT ruled out a pulmonary embolism, the enzymes came back abnormally high and a cardiac angiogram was soon done showing 90% blockage of one of her arteries. She had a silent heart attack from coronary artery disease.

Carlisle was impressed with Edward on several other occasions that day. He was clearly the brightest of the group. He found himself enjoying the day more than he had expected.