Stephenie Meyer owns all!
Carlisle's POV
"Faster, Carlisle!" Alice was leaning forward in the passenger seat while I floored the Mercedes as fast as it would go.
As we rounded the dark corner of the road, we could see the bright, orange and yellow from flames. As we near the flames, the smell of blood clung heavy in the air. A large buck deer lay in the middle of the road.
As we neared the site, it was clear that we would find no survivors in the car. My heart and gut clenching a prayer slipped from my lips, audible to everyone in the car.
A small hand found my own and I looked at Alice. "Even if we had gotten here in time Carlisle, they wouldn't have made it. Two died on impact and the other's injuries were too extensive. I've run through the different scenarios and the crash is the same every time. There is nothing we could have done."
"Is Bella all right?" Edward was now leaning forward where before he had been acting like a petulant child.
"You mean you're voicing concern, considering we had to force you in the car." Emmett turned his large frame and I could see he was fighting for the control not to rip Edward apart.
"Bella is our first concern here. The pettiness out of both of you I will deal with later." This was one of the times I felt like I was a referee instead of a father. Smoothly I pulled the car over to the side of the road.
"Where is she Alice?" We got out, though it took longer for Edward. His attitude angered me but I forced myself to the task at hand.
"I'm not sure. I saw the car explode and then nothing. She could be anywhere." A vision had her quickly grabbing the side of a tree. "We have to hurry. We don't have much time." Unknowingly to Edward and Emmett, Alice had placed her hand on the tree in the exact number of minutes we had to find Bella. Three minutes.
"Emmett and Edward, you take the side of the road the car is on. Alice and I will take this side. Yell when you find her." Edward burned his eyes into my brain trying to get through. I quickly slammed my thoughts shut and heard his growl of frustration before he turned and joined Emmett on the other side of the road.
"Which way Alice?" I had taken my kit out of the car on a precaution. We didn't know what condition we would find Bella in.
"This way." Alice bolted into the trees northwest of the crash and I was hot on her heels.
We found her within seconds, about fifteen feet off the road. We called for Emmett and Edward. It only took seconds to have them at our side.
"Emmett we are going to need something as a stretcher to get her to the car. I don't want to risk jarring her by carrying her. Until we fully know the extent of her injuries, my only goal is keeping her alive. Edward, phone for an ambulance, set the flares out by the car and wait. Alice, go with him, this is going to be too much for you."
I was positive that my voice was forceful enough that they would not hesitate to obey. Later was the time to deal with Edward's juvenile moods.
Bending down I looked at the young woman that still held the spot of a daughter in my heart. Her heart was getting fainter by the second. Her unequaled pupils told me she had a concussion but I wouldn't know further without an x-ray. Quickly I pulled out the large syringe that would keep Bella alive until we could get her to the hospital. Quickly I injected the needle directly into her heart and pushed the plunger down. The dose of epinephrine would keep her blood flowing to her heart.
I reset her leg glad that it was a simple fracture. The rest would have to wait until we were at the hospital. It would have been so much easier if we could have just run her to the hospital, but without knowing the full extent of her injuries I didn't want to risk further damage. Ripples started forming across her abdomen and I prayed the ambulance would be here in time.
Emmett rushed at me with the picnic blanket that I kept in the car for when Esme and I had time alone. It was just large enough that it would work.
"I'm sorry I couldn't find anything else and didn't want to waste any more time." Too many people in our family, often did not give Emmett enough credit for his brains. They often never saw past the brawn and his jokester facade. He had one of the best minds for common sense that I had ever seen.
"If we each hold two ends, she should be able to fit in the middle." His restraint was amazing considering the blood in the air. My child had grown in leaps and bounds in the past five years. With more gentleness than I'd even seen him show, Emmett lifted Bella straight up and then placed her on the blanket, a large hand pushed the hair out of her eyes. His face was full of emotion and when he caught my eye he rushed away to the highway to wait for the ambulance, passing Alice on the way.
"The ambulance will be here in five minutes. We got here in just enough time." Alice sat on the ground, grabbing Bella's left hand in her own. "She'll be okay, Carlisle." Taking my jacket off I laid it over her still figure and prayed for a miracle anyway.
I noticed Edward standing on the road looking toward us. His features were unrecognizable but at least his hands were no longer gripped into fists and ready to battle the world. For all the years he had lived as a vampire, there were still character traits about Edward that forever would be that of a seventeen-year-old young man.
As the ambulance neared with a fire engine Edward turned around and seemingly disappeared. Alice ran to tell them where to park. Emmett and I gently carried Bella to the side of the road.
"Dr. Cullen! Nice to see you back in town."
The paramedic, Paul, was one I had worked alongside many times in the emergency room. He and another female unloaded the stretcher and Emmett and I lifted Bella onto it.
"Do you mind if I ride in, I'll fill you in on everything on the way?" I wanted to make sure that I was the one taking care of Bella. I owed her that much.
"We don't allow anyone to ride anymore, insurance reasons." The other paramedic, Jessica given the name on the shirt looked at me rather smugly.
"Sure you can Dr. Cullen, especially if you're going to be the attending physician. She'll be better in your hands than anyone." He smiled at me while the female scowled at his back.
"Go home, tell your mother that I'm going to the hospital." Emmett grabbed Alice's hand and they trotted back to the Mercedes as I climbed in the ambulance.
"So, what's going on with her Doc?" Paul already had an I.V. hooked in and was making notes on the required forms.
"She has a broken left fibula, multiple lacerations, GCS of at least ten with pupils being responsive though unequal, possible cracked ribs and internal bleeding. As you can tell she's about seven to seven and a half month pregnant, and if the spasms are any indication going into preterm labor." I sat back and let the paramedic do his job.
"Did she have any information on her?" He finished hooking her to the heart monitor and while erratic I was happy to note that it had gotten a little steadier, with Bella's unborn child.
"No, I suspect anything in the crash is a loss. The flames were high when my children and I stopped. The left rear door was open so we hoped someone had escaped. We were lucky." Gently I took Bella's left hand in my own, my finger gently rubbing over the plain gold band and the small diamond engagement ring that adorned her finger.
"I'm sure the hospital will have some record of her, or at least the police station. Is Charlie Swan still Police Chief?" I tried to appear nonchalant in my question.
"Chief Swan died just more than four years ago. Someone gunned him down at a routine traffic stop. Whole town mourned him, still does, especially that daughter of his. They still haven't caught the person that did it."
We pulled into the emergency room just as I was getting over my shock. In such a short amount of time Bella had not only lost Edward and us, but her father as well. We were so wrong to have left her behind.
For now it was time to put aside any emotional ties I had to Bella and be her doctor. It was still touch and go and a turn for the worse could mean not only her life, but the life of her unborn child.
The doors opened to the emergency room and immediately we were swarming with nurses. Rapidly I fired off all the information they needed. For now Bella would be a Jane Doe.
"Dr. Cullen, we didn't know you were back in town." Jackie was one of the older nurses was proficient enough to take information, check vitals and converse at the same time. "Are you planning on staying? We could always use your brilliance around here?"
She deftly hung the I.V. bag as the trauma team transferred Bella to a bed and began hooking her up to the other necessary monitors, one a fetal heart monitor.
"I'm not sure yet. Who will the attending be?" I stood back out of the way and let the nurses do their job. Within minutes they had Bella stabilized enough to monitor her labor and to have the CT-Scan ran.
"A new one. Dr. Cooper. He's here from New York. We'd much prefer to have you. This new doctor has some Tourette Syndrom that has some of the younger girls running for cover. I'll call Max Phillips at home. He's the Chief of Staff now. If you go back on duty, at least while you're here, he'll probably let you be the supervising physician."
Jackie turned on her heel and even she fled the room as the new hot shot doctor walked in. At least I could say one thing about him. He had enthusiasm.
Not bothering introducing himself, Bella's physician began to look her over, while continuing to talk on a Bluetooth headset.
"So St. Bart's again, huh. We should do something different this time . . . I don't know . . . Man those girls last time were hot."
The man wasn't even bothering with Bella's chart. Instead he was giving her a cursory glance and dared to move the hair away from her face. I growled low in my throat. Turning around quickly, Dr. Cooper immediately disengaged his phone. Seeing me his hand shot out to grab something and touched nothing but air. Would I have been a nurse there was no doubt I would have gotten a shocking surprise? I now understood what Jackie meant about the Tourette syndrome.
"Dr. Cullen, I've heard a lot about you. They sure do treat you like God around here don't they."
His laugh was nervous and his eyes began darting between me and Bella and I was having the slightest problem containing my anger and annoyance enough not to throw him out the window.
A flurry of footsteps sounded outside the curtain and I smelled Jackie's perfume. "She's all yours Dr. Cullen. Max has authorized full reinstated for as long as you want. The Jane Doe will now have you listed as attending physician. He also wants to come in and talk to you about some problems, his bursitis is acting up again."
She left as quickly as she had come and I shooed the rest of the nurses away as well. They had been here long enough to remember me and that I liked to work alone. I tried to show Dr. Cooper where he could go as well. I wasn't expecting the fuss he put up, wasting precious time.
"Ah come on. At least let me help, case like this, two doctors are better than one." Apart from his appalling behavior I could see the sincerity in his eyes and the genuine need to help. Nodding my head, I agreed.
"I'm going to change, make sure her condition is fully stable and order up the CT, call up to maternity and have them prep a delivery room for an emergency cesarean section. Last get her fingerprints and run them against the database. We need to know who she is and any allergies that she may have." I clipped out the orders and gave Dr. Cooper the look I usually reserved for the newest of interns, he jumped and ran to fulfill my orders.
I took off in a fast human run to the nearest staff room and changed into scrubs. I was back into the room before Dr. Cooper could call for the CT.
"I can't get anyone over there by phone. I'm going to go over now." Dr. Cooper was hanging up the phone as I got in.
"When you get there, if no one is there, get the key. I'll run the machine myself. Now run, I'll get her prepped." As he left, I snatched the light pen out of his jacket and went to Bella's side.
Opening her left eye, then her right, I was glad to note that her irregular pupils were returning to normal, which meant that swelling in her brain was lessening.
"Bella, can you hear me? You need to wake up. If you can't talk squeeze my fingers."
Taking her hand in mine, I felt the slight pressure. "That's good sweetheart. I'm going to ask you some questions and I want you to squeeze my fingers,." Again the pressure.
"Are you in any pain?" The hand gripped mine, tighter this time. I took it to mean that she was in much pain. "Can you open your eyes on your own?" She squeezed and as she did her eyes fluttered open. I was beginning to pull her out of her unconscious state. Her liquid chocolate eyes focused on mine and then all hell broke loose.
The heart monitor went erratic as did the fetal monitor. Bella was going into shock. I watched as she slipped unconscious.
Three nurses ran behind the curtain and I began barking out orders.
"Get maternity stat and have them prepped for an emergency cesarean and have a crash cart on standby. Move people. We're going now!" Flying I had Bella prepped for the journey up three flights of stairs before the nurses even had an opportunity. Jackie was right behind me making sure the proper monitors stayed attached.
The elevator took forever. "Someone please find me this young woman's name and notify her family, and someone get Dr. Cooper's ass up here now!" One girl got off on the next floor and ran to do my bidding.
I let them wheel her into the delivery room and went into the antechamber. I was glad that they would be too busy to see my speed as I changed scrubs and washed up. Two maternity nurses had Bella ready. With every passing minute two heartbeats were dropping fast. Screw Dr. Cooper. I didn't have the time to waste on him.
He surprised me and showed up just as I was ready to begin. "Keep a check on her heartbeat and breathing. Let me know immediately if she starts showing signs of distress. I'm going to do a general, even though she's out I don't want her in any unnecessary pain."
"We'll need to wait for the anesthesiologist." Dr. Cooper was by her side and waiting?
"We'll discuss my certifications later, keep an eye on her breathing and intubate if you have to."
With precision I inserted the needle and gave it just enough time before I called for a scalpel. Within minutes Bella's child, a beautiful but a small baby girl was born. The nurses went to work hooking the baby up to monitors while I removed the placenta and stitched Bella back up. With the cleanup process I put a call through for the CT scan and threw and MRI in for good measure.
When we were leaving for the scans Bella's heartbeat and again stabilized and I was happy to learn that Bella's little girl weighed three pounds and four ounces was doing remarkably well.
While we were waiting for the results I would get Bella's leg set in a cast and take a look at her ribs. From that point on until Bella awoke, it was going to be a waiting game.
Author's Note: I am hoping that everyone that reads this as well as Second Chances will come to love this one just as much. Man wouldn't it be a hoot to see as many reviews for this story as Second Chances. No pressure guys. If you like, or even if you don't, leave a review. Reviews are my own personal heroin.
