Carlisle, my pillar of strength, was crumbling before my eyes. I felt my long dormant heart burn with sadness. Then he began to speak of the loss of my baby and how it was unfair to me. I clutched my chest as the pain of my memories echoed through my mind, the moment my infant son stopped crying. This was too much to bear. My husband, my soul mate, who was so wracked with anguish, was still was thinking of me first.
I entered the bedroom silently as he finished his prayer and slowly made my way over to Carlisle. He looked so broken and hollow as I came up behind him. I fell to my knees and pulled my husband into my arms. He grabbed hold of me and dropped his head onto my shoulder in defeat.
"Carlisle, you can't give up. Not yet. Not when there is still hope." I searched his pained eyes as they rose to meet mine, looking for a glimmer, but there was none. He could not see that there was still hope for the future. A cold shiver ran through me as I delved deep into his eyes. He was empty, void of any hope. I had never seen him hopeless. This was not Carlisle, not the man I loved. This shell was a mockery of everything that was good about him. I was desperate to make him understand that all was not lost.
"Esme, I…" His voice was as bleak as his heart.
"No, Love, you may not see it, but it is still there." I reached up and touched his beautiful face, trying with every fiber of my being to renew what he had lost. "You are a man of faith, so have faith, Carlisle. Believe that the higher power will bring him home. Believe that he will be with Bella and Alice, guiding them to success in their rescue mission. Have faith.
Faith. Hope. Love. These are the virtues that are taught as values in this life. You cannot relinquish such precious gifts, Carlisle.
I can still see the hope that exists. The hope that will stay Edward's hand just long enough, the hope that Bella and Alice will make it to him in time, and the hope that all of them will return home.
So you, Love, hold on to your faith and I will hold to my hope, and we will see what comes together."
A light broke across Carlisle's face as my words reached him. His heart told him that there was still a chance for Edward, Bella, and Alice to come home safe. Carlisle ran his fingers along my cheek and into my hair. He warm eyes engulfed me as a small smile bloomed on his face.
"You are right, Esme. There is still a chance, even if it was just a hope and a prayer."
After a stretch of silence there in Carlisle's arms, the phone rang downstairs. The breath caught in my chest, and then the most amazing words sounded from Jasper's lips…
"Thank God you're alive!"