Chapter 4 – Embry
I could hear Dr. Cullen's soft, confident voice speaking to a patient in the other room as I pulled myself together for my shift. I clipped my badge on my shirt and scrubbed my hands, then pushed the doors open to the main exam room. It was lined with medical bays and, to my disappointment, only one of the curtains was closed. It was going to be a slow night.
"You'll be fine, Ms. Clearwater. We'll just run some additional tests to be sure." Dr. Cullen pulled back the curtain and smiled at me.
I nodded back, hiding my smile. "Oh, hi Liz. Back again?" Leah and Seth's aunt nodded wistfully and turned her attention back to the doc. I left them to it and went to check the labs to see if anything needed to be done. Liz had reoccurring heart palpitations. They may have been real, or her frequent visits may have had something to do with Dr. Cullen. The good doc received her attentions in stride and always gave her every test she requested.
There was no harm in it; the hospital and the tribe had a good arrangement thanks to Dr. Cullen. The board agreed that Dr. Cullen could provide free medical treatment for the whole tribe, no questions asked, in exchange for his gift of some new state of the art medical equipment for the hospital. The hospital didn't hesitate, Dr. Cullen got to sate his endless thirst (pardon the pun) for knowledge, and those of us with crazy DNA could get the workups and treatment we needed under the radar.
It was just one of the many ways our lives were way better off with the Cullens in town. Not that everyone saw it that way. After all of these years, there were those in our tribe that still refused to get treated at the hospital, ignorant idiots that they were. I considered everyone in the Quileute nation my family, even though I'm only half—my mom's Makah and my dad's, well, he must be Quileute. Anyway, just because the Quileute are my family doesn't mean I agree with that superstitious faction that still lit a sage torch at the mere mention of a Cullen.
"Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear," Edward said, coming around the corner.
I didn't speak, I thought, smiling. It didn't bother me that Edward read my mind. I had nothing to hide … mostly. To Edward's credit, he didn't react when an image of a certain girl popped in my head.
I made my voice high like the front desk girls who swooned every time he came by. "Besides, Edward, you're not a devil, you're an angel." He laughed.
Edward came around every now and then just to check if any of the hospital staff were getting suspicious. So far the power of suggestion had done its job for a decade. If even one person suspected that Dr. Cullen was more than he seemed, the Cullens would leave, and Jake would have an impossible choice to make. So it was in everyone's best interest to protect the Doc. I did what I could to redirect any conversations I heard about the ageless doctor, but Edward was the best at sniffing out the more observant humans.
"Any problems?" I asked.
He spoke in a low voice. "That lab tech Kristina is perceptive. You might see what you can do to distract her." I'd helped out before. Sometimes it was men, but it was usually women who observed that the doctor never changed. Edward would point them out and I'd make an effort to make friends, build trust. I'd eventually work in that I knew the family well and mention that Dr. Cullen just has good genes. Their suspicions, thus far, had invariably gone away.
I liked helping to keep the Cullens here. A few of my new female friends even became girlfriends. Eventually, I had caught on though.
"Are you serious this time, or are you just trying to set me up?"
He shrugged. "Both."
I thought about it. I really did. But when I tried picturing Kristina's curly brown hair it darkened into a deeper color, her pretty heart shaped face softened and grew longer and her blue eyes became large and brown.
Edward couldn't resist this time. "Who is the girl?" He wasn't prying really. We were friends. Good friends. Still, I couldn't tell him. Not yet. Maybe not ever. He nodded in understanding.
It's fun to think about Edward and Embry's friendship. In my mind they have similar temperaments. What do you think? Please write a little note in the box!