Chapter 10 - The Medical Mystery
Around a week passed by and Jenny was finally allowed to return to work. The bruises on her face and around her body were starting to disappear and she could freely walk again without much pain. Although she was still on pain medication, she'd been given the clear to return to work by Dr Trankton, who'd been intently working her case since Carlisle had passed it over.
Carlisle. Jenny felt guilty every time she thought about him. But she couldn't rid herself of the fear that arose whenever she remembered his true nature. He wasn't the man she'd thought she'd knew. Jenny couldn't yet get over that. And she most definitely could not continue a relationship with a man who claimed he was dangerous.
Bella, meanwhile, had taken a much different approach to discovering Edwards secret. She and Edward were inseparable. Edward had taken the task of driving her to school everyday and they'd taken their relationship public. Jenny warily watched from her bedroom every time Edward picked Bella up. She couldn't decipher his true intentions; especially now that Jenny knew that Bella's blood was far more appealing to Edward.
No matter how hard Jenny tried to persuade Bella of the danger the Cullen family imposed, Bella refused to listen to her. In fact, she hadn't spoken to Jenny since they'd argued about it. Bella couldn't understand why Jenny was ignoring Carlisle, whilst Jenny couldn't comprehend why Bella wasn't afraid. It seemed implausible and foolish not to be even slightly afraid of them.
The day Jenny returned to work, she didn't see Carlisle. Nor the next. Or the next. Jenny couldn't decide whether he was avoiding her shifts on purpose, or whether it was just a coincidence. He had said he would stay away as much as possible, but she hadn't quite expected this. A part of her longed to see him. But the sane part kept reminding her of Carlisle's true nature.
Jenny wanted a quiet and peaceful life in Forks. Not one with a vampire. Even if it was Carlisle Cullen. At least, that's what she tried convincing herself…
~ Solitary Soul ~
"Jen…"
Jenny turned to face the door as she heard Bella warily knock and call her name. They hadn't spoken in a week and a half. Jenny wasn't sure whether she'd forgiven Bella yet for her sheer stupidity. But she knew she missed her sister. She'd felt more alone that week than she ever had in her life.
"Come in," Jenny answered in a tight voice.
Bella opened the door and stood awkwardly, looking a little lost for words. "I just wanted to say… sorry. About our argument last week."
At first, Jenny felt the need to apologise too. She just wanted to speak to Bella again and reveal all her locked thoughts. But she also needed to protect Bella. Not accepting that the Cullens posed a threat was dangerous and it could end in pain. Bella had to realise this — Jenny was just looking out for her.
"Have you realised how dangerous the Cullen family are yet?" Jenny asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No," Bella said adamantly, frowning deeply.
"Then I don't forgive you. I can't forgive you." Jenny shook her head and turned back to the work on her laptop, pushing away the feeling of regret. She had to protect Bella.
"Look…" Bella stepped into Jenny's room, shutting the door behind her. "I can kind of understand why you don't want to speak to Carlisle or any of the Cullen's. But I don't think you've given them enough chance to explain. I trust them."
Jenny gritted her teeth together. "I don't want to have this argument again."
"I don't either," Bella said in a soft voice. "But I know that you miss him and Edward's told me how much he misses you."
Jenny's heart leaped at the news, but she buried this feeling, replacing it with an impassive expression. "Has Edward also told you how dangerous they all are? Has he reminded you that he wants your blood more than anyone else's?" Jenny replied, her voice hard.
"He won't hurt me," Bella stated adamantly. "I know he won't. His family don't hurt people, they hunt animals."
"They're still killers," Jenny pointed out. "They're still dangerous. They could kill us in the blink of an eye."
"Why won't you try to understand?" Bella exclaimed in exasperation. Jenny had never heard Bella sound so frustrated. Usually she avoided arguments and remained calm.
"Because I can't Bella," Jenny started, holding back the tears threatening to spill. "I've already been in a relationship where I was scared everyday. I don't need another one like that. I want a quiet life. I want to be happily married, with children, saving people's lives. And getting involved with Carlisle Cullen would mean the complete opposite of that. Even if I do miss him."
Bella opened her mouth to speak but instead gaped, looking lost for words. "You never told me… about your relationship with Paul…" She said, her voice quiet.
"That's because I don't want to talk about it," Jenny stated, forcing herself to turn back to her computer.
"I guess I'll… just leave you to it," Bella said awkwardly. "I'm sorry." She began to walk out of the room.
"Bella…" Jenny called to her before she could leave. "I'm worried about you. I don't want you to find yourself in the same position I did. Paul was jealous, controlling and I was scared of him. I don't want you to get hurt or feel the same. Don't ignore the danger the Cullen's keep warning you about."
"You don't have to worry about me," Bella said. "I'm safe, I promise."
"Then I'll take your word for it," Jenny replied with a sigh. "But if Edward does anything to you, he'll regret it for as long as I'm alive."
"I wouldn't expect anything different," Bella answered with a smile, leaving the room and closing the door behind her.
~ Solitary Soul ~
The next morning at work dragged. Jenny was doing everything she could to avoid Oliver Trankton, who couldn't seem to comprehend why Jenny didn't like him back. There were very few patients in the hospital, so there was barely any work to go around. Jenny had resorted to visiting patients who she knew were fine.
"Dr Swan…"
Jenny froze as she heard his melodic voice call to her down the corridor. She wondered if this is how Carlisle felt when she'd done the same to him.
"Dr Cullen…" She turned around, avoiding his eyes and scolding her racing heart. "I'm incredibly busy right now, but if this is work related- "
"It Is," Carlisle said, looking a little guilty. "And I promise I would not have come to you if I had another option. But I need your help with a patient."
Jenny frowned. Carlisle was the most qualified and intelligent doctor she knew and there had never been a medical case he hadn't solved. So why on earth did he need her help?
"Who?" Jenny asked sceptically.
"A girl named Rose was admitted to the emergency room this morning after hurting her ankle at dance practise. We took an X-Ray and assessed the damage. Later, when I was checking on another patient, I was called for an emergency. Rose was having a seizure and needed help. I managed to stabilise her, but I'm not sure what caused her seizure," Carlisle explained. "I had both Dr Trankton and Dr Bigwell assess the patients case, but neither of them could come to any conclusions. I thought you would be able to help more, having just graduated a few months ago."
Jenny hesitated for a second. Accepting this case would likely require working with Carlisle, which she wasn't sure she could do. Although her fear of him was gradually receding, she didn't want working with him to cloud her judgement. Her bodies reactions were crazy every time Carlisle was nearby; her heart rate would increase, she'd sub-consciously fix her hair and she'd feel some sort of connection with him that she couldn't comprehend. Being around him was clouding her judgement. It was easy to forget his dangerous nature. But she desperately wanted to help this patient…
"I can understand if you don't wish to work on this case with me," Carlisle said during Jenny's long silence.
"I- " She was about to force herself to refuse. But found she couldn't. She was a doctor; she couldn't not accept a medical mystery. "I'll do it. Let's got see the patient now."
~ Solitary Soul ~
After seeing the patient and looking over the girl's medical history and charts, Jenny had a number of theories, but couldn't deduce what was truly wrong. Like Carlisle had explained, Rose had come in with a minor injury yet randomly had an unexplainable seizure. They'd run a CT scan but couldn't find a single shred of evidence that her brain was unhealthy.
Having heard Rose's account of how she'd hurt her ankle, Jenny told Carlisle she was going to do research in the library. Carlisle said that he would join her later.
Her shift had finished almost an hour ago but Jenny did not want to leave and risk her patient having another seizure that could possibly kill her. She sat quietly in the small medical library at the end of the hospital with a book that held recorded medical cases of seizures.
She'd almost forgotten that Carlisle was supposed to be joining her, when suddenly a tap on her shoulder caused her to jump.
"I apologise…" Carlisle said softly. "I didn't mean to frighten you." He retracted his hand quickly away from her shoulder.
"No… It's fine. I was concentrating on this book so hard I didn't hear you," Jenny replied, avoiding his honey eyes. For the first time since her accident, Jenny felt oddly comforted by his presence, not fearful. She'd been alone within the hospital for so long that she longed for company. The library was quiet and empty — they were the only two in the room. Yet this didn't scare her.
"Have you discovered anything useful?" Carlisle asked, sitting at the opposite side of the desk and grabbing a book from the stack Jenny had piled next to her.
"No." Jenny shook her head, a frown embedded in her features. "In all of these cases the CT scan has shown some sort of evidence that explains the seizures. I've been reading for hours but haven't found anything."
"When does your shift end?" Carlisle asked with a frown.
Jenny didn't reply for a second, feeling a little sheepish. No matter what a doctor wasn't supposed to work past their shift — it was against the hospitals policy. "It ended about an hour and a half ago."
Carlisle's frown deepened. "You need to go home, Jenny. You look tired."
"When did your shift end?" Jenny raised her eyebrows.
"That doesn't matter." Carlisle opened the book as he brushed off her question.
"Then it doesn't matter when mine ended," Jenny stated adamantly.
"You look tired. You've helped me immeasurably today, you deserve to rest," Carlisle said with concern.
"I'm not tired. You wanted me on this case, so you'll accept my help," Jenny concluded.
Carlisle shook his head, but a small smile began to twitch at his lips. They remained silent after this, both avidly reading the medical books, searching for some sort of answer. Time passed quickly and Jenny constantly stifled her yawns in hope that Carlisle wouldn't resume their debate.
"This is useless. There is nothing in here," Jenny grumbled, slamming the book shut.
"I've seen many cases during my time as a doctor, but I've rarely seen patients whose tests have all come back negative," Carlisle said.
"How…" Jenny began, unsure of whether she truly wanted to ask the question. "How long have you been a doctor for?"
Carlisle looked up in surprise. He remained silent for a moment, his eyes locked with hers. "Around a century. My dream has always been to help people in anyway I can," he said quietly, as if expecting Jenny to run away in horror.
Jenny flinched at the news but attempted to remain impassive. After all, she was the one who'd asked the question. A century. She couldn't even comprehend that amount of time. Carlisle must have worked through both world wars, through countless epidemics and medical discoveries. Jenny felt oddly jealous of this — how fascinating it must have been to witness so much scientific history.
"How old are you?" She questioned further.
"I was born around the year of 1640 in London if my estimations are correct. It wasn't common to keep track of years back then," Carlisle replied.
Jenny remained frozen for a moment, awestruck by his answer. "So…So when you told me the story of you moving here to become a doctor…"
"Everything I told you about myself is true. I did move to America to become a doctor, but that was after many centuries of medical research," Carlisle answered carefully.
"But- "
"Jennifer… I think it's best for you to go home," Carlisle suggested, his expression difficult to read.
"But I want to know-"
"No." Carlisle shook his head. "I can't tell you these things knowing that you will hate my nature even more. I'm sorry… But I believe you should either go home or return your attention to this case. Otherwise I'm afraid I will have to leave."
"Carlisle…"Jenny began, suddenly feeling rather guilty at the hurt that was evident in his eyes. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have."
"It's quite alright, Jenny," Carlisle said with a soft smile. "I just wish to change the topic of our conversation."
Jenny remained guilty for a second before returning her concentration to the case. She shouldn't be getting so distracted by him. "Let's run through the case again. How did she get the injury?"
"She was at dance practise. She fell and twisted her ankle into an awkward position," Carlisle answered.
"We need more detail. Did she not tell us anything else? Why did she fall?"
"No. I didn't pry for the details as seizures typically arise from a long term condition. But we can't find any evidence of that." Carlisle looked back down at his book.
Jenny remained in a contemplative silence, thinking hard about the case. She ran through a list of the causes of seizures in her head. Meningitis. There were no evidence in the test results. Encephalitis. No evidence. Epilepsy. Rose had no previous history of seizures or sensory disturbances. Brain Tumour. Again, no evidence. Aneurism. No evidence, but…
"Did she hit her head when she fell?" Jenny suddenly asked, an idea sparking in her brain.
Carlisle looked up in surprise. "Not that I am aware of."
"It's possible though. That when she fell she hit her head on the floor or the wall, which could cause- "
"An aneurism," Carlisle concluded, his eyes lightening up in surprise.
"If her brain is bleeding, then that would cause her to have seizures, right?" Jenny said.
"The CT scan showed no sign of an aneurism," Carlisle replied contemplatively.
"But it could be so small that a CT scan couldn't detect it. We don't have the most up-to-date equipment and it's possible we can't see it on the scan," Jenny suggested, suddenly becoming giddy with excitement at the thought of solving this case.
"The chances are extortionately unlikely, but plausible," Carlisle mused. "We'd need to admit her to a larger hospital with better equipment in order to perform the surgery to fix it. If the aneurism is small, then it should be safe to transport her. "
"So we won't get to follow her case further?" Jenny asked in disappointment.
"No." Carlisle shook his head. "But we can continue studying and find other plausible explanations in case they don't find anything."
"Do you trust me, Carlisle?" Jenny asked, looking deeply into his kind, honey eyes.
Carlisle looked entirely surprised by this question. "Of course I do," he replied in an instant.
"Then I'm right," Jenny said animatedly. "We've solved this case." A large smile spread across her lips and, without thinking, she threw her arms around Carlisles neck, hugging him in her excitement.
"You solved it," he said, pulling away from her with a deep smile. "Now let's go inform the patient."
She'd solved it. Her first medical mystery. All thanks to Carlisle Cullen.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! So Jenny reveals a little bit more of her past relationship with Paul and finally warms up to Carlisle a little. It's going to be difficult for her to stay away from him... Please let me know what you think by reviewing and thank you so much for the continued support!