'thoughts'

CHAPTER 12

EPOV

I heard his thoughts from a mile away. Muttered and indistinct, they faded in and out of consciousness. 'I hope she's taking me to Carlisle….Really do…. Will she listen, I mean…like him…got to…'
Silence.
'Bloody hell, this hurts!'

Then nothing. I jumped up from the window seat where I had been reading a new book, Wuthering Heights. There on the street, in the stifling blackness, walked two strangers. Or I should say, walked one with another hanging off her shoulder. The crimson of her dress and his trousers was striking against the night and I could make out an expression of fury and sorrow on her face. His eyes were closed.

A small swirl of wind, and Alice, half of the new addition to our family was by my side. Her eyes were wide and confused but she spoke in a strong voice. "Get Carlisle. Get everyone."
Her gift had already helped us several times, avoiding trouble in where we hunted, so I nodded and gave a small shout. The others came quickly, Rosalie and Emmett in perfect sync, Jasper slinking out from the kitchen where I'd had no idea he had been waiting and Esme and Carlisle composed. That was, until Carlisle saw the two vampires. Then he looked incredibly unbelieving, just for a second until the doctor retook control.
"Emmett, get my kit. Edward, can you hear-"
"They mean no harm," Alice was earnest. "If you help them-"she cut off. "Help them."
Carlisle smiled, "I was never going to refuse." As he spoke there were the sound of footsteps, then suddenly a low voice filtered through the air to us.
"Carlisle, open the door. You must help me. He is hurt and I don't know who else to turn to. I know you can hear. I wouldn't be surprised if Edward or your new protégée hadn't already figured out our intentions." More thoughts suddenly rang through my head, although this time they were cloaked in a strange flicker.
"Help me. If you can hear me, Edward, I mean no harm. But I need help!"

Then the voice was gone, so were the thoughts, Emmett was at the door, it was creaking open and there stood the strangest vampire I would ever meet. She smiled, briefly, a beautiful smile that contained the warmth of a roaring fire, but just as quickly it was gone. The blue eyes, just another anomaly in this random string of events flickered to the dark-haired man on her shoulder. "His leg..."
The crimson I had seen was not dyed cloth, but rather the vampire's blood gushing out as if trying to hide the terrible white of bone that was revealed. Carlisle gritted his teeth and started forward.
"Come with me." Alice spoke quickly to the woman. "You will not like this."
"Not until he is well." She calmly settled to the floor, still holding the dark man's hand.
"If the psychic says you won't like it, love, you won't like it. So off you go. I am sure I will be perfectly well in Dr. Cullen's fine hands." The raspy voice drifted up from the floor, along with the ghost of a smile.
The stranger rolled her eyes and replied in an irritated voice, "You are badly wounded and you want me to just leave!?"
"Would be nice."

She was gone, storming into the next room, muttering under her breath about ungrateful princes. The girls followed, while Emmett and I stayed with Carlisle to help with the procedure.

TPOV

Yet another explanation of our identities followed. I was still mentally furious with Henry over making me leave and incredibly worried about his leg. He might never walk again with his easy fluency, if Carlisle didn't- Rosalie's dry voice interrupted my griping. I was impressed and a little surprised. Most sat there confused a while longer after my history was revealed.
"How did he hurt his leg like that?"
"Some vampires were following me- the eyes always bring them. I can take care of myself, but my idiotic mate decided to rush in and save the day. They were stronger than usual. Newborns, I think. He got careless, didn't kill them all. One grabbed his leg and slashed him. By the time I reached him and removed the survivors he was on the floor." A shiver crept up my back at the image. "Anyway, it needed looked at and the only doctor I knew who could handle it was Carlisle." Well, knew was probably a bit strong, but I had met Carlisle before.
They stared at me. Totally and utterly mystified. I often had that effect on people.

BPOV

"So his leg was alright in the end?" I nuzzled against Edward's arm as we lay on our bed together, some hours after the fight's end.
"Yes, Carlisle was very clever and managed to stitch it up. He does have a scar." Edward fingered my hair. "He always said it was dashing. They stayed with us while it healed and of course, managed to completely charm us. Rosalie even began to like Tia, after they went hunting together for wolves," he shrugged, "and of course Esme adores Henry. She was so happy when they visited us again some decades after. And again later and so on."
"That's so sweet." To me, it sounded as if Tia and Henry had never really had anyone other than each other, and the Cullens had taken them in, just as they had me. I turned to Edward with a small smile touching my lips.

"We still have a long time till dinner…"