Penname: KnittingVamp7
Original or Derivative (fanfiction): DERIVATIVE
Rating/Warning(s)/Note(s): T. It's a sad one. I also don't know a whole lot about medical things, so I took minor licenses with them. I'm also taking a few cues from when my grandmother died, so this plays out a little bit like that.
Disclaimer: All copyrights, trademarked items, or recognizable characters, plots, etc. mentioned herein belong to their respective owners. No copying or reproduction of this work is permitted without their express written authorization.
Prompt: Pulse
There was nothing. He checked every point and the little telltale bump that was supposed to be under the skin was absent. Grief crushed down inside of him but he had to push it away. He was a doctor and he needed to tell the family.
This one would be harder than most, because he knew the family personally, what little family there was. The deceased's daughter was like his own child, and she had made that official by marrying his son.
Bella would be devastated by her father's death, though everyone knew it was a long time coming.
Charlie had developed pancreatic cancer in his late forties. He suffered through treatments for a year and hung on until his body decided it had had enough. Carlisle had been with him every step of the way, overseeing his treatment though he wasn't an oncologist. It pained him that he couldn't help an old friend and he took it as a personal failure, though there was nothing anyone could have done. He'd watched the former chief of police wither to skin and bones, watched Bella lose hope and Edward struggle to help his wife through the rough time of losing her father.
The nurse helped him make Charlie look presentable for when Bella asked to see him. They carefully tucked the blankets around the frail shell, being careful not to accentuate how emaciated he had gotten. They removed the tubes and wires, pushing the machines to the corner so that they didn't obstruct the space around the bed.
"Thank you, Judy," Carlisle said quietly, offering a weak smile to the nurse. She nodded and offered her own sympathetic smile before slipping out of the room.
"Bella will be really upset," Carlisle said, whether it was to himself or Charlie, he didn't know. "She's been by your side every second since you were admitted. She'll be so pissed at me, at Edward, for convincing her to take a shower, eat real food. We told her to take care of herself so she could be with you. She didn't want to leave you and now she missed out on saying goodbye. She'll feel guilty about it." He sighed. "I'm sorry, Charlie."
He didn't know why he apologized. Maybe it was because Bella missed out on saying goodbye. Maybe it was because he wished he could have done more when there wasn't more to be done. Maybe it was because the world was going to pot and bad men lived and good men died. He just needed to say sorry for something.
With a heavy sigh, he turned toward the door and went out into the hallway. Bella and Edward were rushing towards him from the elevator and whatever Bella saw in Carlisle's face stopped her in her tracks. She put a hand over her mouth to muffle her small cry and Edward wrapped her in his arms, tears pooling in his tired eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Bella."
"I missed it. I missed saying goodbye," she sobbed into Edward's shoulder.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Edward murmured, rubbing her back and rocking her back and forth.
She took a few minutes to cry before pulling away and wiping her face with the handkerchief offered by Carlisle. "Can I see him?"
Carlisle nodded and opened the door. Edward led Bella inside where she let out another quiet sob when she saw her father lying in the bed, IV lines and tubes absent. The absence of the medical equipment made it all the more real
She stepped up to the side of the bed and gently ran a finger across her father's hand. "I'm sorry, daddy," she whispered brokenly. "I didn't get to say goodbye while you were still here. I'm not ready to say it, not ever, but it's too late and you're gone."
She didn't say anything else and she leaned into Edward when he put his arm around her shoulders. Carlisle felt useless, so he moved two of the chairs reserved for guests over to the bed to Bella and Edward could sit with Charlie for a while. Judy came in with a hospitality tray that had a carafe of coffee on it with the little bowls that held little creamers and sugar packets, along with two mugs, two bottles of water, and some crackers. She slipped back out with a quiet, "I'm sorry for your loss" and the three were left alone.
After offering his condolences and Bella accepting them with a hug and thank you, Carlisle left the couple alone to grieve. He wasn't able to help Charlie, but there was a hospital full of patients that needed him to keep trying.
I cried a little while writing this one. I never really cry over fanfic, but we've all had loss and I'm not made of cardboard. ;)
