A/N: Hello dear readers! I am so sorry for the wait I am just crazy busy but I promise you I am trying to write more. Thanks to everyone who reviewed I tried to reply to all of you but if I missed you don't be offended feel free to message me. I didn't have time to edit but I was anxious to get a new chapter up so please forgive any mistakes and enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Twilight Saga, however the storyline is my own so please do not copy.

CHAPTER 12:

CARLISLE'S POINT OF VIEW:

"Daddy, please don't go," my daughter's little voice begged as I prepared to leave for work. Her plea tugged on my heart strings and I considered playing hooky.

"I don't want to be away from you Angel but people need me," I told her.

"Can't people stop trying to die just for one day?" she sighed.

I chuckled. "That would be nice, wouldn't it? Unfortunately I don't think today is the day, so I need to go and help people."

"Promise you'll come back?" she requested.

We went through this same thing every day when I had to leave. She would always make me swear to come back. It was adorable in a way, but also sad because the reason she asked every morning was because she had been abandoned before and now it had become a fear. Angel was so afraid of being left behind. Esme was always home with her when I wasn't and I here when she is gone, but Angel didn't want to lose either of us. If I could bring her everywhere with me, I would.

I knelt down and held her face in my palms and looked straight into her eyes. "I promise you I will come back. Be good for Mommy and I will see you later. I love you."

We cuddled for a couple minutes before I absolutely had to leave or I would be late for my shift. I quick kissed Esme goodbye and went out to my car. The drive to the hospital didn't take very long; there wasn't as much traffic as usual. I parked in my space, grabbed my bag, and went inside. It was cold out, but the weather conditions were mild so there shouldn't be too many accidents. I dropped my belongings off in my office before grabbing the first chart. It was an elderly woman complaining of chest pain so after a quick examination I sent her to radiology to get a scan. It was a calm easy morning and we got through all of the patients. When I wasn't taking care of people, I used that time to work on the piles of paperwork in my office. Each individual created about thirty minutes of paperwork if I worked at human pace, which most of the time I did because my office had windows and it didn't feel right to keep the blinds closed all the time. On my desk was Angel's health file. I had been reviewing it the last time I was here just to make sure everything was updated. I noticed that she was overdue for a round of vaccinations. I had known for a while now but I had pushed it off due to all her recent injuries. I felt she didn't need the added pain. Perhaps I would have Esme bring her in tomorrow during my break and we could take care of it then. Angel hated needles – and for good reason – so I was dreading having to do it but I knew she would be most comfortable with me rather than some stranger giving her shots. She would need them before starting school in the fall so we did have a few months but Angel had a very weak immune system so the sooner I could give her the prevention medicine the better. All of a sudden my pager went off so I left my office and went to meet the ambulance.

"What's the situation?" I asked the intern that jogged along beside me as I strode toward the emergency bay.

"I heard it was a family of three involved in a car accident, I don't know anything else," she told me.

"Well we're about to find out," I said as two ambulances roared into the bay. The intern threw the doors open and the EMT's pulled out two stretchers.

"Anthony Masen, thirty six, found dead in the field just need a doctor to call time of death," the EMT said.

"I'll take care of it," another doctor said. Four other doctors and interns had come out since the intern I was with, Emily, and I had arrived.

"Elizabeth Masen, thirty two, riding in the passenger seat which is the side of the car that was hit. Severe head and chest injuries along with what looks like a few crushed fingers and a broken right leg. She's lost consciousness and flat lined twice on the way here."

"Emily, Max, get her to a trauma room and page neuro and ortho, I'll be there as soon as I can," I instructed. Elizabeth had chest injuries, and I was head of cardio so it was me they needed to check her out, but I could tell by listening that her heart was regulating itself on its own and she had a collapsed lung which one of the residents would be able to take care of. My attention was on the screaming toddler that was last to leave the ambulance.

"Edward Masen, two years old, also was riding on the passenger side. Several large lacerations all over body but vitals have been stable with the exception of an elevated heart rate probably due to pain and fear. No other apparent injuries. He hasn't stopped screaming since we got him!" The EMT had to yell over the child's screaming. We quickly wheeled him into the hospital and transferred him over to the bed and the EMT's took the stretcher and left. Nurses bustled around me hooking up machines as I struggled to keep the flailing boy still.

"Hey Little Man, it's going to be all right. I'm going to give these lovely nurses a chance to clean up your owies and I will be right back to examine you. I'm going to go see your Mommy and make sure she's okay," I told the little boy, attempting to calm him down.

I got to Elizabeth's room just in time to see her being taken up to surgery. I did a quick exam on the way up and concluded that her heart was fine and my colleagues could handle the rest and knew to give me a call if needed. My mind was still thinking about her screaming son and I wanted to get back to him. I didn't know why I was so worried about him. I mean I worry and care about all of my patients but I was drawn to Edward for some reason; it was almost the same feeling as when I met Angel. As soon as the elevator opened to the ER floor, I could hear little Edward's bloodcurdling screams. The nurses were still working on cleaning him up. It was taking a long time because he was moving which made it all the more difficult. One of my favorite nurses, Anna, was trying so hard to get the job done and be gentle at the same time.

"Dr. Cullen, if you're not busy your help would be much appreciated," Anna said. The two other nurses in the room nodded in agreement.

"Of course," I said, smiling and stepping in.

"His cuts are clean but we still need to suture, which we can't do with him squirming so much," she said.

"Let's see if we can't calm him down a bit first before we hold him down and make him even more unhappy," I said. I went over to the bed and picked the little boy up. "Hey there buddy."

The boy was putting so much effort into screaming that his eyes were squeezed shut. Using a soothing voice and bouncing him were doing nothing to calm him. I placed my cold hand on his warm cheek and his cries instantly stopped and his eyes shot open. The beautiful explosion of green eyes met mine with an intense, piercing gaze. He had his mother's eyes. My golden orbs locked with his mesmerizing emeralds; it was impossible to look away. In that moment the child and I connected in a way that could never be broken. The eyes were asking – no – demanding something from me, I just didn't know what. He stared intently at me, almost as if he was reading me, trying to figure out who I was. It felt like minutes that we were just standing there, but in reality it took only a few seconds for this exchange to happen.

"Doctor your hands are magic! I've never seen a child calm down so quick," Anna said.

"Nonsense, Anna. He just needed to be held. Edward was in a bad accident which was scary and now he's in an unfamiliar place and is just unsettled. Everyone needs a little comfort now and then," I said, doting on the boy for a moment. "Now, we need to get him sutured up before his mother Elizabeth gets out of surgery. I'm sure the first thing she will want to do is see Edward and I am not in favor of the idea of returning him to her while he is still untreated."

"I could hold him while you suture?" Anna suggested.

I carefully passed Edward to her and thankfully he accepted the trade. Anna was a very loving person and I'm sure Edward could feel that. I prepared the syringes to numb the wounds. The poor boy had deep slices all over his body, most of them managing to cover his face and left arm. Not all of his cuts would require stitches, but there were a lot that did. It would take two or possibly three shots to numb all of the areas. I numbed him as quickly as I could. He screamed and cried at the needle pricks, making me feel awful, but as soon as the sensation went away, he quit squalling. I assumed it was relief from the pain of the cuts. Fortunately there were no glass particles from the shattered windshield in his skin, so I could begin sewing immediately. I worked swiftly, yet gently. Anna distracted him and kept him calm, which made my job that much easier. Several times I glanced at his face to make sure he wasn't in any pain. I cared very much for this little boy. His father had just died, and his mother was still in a very risky operation, so he deserved for someone else to care about him. I kept thinking about my own baby at home, though. The gorgeous little girl who had begged me not to leave this morning. All I wanted to do was finish up here and go home to her and my amazing wife. I snipped the thread on the last suture and covered it with a loose bandage.

"That should do it," I said.

"He did very well," Anna smiled.

"He certainly did. Can you go check and see when his mother will be out of surgery?' I asked. I was anxious to reunite Edward with his mother.

"Of course," she said, passing Edward back to me and bustling out the door.

Edward resumed staring at me for a while, and then he started yawning. I pulled down the blankets and laid him down on the bed and tucked him in. He curled up instantly and was fast asleep. I sat on the stool at his bedside and just watched him sleep. The rhythmic beat of his heart, the steady whoosh of his breathing. His chest rose and fell with every breath. Blood circulated throughout his system. Perhaps it was strange, but all of this was comforting to me. The human ability of being able to escape from reality for several hours every day. I hardly remembered it. Sleep was a fictional endowment to a vampire. Most didn't particularly miss such abilities, but for those of us who were more in touch with our humanity, natural capabilities had greater value. I had come to terms with being a vampire long ago, but given the choice I would've rather stayed human, even if that meant dying at the age of twenty-six in seventeenth century London.

"The surgeons are just finishing up. Edward will be able to see her within the hour," Anna reported back.

Before I could even open my mouth to respond my pager went off. It was a code blue for one of my cardio patients. Edward was in good hands with Anna, and she would take him up to his mother if I wasn't back soon, so I raced to the cardio wing to save my patient. When I got there a team already had a crash cart in the room and was beginning basic procedures. I quickly assessed my patient's condition and knew that he was in rough shape. The monitor flat lined, just as I had feared.

"Charge paddles to two hundred!" I yelled. "Clear!"

No improvement. "Charge to three hundred, clear!"

No change.

"Starting CPR, bag him," I instructed.

We fought for a solid twenty minutes, but the only thing keeping him alive was the manual ventilation and my hand repeatedly pushing into his chest, forcing his heart to beat. He was an elderly man, so this result was not uncommon, but it wasn't any less dreadful. I solemnly called time of death and left the nurses to notify the family. Each loss always hit me so hard. The saves almost didn't make up for it. Whenever I lost a patient the only thing I wanted to do was go home and be with my family. They humbled me, and reminded me that it wasn't my decision on who lived or died, even with my supernatural capabilities. Unless I turned them into a vampire, some cases just couldn't be saved.

The rest of the day went smoothly. Performed a few routine surgeries that were all successful and checked up on postop patients. I was done with all the paperwork by five o'clock and was now driving home. Most people have the radio on while driving, especially if there was no one in the car with them to talk to, but I preferred silence. I appreciated the quiet hum of the engine and the peace to think. The hospital was so chaotic that I needed a twenty minute break with no one around. Not that my family was particularly loud. Traffic wasn't heavy tonight so I was out of the city and surrounded by the beautiful Minnesota scenery. I turned into the drive and drove the two miles down the winding road to the house. I parked in the garage and before I even opened the door I heard Angel crying. I got out and hurried inside. Esme and Angel were both in Angel's room so I went straight there. Her door was open but I hesitated outside for I didn't want to intrude. Esme kept asking Angel what was troubling her but Angel didn't reply. Esme gave up and stepped outside to talk to me.

"What's wrong?" I asked my wife.

"I don't know. She has been down all day not really doing much of anything and just a couple hours ago she started crying and hasn't stopped since. She won't eat anything today and I don't know what to do. She won't tell me what's wrong," Esme explained.

"Mind if I give it a try? I've gotten her to open up before," I said.

"Go ahead. I'm going to make her some soup and a sandwich and see if I can get her to eat."

I walked into my daughter's room and sat down on the bed next to her where she was curled up crying. She had her knees pulled to her chest, her forehead resting on them, and her arms wrapped tightly around her legs. I put my arm around her tiny shoulders and pulled her into my side. She looked up and leaned her head back into my neck. I didn't want to pry or try and force her into talking, so I just sat there with her. I was still in my dark navy blue scrubs because I hadn't bothered changing at the hospital and I hadn't gotten a chance to change here yet since I heard Angel crying. My badge was still clipped to the pocket on my shirt and she started fiddling with it. Her cries became softer until they were just sniffles, and I figured now would be the time to start talking.

"How was your day, Baby Angel?" I asked.

No response. She didn't even look at me.

"Do you want to talk about anything? Maybe what you were upset about?" I asked.

She looked up at me with the same blank, expressionless face she had when I first saw her. That wasn't good. I searched for any emotion, any glimmer of anything, but there was nothing. Something was extremely wrong. Overall she had been happy these past few days, and I wracked my brain for anything that happened that could've caused her to be like this. Nothing stuck out. She had been obeying us and doing her chores without complaint. Esme and I both spent quality time with her every day, either playing with her or cuddling with her. Then I remembered this morning; she begged me not to leave and I left anyway. She knew about my work though and it wasn't like I'd never been gone before, but could she still have perceived that as abandonment? Did I do this to her?

"Baby Girl, did I do something?" I asked.

Nothing.

"Angel, please look at me. Remember eye contact is important," I told her.

No response. No movement.

I sighed and knelt down on the floor in front of where she was sitting on the bed. Her head was down, so now she had to look at me. I took her hands in mine. Usually she would grasp my hands back, but they just lay there limp. I was aware of Esme standing outside the door, not coming in for she didn't want to intrude. I really thought that I could get my daughter to open up, but I might as well be talking to a blank wall.

"Angelica, I don't know what reason you have for being so distant, but I do know you have been in situations where you had no control. If not talking, not reacting to Mommy and I makes you feel in control, that is okay. We are not going to force you to speak. For almost all of your life you have been unhappy or hurt, and were constantly getting the rug pulled out from under you. It's normal and somewhat expected for you to feel insecure and unsafe, however here that is not necessary. We love you with all we are, and we will never pull the rug out from under you, Angelica. Take as much time as you need to realize that," I said.

Her face remained expressionless and she still wouldn't directly look at me, but I knew she heard me. I wanted to do more for her, but there wasn't much I could do. She needs to feel in control of her own life, and with time she would speak to us again. There was telling how long that would take; it could be days or even weeks. We would just be loving and patient and continue to nurture her. Something I knew for sure was there was something, one thing that kept recurring in her mind that made her go into this distant state again and again. Fear, doubt, insecurity… my guess was it was a horrible situation she had been in that she couldn't get out of her mind. Obviously it had to do with her being raped, but something even more specific, even more tragic had happened.

"Mommy made you something for dinner; I would like you to eat it because I don't want you to get sick. I will not force you to eat, but I ask that you do this for yourself." Esme took that as her cue to come in she set the tray down on the nightstand. I got off the bed and pulled Esme out of the room with me and closed the door.

"We're just going to leave her?" Esme asked concernedly, pushing against me trying to get back into the room.

"There is nothing more we can do for her right now. If she needs something, she will have to tell us. Right now she needs to be in control, and I believe she feels speaking or silence is the only thing she has control over. She doesn't understand and she needs space to figure it out. We will continue talking to her and acting like everything is normal. She'll get through this, Darling. We all will."

"I just want to help her," Esme cried.

I pulled her close. "I know." We started walking to our room. "Me too."

A/N: Please, please, please give me some feedback on this chapter. I would love to hear your ideas and opinions so please leave a review letting me know what you liked and what I could improve on. What are your thoughts on the characters? Do you like the flow of the story or is it getting boring? Also I would like to mention that there is a poll up on my profile. It doesn't have anything to do with any of my stories, but I would greatly appreciate it if you would go check it out and vote. Thank you so much for reading! The next story to be updated is Kiss Me Like It's Do Or Die.