Disclaimer: Anything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer
Three cinema trips, two family birthdays, one dinner out, thirty six cupcakes in four different flavours, five or six drafts and half an hour trying to convince this site not to show it all in italics later...
Chapter 12 – From Bad To Worse
Edward stayed where he was, curled up on the pavement, until they were out of sight. Everything hurt and he wasn't sure what to do as he couldn't stay there but the walk home felt way too far. He was a lot closer to the shop but he didn't want anyone to see him like that, especially Garrett. He knew he'd ask questions he didn't have any answers for and he couldn't even risk telling him what he did know as he knew their parting threat was serious. Garrett probably wouldn't believe his excuses and he didn't think it was a good thing for his boss to know he was lying to him but there was nowhere else to go and at least it would save him having to think of a plausible reason for calling in sick on such short notice. He didn't like it, but the shop was the only place he could go so he pulled himself to his feet, wincing and nearly crying out at the pain it caused then had to remain still for a few moments as everything span around him and he tried not to pass out. The throbbing pain in his head doubled with his movement but he tried to ignore it as he began to stumble his way to work. As he moved he could feel where all the bruises would be appearing and each step sent a searing pain through his back. He could also feel the trickling of blood from his burst lip and the stronger flow from his nose, he was glad Lucy wouldn't see him until after he'd had chance to get cleaned up as he was pretty sure he must have looked terrifying at that moment. He felt worse than he had when he'd woken up in the alley way but then he hadn't even finished healing from that yet and now there were new bruises on top of the old ones. He wished he could figure out where he knew them from so he could work out what they wanted revenge for but he had no idea. All he had was that vague sense of familiarity that he'd had when he'd first seen the blonde man but he still couldn't place it. He wondered if they were the ones who had searched the flat as Lucy had said it was a woman and a man but he couldn't think why they'd have gone there. If there had only been the two of them at the flat, maybe the remaining two men were what had happened to him to leave him in that alley. None of it made sense though and the state his head was in wasn't making trying to figure it all out any easier, the pain was getting worse and beginning to make him feel sick. He was running out of energy and things had a strange sense of Déjà vu as he stumbled through the shop door and into unconsciousness.
"What the hell happened to you?"
Edward opened his eyes to see Garrett crouched down beside him looking incredibly worried. He tried to sit up but as he moved pain shot through him from everywhere - his back, arms, torso and head all filled with it. He managed to push himself up to be sitting but Garrett had to quickly put his hand on his back to stop him falling back as the pain in his head threatened to knock him out again.
"Edward, what happened?" Garrett asked again, beginning to get a bit impatient. It wasn't good to have employees in, in this state and he was worried about him. He was covered in blood and his eyes didn't seem to be focussing very well.
"I don't really know." he mumbled. Their warning was replaying strongly in his head, he couldn't tell anyone anything as he couldn't risk them hurting Lucy. Somehow he knew they'd know about it if he said something even if it was just to Garrett. It wasn't really a lie either considering he had no idea what he'd done to cause it.
"You really expect me to believe that?" Garrett asked in disbelief. Whatever had happened to him couldn't have occurred that long ago, the blood was still dripping from his nose and lip and he could see how disorientated he was. There was no way he couldn't know what had happened. Edward however just shook his head and groaned at the sensation that movement caused, he felt really sick.
"Fine then, if you don't want to tell me, don't, but if you're in some kind of trouble with someone maybe I could help." Garrett commented, concerned about him. Edward was a very quiet person, he kept to himself and all he really seemed to ever care about was his daughter. Garret couldn't see how he'd have gotten himself into this kind of trouble and the only thing he could think of was he'd borrowed money from someone and couldn't pay it back. People didn't just randomly beat others up without an explanation. There had to be a reason and surely Edward knew what it was. After working in the shop for so long Garrett was probably the closest he had to having a friend and he just wanted to help him but he couldn't do that if he didn't know what the problem was.
"We should take you to the hospital, make sure everything's ok." He added, he didn't like the fact Edward had passed out, he'd obviously got some kind of head injury with how unfocussed he seemed and he was worried he had a concussion. If he wouldn't let him help with what had caused the injuries, the least he could do was help fix them.
"No hospital, I'm ok." Edward answered. There was no way he could go to the hospital, they'd want to involve the police and he couldn't risk that. He'd much rather just go and get Lucy than spend the afternoon waiting to be treated anyway. He wanted to know she was safe and ok. The fact she was at school should have meant she was but he couldn't help wanting to see her to make sure after what had just happened. Garrett looked closely at him, trying to work out if what he was saying was the truth or if he was putting on a brave front but all he saw was panic in his eyes so he decided not to force the issue. He'd help him get cleaned up and if he didn't improve a little after that he'd call his cousin who worked as a doctor at the local ER whether Edward wanted him to or not.
"Look, we'll get you cleaned up a bit then I suggest you go home and rest. Take Lucy out of school early so you're not worrying about her." he suggested and Edward looked at him with a small grateful smile.
"Thank you."
With that, Garrett helped Edward up and through to the back where he found the shop's first aid kit and set to work. They managed to get the bleeding stopped and after making Edward sit still for a while he seemed to be able to focus better and as he didn't tell Garrett that he felt sick he let him leave the shop to go home after giving him some painkillers and making him promise to ring him if he needed anything.
Lucy couldn't settle at school. She was meant to be doing sums but she couldn't concentrate on them. She was flicking her pencil against the desk and randomly looking around the classroom. She felt as if something wasn't quite right but she didn't know what. She knew her dad was at work so there was nothing not to be right but she still couldn't settle. She looked back to her sums and tried to do the next one but found herself looking up and to the door as someone knocked on it. She recognised the woman who came in as one of the office staff. They walked across to the teacher and Lucy watched them as the lady quietly told the teacher something. Lucy saw the teacher's eyes flick to her as the office lady turned and left and her feeling of something being not quite right grew. The feeling strengthened even more as the teacher came across to her then crouched down to be at her level. Lucy looked at her almost apprehensively, wondering what was going to be said.
"Lucy, your dad rang and said he has to take you home early today, he'll be here in around ten minutes." the teacher told her and now the feeling of something being not quite right was replaced by one of worry. Why was her dad going to be picking her up early? It didn't make sense. She started to pack her stuff up so she'd be ready for when he arrived then sat fidgeting, thinking of all the reasons she could think of for why he would be taking her out of school. She couldn't think of many and those she could didn't really seem probable to her. With a couple of minutes left before her dad would arrive the teacher took Lucy to the main doors and stood with her to wait for him. They were stood there for hardly any time at all before Lucy saw him coming towards the school. From the way he was walking she could tell straight away that something was wrong with him and that he was in some kind of pain, it just wasn't his normal walk. She left the teacher and ran across to him and the teacher watched until she saw him pick Lucy up in a hug before she went back into the school.
As Lucy ran to Edward she saw that he was unhappy but trying to hide it. That added to the fact she could see traces of blood on his face and bruises forming confirmed for her that something was wrong with him. When she reached him he picked her up, hugging her close to his chest but she pulled her head away from his chest to look at him.
"Daddy you're hurt." she stated, looking him dead in the eye and he nodded.
"I know baby, we're going to go home now and spend the rest of the day together." he told her, trying his best to smile but failing miserably.
"Who hurt you?" Lucy asked, stroking away a tear that was escaping his eye showing the pain he was feeling.
"I don't know, I don't know who they are." he answered and she heard the desperation in his voice so rested her head back against his chest, hugging him tightly. He leant his head slightly and kissed the top of her head, glad to have her safe in his arms. He had to put her down then as everything was becoming too painful for him to be able to carry her but he held her hand tightly as they slowly started to walk home, Edward not being able to walk any quicker for pain. They finally got back to the flat and when they did he headed straight for the sofa where he sat down, leaning back against it, his eyes closed. Lucy followed and climbed up next to him.
"Daddy do you need help?" She asked quietly, thinking something might be wrong that he'd need her help to sort out. It was fairly obvious he was in pain and she'd helped him the last time he was hurt.
"I just need to sit quiet for a while, hurts a bit. Why don't you go and get your doll to play with." he answered her, opening his eyes slightly so he could look at her. He could see she thought he was worse than he was saying but she still did as he said. She disappeared to go and get her doll then when she came back she sat on the floor with it. Edward laid himself out on the sofa before painfully turning onto his side so he could watch Lucy. His eyes were heavy and he just felt like sleeping but he knew he probably shouldn't. It would just worry Lucy so he forced himself to stay awake by having a slightly mumbled conversation with her as she played.
Lucy played for a while and kept Edward's mumbled conversation going but she could easily tell he was tired. She thought he would probably be better if he did go to sleep for a bit so she sat her doll on the floor and left the living room. Edward didn't really realise she'd gone until he saw her come back in, carrying his pillow in front of her and dragging his quilt along behind her. He smiled slightly as she brought it to him and helped her pull it up onto the sofa. He took the pillow from her and placed it down where his head had been before pulling the quilt over himself. Lucy looked at him for a minute before getting onto the sofa too and crawling in under his quilt. He put his arms around her and she cuddled into him slightly, being careful not to hurt him. She wasn't tired but she wanted to be with him so was willing to stay still and let him fall asleep.
Once asleep, Edward stayed asleep. Lucy eventually got too bored to keep still so slid off the sofa and back onto the floor to play with her doll again. She played quite happily by herself for well over an hour but then she started to get hungry and restless so she went into the kitchen and pushed a chair across to the units to get to the biscuit jar as she didn't want to wake Edward yet. She got her biscuit then carefully got down from the chair and ate it as she wandered through to her room to find something else to play with. After pulling out a few jigsaws that were in the corner of her room she took them through to the living room where she sat down on the floor with them and pulled the lid off the first one. They were quickly forgotten as while she tipped the pieces out of the box she heard Edward moan and looked to the sofa to see him pushing the quilt away from himself in his sleep.
She got up and went across to him, looking at him closely. His face seemed troubled and he was thrashing around slightly. He was covered in a thin layer of sweat and on seeing that she gently touched his face to feel the heat radiating from it, he was hot...too hot.
"Daddy." she said gently, deciding he needed to be woken up. Something wasn't right and she wanted him to tell her what to do to help him. He didn't stir though except to kick his leg enough to make the quilt fall from the sofa completely.
"Daddy." she said a bit louder while prodding at his shoulder. This time he moaned again.
"Daddy wake up!" she said sternly and pushed his shoulder a bit harder, finally managing to stir him slightly.
"No...wanna sleep." he mumbled and Lucy could hardly make his words out they were so thick with sleep.
"No Daddy. Wake up. Please." she said while pushing his shoulder even harder. This time his eyes opened but fell shut again straight away.
"Daddy please wake up! What's wrong?" she asked urgently, wanting him to say something to her before he was asleep again but it was too late as he was already back deep asleep. With no help from her dad Lucy decided she'd have to do what she could on her own and as he was too hot he'd need cooling down so she went into the bathroom and got one of the flannels which she ran under the cold tap then took through to the living room. She stood in front of the sofa by Edward's head and carefully placed the damp cloth onto his forehead, remembering the times he had done that for her when she had felt unwell.
She sat on the floor and watched him sleeping for a long time, gradually getting more and more hungry. He never woke, instead he just whimpered in his sleep, thrashed around causing him to be close to falling off the sofa several times and he was just getting hotter. She kept taking the cloth and running it under cold water every time it got warm before placing it back on his forehead but it didn't seem to be doing much good. She didn't know what else she could do, she just wanted him to wake up.
She was starting to get really hungry by the time it reached dinner time. Edward still hadn't woken and she was incredibly worried about him now. She didn't know what to do, she wanted food as she was hungry but she couldn't wake Edward and she wanted to help him because he was ill but he wouldn't wake up to tell her how. She ended up just eating a few biscuits from the jar then sitting down by Edward again, always checking the cloth to make sure it was cool, hoping that by the morning he'd be better and he'd wake up.
She stayed sat on the floor all night, watching Edward. She started crying at one point, scared, but there was no one there to comfort her. She wanted Edward to wake up, be ok and give her hug. Unfortunately that didn't happen and Lucy eventually fell asleep, still sat on the floor by the sofa.
Lucy woke up the next morning to find Edward just the same, if not worse. His temperature had definitely increased. As she went and cooled down the cloth again she knew she needed to get some help. It wasn't good for Edward to be like this. As she placed the cloth back onto his forehead she was trying to think of who she could go to for help. The only adults she really knew were Edward's boss, the other workers in the shop and Bella. They didn't really know any of their neighbours and the few times they had run into them in the hallway they'd usually been arguing amongst themselves so she didn't think she could go to them for help. She didn't know where Bella and Anna lived or if Anna would have been back at school to find Bella there and she knew that even if Bella had been there that morning she couldn't turn up at the school by herself. That would cause people to ask questions and she knew her dad hated that so she couldn't risk going there. The only option left was going to the shop but that was a long way away and she'd have to go alone. She knew she wasn't meant to go anywhere without Edward, he'd said it so many times but she guessed this might be an exception to the rule. He needed help and she couldn't think of anybody else. She was still torn though as she wanted to stay with him and was scared to go out on her own but he needed help. She looked at him for a few more minutes before gently kissing his cheek and running off to her room. She pulled her coat on and slid her feet into her shoes with the buckles on. Edward normally did them up for her but she did know how to do it which she was glad of now. Once she had them fastened she went back through and looked at Edward from the living room doorway. He was definitely ill and needed help. She was just going to have to go and get it. After finding Edward's keys in his jacket pocket she walked out into the corridor before reaching the door where she hesitated for a minute before opening it, unsure if she could actually do this. Her daddy needed help though and there was no one else to get it so with that thought she pulled open the door and stepped out.
Lucy walked the whole way as quickly as she could. She was terrified, being out on her own like this. She had to go though, she needed to help her daddy and this was the only way. She knew exactly where she was going as she'd walked the journey with Edward hundreds of times but it still came as a great relief to her when the shop finally came into sight. She started running then and was soon opening the door and looking around for someone she recognised. She didn't see anyone near the shelves so walked through the shop and up to the counter where one of the workers was stood. She looked up at him and felt a wave of disappointment and hopelessness wash over her as she saw it was somebody she didn't know. They looked down at her, a look of shock crossing their face before they looked away from her and into the back of the shop.
"Garrett!" they shouted as even though Lucy didn't know the man working in the shop he knew straight away that she was Edward's little girl and from what he knew of Edward, knew it wouldn't be right for her to be there when he wasn't, especially as it was a school day. After shouting out for Garrett to come through he watched Lucy, seeing how scared she looked but not knowing what to say to her without frightening her even more since she didn't know him. Garrett finally appeared behind him and he pointed to Lucy.
"Isn't she Edward's little girl?" he asked, and Garrett nodded as he looked at Lucy. She looked tired and close to tears, not the happy little girl he usually saw.
"Lucy what are you doing here and where's your dad?" he asked, crouching down to her height. She was so relieved to see somebody she knew that she rushed towards him for a hug.
"Daddy's ill, I can't get him to wake up and he's too hot. He's not right." She explained while Garrett accepted her hug.
"Did you come all this way by yourself?" he asked her and she nodded, a few tears leaking out and down her face. He was worried for Edward if Lucy had felt he was bad enough to come and get help on her own it had to be bad. He knew he should have made him see a doctor the day before.
"Daddy's ill, please come, he needs help." she cried as her tears burst through and she starting crying. Garrett tightened their hug and picked her up trying to comfort her.
"You'll be ok on your own for a while?" he asked the shop worker who nodded.
"Sure, looks like they need your help more than here does anyway." he answered, looking at the tearful Lucy.
"Ok, I'll be back later then." he said and with that he started to walk out of the shop, still holding Lucy and trying to calm her.
"You're going to have to tell me where you live, I've never been to your flat before." he told her as they stepped onto the street and Lucy nodded. He put her down but took hold of her hand which made her feel slightly less scared at being out without her daddy. Lucy lead him down the streets towards the flat building, tugging at his hand the whole time as she wanted to get back to her dad as quickly as she could. When they finally reached the flat building Lucy didn't give Garrett chance to look at the state it was in as she pulled him forwards into the building and up the stairs. Lucy took him up to their flat and handed Garrett the keys so he could open the door then lead him to the living room where Edward was laying on the sofa, obviously in a very unsettled sleep and sweating way too much to be healthy. Garrett could see why Lucy had thought it bad enough to leave the flat on her own.
"How long has he been like this Lucy?" he asked, crouching down to look closer at Edward. His face was flushed and the bruises had darkened a lot since he'd sent him on his way home. He was frowning in his sleep and Garrett hoped that was just from the fever and not nightmares, he seemed to have enough problems right now without them.
"Since yesterday lunch time." she answered, trying to peer around Garrett to see his face. He still looked terrible and she felt like crying again. "He will be ok won't he?"
"He'll be fine but I'm going to need to get him a doctor." Garrett answered, he was sure Edward wouldn't have approved but considering he wasn't in any state to argue Garrett was determined to do what was best for him although he'd need Lucy on his side. "Is that ok?"
Lucy looked at her dad a little unsure but after putting her hand on his forehead and feeling how warm he still was she nodded so Garrett pulled out his mobile and rang his cousin. He didn't know why Edward seemed to be so against going to the hospital but if it was the authorities getting involved that he was scared of they could easily keep it between the four of them this way. Luckily it turned out to be his cousin's day off, and after having explained the state Edward was in he promised to be there as soon as he could and told him to try and get Edward to drink some water as he was probably dehydrated and getting fluids into him would help bring the fever down. After putting his phone away he turned back to Lucy who was looking up at him with worried eyes.
"My cousin's a doctor and he's going to come around and have a look at your daddy. Until then we need to try and get him to drink something and keep him cool. Do you think you can help me with that?" he asked, hoping that if she had something to do she wouldn't worry so much. She nodded and Garret watched her as she moved to check the cloth she'd been trying to cool Edward down with before to find it was warm and dry. She seemed to know what she was doing so Garret left her to it as she lifted the cloth off his face and took it through to the bathroom while he went to find where they kept their glasses.
Lucy decided that this time Edward needed more than just a damp cloth on his forehead so found the small plastic bowl that was kept under the sink. After she checked it was clean as it's usual use was to stay by her bed when she was feeling sick, she took it across to the bath and sat it down under the taps. When there was enough cold water in it, but not too much to make it too heavy for her to carry she turned the tap off and dropped the cloth into the bowl. Then she lifted it up and walked slowly and carefully into the living room where she sat it down on the floor in front of the sofa. After squeezing out all the excess water from the cloth she moved closer to Edward and set about gently cleaning the sweat from his face, the cold cloth slightly cooling his hot skin.
Garrett glanced back into the living room after hearing her moving around again and was surprised to see she seemed to know exactly what to do to try and cool Edward down without him having to say a word. He was mesmerized by the love and care that such simple movements could show. He could see the concern all across Lucy's face as she cared for Edward. She was doing exactly the same thing for him that he would do for her if she was ill yet she was only five. He didn't want to interrupt her so he returned to exploring their kitchen and getting Edward some water.
Lucy heard Garrett come back in a couple of minutes later and paused with her movements leaving the cloth on Edward's forehead as she looked up to him.
"Let's see if we can get him to drink some of this." He said as he held up the glass of water. Lucy moved out of the way to let Garrett get in closer then took the glass from him as he knelt down and tried to wake Edward. He did stir a little but not enough so Garrett had to lift his shoulders up and prop him against the arm of the sofa before taking the glass back from Lucy and pressing it to Edward's lips. He groaned but opened his eyes a little so Garrett tipped the glass, letting the water trickle into his mouth slowly and luckily Edward was awake enough to swallow it. It took a while but eventually the glass was empty so Garrett let Edward slump back down onto the sofa and Lucy got to work again with the damp cloth as soon as Garrett stepped back.
Happy they'd done what they could for Edward until his cousin arrived, Garrett turned his attention to Lucy. She'd said that Edward had been ill since yesterday lunchtime which probably meant she hadn't had anything proper to eat since then. She must have been starving yet she hadn't even mentioned it, too concerned with how her dad was. Realising that, he left her in charge of trying to cool Edward down while he went back into the kitchen to make her something to eat.
He had just got Lucy settled with a sandwich and a glass of milk when someone knocked on the door. He got up from where he'd been sitting on the floor next to Lucy by the sofa to answer it and was relieved to see his cousin standing there.
Lucy looked up from her sandwich when she heard Garrett come in followed by a man who looked like the total opposite of him. Whereas Garret was broad shouldered and muscled with dark messy hair, brown eyes, a healthy covering of stubble and always wore band t-shirts and jeans the other man had bright blue eyes, neatly cut short blonde hair, perfectly smooth skin, a much leaner figure and was dressed in smart trousers and a button up shirt with a jacket slung over the top of his black leather bag.
"Lucy this is my cousin, Dr. Carlisle Cullen. Carlisle this is Lucy and Edward Masen." Garrett introduced them as Carlisle moved forward and knelt down on the floor beside her.
"Hello Lucy. Is this your daddy?" he asked with a very soothing, American accented voice and a friendly smile which made her take an instant liking to him so she nodded.
"Shall we see if I can help him?" he asked and she nodded again hoping that maybe Dr. Carlisle could make him wake up. Carlisle turned his attention to Edward, taking his temperature and checking his pulse rate while frowning at the bruises he could see covering his skin. Garret hadn't mentioned the bruises on the phone, just the fever. Edward looked like a very sickly individual, just at first glance he looked gaunt and underweight and the skin he could see that wasn't darkened by bruises was deathly pale apart from his cheeks which were red from the fever. Having seen the condition of where he was living and the state he was in Carlisle was surprised that the little girl looked perfectly healthy.
"Do you know how he got these bruises, they look pretty recent." he asked when he looked up from inspecting a particularly nasty looking one at his temple and saw Garrett standing on the other side of the sofa watching.
"He was beaten up yesterday morning on his way to work. He got through the door and collapsed. He refused to let me take him to the hospital so I helped him get cleaned up then sent him home to rest." Garrett answered. Carlisle nodded slightly and looked back to Edward before he started to check if he could feel any damage around his ribs and stomach.
"That hurt's." Edward grumbled feeling someone pressing down on his abdomen. His eyes didn't open immediately, but when it filtered through his sleep clogged mind that the hands pressing against his bruises were a lot larger than Lucy's his eyes shot open and he tried to push himself up to be sitting.
"Lucy?"
"I'm here Daddy." She answered, reaching up and taking hold of his hand. His attention moved to her and he was relieved to find she appeared to be ok although she did look a little upset. He then remembered what had woke him up and looked around to see Garrett and a man he didn't know staring at him.
"Who are you?" he asked, he never had visitors and he couldn't think why he'd have any now. No one other than Emmett and Garrett even had his address.
"Dr. Carlisle Cullen." he answered and Edward just looked even more confused so Garrett decided to explain for him.
"Lucy turned up in the shop this morning, saying you were ill and needed help. She brought me back here and I called Carlisle, he's my cousin." he explained and Edward immediately looked to Lucy, filling with worry. She'd been out on her own, that wasn't safe, anything could have happened to her. By now she'd climbed up onto the sofa to get her long awaited hug and without even realising it he was hugging her slightly too tightly but she wasn't complaining, just glad he was awake.
"She went to the shop by herself?" he questioned and both Garrett and Carlisle nodded.
"She couldn't wake you up and was scared. She needed to get you help. I'm guessing she couldn't think of anyone else to go to." Garrett answered and Edward looked back to Lucy who was now looking at him, hoping that he wasn't angry with her for going out on her own. She relaxed though when she saw him smile slightly.
"Thanks Luce." he mumbled and lightly kissed the top of her head. He couldn't be angry at her when it was his own fault. He was going to have to spend the afternoon making sure she knew how to use the phone and writing out the shop's and Garrett's numbers for her. He definitely didn't want her leaving the flat without him again for any reason.
"What's wrong with me then?" he asked. As his panic from initially waking up wore off he was starting to realise just how bad he was feeling and even with visitors in the flat he just wanted to close his eyes and sleep again.
"Well I don't think you've got any lasting damage from the beating you took, just cuts and bruises." Carlisle started before he looked to Edward's face and frowned slightly. There was something familiar about his eyes, they were a very unusual vivid green colour but it was one he was sure he'd seen before. He broke his gaze and focused back on trying to work out what was wrong with him.
"How long have you been feeling ill?"
"I don't know, I guess since yesterday lunch time." He mumbled trying to think when he'd started to feel so ill. He could remember coming home and feeling tired and sore but not a lot after Lucy had brought him his pillow and quilt.
"Ok, how do you feel now?" Carlisle asked. He could see the effort Edward was having to put into staying awake and had a pretty good idea what was wrong with him but needed to make sure.
"Tired."
"Are you nauseous? Any aches that aren't related to bruises?" Edward nodded to both, everything hurt and he was too groggy to try and distinguish why. The more Carlisle asked about symptoms the worse he felt. He'd alerted him to the fact that as well as feeling nauseous and sore his throat hurt, his headache had intensified, and he was cold even though Carlisle assured him he had a fever.
"Well I think all this is, is the flu. It's been going round the area lately and the beating probably just let it get a grip. I can give you something to hopefully reduce the symptoms but all we can do for the fever is make sure you get plenty of fluids." Carlisle concluded and with that he started to look through his case for the tablets he needed. He asked Garrett to fetch him a glass of water and then helped Edward to sit up properly while Lucy moved to be curled into his side.
Garrett returned with the refilled glass and as Edward took the pills Carlisle studied him and Lucy. She had the same eyes as her father and although he was positive he had never met either of them before it was like he already knew them. He wondered if he'd maybe treated one of them at the hospital before but he was almost certain that wasn't it.
"Now all you need is plenty of rest and make sure you try to eat something." He commented when the pills had been swallowed. Being underweight wouldn't help his immune system fight off the virus and if he was feeling nauseous Carlisle knew he was unlikely to remember to eat but the last thing he needed was to lose any weight.
"Ok." Edward agreed, the thought of eating made him want to be sick but as he just wanted everyone to leave he didn't mention that. He felt awkward having people in his flat and all he wanted to do was get Lucy fed then watch TV with her and have an early night. Seeing that Carlisle was now packing up his bag, Edward turned his attention to Garrett who was still watching them all.
"Thanks for coming back with Lucy." he said, he really was grateful for that. He didn't want to even think about what could have happened to her outside on her own.
"No need to thank me. I made her a sandwich...with you being asleep she hadn't been able to get any food. Do you want me to do anything else? I can stay for a bit if you want." He didn't want to leave them on their own, it was easy to see how bad Edward was feeling and he knew he'd be better off in bed resting while someone else took care of Lucy for a while. He also knew how unlikely it would be for Edward to accept that kind of help.
"Thanks but we'll be ok, you can get back to the shop." Edward replied proving Garrett right and making Carlisle glance up at him with a frown again. Garrett caught his cousin's gaze and could see how little he thought of them being on their own.
"You sure? I really don't mind staying." Garrett tried again.
"Yeah, me and Luce are better on our own." Edward answered but Garrett really doubted that and wondered if there was anyone else he'd rather have stay, he didn't mind who it was, he just didn't want to leave them on their own.
"Is there anyone else you can call to come round? You could do with being looked after yourself never mind Lucy." he said and Edward shook his head.
"We'll be fine, the shop will be needing you." Edward replied, he didn't want people intruding on his life with Lucy. It was always just them and that was what he was used to. Things got upset and complicated when other people arrived in it. He had never been the best of patients when ill anyway. He just wanted them to leave him alone.
"Ok, but if you do need someone to come and help you, ring the shop and I'll come back over." Garrett offered.
"Ok, thanks" he answered figuring that arguing that was pointless as agreeing didn't mean he actually had to ring him and the less he argued the faster they'd leave. He wasn't feeling well enough to attempt being at all social.
"I guess we better get going then." Garrett commented uneasily and when Edward didn't say anything other than thank you again he reluctantly left along with Carlisle after making sure Edward had Carlisle's number in case he started to feel worse.
"They really shouldn't be on their own." Carlisle commented as they went down the stairs. It didn't feel right leaving them there.
"He's very independent. You saw how against accepting help he was." Garrett replied. He didn't like it either but they'd done all they could bar refusing to leave and he didn't really think upsetting him would have helped.
"Does he not have any family that we could have called, even if it was just to check up on him a few times? He's going to be feeling pretty rough and exhausted for the next few days and I get the impression that he doesn't really take good care of himself anyway."
"Not as far as I know. He's never mentioned any to me and the only emergency contact number he's ever given me was for Lucy's school. What do you mean?"
"I can't be sure without weighing and measuring his height but he looks underweight and does he turn up covered in bruises a lot?"
"I guess he has been looking a little scrawny the last couple of weeks. Something's been stressing him out but he won't tell me about it and the bruises only started appearing last week, the other weekend he said he got mugged." Carlisle caught the worry on Garrett's face.
"You think he's in trouble don't you?" he asked, it was obvious Garrett cared about Edward and Lucy although he got the impression it would be hard not to if you knew them. Lucy looked like a very sweet little girl.
"He's a good kid, he puts everything into caring for Lucy and he's not the type to get into fights. I don't know what's going on but maybe I should give him a pay rise, see if it helps." He thought aloud, if it was money issues then maybe a pay rise would be a way to help without him realising and refusing it. Carlisle just nodded at that thinking that a pay rise wouldn't go amiss anyway with the state of the building they lived in. He really hoped they'd be ok left on their own, he knew he wouldn't be able to get their faces out of his head until he knew they were both well. Hopefully Garrett would be checking up on them and would let him know how they were doing. As they'd reached the main doors he was thinking about what Garrett had said of them having no family. He was too young to be out all on his own with a child Lucy's age and he found it hard to believe there wasn't somebody somewhere for support but it did explain why they were living where they were and why he didn't seem to have been taking care of himself. It wasn't right and he wished there was something they could do to help them but if he wouldn't accept help from Garrett there was no way he'd take it from him. No one should be left without a family, he could just imagine what his wife would say if he told her about Lucy and her dad and it was then that he suddenly realised where he'd seen the same green eyes as the matching pairs upstairs before.
"What did you say their surname was?" He questioned Garrett. He was sure he'd already told him but he'd been paying more attention to Edward and Lucy than what Garrett had been saying at the time.
"Masen, why?" He responded when Carlisle frowned slightly at the name.
"Nothing." He muttered, it had to just be a coincidence, still, he'd check with his wife when he got home to make sure. If it wasn't just a coincidence somebody somewhere had a lot of explaining to do.