Sorry this took so long! I'll remember to update more from now on! Thank you Ajoyden! *WARNING* Very vague animal injury.
Alice was playing with Pernickety in the living room and watching the yard outside. Sometimes, she wanted to know if Pernickety would like Outside; but dad spent a lot of money making sure he had an enriched inside environment, so he wouldn't let her take him out and ruin the outside environment.
Carlisle was actually home for once tonight, and he was reading the Thomas Mann book that Edward had just finished last week. Alice could tell he didn't really like it though, he was just reading it because Edward found some interest in it.
His phone buzzed, and Alice hoped it wasn't the hospital. It's not as though she felt neglected by how much her father worked; but she hated how tired and stressed it made him. Her dad getting a night-off was the main reason she would cancel dates with her honey, because she didn't want her social life to impact how much time they spent together.
Carlisle picked up his phone too absently for it to be a medical thing, though, which relaxed her. "Hello, Cullen residence." He said.
Edward snorted from where he'd been cocooned in blankets, watching some movie that reeked of the early 2000s. "That's your cellphone, dad." He reminded him drolly.
Carlisle sat up straighter, and Alice didn't miss how his eyes landed on her for a moment. "Jasper? What's wrong?" He asked, his voice serious.
"Boyfriend!" Alice trilled, jumping up and reaching for the phone. Jasper hadn't called her, why was her father making that stern face?
But Carlisle only waved her away, "Alice!" He snapped, and she took a step back. Carlisle rarely raised his voice at all, and it gave her a startle.
"Jasper, calm down, dear, tell me what happened." He said, his voice back to soothing. Alice was consumed with worry; why had her honey called her dad first? "What? You hit someone?" Even Edward gasped at that horrifying question. "… Oh, okay, okay, you hit a cat, okay. Jasper, Jasper it's okay, you need to breathe, alright?" There was a pause, and Alice's hands flew to her mouth as her heart leapt to her throat. Jasper needed his car for work! And while she felt a little guilty not thinking of the poor animal first, she hoped he could still drive.
Carlisle though, seemed very in control of the situation. Alice could tell he was serious because he put on his Outside Slippers and grabbed his keys. Alice hurried to get her own things together to go with him; Jasper would need her if he'd had an accident. "Good boy. No, Jasper it's okay. No, you need to calm down." Carlisle was still soothing him, and mentioned for Alice to be quicker. Edward had already stuffed his shoes on and was shrugging on his coat. "Of course, I'm coming now – yes, I'll bring Alice." He said, and said good-bye before hanging up.
Edward snapped at her not to cry as they all locked up and hurried to the car. But she felt so anxious for her boyfriend; he may be quite mature, but he took things very personally, and she hated to think of him all alone somewhere, looking at some poor mangled cat.
Alice pressed her nose up against the back window, waiting for the first sign of Jasper. They drove to the more residential area of town, outside of their gated community, where it was quieter, and down a service road. He was slower driving down here, and they saw Jasper, leaning hunched against his car with a lantern on the roof that Rosalie had packed in the back for him. Her dad yelled at her for jumping out of the car before he'd completely stopped, but she certainly couldn't wait.
She all but flew to him, pressing against him, and cupping his face in both her hands. "Baby! Are you okay?" She asked him. "What happened?" He slipped his arms around her, and she could feel the slight tremble in his fingers.
He looked awful, his entire body was rigid and his expression was miserable. "It's a big black cat, I … I didn't see it on the road in the dark …." He muttered, looking both pale and green. "It has a collar, honey, and I just … I've killed someone's cat." He whispered hoarsely. Alice felt her heart clench, and she couldn't look at Jasper's car or the lump behind it. She hugged him tightly around the middle and hid her face in his shirt.
Edward trudged up to him, looking a little peaky himself. "Jasper, this person was stupid enough to let their cat outside at night." He pointed out, already walking back to Carlisle's car. "You can't blame yourself, you're a good driver." He added over his shoulder before climbing back in. Alice wasn't going to snap at him and demand why he had come if he was just going to run away, but it was a close thing.
Carlisle came and petted his shoulder, leading him to his own car and away from the body. "He's right, dear. You didn't swerve, which is good because this road is quite dark, and another car may not have been prepared if you stopped. Jasper, this was an irresponsible cat owner," He said, his voice stern with disapproval, "they decided to let their cat be an outside cat. We don't do that, do we?" Carlisle looked at Alice, more precisely the back of her head, which she shook in the negative. "Because it's a big risk to take, and this person has just lost their cat because of it." Carlisle continued.
Jasper climbed into the back seat with Alice, and she busied herself running her fingers through his hair and hugging him. Edward made a face and climbed back out of the car.
The door was still open, though, and Alice could hear Edward and their father speaking softly. "We should tell the owner." Edward said quietly.
"I will, Jasper doesn't deserve to get shouted at for this." Carlisle said softly.
Edward trudged with his dad to the gross lump behind the car. It's obvious that after the hit, Jasper had immediately pulled to the side and stopped. The thing was furry and Edward was sure that there was quite a bit of blood.
"Oh god, it's not good, is it?" Edward asked and he only watched as Carlisle gingerly walked forward and poked around for the tag of the collar. Edward had a pretty strong stomach at times, but now he knew if the wind changed direction and he smelt that, he was going to be sick.
Carlisle was, though, a medical professional, and he did exactly what was needed; he found the tag, with the mobile number and rang. "Hello? May I ask who this is?" He asked. Edward waited by Jasper's car as Carlisle wondered off to make the call.
"Hello, Esme, my name's Carlisle and I've just um, found your cat." Carlisle explained, using the same gentle, firm tone he used when talking to the next-of-kin of his patients. "Oh? He ran away?" Carlisle glanced back at Edward, who visibly grimaced. Maybe it was the cat, not the owner, that was irresponsible. Carlisle looked visibly pained to continue. "… I see, that's awful. Excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt, it's just … your cat is dead." He said, ignoring Edward's sarcastic 'smooth, dad'. "I'm sorry, he was obviously hit by a car … um, yes, out on route 78 … oh that's a street over from you? Alright." Carlisle hung up, and blew out a sigh.
"Uh-oh." His son called out.
Carlisle shot him a reproachful look. "Edward, not now." He told him, and glanced at the mangled corpse. "Oh dear, this isn't good …." Carlisle sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face. All his plans were for tonight was take-out and suggesting his son to play some Shubert before going to bed early. Now he was in the same neighbourhood that most of the gun-shot-related injuries came from in the pit.
They stood there for quite a bit, but after some time Carlisle could see a little figure running to them, a torch in hand. "Keep Jasper in the car." He said to Edward, and jogged a little forward to meet her.
The woman was beautiful; she had a plump face and big, green eyes. Her hair was in a mass of curls on top of her head. Carlisle could only stare; this woman … she was almost familiar ….
"Hi, Carlisle?" She asked, her expression and tone of voice were tight. "I'm Esme Platt, where's – oh god!" She looked behind him, and saw the cat.
She rushed forward and fell to her knees next to the animal, gasping and a few times her hand reached out, only for her to snatch it back before she touched the creature.
He shook himself out of his stupor to go over to her. "Hello," he started stupidly, "um, you see-"
But Alice was climbing out of the car, her eyes wide. "Ms. Platt?" She asked, her voice high-pitched but small. "What …" she looked at the cat on the ground and her eyes widened, "no, this was Oliver? Oh no," Alice's hands flew to her hand, and she ran towards the woman. "Ms Platt, I swear-"
The woman stood on shaky feet, and Carlisle reach out to steady her, but she took a step towards his daughter before he could. "Alice?" She asked, sounding incredulous. "Oh my – what are you …" her gaze fell to the Thunderbird behind her. Carlisle glanced between the two of them, extremely confused. "This is Whitlock's car, isn't it?" She asked quietly.
Jasper had followed Alice outside, and he paled a little at his name. "I-I'm so sorry, ma'am, I didn't mean to-"
Jasper looked even more devastated than Esme did, his eyes wet and his slightly over-large leather jacket simply looked too big on him. Carlisle wrapped an arm around his shoulders. It was Jasper's 'ma'am' that jogged his memory.
Carlisle could have kicked himself, of course this woman was familiar, she was Alice's teacher. The art teacher that brought her out of her shell for the first time at school. Carlisle owed this woman more than he could repay for encouraging his daughter's talent, and now her poor boyfriend had killed her cat.
Esme bursts into tears. "He's alive!" She choked out, scrabbling at the ground next to the cat, and stroking a finger shakily over the cat's paw.
Carlisle was stunned and quickly joined her. On closer inspection, the cat was just incredibly ugly, and still breathing.
Quickly, Carlisle dialled Persnickety's vet, begging her to open the clinic and take in a patient.
She agreed, and things moved very quickly. Edward was in charge of driving Jasper's car to the Cullen home, while everyone would climb into Carlisle's sensible sedan Mercedes. Carlisle used a blanket from the back of his car to scoop the mangled cat into his arms.
The vet wasn't too far, and this late at night ensured little traffic. The woman was a no-nonsense type of person, and Oliver the cat was whisked into surgery as soon as possible. It left three children and two adults alone in a cold room with nothing to do but wait.
The pretty woman covered her face with her hands and heaved. Alice fluttered around her nervously, looking near tears herself as she tried to comfort her.
Like most things to do with situations he didn't like, Edward hang back next to Carlisle and watched quietly.
"You'd be a bad person if you blamed Jasper if the cat dies."
Carlisle shot Edward a look at his cruel words, but the boy wasn't in a sulk or fussing; he seemed open, if shrewd.
"… I don't blame him. It's a horrible accident." Esme whispered, she seemed to be slowly pulling herself together in front of her students, and Carlisle reached out to offer her a tissue, clean but crumpled from his pocket. She took it with a thank you, and blew her nose, ducking her head away from them to do so.
"I'm sorry," Jasper said again feebly. Carlisle squeezed one of his shoulders; the arm Alice had in her grip. Esme gave him a watery smile.
"I don't blame you, dear." She repeated calmly. "I've seen you reverse-parking a lot of mornings, I can tell you're a responsible driver. Oliver's had a few close calls before," she admitted quietly, "he's so adventurous ... and it's good you didn't try and swerve, you could have overturned your car, that service road is truly awful." She said, petting his shoulder where Carlisle didn't have his arm.
Jasper still looked distinctly unhappy, and Carlisle tried to focus on his distress instead of how he notices in the cool room that Esme had hurried so very fast she'd obviously forgotten her brassiere.
Alice, though, was now completely in tears, and it seemed to make Jasper more miserable than the cat.
"Miss, your cat …." She wailed, and Esme stood to pull her into a tight hug. The intimacy shocked Carlisle; Alice was always talking about her art teacher, but Carlisle didn't think they were so close.
"Now, Alice, Oliver wasn't at all like Persnickety, he was old and cranky, and this was an accident, you need to take big breaths, okay?" She prompted gently. She seemed to be slipping into a more controlled attitude around the children, even if her eyes were still sad.
"Alice, take Jasper for a walk." Carlisle said gently. "You'll do little good fretting over this."
So now, on one of his rare nights off, he was sitting with his daughter's favourite teacher, trying not to notice how very attractive she was. The vet, Dr. Singh, came out after three hours, and Carlisle hadn't been able to move because Edward had fallen asleep on his shoulder.
But Dr Singh only gave them a nod that all was well. Alice cheered and took Jasper's weight as he sagged with relief. Esme was so happy she shook the doctor's hand vigorously, and gave Carlisle a wide smile. While Alice was loudly cheering with Esme over her pet's good fortune, Carlisle quietly settled the bill with Dr Singh on Jasper's behalf.
"Oh thank goodness," Edward muttered, his tone genuinely relieved. "I was getting a neck cramp." He added quickly, and Carlisle knocked his shoulder with his own. He stood and thanked the vet, who explained that the cat would have to stay for at least three days before she could release him.
Jasper was too shaky to drive his car home, so Edward volunteered to do it, and Carlisle would drop Jasper off in his own car. He also insisted on taking Esme home, to see her to her door. The woman seemed bashful about it, but Alice was also eager to see where her favourite teacher lived.
So both cars pulled up to the home of Esme Platt. Edward could barely drive stick, and Jasper grumbled that he could hear his gears crying out for help from the doctor's car.
"I guess I'll have to drop off an awful lot of things to him …." Esme said as she stood in the doorway of her home. It was late, and Carlisle insisted they couldn't go inside, even if Alice was wrapped in a hug by Esme to try and get a peek into her home.
"Hey! You hung up my picture from the state contest!" Alice said, smiling. Carlisle tried to glance inside, but he didn't want to be rude. He remembered the state contest, why couldn't he recall Esme?
"Yes, of course, I was really proud of you." Esme said quietly.
The house was small and dark and the weeds were slowly creeping along the side of the lawn. It was obvious the woman loved plants, but was having trouble with the tidiness of the lawn outside of her flower box. Carlisle had noted that she wore no ring, and he was sure no man would allow his yard to stay in such a state.
"I'm really sorry, ma'am." Jasper tried again. He was still clinging a little to Carlisle, and the doctor was more than happy to comfort him. Jasper's situation occasionally made him nervous; the poor boy lived by himself for the most part, and his only help was half his rent paid for by government assistance. Carlisle had him over to every holiday, and Alice raided their own kitchen if he needed something, of course, but sometimes he wished he could do more.
Esme, though, just smiles a little. "Jasper, it's nothing for you to apologize about. This was an accident." She said softly, and Alice nodded emphatically.
Carlisle glanced at his watch and hissed. It was half-past eleven! "Okay, in the car," he said briskly, pushing Jasper behind him, "it's late and you all have school tomorrow." He reminded them. "And I want either Edward or Rosalie driving for a while, okay?" He said sternly. Jasper looked grateful, it seemed, and Carlisle wondered if gas money was enough when the boy was so relied upon to get his friends to school every day.
Alice untangled herself from the woman with a big smile. "See you tomorrow, Ms Platt!" She chirped, and waved all the way to the car.
Carlisle watched them go fondly. "Thank you for being so understanding, Ms Platt." He said, feeling sincerely relieved that Jasper hadn't been given a hard time over something that had obvious made him feel terrible. "Jasper's really a responsible driver." He added.
Esme only nods kindly. "I know, Alice told me he was teaching her." She replied. Carlisle doesn't allow himself to wonder if Alice ever mentioned him. "And I certainly can't blame him, he has to be a very independent boy."
"Exactly!" Carlisle agreed wholeheartedly, and it seemed their concern over him was similar, and similarly embarrassed them both. "Well, um, I hope you have a good night, Esme Platt." He said quietly.
Esme smiled, and nodded her head shyly. "And you as well, Doctor Cullen." She responded.
He left her there, and Alice cuddled Jasper in the backseat all the way to his apartment, and Carlisle didn't complain about feeling like a taxi driver. When they'd dropped him off, with Alice all but tucking him into bed, and were driving back home, Edward was in the passenger side, looking out the window.
"You can't have a crush on her teacher, dad. It's weird." He said, and Carlisle could have slapped his son upside the head.
"I do not." He hissed, glancing in the backseat, where Alice was currently on her phone, intently still comforting Jasper, no doubt. Thankfully, she hadn't hear her brother's foolishness.
"Do too," Edward replied with a grin. "Now she's going to be asking Alice all different kinds of questions about her home life." He said cheekily.
Carlisle, though, wasn't going to let himself be bullied by his own son. "Well, Jacob does ask me about you …." He said heavily, and Edward snapped to attention so fast he was worried the boy was going to pull a muscle.
"What do you mean? What does he say? What kind of questions? Dad!" He whined, because Carlisle couldn't stop laughing. It was terrible; a poor animal was seriously injured, but all he could think about were how lovely and kind Esme's green cow-eyes were.
00
The next two weeks, Carlisle received constant updates on the heath of one bedraggled rescue named Oliver. Alice would tell him how his recovery was going, how Ms Platt was vacuuming all the cat hair with none to replace it, how he was taking to being in a cage ….
"Alice, if you keep yammering on about that woman's cat, I'm going to lose my mind!" Edward finally snapped. "I have my recital this weekend, and if you know what's good for you, you'll let me practise in peace!" He continued.
Edward had been a little chipper lately too; usually, an upcoming performance had him anxious and testy. But he was also glancing at his phone more often too, and Carlisle had a childish urge to ask him how Jacob Black was faring lately. But Edward was sensitive, and he wouldn't react well to such teasing. Carlisle was confident his son would tell him, in his own time.
Alice put her hands on her hips, and Carlisle glanced up from his papers, evaluating whether or not he'd be putting down another sibling spat. He knew he was away a lot, and neither of his children blamed him. He knew they for the most part got along very well. He wondered if it wasn't his absence that made them so harmonious. "Whatever," Alice said with attitude, "dad's never asked me about Ms Platt so often before!" She argued, and Carlisle felt his face flush a little. "You know she's my favorite!"
He laughed tightly at her words. "I'm not asking about her often, Alice, please!" He said lightly, but he was very embarrassed that she noticed. She turned to him now, looking a little put out, but he didn't let her make an issue of it. "Now, let Edward practise, please?" He prompted sternly.
Alice sighed and deflated, shooting Edward a look. "Fine." She muttered, and she went upstairs, leaving Carlisle to studiously be much too engrossed in his paperwork to look at his son's expression.
Okay, outside cats are so dangerous and you should ABSOLUTELY keep them indoors! It's so dangerous! Next up: Edward's recital!