1921

Carlisle

"A new body has just come in." I hated having to work in the morgue, there is nothing I can do to help those who are already dead, but it was a necessary evil. Our constant moving meant I was often the new guy who got stuck with the jobs no one else wished to do. Thankfully, it was nearing the end of my shift.

"Some fishermen found her at the bottom of the cliff out by the lakes. Suspected suicide. One of the nurses recognized her; apparently she was here earlier this week. Name of Grace Platt." I had only mildly been listening, but the name instantly caught my attention. My mind took me back a decade, to a memory I had tried my hardest not think to about.

"Grace Marie Platt," Esme said with a smile, the love for her sister obvious in the way she said those three words. The warmth and kindness she radiated was like the sun, breaking through my gloomy misery.

Could it be Esme's sister? Or is this just a weird coincidence? Why would Esme's sister have thrown herself of a cliff in Ashland? Because of her 'differences', as Esme had put it? I hope it's not her. That would crush Esme, no doubt.

I said goodbye to the doctor I had been talking to, and walked toward the morgue. As I walked inside the uninviting room, I heard a slight heartbeat, even though there was no one else around. Following the sound, I realised it was coming from within one of the body drawers, which was labelled 'Grace Platt: Suicide.'

She's still alive! Perhaps I can save her. I wonder if Esme would come visit her? I could see her again…

I instantly reprimanded myself for the thought; it would be of no good to either of us for us to meet again. She would no doubt recognize I had not aged in over a decade, and it would hurt too much to have to leave her again.

The least I can do is help her sister though.

I remembered the young girl I had seen with her mother and sister. She would be about sixteen now I guessed.

I opened the drawer and gasped. I recognized the woman inside it immediately.

"Esme," I muttered her name quietly in complete surprise. It was definitely Esme, not her sister. I just knew it. The distinct caramel curls confirmed me right.

Esme? What has happened to you since I left that would lead to you committing suicide? I continued to look at her in shock, while her heartbeat became ever weaker.

Her heartbeat's too feeble, there's no way she can survive. Despair shot through me, I could do nothing to save her. She was going to die.

No! No, she can't die!

Impulsively, I scooped her fragile body up, as I did so I noticed for the first time the faint scars on her chest and arms.

Oh Esme, what happened to you?

I hesitated for a second, unsure of what to do next. I had to get her home before her heart stopped, but I could hardly carry what was supposedly a corpse through the hospital. I listened intently as her heartbeat thumped ever slower, counting down the last few minutes of her life.

Will I be able to get her home in time? What can I do? I have to save her!

Footsteps close by caught my attention, they were heading this way. Quickly, I placed Esme back on the cold metal drawer.

"Ah, Dr Cullen," my colleague said as he walked into the room. "Terribly tragic," he said with a nod towards Esme. My concentration was still on her heartbeat. Every thump was another inch of her life draining away. I needed to get him out of here as soon as possible.

"Yes, she has no family to speak of, so I was going to have her body sent to the local medical school," I lied, formulating a reason for why Esme's body was about to disappear from the morgue.

"No family, how sad," he muttered distractedly, looking at one of the drawers.

"Can I help you?" I asked, hoping to hurry him out of the morgue. I was acutely aware that the thump of Esme's heartbeat was getting ever slower. I was wasting valuable minutes. Minutes that could make the difference between her survival and her death.

"No, no. Just needed to check a patient's cause of death. I think you're right about what to do with her corpse. Send her to the med school to be chopped up. She's only a suicide, after all." A shot of anger filled me at his nonchalant attitude, and I forced myself not to cringe at the image of Esme's body being cut up. It was just a lie, I reminded myself.

Thankfully, he left then, leaving me alone with Esme. Her heartbeat was almost definitely too weak to make it all the way home, even if I ran a full speed.

I can't leave her here to die.

Without thinking, I acted on impulse. My teeth grazed across her neck, and then, for only the second time in my existence, the exquisite taste of human blood filled all my senses. It was delicious, even more so than I remembered from Edward's transformation. The desire to keep drinking filled me. Why would I turn my nose up at such a delectable meal?

Esme. It's Esme. I reminded myself. She has to survive. I forced my mouth away from her neck, and rushed to the sink, which was supposed to be used for doctors to wash their hands. I spat the blood out before I could swallow any of it. I briefly turned the tap on to rinse the sink out, but I didn't pay much attention to whether it had worked or not, as I instantly went back to Esme's side.

Her heartbeat was still thumping weakly, but I had no time to figure out if the venom was working or not. I had to get her out of here.

I listened intently for any sound nearby that would announce the presence of humans in the vicinity, before scooping her up in my arms. Certain there was no humans around to see me, I moved at full speed out of the morgue and then out the side door that was only supposed to be used in emergencies.

As I ran home with her in my arms, my concentration shifted back to her heartbeat. Mercifully, it was still going. It began to speed up gradually. When I was about a minute away from the house, Esme gave a slight whimper, the first sound I had heard from her. Her limbs began to thrall around as her murmurs of pain became louder, and I tightened my arms around her wrathing body.

She's going to make it.

As I came close to the house, Edward came rushing out. "Carlisle? What's going on? Your thoughts are all…" He trailed off as he noticed the thrashing human in my arms. "What did you do?" he asked incredulously.

She was dying, Edward. I couldn't just leave her. He glared at me in disgust.

"I have to go to school now," he announced coldly, then headed back into our house. I followed him, with Esme whimpering in my arms.

Reaching my bedroom, I laid her down carefully on the bed. Her cries were becoming louder. I pulled a chair up and sat down by the bedside. I heard the door shut as Edward left.

Gently, I picked up one of her hands. "It'll be over soon, Esme, I promise," I murmured comfortingly.

"Help! Help! Please, just let me die!" Esme muttered between her screams. It was only then I realized what I had done.

What was I thinking? What have I done? She committed suicide. She wanted to die. She'll hate me, without a doubt. She chose to take her own life and now I've taken that choice away from her. Oh Esme, what could possibly have happened to you to make you think you had nothing left to live for? The girl I met in the hospital was a fighter. What could possibly have happened to that brave, courageous girl to take away all the fight within her, and make her think she had no other way out?

Esme continued to plea frantically for her death. I sat beside her; my head bent as I whispered apologies to her and prayed that she could someday forgive me.

I heard the door open as Edward returned from school, I hadn't moved from my seat at Esme's side. My hand was still clutching hers. He walked into my bedroom. Instantly, his eyes were drawn to Esme's thrashing form, and a look of pity graced his features. But when he turned to face me, every line in his face portrayed anger, as he glared at me.

"Isn't your hospital shift soon?" he asked frostily.

"Would you be able to go the hospital, please, and tell them I've fallen ill and will be unable to come in for a while?" This earned me an even fiercer glare.

I can't leave her here, Edward.

With a harassed sigh, my son headed back towards the door. But he paused in the doorway.

"The entire town is talking about the poor war widow who lost her baby and jumped of a cliff. Did you know that?" he spat at me angrily.

She lost her baby? Is that why she jumped? The questions weren't aimed at Edward, but they earned me another glower.

"You didn't know, did you? You changed her, but you don't know anything about her. She wanted to die! She still does. So why? Why would you change her? What possible reason could you have for doing this? You know nothing about her!" he ranted at me. "Her name's Grace Platt by the way, since you probably didn't even know that," he added bitterly.

"No," I said. "Her name's Esme. Grace is her sister." Edward looked at me questioningly. I showed him my memories of meeting Esme in the hospital a decade ago.

"You've never shown me this before," he stated accusingly. It was true, I had purposefully never shown him my memories of Esme before. I was not proud of how I had acted afterwards, but mainly I had promised myself I would not dwell on her.

"Clearly, that turned out well," Edward remarked sarcastically. "I suppose I should go tell the hospital you won't be going." Without waiting for a reply, Edward left.

This left me with time to reflect on what he had just told me. She had lost her husband and her baby. That is why she jumped. How can I have done this too her? She just wanted to be reunited with her loved ones and I've now made that impossible. What was I thinking?

Edward returned after an hour, two large boxes in his arms. I looked at him questioningly.

"Her neighbors were clearing her things out to give to charity. I offered to take them. I'm quite the sweet little young man, apparently."

Thank you, Edward. I know you don't approve of what I've done, but I'm proud of you for rising above that to help.

"You're right, I don't approve. But that's not going to stop me from helping her." I didn't miss the way he emphaised the last word, to make it obvious he had not acted for my benefit. As he moved, some of her scent from the boxes drifted my way. My throat burned, more so than I would have expected from something as insignificant as a lingering human scent on some clothes. It usually didn't burn this badly even when I was up to my arms in blood during a surgery. But then again, I hadn't hunted since I had tasted Esme's divine blood.

"Go hunt, Carlisle, I'll watch her," Edward offered.

"No. I'll be fine. We can all go hunt together once she has woken up. Do you think you can go place those in the spare bedroom please?" I couldn't bare the thought of leaving her here to suffer. Edward huffed to show he was annoyed at me, and then he stormed out of my room. A few minutes later, I heard the start of an angry-sounding piano piece. My son seemed to be playing the keys with a little more force than necessary.

I thought about what he had said. His anger was all directed at me. "That's not going to stop me from helping her." Does he see Esme as just another victim of my selfishness like him? The music from next door became louder; suggesting the answer to my question was a definite yes. He has every right to be angry. I've stopped her from joining her husband and son, just like I stopped him from joining his parents. I am lucky he ever forgive me, truly I don't think he has, despite all the improvements in our relationship in the last year. At least he has stayed. Will she hate me enough to leave? The thought filled me with despair. I had only just found her again. Could I face it if she chose to leave? But I can't force her to stay. It would be her choice, of course. But I couldn't help but hope that, despite what I had done to her, she would still wish to stay with Edward and me.

Three days after I had first found her in the morgue, Esme's heartbeat began to increase rapidly.

Edward, her transformation is nearly complete. My son arrived at my side. We both listened as her heartbeat became impossibly fast and then, with one final thump, stopped.

I waited anxiously for her to wake. Will she hate me? Will she wish I had left her to die like she had intended to?

Her eyelids fluttered open, revealing vivid red eyes. She sat up in one fluid movement and her eyes locked on mine. Her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Dr… Dr Cullen?" she murmured. She remembers me?

~ End Part One ~


So Carlisle and Esme are finally together again :)

The next section of this story is going to be very different to the first part. I've decided to split the story into different parts, which is why it says 'End Part One'. I'm going to go back to the first chapter and add 'Part One: Loneliness and Loss' to the start of it. In Part One, I've been speeding through the years (I covered 258 years in 29 chapters) with a maximum of about three chapters for any year of importance (1663, 1911, 1918 etc.) However, I really want to do a more in-depth look at Carlisle and Esme's beginnings, so the next section is only going to cover 1921-22, at twenty chapters according to my rough plan. Obviously, this means the next section is going to have a completely different feel to it. Any thoughts?

What did you think about Esme's transformation? I greatly appreciate every review I get :)