Doctor's Orders

Aurora could barely contain the tears in her eyes as she sped into the small town of Forks. Each small muscle movement of her arm made her gasp in pain. She bit down so hard on her lip that she had drawn blood. Rather than stopping to ask for directions, Aurora tried to remember where she had seen the small-town hospital the day she drove into Forks. She managed to find the non-descript building off a main street in the town, and not a moment too soon. As she parked the car in the hospital parking lot, she felt her head beginning to swim. Turning the engine, off, she pushed her head back into the plush seat of her car. Taking deep long inhales, she tried to steady her herself and wish the pain away.

"It's a gash, not an amputation Aurora, just breathe, in and out, in and out," she whispered.

Her eyes scanned the small building, which could have just as easily been a small office complex, if not for the hospital sign in pale green letters on the front of the building. She gulped in another breath as she got out of the car and made her way towards the door that said "Emergency Entrance"

Holding her nose as she hated the smell of hospitals, she strode in, her arm still awkwardly above her shoulder, making her look like she had a perpetual question for the teacher. The reception area was small, and sort of welcoming. Aurora was taken aback that it also didn't smell of bleach and hospital linens – instead it smelled of rain. She made her way to the reception desk, where a brown-haired middle-aged woman had her head down, reading something, Aurora guessed.

Aurora cleared her throat and met the caramel brown eyes of the receptionist, who immediately saw Aurora's arm.

"Oh, we took quite a tumble hiking, didn't we?" she asked kindly, with a bit of a lilt.

Aurora nodded, wincing as another jolt of pain ran up the length of her arm and down her body.

"You could say that. I tried running it under cold water, but it looks like this may need more… professional attention," she smiled, trying to make light of the situation.

Another fresh stab of pain made Aurora suck her breath in, as she leaned on the reception desk to steady herself. The woman behind the desk came around, her eyes full of worry. She gently led Aurora to another set of doors.

"I think it's best we better get you in to see the Doctor," she said. "Let's worry about paperwork later."

Aurora nodded, allowing the woman to open the swinging doors that exposed a small emergency room before her. The bright white lights made everything look stark. Aurora blinked, not enjoying the florescent lights or the hospital beds. She relented as the pain in her arm screamed at her otherwise. The woman led her to a far bed on the other side of the room, as she padded the bed.

"Have a seat dear, I'll go get Dr. Cullen, he'll mend you up in no time," she winked as she said the good doctor's name.

Aurora found that a bit strange, but she figured the woman was trying to calm her down. She nodded as the woman turned and left through the same doors that she had entered with Aurora. Aurora sighed softly, perching on the bed, not quite ready to sit all the way on it. The pain in her arm continued to pulse through her, making Aurora shift painfully every few seconds. What was worse is that the gash had started to bleed again, seeping into her sweatshirt.

"That's quite a scrape you have there," said a smooth, melodic voice.

Aurora stopped her fidgeting and looked up and into a pair of honey golden eyes. The eyes seemed to mesmerize her just as the sunrise that morning had, only this was no sunrise, but a man. The doctor before her stood tall and straight, with almost platinum blonde hair that matched his equally entrancing eyes. His thin, red lips formed a kind smile as he looked down at his patient. Aurora could only nod.

"I guess this is a common occurrence among newcomers here," she whispered almost hoarsely.

The doctor walked closer to her and looked down at the gash. His eyes narrowed as he examined the wound all the while taking in his new patient. The girl's eyes were wide with pain and fear, though they sparkled like gemstones underneath her long lashes. An intense scent of jasmine, sandalwood and morning dew hit his nostrils. He looked up at the woman and remained calm.

"Well the good thing is you might not need stiches, but I will not know that until I clean the wound. Would you be all right with that Ms.?" he asked gently, in a low, warm tone that matched his eyes.

Aurora winced again but nodded.

"I guess it's a necessity at this point. Oh, no one calls me Miss, just Aurora Francise," she answered. "Aurora, just Aurora," she corrected.

Dr. Cullen looked up into her eyes, trying to concentrate on the tiny tints of blue that punctuated the green in her irises, rather than on her scent which continued to dance inside his nostrils, making him want to come closer than was really needed at the moment.

"Well Aurora, my name is Dr. Cullen, Dr. Carisle Cullen, but please call me Carisle," he replied smoothly.

Aurora nodded without saying more. The handsome doctor asked a nurse that was wandering in the rather dead emergency room to bring him supplies to clean the wound. Once the nurse left the two alone, he subtly looked the girl up and down. He could tell she had lost a bit of blood and she was shivering slightly.

"If you are cold Aurora, may I offer you a blanket?" he asked her.

The girl looked up biting her lower lip and shook her head no. She seemed to have bit it hard before as there was a trace of blood on her lip. That single speck on those soft and full lips unfurled something in Carisle. Though the girl's clothes were stained in blood and her wound was bleeding, it was the blood on her lips that stirred something Carisle, something he had long kept down and controlled. He had controlled this for centuries. The feeling was almost alien to him at this point. No, it wasn't a feeling, it was a need, a need as deep as an ocean and as ravenous as a tornado. It welled up inside him and purred with want and hunger. It whispered seductively into his ear. It took root in his brain and settled there, mocking him.

In the same time it takes to blink an eye, Carisle saw himself, in his mind's eye, taking a fitful of the woman's blonde hair, wrapping in tightly around his fingers, exposing her supple neck, allowing him to breathe her scent in, allowing his hand to clamp down on her neckline and hold it there, feeling her terrified pulse underneath his cold palm. He would peer deep into that pool of shimmering green and see the terror and anticipation, only egging him on. He would hear her ragged breathing, as she would plead and would beg and wriggle, no match for his strength. He would taste the way her flesh as his tongue ran along her lips, licking at the speck of blood, then his tongue would trace a line down her jawline, to the nape of her neck where he would finally allow himself to sink his teeth into her flesh, allow himself to taste the nectar which he longed for. Allow himself to drink, but only to taste before he would let her recover and do it again and again until she moaned his name in extasy and begged him to continue. It only took a blink's eye and it was gone.

Carisle blinked several times and tried to compose himself. He found as quickly as the need came, crashing over him like a tsunami wave, it left like a spectral ghost. Aurora looked at the doctor, wondering if she had said something wrong or if he had simply not hear her. She cleared her throat trying to ask again.

"So Doctor Cull.. I mean Carisle have you lived here in Forks long?" she asked again.

Carisle slightly shook his head, then caught his own mistake.

"I mean yes, I suppose I have. I have been here shorter than some, longer than others," he said cryptically.

He was thankful the nurse had come back with the supplies needed to clean the wound so as to distract himself. Aurora tried to focus on the doctor's words as he began to cut up her sweatshirt with the scissors in order to better clean the wound. She held her arm out for him, though the pain was again running like electricity through every inch of her arm. Carisle observed the girl, noticing how her chest was heaving faster and faster. Though, he knew very well she was in pain, she didn't show it. And he knew that she must have been in a great deal of pain as he observed the wound.

"Well the good news is Aurora, you do not need stitches, the bad news is, the cleaning is going to hurt," he said, looking up at her, wondering if she would recoil.

Aurora nodded glumly. Carisle was quite fascinated by her stoic behavior. Most people would be screaming in pain, begging for a local anesthetic. He picked up the gauze with tweezers, dabbing the wound slowly, observing her movements. She winced in pain but did not move away from the doctor. Her nails dug into the bed as he worked his way across her arm.

"So, Aurora, that is quite a lovely name if I say so myself," Carisle complimented.

Aurora smiled through the painful dabs.

"Thank you, my mother named me that because I was born on the longest day of the year, " she said cheerfully.

Carisle nodded, slowly finishing up cleaning the wound.

"Aurora is also the name of the Roman Goddess of sunrise whose tears turned into the morning dew. Do you like sunrises?" he asked inquisitively.

The woman half-snorted as she looked into Carisle's eyes.

"Actually, this mishap happened as I was walking back from photographing a sunrise for a photo assignment," she said.

Carisle lips broke out into a full and elegant smile, nodding.

"Well I do hope the sunrise was worthy of your photos," he replied, his voice soft and alluring like silk.

Aurora nodded, feeling herself blush slightly at his words, though he hadn't been trying to flirt with her.

The good doctor finished patching up the clumsy photographer and as he was bandaging her arm, careful not to touch her skin, he looked down at her once again. The woman must be quite young he noticed. Her hair though matted with blood, fell around her shoulders, curling at the ends. Her cheeks though pale from her accident held promises of warmth and blushing red hues. And those lips, those lips begged to be traced with strong fingers, begged to be kissed and nibbled. Though she sat in front of him, Carisle could tell she had a petite but well-proportioned body that would look lovely in a steel-rib cage corset. Aurora looked up momentarily to once again be met with the doctor's eyes. However, this time she inwardly gasped. Had her eyes been playing tricks on her? She could have sworn they were a gorgeous sun-colored tone. Now they seemed to be black, opaque almost.

"Doctor, I thought that you…." She tried to ask before being cut off.

"Well Aurora you are patched up. Just be sure to keep this gauze on for at least a day and if you're in need of a bath, try not to soak it as the hot water may re-start the bleeding," he said matter-of-factly. "In a few days you can take it off but be sure to buy yourself some gauze or use something you have a home to make sure the wound is dry so it can heal faste."

He smiled at her once again, as he saw she was about to ask about his eyes. She noticed.

"I hope to see more of you Aurora, just not in the emergency room," he added

Aurora smiled and nodded in thanks, gingerly touching the arm he had bandaged.

"Take care of yourself and try not to take another spill. It would be a shame if the other arm got banged up before you complete your nighttime photo spread" he said, as he was leaving the emergency room.

Aurora smiled again, nodding, sliding off the bed and ready to make her way out of the emergency room. When the doctor left, a chord struck her sub-conscious, which she would only later remember – she never told him she was taking nighttime photos.