Carlisle POV
Dawn's light was beginning to light up the dark sky when a hesitant knock sounded on the office door breaking Carlisle out of daze. The beast inside was still riled but was appeased for the moment but Carlisle could not help but wish he could sleep. His body felt uncharacteristically weary and he doubted that it will get much better anytime soon.
"Come in," He called but knew who was at the door before it opened. Esme quietly slipped through the door closing it behind her but did not move far away from it. Carlisle was mindful about how strange this new dynamic between them. While this was not the first time, they had stopped the romantic relationship between them, they had always managed to rekindle for one reason or another. However, this time felt different. This time felt permanent and Carlisle knew that Esme was hurt. 'I shouldn't have let it go this far. Esme doesn't deserve to be a poor man's Eliza. I just-I didn't want to be lonely anymore.'
"I wanted to check on you. I-I know that last night was a shock to you as much as it was for Edward," Esme started, giving a reassuring smile but Carlisle didn't need Jasper's gift to know she was nervous.
"I appreciate it, Esme. Thank you. I'm fine," Carlisle answered simply. It wasn't a lie; he did feel currently alright. How long it would last is the current mystery.
"Why didn't you tell me about her?" Esme asked. "I've always known there was someone else. Someone before me, that I was unconsciously competing against, but you never said anything. Why didn't you?"
"It hurt too much," Carlisle answered honestly. He knew this conversation was probably overdue, but it still didn't make it easier to have. Carlisle watched as different emotions played on Esme's face which caused a sinking feeling of guilt to sit in his stomach. "Esme, please say what you want to say. Whatever it is I know I deserve it."
"Did-do you love her?" She asked quietly, looking down at the floor, and Carlisle sighed. There was no easy way to answer that question.
"I have always loved her. She-She is my mate. I have known that since the moment I saw her when she and Edward were both human."
"Then why do this? Why did you make it seem like you loved me? It isn't fair, you've lied to me!" Esme yelled in a hushed tone, clearly not wanting the others to hear.
"I didn't lie. Not truly," Carlisle answered. He wanted to go up and embrace Esme, to offer her the comfort that she has given him so many times before. However, he thought better of it and instead remained where he was. "Esme, there is a part of me that does love you. You have been my partner and companion for many years, we have even married. I am not the type of man to do that to a woman I did not care for deeply-"
"You know Carlisle, anything you say before the word 'But' doesn't actually count," Esme sneered.
"You are right, I'm sorry. And you are also right, what I did to you was unimaginable unfair. I just- I just didn't want to be lonely anymore and carry that pain; and when I met you again, that pain eased some. I selfishly did not want to let that go. It doesn't excuse what I did, and I don't expect your forgiveness, but please know that my actions were not done with the absence of feelings for you." They were silent for a long moment after that. It hung in the air like lead and it was suffocating. Finally, Esme broke the silence with a sigh.
"You realized that we will have to officially divorce this time."
"Yes, that would probably be for the best. You can have whatever you wish. It shouldn't be too grueling of a process."
"I want my island," Esme said with a laugh which caused a small smile to also form on his face. It was a joke when he bought it for her, but he was glad that she enjoyed the place. "Where do we go from here?"
"Whatever makes you feel the most comfortable. I will not force you out of your home, Esme, but if you want to leave, I also will not keep you here," Carlisle answered honestly. He would really give her anything she wanted, including leaving himself if need be.
"Perhaps later. I don't think I am ready to leave the others. I love them as if they were my own children and with everything going on with Edward and Bella- it would be too much to leave."
"I understand," Carlisle answered and looked up for the first time in a while to see the Esme had closed the gap between them and was standing next to him. He watched and she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek.
"Carlisle, I love you. I don't think I will ever stop loving you. You gave me hope where I once felt hopeless and gifted me with a new, incredible, life. I know it will never be as it was, but I don't want to part as enemies. I don't think I could bear it. Could we, perhaps, try as friends?"
Carlisle could not help but look down upon his future ex-wife with a sad smile and kissed her hand. "Of course, dear."
Sometime past and Carlisle was pleased that he had the distraction of work to occupy his time. He left before Edward arrived home and was able to escape the house before the others could corner him. Carlisle could not really tell you about his day as it passed by in blur of patients and Dr. Jones' droning conversations about nothing. The man has been trying to make a connection to Carlisle since he started at the hospital and restarted the moment he returned. If Carlisle were honest with himself, he would say his dislike for this human was immense. Particularly when he would begin to comment on about the looks of the female nurses and patients. Though he never admitted doing anything that would result in Carlisle being able to report the man, much to Carlisle's frustration. He would have loved to get him fired.
It was towards the end of his shift when Carlisle found himself cornered in the staff room by the man and a tech, whose name he could not remember, that trying to brown-nose. However, Carlisle found enduring the two and delaying the upcoming emotional turmoil that was due to start when he got home the lesser of two evils and so he stayed.
"I'm telling you man. She was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Like a blend between a Charlie's Angel and a Victoria Secret supermodel," Carlisle overheard the tech say and he had to suppress and eye-roll 'Here we go.'
"Right, and why would a woman like that even being in Forks? I think this is delusion you have made for yourself, Branden. Too many double shifts," Dr. Jones' answered with a chuckle.
"I am telling you she's real! Look, I can even prove it. I took a picture of her on my phone," Brandon said with urgency as he dug his phone from his scrubs.
"You took a picture of a random woman without her consent? You better hope she didn't catch you," Dr. Jones stated with a chuckle that Carlisle half-heartedly returned.
"Ha, Ha, Ha, don't worry I was careful about it. It's kind of blurry and I don't think it does her justice but-"
"Enough excuses let me see," Dr. Jones asked impatiently and yanked the phone from the young man's hands. He then whistled in what Carlisle imagined was appreciation, which caused him to raise an eyebrow. "You should have led with the picture. She is a looker. What department did you say you saw her in?" Dr. Jones then quickly flashed the screen to Carlisle for him to look and he had to fight the urge not to shatter the coffee mug in his hands.
'Our mate is here? We need to find her, now!' Carlisle heard his beast exclaim, raddling its cage again. Carlisle's human half was shocked by the picture he saw. Sure, enough there was a picture of Eliza. Still as beautiful as his last memory of her, perhaps even more as Carlisle could not help but admire how modern clothing complemented her figure. No longer was she dressed in a modest dress of the early 1900's and she was never fond of the more revealing flapper dresses of the twenties. Instead her body was clad in jeans that hugged her legs like a second skin and a silk blows that hung loose along her upper frame. It was a perfect mix of modest and revealing that made him both aroused and jealous. Jealous that other men were gazing upon her believing that she was available to them. 'We need to fix that immediately,' his beast commented.
"I can't remember. She was brining someone else in. However, I might try and make some extra rounds tonight. Maybe I can get her number or.. who knows," Branden stated with a smile.
"Yeah well, you'd actually have to talk to her first," Dr. Jones' laughed as Carlisle made his escape, the coffee mug cracking in his grip until he finally threw it away in a nearby trashcan. He didn't know what was going on with him, but he felt like a jealous schoolboy. 'I wonder if this is how Edward felt when he heard the thoughts from the other boys at school about Bella. If so, I might have been a little too harsh on him.' However, one thing Carlisle did know was that if she was bringing someone else into the hospital that she would have had to spoken to the front desk receptionist. A woman who he knew would tell him anything if he so much as smiled at her. No, finding her would not be a problem.
Though, as he made his way to the unsuspecting human, he was suddenly overcome by the scent of sweet lilac that he has not smelt in so long. 'Perhaps this will be easier than I thought,' He mused as followed the scent to the area of the hospital to the cancer ward.
"Do you think you are going to be ok now?" He hear her tinkling voice asked and was poked his head into the room where she and a girl, around sixteen or so, sat.
"I think so, my parents should be here soon. I can't thank you enough for what you've done. No one would have stopped to check on me." The girl, who Carlisle recognized as a brain cancer patient named Annie, answered. A tired and grateful expression on the girl face as she held Eliza's hand. A small smile spread across the girl's pale face and shifted the headscarf that was wrapped loosely around her head.
"I am sure that someone would have stopped eventually. I am just glad I was able to get there in time," Eliza responded.
"You are clearly new to Forks. No one would have stopped for a long time," Annie stated before suddenly becoming distressed. "They won't let me out of the house now. I worked so hard for being able to drive to school and the hospital. What am I going to do?"
"Would you like me to try and talk to them? I understand their worry but also your desire for independence. Maybe there can be a compromise?" The girl stilled as Eliza's gentle voice resonated throughout the room and her body seemed to calm immediately. It remined Carlisle of Jasper's emotional manipulation power and he could not help but be curious if they had the same gift. 'Does she have one too? Is that why she left?' He thought as he continued to watch the scene. He was sure that Eliza will become aware of his presence soon and, while he did not picture their reunion to be at the hospital, he was please that they would be without the others. So lost in his musings that he nearly missed Annie become aware of him and addressing him.
"Dr. Cullen, are my parent's here?" Annie asked and Carlisle watched as Eliza's posture immediately become more alert. 'Is she afraid of me?'
"I'm not sure Annie, but I heard you were brought in and I wanted to check on you. Are you alright?" He answered walking into the room, his eyes trained on both her and Eliza.
"I'm fine Doctor. I was driving home from school and got a nosebleed. It wouldn't stop and I did not feel safe to drive to the hospital and I was too weak to get out of the car to flag someone to help. But luckily, Eliza here was walking down the road and found me. She's my hero," The girl gushed to him and he heard a small chuckle coming from Eliza.
"I wouldn't go that far. I was just in the right place at the right time," she answered. 'Or you were close enough to smell fresh and investigate,' He thought as he eyed her. He needed to speak to her away from prying human eyes and ears.
"Well, I still need to speak to your hero about it. Why don't we leave you to rest? I will also check to see if your parents are here," Carlisle stated and watched as the girl nod innocently up at him. However, he knew that Eliza knew that that was not the reason they were leaving. He watched as she stood quickly, not too quickly for human but close, and brush past him and into the hallway. Carlisle shut the girl's door behind him and found himself alone, in a hallway, with the enigma of a woman.
The tension in the moment was practically palpable as Carlisle watched the woman begin to fidget under his assessing gaze. While the picture Branden the lab tech took truly did not do her justice, Carlisle could not help but be re-struck by her beauty. Carlisle remember how beautiful she was when he first saw her, at a Chicago society party all those years ago, and being awestruck. Vampirism only enhanced her beauty even more but, now up close, Carlisle was able to become aware of the changes the years have brought. The most physically different being her eyes. No longer were they the golden hue that he and the rest of his family shared nor were they the striking red of human-drinking vampires. Instead they were a peculiar shad of reddish brown that reminded Carlisle of clay. An almost human eye color. 'How strange,' he thought as he assessed the other, none physical differences. No longer did she seem to hold that carefree nature he remembered. The smile that lit up a room, that seemed always present as she explored the world around her, was notably absent. She seemed…. Sad, unsure, almost frightened. They were feelings that Carlisle expected went beyond this moment. It was not something that Carlisle could say he was particularly happy about, but he was slightly satisfied to see that he was affecting Eliza as she was him. He watched as she seemed to fidget more and more as she watched him from the other side of the hall and Carlisle, letting his beast reach out slightly, closed the distance and cowed her against the wall.
For a moment Carlisle forgot about the girl in the room or the fact that he was a doctor in this hospital and allowed the pull he had with Eliza to strengthen. Much like the werewolves, vampire covens had a similar hierarchy system in which sire and coven leaders have sway over the other members. It's the same sort of pull that the keeps the Volturi in power despite rivals being around. Mates had similar pulls to their partners, it allowed them to know when danger was near and that they were needed, and while they had never completed that bound there was enough to keep them connected. It was the reason why Carlisle knew she had not been killed. It was an aspect vampirism that Carlisle rarely used. He did not enjoy doing but, in this instance, it allowed him to express himself in a way that words could not. Carlisle put all his longing, confusion, anger, and worry into the cord that tied Eliza to him and he watched as the woman posture and expression changed.
He stiff, guarded posture began to melt away and the sadness, pain, uncertainty and… shame bubbled up to the surface. They were overwhelming for him to watch and feel through the cord and he watched as she turned her face away from him.
'What has happened to you, Eliza?' Carlisle thought as the concern he felt seeing this woman break in front of him was almost too much. Carlisle raised his hand to touch her cheek, to offer some comfort before asking what had happened, what has caused her to leave him, when the sound of approaching footsteps broke the spell and reality came crashing back. Carlisle took a step back as he relaxed the pull and noticed Eliza take a breath and gather herself.
Carlisle groaned when he saw Dr. Jones rush to them with two other adults, clearly the girl's parents in tow. The conversation he had regarding Eliza still fresh in Carlisle mind as he saw the brief flash of recognition and arousal flash in the other doctor's eye. It took all Carlisle had not to hiss at them all to leave.
Dr. Cullen, what brings you to this side of the hospital? Is my patient alright?" Dr. Jones asked but his gaze stayed on the woman from the cellphone photo he saw earlier.
"It was my fault sir. I flagged the nearest doctor I could find to talk about Annie. She is still stressing about seeing her parents and I wanted to ask for some help," Eliza answered, her calm, tinkling, voice only making the other doctor's interest grow. Carlisle could practically smell the man's arousal and he stifled a growl.
"And you are?" The man behind the Doctor asked, clearly the girl's father based on the family resemblance Carlisle could see and clearly Eliza could too.
"Elizabeth Masen, sir. I was the one who brought Annie to the hospital," Eliza answered, and Carlisle wondered why she was using her mother's name instead of her own.
"What happened? Is she alright?" Annie's mother asked rushing over to Eliza and grabbing her hands.
"Well I-"Eliza began before Dr. Jones cut in.
"Annie suffered a nosebleed while driving home from school. We are lucky she didn't get into a car accident. I would recommend non-independent methods of travel from now on." He flashed both Annie's mother and Eliza a, what the human clearly thought, was a charming smile while also establishing an air of authority; however, Carlisle found it arrogant.
"I don't know if I would go that far. While Annie is not my patient, I was able to speak to her and she was able to pull over the vehicle and establish safety to both herself and to others. I fear that taking away that privilege would be viewed as a punishment for doing the right thing. If you may, it would be my medical opinion that having better means of communication, such as a cellphone or a life alert, would be more affective," Carlisle cut in and could not help but allow his arm to hover just behind Eliza's lower back. He knew she was able to follow-through on her word Annie and he hoped that he was able to show his support and to take down Dr. Jones. He could see a thinly vailed sneer on the man's face but chose to ignore it.
"As you've said, Dr. Cullen, this is not your patient," Dr. Jones stated sharply.
"But we will take it into consideration. Thank you, Dr. Cullen," Annie's mother stated to him before Turing to Eliza and embracing her. Carlisle watched Eliza return the embrace gently and he was struck with a memory of how easy it was for her to control her bloodlust and strength around mortals. "And thank you, for helping my daughter."
"No thanks needed. I am only thankful I was able to help," Eliza answered and gave the girl's parents a smile and they quickly nodded and entered their daughter's room. Dr. Jones following behind them leaving both vampires alone in the hallway again.
Carlisle, his arm still hovering behind her, gestured for them to move away from the door with, the intention of leading her to his private office, when she finally spoke to him. "Thank you, Carlisle." It was quiet that, had it not been for his vampiric ears, he would not have heard it.
"Always," he answered as they continued their way. He was pleased that they did not run into anyone along the way. He did not want to be the subject of new gossip, especially gossip that would look badly upon this woman. However, when they arrived, he did not expect someone to already be waiting there for him.
"Eddie."