Title:
A Doctor's Duty
Author: Hieiko
Category:
Twilight
Character: Carlisle
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight,
or the character of Carlisle.
Word Count: 260
Notes: Written
for the
31_days_exchnge,
for
rhap_chan's
theme # 21, "over-educated".
Summary: He vowed to
himself that he would never drink the blood of a human. AU.
It was his job to save lives. More than that, it was his duty, his calling... his purpose.
It was the reason Carlisle became a doctor. When he had been turned into a vampire, he found that he had all of eternity stretched out before him. He spent his time learning everything he could in his chosen profession, allowing nothing to stop him, not even his thirst for blood.
He vowed to himself that he would never drink the blood of a human. But that did not mean he would not spill it.
The first man that died at his physician's hands was a seemingly ordinary man who came to him because of a liver problem. But Carlisle could smell the blood. Various scents, mostly female, that stank of terror and death clung to the man's skin. The man had killed many, and would do so again. Unless Carlisle did something about it.
Days later, the man was again brought in as a patient to Doctor Carlisle. How terribly unfortunate it was, the good doctor had said, that the disease was unknown and incurable. Only a few days left to live, he added.
After what happened, Carlisle realized that he was not bothered by his conscience. Perhaps he no longer had one; it could be an intriguing topic for psychological study. But more importantly, it meant that his actions could be repeated. (Though not in the same manner, of course.)
Carlisle continued being a doctor, and saving lives. But the lives he saved were not always those of his patients.