Originally written: May 22nd, 2016

Carlisle / Bella

Rating: T

This scene was taken from Midnight Sun, told from Carlisle's perspective. I added my own little twist to it. This was meant to be a full story but it didn't make it past this first draft.

05. Attraction

My mornings at the hospital could have been like any other morning. There were more than enough doctors on duty, and I sat in my office alone with my thoughts gazing at the only oil painting I favored that hung on my wall, instead of the many medical diplomas human doctors preferred to show off – But I didn't want to personalize my work space, because at any moment, of any day, we may have to pick up and leave.

I bided my time with my own peace of mind. Typical day.

That's what I thought my morning could have been. But instead I had my son bursting through the door looking like a frantic mad man. Before he could even explain himself, I jumped to the only conclusion that would make him behave so edgy and panicked.

"Carlisle." He called my name as he approached.

I was on my feet, feeling the dread claw at my chest. 'Edward, you didn't –' I thought in my mind. Was the temptation too great? Did he kill the Chief's daughter?

I wanted to give my son the benefit of the doubt. Hoped and preyed my assumptions were wrong. Yet at the same, already formulating a plan for us to leave this town, contact our lawyer, obtain new identities, and relocate somewhere away from this continent.

When my son suddenly cut through my thoughts to answer my qualms, "No, no, it's not that."

I felt the weight of what could have happened being lifted from my shoulders. As I sagged and took a deep relieved sigh. 'Of course not. I'm sorry I entertained the thought. Your eyes, of course. I should have known …'

I felt utterly silly for getting ahead of myself when the proof laid there in Edward's, still, golden eyes. Of course he didn't slip, how foolish of me.

"She's hurt, though, Carlisle, probably not seriously, but –" he trailed off. Unsure of how to proceed.

"What happened?"

His words tumbled out over each other. Not, in all honesty, allowing me to comprehend the problem and offer my help.

'Start over, I don't understand. How were you involved?'

He took a deep breath and started from the beginning. He explained the accident with the van, and the human girl's bad terrestrial misplacement at being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Alice's vision, and how he prevented the girl from being seriously hurt, if not worse; getting killed.

He explained this all without so much as looking me in the eyes. I could tell he felt ashamed of what he did, and how this could affect our secret, and possibly jeopardize everything. He felt like he disappointed all of us.

However, that was not what my thoughts led me to. I circled my plain, but tidy, desk and placed my hand on his shoulder.

'You did the right thing. And it couldn't have been easy for you. I'm proud of you, Edward'

I tried to the best of my ability to convey my most honest feelings. And I really was genuinely proud. Resisting a Singer's blood is one of the most challenging feat a vampire could endure, and often more they fail. But my son was strong of mind. As his father and sire, I was proud.

Edward looked at me, worry and fear still swirling in his eyes. "She knows there's something … wrong with me."

"That doesn't matter. If we have to leave, we leave. What has she said?"

"Nothing yet." He looked frustrated.

I frowned. 'Yet?'

Edward ran his hand through his bronze hair. "She agreed to my version of events. But she is expecting an explanation –

"She hit her head. Well, I did that," He quickly explained his actions when he caught the wide-eyed look I gave him upon hearing what he just said. "I knocked her to the ground fairly hard. She seems fine, but … I don't think it will take much to discredit her account."

He looked disturbed even as he said the words. I couldn't blame him. I didn't like it either, despite it being the most favorable solution. He was suggesting we play off the girl's trauma for an excuse that what she had seen may have been a delusion caused by her head injury.

'Perhaps that won't be necessary. Let's see what happens, shall we? It sounds like I have a patient to check on.'

"Please." He said. "I'm so worried that I hurt her."

I smiled and smoothed my hair back, laughing at the irony of the situation. 'It has been an interesting day for you, hasn't it?'

All this time he had assumed he would have been the person to harm her. But in the end he ended up being her protector.

I asked Edward to stay behind in my office. He already had enough on his mind, let alone the mental span of all the sick occupants of the hospital and their worried kin. While I proceeded down to the radiology wing.

I wasn't going to see the girl yet. I knew that if she thought there might be something wrong with Edward, that she will undoubtedly come to the same conclusion about me the second I was within her sight. Instead, I stood outside the ER and asked the physician assistant on her initial diagnosis, while the Chief's daughter awaited her turn to be moved to radiology. If the situation doesn't require me coming face to face with the girl yet, then I shouldn't rush the inevitable.

From what I gathered from the voices in the ER – the girl was wheeled for her turn to be X-ray. I took a different, much longer route. Plenty of time for the girl to be scanned and sent back to the emergency room.

And by the time I arrived to radiology I noticed Edward was standing outside and covertly peering in on the girl's scan. I smiled when he noticed me approaching.

'You look better,' He looked calm, if not immensely relieved.

We couldn't talk freely, there were others around. 'Ah, yes.' I remarked as I examined the girl's x-rays. 'I see. She's absolutely fine. Well done, Edward.'

Rather than feel at ease, he looked conflicted. "I think I'm going to go talk to her – before she sees you," He whispered for my ears only. "Act natural, like nothing happened. Smooth things over."

I nodded absently while I continued to look over the girl's x-rays.

Minutes later I was standing outside the ER. I could hear my son telling the girl; "It's all about who you know. But don't worry, I came to spring you." He obviously meant for it to come off as humorous. To diffuse the tension in the room and perhaps establish a lighter mood now that the worse of the accident was behind them – well, short of the damage control we needed to do to ensure we don't skip town.

However, I could tell - even from where I stood outside - that my son's words made the girl irritable. She was already being subjected to numerous examinations despite her injury being below minimal. As well as verbally expressing that she wished to be released from the gurney despite the nurse insisting she remained put.

In my opinion, this wasn't going to help us cover our tracks. And while I knew my son wanted to feign that all the girl saw was a concoction of her own head. His attitude was only lighting a fire under her, which could perhaps set her to talk faster than anticipated. Already her heart was beating irregularly quick.

'Edward –' I called to my son from outside, knowing he could still clearly hear my thoughts. 'Perhaps you should go. I know you mean well, son – but right now all you are doing is exasperating the poor girl.'

Edward excused himself from the room, seconds later he opened the door and stopped in front of me in the hallway. He looked bothered. Perhaps by my words –

"What do you mean by 'exasperating'?" he asked under his breath.

'You promised the girl an explanation. And right now that is all the reason she has for keeping herself quiet – a blessing if you ask me. Although …' I trailed off, feeling a tad uncertain.

"Although?" he frowned.

'Your nonchalant behavior could already insinuate to her what we may be up to – if she gets the impression you may not keep your word on the answers you owe her, she could very easily talk to others about this. We need her to be cooperative, son.'

Edward huffed and ran a hand through his disarrayed hair. "What do you suggest, then?"

'Go home. Let me handle the girl – please trust me.'

He wanted to object, but didn't. "Very well … Let me know how it goes as soon as you're done."

I nodded and watched as my son strutted through the hospital exit.

I gathered my thoughts and prepared for what I was about to do as I walked towards the double doors of the ER. I was never one who enjoyed planting doubt in people's heads. It was dishonest and went against everything my upbringing brought me to believe about being a good man. If my father was still alive he would have ridiculed me for my feebleness. But I tried to reason that what has to be done was for the sake of protecting my family.

With one final exhale, I pushed the doors open and walked into the emergency room. My eyes immediately went to the bed that had the curtains drawn around it – Edward must have pulled them around the bed to shield the girl away from her classmate, the one who crashed the van. Who currently had a doctor tending to the gash on his forehead.

As I approached the concealed bed, a nurse emerged from behind the curtain. She jumped when she noticed me. And informed me that she unhooked the girl from the gurney. I smiled and relieved her of the obligation. I preferred there to be no other humans around for the interesting conversation I was sure to have with the Chief's daughter.

I walked around the drapes and looked at the girl's form as she sat on the side of the hospital bed.

The moment I came into her view she looked up at me. Her eyes went wide. But then, so did mine – albeit a tad subtler than her reaction. I was fully prepared for her to notice how eerily I bore resemblance to Edward despite being his adoptive father.

What I didn't factor in, however, was my own shock. Beyond hearing about the girl in passing from the townspeople who visited the hospital, I didn't know much about her.

I could see now why the boy in the other bed was incessantly annoying her. Isabella Swan was pretty, too pretty – even for someone her age.

I appeared calm and professional as I approached the girl. "So, Miss Swan, how are you feeling?" I asked.

The girl exhaled slowly and swept her long, thick hair over one shoulder, exposing her slender delicate neck. Her skin was so pale; she could have easily been mistaken for one of us.

"I'm fine," She replied. Her voice was quiet but to the trained ears she was obviously upset.

"Your X-rays look good. Does your head hurt? Edward said you hit it pretty hard."

"No, I'm fine." She answered a bit tightly. I suppose at the mention of Edward's name it brought forth a sour response.

I stepped closer to her. "May I have a look?" I asked. While as her doctor I could have examined her without needing her verbal consent. But the gentleman in me was opposed to that approach.

The girl didn't protest, nor decline. She tilted her head silently in my direction, offering it up for my scrutiny. I couldn't help smiling at her performance. There was something entirely endearing about her mannerism. As though she wants to be insolent, but like me, something within her inherently prevents her from being impolite.

I slowly ran my hand over her head, attempting to find the bruise beneath her hair. I tried to ignore how warm her skin was, or that her hair felt like silk running between my fingers. I shook the thoughts from my mind, forcing my judgements to be entirely professional.

The girl winced when my fingers landed on a significant bump. "Tender?" I asked.

Again, I was asking clinically. But I wasn't prepared for the girl's response. "Yes, Doctor. It hurts!" She moaned.

My eyes widened. But she couldn't see my reaction as she had her head bent down while I stood over her.

The way she spoke, her tone – it sounded … suggestive. But I could be mistaken. I must have heard it wrong. No, I must have heard her wrong. She was expressing her pain. That's all.

I realized that I was still grasping her head. And worst of all was that I was so silent and still on my feet that she tilted her head to look up at me.

Rather than speak up or remove my hand from her. I stood over the girl and met her brown, curious, gaze. Her chocolate eyes were big, and warm, and doe-like. They inadvertently pulled me in.

The room seemed to suddenly charge with an electrifying force that I have never felt before. And I couldn't even very well explain it. Except to say that it made it seem like everything around me dimmed out of focus – all except for the girl under my touch.

"Doctor Cullen." She spoke softly.

A trickle of the same electric current surged through me at hearing her call me by my professional title.

I must have heard it thousands of times from several people in several octaves. But I have never heard it spoken that way before.

It suddenly became shockingly obvious of all the signs I was experiencing …

I was allured to the girl. This human girl, who inadvertently, was also my son's Singer.

I should be disgusted with myself … completely appalled. I was a married man, for heaven's sake! Marriage trumped any other enticement. And yet I never felt these butterflies in my chest the same as when I was with my wife.

I gently pulled my hand away from the girl's head. Trying to ignore all the treacherous inner voices that told me how good it felt to feel even just the girl's hair in my palm.

Despite her suffering a head injury, I felt like it was me who was mentally reeling. As my whole world seemed to turn and twist from the reality I once knew and recognized – Why now? And, of all people, why her?

"Doctor, are you ok?" She asked. She looked concerned.

It was very ironical considering our positions. I was supposed to be the one to ask about her health status, not the other way around.

I smiled genially. "Yes, of course, Miss Swan."

A frown graced her face. "Please, Doctor – Just Bella will be find …"

I nodded stiffly. "Bella, then," Her name rolled easily from my lips.

I cleared my throat. "Well, your father is in the waiting room – you can go home with him now. But come back if you feel dizzy or have trouble with your eyesight at all."

"Thank you, Doctor." She said softly. Her voice …

She swung her legs over the side of the mattress while I stepped back to give her some room. She carefully slid from the bed until her feet touched the floor.

It seemed her balance wasn't fully restored as she wobbled on her feet. She was about to fall to the floor but I wasn't going to allow that – as I stepped forward and had her fall into my arms instead.

"Perhaps you should stay." I suggested before I even knew what I was suggesting.

"I'm fine." She stated. Her blush growing hotter by the second as she steadied herself in my arms.

Obviously I couldn't force her to stay against her well. And perhaps her objection was for the best of both of us. Rather than keep her near me any longer, I should be sending her on her way.

Once she was able to confidently stand on her own feet I released my hold on her. I dropped my hands to my sides, rubbing my thumbs across my fingers. Wondering why did that simple and innocent touch made me feel positively giddy.

"Take some Tylenol for the pain." I instructed.

She turned and smiled bashfully at me. "I will."

I tried not to look too long at her face and instead busied myself with signing her forms. I handed her the discharge paper. And when she reached out to take it from me, her hand touched mine.

She gasped. I flinched. Even if we had accidently touched for a second. I never felt anything like that before. And I couldn't even find the words to begin to explain how it was like.

She thanked me one last time. And practically ran out of the emergency wing. While I stood there, frozen in place. Trying to make sense of the entire encounter and failing to fully and mentally comprehend what on earth did I just experience?

Isabella Swan … who are you?

Weeks went by since the events of that unfathomable day in the ER. I tried to put the events behind me and concentrate on my job, my family, and my life.

The first few days after that incident I found it very hard to focus while I was at the hospital. Especially when I passed by the gurney where it all "happened". But as time went by my mornings reverted back to their usual routine.

Occasionally I would find myself absentmindedly thinking of her. I'm usually so in control of myself and I can honestly say I didn't know what came over me. I have come across many good looking women over the decades – yet, of all the females in the world, I had to take notice of the girl that my son likes … yes, he likes her. Something I learned recently.

He hasn't said anything, but it's obvious to the entire family. And the last thing he needed to ruin his possible happiness is his own father as competition.

I leaned over my desk and placed my face in my hands and groaned.

Someone approached my office door and knocked. I inclined back in my chair and composed myself. At least, I tried to make my appearance look calm and poised. But inside my head, I was a mess.

"Come in." I called loud enough for whoever behind the door to enter.

Lo and behold, Isabella Swan enters my office. Very carefully and timidly. She remains beside the door, leaving it open just a tad.

I didn't understand why she was here. I looked at the time and it appeared to be earlier than noon, on a school day. But instead of being in school, she was here. Standing in front of me.

"Miss Swa … Bella, what are you doing here?" I rose slowly from my seat. "Are you alright?"

"You told me to come back if there was something wrong …" She trailed off unsurely. A heavy blush brightening her fair skin.

Being a doctor, I simply couldn't ignore when a person sought my medical help. I walked around my desk. I could feel my face form a worried expression. And I wondered what could be wrong with her. Had I misjudged the x-ray scans? Was there something else that I didn't pick up?

My thoughts were going a mile a minute, second guessing my own medical diagnostics. Something I had never done before since I first practiced medicine.

"If your busy I … I could go," She fidgeted.

I sighed. I knew that if I sent her away that I might feel guilt later for doing so. I would basically be going against the oath I took centuries ago. If the girl truly needs my help, then I simply could not send her away.

"No, I am free at the moment. Please come in." I motioned for her to take one of the two seats adjacent to my desk.

While she sat down I closed the door to my office. At the same time, I pulled my phone from my trouser pocket to check and make sure it was turned on and working – how weird that Alice didn't see this. A forewarning would have been appreciated.

I returned to sit behind my desk and plastered a neutral expression my face. The girl looked around my, almost stark, office with a frown on her face. Until her eyes rested on the oil painting behind me. She smiled when she saw it. A part of me was compelled to ask her what made her smile at one of my most favorite pieces of art. But I submerged that impulse as it would dilute the whole purpose of keeping this interaction completely ethical.

She looked back at me, and it just dawned on me that as she met my gaze that she has caught me silently watching her. Her smile quivered and she lowered her head to look at her hands. But I could very clearly smell and see the blush she tried to hide behind that thick wavy hair.

"So Miss Swan … I mean, Bella," I can see her trying to conceal her smile when I corrected her name. "You told me you had a problem – How can I help you?"

She suddenly seemed nervous and her hands clenched until the knuckles turned bone-white. And then, almost as though she got electrocuted, she jumped to her feet. "I'm sorry – I shouldn't have come. I'm sorry for wasting your time!" She cried warily and attempted to bolt for the door.

However, she wasn't as quick as I was. So when her hands grasped the doorknob, I was already behind her pressing my hand on the door, preventing it from opening. And of course my strength was no match for hers.

I do not know what suddenly came over her. Or what even came over me to decide to stop her from fleeing, for that matter. But I knew in my gut that I couldn't just let her leave. If she had a problem, if she needed my help, then I couldn't not at least make an effort.

I gazed at her back and I could see the poor girl practically shaking. Without even checking myself, I reached out to her and placed my hand on her smaller frame and slowly turned her around. She didn't resist, but if she had then I wouldn't have forced her to face me. Still, she kept her head down. Her heart was beating so quickly.

"Bella," I calmly begun. "Whatever the problem may be, I will help you as best I could. But you need to trust me enough to tell me what it is."

She sighed. "There is something wrong with me, Doctor." She whispered. And if I didn't have strong hearing then I wouldn't have caught it.

"Please, call me Carlisle." I wanted her to know that she could trust me. After all, if I could keep my family's dark secret from the world, then her conundrum wouldn't prove much of a challenge.

Her eyes met mine. And just like the first time I saw them, I felt the air unequivocally get knocked out of me.

"Carlisle." She said my name. And god help me but it sounded sensational as she said it. I felt the venom pooling in my mouth and had to swallow it back down.

"I have a problem, Carlisle." She said.

I felt excitement running down my spine. "You can tell me anything." Apparently my mouth was now saying things without consulting with my brain first.

She stepped closer - carefully, hesitantly - only leaving a few inches between us. She blinked, batting those long lashes at me. She was breathing heavily, warm air escaping from those rosy lips. Her cheeks were bright red and I could almost taste the heat of it on the tip of my tongue.

Her hair was wavy and slightly wild, framing that perfect heart-shaped face of hers. There was no denying it, she was stunning. Absolutely stunning.

I was so unbelievably entranced by her that I almost missed what she was going to say; "Ever since that day that I saw you, I couldn't stop thinking about you. I never felt anything like this before. And I can't pretend that it doesn't exist or ignore it – I just had to see you again. I know, for a fact, that day you also felt it too."

She stepped even closer to me. "I even know, undeniably, that you feel it right now … I can see it in your eyes,

"But if I am wrong then … you can send me away – You won't see me again and I will never bother you. I'll even move back to Phoenix with my mother."

I was shocked at hearing her confession. And even more shocked that she was even giving me the choice in the matter. I would be lying to myself if I said that I couldn't stop thinking about her as well. She was hard to get off my mind. And every little thing I would come across I would instantly connect to her in some way or another. An obsession couldn't even begin to describe what I was feeling.

It was more physical. Like a yearning … or an attraction.

And to know that she just handed me all the power to either acknowledge her feelings for me or to never see her again was both exhilarating and petrifying. And to be perfectly honestly with myself … I wasn't strong enough, or confident enough, to let her go just yet. I'm not even sure how I managed to let her walk away from me the first time.

I backed away from the door, from her. She must have thought my retreat was a form of rejection. I could see the beginning of disappointment blooming on her face.

But before her emotions could fully sink in, I said "Lock the door … and come here." I beckoned her to me.

Her eyes widened and her heart doubled its rhythm. She didn't hesitate as she reached behind her and turn the key before she approached me.

I knew this was wrong. Because I was still married. But at the same time it felt so very right. I never felt these feeling for Bella the same as I do for Esme. Our marriage may have lasted until now, but our love eventually died down. The only thing that even kept us together were our children.

And only during these weeks when I met Bella Swan that I had finally come to that realization. Just the way she even looked at me was a surreal and wonderful feeling. And it stirred something within my chest that I never knew was there in the first place.

Although, I was still worried because I had a dark and dangerous secret. And I feared that she would run away the moment she knew what I really was. What my family is. But a voice in my head assured me that she could handle it, she was strong enough to accept me for who I am. This fragile and beautiful human being.

I knew that eventually reality would catch up to us. She was a student and she was young, and I was the town's doctor. And I was married and a family man. And I had to explain this to Esme. But most importantly … I had to explain this to my son, Edward.

I would have to step on a lot of people to get what I wanted – This girl that was currently in my arms. But holding her to me, I knew that I could persevere.

After all, only one person could make me feel the way that she does. And in my heart I knew that destiny meant for us to be together.