Chapter 5: Medical Magic
Isabella Swan wasn't a stranger to the emergency department, nor was she a stranger to hospitals in general. They all had the same basic design. A waiting room with uncomfortable plastic chairs, easy to clean floors and out of date magazines. They even smelled the same, of plastics and cleaning supplies. The smell of blood, a hint of rust and salt that very few could smell also lingered in the air.
Even the equipment that they use to treat everyone all looked the same. . While Charlie was in the waiting room finishing up the admitting papers, a nurse had taken her in to the main treatment room. She realized only the faces of the personnel changes, as she waited perched on a paper covered gurney for the doctor of the day. She thought about taking her iPod out of her bag. Brief flashes of the day she was last on a gurney, started running through her mind.
Suddenly it felt like she couldn't breathe, her chest tightened her uninjured hand automatically clenched in to a fist pushing against her breastbone. A burning sensation began building first starting at the back of her neck then radiating down to her shoulders. Bella started rocking back and forth. She needed to get out of there; she wanted to leave but her leg and her lack of familiarity with this emergency room stopped that plan in its tracks.
Suddenly a young doctor opened the curtain, "Isabella Swan?" He inquired politely, already accessing her condition, so entrenched in her own misery she could only nod. "I'm Dr. Cullen." He quickly reached over to the wall turning on the oxygen flow, and reached in to the drawer next the gurney. Quickly pulling out plastic tubing and a nasal cannula he attached the tubing to the wall then placed it on Bella.
"Ok Isabella, what I need you to do is take deep breaths. You're in the middle of a panic attack." He watched as she nodded as she attempted to do as he instructed. "Have you had one before?" again she nodded.
He watched her as her breathing became more normalized, "Would you like some medication to help you?" her head shook in the negative. After a few more moments Bella took deeper breaths, her heart rate slowed, "Isabella? How are you doing" Dr. Cullen asked softly.
"Bella, I liked to be called Bella." She said softly, her voice shook from the remnants of the adrenaline that was still coursing through her veins. She held out her right hand, waiting for him to shake her hand. "Dr. Carlisle Cullen" he said softly, grasping her chilled hand with his cooler one. "Call me Carlisle; I have a feeling that you might be a frequent visitor." He chuckled as he released her from their quick handshake.
Bella not surprised that he had a cold hand, thought that it was part of the doctor's handbook that they all have icy hand. She was more surprised at the hardness, of his fingers, it was like stone. She pointed a finger to herself, "Danger magnet, that's me." She rasped.
She had been forcing the volume of her voice louder so that he could hear her. "Well Bella, you don't have to try and raise your volume with me." He pulled the examination stool toward the gurney, "I have really good hearing." He stage whispered.
"Good, it kind of sucks trying to talk loudly." She smirked, he chuckled at her answer.
"Well what brings the Chief's daughter in today?" he asked, Bella feeling at ease with Dr. Cullen a rarity for her, answered "the Chief did, in his patrol car." She quipped.
"First of all I want this thing off." Bella tapped her cast with her good hand, then she held up her injured wrist, "Then I think I may have sprained this when I left the house this morning."
Dr. Cullen looked at her swollen wrist; he grasped it within his cool hand gently manipulating it. He noted her reaction to the movements. The light flush of her skin drained from her face, the tightening of her lips.
"Lets get a radiograph, but I think it's more than a sprain." He said calmly, "Let me go find a wheelchair and we'll go run that radiograph." Bella heard his shoe squeak against the polished hospital floor, she safely assumed that he had left her corner of the emergency room.
Muttering under her breath, "Be careful of those big words doc, radiographs," she whispered to herself, "who uses that term now days; people might think you know what you're doing."
The annoying rattle of a wheel chair alerted her of his incoming presence, she heard Dr. Cullen coming closer by the slight squeak of his shoes. "Your chariot awaits" he announced with a smile in his tone.
"You know I hate these things." Bella said, "Well after your 'x-ray'" he paused as he put the brakes on her chair "we'll get your wrist sorted out, and then we'll see about the leg."
Bella noticed that he didn't repeat the word 'radiographs' again and intentionally paused after the word x-ray. Suddenly the joke that he had really good hearing wasn't funny anymore. An embarrassing blush tinted her cheeks.
"Hop in." she heard him tap the chair lightly, she heard him turn to acknowledge her dad. "Chief Swan, I've just been making your daughter's acquaintance"
"Call me Charlie, she'll keep you hopping, that's for sure." Charlie answered laughingly. Dr. Cullen and Charlie continued talking to each other. Bella using their conversation as a distraction, made her way toward where she thought the wheelchair was.
Luckily for her the chair he had brought had a dark blue vinyl seat; it was a stark contrast to the blinding white of the hospital floor. She quickly lifted her glasses to judge where it was. Satisfied that it wasn't too far she made her way to the offending medical device and settled in to it.
Charlie noticing that she hadn't requested help was both proud and annoyed that she didn't want to be catered to. "Carlisle, Did Bella mention she slipped on ice this morning? I think she might have tapped the back of her head against the steps."
"No, no she didn't mention that." Carlisle tone of voice cooled slightly as his medical training kicked in. "Bella, head injuries are no laughing matter. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Honestly I don't even feel it anymore." She replied sitting quietly as Dr. Cullen's cool hands slid under her hair feeling for any bumps. "Does this hurt?" he asked quietly.
"Nope." She answered, "Didn't hurt a bit."
"Well it looks like she did not hit her head." Dr. Cullen couldn't quite see her eyes through her glasses. "Bella if you don't mind could you remove your glasses." He pulled over the examination stool over again. Settling down he removed the powerful penlight from his pocket. Bella sighed deeply then slid the glasses up on to the top of her head.
She waited for the brief gasp of shock that inevitable came when they saw her opaque eyes. Neither Bella, nor Charlie saw was the brief flicker of surprise and embarrassment that flashed a split second across Carlisle's features.
Dr. Cullen pointed the penlight in to Bella's eyes he noted the reaction of her pupils beneath her milky cornea. "It looks like your pupils are reacting correctly."
Satisfied with his quick exam, Dr. Cullen stood, "Well Charlie, this is as far as you can go. Bella has to go get an x-ray of her wrist we'll be back in a few minutes."
Charlie nodded, "I'll just be in the waiting room."
Bella waved at her dad, she felt Dr. Cullen grasp the handles of the chair then he turned her around and headed out of the emergency room.
"So Bella, I think we have to update your medical files." Dr. Cullen said as they x-rayed her hand. "Oh yea, I have copies of the files from Phoenix in my bag I was going to give to the physical therapist today."
"Do you mind if I take a look at them?" Dr. Cullen inquired politely, "Sure, hey were you born in the states?" Bella quickly asked.
Her quick turn of conversation surprised Carlisle, "No, I'm originally from England, but I moved here a very long time ago." He replied.
"That's what I thought." She said smiling as she settled back in to the wheelchair; since Forks was a small hospital the X-rays didn't take more than a few minutes. Dr. Cullen glanced at the x-ray right as they came out of the developer. "I'm sorry, Bella, looks like you have a small spiral fracture at the end of your ulna."
He heard her sigh if resignation, "Good news no cast, bad news you'll have to be in a wrist brace for a couple of weeks."
Dr. Cullen put the film in the proper folder so that they could be filed in to her medical records. "Tell me Bella, how you could tell I wasn't from the US?"
"Well, you have a slight accent." She replied, "Remarkable, you could hear it? I've been here for years and you're the only one outside my family who knows that I've immigrated" Dr. Cullen replied.
"Now can we get this thing off my leg?" Bella whined. "Yes let's get that thing off, do you want to keep it?"
"Toss it" she stated, Dr. Cullen looked at the cast, and he noted that there were no signatures or any other signs that indicated that she had friends. He was worried about the well being of this unusual girl. Having made the decision he wanted to try and get Alice to become friends with her. "You and my daughter are the same age." He remarked conversationally.
"You have a teenager?" Bella answered in a shocked manner, "I have five teenagers" Dr. Cullen answered with a smile. "But you don't sound old enough to have teenagers, let alone five of them." She replied.
"They're all adopted." He said, "Our newest son Edward is going though this thing." He leaned down "Piercings" he whispered in a scandalous manner.
Laughter bubbled out of Bella, "Well doc I've been here a month and I haven't met anyone yet. It would be nice to have a friend here" Smiling Dr. Cullen answered "I'll give you Alice's phone number. It'll be good for her to make friends outside of the family. That and I think her brothers would love for her to find a shopping partner."
The look of horror on Bella's face was comical, "Hey doc? I don't do shopping." Laughing he said "Neither does anyone else in my family."
Dr. Cullen pushed her back to her corner. She hopped out of the chair the moment it stopped. Quickly she settled upon the gurney, plopping her leg on the bed. "Have at it Doc." She waved her hand over the cast.
Dr. Cullen couldn't believe that even with a fractured wrist she wasn't asking for pain medication yet. "Why don't I get you some pain meds first, your wrist brace and then we can take it off."
Bella sighed, "I'm on Vicodin for the leg, and I feel no pain right now. There was some residual nerve damage." She shrugged.
"I think I really do need to read your file, Bella." Dr. Cullen said softly, Bella reached over to where her bag was, she pulled out a two inch thick medical file. "This is for the last year." Bella said. She pulled out a smaller file folder, "this one is for between the ages of ten and sixteen."
He placed the files on the bed next to her, standing Dr. Cullen said "I'll go get you a wrist wrap and the saw for the cast."
Forty five minutes later, the cast was finally off and in its place was a strap on walking brace, her wrist also had a brace and for the first time in a long time Bella felt like she was on the road to recovery.
As she and Charlie prepare to leave emergency room, "It was nice to meet you Bella, Charlie." She heard Dr. Cullen's cell phone buzz in his pocket. "I better answer this." He replied sheepishly.
Bella stood up she was a little wobbly on her cast free leg but it felt good to stretch unused muscles, she and Charlie slowly made their way toward the exit.
"Hello? No. you can't go shopping yet, you're going to have to wait." Bella smirked at the conversation Dr. Cullen was having, she knew it must be his daughter Alice.
"Bella" Dr. Cullen came jogging up to them "I almost forgot." He reached in to his pocket pulling out a RX pad; he quickly peeled off the top layer and flipped the sheet of paper over. "Here's Alice's phone number. She'll be expecting your call. I can tell she excited to have a new friend."
Smiling Bella took the paper and slipped it in to the pocket of her hooded sweatshirt. "Thanks I'll make sure to give her a call."
Bella and Charlie walked out of the hospital together, she felt like she was ready to begin a new chapter in her life.
~*~