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Chapter 3 - Hope

Carlisle Cullen has seen a lot of sick and injured people throughout his centuries of vampiric life. Being a naturally compassionate individual, he would be lying if he said he didn't feel at least a small amount of sympathy for most of the humans that have ever come under his attention. He could count on one hand, however, the times he'd been absolutely terrified to lose the life placed in his care. That having been said, the moment the ER doors slid open to reveal paramedics wheeling in his unconscious and bleeding five-year-old daughter was perhaps the most frightening moment of his existence.

He'd known Hera was being brought in thanks to Alice, allowing him to free himself from his previous responsibilities. Though many hospital administrators would never allow him to treat his own daughter due to the fact that he'd be too close to the case, his supervisor knew he wouldn't allow any lesser physician to lay hands on his child. The fact was simple – Carlisle Cullen was the best doctor this hospital had and no one was crazy enough to deny his daughter the best care available.

Apparently the child had jumped from Edward's window for some unknown reason and as soon as she recovered they would be discussing her reasons… at length. He refused to entertain any possibility of her not recovering. Carlisle kept reminding himself that the little girl had an innate healing ability on her side as a phoenix.

He prayed it was enough.

Carlisle tenderly brushed Hera's pale cheek with the back of his fingers before transitioning once more from concerned daddy to "Dr. Cullen". He snapped out orders to the staff around him, never once pausing in the steady trek to bring his child to a place where he could do a complete examination. His eyes caught the despairing gaze of Edward a moment before the door closed, separating him from the other worried family members.

His heart ached for his son, knowing from personal experience how much Edward was being tormented by his instincts. The mate bond was both a sacred gift and an unrelenting responsibility, and was not likely to be forgiving in regards to any injury suffered by the submissive partner. It mattered not that Hera was way too young to complete the bond. Edward's duty to keep her safe and happy began the second that his vampire recognized her as his mate.

His inspection revealed two obvious fractures on her right arm and one on her right leg. The other fracture he found was the one that was worrying him the most, and Edward by extension since he knew his telepathic son was monitoring his thoughts very closely, and that was a depressed fracture to his daughter's skull. He'd actually stopped the pretense of breathing when he found the injury behind the girl's right ear. After Hera's examination he ordered the nurses to prep her for a CT scan as soon as possible, knowing in his heart that the results weren't going to be good.

Edward paced back and forth in front of the lines of vending machines as he waited for his father to finish diagnosing Hera's condition. As soon as Carlisle's mind began thinking the words "coma" and "surgery" he'd had to get away. Leaving the hospital wasn't a possibility, so he chose to instead wander the halls aimlessly.

He closed his eyes, imagining the sight of a scalpel cutting into a girl so full of spirit and life that he and the rest of his family were constantly amazed that her tiny body could contain it all.

Growling out his fear and frustrations, Edward reached back and went to punch the annoyingly upbeat design of the soda machine beside him. His fist was grabbed a split second before it would have made contact with the thick plastic.

Jasper.

He would have known Jasper was the one to stop him even if he couldn't read his mind, smell his scent, or see the sympathetic eyes staring into his soul… assuming he still had one. No one has ever or could ever offer him more understanding and support in regards to the storms of emotion consuming his mind. Edward supposed it made sense, given his brother's talent. But somehow the tawny-haired vampire knew that Jasper would be no different even if he had no gift.

"It might not be okay."

Edward looked up at the sudden words. "What?"

Jasper shrugged. Edward idly noticed that the streak of Hera's blood was still in his hair, though it had long since darkened. "Everyone else lies, making empty promises and platitudes. They say things like, 'Don't worry, everything will be okay,' but I have too much respect for you to throw you that line of bull."

The blonde's face crumbled with sorrow for a moment before he straightened once more and looked Edward square in the eye. "It might not be okay. I know Carlisle is scared, I know you've heard things in his mind that have you terrified as well… but I also know that Hera is strong. I've seen her fall and pick herself up so many times without even losing the intensity of her smile. When anyone tells her there's something she's unable to do, I've seen her determination to prove them wrong. I've rarely ever seen her fail at anything she puts her mind to, and if she does she is always more than willing to give whatever it is another try."

Edward suddenly collapsed with sorrow he would never be able to fully express and he willingly moved into his brother's embrace as the other vampire caught him.

"She might not be okay, Edward… but I truly believe with everything inside of me that she will be. And if at any time someone tells us she won't make it, I know that my little sister will pull through just to prove them wrong."

Edward turned away and made the attempt to pull himself together before answering. "She does have a stubborn streak, doesn't she?"

Jasper chuckled. "As soon as she joined our family she was guaranteed to develop one."

Edward placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Thanks Jas."

An understanding smile graced the face of the civil war vampire. "Anytime, brother."

Edward was about to make his way back to the family, when something crossed his mind. "I never thought to ask… are you okay being here?"

Jasper nodded, looking pained once more. "All I can smell is Hera, and the only emotions I feel belong to our family… I guess you could say I'm as okay as the rest of you."

Edward paused in the doorway with shock when he first caught sight of Hera. She was hooked up to various machines and even though he knew she would be, a small part of him expected to see her healthy and smiling at him. He ignored Esme's muffled sob and crouched down beside his mate's bedside, gently grabbing her little hand. Carlisle had verbally confirmed what Edward had garnered from his thoughts… Hera was going to have to undergo surgery to repair the cranial fracture and relieve the swelling on her brain.

The family was allowed to visit with the little girl briefly before they took her away to the operating room, and Edward was beyond terrified that this was going to be the last time he'd see her alive. How long were they going to be forced to wait for her famed phoenix healing powers to show themselves?

It felt as if he'd been waiting an eternity already.

"Hey sunshine," Edward whispered into Hera's ear. "It's Edward and the rest of the family. I just want you to know that we're here and we love you, so hurry up and get better, okay?"

Emmett smiled sadly and wrapped an arm around his mate. "That's right, munchkin. We're all going to Disney World soon… it'd be a shame if you missed it." The large vampire shrugged when everyone raised their eyebrows at him. "Nothing wrong with giving her something to look forward to."

Jasper smiled as he kissed Hera's forehead. "Hey darlin', as soon as we get you mobile again I'll take you on the fastest roller coaster you can find, myself."

Hera's return to consciousness was fraught with confusion. Her head felt as if it were stuffed with cotton, as did her mouth. She reached up to scratch an irritating itch on her head, but her hand was gently grasped before it could make contact and held within an iron grip. Reluctant to open her eyes until she gained some kind of comprehension in regards to the unusual situation in which she found herself, the phoenix stretched her other senses out to ascertain where she was and why she felt so… icky.

A steady beeping was happening somewhere off to her right. That added with the harsh smell of chemicals and the sound of a voice speaking over an intercom let her know that she was in a hospital. Suddenly frightened by that concept, the little girl struggled to force herself to return to full consciousness, unintentionally causing the heart monitor to beep faster. Suddenly Edward's soothing voice could be heard next to her ear, causing Hera's fear to all but vanish.

Nothing bad would happen when her Edward was nearby. She knew he was the one holding her hand when her hand was squeezed in response to her thought.

Finally succeeding in opening her eyes, she tried to rub them but a heavy cast encompassing her entire right arm disallowed any movement. Frowning at the sight, she looked to Edward for an explanation since he was the only other person in the room. He sighed and stared at her with a mixture of joy and concern.

"No one knows the reason why, Hera, but you jumped out of my bedroom window." Edward closed his eyes and a pained look crossed his face making her want so badly to give him a hug. He brought her tiny hand to his mouth and placed a kiss to the back of it, being careful not to disturb the IV lines placed there. "You were hurt very badly. You broke your arm and wrist and also your leg. The scariest thing that happened was your head hit a rock when you fell and dad had to go in and fix it." He smiled at her and lightly cuffed her chin. "You know how awesome dad is at his job so, needless to say, you are well on your way to getting all better."

Before she could respond, the door to her room opened and her daddy was there placing a kiss on her cheek and asking her a lot of questions about the things she did remember. During all of this Edward stood up and moved to leave the room, causing a brief moment of panic to move through her. In response to the fear, Edward turned his reassuring smile on her. "I'm just going to let the family know you're awake. Everyone's so very anxious to see your pretty green eyes, sunshine. It's been too long since we got to see them."

By the time the rest of the family made it to the hospital Hera had fallen back to sleep, but they weren't concerned. They knew from Carlisle's report that she was healing much more quickly than he had been expecting, proving that her healing gift had finally kicked in.

Gazing around at his family, Carlisle couldn't help but notice that they had grown so reliant upon Hera's laughter and joyous nature that they were unable to find their own smiles without her. She truly had become the heart of the family.

Edward turned relieved eyes on him and smiled in agreement.

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