Bella pushed down on the gas and knocked it down a gear, causing the distinctive cruiser to lurch forward, pushing them through yet another set of traffic lights. Careful to swerve the oncoming vehicles, she sneaked a glance at the doctor to assess his reaction to their breakneck speed and the noisy engine. To her surprise, he was smirking as though enjoying his own private joke. When he caught her looking, she forced herself to return her lingering gaze to the road.
With a screech, she ground the vehicle to a halt outside the police station and watched open-mouthed as Carlisle darted out of the car at an entirely inhuman speed. Equally nimbly, she threw open her door and chased him into the cells, shouting hurriedly into her radio as she did so.
Tyrone Jenson, the man she had arrested, was in a terrible state. His jeans were torn at the knees and his shirt was stained crimson with his own blood, though whether due to his resistance or his medical condition, she couldn't tell.
Dr Cullen was at his side in an instant, pulling a syringe out of his pocket as he crouched on the cold, stone floor. Two of her colleagues held his body, which shook uncontrollably and Carlisle paused to check his airway before administering the injection that would no doubt save his life.
Instantly the fitting stopped and Dr Cullen paused to pull a handkerchief out of the pocket of his white doctor's blazer. Gently, he wiped the foam that had gathered around the man's pale lips and checked his heart rate using the stethoscope that hung casually around his neck. Satisfied that the man was no longer at immediate risk, Carlisle drew himself back up to his full height.
Bella felt immediately self-conscious as he approached her. She was very aware that she looked bedraggled having rushed back to the station. Pulling her notebook out of her pocket, she began to write her account of what had happened so the doctor would not see her standing there uselessly.
'You can pack that in,' Charlie chastised his daughter gently, patting her on her armour-clad shoulder. She almost buckled under the weight of it. Completely drained, she pushed thoughts of her warm duvet aside to listen to what her dad had to say. 'It's back to the hospital for you,' he ordered, 'Doctor Cullen, if you wouldn't mind?'
Carlisle moved forward to shake the police chief's hand and they greeted each other in an almost brotherly fashion. It unnerved Bella to see her father so unreserved with him; she was so used to the distance he kept from most people. He might look inconspicuous, but Bella knew her father better. While he remained at the side-lines, he had an opportunity to analyse everything, but it appeared he had finally dropped his guard with the friendly practitioner, who she couldn't help finding herself more drawn to by the minute. As if hearing her thoughts, Carlisle interrupted softly.
'Come on then, Officer Swan. Let's go and get you checked out, shall we?' Dropping her pen on the desk in a childlike fashion, she sighed and ambled out behind him, trying her level best not to trip over anything on the way back to the car.
'No, no, no!' Charlie called after them, his grey-streaked, dark hair dancing as a result of the light breeze. 'There is no way you should be driving anything, let alone an operational vehicle. I will drop you off at the hospital, and you can call me when you're done and I'll have one of the guys drop you home.' Carlisle waved his hand dismissively,
'You'll do no such thing, Charlie. I'll drop Bella home myself, my shift was due to end at midnight, but since Bella has gone to such lengths to ensure the safety of my patients tonight, I consider it only fair that I tend to her injuries personally.' Charlie beamed a broad smile in reply, his eyes crinkling fondly with the expression.
After an uneventful ride back to the emergency room, during which Bella was forced to endure awkward small-talk with both males, she finally made it to the examination room. Carlisle completed some basic observations before sitting down on the unoccupied chair in front of her. Their closeness meant that it felt more than a little personal.
'You're running a little warm,' he muttered, more to himself than his patient. Bringing his eyes up to meet her gaze, Bella felt her breathing hitch as she absorbed his beautifully amber eyes. How did I not notice that before? She questioned inwardly, before returning her gaze to his perfectly chiselled features. He ran a hand through his hair absentmindedly as she watched him, and it wasn't until his face, previously a blank canvas, wore a concerned frown that she realised he had continued talking while she admired him.
'Wh-what did you say again?' She asked, feeling foolish and well aware that her embarrassment would be evident as a result of the blood pooling in her cheeks. Trying to cover it, she picked up a nearby leaflet and pretended to be interested in its contents.
'I said it's probably the pain. Are you feeling okay? Did you hit your head when you fell?'
His question was entirely innocent but Bella couldn't help feeling like a total idiot. You're being so dim that he thinks you have concussion! She thought angrily. Composing herself, she attempted an explanation.
'Sorry Doctor Cullen, I didn't hit my head. It has just been a very long, eventful day, and I could really just do with a good night's sleep.' He smiled sympathetically and reached for her injured foot.
'In that case, I'll be as quick as I can,' he promised honestly. She observed the look of undiluted concentration on his flawless features as he slowly removed her boot. Not wanting to appear vulnerable, Bella attempted to keep her grimacing to a minimum as he probed the affected area, but couldn't help letting out a sharp hiss as he attempted to bend her ankle. His cool touch had an almost numbing quality, but even that couldn't dull the agony she experience as her bones ground audibly. 'Sorry,' his apology was visible on his face as he returned her foot to the floor, 'but you're going to need an x-ray, I'll have to check for breaks.'
Whilst they waited for the images to return, Carlisle started to ask Bella about what had brought her to Forks in the first place, and she answered as best she could.
'Well I spent the last twenty years in Pheonix,' she explained, questioning the whole time why she found it so easy to open up to the beautiful creature in front of her, 'I never really thought about joining the police but a vacancy came up in Forks and I just wanted to start over. Plus I like the idea that I get paid to help people.' Carlisle smiled inwardly as she confirmed what he had already guessed about her, but the movement went unnoticed by Bella as she wrung her hands in the hem of her shirt. 'I had a bit of a hard time out in Phoenix, the police got called out a couple of times but they never did anything. I've got an ex out there who didn't take our breakup too well. I guess I just don't like the idea that somebody else could go through something like that. I want to be the person for them that should have been there for me.'
Her account was interrupted but a gentle tapping at the door, her x-rays had returned. Bella felt her stomach tighten with anxiety as Carlisle's expression changed from one of empathy to one of horror upon seeing the images. His stare flittered between the image before him and his patient's swollen ankle as he completed his assessment.
Bella braced herself nervously, expecting the worst.
'I don't know how to tell you this,' Doctor Cullen took her hand in his supportively as he spoke. She didn't know if he was this intimate with all of the visitors to his examination room, but secretly she thought not. 'You've shattered several bones in your ankle, I don't know how you're even managing to walk, it shouldn't be possible. I'm going to have to get it set in a cast and arranging some longer term physiotherapy. You'll certainly be out of action for six months, at the very least.' He squeezed her fingers underneath his own, and her stomach somersaulted at the contact. Squeezing back, she attempted to compromise.
'I heal quickly,' she gushed, needing him to trust her even though they had only just met, 'please don't tell Charlie. I know this sounds crazy, but if you don't put me in a cast I'll come back in a week. If I'm not totally back to normal I'll let you do whatever you need to in order to put this right, but I'm certain it won't come to that.' Recognising the honestly in her hazel irises, and fully aware that nothing she said made the remotest bit of sense, the doctor bartered with her.
'Three days,' he retorted quickly, willing to find out if her suggestion held any truth. He suspected that it did.
'Five,' she replied firmly, but he was equally stubborn.
'Four,' he announced, sounding commanding and playful all at the same time, 'or I'm calling the chief now and getting you signed off for the next month.' Sensing impending failure, Bella relented.
'Fine,' she compromised willingly, 'but if Charlie asks you what happened over the next four days, and we both know he will, than you have to tell him it's just a sprain and I'll be right as rain in no time.'
She didn't know the reason he was so easy to trust, or where she got the confidence to ask this of him so boldly. What she did know was that she didn't want to leave his presence, and that knowledge scared her to her very core.
'Done.' Doctor Cullen pushed himself off his chair and lifted Bella back into her wheelchair. Removing his doctor's coat and hanging it behind his door only further encouraged her mind to wander as he pushed her out to his black Mercedes. He wore a pale blue shirt, the top button undone and sleeves rolled to just above his elbows. His smart black trousers covered shiny loafers and he ruffled his hair the minute he left the hospital, encouraging his pale blond fringe to fall casually over those captivating eyes. She refused to let him catch her gawping, so she played with her fingernails as he stopped next to the car and declined his assistance as she dropped her tired frame into the heated, leather, passenger seat.
They drove in comfortable silence back to Bella's small apartment. When Carlisle pulled up outside her house, he jumped out of the car to open her door for her, ignoring her insistence that she could manage alone. She forced her unrelenting body to stand and accepted the crutches he handed to her gratefully. It wasn't until she made her way to the bottom of the stone staircase leading up to her front door that she threw her hands up in despair.
Without a moment's notice, Carlisle's broad frame was behind her, lifting her firmly but precisely over his shoulder, allowing him to carry her effortlessly up the stairs. He ignored her squeals of protest and the pummelling of her small fists on his back as he dropped her with incredible gentleness on the top step. Biting back an angry comment, Bella pulled her keys from her trouser pocket in furious silence.
Unwilling to end their time together on a bad note, the doctor moved closer behind Bella. She could feel his presence, radiating energy that pulled her closer to him. He smelled incredible, aftershave that hinted at cinnamon and spice, and she inhaled deeply as he reduced the space between them.
Anticipating his kiss, Bella closed her eyes and tilted her head back. The cool night air caressed her skin refreshingly and she reached out to touch him, sensing his closeness. She ran her hand up his firm bicep, stopping at his shoulder and opened her eyes when he didn't respond.
A broad grin covered his pale complexion and he tilted his head toward her own knowingly. Leaning in, incredibly slowly, he waited until they were merely an inch apart before kissing her on the nose playfully and whispering,
'Four days, Bella; I'll be waiting for you.'
That single sentence was dripping anticipation and it was with a bitter laugh that Bella locked the front door behind her, entirely aware that she would be unable to sleep.