Chapter 3

Carlisle's POV

It was late Christmas night when I finally got off shift at Mid Coast Hospital where I held a position as a trauma surgeon spending much of my time in the ER. Many of the other doctors had young children so I'd volunteered to take the less than desirable shift in order to allow others to enjoy it with their families. The weather was in a word "terrible" causing more than a few major accidents as people made their way home through the blizzard. I'd lost more patients in one night than I had the entire previous year. My heart ached as I drove, thinking about the waiting room full of sad and broken hearted individuals. I was grateful to be headed home to my own wife, children and grandkids. It was a lot to give thanks for.

My phone rang, it was Esme, my wife. No matter how many years we'd been together, the sound of her voice still managed to pull at my heart strings.

"Hello, darlin'," I greeted, warmly.

"Will you be home soon?" She asked.

"On my way now," I replied.

As I rounded the corner, coming closer to the river, the sound of a child's whimpers drew my attention.

"What's that noise?" my wife's voice was concerned.

"I'm not sure. It sounds like a child crying."

Not daring to press the vehicle too hard in the current conditions, I drove as quickly as the roads would allow. When I got closer, I began to hear more. There were two children. A boy and a girl. In the distance, I could make out a small form standing on the river bank overlooking the water below.

"Sweetheart, I have to go. There's an accident up ahead. Call 911. Tell them I have at least two vehicles on the Old Mill Bridge. One looks like it went off the edge into the river. Send Edward and Emmett. I love you." With that I hung up.

I pulled up close to an overturned delivery truck and flew out of my truck. In seconds, I was beside the little girl who couldn't be more than 3 or perhaps a young 4. From where I stood I could see a boy struggling to pass through the dark, raging waters toward a vehicle that had obviously been tossed off the side of the bridge, only the very tip of the car showed now as the cab must have filled with water. The driver must be somewhere, I only hoped he or she wasn't still inside the underwater coffin. I knelt beside the girl, "My name's Carlisle. I'm a doctor. What's your name?"

The girl's attention shifted toward me, her tiny little lips quivered against the cold. From the pattern of her breathing and the rhythm of her heart, I could tell she was hypothermic, but her injuries were perhaps the least of what I might find. A quick glance to my left confirmed the death of the truck driver. It was such a waste of life.

"Em...Emm...a...lyn," the child struggled. Removing my coat, I wrapped it around her.

"You're going to all right, Emmalyn," I reassured. "Who else was in the vehicle?"

"Ma..ma, Da..addy, Dillan, and...si...sissy," fear and cold shook her entire frame.

"OK, Em," I squeezed her shoulders, gently. "I need you to go sit in my car right there," I pointed. "The heat is on and I need you to stay there so I can get your family out. OK?"

"K..kk...ay," she chattered before heading that way. I bolted down over the hill into the water to where the boy had slipped and gone under. I reached out just in time to grab his arm, pulling him towards shore as he spat out water.

"Let me goooo!" he struggled against my hold. "They're in there...they can't breathe! I have...have to help them! PLE-EASE!"

"I'll get them!" I reassured. "Go to my car with Emma. Help her out of her wet clothes, keep her warm. Go!"

Surprisingly, he didn't argue and instead began the slow journey to the road.

I didn't have much time. The car was completely filled with water as the rapids rushed over it. When I dove beneath the waters, it took a moment for my eyes to adjust, but when they did, I saw three bodies trapped in the shadows. The back driver's side window was open so I reached through, my arms wrapping around the tiny wrist of a teenaged girl. It was easy enough to pull her out through the window. Leaning in further, I checked the pulse of both individuals in the front. Nothing. I needed to move fast. The driver's side door was easy enough to remove, but when I tugged to release the driver, I realized it was in vain. The whole front end of the vehicle was closed in on him, trapping his legs. From a quick glance to the passenger's side, I was able to see a trauma to the head had been the immediate cause of death. It was too late for either of them, but perhaps, just perhaps I'd be able to save the girl. Not stopping to reconsider, I lifted her up into my arms and rushed her to shore.

A tarp had been abandoned by the others on the embankment. I lay her carefully down, looking for any sign of life. Nothing.

"Come on..." I began CPR praying I wouldn't lose one more tonight. In the distance, I heard a vehicle. When it came into view, I saw Edward's Volvo followed by Emmett's new Jeep. They flew across the terrain, slamming their vehicles into park before running across the way.

"What'dya need?" Emmett mumbled, his eyes looking to triage the situation.

"I've got two hypothermic kids in my car and two bodies still entrapped underwater," I continued with compressions. Alice and Esme climbed out of the Jeep carrying blankets. The sound of sirens broke through the dead of night, and I could make out lights a ways out.

"Come on, kid...You're not going to die on me tonight," I pounded away. "Now, breathe...BREATHE!" The compressions seemed to be nearly futile at this point, but I wasn't giving up.

"How long was she in the water?" Emmett asked, as a paramedic on the local fire department, he knew the risks just as well as I.

"I'm not sure," I admitted. "It's been nearly two minutes."

Emmett's POV

When we arrived at the scene, we found Carlisle performing CPR on a lifeless teen. Grabbing my emergency jump kit, I ran from the vehicle down to the embankment where he knelt. Carlisle answered my questions as I pulled a intubation kit and a small oxygen tank from my bag. Just as I was setting the instruments down, the girl began to cough up liquid. I could see a bloody tint to the water as we turned her onto her side to prevent aspiration.

"Good girl," Carlisle spoke in an even soothing tone. "Get it all up."

I pulled out a penlight checking to see if her pupils were responsive.

"My...fa... ..." she gasped. Her breathing was shallow at best, and she showed visual signs of distress with each attempt.

"We've got your brother and sister," Carlisle leaned his face close to her chest, listening.

"What's your name?" I asked, my eyes searching for injuries of which she had several that were visible. I also listened for areas where there might be changes in blood flow signaling internal bleeding. Down below, I could see my brother Edward and friend Jacob removing the other bodies from the car. I positioned my body to prevent the girl from having a direct line of sight to the activities.

"H...h...ope," she shivered. Breathing was not coming easily. She was going into shock and I was worried that she was not getting enough oxygen. Her consciousness was slipping.

"Hope, I'm Dr. Cullen, this is my son Emmett. He's the best paramedic in the area. You're hypothermic from the water and you have a punctured lung which is what's making it so hard to breathe. We need to put a mask over your nose and mouth to help you. Ok?"

The girl hesitated a moment before nodding her head.

The moment, I placed the 02 mask over her face, she began to panic. In his disorientation, she reached up to push it away. I held it firmly in place while Carlisle took her hand and attempted to talk her down.

"Hope, we need you to keep the mask in place. It's delivering oxygen that your body is desperately in need of right now." Her fight continued. "Look at me...Hey, you're OK..." Slowly, she began to relax. "All right, take a nice, deep breathe," Carlisle coached.

The girl whimpered when she did. It hurt. Her consciousness was slipping once more most likely due to pain and hypothermia.

"We need to get her warm," I took out my scissors and began to cut the wet clothing. Together we stripped her to her underwear and transferred her small frame into the sleeping bag.

"Jacob!" I called to the 17 year old wolf who had just finished wrapping the second body in a blanket set aside for later retrieval. The kid was fairly new to the family. He lived with my son Jasper and daughter Alice and attended school at the local high school. His gifts got in the way from time to time, but that's where Jasper's abilities came in handy as he helped the teen control his emotions.

"Whatd'ya need?" he ran up over the embankment with ease coming to rest on his knees beside us.

Carlisle sighed before making the request, "Her body temperature is dangerously low. We need to get it up. You're our best option right now."

Jacob's POV

I looked from the doctor to the girl who lay so still before me wrapped up against the cold. It took me a moment to realize what exactly he was asking. Over the past few years, the Cullens had become family to me. Alice and Jasper were my guardians now after the death of my father. We were close despite our differences and I respected Jasper for his gifts especially since he'd been able to help me so much. Renesmee was a teen now, at least physically, even though she was only biologically a few years old. She was my best friend and I was protective of her, always had been, always would, but never had I felt in a moment anything like the wave that just now washed over me like a debilitating flood of loyalty and desire. It was as though I could see past, present, and future at once. Like someone had set my heart ablaze with a hot coal that would never smolder. The strength of emotion brought tears streaming down my face as I shook beneath the weight of it.

"Emmett, go check on the others," Carlisle ordered, gently. In the distance, I could see Alice carrying a small child out of Carlisle's vehicle. Emmett ran up to meet her.

"Jacob?" It took me a moment and several repeats of my name before I realized someone was speaking to me. I looked up at Carlisle who watched me with curiously concerned eyes.

"Jacob, do you understand what I'm asking," Carlisle repeated.

"Ye...yeah," I nodded, foolishly. I was already stripped down to shorts so I slipped out of them keeping my boxer briefs on before climbing into the sleeping bag behind her. Her skin was like ice and her whole body was trembling from the cold. Though we shared a sleeping bag in a rather intimate way, I could only feel a flood of concern and responsibility as I pulled her into a gentle embrace willing my warmth to raise her temperature.

"Carlisle!" Emmett yelled.

"Stay with her," he ordered before climbing the hill to meet them.

"Come on, kiddo..." I whispered into her ear. "Hold on..."

Rescue was traveling slow tonight due to the weather. After a few minutes like that, I honestly couldn't tell if my efforts were helping at all. Emmett had gone with Alice to help a younger child. I held her like that for awhile before a sense of dread sunk deep into my stomach. It took a couple seconds before I realized the problem. She'd stopped breathing.

"Carlisle! Emmett!" I yelled several times even though I knew they'd heard me the first time. My compressions began as an impulse and I was fully lost in my rescue efforts when I felt Carlisle's hand on my shoulder.

"What happened?" Emmett asked.

"She's not breathing," I panted.

"I'm getting a pulse, but there's no respirations. We need to intubate," Carlisle ordered me to stop as he slipped the well-lubricated tube down her throat. With well-trained fingers, he attached the bag valve mask to the 02 tank and began to pump it on a count. I sat back on my heels, watching in horror; relief flooding over me when I saw the ambulance in the distance.

Emmett's POV

The ambulance and fire trucks were pulling in; I could see a couple of my buddies inside. I was in luck, they'd allow me to ride along.

"Emmett, what're we looking at?" the chief inquired when he and a rookie EMT came rushing over with a stretcher.

"5 victims. Two DOA. They were just recovered," I pointed to where Edward stood before turning back to the girl, I continued. "Two small children both hypothermic. They are in the two vehicles. Approx. 4 y/o female with a history of asthma, presented with hypothermia and shortness of breath. Administered one tx. of albuterol. Approx. 9 y/o male, hypothermic with a 2 inch laceration on his head. Adolescent female also recovered from the water. Presented initially with cardiac and respiratory arrest. Responded after approx. 2 min of CPR. Hypothermic with blunt force trauma to the head, possible broken wrist, and several broken ribs resulting in a pneumothorax. Patient was alert and responsive approx 3 minutes before losing consciousness once more. She then went back into respiratory arrest forcing us to intubate."

We loaded her in the back of the ambulance where I began a line for warmed saline.

"I'm coming with you..." Jacob said in a no nonsense tone as he pushed his way up into the back of the "bus".

Carlisle and I gave him a questioning look, but his gaze was so fierce, I didn't dare argue. "Fine, but you're staying out of the way." Jacob grumbled and climbed up in.

"I'll meet you at the hospital," Carlisle promised before closing the door. The sirens blared as off we went.

"Come on, kiddo..." Jacob whispered. "Tonight is not your time to die."