A/N: I would just like to let all of my readers know that this story GENTLE TOUCHES is the very same as author ANIMAL8. As I adopted it from her earlier on this year, most of the chapters that ANIMAL8 had already created are being posted the same as I do not want to ruin the amazing work she has worked so hard on. I will be setting up a link to ANIMAL8 page so it will be accessible to new and old readers. I do hope that I can do this story as much justice as ANIMAL8 and I do hope that you enjoy the old and new chapters of GENTLE TOUCHES.

Disclaimer: I Own Nothing Twilight

Gentle Touches

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Chapter 5 – Doctor's Duty (CPOV)

The image of the rope burns on the girl's wrists flickered into my mind. I shook my head. Edward was with her now. I knew he had been waiting to see her since he had left her in his room. He was getting rather attached to her, I had noticed. I just hoped nothing bad came of it for him; I didn't want to see him hurt.

I didn't know what had happened to the girl, but right now we all needed to concentrate on helping her get better, which was why I was taking a trip to the hospital now. It could have waited until the morning when I started my shift, but I wanted to be prepared in case anything happened.

This girl was in pretty serious condition. She was obviously very emotionally scarred to the extent where she was reduced to a basically feral state and on top of that her physical condition was very poor. It wasn't an unheard of occurrence, but it wasn't very common either. I didn't know what other injuries she had other than what we had already found but she was definitely malnourished.

If we couldn't get her to eat anything soon, as Alice thought we wouldn't, then we needed to have other methods to get nutrients to her. The IV was just a precaution and only a preventative measure; it could only delay the inevitable.

I didn't want to have to use a feeding tube. Alice was right in that we could potentially traumatise her further, which wouldn't be beneficial to anyone, but we would need to do that if she didn't eat or else she would go downhill. She was already underweight and malnourished, though I had no idea how badly, so I didn't want it to get any worse than it was already.

In my duty as a doctor, I had to do anything in my power to help her. It was against my nature to let her suffer if I thought there was something I could do to prevent it. But right now, she didn't trust us, so it was doubtful that we could get close to her unless Edward somehow managed to gain her trust. I hoped that he could.

Rosalie wasn't happy that we were paying so much attention to this human. She thought it was pointless. I shouldn't have been surprised knowing her lack of trust in people, especially humans, but I was disappointed in my oldest daughter all the same. She had resorted to sulking as much as possible in her room since we had made the agreement. The others generally didn't have a problem with her staying there. Jasper was wary, given how his past had instilled a strong respect for the Volturi's laws, but because Alice was absolutely ecstatic he was willing to go along with it to make her happy.

I pulled my Mercedes into my usual parking space, close to the entrance, when I arrived at the hospital and locked the car as I headed to the building. Gina, the receptionist, looked up when I entered. "Oh, Dr Cullen, I didn't think you were expected in until tomorrow," she said to me in surprise.

I smiled at her gently. "I'm not here to work," I told her, "I just need to speak to Robert for a moment, if he's free and it's not too much trouble."

"Of course," she said, still startled, "I'll page Dr Johnson immediately. I'm sure he won't mind your visit; we've not been terribly busy today so most of staff has been left without anything to do."

Gratefully, I thanked her and told her I would wait in my office and if she could send him up to me. Once she agreed, I walked quickly to my office, thinking about the girl again and cataloguing what else I would possibly need. I kept a stock of bandages and other such first aid supplies in the house, so we were fine with that.

The only thing I need from the hospital, then, is the IV, I thought to myself. Unless it becomes necessary for more intrusive treatment, I added grimly, but we didn't need that for now.

It didn't take long for my door to open again and I looked up to the familiar face of the friendly doctor. He smiled at me and sat down when I gestured him to the nearest chair. "Carlisle, I have to say it was a surprise to hear from you," he started cheerfully, "What is it I can do for you?"

I smiled back at him pleasantly. "Robert," I nodded to him in greeting. "Actually," I hesitated, trying to come up with a reason for what I was asking, "I was hoping I could get my hands on some saline bags and an IV stand."

He looked surprised at my request, which was a reasonable reaction considering it wasn't usual to ask for such things to take away from a hospital. Usually such things would only be used to treat patients within the hospital. "Of course you can have my permission to sign those things out, I trust that you know what you're doing," he finally replied. "But, and I don't mean to intrude, but may I ask why?"

I sighed. This was why it would have been easier to sign for the things myself, but despite my skill in my profession and the respect garnered by it, I was not the boss. It was politer and would raise fewer questions to gain his permission, but that meant I would have to have an excuse and I knew from experience that it was safer to stick closer to the truth.

"I have a –" I broke off, searching for a way to word it, "situation at home involving a new girl that we may be adopting that I am not at liberty to discuss all of the details about yet. The decision has not been finalised as of yet and we wanted to keep things on the low in case things change."

It was a reasonable explanation and hopefully he would accept that I didn't want it spread around that we may be adopting again. After all, we didn't know what would happen once this girl was better. She may have a family of her own looking for her. But if there was no one, I was more than willing to take her into the family, as I was sure most of the others would. Rosalie would just have to deal with the decision and hopefully she would come around eventually.

"Of course, I can understand that, Carlisle," Robert nodded with a kind smile. I knew that I could trust him not to gossip. Not that it mattered much. If it came out that we were adopting and the girl couldn't stay with us we could just say that the adoption fell through and we were all very disappointed and if she did stay with us, well, then the story would be true.

"Thank you very much, Robert," I said, relieved. I would have to remember to discuss the story with the rest of my family. If she did end up staying with us, we would need a cover story for how she came to us, some background to her.

He smiled at me as we both stood. "It's no problem, Carlisle," he assured me, chuckling. "What's one favour for all you do for this hospital?" He asked rhetorically.

I didn't reply, not wanting to draw more attention to myself as he led us to the stock room. "Two bags alright for you?" He asked, his head already in the cupboard as he pulled things out, "If you need more then you can always come back."

"Two will be fine," I answered politely as he straightened up and handed the precious bags to me. They were filled with saline which would help to hydrate the girl if she couldn't eat anything, but it wasn't much substitution for solid foods and proper nutrients. My hope was that it would give her a bit more strength that she might be able to eat. If not, I would have to rethink what we would do.

I carried the bags out to my car while he followed behind bringing the stand. I could have easily carried both, but as he had volunteered I saw no reason not to accept his help. "Thanks again, Robert," I said to him as I opened the driver's door.

"I told you, it's no problem, Carlisle," he repeated his previous sentiment. I gave him another smile before folding into my seat and pulling the door closed behind me.

My colleague stepped back as I started the engine and back out of the parking space. The drive home was short, filled with thoughts and plans on what to do with the girl to get her better and then what to do after she had recovered.

Alice was sitting on the stairs, watching the door, when I arrived home. She jumped up when I closed the door behind me and I smiled to her. "Hello, Alice," I greeted, "What can I do for you?"

She looked at me anxiously and I was suddenly worried if she had seen something happen. "What's the matter, Alice?" I asked, concerned, "Did you see something?"

"No," she said slowly, her eyes glazed as she checked something I didn't have a hope of seeing myself. "Carlisle," she started hesitantly. "I have a bad feeling about those," she nodded to the bags of saline in my hand, "I can't see anything, but..." She trailed off.

I frowned as I digested what she was saying. It was only saline, nothing in it that could cause a reaction, so what was the problem? "I don't understand," I voiced calmly, "What makes you have that feeling?"

She shook her head and sighed. "I don't know, I can't see anything," she responded, repeating her earlier words, "I can't understand it because I don't see anything specific with the girl, but I have a feeling and it's not good."

I knew that Alice's 'feelings' were quite often correct. It was an extended part of her gift, I had theorised, so that she had a natural instinct for the future other than just seeing visions. It was also usually wise to take into account what she tells you. "I don't know what to do, Alice," I admitted, "If we can get her to eat, then I won't need to use the IV drip, but if not...I don't think I'll have a choice if I want to help her."

Alice bowed her head and nodded slightly. "I know, Carlisle," she said understandingly, "If I see anything else, I'll let you know." She turned and ran up the stairs, probably heading to Jasper to comfort her from whatever was bothering her.

I went through to the kitchen and found my beautiful wife busily cleaning the work surfaces. I recognised her technique of keeping herself occupied when she was worried and immediately went to her, wrapping my arms around her. "I'm sure she'll be fine," I assured her, "It will just take time."

"I know," she sighed, pulling back from me. "I'm just worrying like I do about all of our kids." I smiled softly when she spoke of our 'children' and I knew that she including the girl into that as well. "Edward's with her now," she added quietly, "It's amazing the way he acts with her. Do you think maybe...?"

She didn't finish her sentence and she didn't need to. I knew what she was getting at and it was something that had occurred to me as well. "I don't know," I told her, not wanting her to get her hopes up just yet, "We'll just have to wait and see how things go."

"Yes, of course," she nodded understandingly, but I still heard the undercurrent of hope in her voice. She was always worried for our 'oldest' son.

"I'm going to go upstairs and see if I can find something that might be useful in one of my old books," I whispered in her ear as I let her go. She nodded and I turned and left the room.

I thought back to Alice. Her words had me unsettled. If there was a possibility that the IV could harm her, could I take that risk? But I knew that if I didn't and she didn't eat or drink anything she would inevitably weaken further, even to the point of death. It was a difficult choice to make, but in my heart I already knew that if it came to it then I would try, if only to give her a chance. The future wasn't definite.

If things went well, though, we would still have plenty of time before having to resort to that. Let's hope that Edward can work with her to get closer to her and then I'll see about trying to get her to eat something.

Decided on that, I walked to the improvised medical room to drop of the IV before moving to my office. I found my books on psychology to try and find something that may help me understand her behaviour. It was already clear, though, that she had been held captive by the binding marks on her wrists and that she had been abused as well. Her fear of being touched was indicative of abuse as well, which would make it more difficult for her to trust us.

We needed to show her that we weren't going to hurt her. Unfortunately, her opinion of me may have been soured from our first encounter because of her having to be restrained while I treated her wounds. In her mind, it was possible that she just saw me as someone who was inflicting pain rather than trying to help her as I was. If that was the case, she could reject my presence near her, so I would have to be extra cautious in gaining her trust.

Sighing, I opened one of the leather bound books and lost myself in the science of the mind.

A/N: I make no promises as to when I post new chapters…but I will do my best to make them as closed together as possible. Please remember to review as more reviews will get a faster posting of the next chapter.