Chapter Two:

When Edward Cullen was seven years old, he had participated in the program where fathers took their sons to work. In Edward's childhood mind it was just a day to skip school and to hang out with his father, and he really didn't care what his father did, as long as it didn't have to mean that he had to go to school. If he went to school, it meant that he would have to sit next to Stinky Sarah Marie Gregowitz, and she smelled, literally. That's how she got the name Stinky.

Anyway, when Edward was seven, all he wanted to do was to fly to the moon, to see the Earth. Esme, would take him to the planetarium and even bought him a telescope to help with his ventures. She was determined to help her sons succeed with anything they put their minds to.

But, after he spent the day though, shadowing the great Carlisle Cullen, he knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to save lives like his dad. Ever since that day, he had buckled down, and studied, learning everything he needed to know about science, from gravity all the way to the Circle of Willis, and then some. Everything he did was so he could be like his dad and save lives.

Edward had pulled into the staff parking lot, bright and early at 5 am. He was honestly grateful that he was called in. After a night out with a couple of friends at Late Shift, he somehow ended up going home with a complete stranger. They talked and had sex, and he knew that this woman was just not who he wanted to be with.

Oh well, another one bites the dust.

He was taking over a shift for his friend Andrew, whose wife had gone into labor, and Edward being the low man on the totem pole got called in.

He didn't care though, he lived for his job.

And a little girl name Olivia Emma Lebedev.

He sat behind the desk, sipping his venti coffee from Starbucks, thinking about his little goddaughter. She was pure sunshine. He thought back to the last time he went to check on her, when he ran into Izzy . . . no wait, she preferred Bella. Bella Swan had definitely blossomed into a beautiful woman since her sophomore year of college. They had been on one blind date, which was disastrous. She was a stick in the mud, with no sense of humor or nothing. They ran into each other a handful of times each year and remained cordial to each other.

Tanya had told him that she had started dating Mike Newton a couple years back.

Edward didn't like it, Newton was a toad. Mike's family came from money, and he was stuck up and pretentious. Newton had a reputation of being a cheater in the frat, and Edward really didn't like that.

He felt bad for Bella. But, it wasn't really his place to say anything.

Olivia was turning one year old in three months, and Tanya was already getting excited, planning the birthday party.

Since Livvie was born near Christmas, Tanya wanted to make sure that Livvie's birth was celebrated just as much as Christmas was. Edward had tried to argue with her that Christmas was about the birth of a child much more important than Livvie, but Tanya wouldn't hear of it.

Not that he blamed her. That little girl ruled his heart, and would probably be the closest thing he had to a daughter. Much to his mother's dismay, none of her sons had settled down yet, and she wanted grandchildren.

Livvie was the closest thing she had, and Esme Cullen would have to get used to that fact.

Edward was staring at a picture of Livvie when Jessica appeared.

"She's a cute little girl, yours?" She asked seductively.

Edward rolled his eyes, trying to escape the clutches of Nurse Stanley. His fathered had warned him of her when he signed on at Seattle University Hospital. Apparently all Nurse Stanley went to school for was to learn how to hook a doctor, and unfortunately for Edward, he was the only available doctor on staff today.

"Nope, she's my goddaughter. I'm trying to figure out what to get her for her birthday. But I have plenty of time, it's three months away," Edward said, pushing away from the desk. "We have two patients in chairs that are waiting to get their vitals done, please see that it gets done." He said effectively dismissing her. He didn't have time for her games today. The lab results for one patient came back, and Edward needed to read them before talking to the patient.

"Hey Edward," Carlisle called, running into the ER.

"What's up?" Edward asked, jumping up into action. It had to be something important, considering that Carlisle was down on the floor. It was rare that his father would be in the ER.

"There was a major accident on the interstate. They are going to start bringing in the victims of the accident now. We are looking at three major traumas. I'm going to take the first one, you are on the second, and Dr. Netter is on the third."

He nodded, taking in the information.

"Do we know what happened?" Edward inquired as he made his way toward the ambulance bay to wait for the victims.

"Drunk driver," Carlisle responded bitterly.

Carlisle had been married before he met Esme, Edward's mother. Carla Cullen, Emmett's biological mother, had just dropped Emmett off at the baby sitter's when a drunk driver had careened into her, killing her instantly. Emmett was only nine months old.

"I wonder what lives will be destroyed by this," Carlisle muttered, hearing the first ambulance drive up.

Before Edward had a chance to respond, the ambulance pulled up and the EMTs pushed through.

Edward watched as his father sprung into action, assessing the injuries. He pushed in through the double doors to the ER.

"Male, twenty years old, internal bleeding. Nurse Stanley, I need you in curtain one . . ."

The doors swung close, and Edward continued to wait for the second ambulance.

It pulled up a couple of minutes later, with the EMTs pulling out the gurney.

"What do I have here Danny?" Edward inquired, seeing one of the EMTs that he had frequently rode with coming out.

"Male, mid twenties. He was the passenger in the other car, driver is coming in right behind us. Internal bleeding, blunt force trauma to the head. He coded twice on the way in. BP has been all over the place and heart rate has been erratic. He has been unconscious the entire way."

Edward led them to trauma room four and started barking orders. They needed to get this guy stable so he could be taken up for surgery. He knew right off the bat that this patient was going to need more than what the ER could provide for him.

"Meredith, see if you can find some ID on him so we can call his family. It's not looking so good," Edward told his nurse as he started to intubate the man. The airway had became compromised, so Edward had to open up the airway. The nurse had hooked up a twelve lead EKG and he was monitoring heart activity.

It didn't look good. The man's heart rate was too fast, trying to pump blood all over the place.

"I need an ultrasound to find the source of internal bleeding!" Edward called out to another nurse who was assisting.

"Dr. Cullen?"

Edward looked over and saw Meredith standing with a wallet that she found in the possessions of the man.

"Yeah Meredith . . ."

"The victim is Dementri Lebedev . . ."

The world tilted on its axis.

"No, fuck no," Edward ran over and grabbed the wallet. It was. He closed his eyes, and opened them again. This wasn't a dream. It was one of his best friends on his table.

The monitor flat-lined. Edward jumped and started chest compressions, trying to keep a steady rhythm while the crash cart charged. He tried to keep his thoughts in check, knowing that he probably shouldn't be tending to Demetri, but he needed help now. Once he got him stabilized, he would send in another doctor.

"Shit. Push two amps of epi. We need to get his heart started. Get the paddles."

"Charge to one hundred," Meredith told him.

He took a step back from the table and watched the monitors, praying that his heart would jump start. There was a blip, but it didn't take. He started compressions again, trying to keep the blood flowing.

"Shock at two hundred," Edward commanded. He couldn't lose Demetri. Tanya needed her husband and Olivia needed her father. He glanced at the monitor again, and saw that there was still no activity.

"Resuming compressions," he barked, thumping his friend's chest. There had to be more he could do.

Edward never felt as helpless as he did at this moment. The damage was too extensive, but he had to try, for Tan for Livvie.

"Charge at three hundred," Meredith called out.

"Clear." He stepped away from the table. "Demetri . . . Goddamnit . . . Don't give up," he muttered as the monitor still showed no activity.

"Dr. Cullen, he has been down for seven minutes now. Protocol states . . . "

"Fuck the protocol. This man has a wife and a daughter. Push another round of epi."

"He has had too much," Meredith told him softly.

Carlisle stepped into the room. "Edward, son."

"No Dad."

"Call it Edward."

He ripped his gloves off and starred at the clock on the wall. "Time of death, 7:24."

Edward walked out into the waiting room to see if he could find Tanya. Luckily, she wasn't anywhere to be found. Good, it would give her a couple more minutes to think that her life as she knew it would still be there. He wanted her to live happily for the next couple of minutes, even though he knew otherwise.

There was no way he wanted to tell her that he couldn't save her husband. What good was he as a doctor if he couldn't save him? He ran through the last hour in his head, trying to piece together everything that happened. Edward knew logically that he did everything by the book, and then some, to save his friend, but that still didn't make him feel any better.

God! What about Tanya?

"Edward, you did all you could," Carlisle tried to reason with him.

"What the hell good is it if it wasn't good enough to save him!" Edward seethed. "In two seconds, Tanya and Livvie lost their entire world. Now I need to tell Tanya, excuse me."

Carlisle put his hand on Edward shoulder, stopping his movement. He looked at his dad curiously. He had never seen such profound sadness in his father's eyes.

"What is it Dad?" Edward asked, his voice getting caught in his throat.

"Tanya was in the car," Carlisle told him softly. "She was dead on the scene."

"No. She's going to Livvie's play date tomorrow with a new mom she met at the daycare. She was so excited about that. And we had tickets to see the Bears play this weekend!"

"Edward, she's gone."

Edward closed his eyes, processing what his father just told him. He had just lost his two best friends in the course of an hour.

He was getting ready to say something, when he heard a familiar voice at the nurses' station.

"I'm looking for Demetri and Tanya Lebedev, they were in a car accident and were brought here."

The receptionist nodded. "Please take a seat in the waiting room, I'll see if I can find them."

Bella walked into the waiting room and saw her father standing at the vending machine, staring at the various choices of junk food. He finally settled on a Twinkie and a Coke.

"You know Dad, if you keep eating like that, you will end up here . . ." Bella joked, trying to ease the tension in the room. It was inappropriate, she knew, but there was nothing she could do but wait. Her father turned back around to her, and she knew, just knew, how bad it was.

"It doesn't look so good Bells."

"Demetri's strong, he will make it." Her voice was set with determination. There was no way Demetri would give up, knowing that he had a beautiful family.

"Chief Swan?"

Charlie turned to the sound of his name, as he saw Carlisle Cullen and Edward Cullen walk into the room. He had several dealing with the men before, as most of his victims had come through this ER. They were good men, and he respected them immensely. It gave him some comfort in knowing that two of the best ER doctors in Seattle were working on his daughter's best friends.

Bella stood with him. She looked eyes with Edward, and knew there was something wrong.

"Don't say it . . ." she pleaded with him.

"Demetri didn't make it, I'm sorry," Edward told her as his voice cracked. Sure, he had told people before that their loved ones didn't make it, but this was different. He knew the loved one, he knew the people. They just weren't average people on the streets. This was his life.

He didn't feel it when she shoved him. But he heard her voice. "No, go back into that room and save him. Tanya needs him . . ."

"Tanya died at the scene," Carlisle told her softly.

"No . . ." Bella breathed out. Her tiny fists collided with Edward's chest as she let out her rage on the closest thing to her. Carlisle and Charlie went to stop her, but Edward shook his head, telling them to leave. He wanted to feel her anger. He needed to feel her anger.

After all, he was the reason that Demetri was dead. He couldn't save him.

Besides, it's not like she really put much force into her hits. Her rage subsided and she was getting ready to crumble as Edward scooped her up into his arms. He may not have been able to save Demetri, but he would be able to take care of his best friend now. It was the least he could do.

AN: Leave me some love and press the button. I'm sorry I haven't been able to update as much as I would like, but I have been helping my best friend with her children on the weekends since her husband is overseas, and it cuts into my writing time. I also work two jobs right now to help with my atrocious spending habits. And, lastly, my birthday is next Sunday, and my wedding anniversary is the weekend after, so I don't' know when I will update again, but if I find time in the week to write, I definitely will.

Thanks for the love. Review rock my socks.