Carlisle POV

I sat quietly, enjoying the silence that enveloped me. Of course, there was not complete silence; that was impossible with vampire senses. But the small sounds were soothing – the creak of the house as it settled, the gurgling of the creek and the hush of the trees as they moved minutely in the calm night. It felt peaceful; it was home. It was almost as if we had never left. As if the house had not been empty for months. As if we had not left a young woman behind us, bleeding and broken.

But we had. There had been plenty of silence in the months that we had been away but none of it had been soothing. All too often Esme and I had been alone, our children scattered across the Earth. Emmett and Rosalie in Europe. Alice and Jasper tracking her family. And our Edward was just lost. We had rarely heard from him and when we did he could barely bring himself to speak.

Every minute without him had been painful. It brought back the memories of the first time he had left. Though we had tried to carry on as normal during the day, some nights Esme and I had just cuddled together for comfort, wondering if our family would ever be whole again. We missed them all and we missed Bella. Esme mourned the loss of the girl she had hoped would become another daughter and I grieved for Edward's lost chance at happiness.

As parents, Esme and I had led a charmed existence. We were safe in the knowledge that little could hurt our children. I had worried over their emotions, their weaknesses; over Edward's self-loathing, Rosalie's self-esteem, Jasper's struggles with his appetite and the heavy burden that foresight placed on Alice. We had always tried to be available to them for guidance or support. But we had never worried about their physical safety. As a doctor I had spent many hours counselling families who feared the loss of their loved ones, but I had never truly experienced that fear.

Until Edward went to Italy.

For three excruciating days I had existed in sheer terror. Not only for Edward; Alice and Bella were risking their lives to save him. Jasper had disapproved of Alice's decision to see Charlie in the wake of her vision of Bella's jump. They had argued before she left, a highly unusual occurrence. Being helpless to protect his wife from danger had torn my empathic son apart. Watching Jasper's emotional control deteriorate before my eyes, I had known without a shadow of a doubt that if it ended....badly, I would lose three children not two.

I shook my head. Those times were in the past now. Our family was back together, thanks to Bella. I could never sufficiently express my gratitude to her. It wasn't quite a happily ever after yet but I had hope that it might be. I had offered to change Bella to spare Edward the agony of performing the change himself, but I did not regret my offer. Edward's opinion aside, I knew his soul existed, shining bright, and Bella was what he needed to be whole. I could not deny Bella her greatest wish when I knew, with deep certainty, that she was Edward's salvation.

I was about to return to my book when a voice caught my attention. "Carlisle?"

Edward? I had not expected him back from hunting with Emmett until the evening. When did you return?

A familiar scent wafted up the staircase towards me. Is Bella with you? It was the middle of the night, scarcely the time for a visit. My mind returned to her last midnight visit to our house. Had she changed her mind?

"Carlisle. There's something wrong with Bella. She won't wake up."

I catapulted myself out of my chair and raced down the stairs. Bella was lying limply in Edward's arms, her dark hair splaying under her like a waterfall. She looked so very fragile. She hadn't been regaining her lost weight as fast as I hoped. It seemed my private worries (which I had carefully hidden from Edward) about the damage our absence had caused were well founded.

Bring her into my study.

Edward followed behind me as I raced back up the stairs to my study. He laid Bella gently on the sofa, his hand lingering slightly on her hair, before moving back to allow me to examine her.

What happened, Edward? How long has she been unconscious?

"I don't know. She was fine when I left," he whispered, his gaze firmly fixed on his beloved. "I came back early. When I went to her room she was like this. She wouldn't wake up, even after I picked her up. I didn't know what to do, so I brought her here." He tore his eyes from her face and looked at me properly for the first time. His expression begged me for help. "Tell me what is wrong with her."

I'll find out, Edward, I promised. His face was etched with panic and his body was frozen. I had to prevent his terror from infecting my judgement. You need to keep calm.

I knelt next to Bella and began my examination. I tried to tune Edward out as I focussed on Bella's symptoms. Her temperature seemed higher than usual and she her breathing was obstructed but what concerned me most was her unconscious state. I did not trouble to fetch my stethoscope; with no human witnesses I did not need the props to hear into Bella's lungs. A fond smile teased the edge of my mouth as I remembered explaining my love of medicine to a conscious Bella yet again in need of my skills. I had told her then that I liked using my heightened senses to save life instead of taking it.

All my senses. It was amazing what smell could tell me. Scents too fine for humans to register could show me internal bleeding, the first hints of gangrene or fluid in the lungs. Even something as simple as identifying low blood sugar could be incredibly useful in formulating a diagnosis. As Bella exhaled again I breathed deeply, trying to identify anything unsual. In her breath was a trace of an unfamiliar scent which teased at the edge of my memory.

As I was trying to place the scent, Bella's heart rate began to increase. I wondered if she was reacting to my examination. Though I did not need my stethoscope, a thermometer would make an accurate reading of her temperature easier.

I half turned, with my hand outstretched, expecting that Edward would anticipate my need from my thoughts. Instead, he was frozen in place, still obviously panic-stricken. I directed my thought more clearly towards him.

Pass me my light and thermometer, Edward. I waited for him to pass them to me, his movements uncharacteristically jerky, as I pondered the elusive scent. Ahh. I had it now. That would certainly explain the symptoms. I picked up my light to check Bella's pupils for confirmation of my theory. As I shone the light in her eyes she finally moved; just as Alice exploded into the room.