Author's note, Thanks for the reviews. I know this chapter is short, and late…

EsmePOV

The boys face had a healing scar on his cheek, and several more on his upper arms and shoulders. Harold heard me gasp and turned to face me.

'This is what he looks like months later. Imagine what he looked like then.'

I shuddered, envisioning the pain that the boy -only twelve years younger then me- had suffered. Carlisle pulled me closer to him. 'Essie, are you okay?'

'I'm fine,' I whispered.

Harold put his hand on the Edward's shoulder and gently shook him awake. Edward stirred and groaned.

'Edward…' Harold said, still shaking him gently. 'Edward, you have visitors.'

He slowly opened his eyes, and Harold helped him to sit up. One arm was bandaged from the elbow down, and though he was a tee-shirt, you could see the strapping underneath. He noticed me staring.

'Yeah, some of my ribs haven't healed yet, and even though the cast was taken off my arm ages ago, Dr Knight still insists it's bandaged. She's so pushy. The broken arm is healed, though, and the ribs should be healed soon.'

'I used to work with Dr Knight.' Carlisle said. 'Jane. We interned at UWMC together.'

'Oh.' Edward said. 'So you're a doctor.'

'Yes, that's my profession,' Carlisle murmured, stepping closer to the bed Edward was lying on, and pulling me with him. 'But my wife, Esme, and I were actually here to adopt a child.'

Edward frowned, looking a little confused. 'So why did Harold take you up here?'

I blinked. 'Edward, we met your baby sister, and younger brother, and well…'

'To be honest,' Carlisle said. 'Esme and I fell in love with them, and we'd like to adopt Alice and Emmett.'

I waited for Edward to become upset that Carlisle hadn't mentioned him. I waited for him to refuse to let his siblings leave his sight. I waited for him to throw a temper tantrum. He didn't do anything of he sort, instead, his face lit up with pure joy.

'Yes!' he said. 'You must take Emmie and Alice, you must.'

'What?' I asked, a little bewildered. This was not what I'd been expecting. 'Why?'

'Jolyn and Patrick, they fostered Emmie and Elsie -Elsie is what I call Alice- but it didn't work out. You seem a lot nicer… though I shouldn't be judging from a two second conversation.' He was silent for a few seconds, like her was having trouble saying more then a couple of sentences.. 'Sorry, it's still hard for me to say a lot in one go. Since…'

'It's okay, Edward.' I said quietly, sliding out of Carlisle's grasp and taking Edward's hand. 'Just say what you want to.'

'You must look after them, you have to.'

I frowned. 'Edward, why do you speak like you won't be around?'

'Did Antonia tell you the extent of my injuries?' He questioned. I nodded. 'Right, did she tell you about the clots?'

'No…' I whispered. 'Carlisle, was it in the file?'

'Not that I saw.'

'Doesn't surprise me.' Edward muttered. 'It'll be in there somewhere, legal requirements, but Antonia will have hidden it away.' He didn't say anything more, but looked as if he'd like to.

'Why?' I pressed, determined to understand this complicated case.

'Her younger sister, Georgia, died of a punctured lung. It was healing fine, but then clotted. When Antonia found out that one of my ribs that shattered punctured the lung she freaked.' He broke off coughing. 'Anyway, normally a punctured lung would heal fine, but there's still a fragment of bone in their, and doctors are having trouble with clotting… I don't fully understand it, they don't tell me much. I'm just surprised they let me out of hospital at all. I won't be allowed to walk for at least a month, but Antonia keeps saying two weeks. Well, I can walk to the bathroom and stuff, but that's it.'

'Edward…' Carlisle sounded sympathetic. 'My cousin had a punctured lung once, it didn't clot thought. She was still so upset… I can't imagine how you feel.'

Edward smiled sadly. 'It's vital you take in Alice and Emmett, or they'll become bitter.'

'Why?'

'Their father is dead, their mother and step father in prison, and their older brother unable to walk. They need a loving home. Besides, it'll help them when I die.'

'What do you mean, die?' I said, my voice shrill.

'The clotting blood… I don't have much of a chance of survival. I mean, I'll be like this, healing, until the blood clots. Then…'

Carlisle patted his arm. 'You'll be okay, Edward. Surgical procedures can be used.'

Edward smiled sadly again. 'Who would pay for one? I'll write Emmie and Elsie letters… they'll understand eventually.'

With that he collapsed back on the pillows, clearly exhausted, and drifted into sleep.

I patted his arm gently, and Carlisle and I hurried towards the door. I paused as we were about to leave, and turned. Harold was drawing the curtains around the boy's bed.

'Goodbye, Edward.' I whispered, before following Carlisle down the staircase.

--

When we reached Antonia's office, she stood there, waiting for us. 'Esme? Carlisle?'

'Yes.' Carlisle said tightly, his voice pained.

'As you know, Emmett and Alice are up for adoption… do you want to discuss details inside?'

'Sure,' I bit my lip as I talked, resulting in a rather strange sounding voice. Antonia and Harold ushered us inside. Harold then left muttering something about checking on the kids. Antonia walked to the side of the room with the desk, and gestured at the two chairs in front of it. We sat.

'Look, you know how it works. You foster the children for a one month basis, and then you either send them back or adopt them. Don't get us wrong, we're thrilled you're willing to take all the McCarty children, but we need to talk about Edward later. Anyway, we have to do all the background checks, police checks, house checks, character references… the soonest the children will be with you is two weeks. If you're absolutely sure you want the McCarty siblings, you have to sign these papers now,' Antonia waved a manicured hand over a small stack of paperwork. 'We'll contact you later. Fill out the contact details and such.'

Carlisle nodded, and I pulled out a pen from my handbag. We filled out a couple of forms saying that we were interested in fostering/adopting Alice, Emmett and Edward McCarty. We gave our phone numbers and good hours to contact us, and then the visit was over. We met Harold as we walked down the path. He was chatting on about his girlfriend calling from Belgium.

As we walked out the gate, we saw a minivan pull up, and a handsome young man help two kids out. The kids were blonde, and looked about seven or eight. The girl was very pretty, and the boy was cute too. The boy was wearing a blue suit, and the girl the regulation yellow dress. They looked a little upset, and disappointed.

'Oh dear.' Harold whispered.

'What?' Carlisle asked.

'The hale twins- Jasper and Rosie. It looks like their latest foster didn't work out.' He sighed. 'Never mind.' As he reached out and took one of the twins' hands, he waved at us. Then he tugged the two young children towards the house.

'Poor kids.' I said, holding Carlisle's hand.

'Yeah.' He was holding the keys.

'Why thank you,' I smiled, taking the keys. The shocked expression on his face was adorable.

'Esme… you always let me drive.'

'Not today,' I smirked, unlocking the car and sliding into the drivers' seat.

If you think someone's OOC, please tell me. If you have medical training, please help with the whole details of Edward's injuries. Google is currently my only reference.