A/n: Three reviews. Sigh. Well, I can't complain, as they've all been nice ones. I would like to dedicate this chapter to , WingsRider, and eyeglassed cat because they've been kind enough to take five minutes out of their time to write to me! (hugs) I love you guys!
Carlisle: (smiles gratefully, then leans towards the reviewers) "Thank you so much for writing something. It finally shut her up!"
Me: (gives him a Look). I heard that.
Carlisle: (gives a charming smile)
Me: (pecks furiously at keyboard) At least I know SOMEBODY appreciates this story. (throws a rabid fangirl out the window before she can get to Carlisle). Somebody really ought to fix that lock.
Carlisle: (stares) At least we're only on the first story of the building. (cringes when there is a crashing sound from outside).
Chapter 5
Carlisle didn't ask her what she was doing by the window when he came in a couple of hours later. He tried to smile, but it came out crooked. Dawn didn't look up until he started checking things. She seemed to want to say something, but she was choosing her words carefully this time.
"Could we start over?" she managed to choke out.
He paused, considering for a moment.
"Yes."
Being angry with her consumed too much energy. His baser instincts were screaming at him to gather her up into his arms and just hold her, even if her blood was off-limits. But he didn't.
"My real name is Aurora, but my human name is Dawn," she said, offering her good hand. He gave it a gentle squeeze. Then, he really did smile.
It was a start. The tension was dispelled, at least partly.
"Where do you live?" he asked, wondering how exactly the castle ruins were habitable.
"I could show you if you want," she said as he checked her stitches, "you've wandered up there a couple of times."
"The castle ruins? They don't look very safe," he commented.
Dawn grinned.
"They only look like ruins," she explained, "I cast an illusion over my castle to keep humans out. They usually don't wander into these places very often, though."
"And you wanted to keep us away as well," Carlisle finished her thought.
"Well, frankly, yes, but I didn't know about our...current situation," Dawn admitted, "I suppose I don't need the illusion now that everyone knows it's an illusion."
He took the brace off of her arm to see how fast it was healing.
"Interesting. Your bones have almost healed. You should be ready to go by tomorrow. I'll take out your stitches before you leave."
He replaced the brace.
"I appreciate you going to all this trouble," she said suddenly, "especially since our first meeting didn't go very well."
His hands were still on her arm when she said it. She was looking at them rather than his face, so she didn't see the warmth that was suddenly present in his expression.
"You're welcome."
His hand squeezed hers very gently before he left.
She smiled, knowing she must have done something right. It hadn't been easy to shelve her pride and admit that she knew nothing about love, but it had worked! She settled into her hospital bed that night, wishing she had a bit more time with the Cullens.
She was shaken awake much earlier than she would have liked by Carlisle.
"I have to go to work today," he told her. She nodded in understanding, still rubbing her eyes. He parted her hair where the gash had been. The skin had sealed together well and only a small scar would be there. He quickly removed the stitches first, then took the tape and the brace off. After seeing that she could move easily with no pain, he told her that she was free to leave.
Then, he was surprised when her arms wrapped around him in a fierce hug.
"Thank you," she muttered, still half-asleep.
A smile graced his features as he looked down at the top of her blonde curls. He rested his cheek against them for just a second. The thirst still steamed in the back of his throat, but she also smelled good in a nonfood way. Her skin was abnormally hot, but it felt so good to finally hold her. His cool hand patted her back gently at first, but then rested there after a moment.
"Carlisle, there's someone on the phone for-" Rosalie skidded to a halt when she saw Dawn and Carlisle embracing. They sprang apart guiltily as if the action had been more than just a simple hug.
"Am I interrupting something?" she asked, her voice sharper than she'd intended.
"No," Carlisle said quickly, "I'm coming."
He spared an apologetic look before walking out, leaving Rosalie with Dawn. Rosalie kicked the door closed.
"I'm only going to tell you this once, so listen good," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. She and Dawn sized each other up for a moment.
"If you break his heart, I will find a way to kill you. Don't think we all won't!" she snapped before walking out.
Dawn sighed, going into the bathroom to get dressed. Apparently, the whole family was in on the secret. It was discomforting to know that. She had hoped that they could keep it between them.
Sighing, she wished she could remember having a family. She was sure that she'd had one at one point, but she couldn't remember back that far. As far as her memories stretched, she'd been alone. She couldn't be angry about them wanting to protect her.
Deciding it was time to get out, she did. She walked right past the kitchen where the smell of Edward's omelets were cooking, past the living room with the flat-screen TV, and out the door. She passed the three wolves that looked at her expectantly, transformed into her natural form, and flew back to her own home.
She was feeling decidedly weak. It was time to go to work. Normally, she could go a while without feeding, but the emotional roller coasters had quickly drained her. She changed into clean clothes and dialed Gavin Raines, her guitar player, on her small silver cell phone.
"Dawn! Where in God's name have ya been? We've been floundering without you at the mike!" he shouted.
"Calm down, Gavin. I just had a little accident involving a tree. I'm better now."
"Good. Get your blonde behind up here before they start throwing tomatoes at us!"
"I'm glad you care," she said sarcastically, "I'll see you in ten minutes."
"Six!" Gavin demanded before hanging up with a click.
"I love you too," Dawn muttered sarcastically before heading out the door.
Carlisle sighed impatiently as he called his next patient in. Most of the injuries that had come in were relatively trivial and caused by carelessness. A woman carried a three-year old boy into the back from the waiting room. The problem was quite obvious: he had a green crayon sticking out of his nose.
"I'm guessing that this is the problem?" Carlisle asked, trying to hide the irritation on his face. After making sure that the crayon wasn't hitting anything important, he carefully removed it. It hadn't been the first time he'd seen something like this. She could have pulled the crayon out herself. He tossed it into a nearby garbage can.
"Please be more careful," he sighed to the mother before letting her go on her way.
Most days, Carlisle thoroughly enjoyed his profession, but today felt like a major waste of his time and skill.
Oh, and what would you be doing right about now if you weren't here? Drooling over that little trouble-making Siren? His inner voice was sneering at him.
Shut up, Carlisle responded irritably.
"Hey, Cullen! Just the man I wanted to see!"
Great. It was James Anderson, one of the most annoying humans on the planet. Carlisle couldn't stand him, so he usually steered clear of Anderson as much as he could. But there were occasions...
"What?" he snapped with more force than he meant.
"You got a druggie overdose coming in."
"Why don't you deal with it?" Carlisle retorted, "Be their hero for a change."
Anderson snorted with laughter.
"I just went on my break five minutes ago. Have fun!"
He took off.
Arrogant little fool.
Carlisle shook his head. Normally, his temper would take a lot before rising, but he felt unusually moody today. Just as he made it into the front room, he had to dodge a cascade of vomit.
Damn it!
The blood in his insides boiled unpleasantly. They pumped the druggie's stomach, gave him some stuff to counteract the drugs in his system, and wheeled him into the ICU. Carlisle pitied the nurse in charge of cleaning up after the idiot. Try as he might, he couldn't rid his nose of the smell.
I need a break...
As soon as he'd scribbled down some things on the druggie's paperwork, Carlisle managed to get himself out. Stepping outside, he sucked in a deep breath. The fresh air helped clear his senses.
Maybe I'll just go see what Dawn is doing...he thought. His better judgment argued, but his heart silenced it.
He could sense the change in energy as he stepped through the double doors. As usual, the music filled the cavernous mall. He sat down on the bench he'd occupied last time he was here. He heard Dawn's stomach rumble, so he knew that it was time for her to eat something. The last song ended and Dawn descended from her platform.
Today, she wore a lavender shirt that was a silky material. A ribbon tied around her waist, giving her shape. Her jeans were navy blue, almost black, and she wore silver ballet flats. He noticed that she'd regained the color in her cheeks. Her lips were red and full as if she'd consumed something hot.
"Hey, what are you doing here?"
As if she could read the lingering annoyance in his expression, she immediately squirmed.
"Whatever it was, I didn't do it."
Carlisle laughed.
"No. I had some rather trying cases today."
Dawn smiled. He instantly felt better although he knew she wasn't doing anything to steal his anger away.
"Like what?"
Carlisle made a face.
"I wouldn't want to spoil your appetite," he said as her stomach rumbled again.
"Try me. You drink blood remember?"
"Point taken. But get your food first."
He didn't want to be responsible for her going hungry.
"Go find us a table, then," she said, hurrying off to the food court.
A few minutes later, they sat together. Dawn was devouring French fries like there was no tomorrow.
"The kid was pretending that the crayon was a booger? Oh, my God!" She dissolved into a fit of giggles.
Her laughter was so easy on his ears. It sounded like wind chimes.
"Everyone's wondering why you aren't eating anything," she commented, noticing some odd looks from passersby, "you can, can't you?"
Carlisle shook his head.
"Human food doesn't taste very good to me," he informed her.
She grinned.
"I can fix that."
She held a fry to his lips. Uneasily, he let her slide it into his mouth. For a split second, he almost cringed, but the illusion took over. As he chewed, it began to taste the same way to him as it did to her. It wasn't as good as blood, but it wasn't the worst thing he'd ever had. The second one was better. By the time they made it to the third one, he was eating them willingly.
"How do you do that?" he couldn't help but ask.
She finished off her cheeseburger.
"I trick different parts of the brain," she said, a blush rising to her cheeks, "I make your body believe it's tasting something different than it is."
"Is that how you made me sleep, too?"
Dawn's head snapped down guiltily.
"Yeah," she said, embarrassed, "you never actually fell asleep. I fooled your body. If someone would have interrupted you the first time in your office, you would have snapped out of it easily."
She was getting progressively redder as she spoke.
"That's...interesting."
Desperate to get him off the subject of things she'd done to him, she pointed to a little kid who had fallen. Concentrating, she focused on him. Before his mother could scoop him up, the little kid stopped crying, scrambled to his feet, and ran away, giggling.
"I can block things, too," she said, "but I'm useless with actual healing. I've been trying to learn it all these years and I've never been able to do it."
Carlisle had a few thoughts as to why, but he restrained them.
"Being able to block pain is a very useful ability," he pointed out.
Dawn shrugged.
"Maybe."
A line of teenage girls walked past. All of them had at least ten pounds of makeup on and they seemed very overdressed.
"Ugh. Beauty pageants," Dawn groaned, "bunch of posers. I hate when they come in here. They get so tensed up over stupid things that they clutter up the place with their negative energy. It tastes really bitter, but I can't help but pick up on it."
Carlisle couldn't help but be a little bit confused. How could she walk around demanding what she wanted and be angry at those girls?
"Sometimes I wonder that myself," she said, reading his expression.
Carlisle realized it was time to go back to work.
"I have to go," he said reluctantly, looking at his watch.
"See you later," Dawn said, equally as reluctant.
Carlisle went back to the hospital with conflicting feelings. Dawn was just so...unusual. She didn't make sense to him at all.
Dawn watched him leave, wishing her very nature didn't get in the way of everything.
One of the girls tripped and almost burst into tears. Dawn rolled her eyes and got up from the table. She hoisted the little beauty queen back up onto her ridiculously high heels. While she was doing it, she drained the anxiety and the stress from the girl.
"Thanks," she muttered, not wanting to be seen with Dawn. Dawn had the urge to make her trip again, but Carlisle's face popped into her mind. She just walked away, growling under her breath.
Maybe there was more to it than blood and energy. Maybe these so called "singers" were meant to help each other become better people. He'd been gone all of five minutes and she missed him already.
