A/N: Yay! It's the 1 year anniversary of Rising Sun! I can't believe I've been writing this for a whole year now!

This is a chapter that is leading into Eclipse. There were a few things I needed to address before we started with graduation, so here they are. Some experimenting, and then to wrap it up a little Carlisle/Esme fluff, because who doesn't like that?

Thanks to all my faithful readers (and) reviewers who have really encouraged me to keep going this past year, through finals and classes, finishing high school and starting college! Like I said before, youda youda best! Love y'all!

Without further ado, Enjoy!

-Wish

Chapter 56: Venom and Morphine

I grimaced as I fought to keep my arm steady on the desk in front of me as the venom burned through my long dry veins. I could smell the morphine, but it didn't seem to be doing anything against the pain. It was still excruciating, just as it had felt over 300 years ago.

I gritted my teeth and waited for it to burn out. In a vampire's body, venom had nothing to burn. It didn't last long.

"Carlisle, you okay?" Emmett asked. He looked guilty as he sat on the chair across my desk from me. We'd cleaned it off as much as possible, leaving it almost entirely bare with the exception of a small couple doses of morphine, the strongest steel syringe I could get from the hospital, and my arm, clenched in a fist against the pain.

"Yes, Emmett," I grunted as the venom burned out.

"It's not working, is it?" he asked. Emmett had volunteered when I told the family I would be testing morphine in dealing with the pain from our venom. Esme hadn't wanted me to do these tests, though she knew they were important for Bella. She didn't like seeing me in pain any more than I could stand seeing her in pain. That was why we were doing these tests while she was out hunting with Alice, Jasper, and Rosalie. Edward was with Bella, as he had been almost nonstop since returning from Italy. He was ever trying to convince Bella to reconsider her decision to have me change her after graduation, but as far as I could tell, he was making little headway. At least, I had gotten no word from Bella that she was reconsidering. As far as I knew, Bella expected me to bite her just after she graduated, whether Edward approved or not. That was why I was doing this. That was why I was pumping my body full of morphine and having Emmett bite me.

"It's the morphine," I told him. "It's not spreading fast enough."

Emmett nodded. "Yeah, I could feel the venom burning right past it." At first, I'd tested only on myself, Emmett supplying his venom, since mine wouldn't do anything to me. But after a few tries, Emmett had insisted I try it on him, saying I shouldn't be doing this all on my own. So I had injected him, reluctantly biting him and pumping my venom into his own arm. But Emmett's results seemed the same as mine. The morphine was too slow, too sluggish compared to vampire venom. Morphine moved like molasses through our veins, while the venom burned on ahead of it, sealing off the veins. I suspected it was because we had no heartbeat. There was nothing really to push the morphine down our veins.

Would it be different with Bella? I wondered. After all, she'd have a heart to pump the morphine through her veins, having the possibility of spreading it before the venom sealed her off.

I was about to test Emmett again when there was a knock on the door. I set the needle down and said, "Come in." I was surprised to see Edward in the doorway.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," he said.

"Not at all," I told him. "Come in." Edward stepped inside the office and closed the door behind him. "Is there something you need?"

Edward looked rather humble. "I just, wanted to see how it's going," he replied. "I mean, do you think the morphine will work?"

I sat back, sighing. "The major problem thus far has been that the venom burns past the morphine before it can circulate. We're not the best test subjects for that, since we technically have no circulation."

Edward nodded, taking a seat next to Emmett. "So you don't know if it will make a difference."

"I don't know, but I think it may," I replied. "Bella has a heartbeat. So her body will spread the painkiller much faster than any of ours would. I think, it's possible, that if we get the morphine in her system before hand, it could help. But the morphine must be in her already and it must be circulated.

Edward nodded again. He seemed fairly distant, more than likely thinking about Bella. It was evening and he was here. So that meant Charlie was home and Bella wasn't up in her room yet. It was one of the brief times I saw my son anymore. Typically it was these couple of hours until Bella retired for bed and a half hour or so in the morning in which he changed clothes and grabbed his car to pick Bella up for school.

"I'm sorry I have been so absent, Carlisle," Edward apologized softly in reply to my thoughts.

It's fine, Edward, I replied purposefully. You love her. That is all that matters. I would only see you happy.

"I am."

I nodded and we set back to work, Edward joining us this time. He had a medical degree of his own from one circuit of college where he had considered following in my footsteps. Although he didn't have years and years of expertise, it was still nice to have someone I could talk medical terms to. Edward and I talked about the morphine and its pain relief, its side effects (which Bella probably wouldn't notice in the middle of the transformation but could still be important), how quickly it would wear off, and how we might administer more to her if necessary. Edward talked about some of his own ideas, in particular, one that might help speed up the transformation process. Although he was adamantly against Bella's transformation, he still didn't want her to suffer if she really went through with this after graduation.

"You inject the venom into the veins so that it circulates back to the heart faster. But what if you injected venom directly into the heart?"

I paused in cleaning up the empty morphine bottles. Emmett had left and Edward and I were sitting in my office after one round of tests. We hadn't gotten much further on the morphine testing. It continued to be too sluggish. And I couldn't risk testing it on a human. That was unthinkable. We'd just have to hope it worked.

"I never thought of that," I replied, sitting back. It was an interesting idea. Really it was our venom that caused the transformation. Biting was just an easy way of transferring that venom into the victim. But maybe it wasn't necessary.

"Since we're planning this, we would have time to collect some venom ahead of time," I commented. "We could put it in a needle and inject it directly into the heart. It might speed up the transformation. I can't be sure; I've never done it before."

Edward nodded. "Well you've never planned ahead of time to take away a perfectly healthy person's life."

I winced at Edward's words. They cut into me, stabbing through my unbeating heart better than any weapon could.

Edward sighed. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "That was rude. I know you're doing this for Bella and me because you think this will help."

"Edward, it's the only way," I told him.

Edward opened his mouth to speak again but I stopped him. "Now is not the time to have this discussion again. I have a night shift tonight and Bella will be going to bed soon."

Edward spun and looked at the clock on my desk. He said something under his breath that I wasn't meant to catch and dashed off. I closed up my bag and was about to open the door to leave when it opened again. Edward's head appeared in the doorway.

"I'm really am sorry, Carlisle. And despite my objections, I am grateful you are putting so much time and effort into helping Bella."

"You know better than anyone how I feel about Bella, Edward," I replied.

He nodded, looking down. "I know."

I sighed and stepped towards my son, opening the door and pulling him into a hug. It seemed like I was doing this more often now. "Go," I urged him softly. "Bella is waiting."

He pulled back and gave me another grateful look and thanks before leaving.

I went back to my desk and finished cleaning up. Glancing at the clock, I noticed that I had a little bit of time before I would have to start getting ready. I decided to look at the new journal from the American Medical Association. I had put it away, amongst other things, when we started testing earlier that day and just took it out again now. But as I was about to open it, there was a soft knock on the door.

"Come in," I called, setting the journal down again.

The door opened and Esme looked inside. "Are you busy?" she asked.

"For you, never," I replied, smiling. She returned my smile and stepped inside, closing the door. I watched her as she gracefully strolled across the study to my side. I took her waist and pulled her into my lap, leaning her against my chest. I took a deep breath of her sweet scent, ridding my nose of the pungent smell of the morphine, because of its opioid base.

"How is it going?" she asked after a moment.

I sighed, kissing her neck and laying my forehead lightly against her shoulder. "It's difficult. The venom burns past the morphine too fast. Maybe if Bella already had it in her system, then it could work, but we have to be careful about overdosing and I'd rather not give it to her too early. She wouldn't need it."

Esme looked down at me. "Do you think it will help Bella with the pain?"

"I don't know," I replied honestly, shaking my head. "And I can't know for sure unless we tried it on a human. But that's out of the question. We'll just have to hope that it does work."

Esme looked a little hesitant.

"What's wrong, angel?" I asked her, reading the expression on her beautiful face.

Esme shook her head. "It's nothing. Edward is helping you now?"

I nodded. "Yes. He has a novel suggestion for the transformation itself. Injecting the venom directly into the heart through a needle, in hopes that it might speed up the transformation."

"Would it work?" Esme asked, interested.

"Again I don't know. I've never planned one of these before. I honestly don't know what to expect, despite changing you, Edward, Emmett, and Rosalie."

"What do you mean?"

I paused, trying to choose my words so that they best expressed my uncertainty. "I'm curious as to how this pre-meditated transformation might affect Bella's outcome, psychologically. She's known about us and our diet for almost a full year now. She doesn't really know any other way of life, for our kind, that is. I'm interested to see if this affects her newborn bloodlust, if she has a difficult time because she expects it, or if she has an easier time controlling her bloodlust because this was all she's ever known of us."

Esme looked thoughtful. "I've never thought of that," she admitted. "I agree; it is an intriguing thought. What do you think?"

"I can't be sure," I replied. "I'd like to say that it will be easier for her. But I can't see how it could be. Being a human, she's never truly experienced the bloodlust. She's heard about it, but I imagine it's like hearing about the taste of a food, and then actually tasting it on your tongue. Something is lost in the translation. Some crucial part."

"You think she will have a harder time?"

I shook my head. "No. I think, her prior knowledge of our diet will help her, but it will still be hard. We'll have to move after a little while. But we'll have to be vigilant, especially before we do."

"Surely we can help her," Esme insisted.

I nodded. "We can. But it's been so long since we've had a newborn. Even since Alice and Jasper joined us."

"I already think of her as part of the family," Esme commented.

"So do I, Esme."

"But it will be nice to make it official," she said, almost absentmindedly.

"That may not be for a while yet," I warned her.

"Yes, I know," she chuckled. "Bella has such a fear of marriage, the poor thing."

I smiled, kissing her again. "Well who could blame her?" I teased. "Being forever tied down? It's a scary concept."

Esme playfully slapped me on the shoulder. "Carlisle Cullen! If I didn't know better I would be insulted!"

I laughed. "I'm sorry. I meant to say, 'Being forever tied down to the love of your life is an amazing concept'."

"That's what I thought," she retorted, giving me a light peck on the cheek. It wasn't enough and I pulled her back, kissing her passionately. Esme returned my kiss and we remained locked in each other's arms until she finally pulled away. For me it was too soon.

"You should begin to get ready for your shift," she whispered in my ear.

I groaned at the thought of leaving my beautiful, angelic wife.

"I'll still be here," she reassured me. I could feel the soft wisp of her breath against my ear and it sent shivers down my spine.

"Promise?" I asked. "Promise you won't elope in my absence?"

"Never," she whispered. "I'll even have a surprise for you."

My mind flickered to the other past surprises of Esme. The images would've earned a groan from Edward. But he wasn't within range to hear them so I was free with my thoughts.

"I'll hurry back," I promised, giving her one last kiss on her smooth, perfect lips before she got up and I forced myself to go get changed for my shift. But my thoughts kept flitting back to Esme and what surprise she might have in store for me when I returned.

A/N2: Okay, so here is another Author's note. Just some friendly reminders, PUSH THE BUTTON!

I'll be on holiday for a week from tomorrow, without a CPU (my parents' idea, not mine) so no updates for at least that long.

Also I've posted a Christmas One-Shot Songfic for all you readers. It's a Carlisle/Esme and guess what, it's my first All-Human fic! So please go check it out! It's only gotten like, four reviews and I'm kinda bummed. From the reviews, people have liked it.

And I still have the poll for which is your favorite story on my site. Remember, you can vote for up to 2.

And last, but not least, I'm now on TWITTER! I'll post a website link on my site, but if you want to follow me then look for WishingOnMyStar. I'll be posting updates as to when chapters will be updated, as well as random stuff about my life. So if that sounds like your cup of tea, come check me out!

-Wish