[Disclaimer] Everything Twilight belongs to Stephenie Meyer
[A/N] I hope everyone is having a good weekend. Thank you all for taking your time to read my little fic here. It's most likely going to be a long one, but I don't know about that yet. Anyway, I can't even thank you enough for all the support my readers are showing me. Without you, I could never do what I love to do. Big hugs to all of you!
This chapter here is dedicated to LoveSKINS94 and shunreibell
**30**
Dr. Carlisle Cullen had thrown himself into work in an attempt to avoid thoughts about his called-off wedding. No, he wasn't heartbroken or anything close to it. But there was a feeling of melancholy, a feeling like he had messed up another time that made him toss around in his bed at night. The last couple of days he had spent mainly in the hospital, doing paperwork or online consultations when he wasn't in surgery.
He was just about to look through a medical article about metal implants when the phone on his desk started beeping.
"Dr. Cullen," the nurse prattled as soon as he picked up. "I thought you'd like to know that we have one of you nieces down here in the E.R."
"I'll be right there." Carlisle stated, grabbing his lab coat to put it on quickly. He run his fingers through his hair and headed for the elevators.
He bet it was Jane who had gotten herself hurt again. The girl was a feisty little thing. Jane was the kind of child that would put her hand on a hot stove, even when you warned her about it. Still, Carlisle hoped it wouldn't be something too bad with her.
When he reached the E.R. though, he noticed that Jane wasn't anywhere to be found. The nurse, it was a new one, he hadn't seen there before, handed him a chart.
"She's in room two. Poor thing is crying for her mother."
Crying for her mother? That didn't sound like Jane at all. Carlisle pushed the thick curtains away and stepped into the examination room, with the big red 2 on it.
The little black girl, sitting on the bed was sobbing. Crying children weren't something Carlisle was good at handling. Maybe this was the main reason why he hadn't chosen to specify in Pediatrics.
"Where's my Momma?" the girl cried, cradling her arm against her chest. They had wrapped a thick layer of cooling pads around it. Carlisle flipped the chart open.
Senna Cullen? Crap, this was Esme's girl. The girl, who could have been his daughter, if things had turned out differently. If he hadn't messed up so unforgivingly…
"Please," Senna sobbed. "My arm hurts. I want my Momma."
Carlisle put the chart aside. "I'm sure she's going to be here soon. Can I look at your arm?"
"No! You're a stranger." she protested. "Can't you call my Momma to come and pick me up?"
He reached for the medication on the nightstand. "How old are you Senna?"
She held up her unharmed arm, shoving him five fingers. "I'm five. Are you a doctor?"
"Yes, I am. Do you want me to make your arm better?"
She didn't answer him. Maybe she was just too exhausted from the crying. But when he held the little plastic cup with the painkiller to her mouth, she protested again.
"Momma says I can't eat and drink stuff from strangers."
"I think, she would be okay with it, if the stranger happens to be a doctor." Carlisle mumbled, placing his fingers gently on Senna's chin. She slurped on the sugary liquid. Moments later her eyes turned glassy.
"Good girl," he praised. "Now, let us look at your arm. Shall we?"
Senna nodded. Her stomach felt funny somehow and she was suddenly so tired.
Carlisle carefully flexed the tiny fingers. There was some swelling around the wrist. But at least it didn't look like anything was broken. He still would order some x-rays to make sure.
"Senna!" Carlisle's ex-wife pushed him out of the way and wrapped her arms around the girl. "Are you okay, sweetie? Momma is sorry she took so long to come here."
"I hurt my arm when I fell from the slide." Senna explained. "Can I sleep now? I'm so tired."
Esme kissed Senna's forehead. It only took about a minute more until the girl passed out.
"Her arm is not broken, is it?"
Carlisle cleared his throat. "I don't think so. We need to do some x-rays first to make sure."
Esme caressed her daughter's head. "They should have brought her to the clinic where I work. My poor baby, I bet she was scared."
Carlisle rolled the portable x-ray apparatus over to the bed. It felt awkward for him to be near Esme. There was so much he wanted to tell her and even more that he couldn't tell her. He looked her over, trying to make it as quick as possible.
"Don't look at me." Esme snapped. "This is how women look like when we're forty and have been on a twelve-hour-shift."
"I wasn't looking." Carlisle stuttered. "Can you hold her arm up on the machine, so that we can take the x-rays?"
Esme crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I want another doctor."
"Do you doubt my skills?"
"No, I'm not. I'd just prefer having another doctor treat Senna. I don't wish having to talk to you."
Carlisle felt like an entire bucket of cold ice had just been poured over his head. She still hated him. Esme was still mad at him for what he had done to Felix. Never in a thousand years, would she be able to forgive him. He probably didn't deserve it.
"Fine, I page pediatrics. They'll send someone down. It might take a while though."
"Is that why they sent you to treat her?"
Now it was Carlisle's time to snap at his ex-wife. "They thought she was my niece, because apparently someone who hates me still hasn't found the time to change her name back to Platt!"
Esme resisted the urge to slap Carlisle. There was a very specific reason why she hadn't changed her name back. She didn't want people to find out she was related to a bank robber.
"You still tend to raise your voice when you get agitated." She said, making her voice as cold as possible. "Maybe your new wife will like to handle your bad temper."
Carlisle clasped his hands together. Why the hell had Marcus told her about the wedding? He didn't want her to know.
The x-ray machine rattled. Now they would only have to wait for a couple of minutes.
"I'm sorry." Esme mumbled after a short pause of awkward silence between them. "What you do is none of my business anymore."
She sat down at the edge of Senna's bed. "She's like stoned. Maybe you've given her too much painkiller?"
"Sleeping for a while, won't do any harm to the girl."
Esme noticed the dark circles under Carlisle's blue eyes. "Maybe you should get some sleep too. I assume it must be difficult when you're sharing a bed with a hot young thing."
The jealousy in Esme's voice was unmistakable. Carlisle loved that she was jealous. Being jealous was way better than hating on him constantly.
"Rose broke off with me." He told Esme. "Maybe it's better that way. Both of us weren't really into this marriage."
Esme sighed. She stood up from the bed and pulled the blanket over Senna's legs. "Why would you ask her to marry you if you aren't sure?"
Carlisle stared down at his hands. What was he supposed to tell her?
"It's been five years. I am supposed to move on."
"And you had to move on with someone almost half your age? Why do men do stuff like that?"
Carlisle's voice cracked when he spoke up again. "Maybe, I'd just like to have a second chance. Everyone deserves that. Don't you think?"
Little Senna blinked. "Momma, where are we?"
"We're at the hospital, sweetie. Go back to sleep."
She kissed the girl on her cheek and turned to Carlisle. "Are the x-rays done?"
He nodded his head. Then he held the first picture up against the light. "Good, it doesn't look like anything's broken. She should be good with a brace."
"That's great. I'll make sure, she wears it."
She watched him carefully while he adjusted the brace around her little daughter's arm. If things only had turned out differently, she thought, trying to swallow back the sad thoughts.
When she followed Carlisle out of the E.R. a few minutes later, she had managed to calm her feelings enough to even smile again. She balanced Senna on her hip and spoke softly to her whenever the girl opened her eyes. How much painkiller had Carlisle given her? She shouldn't be passed out like this from it.
"Keep your hands from my daughter's fiancé." A shrill voice hissed at her from behind.
Carlisle turned around and sighed. What the hell was Lucy doing here? He wasn't in the mood to deal with this annoying woman now.
"Excuse me, Ma'am." Esme said coldly. "I don't think he's engaged any longer."
"Yes, I know!" Lucy snapped. "And it's your fault, Mrs…whatever your name is. Don't you think I don't know that you're trying to get him back. But Carlisle belongs to my Rose now!"
"Mom, stop this." Rosalie called out, rushing towards her mother. "You're embarrassing both of us."
"I'm just fighting for your happiness, darling."
"You know shit about what makes me happy." Rosalie stated. "Carlisle, I'm sorry about this. She insisted we come here to talk to you."
Carlisle raised his hands. "It's okay. I know, it's not your fault that she's so hysterical."
"I am not hysterical. You don't know how it's like to have kids!"
"Momma, why is that woman yelling?" Senna asked, raising her head from Esme's shoulder. "I don't like when people yell."
"You're Momma's smart girl, aren't you? Let's go home now. Dr. Cullen here is busy with his…extended family."
She turned around and walked out, noticing after a couple of steps that someone was following her.
"You forgot her doll." Rosalie said. "I'm sure she'd miss it."
"Thank you." Senna murmured. "Can I come and help you fix cars when my arm is better?"
Rosalie nodded her head. "If your mother allows it," She held the door of the backseat open while Esme carefully adjusted the seatbelt around her daughter.
"So, you're the woman my husband wanted to marry?" Esme asked Rose after closing the door.
"We're not getting married. Carlisle is great, but he's just not right for me."
"Your mother doesn't seem to think like that. She seems more upset about things than you are."
Rosalie rolled her eyes. "I don't know why I can never please her. I mean, if I had gone through with the wedding and divorced Carlisle later on. Wouldn't that have been much worse?"
"Probably, it would. Carlisle took it pretty bad when I left him."
Rose hesitated. She knew she was about to cross a line. It was wrong to interfere in other people's love life.
"You left him because he helped bringing your brother into jail. Right?"
"Wrong. I left him, because he stabbed me in the back. Felix is all the family I have left. You don't send family to jail, no matter what they might have done."
Rosalie nodded in agreement. For a moment she wondered how she would react if Bella would arrest either Emmett or Jasper. No, she wouldn't stop loving her because of that. When you really love someone, you can't just stop doing it.
"Maybe you should consider to forgive him." She suggested. "I think, he still has feelings for you deep inside."
"It is weird, that you of all people are saying that to me." Her mouth twitched nervously. "I love him, but I can't forgive him for what he has done to my brother."
She opened the driver's door and sat down. "You're a wonderful girl, Rose. Don't let your mother tell you differently."
"Thank you." Rosalie mumbled, swallowing down a lump in her throat.
"You're welcome. Oh and as for me and Carlisle getting back together. I think it's too late for that."
"Why?" Rose asked, leaning over into the opened window. "I swear that I and Carlisle are over. We're as over as it can be."
Esme nodded. "I get that. But he's not the only one who is trying to move on." She turned the key around in the ignition. "I recently met someone. Royce is a wonderful man, a bit shy perhaps but very charming."
The blood in Rosalie's body dropped to her feet. "Royce? As in Royce King?"
"Exactly the very same. Look, I have to go now. Senna is better off in bed for the next hours."
Your daughter is better off as far away from that pervert as possible, Rose thought. She didn't say anything though. All those dark thoughts inside her would stay hidden in a deep corner of her mind. There she could handle them like she always had.