Carlisle had been confused by Rosaline's sudden appearance and urgent message. "Rose, the human food was clear enough but vampires drank whole blood not the hospital processed stuff. The blood donor clinic might have a little that hasn't been processed yet. You kids like to think you drain animals dry but I know that isn't exactly the case. I'm not exactly sure the precise volume Edward can drink at one time. I know when he's out hunting in a single day two mountain lions is about his limit. Hmm… What is the complete blood volume of a mountain lion? What percentage of blood is Edward able to successfully extract? Do you know in what way he was hurt and why Alice thinks this is the best place to bring him? How am I supposed to explain his vitals? Needles, IV's will break before penetrat…"
"Carlisle," interrupted Rosalie, "I swear if you don't stop intellectualizing the problem and tell me what to do I'll find the nearest chalk board and start running my fingernails across it!"
Carlisle supposed her response had been better than her slapping him across the face, calling him an idiot and telling him to get a hold of himself because his son was counting on him.
He took a fortifying breath. "Go steal anything unprocessed the clinic has. I know of a few patients in the coma ward that won't miss a pint. I'll take care of that. Also Rosalie, call Esme." The Hippocratic oath would need to be stretched a little if the medical system was going to treat a vampire.
"Maybe after we know more?" protested Rose. Esme was a bit of a mama bear when someone hurt their feelings. Rose wasn't sure how she'd deal with actual injury.
Carlisle just gave her a look.
"Fine," agreed Rose, wondering how she ended up the person on scene talking to 911 or in this case Dad and Mom. It was kind of a wretched job when she didn't really have a clue what was going on.
For Carlisle, even with prior warning, it was seriously disturbing to see Edward rushed into the emergency with a clear 'level one triage response' engaged. Jasper wandered in behind the paramedics who were hurrying the gurney into position. Edward appeared to be semi-conscious. A quick glance at Jasper resulted in a discrete nod. The lead paramedic briefed Carlisle. Acid to the face and all down his front, respiratory distress, suspected drowning, his heart stopped, CPR was administered, spontaneous resuscitation achieved, semi-conscious, with persistent respiratory distress.
This was a complete and utter disaster. Edward was clearly in a very distressing state but how was Carlisle supposed to help him when everyone else would focus on the wrong things? Blah, blah, blah no heartbeat, no blood pressure, not breathing! His son was a gosh darn vampire!
Carlisle with his pen light in hand forced open one of Edwards eyes for further assessment. "Irrigate his eyes. Saline, 20 minute wash down." There was no pupil response and a lot of obvious damage. Not even drinking a swimming pool of blood was going to make his eyes any redder at this point. Carlisle forced himself into as much clinical detachment as he could muster.
Carlisle quickly scanned the injuries: feeling, looking, probing."Actually I want a complete wash down of him. There are chemical burns covering his face, in his mouth and nose and all down his front. Get the old AED pads off if there was a malfunction they are just in the way. I'm not feeling any movement in the ribs. A chest x-ray can wait."
Carlisle didn't fail to notice the pooling saliva every time the nurses reached over his son tending him. This entire situation was pretty dangerous. Edward was blind, Carlisle doubted he could smell or even taste as he suspected the acid had burned out those senses for now which had to be disorienting in the extreme. With his enhanced hearing alone, every human heart would be tracked and with this level of trauma, reason had certainly shut down leaving only the basic survival instincts to protect himself and to feed or die.
Though Carlisle cherished all life and knew this was putting his co-workers at risk, he wasn't capable of prioritizing their safety above that of his son. His son wasn't healing. Why wasn't his son healing? The risk to all the human's around him was eclipsed by one thought, one prayer, 'Dear Lord above, please help me help him.' Carlisle was an extremely skilled doctor but this type of damage wasn't something he'd ever seen on a vampire before and his whole family would be depending on him to make his skill set cross over the species gap and save Edward. All these people were trying to help. It wasn't right to risk them when they didn't understand the risk.
Jasper, was looking mighty twitchy while trying to be as inconspicuous as possible in the corner so he wouldn't get kicked out of trauma one. He was likely the only thing preventing Edward from going all toddler with a birthday cake on every human in the emergency room.
"I can't get his pulse," protested one nurse.
"I'm not getting a read on his blood pressure!" another called.
"Leave off the blood pressure cuff for now. The acid probably ate a hole in it. Pulse is," Carlisle pretended to check Edward's pulse then rattled off a number that sounded appropriate. Carlisle frowned, his mischievous son should at this point be quietly taunting 'liar, liar pants on fire'. "Come on Edward," he thought. "Hang in there."
Carlisle grimaced as he watched a not insignificant layer of skin peel off with the adhesive AED pad a nurse was removing. Edward's breathing was too evenly rhythmed given the amount of coughing, "Roll him on his side! Roll him on his side! I need suction." It was too even for the amount of coughing and vomiting he was doing.
Carlisle glanced at Jasper. Okay,.. Jasper was setting the rhythm so Edward obviously didn't want to breathe. And Jasper was starting to look alarmingly shaky. His sons had been due to go hunting tomorrow and blood was fuel, pure and simple.
The door to the ER slid open and Alice urgently pushed Emmett towards Edward.
Okay they had to switch between Jasper controlling Edward and Emmett which meant they needed everyone clear.
Carlisle with a nearly inaudible whisper let Jasper and Emmett in on his plan.
Carlisle set up the heart monitor and in a motion blurred with vampiric speed pulled clear a small strip of black electrical tape that had been keeping cords from tangling, covered the practice test signal light and powered up the monitor so that it started a practice defib alarm. Jasper with the military focus honed in battle was watching for Carlisle's signal and Edward stopped breathing. Carlisle let them jump into CPR as he grabbed the shock paddles waiting the few moments it took for Alice to get Emmet ready.
"Clear!" He called. (Sorry Edward this will likely hurt a little but your arctic cousin does worse when she's just messing with you).
Everyone stepped back out of the danger zone. He shocked Edward. To the naked eye everything happened at once but at full vampiric speed. Jasper collapsed in exhaustion, Edward exploded into a frenzy of attack which (conveniently or intentionally Carlise was never sure) sent the electrocardiogram across the room and shattered it, finally Emmett pinned him. The thrashing made it clear it was a good thing he was pinned.
Carlisle would buy the hospital a new electrocardiogram. The ER device was actually a multifunction health detection supermachine worth more than one of Rosalie's fancy cars but just the same, given that Edward wasn't ever going to have a heartbeat having the very expensive equipment broken was a thankful thing.
The hospital's chief administrator who'd come down to the ER when he realized his top doctor was working on his own son surveyed the damage and yelled. "What are you all waiting for? Sedate the patient before he hurts himself or someone else!"
"You can't!" protested Carlisle. He spouted off some nonsense allergen or sensitivity excuse and the mountain of lies got taller.
Alice took over in the lies department, now not only had Edward's heart supposedly stopped multiple times, he was allergic to whatever and had been traumatized by hospitals when he was orphaned so if the extra nurses and such would clear out, he'd calm down and his family would help.
There was no way the hospital ought to have gone along with that nonsense but Alice was in full dazzle mode and everyone helpfully cleared out because obviously her suggestion was a good idea.
Rosalie in the waiting room who was the most dazzling of any of them when she really put her mind to it, kept all the doctors, nurses and administrators helpfully otherwise occupied because getting her a cup of tea because she was thirsty or finding her a chair to rest wearily in or helping her find her lost phone or helping that poor little girl in the corner with a bloody nose. It was obviously more important than the medical emergency behind that door.
"Jasper, go eat," ordered Carlisle. Jasper's eyes were pitch black by now and he was so exhausted he could barely stand but he checked with Alice first who nodded to him.
Carlisle took a few calming breaths then got the blood they'd put aside. Actually first he enlisted Alice's help to pin Edwards head and jaw and using a set of medical tongs removed the shattered remains of an airway from Edward's throat. Apparently the medical tool had not well withstood an enraged vampire. After picking clear the last of the mangled plastic bits, he started feeding his son the blood. When Edward bit one of Carlisle's fingers off, Carlisle's supernatural compassion understood that it was his own fault for not being careful enough of Mr. Bitey. He picked the lost finger up from the floor where Edward had mindlessly spat it.
The blood helped massively. The raging frenzy faded to pained growling whines and lazy lashing out attempts that were completely controllable. Carlisle wasn't sure if his son would keep the blood in his system or throw up again but once the human emergency response workers had left the room, the coughing and retching had very nearly stopped.
Carlisle dried Edward off and started applying surgical dressings to the acid burns. The burns on his chest seemed to be stable but his eyes looked like they were getting worse and Edward refused to breath. Carlisle took a sample of the venomous ooze leaking from Edward's eyes then re-bandaged his eyes. He strapped an oxygen mask on Edward which the poor guy weakly tried to bat away but Emmett had him effectively pinned.
"Is that necessary," protested Emmett. Edward was hard enough to hold down without worrying about him keeping an oxygen mask on. "It's not like we need to breathe. Frankly he isn't breathing anyway."
Esme slipped into the room. "Oh dear, love," she grabbed Edwards hands and Carlisle watched as his son relaxed just a little under the high octane force of his mother's love.*
Carlisle paused to explain. "He has no strength left to spare for self control. He doesn't even have the strength yet to communicate with us. All his energy is being diverted to pain management and crisis response. This building is filled with humans. A controlled oxygen source not only doesn't hurt but he's been having obvious difficulties breathing and the show of treatment alone makes sense. I'd like to get him breathing to dry out his lungs and there is something I'm missing or Alice wouldn't be frowning at me so."
Alice gave a worried shrug.
"I have to take this sample and do some lab work. Alice be honest what's the worse case scenario permanent blindness?"
Alice shook her head. "Inside, if it gets bad enough that he can't absorb blood. He won't ever heal. The pain won't ever stop. Eventually you'll put him out of his misery."
Esme tightened her hold on Edward's hand.
'Level one triage response' Immediate life threatening injuries.
*Esme's vampiric gift is listed as motherly love. I did not make that one up.
To those who get to hung up on the medical details this be, a world of magical sparkly vampires. It ain't supposed to be plausible.
So sad... no reviews. Maybe Twilight is the wrong fandom for my brand of silliness. I'm feeling melodramatically disappointed. I'm pretty horrible at writing romance. Sorry guys.