Carlisle returned about two hours later with an assortment of bottles and test strips. Before he entered the room Rosalie hissed "Dad it's getting harder to keep people out."
Carlisle nodded in acknowledgement, then went in and started a string of tests on Edward that mostly centered around his test strips. Edward was still getting worse. He should have healed completely by now.
"Dad, you're running low on time," warned Alice.
"He's not even struggling anymore," protested Emmett who wouldn't have acted before Carlisle came back. "I'm going to try letting him go."
Carlisle nodded and watched. "Slowly Emmett. Esme step back."
When Emmett let go, Edward screamed like he'd been lit aflame so Emmett looking alarmed grabbed him again. Edward was panting in distress.
"Interesting," exclaimed Carlisle. He was suddenly watching Edward very carefully.
Esme glared at her husband. "That's our son! Not your science experiment!"
Alice looked hopeful. "No mom, he figured something out. Dad whatever you're thinking you're on the right track but there's more to it."
"Emmett you were holding him differently before, can you adjust your hold back to the way it was. I think Edward was more comfortable before," suggested Carlisle.
Emmett did as he was asked and the panting stopped, the pained expression eased a little.
"That's better," observed Carlisle.
"I thought you wanted him to be breathing," protested Emmett who was getting a little antsy.
"Maybe," answered Carlisle. "Maybe not. Can you hold him tighter and spread out your hands so you're covering more surface area."
"I don't want to hurt him. I'll break ribs if I hold him any tighter," protested Emmett.
"I'm not sure that the broken ribs matter," answered Carlisle, obviously lost in thought.
Emmett and Esme glared daggers at him. Carlisle looked up and noticed his angry family and decided he'd better explain his thinking.
"If you ripped off my arm it would hurt but it wouldn't hurt like that." Carlisle nodded towards Edward. "What's more Edward bit my finger off and in the two hours I was out running tests it is fine other than a little venom scarring. Edward isn't healing. His eyes are worse and internally he's much worse. I could hear it when he was panting before."
"Breaking his ribs is a less damaging, less painful injury balanced against the injury I think it might prevent. Please try to slowly increase how tightly you're holding him."
Carlisle sat at the edge of Edward's bed and watched his son closely. He nodded to Emmett to start. Edward seemed to relax slightly the tighter Emmett held him. They all heard the first rib break. Emmett froze, locking his massive muscles in place and looking very concerned.
Suddenly Carlisle smiled with relief, "Look Emmett."
Edward in jerky fingerspelling signed. "m o r e."
Emmett grimaced but did as he was asked until Edward spread his hand in a clear "stop."
Carlisle explained, "Emmett, I think you're compressing acid out of the tiny voids inside his lungs and reducing his exposure. Somehow I think I'm going to need to clean your insides out Edward. Wash your mouth out with soap maybe?" Carlisle teased, relieved and perhaps a bit foolishly giddy to have figured out how to help at least a little. He gave Edward's hand a gentle squeeze although if he were to give into his feelings he'd instead have pulled his son into a mindless hug, rocking him and telling him it would be alright but that really wouldn't help much.
"I thought of some weighted blankets and that seems to buy some time too," offered Alice. "They had some at the 'As Seen on TV' store in the mall. Be right back. Shopping calls."
Esme didn't deal well with stress. She giggled a little hysterically, "A shopping emergency?"
"He'll be okay Mom," Emmett offered.
Rosalie's charm had been pushed to the limits and once one nurse successfully breached the defenses a continual stream of health care professionals kept interrupting.
Edward, who according to the nurse was freezing, was helped to a warm blanket. Edward managed that alright. He seemed aware enough now to tolerate some human attention. The nurse who went to take his temperature ended up with her thermometer smashed. Edward, who'd been calm before started coughing distressingly again. It took a long while to get him settled again and comfortable.
When the nurse came back 15 minutes later to do a vitals check. Edward's distress ramped up even more. He coughed so hard he vomited a little of the blood they'd forced into him earlier.
Carlisle reluctantly added vomiting blood to the chart because it had been witnessed.
Carlise was angry and he didn't often get angry. This was his son. Couldn't they see they were hurting and not help…
Inspiration hit. Everytime Edward produced excess venom his condition deteriorated. "Edward?! Edward! Can you hear me? I need an uncontaminated sample of your venom."
"Esme hold the door shut for a minute will you. We can say it jammed." As soon as Carlisle could get his son stable they were getting the hell out of dodge. He needed the hospital equipment but every human that entered the room was a risk and they wouldn't stay out!
Edward had lost what little ground he'd gained. He wasn't able to communicate or understand what was being asked of him.
Alice knocked on the door with a self satisfied smile carrying four weighted blankets and tugging someone along. "I have just what you need, Daddy Dr. Cullin." she called.
A mouth watering Bella called to Edward, "I hope you feel better soon."
Dr. Cullin got his venom sample.
"Thanks Bella that'll cheer him up bye!" Alice shut the door in Bella's face rather rudely.
In about fifteen minutes more of kind-of freaking annoying doctor fiddling and fussing Carlise finally explained himself. "His venom has been reacting with the acid to make a really powerful reactant that's exacerbating the damage. I've figured out how to chemically neutralize it."
Emmett, unimpressed and frankly getting a little cranky, clarified, "so the acid and venom make a nasty super chemical but you can stop it?"
Carlisle nodded but was already undoing the bandages from Edward's eyes and washing them out again.
Emmett looked a little annoyed at getting second hand drenched yet again. He'd just started to dry out but he supposed his kid brother had been lying there this whole time in nothing but his skivvies alternately soaked and dried then wrapped in soggy blankets again and again and he wasn't complaining. Whimpering yes but not complaining per say. "Alice, you think you could get him a gown or something?"
"While you're out there send in Rose," added Carlise who now seemed to have moved to a new indignity involving shoving tubing up Edward's nose.
"Already on it," answered Alice.
When Rose and Alice were back, Rose covered her mouth in alarm at the state of Edward, "Good lord Carlisle what have you done to my baby brother." (Rose prescribed to the, I was turned older than you, philosophy too.)
'Nothing unnecessary, but there's another procedure he needs. I'll need Jasper back and Emmett will need to be at full strength so he'll have to feed. I need my hands free. Esme's love really is helping keep him calm. I need you to tag out Emmett. Edward's pretty weak now but you see how Emmett's holding him? The tighter you can hold him like that the better."
Rosalie pushed up her sleeves and slid in beside Emmett looking determined. She was scowling at the universe for messing with her and her family.
"That's my girl," encouraged Emmett with a grin.
Alice piped up, "the testing," she tapped her nose indicating the tube Carlise had inserted. "Three hours. Emmett and Jasper have to get back here in three hours. I've got an idea and it'll work!" Alice was off dragging Emmett with her.
"What test?" asked Esme.
"He needs to have finished metabolizing the blood for the neutralizer to be effective. I'm testing stomach contents." Unfortunately Edward would still need to be subjected to the testing or Alice wouldn't have seen what the correct timing for the last procedure was. You learned these things living with a precognitive talent for years.
"Can't you just pump his stomach?" Demanded Rosalie angrily. She had a medical degree of her own. Edward had two. Neither of them had much practical experience but when spending eternity in school "knowledge for knowledge's sake" became a thing.
"The venom acid combo dissolves the tubing. It would leave him with what is essentially glue all down his esophagus choking him. That's why I went through the nasal passage and only part way to guide a prob.." Carlisle started to explain.
"Whatever, okay I get it!" snapped Rose. She really had no patience for explanations when she was upset.
"Alice looked happy, Dr. Cullen." Esme suggested trying to be encouraging rather than terrified.
Carlisle smiled and squeezed Esme's hand then gave her a quick peck on the cheek before getting back to work.
Jasper and Emmett were back in the requested three hours. Emmet was wearing a raincoat. He was done with getting soaked and he was definitely done with his kid brother puking on him but if you'd tried to stop him from coming back to help he'd have just plowed you out of the way. They'd not gone hunting for bears and mountain lions when they'd been sent to eat or else. They'd bought the farm.
(Actually, I would like to clarify that statement just to make sure no one thinks Emmett and Jasper died. That didn't happen at all. You see there was a small cattle farm for sale in Forks. Alice bought it. She put it on her platinum card. They loaded the cows onto a cattle truck and, well, 'Drive Through' dinner? Cow's were kinda gross. Don't judge. I bet you've eaten at Taco Bell. Even in the best case scenario, Edward wouldn't be able to hunt for himself for a while so the portable fast food was doubly important. And you thought your hospital food was bad.)
Carlise looked at his family and steeled himself to explain what needed to be done.
"Jasper, that thing you did before where you essentially anesthetized him. Can you do it again and for how long? We are immune to traditional narcotics but the closest human equivalent to this procedure requires the patient to be unconscious. I can work with, completely relaxed and unwilling to move. It won't be fun for Edward but it is necessary."
"I can give you an hour," answered Jasper gravely. "After that you'd be on borrowed time. This morning was not ideal. I was not prepared."
Alice, who knew it would take Carlise whom she loved dearly, far too long to explain the procedure clearly if he tried to use medical terminology, decided to be crude but succinct. "He means to shove tubes in Edward down the mouth and up the rear and essentially pressure wash him out with the antidote."
Carlisle grimaced at the graphic nature of the description but nodded as Alice was essentially right. "I need to get his lungs too. He has to be still and relaxed. I can't have things breaking off inside him like the airway did earlier."
"Better you than me bro," commented Emmett uncomfortably. "I take it you need me to help particularly in case he needs to be overpowered?"
Carlisle nodded.
The girls left the room because poor Edward had suffered enough indignities.
(Let's just skip this next part for Edward's sake and summarize that it was all very unpleasant and that the room was left a complete disaster. Carlisle may have become, inured to the unpleasantness of a surgical room but Emmett and Jasper could only struggle for stoicism and Edward was just aware enough to be completely mortified by the whole thing.)
Emmett left the room because finally, finally Edward was alright enough to not need someone to sit on him just to stop him from hurting himself or someone else and frankly that had been horrible and he wanted a bit of a cry or maybe a football game. "Alice, do you think you can find a nurse to get him a new gown and well actually a new room. We broke the bed and well, really everything."
Rose peeled Emmett's raincoat off and hugged him. He gently and gratefully folded himself around her.
Esme looked in. Edward was propped in the corner huddled in the last remaining dry blanket. Carlisle was mopping the room and Jasper was gathering the bulk of the destroyed and scattered equipment. Working together they disposed of everything but the EKG which the entire hospital knew got totaled. Alice wheeled in a new bed and despite being undersized compared to her brother effortlessly hefted Edward into it.
Edward made a weak noise of pain, disorientation/distress reaching out in alarm for stability. Alice had given him no warning whatsoever just assuming his telepathy would pick up on her intentions. It sort of had but not being in control and being tossed about like a sack of potatoes when you're blind and injured is really confusing. (It was scary but Edward would prefer if I explained that the terrifying apex predator was slightly startled.)
"Sorry I figured it was best to just get it over with," Alice explained. "Nurse incoming in 10, 9,..."
They'd only just cleaned up when a nurse came and helped Edward into a new gown. He was capable of being, well… not charming but tolerable, in a I'm feeling miserable please leave me alone now sort of way.
Alice is on a bit of a rampage isn't she. I don't think she's fond of the idea of Edward being hurt.
Story Stats are still broken... Please review so I know people are reading this.