A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews! I'm honestly surprised that anyone is reading this!

Disclaimer: In case you didn't know already, I don't own Twilight or any of the characters. I just play around with them.

Song for chapter: Miracle by Paramore

I've gone for too long living like I'm not alive

So I'm going to start over tonight

Beginning with you and I

When this memory fades

I'm gonna make sure it's replaced

With chances taken

Hope embraced

Carlisle POV

My emotions were all over the place. The first almost traitorous emotion I felt was happiness which was quickly followed by guilt for being happy. My love was lying in a hospital bed unconscious; there was no room for happiness. A part of me was so overjoyed to see her, so excited that my patience had finally paid off. I quickly overcame the urge to grab her and run far away; I had to be in doctor mode now.

"We found her lying unconscious in her apartment after her neighbor called in," the paramedic informed me. "The woman who called was worried since she heard noises and she knew her neighbor was alone with a baby."

A baby. Esme had a baby. New emotion now- jealousy. Love does not envy, I reminded myself as I quickly began assessing her condition.

The nurses were cleaning off her face since it was covered in scrapes and bruises. I brought a portable x-ray machine over and took some images. As I waited for them, I checked the rest of her body and the paramedics finished telling their story.

"When we got there, we found a Charles Evenson inebriated and bordering on consciousness in the kitchen. She," he pointed toward Esme, "Mrs. Esme Evenson, was unconscious on the floor next to him. Her heart rate and blood pressure have been stable, but she hasn't woken up."

I went over to look at the x-rays. Her left arm was fractured in two places, but she had no other broken bones. Her ribs were severely bruised, but that was the extent of her major injuries. There didn't appear to be any internal bleeding, but I knew she would need a CT scan just to make sure. No bumps appeared on her head, however, a concussion couldn't be ruled out. If she did have one, she needed to wake up.

"Mrs. Evenson," I spoke, loud and clear. "Mrs. Evenson, can you hear me?" She didn't respond, so I gently pressed on her ribs, hoping that maybe the discomfort would help her wake up. Nothing I tried was working.

Please, God. Just let her be okay. I'm not sure if You have placed her back in my life for good, but I just want her to be safe now. Please.

Esme's heart rate increased ever so slightly which gave me hope to try again.

"Please, Esme, please. If you can hear me, wake up. You need to open your eyes. Please, Esme. Please open your eyes. Wake up for me."

Her eyes finally fluttered open and locked with mine. An emotion unknown to me flashed in her eyes. My eyes were alight with happiness once more. "Thank You, Jesus," I sighed, knowing that my prayers were answered. It sounded like she also sighed something under her breath, but I couldn't make out what it was.

I had no way to know if she recognized me or not. Obviously, a lot had happened to her in eight years. Assuming what we had was real, I hoped she still remembered me.

"Mrs. Evenson, you're in the hospital," I informed her. This time I recognized the emotion in her eyes; they were filled with fear and her heart rate began climbing.

"It's alright. You're safe now," I assured her. "I'm Dr. Cul—"

"Carlisle," she spoke up, her lips slightly curving upward and her eyes closed again. I had never been so happy to hear my name before, but I needed her to stay awake.

"Yes, Esme, yes. But I need you to keep your eyes open. You need to stay awake just until we can be sure you don't have a concussion." Her eyes popped back open and she began to look worried.

"You're going to be alright," I assured her.

"Emmett," she whispered to herself.

"What do you need?" I asked, fully willing to get her anything she wanted.

"My baby," she said a little louder, starting to panic. "Where is my son?"

I turned to look at the paramedic, hoping he would have the answers.

"We found the child in the bedroom asleep. We examined him, but it appears he slept through the whole attack. Nothing was wrong with him and the neighbor has him now," the paramedic said.

"Thank God," she whispered in relief, closing her eyes once again.

"Esme, I really need for you to stay awake for me now." My pleading worked and she opened her eyes again halfway. The nurses finished cleaning her up and stabilized her arm so we could head up to CT.

As we wheeled her upstairs, a paramedic stopped me. "Dr. Cullen, I just wanted you to know that the police have the man in custody. They plan on coming to get a statement from Mrs. Evenson after she has some time to recover, but he will definitely be held until then."

"Thank you very much," I said as I took my glove off and shook his hand. I turned and hurried to follow my love.

The nurses were getting her settled into the scanner, and she still had her eyes halfway open. "You're doing very well," I praised her as I walked closer. "Just stay awake until we find out the news from this scan and then you can sleep, okay?"

She nodded her head and the nurses and I exited the room to begin the scan. Once it was complete, they moved her back onto the stretcher and took her to get settle in a room. I went to read the scans and was relieved to find no internal bleeding and no concussion.

I hurried down to the new room and the nurses were almost finished making her comfortable. I quickly filled a syringe with morphine and walked over to her beside.

"Good news," I said and she looked up at me. "No concussion and no other serious injury. So I'm going to give you some morphine and you can sleep while I cast your arm."

She smiled and closed her eyes. "Thank you, Carlisle," she whispered.

"You're safe now. I promise," I said as I injected the drug into her IV line. She nodded and drifted off to sleep.

I spent the next hour carefully applying a cast to her broken arm. I could have finished in a smaller amount of time, but I was enjoying every moment I could with my love. She looked so peaceful as she slept, and even with all the bruises, she was the most beautiful creature on the planet. I hummed quietly as I worked, and the smile stayed on her lips the whole time. Once I was finished, I kissed her fingers and gently propped her arm up in a comfortable position. My shift had technically been over for two hours now so I kissed her forehead and whispered a promise to return in the morning.

As I walked down the hall toward my office, I felt lighter. May 20th would now become one of my favorite days of the whole year. My love was back with me, and she appeared to be happy about it as well. Tomorrow, I would need to find out more about her situation. She was married, but not happily. I almost felt guilty about calling another man's wife my love. Almost.

I drove home day-dreaming of her caramel hair fanned out behind her head as she slept peacefully in the hospital bed. If I was a violent person, I would be tempted to hunt down the vile monster that hurt her. That monster didn't deserve someone as kind and gently as Esme. I could only pray that the justice system wouldn't fail.

I walked into my apartment, throwing my things down on the couch. I went straight into my bathroom and took a hot shower. My emotions finally caught up with me and came out as a river of tears. I cried for Esme: her pain, her past, anything that had ever hurt her. I cried for me: my happiness, my previous desperation, my new-found hope. I cried for us: our past, our present, our possible future.

My tears eventually ceased to flow, so I finally got out of the shower. I chugged a bottle of water, ate a bowl of cereal, and went to bed. After tossing and turning for a while with no relief. I eventually decided that maybe God wasn't finished with me for the day. I sat up in bed and grabbed my Bible off my nightstand. I sat it on its spine and let it fall open. It had opened to somewhere in the middle. Psalm 120- I call on the Lord in my distress, and he answers me.

That verse finally clicked for me. I had read it before, but never thought much of it. But now, I had called on Him for eight years and He finally answered. I never lost faith and He rewarded me for that. His timing once again proved to be perfect. I smiled and sat the book back in its spot, finally able to relax. I said a prayer of thanks and asked God to watch over Esme and her baby before drifting off into a peaceful sleep.