Love, Loyalty and Friendship 7/?
Title: Love, Loyalty and Friendship 7/?
Author: not_from_stars
Fandom: Twilight
Pairing/Characters: Carlisle Cullen, Edward Cullen
Rating/Category: PG-13/Gen
Summary: "Son, Bella's been hurt. She's here at the hospital."
Words: 1,588
Notes: From my never completed twilightbigbang. It will be completed some day. Eventually. Maybe.
The office was nicely furnished and could be considered roomy. However, the occupant sitting at the desk with the door firmly closed wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings.
Carlisle had never been happy with the task of calling someone to let their loved ones know that they were either in the hospital or that they had lost them. However, after seeing the way some of the other doctors he had worked with through the years handled it, he decided that if he called, at least they would get more honesty and understanding about the situation.
This time, it was no different. In fact, he was pretty sure that this was the hardest thing he had ever done. He didn't bother calling the Denali Clan's house number first. Alice's visions had seen Edward leaving a week earlier and heading South. It was one of the reasons that Esme had wanted them to call him right away because they knew he would be on the move again.
Taking in a deep breath that he didn't need, Carlisle quickly dialed the number to Edward's cell phone. True to form, his son answered on the first ring.
"Carlisle?"
"Edward. I need you to come home son, to Alaska. You're needed."
"What's happened? Esme? Alice?"
"No, Esme and Alice are... well, fine would not be a good way to describe them right now, but they are unharmed."
"Rosalie? Are she and Emmett and Jasper --"
"Edward."
On the other end, Carlisle could hear Edward stop moving. "What's going on, Carlisle? What's happened?"
"It's Bella," he said in a quiet voice. "She's here."
"She's there? Why did she go there? How did she even find us?"
"She didn't," Carlisle said in as calm of a voice as he could. "Son, Bella's been hurt. She's here at the hospital."
"The hospital?" His voice dropped. "Hurt how?"
"Yes, son, the hospital. She's unconscious and has been for about two weeks."
"TWO WEEKS?!" The words exploded out of Edward's mouth. "She's been there for two weeks and you're just telling me now?!"
Carlisle closed his eyes as he heard the pain and the feeling of betrayal in Edward's voice. "Esme and Alice wanted to call you as soon as she was brought in. The rest of us thought we should wait until she woke up and we knew what condition she was in." He sighed. "It's bad Edward."
"How bad?"
"Bad enough that it even has Rosalie threatening the doctors that come near her with death if they don't save her." He opened his eyes, fixing his gaze on the wall across the room. "It was Rosalie who brought her in and if she hadn't found her, she'd already be dead."
"Carlisle..."
"Rosalie found her near the house in Forks. It doesn't matter why she was there, just that she found Bella a mess and brought her immediately to me. Laurent was there and he's dead. From what Rosalie saw when she found Bella, there was a fight between a werewolf and Laurent. Bella smelled like wolf even after she brought her all the way in. Rosalie believes that Laurent went to kill Bella and somehow a werewolf got involved."
"Is she going to be all right?"
"I honestly don't know." And that was the crux of the matter. Carlisle was making the call instead of Esme because he would be the one to be completely honest with his son. Esme would want to make him feel better and imbue him with the faith that she had that everything was going to work out for the best.
"Bella..."
"She needs you, son. The hospital is doing all they can, but the family... we feel that she would have a better chance if you were here with her. We think that if she knew you were nearby, she'd fight and come back to us."
"I broke her heart, so why would me being there make a difference?"
"Are you saying that you're not coming?"
"No, that's not what I'm saying," Edward's voice sounded harsh, hurt. "I'm just saying that she may not want me anywhere near her."
"She was near the house, Edward," Carlisle reminded him. "Surely that means something." He paused. "Esme feels that Bella would wake up if she knew you were here waiting for her. I've learned not to argue with your mother when it comes to things like this that she believes so strongly in."
"You'd lose the argument if she believes that strongly in it."
"She does, son. She thinks that you're the only one that can make Bella come back. The longer she stays unconscious, the less likely it becomes that she'll ever wake up."
"How bad was she?"
"Are you sure you want to know?"
"I need to know."
"She was mauled," he said gently. "The injuries to her chest and arms were massive and she had a gash in her neck and in the back of her head. I honestly don't know if she's going to survive, but I keep doing all I can for her. We love her, too."
Edward let out a hissing breath.
"When Rosalie found her, she thought she was dead. When she realized she wasn't, she carried her all the way from Forks to the hospital."
"Rosalie?"
"Go easy on her, Edward. Something has changed with her about Bella and she doesn't even understand it herself. I do know that like Esme and Alice, she's suddenly become very protective of Bella. It's like watching a lioness with her cub." Carlisle shook his head slightly. "So you're coming?"
"I'm on my way," Edward confirmed.
When Carlisle hung up the phone, he folded his hands on his desk and looked down at them. He was used to working on people and helping them. He was used to making sure most of them were saved. Most of them that left the hospitals he had worked in through the years were never seen by him again. Esme was the one exception to that. He had met Esme when she was a child with a broken leg, then again as an adult who should never have had to go through what she did.
Esme. Edward. Rosalie. Emmett.
They were all a part of his family because he hadn't been able to watch them die. It would have been such a waste in each case. Until Bella, the only one he had known before they lay dying had been Esme. In each case, he had made the decision to turn them in order to save them and give them back some of the life they had lost.
Was that going to be a decision he would have to make when it came to Bella?
He knew, now, that all of the family would rather she be like them than die like they were all afraid she was going to. He had already had this conversation with Jasper. If she died, it would hurt their entire family -- including Rosalie. It would hurt him, as well. Bella was already a part of their family, she had been that way ever since the first time he had seen the way Edward looked at her.
He knew how adamant Edward was about Bella staying human and not being part of their world. He knew that Edward believed that he had no soul -- no matter what the rest of them thought. However...
However, if it came down to losing Bella to death and being able to keep her alive as one of them, would he have to stand against his son in order to do so? He knew what it would do to Esme if Bella died, and as much as he loved Edward, he would do whatever he had to do to keep Esme from being hurt.
Truth be told, in his heart, he would rather that Bella be truly a part of their family than for her to die like this. All of them loved her like she was one of their own, and for her to die from an attack was unthinkable, in his opinion.
Bella deserved more than this. She deserved more than what had been done to her.
She deserved more than what they had done to her.
If he had stood firm with what he thought and not given into Edward's desire to leave Forks when they did, would they have been able to avoid all of this? If they had stayed, would they have been able to get to Laurent before he had found Bella? If they had stayed, maybe she wouldn't have been attacked. If they were with her, she wouldn't have been so close to their house alone.
Carlisle stood up and straightened his coat. Hindsight was always 20/20. It was an expression he had heard many times in his years, and this time he knew that it was true. Looking back on that night now, it was easy to say what should have been done differently. However, looking back didn't change what was in the here and now. Now was when they needed to get Bella stronger and needed to get her to heal. Now what was the most important thing was to find a way to get Bella to regain consciousness so that they could see how much damage there was left to heal.
Shaking his head, he left his office and headed back upstairs. He had to let the family know that Edward was on his way.
Author: not_from_stars
Fandom: Twilight
Pairing/Characters: Carlisle Cullen, Edward Cullen
Rating/Category: PG-13/Gen
Summary: "Son, Bella's been hurt. She's here at the hospital."
Words: 1,588
Notes: From my never completed twilightbigbang. It will be completed some day. Eventually. Maybe.
The office was nicely furnished and could be considered roomy. However, the occupant sitting at the desk with the door firmly closed wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings.
Carlisle had never been happy with the task of calling someone to let their loved ones know that they were either in the hospital or that they had lost them. However, after seeing the way some of the other doctors he had worked with through the years handled it, he decided that if he called, at least they would get more honesty and understanding about the situation.
This time, it was no different. In fact, he was pretty sure that this was the hardest thing he had ever done. He didn't bother calling the Denali Clan's house number first. Alice's visions had seen Edward leaving a week earlier and heading South. It was one of the reasons that Esme had wanted them to call him right away because they knew he would be on the move again.
Taking in a deep breath that he didn't need, Carlisle quickly dialed the number to Edward's cell phone. True to form, his son answered on the first ring.
"Carlisle?"
"Edward. I need you to come home son, to Alaska. You're needed."
"What's happened? Esme? Alice?"
"No, Esme and Alice are... well, fine would not be a good way to describe them right now, but they are unharmed."
"Rosalie? Are she and Emmett and Jasper --"
"Edward."
On the other end, Carlisle could hear Edward stop moving. "What's going on, Carlisle? What's happened?"
"It's Bella," he said in a quiet voice. "She's here."
"She's there? Why did she go there? How did she even find us?"
"She didn't," Carlisle said in as calm of a voice as he could. "Son, Bella's been hurt. She's here at the hospital."
"The hospital?" His voice dropped. "Hurt how?"
"Yes, son, the hospital. She's unconscious and has been for about two weeks."
"TWO WEEKS?!" The words exploded out of Edward's mouth. "She's been there for two weeks and you're just telling me now?!"
Carlisle closed his eyes as he heard the pain and the feeling of betrayal in Edward's voice. "Esme and Alice wanted to call you as soon as she was brought in. The rest of us thought we should wait until she woke up and we knew what condition she was in." He sighed. "It's bad Edward."
"How bad?"
"Bad enough that it even has Rosalie threatening the doctors that come near her with death if they don't save her." He opened his eyes, fixing his gaze on the wall across the room. "It was Rosalie who brought her in and if she hadn't found her, she'd already be dead."
"Carlisle..."
"Rosalie found her near the house in Forks. It doesn't matter why she was there, just that she found Bella a mess and brought her immediately to me. Laurent was there and he's dead. From what Rosalie saw when she found Bella, there was a fight between a werewolf and Laurent. Bella smelled like wolf even after she brought her all the way in. Rosalie believes that Laurent went to kill Bella and somehow a werewolf got involved."
"Is she going to be all right?"
"I honestly don't know." And that was the crux of the matter. Carlisle was making the call instead of Esme because he would be the one to be completely honest with his son. Esme would want to make him feel better and imbue him with the faith that she had that everything was going to work out for the best.
"Bella..."
"She needs you, son. The hospital is doing all they can, but the family... we feel that she would have a better chance if you were here with her. We think that if she knew you were nearby, she'd fight and come back to us."
"I broke her heart, so why would me being there make a difference?"
"Are you saying that you're not coming?"
"No, that's not what I'm saying," Edward's voice sounded harsh, hurt. "I'm just saying that she may not want me anywhere near her."
"She was near the house, Edward," Carlisle reminded him. "Surely that means something." He paused. "Esme feels that Bella would wake up if she knew you were here waiting for her. I've learned not to argue with your mother when it comes to things like this that she believes so strongly in."
"You'd lose the argument if she believes that strongly in it."
"She does, son. She thinks that you're the only one that can make Bella come back. The longer she stays unconscious, the less likely it becomes that she'll ever wake up."
"How bad was she?"
"Are you sure you want to know?"
"I need to know."
"She was mauled," he said gently. "The injuries to her chest and arms were massive and she had a gash in her neck and in the back of her head. I honestly don't know if she's going to survive, but I keep doing all I can for her. We love her, too."
Edward let out a hissing breath.
"When Rosalie found her, she thought she was dead. When she realized she wasn't, she carried her all the way from Forks to the hospital."
"Rosalie?"
"Go easy on her, Edward. Something has changed with her about Bella and she doesn't even understand it herself. I do know that like Esme and Alice, she's suddenly become very protective of Bella. It's like watching a lioness with her cub." Carlisle shook his head slightly. "So you're coming?"
"I'm on my way," Edward confirmed.
When Carlisle hung up the phone, he folded his hands on his desk and looked down at them. He was used to working on people and helping them. He was used to making sure most of them were saved. Most of them that left the hospitals he had worked in through the years were never seen by him again. Esme was the one exception to that. He had met Esme when she was a child with a broken leg, then again as an adult who should never have had to go through what she did.
Esme. Edward. Rosalie. Emmett.
They were all a part of his family because he hadn't been able to watch them die. It would have been such a waste in each case. Until Bella, the only one he had known before they lay dying had been Esme. In each case, he had made the decision to turn them in order to save them and give them back some of the life they had lost.
Was that going to be a decision he would have to make when it came to Bella?
He knew, now, that all of the family would rather she be like them than die like they were all afraid she was going to. He had already had this conversation with Jasper. If she died, it would hurt their entire family -- including Rosalie. It would hurt him, as well. Bella was already a part of their family, she had been that way ever since the first time he had seen the way Edward looked at her.
He knew how adamant Edward was about Bella staying human and not being part of their world. He knew that Edward believed that he had no soul -- no matter what the rest of them thought. However...
However, if it came down to losing Bella to death and being able to keep her alive as one of them, would he have to stand against his son in order to do so? He knew what it would do to Esme if Bella died, and as much as he loved Edward, he would do whatever he had to do to keep Esme from being hurt.
Truth be told, in his heart, he would rather that Bella be truly a part of their family than for her to die like this. All of them loved her like she was one of their own, and for her to die from an attack was unthinkable, in his opinion.
Bella deserved more than this. She deserved more than what had been done to her.
She deserved more than what they had done to her.
If he had stood firm with what he thought and not given into Edward's desire to leave Forks when they did, would they have been able to avoid all of this? If they had stayed, would they have been able to get to Laurent before he had found Bella? If they had stayed, maybe she wouldn't have been attacked. If they were with her, she wouldn't have been so close to their house alone.
Carlisle stood up and straightened his coat. Hindsight was always 20/20. It was an expression he had heard many times in his years, and this time he knew that it was true. Looking back on that night now, it was easy to say what should have been done differently. However, looking back didn't change what was in the here and now. Now was when they needed to get Bella stronger and needed to get her to heal. Now what was the most important thing was to find a way to get Bella to regain consciousness so that they could see how much damage there was left to heal.
Shaking his head, he left his office and headed back upstairs. He had to let the family know that Edward was on his way.