Pinned but Fluttering

Outtake from Chapter 23, Part 2: Carlisle's POV

Pinned but Fluttering Outtake Chapter 23

Carlisle's POV Part 2

This is the second part of the Chapter 23 Outtake from Pinned but Fluttering. Enjoy!!!

At nearly five in the morning, I parked my car in the garage at home. Alice had left immediately after our chat in my office, and after I had checked on Isabella in the ICU, making certain that she was stable and comfortably settled, I had headed home.

Leaving Isabella behind in the hospital this morning was extraordinarily difficult. I was feeling guilty enough due to her being hospitalized at all, much less seeing her so pale and still, the ventilator forcing air into her lungs, the various tubes and wires monitoring her vitals and draining excess fluids from the site of her surgery.

But this had to be done.

Meeting with the Quileutes was not going to be easy as our truce was tenuous at best; currently it was barely existing--on life support, just as Isabella was.

Exiting the car, I walked reluctantly, almost at human speed, to the back door and into the kitchen of our home. Esme was waiting for me with a welcoming embrace, pressing a kiss to my cheek as she enfolded me in her cool arms. I held onto her for a long moment, burying my face in her fragrant caramel hair, drinking in her comfort.

Esme knew just what I needed before proceeding with this most difficult meeting—first with my family, then with the Quileutes.

Reluctantly I let her go, kissing her forehead as I released her. “Let's meet in the dining room,” I suggested quietly, knowing that everyone in the household could hear me.

My arm around Esme's slender waist, I moved slowly to the dining room, seating myself at the head of the table, Esme sitting at my side. She took my had in hers as we waited for the rest of the family to file into our designated meeting room.

Alice and Jasper entered first, their sensitive faces serious, Jasper's expression approaching grim determination. Emmett and Rosalie followed them, looking somewhat confused at being called for a family meeting at such an odd hour. I looked to Alice, wondering if she had told them what was coming, and she shook her head minutely, confirming that she had not spoken to the family since arriving home. I'm sure that she had confided in Jasper, but it seemed that she had shared her vision and the occurrences of the night with no one else.

Edward ambled in last, his face a strange mixture of annoyance and bemusement. Refusing to sit at the foot of the table with Rosalie and Emmett on one side and Jasper and Alice on the other, he chose to stand, leaning coolly against the pale wainscoting of the dining room wall. His eyes kept darting to Alice who smiled back at him smugly. I felt my lips twitch slightly in amusement; she was obviously blocking her thoughts from him; I was surprised that he hadn't picked up on my thoughts, but I, too, had become adept at concealing my thoughts from his gift of mind-reading.

His dark amber eyes shot to me now, narrowing as he realized that I, too, had diverted my thoughts in such a way as to not reveal them.

It was wonderfully helpful yet more than slightly invasive living with three such talented vampires. With Alice's gift of future visions, Jasper's of reading and manipulating emotions, and Edward's of mind-reading, very few secrets remained among our family members.

But I needed to tell my family what had happened tonight and how we needed to meet with the Quileute pack shortly.

But how to find the right words?

Jasper also narrowed his eyes as he spoke quietly, “Carlisle, you need to tell everyone what happened. Don't concern yourself with trying to be kind and diplomatic; the time for diplomacy is past.”