A Christmas Miracle

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

They clung to each other in the private hangar minutes before Edward had to board the plane. "I promise to return as soon as I can," Edward muttered against Bella's head. He wanted to spend every second he could wrapped around her.

"I know," Bella whispered as she fought back tears. "We both are going to be busy and time will fly by."

"Mr. Cullen, it is time to go," the flight attendant called out from the cabin. Jay had procured a private jet to take Edward to St. Lawrence island. All the equipment and supplies he could need were already on the plane.

"I'll be right there," Edward said and pulled back from their embrace. "I love you so much."

"I love you," Bella sniffled.

He reached out and took her hand, bringing it up to his chest. "I am leaving my heart with you."

Tears poured down her face and as much as she wanted to say something back, she couldn't. Instead, she grasped behind his neck and pulled him to her lips. They had exchanged thousands of kisses, but this one was different. It was as if they were pouring their very soul into it. When they finally broke, they both sighed.

With one last stroke of her cheek, Edward turned and walked up the steps of the plane. When he reached the top, he turned and gave Bella a wave. It took all the strength he had to turn away, but he knew he had to.

"Mrs. Cullen, you have to step away so they can taxi out," an airport representative said.

"Okay," she said. She followed the representative as the plane moved out of the hangar and down the runway. This was the first they had been apart since they met. She reached the car, which Edward demanded they take this morning. The driver jumped out and opened the back door for her.

"Back to your apartment, Mrs. Cullen," he asked.

"Yes, please," she said, her voice cracking with tears. She had to hold it together until she got home and then she could cry all she wanted.

Edward was beyond exhausted by the time he arrived at the Savoonga Airport on St. Lawrence island. When he stepped off the plane, he wished he had worn something warmer. It had been eighty-five degrees when he left New York yesterday and twenty hours later, it was fifty degrees, with a strong breeze coming off the Bering Sea.

"Dr. Cullen?" a young man called out.

"Yes, I am Dr. Cullen."

"I am Quil Ateara with the North Pacific Research Board, and I thank you for coming all the way here. I have a truck outside to load the equipment you brought."

"Do you know the condition of the patient?" Edward asked, as several people moved to the plane and started unloading.

"Embry is getting weaker and is in a lot of pain," Quil advised.

Edward was afraid of this. The information that Jay had given him pointed to an aortic dissection. It is where a tear occurs in the inner layer of the body's main artery. It is a rare condition, yet research has shown that it is hereditary in over two-thirds of the cases. "How far is it to the physicality he is at?"

"It is about a two-hour drive. We are lucky it is August and not in the middle of winter," Quil said.

Once the truck was packed with all the equipment and supplies, they took off for Bessie A. Kaningok Health Clinic. Edward was worried that he might have to do the surgery in a clinic and not a surgical room at a hospital. It wouldn't be the first time he had done a serious surgery in an undesirable location. However, all of those cases were in third world countries. Looking out the window of the truck, he watched as the barren landscape passed him by. The dirt road filled with potholes caused the truck to bounce as they traveled across them. The few buildings and houses were small weatherbeaten structures. If they had windows, they were small, and all had chimneys. The sky was a muted grey color and a fine mist blew off the water.