His World

Meeting (2)

Lily Bradshaw was a surgeon in Tillamook, Oregon. The small town wasn't far from where she'd spend her childhood and she enjoyed the sense of community it brought- though the woman did spend most of her time in the hospital. She was consulting a patient about a recent surgery when the Chief of Surgery knocked lightly on the door. She looked over with a furrowed brow. "Dr. Page. This is unexpected."

"Bradshaw, when you're done here, I need you to come to my office."

The woman nodded and watched the doctor leave before turning back to her patient. "So sorry about that, Mrs. Mason. Your recovery should be quick. I want to keep you overnight for observation, and then we'll discharge you with specific instructions and medication. Do you think your son can help you until we have your follow up appointment?"

The older woman nodded. "Of course. Carson is my sweetheart."

Lily smiled at the woman. "I'll have a nurse come to check on you in a few hours. You always have the call button if you need anything before then. Please don't be afraid to ask for anything you need."

Mrs. Mason smiled at her doctor before the woman left.

Lily closed the door behind her and dropped off her report at the nurses' station before going to find Dr. Page. The man was sitting in his office behind his desk, and Lily saw a nearly white, blond head sitting across from him. She furrowed her brow in confusion. "Page, you wanted to see me?"

Dr. Page nodded and stood, gesturing for the woman to sit. "We have a new surgeon on our staff."

Lily sat gingerly in the chair, not looking at the man next to her. "What about Warren?"

"His family moved to Texas," Dr. Page answered. "I thought I told you."

The woman shook her head, her wide eyes innocent. "You never mentioned it."

"LilyVera, this is Carlisle Cullen," Dr. Page introduced, gesturing to the man next to her. "Carlisle, this is Dr. Bradshaw. She's Chief of General Surgery and the best we have. Bradshaw, Cullen is the new trauma surgeon. He's been more than generous with the time he's offering to work, considering how many offers he was given by hospitals much bigger and that have a lot more resources than ours. You two will be working closely together on larger cases and whenever you rotate into the ER."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Carlisle said, turning to face the woman. Lily detected an accent in his voice. It sounded English, though she wasn't completely sure. Carlisle was struck when he saw the woman. She was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Her hair was a strawberry blonde and she had green eyes almost like emeralds. She was dressed in scrubs and a lab coat with sensible shoes. Her hair was twisted into braids he had only ever seen on Rosalie.

Lily was struck by the inhumane beauty of the man in front of her. Not only had she caught the hint of an accent in his voice, she now saw that his looks more than matched that. Her eyes were drawn into his golden ones, so light and open. She felt as if he was reading into her very soul without even trying, and it was hard for her to look away. Her heart stuttered in her chest for a moment before resuming to its usual rhythm. She blinked a couple of times to try and clear her mind. She smiled politely. "Good to meet you, Carlisle."

"Bradshaw, I want you to show Cullen around today. He needs to familiarize himself with the hospital as quickly as possible," Dr. Page instructed.

"I was actually about to go check on Elsie-" Lily began to protest. She let out a sigh at the look on Page's face and nodded once. "Yes, sir."

Dr. Page left before the other two doctors could say anything else. Lily let out a sigh and stood, rubbing a thumb between her eyebrows momentarily before starting toward the door. It didn't take long for her to realize Carlisle wasn't following. She raised an eyebrow. "Carlisle?"