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.”
Emmett looked beyond frustrated already. “What the hell is going on?” he demanded, looking from Jasper to me to Alice, whose eyes were sparkling with tears that our kind was unable to shed. Jasper pulled her onto his lap, comforting her.
I took a deep breath, then let it out with an unbecoming rush. “Isabella Swan was brought into the ER tonight with life-threatening injuries.”
I heard Esme's quick intake of breath, then felt her hand tighten around mine. “Oh, no—that poor girl! What happened to her?” she asked in a whisper.
Rosalie's eyes were huge while Emmett remained perfectly, dangerously still. Edward's eyes had shot to mine, then down to the floor, hiding his expression.
I continued, speaking much more slowly than usual, choosing my words deliberately. “The leader of the Quileute pack brought her to the ER. Isabella had been severely beaten, presumably by a member of the pack.”
The collective intake of angry breaths around the table told me all I needed to know.
“We are to meet with the Quileute pack in twenty minutes near the lake on the eastern boundary.”
Jasper nodded sagely. “What's the plan?” he asked, ever practical.
“That's what we need to discuss,” I said.
Emmett leaned forward. “So let's go!” he commanded. “They've broken the treaty. Let's teach them a lesson!”
I shook my head. “It's not that simple, I'm afraid.”
Jasper nodded. “One major issue that we've discovered is that Alice cannot 'see' the Quileutes. We're not certain why, but she can see nothing of this meeting; she only knows that she sees us coming home around seven this morning.”
“All of us?” Edward asked tersely.
“All of us who attend the meeting,” Alice said tersely, glaring at Edward, pain obvious in her eyes.
“We need to make a good show,” Jasper continued as if ignoring Edward's and Alice's exchange. “Power is the main way of communicating with them. It's of the utmost importance in dealing with the Quileutes; if we gain their respect, gaining their trust will be easier.” He laughed humorlessly, “Or at least, getting them to listen impartially will be simpler. I doubt they'll ever trust us.”
“Let me do the talking, please,” I insisted, noting Jasper shaking his head in disagreement. I turned to him, “Yes?” I inquired coolly.
“Carlisle, your emotions are the most erratic here because of your feelings toward Isabella, with the possible exception of Edward's. Are you quite sure that you can maintain control?”
I considered his point for a moment, examining my feelings and attitudes much the way I do when preparing myself for confession.
“I believe that I can be impartial,” I stated after a pause. “Of course, Alice can't see who would be the best choice as spokesperson. Do you trust me to lead this discussion fairly?”
I tried to conceal my flash of anger at Jasper's apparent distrust, but he narrowed his eyes at me, letting me know wordlessly that he was aware of my emotions.
Jasper and I discussed a few tactics, with Emmett and Alice adding a few points.
“All right, let's be ready to leave in five minutes,” I said, preparing to rise from the table.
“Just a moment,” interjected Edward who had remained silent and apparently detached throughout the discussion.
All eyes turned to him, but his eyes were trained on me. “Carlisle, I don't feel that we should be inserting ourselves into this matter at this time...or at any time,” Edward stated without emotion.
Thanks to Alice's warning in my office, I had been prepared for Edward's objections. “And why is that, Edward?” I asked patiently, hoping all the while that whatever we said would change Alice's vision so that we had Edward's invaluable help at our side when we confronted the Quileutes.
Ignoring everyone's annoyed and increasingly angry glares, Edward answered me quietly but firmly. “Who is Isabella Swan, that we should intervene in tribal issues? She was adopted by a tribal family and CPS is involved in her case. Why should we endanger the treaty over a mere human girl?” The last sentence was spoken in a scathing tone that I didn't understand.
“We are intervening for several reasons, Edward,” I replied quietly. “First, under the treaty, the wolves are forbidden, as are we, from endangering a human life. Isabella was severely beaten—so badly that she required emergency surgery to repair her lacerated liver and she flatlined three times; the last time we worked for over five minutes to get her back. Second, I have known Isabella since she was eight years old, and I have become extraordinarily fond of her over the years. She was an unusually loving and loyal child, and she has suffered greatly since the deaths of both parents within two years, then the death of her new mother two years after that.
“The Quileutes, especially Billy Black, have blamed Isabella for the death of Sarah Black, and he has been abusing her for years, according to Jane Fairfield. Not sexually, thank God, but physically and mentally. I won't give you all the details now, but suffice it to say that Isabella has endured more pain and suffering in her short seventeen years than most humans experience their entire lifetimes.
“Isabella deserves our loyalty and our help, Edward.” My voice became slightly acerbic as I continued, “I do not understand the point you are attempting to make against our assistance.”
Edward's face hardened into a tight mask I had never witnessed in him before. “I don't think it's worth endangering our family and a seventy-year-old treaty for a human girl who, though she may have suffered, really has nothing to do with us.”
I was surprised when Esme rose to her feet. It was no secret that Edward was her favorite son; they possessed a connection that I didn't fully understand, but they were able to influence one another very powerfully.
“Edward, whether you believe it or not, this poor girl has been through enough, and as Carlisle has caught the Quileutes endangering her life, it's our responsibility to step forward to defend the weak and the helpless. That girl is fighting for her life as we speak, so we are going to help her. And we need you to do so. We can't confront the wolves without your gift; you would be endangering us far more by refusing to help than Isabella could ever do. So I strongly encourage you to come and to lend us your whole-hearted support.”
Edward's eyes were huge, and I noticed a strange look pass from Esme to Edward and back again. Then Edward lowered his eyes to his feet again as he gave a curt nod of acquiescence.
I glanced at Alice, and she nodded at me, smiling. Apparently her vision had cleared, and Edward was now coming with us.
God knew that we would need the assistance.
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A few moments later, we approached the eastern boundary of the Quileutes near the edge of the lake. The disgusting odor I had detected when taking Isabella from the van struck me with incredible force as we reached the border, and I noticed the rest of my family wrinkling their noses in disgust as we came to a stop at the water's edge.
I stepped forward, Emmett on my right and Jasper on my left, with Alice and Rosalie beside their mates, Edward on the far flank beside Alice and Esme next to Rosalie.
The odor of spoiled meat continued to assault our senses as Sam stepped forward to meet us. He was the only member of the pack I had met since arriving two years earlier. As was required by the treaty, he had sent a message each time another Quileute had transformed to join the pack; I knew that there were eight wolves now in La Push. When I had met Sam when we first arrived, he was the only one who had transformed; the tribal leaders, led by Billy Black, had asked us to meet with them as a result of Sam's transformation.
The Quileutes believed that our constant presence in Forks had re-triggered the wolf gene, thus causing the transformations of their young ones into wolves. Because of this belief, our presence was a constant thorn in their side, but we had no proof that our living near the tribe caused their transformations. Despite our disagreement on this and other issues and through painfully long negotiations that had resulted in great bitterness between the Quileutes and the Cullens, the original treaty of the late 1930s had been amended to include several new points, including the notification clause and a pledge on both sides to harm no humans.
It was this pledge that had been broken by the Quileutes and needed to be addressed.
Sam appeared before us in his human form, but the remainder of the pack retained their wolf forms, lined up behind him in a tightly-disciplined formation, their eyes alert and ready. Apparently they didn't trust us and were prepared to fight us. A few of them seemed quite eager to do battle, in fact.
Despite the anger roiling deep in my stomach as I thought of first seeing Isabella last night, broken and bleeding in Sam's arms, the last thing I wanted from this meeting was violence.
“Sam,” I greeted him coolly.
The leader of the wolf pack merely nodded in response, his poker face firmly in place. His eyes searched my equally-impassive expression, then he asked in a low, urgent voice, “How's Bella?”
My voice was low but rough with feeling as I replied, “She needed emergency surgery to repair her liver which was lacerated by a broken rib—it appears that someone kicked her violently. Then she went into cardiac arrest on the way into surgery, then twice more on the table. The last time it took us five minutes of shocking her heart and doing CPR before she came back to us.”
Sam's poker face broke at this news; he continued to meet my eyes, but shame flushed his face. A red-brown wolf behind him whined piteously, breaking the wolves' formation as he began to pace behind Sam anxiously.
I continued relentlessly, “It's touch-and-go with her at present. She's recovering from surgery in the ICU; she is in extremely critical condition. Isabella is still on a ventilator, and we're monitoring her carefully. Because she was down for more than two minutes the last time she arrested, we have to consider the possibility of brain damage. We'll run some tests later this morning to see if there's detectable damage, but we won't know the full extent until she awakens.”
“When will that be?” Sam asked tersely, sending a warning glare over his shoulder at the reddish wolf who stopped pacing and resumed his place in the formation of otherwise disciplined wolves.
“We don't know. It could be today; it could be never,” I answered shortly.
“The worst case scenario?”
“Death, obviously,” I replied roughly. “After that, a permanently vegetative state.”
Sam paled noticeably, and the red wolf growled softly. “What is the chance of her dying?” Sam asked, his voice trembling slightly.
I frowned. “I can't give you percentages. But Isabella is extremely critical. I don't want to be away from her longer than necessary.”
He nodded in acknowledgment. “Very well. Why did you want to meet?”
Looking at him unflinchingly, I asked, “Tell me what happened to Isabella.”
Sam glared. “That is not your business, vampire.”
“It is when I am Isabella's primary physician, and I have a responsibility as her physician to report her injuries to the authorities.”
“We are a sovereign nation, not under the jurisdiction of your police,” Sam stated coolly. “We will deal with any possible legal issues.”
“I don't think you understand,” I asserted. “I have known Isabella since her mother's illness, and she is already under the guidance of Child Protective Services. I will be contacting their office later this morning, and Mrs. Jane Fairfield, who has been assigned Isabella's case, has assured me that she has already built a convincing case of abuse against the Blacks. Therefore, I need to know what happened to her...from you.”
The red-brown wolf broke formation again, growling at me with a menacing glare.
“Jacob!” hissed Sam. “Not now.”
My eyes narrowed as I took in the reddish wolf, the largest of all of the impressive, horse-sized animals. “Ah, Jacob. Are you responsible for Isabella's injuries?” I asked, glaring in turn. I had a strong suspicion that he was at fault somehow. His unusual reactions could result from caring for Isabella, but there seemed to be a defensiveness in his eyes that I didn't think boded well.
Sam glared at the wolf, who slunk back to his place in the formation, then Sam turned back to me. “Very well. We were at the beach last night, and Isabella fell against some rocks. We brought her to the hospital right away when we saw that the clinic here was closed.”
Edward and Jasper both reacted to Sam's weak explanation; by the looks they threw me, I understood that I was quite right in not believing Sam's poor excuse for Isabella's severe injuries.
“How about the truth?” I asked, raising my eyebrow in challenge.
“That was the truth,” Sam claimed, but the tightness in his eyes belied his words.
“First of all, we have ways of knowing when we are being lied to. Secondly, Isabella's injuries are such that it was quite clear that she was severely beaten. So the truth, please.”
To my surprise, Edward spoke up. “Jacob attacked her. He was drunk, but really that's no excuse. He tried to have her sexually, and when she refused him, he attempted to rape her, beating her when she rejected him. She called for help, and Sam arrived before Jacob could harm her further,” my youngest son stated, his voice trembling with emotion.
I glanced at him, surprised to see Edward shaking with anger, his hands fisted at his sides, his eyes burning with hatred as he stared down the reddish wolf. It was unlike Edward to reveal his gift, especially in a potentially-dangerous situation such as this one. I would have preferred keeping the various gifts in our family from the Quileutes, but Edward had now removed that element of surprise which placed us at a slight disadvantage.
Sam stepped back, shocked. “How did he...? Wait...a mind-reader?” he gasped.
I nodded. “Several members of our family are gifted,” I stated coolly, keeping my statement truthful but purposefully vague.
The reddish wolf, whom I assumed to be Jacob, broke from formation for the third time, approaching Edward and growling in a threatening manner as Edward lowered himself into a crouch, growling in response.
Immediately my family all crouched, preparing to defend Edward and ourselves as the wolves as a whole joined Jacob, growling and readying themselves to spring at us.
“Stop!” both Sam and I ordered our respective groups.
“Edward, that's enough,” I hissed as Sam pointedly ordered Jacob and the rest of the wolves back into formation.
My family and the rest of the pack resumed their previous neutral positions, jaws tight and ready to pick up the fight again at a moment's notice.
The red-brown wolf glared at Edward, then at myself, spun around, then raced into the cover of trees. A moment later he reappeared in his human form, wearing a pair of battered denim cut-off shorts. Jacob took his place behind Sam again, his arms folded across his chest as he and Sam exchanged glares.
“You can't prove anything,” Jacob said to me smugly. “The word of a mind-reading leech won't be admissible in court. I did nothing to Isabella. Nothing.”
“You will find that Mrs. Fairfield has been documenting the abuse in your household, including statements by myself when Isabella last visited me in the ER. And I plan to apply for legal guardianship of Isabella as soon as possible,” I stated.
The quick intakes of breath among my family members reminded me that I had not yet discussed this important issue with them, but I knew that it was the right thing to do.
“Over my dead body!” Jacob growled.
Emmett grinned at him. “That can be arranged,” he replied cheekily; I placed my hand on Emmett's arm to quiet him.
As the meeting proceeded, I had grown more anxious over leaving Isabella without my care for this length of time. It was time for this meeting to be over so I could return to her.
“Well, I believe that's everything,” I spoke firmly. “I need to return to the hospital to see to Isabella's needs.”
“This is soooo not over!” Jacob stated, his entire body shaking.
“It is for now,” I asserted to him, then turned to Sam. “I'll be at the hospital if you need me for anything.”
My family turned our backs on the wolf pack and ghosted away from the boundary, ignoring the growls that followed us.
But as we sped back to our home, I caught Edward's eye and was shocked by his expression of sheer agony.
I hope that you all have enjoyed this outtake from Carlise's point-of-view. We'll be returning to Bella's POV as we pick back up with Pinned but Fluttering in Chapter 25 next weekend.
Thank you for reading!! Please do Like, Share, Tweet, Comment, and VOTE!!! I appreciate hearing from you all!!
Love,
Cassandra :)