Seattle General - Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, but I'm grateful to Stephenie Meyer for her dream. Please don't steal my original work.

BPOV

The winds of change were definitely blowing in my life. Within this next year, I’d be out of the job I loved and I’d be Mrs. Bella Masen. One change I would hate and the other I would adore. Edward was everything I’d ever wanted in a life partner. Not too be cheesy and steal “Jerry McGuire” movie lines, but he definitely completed me. I contemplated these changes as I cleaned up my office on Monday morning from my surprise proposal.

Carlisle had brought in the DVD from his camcorder, saying Esme had loved watching the expressions on my face as Edward surprised me. I put it in my bag to take home. I picked up that slightly out of focus picture of Edward and me dancing at that 4th of July party. I hadn’t even known Jasper had taken it. And Edward had been keeping it on his desk this whole time? Guess I’d been a tad distracted when I’d been in his office lately with my hormones on overdrive – or he’d been dazzling me – take your pick.

I loved the routine my life had become – working for Carlisle every weekday, going to lunch with Edward, having a little time after work before Edward came home to work on a hobby or bake him something special, make dinner, have my nights full of Edward, our weekends together or with friends – it was working out perfectly. All that was about to change. Maybe I could look for another position in the hospital so it wouldn’t be a conflict of interest with my fiancée’s position.

The week passed quickly. We decided to stay in for New Year’s Eve. There would be too many crazy drivers out on the road for us to consider going anywhere. We did go out around 5 o’clock for an early dinner and were amazed that people were already starting their celebrations. I was glad Edward cared enough to keep me off the roads when people were getting like that.

Around 10 o’clock, Edward’s cell phone rang. We had fallen asleep on the couch. Yes, we’re big party animals. It was Carlisle, asking him if he could come to the hospital as there had been a multiple vehicle accident on the freeway and there were lots of injuries. I told him to go and be careful.

He was almost to the door when he stopped, turned around and looked at me. “Baby, no. I want you to come with me. Sometimes with these multiple car crashes, there are children involved and they have no one to be with while their parents are being worked on by the doctors. If you wouldn’t mind going with me, I think you would be a comfort to the kids.”

Even though I had been an only child, I had always liked children and wanted some when I got married. I agreed, put my coat on and followed Edward out the door.

He held my hand as we walked from the car into the Emergency Room door. I knew he was about to go into full-on bossy doctor mode. He turned and gave me a kiss. “Remember, baby, I love you. Through these doors, there may be lots of blood, guts, screaming and all kinds of yucky stuff. I wish I could protect you from all that, but I can’t. I’m going to take you to the back of the nurse’s station where you won’t have to be in the thick of things. If no one brings you any little kids in about 15 minutes or so, feel free to leave and go up to your office. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Do you have something for these kids to do in your office?”

I thought quickly, “Um, yes. Carlisle has that TV in his office. I have some crayons I was thinking about throwing out, but haven’t yet. I can find some coloring pages on the internet and print those out. I can also print out some stories to read to them or games to play.”

He pulled me into his arms and said roughly, “I love you so much. I hope I can come kiss you again at midnight.”

With that, we walked into total pandemonium. There were patients in all directions. At that moment, I was glad I wasn’t a doctor – I wouldn’t know who to take care of first. I took Edward’s coat with me as he left me at the back of the nurse’s station as promised with a wink. A nurse gave him a white lab coat which he shrugged into and he was off, assessing patients. I was never so proud of him.

EPOV

I was proud of my Bella. She walked into total chaos here with me and hadn’t fainted. How she got involved with me – a doctor – when she couldn’t stand the sight of blood was beyond me. When I saw the nurses, I told them why she was here and they thought it was a great idea.

It amazed me how fast my reflexes were. Just a few minutes ago, Bella was snuggled up against my chest and my arms were around her on the couch in her apartment and we were dead to the world. And now I was on my game – doing exactly what I’d been trained to do in an emergency situation. I’d still like to be back on that couch, but I knew that wouldn’t help the current situation.

As I removed my gloves from the current patient and delivered orders to the nurse, I grabbed the next chart. Jessica Stanley – internal and external injuries from automobile accident. That was almost laughable – everyone in this place had that exact same initial diagnosis.

I pushed aside the curtain to introduce myself. I was greeted by a woman who may have been attractive if it weren’t for all the blood covering her and a scared little girl, cowering beside the bed. “Hello, I’m –“

“Eddie?” the woman said. What the hell? No one calls me Eddie.

“I’m Dr. Edward Masen,” I said firmly.

She managed a weak smile, “Oh my god, I can’t believe it! After all this time!”

“Um, ma’am, I’m unsure what you are talking about,” I said, confused.

“You don’t remember me? Oh well, of course, you probably wouldn’t. It was just that one time – and six years ago. You’ve probably had lots of women between then and now. I tried to call you recently. And my answering machine’s been on the blink.”

“Mrs. Stanley,” I started.

“It’s just Miss,” she continued. “Anyway, of course I remember you from six years ago. How could I forget? You came to England to visit. I think you had just found out you got this job and were there to celebrate with some old friends. We met in a pub and did a lot of celebrating that night. You were so damn handsome and drunk and I just had to have you. And, well, to make a long story short” – she gestured over to the little girl – “meet your daughter.”

I murmured “What the fuck?” and then figured that was probably a very inappropriate thing to say with a small child present, but this was too much information for me to take in at present.

I had sex with this Jessica? I had a daughter? What. The. Fuck?

I looked over at the little girl, who looked back at me with a small grin on her face. She had beautiful green eyes just like mine and her bronze hair fell around her shoulders in ringlets. Her cute little voice squeaked out a small, “Hi Daddy.”

I was seriously wondering if I could get away with running to the store really quickly and buying a bottle of vodka and downing it. Wait – alcohol is what brought this situation on in the first place. Or maybe this was just a really bad nightmare. I tried to unobviously pinch myself. Yep, still awake. Are you fucking kidding me? No, no, no. Bella and I were supposed to have children – later.

Trying to shake myself out of my trance, I stuttered, “I don’t see – um…your daughter’s name on the chart. Was she injured as well?”

Jessica said, growing tired, “No, Victoria wasn’t hurt. She was in her car seat. Just me and my boyfriend, Mike, were hurt.”

I asked uh – Victoria – yes, that’s her name – to come sit on the bed next to her mother. I had to lift her up. I checked her over quickly and determined she was basically fine. I think I was the one in need of a doctor, most likely a mental health professional – and stat! I remembered nothing about this night with Jessica. Holy hell!

I then asked Victoria if she’d like to stay with a very nice lady while I checked over her mother. She said she would. She had no hesitation with putting her little hand in mine as we walked over to Bella. I introduced Bella to her and they went off to her office. I noticed she had no hesitation in taking Bella’s hand either.

I ordered some x-rays for Jessica and took myself to an unoccupied hallway and leaned against the wall. I distinctly remembered going back to London after learning I’d landed this position at Seattle General. I remembered going to the pub that night with my friends to celebrate. Then my memory got very hazy. Were we talking to some girls? I sort of remembered that – but after that – nothing.

While I waited for the x-rays to be developed, I went back to Jessica’s room. “I don’t mean to be rude, but why can’t I remember a thing about this?” I asked her.

Jessica said, “Eddie, you were very sloshed that night. I’m not surprised you don’t remember. One of your friends had to carry you from my car to his. I wasn’t even sure I was pregnant until about three months later since I’d always had weird periods. And by then, I couldn’t give her up. And when she was born, she was adorable and I couldn’t even imagine adopting her out. I lived with my parents. One of your friends, Peter, and his wife, Charlotte, helped me out when I needed it until I moved here.”

A wave of pain tore through Jessica suddenly and I was at her side, assessing the origin. She continued weakly, “I think it’s a good thing I insisted on right-of-survivorship custody, just in case anything happened. If something happened to me, I’d feel better knowing she was with her father finally.”

“Jessica, why didn’t you call me right away? I’m sure Peter could’ve contacted me.”

She reached down and patted my hand. She said, “I could’ve. But I knew you had your own life to live and didn’t want to be saddled with some floozy you met in a bar.” She looked me in the eye then and said, “Eddie, I know you don’t know this about yourself yet, but I think you’ll make an excellent father. Do you have a girlfriend?”

Out of this surreal situation, something finally made sense! I answered immediately, “I do. Her name is Bella and she’s incredible. We just got engaged.”

Jessica smiled weakly and responded, “Then promise me – if something happens to me – you and Bella take care of our daughter and raise her as if she was both of yours.” I nodded back as a blonde-haired man came into the room and Jessica introduced her boyfriend, Mike Newton.

BPOV

Victoria and I were having a fine time – drawing and playing and watching a little television. She was a delight to be around and very smart! I could hardly believe she was only 5 years old. I was glad I came with Edward tonight, if only to spend time with this beautiful little girl. I would have a difficult time when her parents came to get her.

At length, she looked up at me and asked, “Bella, when is my daddy coming back to get me?”

I looked confused and asked, “What do you mean, sweetie?”

Victoria said, “My daddy left me with you. I was just wondering when he was coming back to get me.”

I was seriously confused now. I said, “Dr. Masen left you with me. Is your daddy with Dr. Masen?”

She looked back at me with those beautiful green eyes of hers and said, “No, Bella. Dr. Masen is my daddy.”

What?!

EPOV

After looking at Jessica’s x-rays, I determined she would need to spend the night in the hospital due to the severity of her injuries. I had the nurses get her to a private room in the Intensive Care Unit – what else could I do for the mother of my child? – and told her I’d go get Victoria for her.

I came to Bella’s office where she was on the loveseat with Victoria asleep beside her. I opened the door quietly and said, “Hi baby. How are you guys doing?”

She got up without disturbing the adorable little girl and motioned for me to follow her into Carlisle’s office. I did and she shut the door behind us. Bella started, “Edward, what the hell is going on? This little girl thinks you are her father.”

I replied, “I just found that out myself.” I ran my hand through my hair with a sigh and continued, “Apparently, when I found out I got this job, I went back to England to celebrate. My friends took me to a pub. We proceeded to get very drunk. I don’t remember a thing about her mother, Jessica, who I’ve just met downstairs and have been assessing her injuries. A friend of mine had to carry me to his car after I was done with Jessica. I am never drinking again!”

Bella said, “Are you kidding me? You have a daughter?” She began crying then and I attempted to gather her up in my arms. She didn’t want any part of that. She crossed the room to get away from me.

“Baby, what can I say? I’m sorry. I didn’t know I had a daughter until a few hours ago. I was never involved with Victoria’s mother. I don’t even fucking remember her. Please, I need you – I need you to help me through this.”

Bella still stood across the room from me, tears running down her face. I went over to her. She did let me hold her this time. She choked out, “I just didn’t imagine anything like this.”

“I didn’t either, love. Trust me.” I held her as she dried her tears. “Jessica would like to meet you.” Bella looked at me with wary eyes. I continued, “I’ve already told her about you and that we’re engaged. She said if something happens to her, she wants us to raise Victoria as our own.”

Bella managed a little smile and said, “She is a very special little girl – and smart as a whip.” I kissed her gently and held out my hand to lead her out of the office.

I gently woke up Victoria. She was happy to see me. We all went to Jessica’s room. Mike was there as well. She needed all the moral support she could get. Her injuries were pretty severe. I didn’t know how long she would be with us.

I settled Victoria next to Jessica on the bed. Bella stayed near the door. Jessica said, “You must be Bella. Eddie speaks very highly of you.” Bella smiled shyly and nodded. She continued, “If something happens to me, promise me you’ll be a good mother to Victoria.” Bella nodded again.

I smiled encouragingly at Bella and then looked down adoringly at Victoria. She was showing Jessica one of the pictures she had drawn while she was with Bella. After a bit, Victoria said, “Where did Bella go?”

My head snapped up and looked at the doorway. She wasn’t there. I hurried out into the hallway. She wasn’t there either. I ran up to her office. It was locked just as we’d left it. I called her cell phone on mine. It went straight to voice mail.

What the hell?