Cold As Ice

Chapter 13

It took Allie almost twenty minutes to drive to Forks General for her shift, but Carlisle rocketed through the forest for less than a minute before he gently eased out of the sprint. She followed his gaze through the trees. She could make out the bright red EMERGENCY ROOM sign that adorned the ER entrance. Rising above that, the lights of the five story hospital came into view.

"You'll need to stay quiet, Albrun," Carlisle told her, his voice low as his eyes scanned the hospital.

"Why?" she asked, confused. ER's were notoriously loud places; Allie couldn't imagine why she'd need to stay quiet, although she certainly didn't plan on making too much of a fuss.

"I need to sneak you into my office," Carlisle explained. Allie fought to keep her eyelids from sliding shut, her head lolling against Carlisle's shoulder. The back of her head felt sticky now; the bleeding must have stopped and was beginning to dry. That's a good thing, Allie registered vaguely. Fractured memories of her college lecture classes on treating severe blood loss flickered in her mind.

"Too many questions about your arm," Carlisle continued, anticipating her next question, or what she would have asked if she'd been thinking straight. At the moment, her thoughts felt sluggish and she felt her focus narrowing again to inhaling and exhaling. She swallowed thickly and nodded by way of understanding.

The next few minutes, Allie was in and out of consciousness. She occasionally felt Carlisle jostle her gently, or he'd say her name. It didn't seem to take him long to weave his way through the hospital parking lot and hallways. Before she knew it, she felt the welcoming softness of a mattress under her back and pillows being propped behind her head.

Carlisle busied himself with connecting Allie to a heart monitor and IV. He took advantage of an episode of unconsciousness to gently set her arm with a splint. Allie watched him from behind heavy-lidded eyes. She recognized that they were in the office-suite section of the fifth floor from the view through Carlisle's windows. She could see the twinkling lights of Forks spread out beneath them before they disappeared into the dark expansiveness of the Pacific Northwest forest, stretching out in every direction like a carpet until they collided with the mountains in the distance.

After a while - Allie wasn't sure how long - she heard the door to Carlisle's office open.

"How you holding up, Tiger?" She turned her head slowly towards Emmett, wearing his signature grin.

"Emmett, you shouldn't be here," Carlisle chastised him. Emmett ignored him expertly, and Allie was amused by how much like a typical father-son dynamic she observed between the two.

"Quite a setup you got here," Emmett observed. Allie blinked dumbly before realizing Emmett was right. Carlisle basically had a fully equipped operating table and ER room set up in the back section of his office. That was definitely not a perk of the job, Allie was certain. And there was no way he'd dragged all this stuff in here just for her, she realized.

"Hospital know you're running a shadow operation out of their fifth floor?" Emmett pressed, casually strolling around the room and winking at Allie. She chuckled, but immediately regretted it, as it caused her head to flare in torment.

"They know I use my office for comprehensive training labs with my residents, yes," Carlisle replied, his voice laced with irritation as he checked Allie's IV. His eyes met hers briefly, and he shot her the smallest of smiles before he reached gently for her head. Allie relaxed into his touch as he softly tipped her head forward, peering at the gash on the back of her skull.

From across the room, Allie heard Emmett drop something that shattered on the tile floor.

"Emmett, it's best if you step out, I think," Carlisle announced. Allie looked up in time to catch Emmett's eye before he left. His expression reminded her of Jasper: pained and tense, although not unkind. He looked like he'd been holding his breath too long, the muscles in his neck and jaw clenched tightly. She saw Emmett nod tersely in response to Carlisle's words. He shot her a quick nod before he stepped out of the room, leaving Allie and Carlisle alone again.