Oblivion

Chapter One: Waking Up

"Mr. Cullen."
The voice is so far away that Carlisle isn't even sure if he heard it or not. And then it comes again.
"Mr. Cullen, you need to wake up."
Wake up? Is he asleep? That can't be possible. He can't sleep. But if he isn't asleep then why can't he see anything? He just needs to open his eyes.
But the images before him confuse him even more. Not the fact that he is in a hospital, because that's where he works, but the fact that he is the patient. He looks down at his arm where an IV is connected. This is impossible. Needles can't puncture his skin. Nothing can.
"Mr. Cullen, I'm nurse Lillian. It is time to take your morning walk down to the cafeteria for breakfast."
He looks beside him at the British nurse with caramel colored hair. She looks a little bit like his Esme, but not as beautiful. No one is as beautiful. She helps him out of bed which to his surprise is quite a struggle.
"Do you know where Esme is?" he asks the nurse as she helps him walk.
"Esme? Is she a patient here?" she asks.
"No. No I don't think so. She is my wife."
"Mr. Cullen, you don't have a wife. Well you did but she died years ago. And her name was Sarah." she says.
The words shock him to the core. Surely the nurse is just mistaken.
"Why am I here? What happened to me?" he asks as they sit down at a table.
"Mr. Cullen, you were attacked by someone. You must be confused. You suffered a bit of head trauma and have trouble with your memory." she explains to him.
"How old am I?" he asks.
"You're 28 years young."
"Do I have any family?" he asks. The young lady looks sadly at him.
"You have a daughter. She is four. She has been by a few times."
He can't believe what has happened to him. The last thing he remembers is being immortal with a large family, fighting for his granddaughter's life. If he were to tell anyone that he was a vampire, he would be committed.
"And you're sure I don't have a wife or girlfriend? I know I didn't make this up." he says confidently. Not even his own mind could conjure up someone as beautiful and kind as Esme Ann.
"Why don't you tell me a bit about your Esme?"
Carlisle's lips pull up into a smile as he thinks about how they met. Of course he would have to change a few details.
"I was starting my first year as an intern in a small town hospital. Her father carried her in and the doctor I was assigned to was very busy so he had me tend to her. She had been reading in a tree and fell from it, breaking her leg. It was a clean break, simple fix."
Nurse Lillian is leaning in, captivated by the story.
"She was so beautiful, the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I treated her leg and we talked about books and trees and just about everything else. And then she went on her way. I moved to Wisconsin and a few years later, when I met her again, she was very near death."
The nurse gasps, her eyes filled with tears.
"I saved her and when she healed enough to talk, I found out that she married a man. He was very abusive and a drunk, barely a man. Anyway, she got pregnant and decided to run. She fled the state and ended up in Wisconsin, oddly enough. Fifty states and she happened to run to the one I lived in.
"She had her baby but...it died soon after its birth due to complications. She was completely distraught and didn't know how she could go on. So she tried to kill herself by jumping off of a cliff. A fisherman found her and brought her in. And when she was completely healed, I married her."
The nurse wipes away her tears and shakes her head.
"Wow. That was beautiful. So you're a doctor then?" she asks.
"Yes. I believe so. Though this world is so strange to me, I don't know what's real anymore." he says, staring at the ground. What he wouldn't give just to have Esme near.
"Do you know when I'll be able to leave?" he asks, wanting to go look for his family.
"I'm not sure. I'll talk to your doctor and-"
"Carlisle?"
Carlisle's head whips up to find Edward there walking with another nurse. Carlisle stands quickly, pulling his son in for a hug.
"Edward, I've missed you." he says, smiling. He pulls away, smiling widely.
"Is this a friend?" the nurse asks.
"This is my...brother." he says, knowing he is too young to have a son.
"Edward, do you know where Esme is?" he asks.
"No, have you seen Bella?" he asks.
"No. You're the first i've seen." Carlisle says.
"You're the first i've seen as well. Would you mind if I talked with you in private?" Edward asks.
Carlisle nods and the nurses walk away, giving them privacy.
"What happened after I was...killed?" Carlisle asks.
"Everything became chaotic. Jasper was killed and then Alice and then...Carlisle, Esme fell into the earth."
"What do you mean?"
"Benjamin cracked the ground in half, opening it up and Esme was attacked. The vampire pushed her in. She could have fought her way out. I know she could have. She is nothing without you Carlisle. She didn't have a will to live.
"And then Bella and I fought with Aro but...he got me in a choke hold and that's the last thing I remembered." he finishes. Carlisle is still shocked with the events that followed his death. His entire family...gone.
"Carlisle, what happened? We are human. I can't read minds. I woke up with a needle in my arm and I could barely move." Edward says, becoming panicked.
"Calm down, son. We need to remain calm and collected and we need to find our family. Do you know if anyone else is here?" Carlisle asks.
"No. The nurse said my parents are both dead and I'm recovering from the Spanish Influenza. Carlisle it's like you never saved me."
"It's like we were never vampires." he says with realization.