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The ambulance roared
toward the hospital with Edward sitting on the gurney, the oxygen mask over his
mouth and nose. Even with the oxygen being pushed into his lungs, he felt
like he couldn’t breathe like an elephant was sitting on his chest. The
guilt he felt from losing his victim. The young woman who slipped out of his
hand was Charlie Swan’s daughter. The
very same daughter he had just boasted about just a few hours before playing at
the concert, debuting with the Seattle Symphony.
Fuck!
Edward closed his eyes,
but as soon as he did he was bombarded with the images of Angela as she looked
up at him. Her sweet, innocent face, so full of fear, begging him to save
her. Why couldn’t he have just held
on? Was he such a weakling that he
couldn’t hold onto this small woman, just a few moments longer? Was he
even good at his job? Angela was dead
because of him. Instead of saving lives,
he was taking them. How could he look Charlie in the face again?
The ambulance pulled up to
the hospital and the EMTs opened the back, wheeling Edward into the emergency
department. As the gurney was pushed through the door, it was met by a
worried Carlisle and Esme. Edward’s chief had called them as soon as Edward was
put in the ambulance.
Over the years, the chief
had seen what happened to firemen after they lost someone in a fire. Some
were able to take it in stride, but others would completely implode, blaming
themselves for the loss of a victim. The vacant, broken look in Edward’s
eyes was the one that was about to implode, or worse, completely shut
down. He knew that Edward and Charlie
were close friends, with a great deal of respect flowing between the two of
them, which made this even worse. So, the chief called in reinforcements
with Carlisle and Esme. Edward would need his family in order to get over the
guilt of losing a victim, of seeing the daughter of a man who Edward respected
die needlessly.
Edward was checked over
and was attached to an oxygen mask for the rest of the night. The damage to his
lungs wasn’t too bad, but his oxygen saturation was low. He was monitored while
his hands were dressed.
As Edward’s parents
watched him while he was being checked out, Esme wanted to hug him, make his
hurt go away. She saw the haunted look in his eyes and she knew something
tragic happened. The battalion chief, when calling the mayor and his wife, had
said that Edward would need his family. However, the reason for that need was
left unsaid. She sat next to him, gently rubbing his arm as he slept fitfully
after his wounds were dressed.
Carlisle had gone to
Edward’s apartment, picking up a change of clothes. When he arrived, he heard
Edward’s angry but defeated voice yelling at his mother.
“There’s nothing you can
do to make it better, Mom!” Edward snarled. “You can’t just hug me, and it
magically makes everything better. I fucked up. I lost someone. I watched a
girl plummet to her death and there’s not a goddamned thing I can do about it.”
“But, baby, I just want to
…” Esme said, her voice calm and reaching for his hands.
“I don’t deserve it!”
Edward roared, pulling his hands away and turning his face away from his
mother. As he glared out the darkened window, he snapped, “You want to
hug someone? Go help the Swans.”
“What do you mean, son?”
Carlisle asked, placing his son’s clothes on the plastic recliner in his room.
“The girl who died? The
one that I couldn’t fucking save? Charlie’s daughter,” Edward said, his voice
cracking. “She begged me, Dad. She didn’t want to die, but I wasn’t strong
enough. I let her fall.”
“No, Edward,” Esme argued.
“It’s not your fault.”
“My job is to serve and
protect. I’m a first responder. I couldn’t do that for her. I couldn’t help
Angela,” Edward cried, tears streaming down his cheeks. He coughed, unable to
catch his breath. “What’s the point? I … I …”
“Edward, son, you need to
calm down,” Carlisle said, taking Edward’s hands. “Deep breaths, son.”
“I couldn’t save her,
Dad,” Edward sobbed, falling onto his ass on the hard floor of the hospital.
His breathing was still irregular, and his heart rate was through the roof.
Carlisle wrapped his arms around Edward’s trembling body. Edward clung to his
dad, crying brokenly and struggling to breathe.
Virginia Mason Hospital
Edward, sedated
Sloane Kettering
Bella's Tribeca Loft
Angela falling
Uncle Eleazar Platt
Emmett Cullen
Jasper Cullen
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