Edward

Carlisle was not angry. It was far from my field of comprehension why that was so.

He predicted that I would come in to speak to him so I didn’t bother knocking on the door of his office. Sure enough, he was already standing in front of his desk, eyeing the door.

“Did you see the Swan girl?” I asked immediately.

“Yes.” He admonished, approaching with a concerned look on his face. A concern that shouldn’t have been there for me. “She had no concussion. Her x-rays were fine. She was just a bit dizzy.” He stopped to scrutinize my appearance.

“What’s wrong, Edward?”

I sucked in my breath through clenched teeth. At the moment I wasn’t expected Carlisle’s reaction so I couldn’t begin to guess what he would think of me when he heard the entire story of how I had put us all at risk. Of course, as much as I was feeling stupid about my irrational action, I had to admit that I was afraid of what could’ve happened if Bella Swan’s blood had spilled all over that street… It made me shudder again.

“Edward?”

I tried once more. “I couldn’t just let her bleed!” I was able to control my voice into a strained whisper.

“Control yourself, Edward. Tell me what happened. There were a lot of people in here when the girls were carried through.”

“Car accident. It was in front of school. A drunken driver lost control and the Swan girl was standing too close to the curb when he slid-”

“I see.”

I diverted my eyes from his compassionate face. Looking at the compassion that was so familiar on his pale, youthful face was so excruciating because it reminded me of the same compassion with which he had forgiven my rebellious behavior earlier. It was just like that! Why couldn’t he see that I just did not deserve it?

Carlisle placed his hand on my shoulder, rubbing it soothingly. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary, I can only guess how difficult it must’ve been for you. And I’m proud of you for that.”

“How can you be proud of me?” I demanded. “I just put us all in danger of exposure.”

Despite my outburst, Carlisle’s ocher eyes reminded me what I already knew. “It could have been much worse. You know that.”