A New Cullen Sister

Chapter 2

"Alright guys, have we got everything?" asked Alice once the group had reassembled inside the local hardware store. Emmett held up his paint tins in assent, a grin on his face. He'd already started scheming. They went home and Emmett and Edward proceeded to paint the spare bedroom. Alice had chosen a slightly off-white colour for the room. In her mind's eye, this colour would suit its future occupant very well, and it was a colour that was easy to match – white basically went with everything in her opinion. Miraculously, Emmett had restrained himself from engaging in a paint war with Edward, although that might have had something to do with Alice threatening him with human food if he dared indulge in such foolish behaviour. Renesmee was rather sad that she could not help paint, but Alice had promised her that she could help her decorate and stock the wardrobe. Bella and Jacob had since taken her home and gotten her settled in, with the promise of a phone call with her grandmother in the morning.

"Do you think she will like it?" Alice questioned doubtfully. She had re-entered the spare bedroom, under the guise of supervising the boys' work, and was chewing her lower lip thoughtfully.

"Alice, you're the psychic, not me," responded Emmett.

"You chose this colour because you foresaw her liking this one," said Rosalie, walking into the room with an open magazine in her hand, "so relax. You know she will love it. Now, what do you think of this duvet set? I was thinking perhaps we take a trip to Seattle and shop around a bit."

Alice took the magazine from her and looked at it thoughtfully. "It is nice enough, but I agree, let's rather shop in Seattle for the bed linen and other things. Shall we go tomorrow?"

"The furniture delivery guys are coming tomorrow afternoon, how about Tuesday?"

"Shoot! I'd forgotten about that. Yes, let's do Tuesday. It's going to be a miserable day weather-wise. Perfect."

---

Carlisle and Esme made their way to the car rental office once their plane landed. It was almost 10pm in New York. Esme sent a quick text to Edward to let them know that they had arrived safely and to send her love to Renesmee. They proceeded to drive to one of their numerous properties. It had been decades since they had last lived in their Rochester house, but they kept it well maintained nonetheless. Esme had upgraded it in 2002 during one of her creative phases. She had been worrying about Edward at that point and Carlisle had encouraged her to do something to distract herself. The result was an extra storey to the house and more modern interior décor. The plumbing, heating and electrical outlets had all been upgraded as well, even although some of the upgrades were somewhat pointless for a family of vampires. Esme loved the Rochester house and had many fond memories of it. It was rural enough that it afforded them much needed privacy and shielded them from the public, but it was close enough to civilisation that they were not totally isolated.

After depositing their suitcases in the main bedroom, they locked up and walked out into the cool of the night. Being cooped up in an aeroplane for several hours left a detectable burn in their throats, and seeing that part of tomorrow's programme would involve a hospital tour, Carlisle and Esme felt that it would be a good idea to hunt. They had hunted just before they left, but felt it necessary to take precautions just in case. Three hours later, they found themselves sated and walking along the streets of Rochester, hand in hand.

"What do you think the kids are up to?" asked Esme thoughtfully, "I don't quite buy the 'upgrading Nessie's room' story."

"They have their reasons I have no doubt," replied Carlisle, "Although I am curious as to what they have up their sleeve. Perhaps they want to make things more comfortable for Seth and Leah when they visit?"

"Even so, they know something that we don't."

"Well, we know something that they don't."

"And what might that be?"

"This." With that, Carlisle swept Esme off her feet and ran with to their house, kissing her enthusiastically. Both were giggling when they arrived at their front door.

"Bet Alice never saw that one coming."

"I take it that was a last minute decision, dear Carlisle?"

"You bet."

Carlisle carried his wife over the threshold in spite of her protests and walked into the lounge.

"I was thinking tonight we stay indoors."

"I agree. Shall we watch a film?"

"Really Esme, that's your definition of staying indoors?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

"I think I do," responded Carlisle, leaning down to kiss his wife.

---

The next morning Carlisle and Esme watched the sunrise. Esme sighed appreciatively, little flecks of colour was brightening up the greyness of the sky until there was virtually no grey left. A mixture of pinks and orange illuminated her face, and Carlisle had not been able to stop staring at her. Esme smiled self-consciously, tucking a few loose strands of hair behind her ear. As the sun rose on the gloomy winter morning, they got ready to go to the hospital.

Central Rochester Hospital was playing host to the large conference on cardio-pulmonary diseases, which was fitting considering that it was the hospital renowned for its pulmonary and cardiac care. Specialists in those respective disciplines were converging on the hospital at 8am. Carlisle was not a specialist, but years of practicing medicine in small towns had encouraged him to expand his knowledge as far as possible. Being a small town doctor meant that they were ill-equipped to handle some of the chronic conditions that the occasional patient present with, and that meant referrals to the larger hospitals in Seattle.

Carlisle and Esme arrived at the hospital at 7.45am. Esme was accompanying Carlisle because she felt like a break, and Alice had seemed rather adamant that she go to Rochester. Perhaps she would stay at home the next day if she felt so inclined. Esme was not a jealous woman, nor was she the kind of doctor's wife that needed to be involved in every small event, but every once in a while it was nice to express an interest in Carlisle's work and often she would visit Carlisle during his lunch break, and lately had been bringing Renesmee with her when she did.

"Hello Dr Cullen, Mrs Cullen," greeted a colleague of Carlisle's as he walked past them with a steaming cup of coffee in his hands. They returned the greetings and went to sit down.

The morning flew by, with some interesting talks on furthering research in congenital cardiac conditions, such as atrio-ventricular septal defects and Tetralogy of Fallot and more advanced surgical techniques in their treatment. After lunch, they reconvened with some discussions in both hereditary and acquired pulmonary disorders, including Cystic Fibrosis and Pulmonary Hypertension. Carlisle was enthralled – he had lost many patients to Cystic Fibrosis when he treated them in the 1960s. Advances in medicine had significantly increased their lifespan, with the average patient now living to around 35 years. That being said, as was the case with genetic conditions, there was no cure and thousands of patients, both children and adults, lost their lives to the vicious disease. The next day would be discussions on lung and heart transplants and new techniques being developed to aid lung transplant patients – regretfully 50% of lung transplants fail, and was the organ with the highest failure rate.

The day ended at 3.30pm with ward rounds for any of the doctors who were interested. They were split into groups, with Carlisle and Esme opting for the group that went to one of the pulmonary wards. They would be able to visit a few patients suffering from some of the afore-mentioned diseases before visiting hours began at 4pm.