Learning to Fly - Ch11

Thank you to my beta mxpi1970 who keeps me on track.

As always, all characters created and owned by Stephenie Meyer.

~xxXxx~

CHAPTER 11

EPOV

Carlisle picked up the phone and dialled Alice’s number. She must have answered on the first ring, as if she were sitting there waiting for his call. His voice was quiet and solemn.

“Yes, Alice, it’s me. Can you come over? Yes, Edward is here. Okay; we’ll see you in ten minutes.”

He replaced the handset, his hand resting there for a moment. “She’s on her way.”

I returned to the kitchen and silently made tea, carrying it through to the lounge room. He sat on the edge of the sofa, eyes pinched shut, with his hand massaging his forehead. Placing the cups down on the low table, I sat down and rubbed his tense shoulders, trying to offer some small comfort against this latest, senseless blow. His forehead was bunched, his eyebrows knitted as his inner turmoil bubbled to the surface; I wished there were some way to wipe away that worry and make everything as perfect as it had been just a few short minutes ago. He slumped forward, his hands sliding to the back of his head. I hated that his body language screamed defeat, after everything we had already endured. He leaned into me and my arms wrapped around him as if they could shield him from this latest injustice.

I heard a car pull into the driveway, and doors closing. When I reached the door, I found both Alice and Rosalie waiting, looking tense and anxious. They returned my smile, their faces tight, and I ushered them inside, pointing wordlessly to the lounge room. Carlisle was on his feet and they hugged him protectively, their bonds of friendship strong. I held back, respecting their moment of love and support, until Rosalie turned to me, holding out her arms. I accepted her hug, hearing her whispered words in my ear:

“I’m glad you’re all better, darling. Emmett was so worried about you; you two really are close aren’t you?” I nodded, a little embarrassed. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Edward. We all need friends in times of crisis.” She rubbed my arms briskly and turned to sit down. Alice claimed her hug too, and I laughed despite the tense atmosphere, as though she barely reached my chest in height, she made up for it in strength.

When everyone had relaxed a fraction, the rest of us sat down. Carlisle spoke.

“So tell me everything. From the beginning.”

The girls looked at each other and Rosalie nodded. Alice fiddled with the clasp on her bag for a moment before finding the words.

“It all started on Tuesday.” She looked at Rosalie, who nodded encouragingly.”Lauren came into the ward saying she had a ‘friend’ she wanted to visit. She was unclear as to who this friend was, so I asked her to wait in the seating area and I would be with her shortly. It was busy and I got called away...” she hesitated, hardly able to meet Carlisle’s eyes as she continued.

“When I went back over to fetch her she was gone, but then I was asked an odd question by another person in the chairs. The lady asked me if it was true that a doctor at this hospital had been dating his patient. I was dumbstruck, but I told her ‘no’, it was most definitely not true. The woman persisted, saying that all rumours have some basis in fact and that she had been told by a young woman that an older doctor had been dating his younger patient, which was totally unacceptable. Although I tried to placate her and reassure her that it was simply untrue, it turned out that the woman knew someone on the hospital Board. She said she was going to file a complaint against the doctor and the hospital for malpractice, as it was in the public interest for this to be exposed and dealt with officially. I didn’t know what to do, Carlisle. We were in a crowded public area and other folk were listening in. And then... and then she named you, and that’s when it all went to hell. Two people had family that had been treated by you before Edward’s accident, and others had had dealings with you in the past. I tried to put them straight about it but they were shouting and not listening to me...” her voice cracked, and I held out my hand which she clasped gratefully.

“That’s when I came over.” Rosalie’s voice continued the story. “I heard the commotion and came to help. It had escalated rapidly and someone started shouting that they wanted you fired. I thought for a moment that I was finally getting through to them, and they were quietening down, but then the lady who started this all off mentioned that the patient in question was male. That’s when some homophobic cretin stood up, declaring that the hospital went against God for employing someone who practiced unholy acts, and he was going to be moving his mother to a decent hospital away from this... this perversion.” She uttered the word so quietly that I barely caught it; her eyes clouded and she looked away, hiding for a moment behind her veil of blonde hair.

I saw Carlisle’s reaction to that statement, the pain etched across his face at the slur against him. Alice let go of my hand and I took Carlisle’s in mine. I could feel him shaking as his fingers tightened around mine, wanting so much to pull him in close to me and kiss his pain away.

Wiping her eyes discreetly, Rosalie sniffled before continuing.

“We - Alice and I – went to the Chief straight away and explained everything. We hoped that he could make it go away, but yesterday this happened...”

She passed me a copy of the local news paper, folded to show a large article. To my horror it showed a picture of Carlisle under the headline “Local doc in malpractice claim”. Scanning it quickly, it gave the ‘facts’ as Alice had stated them and ended with the statement ‘Doctor Cullen was unavailable for comment.’

Carlisle took the paper and read the article, his brow furrowed, eyebrows knitted in pain. When he reached the end he tossed it on to the coffee table, his elbows on his knees as his head fell into his hands, his fingers scraping through his hair.

I turned to the girls, swallowing hard.

“What did the Chief say?”

Alice answered, her eyes wide, pleading with me to believe her.

“He’s all over this. He’s called the hospital legal team in. This is a smear campaign that’s besmirching Carlisle’s good name and reputation. Carlisle, this will be sorted. Your friends at work are all behind you one hundred percent. I’m so sorry; we tried to reach you so many times, but you didn’t answer your cell. We kept calling the house just in case you came home. We were worried. Where were you?”

I answered, feeling the heavy weight of guilt settle on my shoulders.

“We went sailing. Carlisle wanted to take me away for a couple of days to finish my recuperation.”

“Oh, that’s so lovely!” Alice’s face lit up for a second until she looked at Carlisle, his eyes squeezed shut. When he spoke, his voice was rough.

“Alice, you said on the phone that Edward and I were seen outside the aquarium. How does that fit into all this?”

She gulped, and I felt my blood pressure spike.

“In today’s paper someone wrote a letter to say you had been spotted holding hands and acting in an intimate fashion with a young man. They implied that it may have been a different man, that you might make a habit of dating lots of different men. They intimated that you might be... promiscuous.”

I saw a lone tear shimmer in the corner of his eye before it rolled down his cheek. His hands were knotted together over his mouth as if he were fighting to hold back sobs. So help me, I wanted to hold him tight and never let him go. So much pain, so many lies, and for what? He had done nothing wrong. To be accused of something so awful - it must be tearing him apart inside. He had told me from the beginning that he kept his private life just that: private. And after all those happy years with Marcus to now be accused of promiscuity... I wanted to find that journalist and cause them a world of pain. Without another thought, I pulled Carlisle into my arms and rocked him, feeling his arms tighten around me.

I whispered to him over and over: “We’ll fight this, make it go away. We’ll make them apologise to you. They’ll be sorry...”

I heard Alice open her bag and retrieve something. When I looked I saw both girls dabbing their eyes and I looked away. Had Lauren really intended to cause all this upset? Who was she trying to hurt? Was it really her Daddy, whom she loved dearly, or the traitorous ex-boyfriend who had cheated on her with the most important man in her life? I was having trouble believing that all this was intentional – that this had been her master plan all along. There had to be another explanation. There had to be.

I spoke up.

“What happens now, Alice? What can I do to help make this go away?”

“They have your chart, Edward. They know that Carlisle had no medical dealings with you after your accident. There is no crime here, no malpractice suit to push. The legal team are coming down on Monday to interview both me and Rosalie as we were on duty when you were admitted. They have already spoken to Doug Anders who is horrified by this whole turn of events. The accusations will be publicly refuted, the evidence against them undeniable and absolute. But the damage has been done; the hospital gossips are out in force, people who had no idea that Carlisle was gay, who never knew him when Marcus was alive.”

I rubbed his back and kissed the top of his head before loosening my arms. He sat up, his eyes heavy but dry as he looked at Alice. She met his gaze, the concern weighing heavily on her narrow shoulders.

“Carlisle, I’m so sorry I left Lauren alone in that waiting area. I didn’t know it was a ruse to get me out of the way. I had no clue what she was planning, or that she would sink this low. You should know that she has been banned from the hospital. The Chief was very clear about that. The entire hospital is under the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, and he is getting some major heat from the Board. He wants to speak to you as soon as possible, ideally before you start work again on Monday. He said you can reach him at home.”

Carlisle cleared his throat.

“I’ll call him in the morning and arrange an urgent meeting.” He sighed heavily. “I truly thought we had sorted out our differences, Lauren and I, I really did.”

I spoke up, thoughtfully.

“This all started Tuesday? The whole bar debacle happened Wednesday night. Perhaps she didn’t want to rock the boat by telling you what she’d done once you two had made up. Perhaps she deluded herself into thinking that if she just ignored it, the whole thing would just go away?”

Carlisle shook his head, turning to me.

“I don’t understand. There have been no calls from Esme on either phone. Is it possible that she has no idea? How can that be? It’s in the newspaper! Someone must have said something to her by now. Then again, as we were away at the time, it’s likely that people think I’ve gone into hiding.”

“Lauren’s clever enough to hide the evidence from her, but, like you say, someone’s going to let it slip to Esme sooner or later. Wouldn’t it be better if you told her yourself? She and I need to have a face to face at some point too; this could solve that problem. I think we all need to sit down and work this out. We can’t keep living like this, wondering where the next attack will come from. I can’t keep watching her hurt you like this.” I kissed him, my lips barely glancing over his before I pulled away. “If that means we spend some time apart while you two reconnect, then so be it. You need to rebuild your relationship with her. Look, I start back at the bar on Monday so I’ll be moving back home. Take this opportunity to spend some time with your daughter, Carlisle. Try and fix things with her.”

He looked desolate and I felt wretched.

“You’ll stay the weekend though? Like we planned? The piano...”

I smiled at him, my fingers caressing the nape of his neck.

“Tomorrow, I know; like I could forget! And I’m not leaving ‘til Sunday afternoon. It’s just that my place is close to work and, as I don’t have a car at the moment, it makes sense. That’s something I need to sort out with Emmett. I’ll arrange some time with him to go look at replacements - this week if I can. I need to be mobile again, I hate having to beg him for lifts everywhere.”

He leaned into my neck with a grin. “I’d never make you beg, Edward.” His lips found the sensitive spot beneath my ear and I gasped, my world starting to tilt a fraction.

I heard giggles as the girls stood up, Alice smirked at me, her eyes delicately red-rimmed.

“I think it’s time for us to get going. We’ll talk to you soon, guys. Keep us updated, and if there’s anything we can do...” she tailed off.

I blushed, and Carlisle chuckled, in spite of himself. “Sorry, ladies, I’ll see you out.”

I hugged them both as they left, hearing their soft voices as they said their goodbyes to Carlisle at the door, urging him to be strong. He thanked them, and I heard the click as the door closed. When he returned he sat back down next to me.

“After this weekend, we’re not going to see much of each other, are we.” His tone was forlorn.

“We could always try phone sex.” I reached out, my curled finger tracing the curve of his chin.

His hand covered mine as he chuckled, nuzzling into my hand. “I’d rather have real sex.”

I nodded in agreement. “True. My hand is no substitute for your ass, no matter how good my fantasies are.” His breathing quickened, his eyes darkening. “We’ll find a way; evenings, weekends, whatever it takes. I love you – no amount of public backlash will ever change that.”

He captured both my hands in his, his face suddenly devoid of laughter.

“Edward, this has major ramifications on your life too. If you stand by me you’re going to be publicly outed. You can’t take that back. Have you spoken to your mother? I’d hate this to end up in the papers and for her to find out about us in such a way.”

This had crossed my mind, I couldn’t lie. I needed to call my mother and explain about Carlisle and I. I couldn’t bear for her to hear about us through rumours and lies. As for being outed – well, my few friends here in Seattle all knew, and I felt surprisingly good about admitting who I was in public, standing side by side with my love. When I didn’t answer immediately, he looked crushed but tried to be stoic.

“I know this is a hell of a lot to ask of you and I’ll understand if you say no.”

Looking into his pained eyes, I smiled, leaning in close until my lips hovered over his.

“To be with you, I will do whatever (kiss) it (kiss) takes.”

Then I pushed him back and kissed him until we were both breathless, his desire matching my own.

~xxXxx~

He had bad dreams and I held him as he fretted through the night, his issues allowing him little peace. More than once he woke himself, and I stroked his hair and forehead to soothe him back to sleep. I myself barely slept, too worried about him and what the future held. I drifted off around 4am but woke shortly afterward when Carlisle rolled over, pulling my arm across him like a security blanket. It was then that I finally slept, holding him tightly, keeping him safe.

Sunlight streamed through the blinds when I opened my eyes and squinted at the clock. Carefully untangling myself from Carlisle, I dropped a kiss to his shoulder before sliding out of bed. Almost 10am; the delivery men were due in a couple of hours – time to get up and get organised. After a bathroom detour, I made my way downstairs and flicked on the coffee pot before returning to the bedroom to wake Carlisle. But, as I stood in the doorway watching him sleep peacefully, I debated leaving him there a little longer. There was no denying he needed the rest, but I knew he wouldn’t be happy with losing half the day. Moving around the bed I leaned in and dropped a kiss on his forehead before nuzzling into his neck until I felt him stir.

I whispered into his ear,

“Sorry, my love, time to get up. Coffee’s on.”

He rolled over; his eyes barely cracked open as he looked at me, and pulled me down until his mouth found mine.

“Come back to bed.”

I groaned, my cheek resting against his, sorely tempted by the suggestive roughness of his tone.

“It’s late; we should be getting up.”

His mouth quirked into a half smile, his eyebrows rising almost imperceptibly. “I am up. What time is it anyway?”

“Almost ten. The deliverymen will be here in...” My voice was cut off when his tongue entered my mouth and I forgot what I was saying, all thought swept away by his expert kiss.

Pulling back for a brief moment, he whispered, “We have time...”

His tone was final; I submitted willingly to his caresses, his nails scratching down my skin and awakening my body in spectacular ways.

When I came, shaking and sweating, it was with his hand palming the head of my cock and his tongue buried deep in my ass.

~xxXxx~

We forced ourselves to get dressed and set to moving furniture in the lounge room. Carlisle wanted the area by the French doors cleared and the chairs repositioned so that the piano could be viewed comfortably if so desired. When not in use it would be a beautiful piece of furniture, in its own space and enhancing the room. For now, the chairs were pushed back, awaiting its arrival.

My only aim today was to keep Carlisle’s mind occupied until he could speak to the Chief. If the simple act of rearranging furniture did the trick then I would cheerfully move these chairs around for the entire day.

When we heard a rumble outside, followed by the doorbell, we both looked at each other and dashed to the door like excited children. The delivery men followed Carlisle around to the French doors and my dream finally became a reality – a piano now stood in the sunlit spot by the doors and I couldn’t stop smiling. Carlisle left the room and I reacquainted myself with the instrument, running my hands lovingly along the polished wood to confirm to myself that it was actually here. When Carlisle returned, he kissed my fading bruise and held out his closed fist to me, indicating I should hold out my hand. When I did, he dropped a key into my open palm, folding his hands over mine.

“It’s all yours, to play as often as you want, whenever you want.” If it were possible, my smile grew even wider than before. I pulled him into a tight embrace which he returned fiercely before releasing me. He made short work of moving the chairs into position and sat down, his head on one side as if waiting. Slightly embarrassed, I sat down on the piano stool and ran my fingers over the keys, reacquainting myself with its sound and timbre. I remembered from the store how beautiful the tone was; mere moments later I was once again drawn into its spell.

As ever, my mood dictated my music and so it was that my underlying worry for Carlisle came across in the haunting piece of music I subconsciously chose. Had I been in my right mind I would never have played it; the moment the last note died away I looked up to see him watching me with an intense expression. My hand automatically found my hair and he was on his feet in seconds, pulling me into his embrace.

“Oh, my love, that was beautiful. Edward, it’s going to be okay. We’re going to be okay. I’m going to go call the Chief - he should be home now.” I clung to him for a long moment, unable to speak. I was trying to be strong for him, to comfort him, and somehow it had become about me. My music always displayed my true feelings, leaving me nowhere to hide, and I felt guilty for adding to his burden. He held me tight, my face buried in his neck and together we took comfort in each other. When he dropped his arms, his hand smoothed my unkempt hair with a smile before his lips met mine in a tender kiss. Touching his thumb to his mouth in that gesture I loved so much, he left the room, and I heard him pick up the phone.

I walked out into the garden to give him some privacy while he spoke with his boss. Sitting down on the low wall, I tilted my face into the sun, so rarely seen here, and marvelled at the irony of a perfect summer day, fluffy clouds and all, when it should’ve been miserable and overcast to reflect our situation. I don’t know how long I sat there; the sound of birdsong was all I heard as I sank into a comfortable, trancelike state. When Carlisle came to find me I shaded my eyes to look up at him. He led me into the house and sat me down.

“Alice was right; the legal team are coming in on Monday to talk to the staff who shared my shifts. I will be seen separately before their shifts start on Monday morning. The Chief will be waiting in his office for me at 8am and my suspension will be announced after that meeting.”

I went cold. “For how long?”

“He says three days, but that they’ll let me know as soon as the inquiry is completed.”

“That’s good, right? He knows this is all lies?”

“Yes, he knows. Like the girls said, he has your file and Doug has already confirmed that I had no contact with you professionally. I’ll tell the lawyers the truth: that I met you prior to the accident, that we are in a relationship and that this is all a huge misunderstanding. By Wednesday all this will be behind us, at least officially. I’ve no idea what my reception will be like when I go back to work.” He sighed heavily. “I’ve never kept my sexuality a secret, but I’ve never felt the need to publicise the fact either. I like my life to be private, and this has thrown my bedroom door wide open to all onlookers. I can’t lie, Edward, I was much happier when most people didn’t know. Not because I’m ashamed, but because it’s embarrassing having people know about my intimate life when it’s none of their business.”

I could see the frustration on his face, his fingers digging into his palms.

“I was going to suggest we go to see Esme, but I think we would be better going tomorrow when you’ve had a little time to process all this.” I took a deep breath. “We may be getting to the heart of the problem here.” He looked at me in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“I could be wrong, and this is something for us all to discuss tomorrow, but I cannot truly believe that Lauren did this to hurt you. I am getting the strong impression that she was trying to make you feel the same embarrassment that we have caused her. Look at her friends in the bar; they were being evil to her. She will have to face that every day until someone else’s pain and misery become bigger news.” He stared at me, unblinking. “Think about it; the embarrassment that you are dreading facing at work - it strikes me as entirely possible that Lauren was trying to make you understand how she feels and she has unwittingly set loose a runaway train. Do you really feel that she could have masterminded this – getting you in the papers and in trouble with the Board? This will draw attention to what happened, making life worse for her. I honestly think that when we see Esme we’ll find out that no papers have been delivered and that Lauren has been desperately hiding all evidence, praying this will blow over.” I grimaced. “She’s out of luck there, of course.”

He laughed hollowly. “If that turns out to be true, then my daughter belongs on the stage. I have no idea where the theatrics have come from, but I know they are going to stop. I have always been a fair parent to my daughter; we have had an open dialogue for some years now and we can talk about anything and everything. She understood about Marcus and I, not the intimate details of course, but she understood that there was nothing wrong with two men loving each other. Growing up, she accepted the relationship without question, treating Marcus as a cross between a favourite uncle and a second dad, especially after Peter, Esme’s husband, passed away. Marcus loved her too, so much. When he died...” he paused suddenly before composing himself. “When he died, he left everything to me, and set up a trust fund for Lauren’s schooling so that Esme didn’t have to worry about the money. Lauren doesn’t know yet – she was still very much a child at the time.”

“What are you suggesting? That you don’t tell her about the college fund? She may not want to go to college anyway. What then?”

“It would mature when she was 25, or, if I choose, I can break it early.” He shook his head. “Marcus would both be so disappointed in her right now, as am I.”

“She does have to be punished, but don’t make any hasty decisions, love. You’ve got a lot to deal with over the next few days. Once Monday is out of the way, things might start to look a little brighter. Have you met the lawyers before?”

“Yes, once before when a patient died unexpectedly. There was an inquiry then too. It’s a different man this time, someone named Whitlock. According to the Chief he’s excellent and should have this mess cleaned up in no time. Let’s hope so.”

I smiled ruefully. “At this rate, we’re going to need another holiday. Get the boat ready.” He chuckled, moving to sit next to me on the sofa.

“Edward, about Sunday; do you... have to go? I was wondering if you’d stay until this was sorted out. I’m ashamed to admit it but I really need your support.” He paused, as if afraid of my reaction before plunging onward. “I’ll drive you to work, and fetch you after closing.”

My eyes met his and I saw the strain in his gaze, the skin around his eyes tight with worry.

“If it means that much to you then of course I’ll stay.” My thumbs brushed the dark circles under his eyes. “Now stop frowning or you’ll wrinkle that beautiful face.”

His face lit up and it made my heart sing. I couldn’t resist teasing him.

“I don’t know why you’re so happy. I’m out of clean clothes so you need to do some laundry!” I clicked my fingers. “Honestly, the service in this place is shocking...”

His grin grew ever wider as he pressed me back into the cushions, my hands pinned over my head.

“Trapped in my house with no clothes? My prayers have been answered!”

~xxXxx~

~A/N – the piece that Edward was playing is called Kesson Daslef. Listen to it here: www .youtube.com/watch?v=ovk-5c0GFFM