Chapter Text
It had been a while since Charlie had been in this hospital. Actually, now that he was thinking about it, he hadn’t been here since Bella’s ‘almost accident’ as she liked to call it. That was two years ago… how could she have gotten married and had a kid (who she said was adopted, but Charlie wasn’t buying that bullshit) in less than that amount of time?
The pain pulsing in his arm brought him back to reality as he reminded himself to keep pressure on the wound. Just as he was cursing the doctor for taking so damn long, a man Charlie was all too familiar with walked in seemingly on air.
“Chief Swan,” a beautiful but chilling voice greeted casually. “My apologies for the long wait- I came as quickly as possible.” Carlisle lulled without ever looking up from the chart he had in hand.
“Would’ve been just fine seeing another doctor.” Charlie responded gruffly. Carlisle put on a smile that didn’t quite reach his golden eyes. “Well, we couldn’t have that, could we? Only the best for our town hero.” The doctor responded in what was likely supposed to be a joke, but the tone didn’t quite reach his voice. Charlie could only let out a tired huff and decided that complaining further would only result in him being killed with the sickening kindness Carlisle never seemed to run out of.
“Remove your jacket, please. I need to thoroughly inspect the wound.” Carlisle said as he pulled a sterile steel tray filled with various medical instruments closer to where Charlie was sitting on a patient chair. The worn out man did as told and winced as he gingerly pulled the fabric free of his wound.
A knife. Charlie couldn’t believe how lax he had gotten on the job to get swiped with a knife. Pathetic, he thought to himself. In his never-ending stream of thoughts, he hadn’t realized Carlisle’s cold gloved hand settling on his upper arm. Once his attention had been snapped back, Charlie could almost swear he saw Carlisle inhale deeply as his face inched closer to the wound under the pretense of "examining" it. Almost instantly, Carlisle pulled back with another one of those breath-taking smiles plastered on his face as he said: “A very clean cut despite the circumstances. You’re very lucky it didn’t nick your brachial artery, Chief Swan.”
“Just Charlie, doc. I get enough of the formalities at the station.”
Carlisle looked up at him from under golden lashes. “Alright, Charlie. But, please, do be careful next time.”
Charlie had to force himself to look away while offering a grunt of acknowledgment. Now, the Chief could admit when he found someone to be attractive, that in itself wasn’t anything he found strange. What he did find strange, however, was his old heart kicking up like a teenager when the doctor was so close to him.
He knew, Charlie knew Carlisle wasn’t human. I mean, it wasn’t hard to guess after a boy he had watched grow up turn into a–
“Ouch-” Charlie hissed as Carlisle began cleaning the wound. Carlisle bit his lip to hide his smile as Charlie’s gaze once again fell on him.
“Forgive me, Chie- Charlie. My mind must have wandered momentarily. Are you ready for your stitches?”
“You can’t just slap a band-aid on it and send me on my way? Lots of paperwork to finish up, y’know.”
Another disarming smile.
“I’m sure, but I must ensure my patients receive the highest care I can give. Besides, we wouldn’t want a big ugly scar.”
Another grunt from Charlie. “It wouldn’t make much of a difference. Just hurry, I really don’t have time to waste, doc.” Carlisle only nodded as he began threading the stitches through Charlie’s skin to pull him back together. “I must say,” Carlisle whispered, “it’s hard not to think about you these days, Charlie. You’re making us quite worried.”
By us, Charlie was sure he meant Bells. It’s not like he wanted to worry her, but how could he even reassure her when she was always off on the next adventure with her boyfriend? (Charlie just couldn’t bring himself to say husband yet.)
“Yeah, well, everything’s just fine. Don’t need anyone worryin' after me now that the nest’s empty.”
A soft sound left the doctor’s mouth- a laugh, Charlie assumed.
“You’ll always be a part of our family, Charlie.” Carlisle replied while finishing the last of the stitches. “There. Please, be careful with your arm. The stitches are in a place that can easily be torn with any excess for-”
“Yeah, doc, I know the drill. Good seeing you, though.” Charlie hopped off the patient chair and was making his way to the door when a hand that was too strong to be the delicate doctor’s grabbed him. His head swiveled around as Carlisle pulled his hand back. Before Charlie could question it, the doctor smiled again, making the other close his mouth and swallow hard.
“Come have dinner with us, Charlie. I’m sure it would put Bella at ease to know her father isn’t spending so much time by himself.” Carlisle coaxed with that honey-laden voice.
“Ah- I don’t know, doc-”
“Carlisle.”
“…Carlisle. Anyway, I’ve got a twelve-pack calling my name after I finish booking the guy that got a swing at me,” Charlie could swear Carlisle’s eyes darkened at that- but it must have been the blood loss getting to him, “and besides that, it’s been a long day, so…”
Another damning smile. “Of course, I should have thought of that myself. But, do reach out when you’re up for it. You are family, after all, and Esme would love to cook for someone again.” Carlisle seemed to falter before quickly adding: “The kids tend to stay out late, so there’s no need for her to cook much anymore.”
Charlie nodded as he opened the door and trudged his way through the nurses and other medical staff that swarmed like a pack of hyenas around Carlisle as he tried to follow after Charlie.
“Doctor-”
“Doctor!”
“Doctor?”
Charlie almost felt bad for the guy but also relieved to finally get out of his grasp. It felt like he couldn’t breathe properly whenever he was near the golden haired man, but he simply chalked it up to a sense of jealousy. What man wouldn’t be when standing beside a creature like Carlisle? Beautiful, but still masculine enough to make anyone weak in the knees, and brimming with compassion for everyone- whether they deserved it or not. It was maddening.
Charlie breathed out a sigh while hopping into his police cruiser before turning the scanner on. A call came in- something about a wild animal being sighted on someone’s property, the typical stuff, and someone radioed in saying they’d take it, so Charlie continued on his way back to the station. Deputy Steve waved to him as soon as Charlie walked in. “Hey, Chief, we missed you! Even heartless Helen over here was starting to get worried.”
Helen shot an irritated look towards Steve but quickly turned her attention back to Charlie.
“You did take a pretty long time to get patched up, Chief. Make any burger stops on your way back?” She managed to joke light-heartedly. Charlie huffed and shook his head. “I wish. Probably coulda just thrown some staples in it without going through all the fancy stitch-work Dr. Cullen insisted on.”
Helen perked up. “Geez, maybe I should’ve responded to that call instead so I could’ve gotten treated by Mr. Right.”
Charlie rolled his eyes and Steve groaned. Helen shrugged off their non-enthusiastic responses before handing Charlie a stack of papers. “Oh, you took so long I figured I’d just go ahead and do most of the work for you. Dispatch gave me the details, all you need to do is sign off, Chief.”
Charlie’s heart warmed at that as he nodded gratefully at the officer. “Thanks, Helen. Don’t know what we’d do without ya.”
Helen huffed a laugh before responding. “This place would fall apart.”
Steve boo’d and Charlie scribbled his name on the necessary pages before handing the stack back to Helen. “Alright, I’m headed out for the night.”
The officers said their goodbyes as Charlie walked back out. Maybe now that he had the biggest obstacle out of the way he could still take up Carlisle’s offer.
Naw.
Charlie continued sauntering over to his cruiser before sliding in and driving off to his empty old house. Once he was inside, he threw his jacket off and immediately started rummaging around in the fridge for a cold one. Just as his fingers cracked open the tab, a knock rapped at his door. Groaning in frustration, Charlie set the can down and stalked over to open the door. His stomach dropped as a sweet smile greeted his annoyance, instantly evaporating it.
“Doc… how can I help you?” He asked as he stepped back, almost involuntarily, to let the man(?) in. Carlisle swept inside before Charlie could change his mind and then closed the door behind him.
“I was more so coming to see if I could help you, Charlie.” He said in that damned voice that could probably put a swarm of hornets on their best behavior.
“Ah- no, that’s not-”
“I brought supper, and I’d also like to check on those stitches to make sure you’ve been following doctor’s orders.” Another attempt at humor that still didn’t reach his voice. Charlie swallowed again and sighed before nodding.
“Uh, yeah, okay. I don’t have much in the pantry anyway, so thanks, doc.”
A humorless laugh left Carlisle’s throat as he set a plastic bag with a few to-go boxes inside on the kitchen table before closing the distance between himself and the now startled man in front of him. The closeness bordered on intimate as the doctor’s golden eyes searched inside Charlie’s deep brown ones.
“Carlisle.” He corrected once more in a soft whisper.
Charlie could feel the other’s breath fan across his face and shivered.
Cold.
Before Charlie could fumble backwards, Carlisle’s hand ran up his arm that was now wrapped in goosebumps. It took much longer than it should have for Charlie to connect the dots that he was just checking on the stitches. The frazzled man could swear he heard a sharp intake from the other, but Carlisle leaned back quickly after his inspection.
“Mm, keep this up for at least 3 weeks and you should be good as new, Charlie.”
He couldn’t quite place it, but something about Carlisle’s voice had softened even more (if that were even possible). Carlisle looked back to the man before lowering his eyes, giving Charlie a perfect view of those golden lashes again that were just too-
Ugh, Charlie felt sick at the knots forming in his stomach.
“Are you alright? You’re quite flushed.”
He groaned against his will when Carlisle placed a hand against his cheek. A mouth ghosted the shell of his ear-
“Perhaps I should stay for a while to make sure you’re alright, Charlie.”