“What others cannot do….”

Sure I was a vampire, sure I could save him from death – but did I have the will to? Was I strong enough to?

Elizabeth Masen. She was so strong and beautiful. And her son, Edward – he looked so much like her. A loving mother, and a handsome son.

She was dead now, I had lost her. Her dying wish was to save her son. How could I not grant her that? But how could I find the strength to do so?

The sun would be setting soon and I could go out to continue work.

—

I took my usual route around the hospital area. The count was at to one hundred and forty-three today. We lost eight more to the virus. I had been working here for months and there was still no cure, I would live through this, forever, and all these people would die because I can’t find a way to help them.

At the end of my walk, I was standing above Edward. He was one of the worst, he would not make it. His mother had been so strong and helpful. She did her best, now I could do “what others cannot do” and save him from this fate.

But just him. I can’t risk it, I can’t save them all. I sighed. This was going to be a long night. At least I was alone, to think to myself. Throughout my long stay here in Chicago, I had managed to prove I could take care of the many patients overnight.

I turned to walk back through the area. They all needed to be checked again and again. Such a tedious job. I would be doing the same thing to all of these people several times tonight. Check their pulse, check their blood pressure, make sure they eat and drink. But never medicine, never any medicine, never a way to help them get better.

Well, one way, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, not to all of them.

—

The hours passed slowly but I never grew tired. The sun would rise soon and I would have to go hide, again. Feigning sleep was the only way to remain on the job. If anybody found out I weren’t human, an even worse disaster would strike. I certainly could not subject them all to Aro and the Volturi. That would be a terrible fate, quick or not.