Chapter 2

Carlisle heard Rosalie scream and he immediately jumped up from his seat, leaving the documents he filled out scattered on the desk. He rushed to the exit when he heard the girl's urging scream again. The moment she reached the door the girl turned her head towards him, she was kneeling over something.

„I… I don't know what happened" they said with a shaky voice

The man came up quickly and saw what Rosalie was kneeling over, a half-conscious boy was lying in front of his daughter and the boy was his son, his little sweet son whom he thought he would never see again.

"Harry..." he said kneeling beside her

He gently lifted her trembling hands, all covered in blood, with which she pressed the boy's wounded stomach. Below them, he saw a large wound that bled profusely. now he pressed on the wound and looked at the girl questioningly.

"He... he came here, we talked, he was fine... I... I... he... and suddenly he fell, and blood. I, uh... I really don't know what happened" stuttered a scared girl

The last time Carlisle had seen a girl like this had been at least sixty years, not since emmet's transformation. She was usually so cold towards others that such emotions seemed unfamiliar on her face.

"Rosalie, listen to me carefully. It's going to be alright, but you have to help me and do exactly what I tell you to do'' The man tried to calm the girl down. he wasn't sure how these emotions and all this blood would affect the behaviour of the girl, who seemed slightly absent

She just nodded to him, keeping his eyes on the boy

"Enter the house, take everything off the table then go to my office on the chair by the door you will find a brown bag with medical instruments, bring it to me as fast as you can"

The girl got up shakily and quickly headed towards the house. Carlisle lifted the boy gently at which he groaned and then with a slow step so as not to cause more pain he moved to follow Rosalie and entered the house. When he reached the table, she was already waiting for him with his bag.

"Now, take this white bottle from the top and spray the table with it" ordered Carlisle and the girl obediently did what he told her

When the table got all disinfected the man gently laid Harry on the table and bent his knees gently to relieve the pull on his abdomen and the boy groaned again, Carlisle ran to the kitchen and took a pair of scissors out of one of the cupboards. He quickly cut open the boy's clothes leaving him only in his boxers to see the full extent of his injuries, the boy was skinny, way too skinny. Harry had many bruises on his body, small cuts, there were a few larger ones but the one on his stomach seemed to be the most problematic. He touched the boy's belly in various places to make sure that the wound did not reach his insides and that none of the organs were damaged. When he couldn't feel anything around the wound he quickly stopped the bleeding and started stitching. After stitching the large wound he also stitched several smaller ones that were needed on his chest, arms, and one on his head. During this the boy was losing and regaining consciousness mumbling something unintelligible under his breath and moaning from time to time, what really bothered Carlisle was how pale Harry was.

When Harry partially gained consciousness he noticed that the sky had disappeared, at other times he felt cold hands, and at other times he heard rustles of people moving and even snippets of conversations. But he couldn't put the words he heard into a sentence that would make sense if they were beyond his reach. He told them to let him rest alone for a while, that everything would be better if they let him sleep. At least he tried, he couldn't be sure how much of it he actually managed to say in a way that could be understood. Not much, judging by the fact that the tapping of cold hands has not stopped

"Rosalie, go to my office and in the last drawer of my desk you should find a medium-sized box, bring it" he said to his daughter who all this time was standing by watching his every move

In the meantime, before the girl returned, he covered the stitches with plasters

"I hope that's what you mean" said the girl, carrying the box in front of her

"Yeah, that's it" He took it out of her hands

He put the box down on the counter and looked through its contents until he pulled out a small vial with a dark red liquid inside. He shakes it a few times, then opened it with the vampires' enhanced sense of smell, a very sharp sour smell could be immediately felt in the room.

"What is it?" Rosalie asked covering her nose with her hand

"It's a potion. After Harry's second year at Hogwarts, we thought it would be useful to have a little stock at home in case of an emergency. You know Harry has a talent for getting into trouble" Carlisle replied walking towards the boy lying quite still

"But what is this potion for" She asked, standing on the other side of the table

"This particular one helps regenerate the blood, and looking at how pale he is, he must have lost a lot of it"

Carlisle lifted Harry's head slightly and held the glass out to him, the boy wanted to take his head out of his grip but when he couldn't he began to swallow. The vampire put his head down and turned towards Rosalie

"And now what" She asked

"Now we're waiting" He said, pushing one of the chairs over

For the next ten minutes they sat in silence, Carlisle gently looked at the boy's right leg, earlier when he was bending his legs, he had noticed something odd about his right knee. He lifted his leg and bent it slightly, grabbed his thigh with one hand and his shin with the other, and then moved the latter up. He saw that the shin had extended further than it should have. Carlisle sighed, which got Rosalie's attention

"What happened" she asked, still concerned

"Now nothing, it seems to be like an old injury because there's no swelling. When he was walking earlier, did she see him limping?" He said, gently setting the boy's leg down

„I'm not sure" she seemed to think for a moment "I think so, but I thought it was because of all that" She pointed to the rest of the boy covered in plasters

„What have you gotten yourself into this time?" he said, running his hand through the boy's hair and then turned to the girl "Looks like Harry has torn ligaments in his knee"

"Can you fix it?" She asked

Carlisle pressed his lips together and shook his head and they were both silent for a moment "Depending on how old the injury is, he may need surgery or reconstruction with a graft"

"He limps because he can't straighten his leg because of the torn ligaments, it must hurt a lot" He added

After another few minutes Rosalie noticed movement on Harry's face, his eyelids fluttering as he was about to open his eyes. Both vampires got back on their feet, the boy suddenly seemed very alert, he threw his head back towards Carlisle and then Rosalie, opened his mouth as if to say something but closed it immediately wrinkling his brow.

"Harry what's wrong" said Carlisle turning the boy's head in his direction

Harry pulled his face from his father's hands, propped himself higher on his shoulders, and leaned across the table. Carlisle was about to lay him back flat when the boy threw up and lay down himself. What Harry returned was blood, brown almost black in some places, bright red, fresh in others with black clotted bits.

"It's not good" said the vampire, pulling out a small flashlight from his bag

Carlisle lit a flashlight and shone it into Harry's eyes supporting his eyelids, the boy's pupils were dilated, and he was still very pale to almost gray. His forehead was covered in sweat, Carlisle grabbed his wrist to check his heart rate which was too low. The vampire was sure there was a hemorrhage

"Rosalie, fill a bag with ice and bring" he gave a quick try

"Harry" said Carlisle leaning over the boy when he received no answer "Harry" he said again, this time shaking the boy at which his eyes opened

"Harry it's very important you've been vomiting lately" he asked with a serious face

"Y.. Yes" the boy whispered

"Often" Carlisle asked

"Yes" he answered closing his eyes

"Harry" his father's voice brought him back to consciousness „Don't fall asleep, you have to answer this for me, it's very important" he wanted to wait until the boy's eyes focused on him before asking the question but he had a feeling that this might not happen, so he asked the question anyway.

"Does your stomach hurt inside" he asked, at which the boy nodded almost imperceptibly

"Can you show me where, it's really important" He wanted an answer, really hoping that Harry wouldn't lose consciousness soon

Harry barely lifted his trembling hand and placed it gently on his lower abdomen, and then Rosalie returned, handing him the bag full of ice.

"Now you can feel a little cold" he said to the almost unconscious boy putting ice on his stomach, at which the boy himself groaned

Normally in case of upper GI bleeding, he would recommend gastroscopy but he didn't have such equipment at home. He hoped that the situation was not so serious that it required surgery, because he had already done everything he could at home. Carlisle didn't want to go with Harry to the hospital because he knew that wizards had different diseases than ordinary people, he also knew that the drugs could affect them differently. Of course, if he had no other option and couldn't cope with the boy's condition at home, he wouldn't have hesitated to take him to the nearest hospital where he happened to work.

"Rest Harry" said Carlisle stroking his forehead

Harry fell asleep before Carlisle even finished his sentence

-I—I—I-

When Esme came home, she managed to get out of the car when she smelled the blood wafting all around her. The shopping bag she was holding fell to the ground, but she didn't pay attention to it and quickly headed towards the house, almost bumping into her husband.

"I was going to call you but I heard you arrived" He said to her with a serious face „I need to go to the hospital quickly to get a few things, but could you stay with him while I'm at it?"

„But… what happ…" She didn't have time to finish because that's when they entered the room and she saw the body lying on the table. She caught a shaky breath just out of habit, she didn't have to breathe since she was a vampire and ran quickly to him"Oh God, what's happened to my baby boy? Is that all his blood?" she asked questions in panic

"We don't know what happened to him" If Rosalie hadn't spoken up, Esme wouldn't have even noticed she was in the room with them

"I've already spoken to Edward, we've agreed that for the next two weeks or so Jasper and Alice won't be back, or at least until Harry stops bleeding. Edward should be back tomorrow, Carlisle announced"

"Will he be all right?" Esme asked

"At this point, I'm not sure it's still bleeding but not as much as before his potions aren't working as good as they should. I'm glad you're back, i really need to go to the hospital, call me if anything happens although he should sleep for another couple of hours" said Carlisle collecting his things

Esme nodded as she sat down in the vacant chair at Harry's side, her husband changed into a shirt that wasn't stained with blood, grabbed his car keys, and left.

-I—I—I-

Harry started to wake up, he felt he was lying on something very soft, nothing hurt him. He felt the gentle touch of cold hands on his left hand, blinked a few times to adjust to the light then turned his head to the side. He saw a woman standing in front of me, it took him a moment to understand who it was, especially without glasses.

"Mom" he said in a whisper

"You're awake my beautiful boy" She took her hand away from his face and reached out to put his glasses on „Gently, you are very hurt „ she said softly

Harry wanted to sit down, but Esme stopped him.

"Don't get up or you'll rip out the IV, and you need to rest"

Harry looked at his arm, it took him a moment for the world to sharpen and the dizziness to stop, but he saw it, there really was the IV.

"What's this for, I thought Dad had potions" he asked, lying down more comfortably. then he suddenly tensed up and mentally scolded himself for asking such a stupid question. the Cullens never wanted to see him again, they probably got rid of everything related to him, so the question about potions was inappropriate.

"He had them and gave them to you, but they didn't work. He brought you some medicine from the hospital" she said, pointing to the hanging drip. she didn't seem to notice his sudden change, or she noticed it but assumed it was due to his physical condition.

Harry was about to ask another question when Carlisle came through the door

"Can I talk to him alone?" he asked his wife who only nodded in reply and left.

For the moment that the door was open, Harry heard the sounds of the piano, Edward must have been in the house, but they quieted down when Esme closed the door behind her. He knew it was hard for vampires living in the same house to keep their privacy so everything was as soundproof as possible, but at that moment he regretted it. He would give anything to be able to listen to the melodies played by his brother at this moment, after such a long time, even for the last time. he remembered when, as a small child of five or six, when he couldn't sleep, he would come to Edward and sit next to him while he practiced calm melodies. The music enchanted him and he didn't even notice how he fell asleep against his brother and woke up in the morning in his bed because he carried him back. Later, when he was about nine years old, he really wanted to learn to play the piano himself, which his older brother accepted with great joy and eagerly started their lessons. When Harry could play on his own, it was something he liked very much, but it was never the same as listening to Edward play. Whenever he heard his brother playing Harry would settle down somewhere in the room as if the rest of the world ceased to exist Esme sometimes joked that if Edward played for many hours straight Harry would even forget that he had to eat. But now everything has changed, for several years Harry hasn't touched the piano, he hasn't heard his brother play. Now he wasn't even sure if the vampire considered him a brother. A voice broke him out of his thoughts

"How are you feeling" asked his dad sitting down on a chair his mom had seated on a moment ago. „Do you feel any pain?"

"I feel weak but I'm not in pain" he said without looking his father in the eye

„That's good, that's good. You have lost a lot of blood, you may feel quite weak" Carlisle said and then took a short pause before he started talking again "What happened… where did all these injuries come from?" he asked grabbing his hand gently

„I…" Harry said with his eyes fixed on the ceiling. He wasn't sure what he should say or what he was ready to say. The words seemed to get stuck in his throat.

„Everything's fine, you don't have to rush, we have time" The man said in a warm tone as he rose from his seat. He cleared his throat and walked over to him „All right, we don't need to talk about what happened, but we need to talk about your injuries"

"your right knee, you have torn ligaments. Because of this, you cannot fully straighten your knee, which is why you limp. It does not require emergency help, it is not life-threatening, it will certainly require rehabilitation and most likely surgery. You should be able to walk, but it will definitely be painful" Carlisle stopped as if he needed confirmation from the boy that he heard him

Harry, who finally looked at his father, only shook his head to confirm it.

„Do you know how this happened?" the man asked in his doctor voice

„Uhm…" Harry thought about it „Last year, I think… I fell on it badly, it swelled up and hurt but I didn't have time to take care of it then. It hurt from time to time, but I thought it was nothing serious " He explained

Carlisle shakes his head and wrote down something in the notebook Harry didn't even realize he had.

"Then you said you vomited, with blood, and you're terribly skinny I think that c..."The man didn't finish when Harry interrupted him, feeling the sudden need to deny that he was injured at all, even though he was so weak that he wasn't sure if he could even sit up.

"It's nothing... really. I've been living under a lot of stress lately and every time I put something in my mouth it just comes back"

"And these wounds, including the one on the abdomen, at least tell me how you got them. You don't have to tell me the whole story, I just want to know that you're safe" Carlisle asked another question

Harry's thoughts raced through his head for what seemed like an hour but was actually no longer than two minutes. "I was fighting with someone, but now I'm safe" Was the answer he finally decided to say

Carlisle raised an eyebrow at that statement as if he didn't fully believe the boy's words, but he didn't want to argue with him right now.

„I was attacked, that's all" Harry said, trying to make it sound like nothing serious

Carlisle looked at him for a moment, as if calculating what to say and what to keep to himself

„ So, it will probably require complex surgery for your knee. That nervous vomiting harmed your digestive tract leading to you getting internal bleeding when I think during the fight one of the punches hit the right spot. This and the wound, admittedly not very grave in itself, but with the weakening of your body due to not eating lead to you almost bleeding out on the table. I tried to give you potions but none worked, at least not as well as they used to work, eventually, you got blood, a nutritional drip, really a lot of painkillers, and something for dehydration, your body was emaciated„ He said, looking Harry straight in the eyes, and did not end his statement there. „Rosalie said you were about to leave when you fell, can you at least tell me that the place you were going to was some kind of magical hospital?" He didn't take his eyes off him

„I…" the boy started but he didn't finish, he couldn't lie to his only father figure, not about this, not now

„Harry, please" said the vampire in a tone as if he was on the verge of a breakdown

Harry broke their eye contact, this man didn't deserve to be lied to. Either that or Harry wasn't strong enough to lie

„Everything will be fine, you can wait with explanations, no rush. Everything will be fine" Carlisle said and Harry wasn't sure if he was trying to comfort himself or him more

But in fact Harry wasn't ready yet, not now. He couldn't tell his father that he just wanted to say goodbye because he hoped he would die today. He was surprised that he survived so long, when he went to the forbidden forest he didn't expect that he would come out alive, then thanks to some strange twist of fate he survived the final fight with Voldemort. Why was he the one who was given the opportunity to say goodbye to the only family he remembered, he who didn't deserve it? and now he was unnecessarily extending his already borrowed time on this earth. Getting lost in his thoughts was the only thing that worked well for him lately, this time he was interrupted by the quiet creak of the door opening and his mother appeared.

„Maybe Harry should get some rest" She said as always in a gentle voice that Harry was once so used to and missed so much.

„ Yes, of course" Carlisle said and then walked across the room, passing his wife, he stopped and cast a quick glance at Harry in the doorway before he left.

Esme was about to leave too when her son's voice stopped her

"Wait, please. Can you stay here with me for a while?" Harry said and his voice was very quiet but he knew she would hear him.

„Of course, my dear" She said and then she walked up to him and sat down next to him on the bed, hugging him gently

Harry hugs her back as best he can with his injuries, and thoughts start racing in his head again. Why were they so good and nice to him, why did they help him, after all, they were supposed to hate him? In this state he could have believed that the infamous letter was just a hallucination, but Rosalie's behavior and what she told him when he appeared in front of the house earlier confirmed that it was true, he hadn't imagined anything. he didn't deserve to be treated so well, maybe the Cullens weren't aware of the destruction he caused in the wizarding world but he thought they knew better. Accompanied by these deprecating thoughts, Harry slowly began to fall asleep.

"Rest, darling, it's good for your body" His mother's voice was barely audible and her arms around him were comforting even in his situation

For a moment before falling asleep, he felt that maybe everything could be as it was, that he could be happy someday. This feeling lasted a second or even less when he finally fell asleep to the quiet accompaniment of Edward's music, which entered the room through the door that was not fully closed.