Wrote this little story for the Holidays edition of the Gift Exchange and posting it now for the hell of it. Enjoy!
It was that damn tree. It needed to come with a disclaimer.
The branches looked perfectly solid. Thick and firm…they were barely even swaying in the wind.
It was like one of those drugs you see on TV: "Here, take this and it'll cure your ailment. But wait, you'll also contract a random fatal disease. Buy now!"
I was visiting my aunt and uncle in Forks, Washington at the time. After my grandparents died, we were the only family left in Wisconsin. So this Christmas, my parents told me it was time to visit Aunt Elizabeth, Uncle Edward, and my cousin, Edward Junior.
I had only met them a couple times in my life, and I only remembered one of them. Edward was seventeen, seven years younger than me, and he was splitting his Christmas with his girlfriend Bella.
Don't get me wrong; I love my family. Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Edward are wonderful, and they kept me endlessly full of some of the most delicious food I had ever tasted, but sometimes I needed to be by myself.
I texted and e-mailed with my friends back in Wisconsin a bit, but they were all having celebrations of their own. When I flopped down on my bed, planning on napping away a few hours, the tree caught my eye from the window. I lay sideways, observing it, judging its branches, before sitting up hurriedly.
I didn't even care that it was barely above freezing outside. It wasn't raining, and that was all that counted. That tree was a challenge, and by god, I was going to conquer it.
Hoisting myself up on the first branch was the easy part. From then I began analyzing the best route to the top, then athletically putting my plan into action. I swung my leg up and onto the last branch before standing up and observing the view.
To one side I could see the house: a cute Victorian-style tucked away in the woods where no one could appreciate the magnificent architecture. I looked the other way and admired the raw, untamed beauty of the forest. I thought of Frost's poem: "The woods are lovely, dark and deep." The woods were lovely indeed, with an underlying edge of danger. One could never tell just what existed in the midst of its depths.
CRACK!
I looked down and saw a fissure starting to form in the branch supporting me. Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no.
I tried to scramble off of that branch like none other. I tried to jump like a building was exploding behind me à la James Bond, but right when I pushed off of that branch it snapped.
It was the most helpless feeling in my life, crashing through the branches toward the ground. All I could do was attempt to keep myself upright to land on my legs. I was helpless to prevent the branches scraping my face and arms as I fell through them. And then I landed.
I landed on my feet just fine. Problem was, my legs didn't want to cooperate. My feet stopped and my legs continued and that damn inertia snapped my leg in two. I should've never taken that physics course, because as I lay on the ground in shock, staring at the bone protruding from the skin of my lower leg, all I could think about was the force of collision. Random formulas spewed out of the depths of my brain. Force equals mass times acceleration. Momentum equals mass times velocity. Inelastic collisions versus elastic collisions. All emanating from that gruesome bone.
The pain didn't even come until later. In retrospect, I know that it hurt like a bitch, but I was too in shock to feel it until the ambulance had already arrived.
Most of the experience was a blur until we were in the hospital room. I couldn't remember the faces of the EMTs or the race across town – even though I had always wondered what it'd feel like to go double the speed limit – or even when they wheeled me out of the ambulance and into the hospital. They all faded into nothingness when he walked into the room. Dr. Carlisle Cullen.
I came to not even hate the tree anymore, because that snapped leg bone led to the moment when I, Esme Anne Platt, fell in love.
I admit it, I was probably pretty high on pain meds at the time, but I couldn't deny the feelings that shot through me as Dr. Cullen set my leg and put it in a cast. It wasn't necessarily love at first sight. I didn't realize it until later, after I had dated more and more men who turned out to be nothing. Each guy I dated was instantly compared to Dr. Cullen. I would run down a checklist in my mind, and no man ever measured up.
And that's why I was here now.
After that Christmas we had gone back to Wisconsin, and four years had passed without ever returning to Washington. This year, for the first time in my life, I took charge. I had no clue if Dr. Cullen was single or even still working at the hospital, but I had to try.
I couldn't live with this "might have been" any longer, and this Christmas it was time to take action.
There would be no injury this year – barring any unforeseen circumstances. I called the hospital and set up an appointment with Dr. Cullen under Edward's girlfriend Bella's name. I would have them bill it under my name in the end, so I didn't feel bad. I just didn't want him to expect anything out of the ordinary.
We arrived in Forks on the 20th, and my appointment was set for the 23rd, two days before Christmas.
On the 21st I finished the last of my Christmas shopping, and I bought myself a cute black dress I saw in a store window. If nothing else, it'd give me some more confidence when I finally met with Dr. Cullen.
The 22nd I wrapped the presents, attempting to put my mind at ease. It felt like all twenty-eight years of my life had led to this crossroads. I was Frost in the woods, standing before those two paths. I wanted to travel the new, untamed road of a future with Dr. Cullen, but that wasn't up to me. I needed a little help on his end.
That night, I did something I hadn't really done in years: I prayed. Sure, I would sometimes say a little prayer that the Brewers would win, but God and I had never been close.
However, I was praying now. I apologized to God for not really considering him in my daily life. Then I promised that I would start going to church and praying daily if he would only help tomorrow go well. I felt completely desperate, but I pled with God for any sort of help that would let me capture the heart of Dr. Cullen just like he had ensnared mine.
With that, I curled up in my favorite pajamas and struggled to fall asleep. It took a few hours, but eventually my mind settled enough to lose myself in blissful oblivion. I woke up well-rested in the morning, thankfully having not dreamed.
I took a long, hot bath, soaking in my new "Twilight woods" bubble bath. It soothed my tense muscles and gave me the confidence I needed to face the day. After scrubbing and primping to perfection, I put on my new dress and marched out to my car.
I felt a bit silly walking into the hospital dressed like I was heading to a five-star restaurant, but I forced myself to stride through the sliding doors before I could reconsider my plan. I had spent four years fantasizing about this moment; there was no way I could back out now.
The receptionist asked, "What's your name, dear?"
Oh, crap. I didn't think about that. "Um…it's under Bella Swan. I had her make the appointment for me since I'm from out of town. My name is Esme Platt."
"Okay. I'll need your address and insurance information."
I gave her all the required info and sat down in one of the plastic chairs to wait. I let out a huge sigh, relieved that one potential disaster was behind me.
A nurse called out my name and I followed her into a generic white appointment room. iNothing to worry about/i, I told myself. iYou've been in rooms just like this one dozens of times/i.
Making up some random symptoms for a sickness I didn't have, I soon dismissed the nurse after having my nose, ears, and throat checked and my temperature taken.
"Dr. Cullen will be with you in a few minutes," she chirped on her way out; her obnoxious cheerfulness only served to make my leg start bouncing up and down at an even faster rate.
And then the door opened, and Dr. Cullen walked in.
His eyes opened in shock; clearly he hadn't heard that I wasn't actually Bella Swan.
"Esme?" Now that I hadn't been expecting.
"You…remembered me?"
"I did. I wished every day for the past four years that you would return." It was like a dream come true for me. I could hardly believe that I wasn't still asleep in my bed at my aunt and uncle's house.
"I've been in Wisconsin, but I'm back now. You know I'm not actually sick."
"You're not?"
"Not at all. I came back to see you."
"Really?" He must be daft. Did a normal person really come to the doctor's office in a fancy dress, especially when sick? I sure didn't think things were that different in Forks compared to Wisconsin.
"Really. And to ask you out for dinner. When do you get off your shift?"
"Seven."
"Then can I wait until seven?" Even the plastic waiting room chairs couldn't keep me from waiting for him.
"I would love that."
"See you at seven, then." And with that, I hopped off the examination table and out the door, ready to begin the rest of my life.