CPOV
It's nearly ten o'clock when we finally pull in the driveway. I can tell Esme is exhausted. In fact, I don't know how she is still awake, sheer willpower I guess. She's been quiet since inquiring about my family. I tried to be as honest with her as I could be, but I still feel bad for the little white lies I had to tell. I hope she will tell me a little bit more about herself now that I have.
"Here we are." I say quietly hoping not to startle her, but she jumps in her seat anyway. She looks out the window at the house, which is dark except for the front porch light.
"Your home is beautiful." She says politely.
I want to snort because her human eyes probably can't see anything but a black mass, but I hold it in.
After getting out of the car, I hurry to open her door for her, but by the time I've gotten to her with human speed, she's already getting out. My face settles into a frown as I watch her. We'll have to work on her letting me take care of her.
I want to rest my hand on the small of her back to lead her to the house, but I don't want to startle her, so I settle for just closing her door softly behind her and walking next to her up the front porch steps. After I open the door for her, as I should have done at the car, I hurry inside to turn the furnace on. I don't keep it on regularly, but she needs to stay warm.
"Sorry about that" I say walking back into the foyer where she's standing awkwardly. "I wanted to get it warming up in here. I keep it chilly when I'm not home to save electricity."
"That's okay." She says timidly while taking off her coat. I take it from her and throw it onto a chair.
"Come on. I'll give you the dime tour and then you can take a shower and I'll have a look at that bruise on your cheek."
She takes a second before walking to join me. Our tour starts in the living room and then leads to the kitchen, dining room, my bedroom, my office, and finally her room which is conveniently across the hall from mine.
"This is our guest room. I hope you like it." I tell her, flipping on the light.
It's a simple room really; a queen-sized bed, a chest of drawers, a desk, and a closet. Everything is done in yellow, white, and pale gray with light wood accents. There's a door off to the side that leads to the ensuite.
"It's beautiful." She whispers.
"I'm glad you like it. My daughter Alice designed it and it's probably the tamest design I've ever seen her do." I tell her chuckling. "You can stay here as long as you like. The ensuite is through that door. Alice keeps it stocked with toiletries but if there is anything else you need, just let me know. I'll grab you some clean clothes and we can put yours in the laundry."
As I turn to walk out of the room, she stops me with a timid hand on my arm.
"Thank you so much Carlisle." She says looking into my eyes with so much gratitude and vulnerability that I want to pull her into my arms and never let go, but instead I take her hand in mine and give it a squeeze.
"You're very welcome Esme. I meant what I said, you can stay here as long as you like."
She lets my hand go as she looks back at the soft white carpet at her feet, and just like that her walls are back up.
"Well I'll go get you those clothes. I'll leave them on the bed for you. Just come downstairs when you're ready, there's no rush." I give her one more smile before leaving the room and shutting the door behind me.
As I'm going through Bella's clothes in her and Edward's closet, I'm suddenly glad that Esme is not as small as Alice, I'm not sure I could handle her closet. Finally I find a pair of soft pajama pants, a big Seahawks t-shirt, thick socks and a tank top with a built in bra. I don't know what size bra Esme needs and I don't want her to feel uncomfortable going around without one. This will also allow me to different parts of her body like her shoulders and ribs without her being undressed. I don't know what to do about underwear, I definitely don't want to go digging around in my daughter's underwear drawer so I head to my room to grab a pair of my boxers. They will be big on her but at least she'll have some kind of cover on under her pants in case I need to examine her legs. Once I have the pile of clothes I go to Esme's room and quietly lay them on the bed. I can hear the shower running and I hope the warm water helps her aches. I can tell by the way she was walking that she is hurting. Her dirty clothes are on the floor so I snatch them up and go downstairs to throw them in the washing machine.
Grabbing my medical bag out of my office, I settle into the couch and wait for Esme to come downstairs.
1,827 seconds later, I hear soft footsteps on the stair case. I debate with myself whether to turn around and watch her walk down the stairs or just sit and wait for her to come to me; my desire to see her beautiful face wins out and 32 seconds later I turn around to greet her.
"Pleasant shower?" I ask. Her face is glowing and her beautiful caramel hair is wet and piled on top of her head. Her skin is pink and beautiful from the hot water and I want to run my mouth all over her body to see if she tastes as sweet as she looks. With her face clean and her hair pulled back, I can see the extent of the bruise on her face. Some bastard really did a number on her, I can almost see the fist imprint.
"It was wonderful. That shower head is amazing. I could live in there." She says smiling.
"Well feel free but your skin might get a little pruny." I smile as she giggles and it's the most beautiful sound I've ever heard.
"Now if you don't mind I would like to take a look at that bruise on your face and any other injuries you may have."
She looks down at the floor but nods.
Lifting her face up with my fingers at her chin, I look into her eyes for a moment before gently touching the bruise. With the first touch of my fingers, her eyes snap shut and she winces. I try to contain the growl building in my chest, but I'm not completely successful.
"Who did this to you?" I whisper in agony that someone could have hurt this angel.
She doesn't open her eyes but a tear slips down her uninjured cheek.
"Somebody that I thought I knew." She says quietly. I know every moment I'm touching her, she's thinking about what happened and it's hurting her, so I get to work.
"The bone feels like it is in place and intact but I can't be sure without an x-ray. This cut here next to your eye doesn't need stitches so I'll put a butterfly bandage on it. The cut on your lip, unfortunately, I can't do much for." I tell her while I work and she keeps her eyes closed.
"Is there anywhere else that you are injured?" I ask her quietly once I'm done with her face.
She doesn't answer but she turns around and lifts the back of her shirt. All along her back are boot prints and I release another growl, this one too low and quiet for her to hear.
"It feels like you might have a broken rib. I would really like to x-ray it to be sure but I know you don't want that so I will tape and wrap it up. We'll see how it heals in the next few days." Making sure to be gentle and tell her everything I do before I do it, I set her ribs so hopefully her pain is better and put her shirt down.
"Is that all?" I ask her and she shakes her head. Standing up she slowly brings her pajama pants down and my dead heart skips a beat seeing her in my boxers, but it stops completely when I look down and see more boot sized bruises on her thighs. Grinding my teeth together I gently prod my fingers along the bruises.
"There doesn't seem to be any broken bones or broken skin here. There isn't much I can do for them, I'm afraid, except draw you a hot bath and give you some pain medicine." At my last words she whips her head around and looks at me with tears streaming down her face.
"I can't have any pain medicine. Thank you for helping with what you could."
"Esme, I know you're in pain. Please let me give you something to help." I beg her but she just shakes her head. "I promise it's completely safe for your body. Nothing will happen to you here where I can watch for side effects. Please let me take away your pain."
"It's not harmful to me…" she says almost inaudibly before reaching down carefully and pulling her pants up. I'm completely lost and confused until she puts both hands on her lower belly. I've seen many women stand like that mostly in the hospital when they're on their way to the…OBGYN wing. My eyes shoot up to meet hers.
"You're pregnant?" I whisper to her and she nods as a sob escapes her.
I can't help it. I have to touch her. Slowly, so she can see my every move, I put my arms around her shoulders and pull her into my chest as her sobs let loose and she soaks my shirt with her tears.
"Oh Esme" I whisper as my own eyes fill with tears I'll never shed. "I'm so sorry this happened to you."
She continues to cry as I hold her and rub her back in what I hope is soothing circles.
"I have pain medication that is safe for the baby. All of this stress isn't good for him or her. When you're hurting they can sense it. Please let me make you feel better." I beg again and after a minute she nods into my shoulder. Letting out a sigh of relief I reluctantly release her and grab the medication out of my bag.
"I'm going to give you a shot. It will help the medicine get into your system faster and it will also help you sleep." I tell her while cleaning her arm with an alcoholic swab. Her bright eyes are watching every move my hands make as I move the needle closer to her arm and quickly inject the medicine.
"There you go. All done. Now I think you should get some sleep and we can talk some more in the morning. Okay?" I ask her as I lift her chin with my fingers and look again into her eyes. I don't think I'll ever grow tired of them.
"Okay. Thank you." She says quietly. She can barely keep her eyes open and I can tell she's dead on her feet.
She manages to make it up the stairs and into her room without any help from me, I would have loved to help but I know she's been through something terrible, and I don't want to push her. Watching her as she goes into her room with a whispered "goodnight", I know I will never let her go. I can't.