Lol so this is a week late. I'm sorry! I get very stressed over some uni stuff and stress makes me very very sick! It honestly feels like I've been away for six months, not two weeks. But I'm back! And we should be good next week! And you'll be getting a mini (very mini) bonus chapter on Wednesday!
(also this is kind of crap, sorry about that)
"I was just sixteen when we first met. I knew nothing of love. But he was so kind and gentle and handsome, I couldn't help but decide that one day I would marry a man just like him." - Esme
1911.
Carlisle had thought that his capacity for boredom was all but gone. He had the capability to fully recall any book he had ever read, he could learn a language within a day, he could entertain himself with complex mathematics for hours without writing a single thing down. But after decades spent in such pleasant company, he didn't do so well in solitude. Those centuries spent on his own spread out in his memory as a time he couldn't believe he'd survived. How did he ever cope before he had a family?
What's worse was that he didn't even know why he was alone. Bella sent him on a six month mission to Columbus, to claim that he's twenty one years of age and work as a brand new doctor. She told him nothing else, just what to say when he arrived and what to say when he left; and not to use the Texan accent he had been putting on for the last few years.
He had thought that perhaps he would discover the reasoning behind Bella's odd requests as time went on, but nothing of note happened at all. He worked, he hunted, he read, he wrote to his family; then he repeated.
At least it would be over soon. He was due to return to his family in three weeks, just three weeks more. Just three weeks more.
"How old are you, young man?"
Carlisle smiled politely as he pulled his stethoscope from his ears and gestured for the middle aged lady to button her blouse back up.
"I'm twenty one, ma'am."
She looked surprised, or at least she tried to look surprised. Carlisle would be a fool not to notice the odd number of mothers, grandmothers and aunts suddenly needing checkups in the week he had covered this practice for. How excellent that they were all perfectly healthy, and how coincidental that they all had lovely young ladies so closely related to them. The dangers of small town gossip, he supposed.
"And you live alone in the city?"
He busied himself making notes on her chart. "Yes, ma'am."
"What about your parents?"
"Long dead, I'm afraid."
At least he didn't have to lie.
She hummed as if this were new information to her. "Well I think it is remarkable that you manage so well all by yourself."
He smiled, attempting to make it look genuine. She was trying to be nice, after all. "Thank you, that's very kind."
He finished her notes and dropped the file back on his desk with a flourish. "Well Mrs Dimble, I give you a clean bill of health!"
"Oh good!" She said as she let him help her off the exam table. "You know, I have a niece you should meet. Remarkable girl, very good at crochet!"
He barked a laugh as he steadied her on her feet. "Thank you, ma'am. But I'm afraid I won't be staying in the area much longer. I have siblings who need me."
"Siblings…" She pondered. "Where will you be going? Because I have a cousin who-"
There was a crash in the waiting room that cut her off.
"Help! Dr Harrison!"
Carlisle ran out the exam room without a second glance. A girl stood in the centre of the waiting room, batting away the hands of the startled receptionist who tried to calm her down. She looked to be about fifteen years old, her white blonde hair was falling out of the braid it had once been in and her light eyes bright and frenzied from running.
"What's wrong?"
She jumped. "Where's Dr Harrison?"
"He's fallen ill," Carlisle raised his hands in a calming motion, "I'm taking care of the practice. My name is Dr Cullen. Are you alright? Is someone injured?"
"Yes!" She gasped. "It's my friend! It's all my fault- She fell out of a tree and hit her head!"
Carlisle ducked into his makeshift office to grab his bag as quickly as humanly possible. Head injuries could be a tricky business, and were a great deal more interesting than his 4 o'clock appointment with Mrs West. He threw a jacket on and ran back out to the door.
"Can you lead me to her?"
The girl nodded and raced out the door onto the sidewalk. "This way!"
He kept pace with her as she raced towards the orchards at the end of town. She expertly navigated the long rows of apple trees to a gate at the back where it opened out to wide green fields. The smell of blood assaulted his nose, although not enough to be truly alarming. A girl in a white dress was huddled under a large oak tree, grasping her leg to her chest. Carlisle rushed towards her.
"Esme! I got the doctor!" Her friend called.
Esme looked dazed, but found it in herself to smile at her friend.
"I told you I'm fine!" She said, her voice quiet and subdued. "Just a tumble."
Carlisle knelt down beside her. "I believe I will be the judge of that; if you have no objections, miss."
She turned her soft smile towards him. "I suppose…"
With gentle fingers, he felt the back of the girl's head. Her golden brown hair had been pulled from its bun on one side, there were some remnants of bark clinging to the strands. He carefully extracted them as he felt for bumps. She whimpered when he found a tender spot.
"Can you tell me your name?" He asked.
"Esme Platt…"
"Right, and the date today?"
"Um… May 5th?"
"Good. Your age?"
"Sixteen…"
"Your mother's name?"
"Ariana."
Excellent, her memory and speech were fine; and his investigation of the back of her head hadn't yielded any troubling injuries.
"No bleeding there," he told her as he extracted his hand. "Look at me?"
He softly rested his fingers on her jaw and moved her head around in the light, keeping his butterscotch eyes trained on her chocolate brown ones. Her pupils expanded and contracted in the way they should and he sighed in relief.
"I believe your head is quite alright, Miss Platt."
She turned to her friend, her smile turned playful. "I did tell you, Claire."
Claire spluttered. "You fell ever such a long way!"
Carlisle chuckled. "Surely you can forgive your friend for worrying, that appears to be a nasty bump. Now, do you have any other injuries? Do you think you can stand?"
It was somewhat of a redundant question. He could sense the tension she was holding in her thigh and shoulders, she was suppressing something very painful.
The girl bit her full bottom lip and glanced down at the leg still clutched in her pale hands. Under Carlisle's sympathetic gaze, she hiked her skirts up to her knee to show where blood stained her white cotton stockings. The swelling on her shin was visible even through the coverings.
He grimaced at the poor girl's pain. It was clearly broken, but he'd need to inspect it closer to know how badly.
"Do you mind if I take a look?" He asked.
Esme blushed and nodded. He respectfully averted his eyes as she reached up her skirts and unclipped her stocking from the suspenders, but when she bent to pull it down herself, she winced and he took over; careful not to touch her skin as he peeled the cotton off her calf. He took her shoe off too, as the swelling appeared to stretch down to her ankle and she whimpered as the pressure released.
"I need to feel the area to ascertain what kind of break it is." He gently told her. "I warn you, it will most likely hurt a great deal… and I have very cold hands."
She laughed, although pained tears pricked at her eyes. "Duly noted."
He felt at the break with the lightest touch possible, but she still stifled a gasp and clenched her hands into fists. Claire dropped down to her friend's side and fussed over her, whispering words of comfort and encouragement.
Completing his assessment as quickly as possible, Carlisle gave the girl a reassuring smile and turned to fetch some bandages from his bag. "I'd say you are very lucky, Miss Platt. It is a clean break and your ankle is only sprained. You will need a splint, and to keep your weight off it for several weeks; but it should heal quite easily." He grinned. "No climbing trees for a while."
"Oh thank God…" Claire sighed.
"I will bandage it now," he said, "then once we get you back to the surgery I can set it properly."
"Should I run back to town and fetch some men to help move her?" Claire asked.
It would be much easier that way, Carlisle wouldn't have to hide his strength. But Esme blushed even darker and seemed to curl in on herself. He couldn't add anymore to her mortification.
"I don't believe that's necessary." He said. "I can carry you. Of course… only if you are comfortable with it, Miss Platt."
Her shoulders relaxed a little and she smiled gratefully up at him. "Yes, that's fine Doctor."
He returned her smile and carefully helped pull her skirts back down to maintain her modesty. He encouraged her to loop an arm around his shoulders then slipped his around her back and under her knees. He tried to make it look like he lifted with his knees, slowly, and with a slight grunt as if she were heavy to him. She wasn't heavy at all, but he knew he looked quite lean and it would be suspicious to show too much strength. He arranged her in his arms so no pressure was on her injured leg and turned back to her friend.
"Could you please carry my bag for me… I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?"
"Claire!" The girl chirped as she heaved his heavy leather bag with both arms.
Esme laughed as they began to slowly make their way back to town. "Your last name!"
"Oh!" She snorted. "Stevens."
Carlisle grinned at the girl, although he felt a little guilty for not being able to help as she struggled with the bag. "Thank you for your help, Miss Stevens."
"Oh it's no bother!" She swung the bag to the side and stumbled with the momentum. "Thank you for saving Esme!"
"Just doing my job."
At first Esme joined in their jovial conversation, but over time her face became more and more pinched with pain and Carlisle couldn't help but speed his pace a little. Claire hurried to keep up and glared away any stares that could embarrass her friend.
When they finally reached the practice and carefully deposited Esme on the examining bed, Claire dropped the bag on the floor with a relieved sigh.
"Should I fetch your mother, Esme?"
Esme winced but nodded. "Yes please…"
Claire left, and Carlisle smiled reassuringly as he began to rifle through drawers. "You sound apprehensive."
"She will be awfully cross with me."
"For climbing trees?"
"Apparently I am too old for such childish things."
Carlisle turned from his search to cast an appraising eye over the girl. Now he knew she wasn't in any danger, he could appreciate that she was really very pretty. Her face was perfectly heart shaped, with soft full cheeks and pointy chin; her eyes were large and almond shaped and an expressive brown. She would be a gorgeous woman one day. But what was truly beautiful about her was the messiness of her light brown hair, the grass stains on her dress and her palms, the mud caked on her low heeled boots, that wild sparkle of youth in her eyes.
The day she becomes too old for such things would be a dark one indeed.
"You get in trouble often, I take it?"
She laughed. "More and more recently. But it is the first warm day of the year and it will get so humid soon. I had no choice!"
He chuckled too, bending down to search the cabinets. "Clearly."
"What are you looking for?"
"A splint for your leg." He sighed, straightening up. "I am yet to understand Dr Harrison's system for organising his office."
"I think he keeps them in that box…" She pointed at a case on the side, which sure enough held the needed splints.
Carlisle raised an eyebrow at the girl, who tried to hide her grin.
"I might have broken my arm two years ago."
"Climbing trees?"
"Jumping the canal, actually." She smirked and her cheeks flushed. "I almost got across."
"Impressive." Carlisle perched on the bed beside her and began to unwrap the bandages around her leg, he smiled sympathetically at her hiss of pain.
"Dr Harrison didn't seem to think so," she laughed, "is he alright? I forgot to ask."
"Yes, he should be fine." He taped the splint to the front of her leg, making sure the break was aligned. "He'll be back within a week, then I'll go back to Columbus."
"Do you like it there?"
Her voice was tense with pain, but she was making a valiant effort to cover it.
"It's pleasant enough," he said, "but my family is in Oregon and I plan to join them there in a few weeks."
"That's so far away. You must miss them a great deal."
He glanced up at her, "I do."
She looked like she expected him to elaborate, tell her more about his wonderful family who were so far away, but something stopped him. He could have told her all about them; Bella, Jasper and Peter. He could have described how funny they were, how strongly they loved each other, how the sound of their laughter made every hardship he had ever faced livable. But he would have to call them his siblings, and they weren't. For some strange reason he hated the idea of lying to her, this sweet girl who cared for others even when in horrible pain.
Thank God Bella told him to use his natural voice.
He stuck down the end of the bandage with a flourish. "You will need these changed in a week. In the meantime, no walking!"
She giggled. "Excellent. My mother will be thrilled!"
The lady in question bustled into the room as he was cleaning her daughter's bleeding palms.
"Esme! Oh what have you done, you silly girl!"
Carlisle hovered out of the way as Esme was thoroughly chastised for her foolishness. Eventually, Mrs Platt realised he wasn't her usual doctor and he had to awkwardly explain his situation, then bashfully accept thank yous and a handshake when Mr Platt arrived to carry his daughter home.
Esme sent him one last peaceful smile on her way out the door. "Thank you again, Dr Cullen."
"You're welcome." He grinned. "Now go rest that leg. Careful you don't break your neck next time!"
"I'll try!" She called out as she was carried away.
Finally left alone in his office, he sighed. Over the years, he had met thousands of people, most of them completely normal, some wonderful, some terrible. But sometimes, very rarely, he met someone who was truly beautiful, inside and out. Someone who made the world better just by existing, made your life better just by knowing them.
These had been an awfully boring and lonely six months, but at least he had gained one positive. Meeting Esme had made his long life just that little bit brighter.