"Bet you can't climb higher than me!" "Yes I can!" I yelled to my friend Abby. "Yeah right Shannon, you can barely climb a tree at ALL and yet you think you can beat me? HA!" Grr, Abby could be so annoying at times, I thought to myself as climbed up yet another branch. Almost there, just a few more-SNAP! I saw leaves pass my vision before I hit the ground. Hard. I faintly remember hearing voices, someone was crying, and then just…. Blankness. ********
When I opened my eyes I was in a white room. It was bright smelled the cleaners my mom used. 'Ok, think. Where am I?' I was lying down, on what could hardly be described as a bed. The pillows under my felt lumpy and uneven, the sheets covering me felt itchy. There was a railing next to me; actually, it was surrounding me entirely. I could hear voices to my left "Your next patient is in room 107 Dr. Cullen." "Thank you Tiffani." 'Hospital. I'm in a hospital. Ok, why?' "Oh, you're awake now. How are you feeling?"
I turned my head to the left to see the most beautiful man I have ever seen. He had blond hair, smooth pale skin, and deep golden eyes. He looked to be about 20. For a minute I laid there simply admiring the view, until his face contorted into a confused look. I realized he had asked me a question. "Oh, I feel well, thank you." "Hmm, that's good. That was some fall you had there."
He said with a smile, coming over to check his clipboard. I looked down to see my body for the first time. The sheet covered everything, including the large lump that should have been my leg. Then I remembered. The tree climbing. The fall. Abby. "Grr, why that little brat, when I find her I'll strangle her till she's blue, then I'll-"There was a light cough, when I looked over I saw the doctor face slightly horrified by my words, which I realized I had grumbled out loud. "Heh, my friend challenged me to a tree climbing contest." I tried to explain.
He smiled "And I guess the tree wasn't up for it?" I barely heard his words. His smile was breath taking. But he continued, "So you have a broken leg, a fractured rib, and some bruising, but it could have been a lot worse…" he trailed off.
I groaned, "So how long am I going to be here?" "A month or two, at least." I frowned at first, but I thought of something. "Umm, are you like, my actual Doctor?" Oh, I could definitely deal with being in a hospital for a month or two with this guy as my doctor. "Yes I am. I'm Dr. Cullen; it's very nice too meet you miss-" "Shannon. Shannon Michel. And it is very nice to meet you as well Dr. Cullen." I finished with a smile on my face. He smiled in return.
We stayed like that for all of 10 seconds till someone burst through the doors. "Shannon! Thank goodness! I thought you were dead! OUCH, what was that for!" "This is a hospital ma'am please keep your voice down!" I looked over to see Abby shoving off some nurse in her haste towards me. "Oh my god Shannon, I'm SO sorry, I didn't know the branch would break, and then your leg snapped, and you were bleeding, and I could SEE the bone, and-", Tears were streaming down her face now, typical. I laid there, watching Abby be her over dramatic self, waiting for her to run out of breath. When she did she was kneeled over, panting. "Are you finished? As you can see I'm not dead, and it wasn't your fault, so calm down." She looked back up at me, no wait next to me. "Ah, so you must be Miss Shannon's friend. Abby was it? Don't worry, she'll be fine."Dr. Cullen said reassuringly. Abby smiled "Oh, ok! Well, I guess I'll see ya when I see ya!"
She bolted for the door, and was gone. I sighed, so abby. She absolutely hated hospitals. The sickness, the doctors, the needles. I couldn't blame her. "Miss Shannon? I'll leave you so you came get some rest ok? Press the button next to you if you need anything." Dr. Cullen left the room as well, leaving me to my own thoughts. ******************
"Ah, how are you feeling today Shannon?" "Wonderful Dr. Cullen and you?" "Spectacular." I giggled. I've been in this hospital for about a month and a half now, and it's been…. fun? Dr. Cullen was actually a pretty cool guy to talk to, compared to the doctors that were in for him on sunny days. He told me about his son, Edward, and how on sunny days he liked to spend the time with him. So my Doctor was kind, gentle, sweet, and hot.
All the other doctors were bald, going bald and cranky all the time. I think I liked him. Really liked him. Ignoring my age of 18, and his disbelieving age of 32, I liked him. He told me that I was the favorite part of his day, me and my smiling face. I found that hard to believe. I was average. I had curly red hair and out of place pale skin. I had freckles peppered throughout my whole body, and a set common set of brown eyes. What could he possibly see in me?
"Ok, it looks like the cast can come off now." That's right. Today was the day I was getting kicked out of the hospital. Finally, or regretfully healed. 99.9% healthy. But, I didn't want to leave. Who knows if I'd even get to see Dr. Cullen again? Once the bandages were removed, Dr. Cullen helped me down from the bed, the coldness of his hand no longer startling to me.
"Thank you for everything, Dr. Cullen." I said sadly. "Umm, Miss Shannon? I enjoyed your company greatly, and I would love it if you would maybe stop by and we could talk, if you wanted to. I smiled. Wide. "Thank you Dr. Cullen. I'll do that." We both smiled at each other, before they led me through the doors outside. ***********
I went to see him the next week. My mother didn't need anything from me, and Dr. Cullen continued to plague my thoughts. Nothing had changed about him and he seemed enthusiastic about seeing me again. We talked about his patients, his life, my life, anything- everything. Until it was getting dark and he thought my mother might be worried.
I hurried my way home, to eat, bath and sleep, hoping to morning would come sooner. *********
We stayed that way for days, me simply coming to him to talk. Days turned to weeks, weeks to months, and my 20th birthday was 4 days ago. Seeing Dr. Cullen was a daily ritual, the part of my day I looked forward to. But, with me now twenty, I knew it would only be a matter a time till I would marry. I was already two years late, and now the subject couldn't be avoided anymore.
One night, when I came back from the hospital, my parents confronted me. "Shannon, we've held this off for long enough. This week we have been husband shopping for you, and by this time next week, you will be married to Sir Daniel Haggles." I sat there in disbelief. Me? Married to that- that PIG! That snob that did nothing but laze around eating and bedding women against their will? I was to marry that! I felt the tears brimming against my eyes. I did not want to marry him. I wanted my happily ever after, like Abby. She was married at nineteen to some Sir Adam. The man owned his own land, castle, LARGE inheritance from his father, and was able to ravish Abby whenever she so pleased. But I knew that my happy ending could never come true. Because there was only one person who could give me that happily ever after. *******
The next day I went to tell Dr. Cullen. He was… happy. Happy I had found someone who will care for me. I was furious. "I don't want to marry Daniel, I want to marry you." Silence filled the room, not including my gasp. I hadn't meant to say that out loud. 'Oh well, at least now he knows.' To my surprise, he wasn't shocked or disgusted. He looked hurt. "I'm sorry Shannon, but with me you can't have a happy life. You're better off with Sir Daniel. I truly hope you will make the best of it." With that said he leaned in and lightly pecked me on the lips. Before I could return the gesture he pulled away, a vacant emptiness in his eyes. I realized then that I was crying, hot tears flowing down my cheeks. I buried my face in his chest as he gently soothed me, and within minutes I was out, walking home to- gulp-, prepare for my wedding.**********
It's been a month. One month since my wedding. A whole 30 days of misery. No wait, excuse me it's August. That's a whole 31 days of misery. I should know. I sit here watching the clock, marking the days off the calendar. I have nothing else to do. My husband finds no interest in me. I'm actually happy about that, I would never want attention from him. Only downside is that now, I'm absolutely bored and depressed out of my mind. Dr.-, it hurt to even think of his name. Well, anyways he left. The day before the wedding he came to wish me luck, and say goodbye. When the wedding was finished, everyone but me was happy. My tears were not that of joy. 'There's nothing left for me.' I thought to myself. The one person I truly did love and I didn't even know where he was. I missed him terribly. A whole 5 minutes have gone by. 5 more and he'll be home. 'I can't. I can't do this anymore.' I stood, making my way towards the kitchens knife drawer. ********* Where in the world is Carlisle?
Carlisle Cullen stood over Shannon's near lifeless body, her own blood pooling around her, originating from her wrists. He knew her husband had gone drinking with others; he wouldn't be here for another hour or so. Carlisle hadn't come soon enough. He had come to check on her, to see if she was truly happy, or at least making an effort. Or course Carlisle loved her. Despite the age difference- this didn't really even matter anyway, seeing as he was nearing the 300 mark- Shannon was amazing. Beautiful, with personality, now that was hard to come by these days. But Carlisle had agreed with his son Edward, that as long as she was happy, she would be left alone. But after seeing this, 'She- She's not going to make it. There's too much blood loss. Maybe….' Carlisle bent over her still form, gently lifting her arm. Completely ignoring the smell, he counted her heart. It was slowing, quickly. He sighed, mentally and aloud 'Please forgive me Shannon, but I can't lose you. I love you.' ********* BIG TIME GAP, back to Shannon.
Shannon sighed as she continued counting. She sat on the window sill, counting the trees, how many leaves were on each tree, how many blades of grass were in their backyard. "Calm down Shannon, just a few more minutes. Can't you do something more constructive than counting? You're giving me a headache." "Well then Edward, get out of my head, and that should solve your dilemma." Shannon huffed, completely bored and annoyed. Why in the world did Carlisle have to play doctor every day? Just leave me and my bored, sexually frustrated self all alone. I could hear Edward chuckle behind me. I growled, standing up to do something else to occupy my time. And hopefully Edward would leave me and my mind the hell alone. Again, he let out another chuckle, flipping the page of the book he was reading. Withering Heights, gross. He'd be better off playing his piano; he was still a mediocre player after all. With another exasperated sigh, I moved to get up off my window sill, when I abruptly stopped.
Out of my peripheral vision I could see Edward grinning, but I ignored it listening for THAT sound again. The sound of a car pulling into a garage. The sound of a door being opened, the sound of feet touching the ground, the sound of the same door being closed. A smile of my own reached my face, and as soon as I heard the front doors knob turn. I was immediately there in half a millisecond, pouncing my husband and wrapping myself around him in a tight hug. "I missed you!" Carlisle was shocked, and took a second to recover from almost being tackled to the ground."I missed you, too" He said softly, kissing my cheek and hugging me in return.
Leaving the door open, he proceeded to carry me upstairs to our bedroom. "Edward, you may want to get a head start now, I don't think either of us have the intention of being quiet." Carlisle smirked, smelling Shannon's obvious arousal. Edward stood from the couch, snapping his book shut as he walk out the front door, mumbling something about living in a house with hormonal teenagers. But by then, both were in their bedroom, yanking of clothing, hoping their bed would be up for the long night.***********