You've been living way too long, in broken promise land
Your dreams crushed and scattered like a million grains of sand

Her body was mangled in so many different ways that it was difficult for me to believe that her heart was still beating. The sweet scent of her blood -somehow still being pushed through her veins by her barely beating heart- filled the air of the stuffy little morgue as I wheeled her away on a stretcher. I'd heard the human doctors saying that she had been found at the bottom of the cliff. I sighed sadly, wondering why she had committed suicide.

I'd love to be your redemption, but I am just a man
I may never be a hero, but I'm a rock you can lean on

I could see why the humans had thought her dead; her arms and legs stuck out at awkward angles -her right leg broken in 3 places, the left in 2- and the blood from her many cuts stained her light blue shirt a ghastly shade of purple. Some cuts were deep; the blood had not congealed there, continuing to flow freely, trickling down her skin in winding rivulets that quickly discolored the white sheets of the stretcher. It was a miracle she'd even survived the fall. Her pulse was very faint when I pressed my fingers to her throat. But it was still there.

If I don't love you like you deserve
If I don't stop every tear you're crying

As I looked over her arms, I saw the faded yellow of an old bruise on her forearm. It wasn't from the fall; it was in the rough shape of a human hand. Now that I had noticed this old bruise, more of them seemed to appear. On her arms, her legs, her face. . . Her broken body was riddled with bruises, both old and new, that gave a tiny bit of insight as to why she'd committed suicide in the first place.

If I don't make your life heaven on this earth
I'll die trying, I'll die trying

I gasped sharply, quietly, my quick mind quickly adding up the facts easily.


I'll listen to your secret prayer and share your deepest wish
Searched for a hundred years just to find the perfect kiss

I glanced up at her face again, feeling a rush of familiarity as I quickly remembered her as the girl whose leg I had set nearly 10 years before. Her name was Esme, I recalled. She had matured so much, into a beautiful, motherly looking woman that I felt a sudden, powerful stab of anger for the man that had broken such a lovely woman.


Everything within my power, there's nothing I won't give
To be that man in your life

I'd've liked to rip the monster's head off myself, but something caught my eye. I looked closer at her beautiful face -the loving face of a young mother, made so much older by worry lines that should not have been on such a youthful, kindly face-, noticing small white trails running down her cheek, popping out under the yellow light of the incandescent bulb. . Tear tracks. I traced one hesitantly with a pale finger, worry creasing my brow; her skin was barely warm.


That takes what's wrong and makes it right
If I don't love you like you deserve

Her face oddly reminded me of my mother, though I remembered little of her. Her lips were set in a calm line, slightly parted, and her long, wavy auburn hair framed her still face and fanned about her head, almost like a halo. I realized, with blinding clarity right then, that she was the mot beautiful woman I'd ever seen. So soft, and kindly, and beautiful, like an angel. . .


If I don't stop every tear you're crying
If I don't make your life heaven on this earth

Something clicked into place the moment I laid eyes on her pale, silently stunning face. Some part of me was completed as I looked with my golden eyes upon her classically angelic face. . .


I'll die trying, I'll die trying
I may never be a hero, but I'm a rock you can lean on

So this was what it was like to be in love. It was beautiful to feel like this about someone, to understand what Romeo had felt like when he saw Juliet's beautiful face, to know the feeling so many had named love. I felt strangely light-headed; a warm feeling throbbed where my silent heart lay, deep in my chest that was now overflowing with the strength of the love I felt for her. For Esme.


If I don't love you like you deserve
If I don't stop every tear you're crying

The beauty of the moment was ruined by the sudden stuttering of her heart. A feeling of agony washed through me, a thousand times worse than the terrible fire that had turned me into a vampire. The pain spiked, echoed in my mind as well as my heart, as her heart began faltering more now, an uneven staccato against the healthy beating of the human doctors in the next room.


If I don't make your life heaven on this earth
I'll die trying. . .

She was dying.


Don't just call it quits, say there's no chance for you out there
I know you're at a crossroads where love doesn't seem to be fair

Unthinkingly, I bent over her still, white body. My teeth grazed her almost-cold throat, and the venom flowed freely.


He made no effort to satisfy all your hopes and dreams
But if you'll give love another shot and look to me

I had to save her.

I'll die trying. . .

Disclaimer: Twilight is the property of Stephenie Meyer, and the songs, respectively, property of Kenny Chesney and Emerson Drive. No copyright infringement is intended.

Authors Notes: If any of you were wondering, the lyrics belong to the songs Who You'd Be Today by Kenny Chesney (Esme's) and I'll Die Trying by Emerson Drive (Carlisle.)