Sedona

Playground Injury

Esme's POV

Children trickled into the daycare, slowly with their parents at drop-off. The sun hid behind the clouds in the sky. Soon, (Y/N) came in with Thomas and Annie.

The two kids ran ahead after they both got an "I love you" from their parent.

(Y/N) looked tired as ever, watching the two until they passed the threshold into the play area. They gave me the simplest of waves before leaving for their job.

"How are you two today?" I sat down with Thomas and Annie as they drew at a table together.

"Good," both mumbled, focused on their individual masterpieces.

"That's good to hear." I smiled and occasionally looked over to the other children. Some of the daycare attendants played along with them.

"Here," Annie pushed a drawing over to me. Her mouth was covered by her stuffed animal; slowly, she had warmed up to me.

"Oh, is this for me?" A smile grew wider on my face as she nodded. "That's really nice of you, Annie. Thank you very much. I'll keep it safe." The drawing lay in front of me on the table.

"It's a bunny." She mumbled before picking up her pink crayon to draw some more.

"It looks very good, Annie. Do you like bunnies?" My eyes danced along the paper, admiring the pink bunny in an open field on the paper.

"Mhm," She lifted her stuffed animal to show me. The bunny looked fairly new compared to the one I'd seen multiple times before.

"Our parent told her to bring it because she wanted to show you her new one," Thomas interjected before giggling. "She lost her last one at the park like a dummy. Our parent had to buy a new one."

"Hey, that's not nice to say about your sister. You hurt her feelings." I scolded him lightly as I saw fresh tears line the corners of Annie's eyes.

"Sorry, Annie." He mumbled to her before getting distracted by his drawing again.

"Annie, are you okay?" I slowly got out of my seat to lower down to her level.

She nodded along. "I did lose him." Her voice is a little shaky from her tears. Little hands fiercely wiped at her eyes to get the tears.

"That's okay, Annie. Maybe you will find him again." Offering some hope, I tried to cheer her up and gave her some tissues.

"Annie, parent said that they'll try ta find it." Thomas kept scribbling with the crayon in his tight fist. "Look at my dragon!"

He changed the subject to his drawing. The crayon he used rolled off the table, but he didn't care about it more than the giant red dragon on his paper. "They spit fire, and, and, fly!"

"Cool!" Annie looked at the drawing with an awestruck look. "I'm going to draw a princess. They can be friends!" She cheered before scribbling. Her sadness disappeared within the blink of an eye.

I smiled warmly, watching the two interact. They occasionally picked at each other, but they got along too. I watched them fondly draw.

"No, the dragon's going to steal her and eat her!" Thomas laughed. "And take her gold for his hoard!"

"No, he won't!" Annie glared at him with a pout. "He's her pet! She washes his scales and takes him to the dragon spa!"

"Nu-uh!" Thomas objected to that.

"Uh-huh!" Annie argued in return, getting loud.

They disputed for a couple of minutes until Annie decided to draw her own dragon. After having their snacks, it came time for them to play outside.

3rd Person's POV

Esme escorted the kids out to play outside with the help of the other daycare attendants. All of the children ran onto the playground like free-for-all swarming the grounds.

Annie chose the swing, being pushed on it by an older kid. At the same time, Thomas climbed high onto the monkey bars. Both did not pay any attention to each other, while the attendants watched everyone play.

Thomas swung to and fro, trying to do tricks on the bars as other kids watched. The crowd around him cheered for him, boosting his confidence past the clouds into the sun.

"Look at me! Look at me!" He called to the cheering kids on the ground, hanging from bent knees on the bars.

"Woah! That's so cool!" The kids below him cheered along.

The black-haired boy reached up to the bars above before bringing his legs down to dangle under him. He giggled and laughed at all the cheers that he was getting from the others.

But over time, his arms got tired from hanging down. Fingers slowly slip from the hot, warm, neon-yellow-painted metal bars. Panic filled his small body as his fingers started to slip.

"Help!" He yelped and kicked his legs about until he dropped down into the mulch. A kid or two ran to get him help from an attendant. Tears bloomed in his eyes as pain seared in his wrist. Loud sobs wracked his body from the pain.

"Thomas!" Esme ran to his side. Kids crowded to watch the sobbing boy on the ground.

"Are you hurt?! Thomas!" Esme crouched next to him. Panic and worry covered her face, looking at the boy.

"My wrist!" He croaked between sobs.

"Oh, let's get you some help. Come on." Esme helped the boy up before walking with him inside.

Carlisle's POV

"Carlisle?" Esme's voice surprised me. More shock came to me when I turned to her. Her hand rested on the shoulder of a sobbing little boy, cradling his wrist.

"Esme, what happened to the boy?" I lead the two into an empty room to check him over.

"Follow my finger," I instructed the boy so I could check him over.

"It's his wrist that bothers him...Thomas fell playing outside." She sat in an unoccupied chair next to him.

"His wrist should be fine in a while. It looks like just a sprain. You will be just fine, Thomas." I smiled kindly at him to reassure him.
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1018 Words