second excerpt...

"I’m going to look for help," he told the unconscious form in his bed. "Just stay where you are, and keep breathing, ok?"
There were no lights on the road to the station, but the moon shone overhead and he found the way with little difficulty. The tree stood where hedges defined the corners of two fields. The rough bark felt familiar beneath his hand, and William stood awhile. Usually he brushed his fingers over the tree as he passed, greeting it silently on the way to and from the train. He had always talked to trees, but had never imagined they would start to respond in kind.
"Hi," he began awkwardly. "Umm... you probably don’t notice me, but I come this way most days when I’m going to work and... I’m hoping you have a dryad, because I really need someone to talk to right now." He paused to clear his throat. A car passed him on the road, the lights briefly dazzling. "They cut down the yew tree on the village green, and its dryad is dying. He’s in my house and I want to help him, but I don’t know how to. I took some cuttings from what was left of his tree, and I’m trying to get them to grow. I thought it might help, only it doesn’t seem to be making much odds. I don’t know what to do. I’m desperate. I don’t want him to die. Please, if you can hear me, please talk to me!" William fell silent. Having poured out his heart, he felt foolish and self-conscious.
"You are a rare creature, I’ll give you that much." She stood a few feet from him, moonlight glinting off her naked skin.
"Oh my god," he whispered. He’d never seen a naked woman before, and although her form did little for him, he could not help but gaze at her curves in fascination. She had luminous eyes, and short, boyish hair. He could not have guessed her age, but she looked kind enough.
"Which god?" she asked, sounding amused.
"I don’t know. Any god that cares for dryads, I suppose."
She nodded slowly. "He had no offspring tree ready to take him in."
"No."
"But something of his old tree lives?"
"Yes."
"Then you might save him."
"I’ll do anything!"
She stared hard at him for a few seconds. "Anything?"
"Yes."
"Give your life for his, if that were called for?"
William paused a moment to consider his answer. "I’m nothing special. He is. I want him to live, and if the cost is my life, I can do that." He stood a little straighter, lifting his head.