CHAPTER 12

“How are things here, Angel Boy?” Tess asked when she returned a few
hours later. She helped herself to a muffin and sat down with him at
the table,
“Where’s Monica?”

Andrew indicated towards the glass door and Tess looked to see her
friend curled up in one of the chaise lounges on the deck,
“We’ve had a bit of a rough morning, I’m afraid,” He replied, explaining
to her what had happened.

Tess listened, her forehead crinkled in concern as he finished,
“What does she mean about how this is going to end?”

He shook his head,
“She won’t tell me, Tess, but I have a feeling it’s a big piece of this
puzzle. It’s like there is something buried so deep inside of her, but
she won’t let me see what it is. She’s hurting so much and it’s driving
me crazy not knowing how to help her.”

“You’re doing fine, Andrew. You’ve got her talking and eventually, the
rest of it will come out. She’s struggling so much right now, that
eventually it has to, or it is going to consume her. She’s going
through a very human process of grieving right now, baby. The tears,
depression, the anger—that’s all part of it. Just keep her talking.
The more time she spends alone with her thoughts, the deeper she could
plunge into her grief. Somewhere, underneath all that pain, is our
Angel Girl,” Tess got up and walked over to the door and rapped her
knuckles on the glass. When Monica looked up, Tess indicated for her to
come inside.
“Hello, baby,” Tess smiled as Monica came into the house and moved to
hug her.

“Hi, Tess,” She replied softly, managing a smile,
“Where have you been?”

“Well, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about, Angel Girl. I went to
pay Stacey a visit at the hospital,” Tess watched as the color left
Monica’s face and she sank weakly into a chair.

“How is she?” Monica whispered, as Andrew stood up and moved behind her
to lay his hands on her shoulders.

“Well, the accident was a bad one, but I have it on the highest
authority that she will pull through. She wasn’t conscious, but I told
her who I was and that I was a friend of yours and that she would know
more later, once you were ready to go and see her.” Tess held her
breath, awaiting the angel’s reaction.

Monica was silent for several moments before she shook her head,
“I’m not going to see her, Tess. I’m not!”

“She needs to see you, baby and she needs for you to explain to her what
happened out there that morning,” Tess’ voice was firm as she held
Monica’s gaze.

“No! Stacey doesn’t need me! Stacey never needed me! She was much
better off before I was assigned to her! I won’t do it, Tess!” Angrily,
she got up from the table and ran back to her room, slamming the door
behind her.

Tess bowed her head, feeling heart-broken over her friend’s words,
“Well, I guess that was a mistake.” She remarked sadly.

“She isn’t ready yet, Tess,” Andrew soothed, moving to hug his friend,
“Right now, she doesn’t feel like she’s any good to anybody and unless
we can turn that around…” His voice trailed off, not wanting to complete
that thought.

“I was hoping I this could get her to care about something. To get her
to think about something else, but I guess I was wrong.” She sighed and
gasped Andrew’s hand, giving it a thankful squeeze,
“Go check on her, Angel Boy. Make sure she is alright.”

Monica had slammed her door and had flung herself on the bed, fighting
tears. How could she possibly help Stacey now? She hadn’t even helped
her to begin with; she had only given her more problems.

“Well, at least you are seeing things more clearly now,” Kathleen
remarked, appearing in the room with her.

“What do you want, Kathleen?” Monica replied wearily, in no mood for
this particular visitor.

“I just wanted to see how you were doing, that’s all. I know how hard
it must be for you to prepare to be in this world all alone without
Andrew and Tess. I’ve been worried about you.”

“Since when have you worried about anyone other than yourself,
Kathleen?” She countered, sitting up to look the dark angel in the eyes,

“You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

“Do you really believe that, Monica?” Kathleen looked sympathetic as she
sat down on the bed beside of the angel,
“I mean, they are your two best friends and I know how much you care
about them. It’s really a shame this had to happen at all. If you had
just listened to what you were asked to do, you’d probably be Home by
now.”

Monica’s eyes clouded with tears,
“Do you think I don’t know that? I certainly don’t need you to tell
me! Go away, Kathleen. There is enough wrong in my life without you
adding to it.”

“Suit yourself, Angel Girl,” Kathleen shrugged as she got up and
prepared to leave. She turned back to Monica once more, appearing
thoughtful,
“You know, there is one more alternative, I suppose. You could, lets
say, come with me?”

Monica’s eyes narrowed in anger as she stood to face the dark angel,
“That will never be an option for me, Kathleen, so you can just drop
that subject right now. “

“We’ll see,” Kathleen smiled and gave a wink,
“I’ll see you around.”

As soon as Kathleen was gone, there was a gentle knock on her door,
“Come in,” Monica sighed, hastily wiping tears from her eyes as she sat
back down on the edge of the bed.

“Hey there,” Andrew smiled as he opened the door and walked over to her,

“You okay?”

Monica looked at him hesitantly, longing to throw herself into his arms
and beg him not to ever leave her. But she couldn’t do that. She
couldn’t ask that of him, not ever. He had sacrificed so much for her
already and she could not ask that he give up who he was for her.

“Monica?” His concerned eyes searched hers as he waited for an answer.

“I’m fine,” She replied, her voice trembling a little, though she tried
to smile.

“Why don’t I believe that?” Andrew said softly as he knelt down in front
of her and took her hands into his,
“Monica, talk to me, please? I know that there are things you aren’t
telling me and I can’t help you with them unless I know what they are.”
He watched in desperation as her brown eyes brimmed with tears,
“Please, honey, tell me?”

She looked away for a moment, before bringing her eyes back to him,
“I…I can’t, Andrew. It’s too hard.”

“Maybe it won’t seem as hard if you share it with me,” He offered,
longing for her to open up to him.

“Oh, believe me, that would make it harder still,” She uttered, letting
go of his hand long enough to swipe at a tear as it fell. She attempted
a smile,
“Please, don’t ask me anymore questions right now that I can’t answer.”

Andrew sighed softly as he squeezed her hands tightly,
“You know how much I love you, right? There are no questions in your
mind about that, are there?”

“Never,” She whispered, squeezing his hands back in return. She felt
her heart begin to crumble as she hoped that knowledge would see her
through her future, whatever it may be. She wondered if he and Tess
would watch over her the way she had watched over so many other humans.
She thought about her two dearest friends and knew she had to find a way
to be strong enough for all of them. If she couldn’t, then she was sure
the pain of losing them would surely kill her,
“Andrew, if it’s alright with you, could you maybe just hold me for
awhile?” A single tear escaped her eye,
“I could just really use that right now.”

“You don’t even have to ask,” He replied, his voice choked as he took
her into his arms and held her tightly, afraid that if he let go, she
would disappear forever.