Chapter 4

The little boy had been staring outside the window for the latest minutes, gazing at the warm sunrays that bathed the city on that lovely afternoon. Jimmy had been admitted to the city hospital two days earlier with intoxication and minor injuries due to the fire at St. Patrick’s Elementary, but doctors were very optimistic that soon the six-year-old would be released and keep on with the treatment at home.

But Jimmy’s quick recovery had a direct responsible besides the talented professionals that were assisting him: if it had not been for “Miss Monica,” his beloved teacher, the boy’s condition would be much more serious now. Jimmy was one of the three children who had been blessed with the presence of an angel to protect them when the fire took over the school. And even being at such a tender age, the little boy was aware that the warm-hearted teacher had put herself at risk to save him and his little friends. It was why on that day he made a special request to his mother.

When the door opened, he finally averted his eyes from the outside scenario and gazed at his mother and his doctor with expectation and a far too serious expression for a child.

“Hey, Jimmy, how are you doing, buddy?” The doctor spoke, examining the bandages that covered superficial injuries in his right arm.

“Good…” he replied, still shaken with the latest events.

"He's getting better really fast, isn't he doctor?" Jimmy's mother spoke, taking a seat next to her son and caressing his dark hair with tenderness.

"Oh, yes, he's definitely making great progress!"

"Will I go home?" The little boy wanted to know, still with a serious expression on his face.

"You will, Jimmy. But for us doctors to send you home we need to be sure you won't feel any more pain, so we need to take care of you a bit more, just for precaution."

The little boy nodded his head with some resignation. "I get it…"

"But I understand there's something you wanted to do today…"

"May I go see 'Miss Monica'?" Jimmy quickly asked.

The doctor, a young man who had started to work just a few months earlier, sat down on the edge of the hospital bed and reached for the boy's hand. The friendly smile on his face subsided a little, but he kept the affable look and spoke to his patient with genuine sincerity. "Look, Jimmy, I'm positively sure Miss Monica would be very, very happy with your visit, as I heard that she likes you very much."

"I like her very much too. She found my friends and me and saved us from the fire."

"I know. She sounds like a very special teacher and a brave friend. But she is now in a place where only adults can go."

"Why is that so? She's likes being with my friends and me."

"Yes, and I know that you and your friends like being with her just the same. But right now doctors need to take care of Monica just like I took care of you. And as she's a bit weak, we needed to put her to sleep, so she can rest and recover."

"She's sleeping right now?"

"Yes."

Watching as disappointment was written all over his face, both doctor and Jimmy's mother exchanged a quick look, and the doctor kept on speaking. "But your mom and I spoke and we have an idea that you may like: as only adults can visit Miss Monica, your mom agreed to go pay her a quick visit."

Jimmy's eyes lit up and he turned to his mother with a hopeful look. "Is it true, mommy?"

"Yes, sweetheart," she replied, caressing his face. And in her own eyes it was possible to see that she was still in awe for having her little boy back in her arms. Truth to be told, Sandra too wanted to pay Monica a visit and pray for her, as she would be forever thankful to Monica for saving her son's life. "The doctors said that I could go check on 'Miss Monica' for you now, so you just need to wait for me, okay? I won't take long."

Finally, a smile graced his angelic features and Jimmy nodded in agreement. "Okay!"

X

It was past 3 PM and the visiting time had just started. To Andrew, however, it was only a matter of seconds before he took his human form and passed by the hospital door with his identification. Karen, the nurse who was in charge of Monica, already knew him and greeted him with happiness. The brave teacher did not have a family but she had a devoted friend who seemed to love her deeply.

The truth was that Andrew never left Monica's bed since they both returned from the wedding ceremony on the day before. And now, in human form, he remained in silence sitting on a chair and staring at her with expectation. Once in a while, the Irish angel would frown or let out a slight moan, which indicated she was in pain. It broke his heart to see that but all these times, he murmured some loving words against her ear and stroked her hair, and this soft contact was enough to put her heart at ease.

The door in the ICU turned open, breaking the mourning silence and causing the blond angel to finally raise his head to see who it was. The nurse motioned Jimmy's mother to come inside.

"Hi, Andrew. This is Sandra, she's Jimmy's mother. Jimmy was one of the three children that Monica saved from the fire." The nurse explained, as Andrew stood on his feet and greeted the woman. "Andrew is Monica's friend and has been here on regular basis."

"Nice to meet you, Sandra."

"It's nice to meet you too, Andrew. How is Monica?"

"She's… stable but her condition is still very serious. Dr. Richards and Karen are taking good care of her but right now the only thing to do is wait to see how she reacts to the medication." He said, and the sadness in his green eyes was visible even to someone who had just met him.

"Dear God… I just hope she recovers. This young woman gave me back the most precious blessing a person can receive…"

"How is your son?"

"He's doing just fine…" Jimmy's mother's eyes were filled with tears. "And I prayed so much already. I thanked God for sending a true angel to save my son, and now I pray for this young woman to recover and live the beautiful life that she is meant to have. Someone who is capable of such act of generosity deserves nothing less than a life filled with joy."

Deeply moved, Andrew nodded in agreement. "You're totally right. Monica has…the most generous and loving heart you could ever know."

"Everyone here at the hospital is impressed with what she did and we're all praying for her. Dr. Richards, he comes here every couple of hours to check on her, he's deeply touched by what she did." The nurse spoke, and it was clear that she too had been asking for Monica's recovery.

"I can imagine. God knows how much I want to thank her for what she did." Jimmy's mother stood by Monica's bed for a few more minutes and offered some silent prayers for her spirit.

Karen excused herself and left them alone, while Andrew remained standing on his feet also by Monica's bed, and he too offered his prayers for her recovery. A few minutes later, however, the door was open again and Sandra was surprised to see who was with the nurse.

"Michael?" She said, not expecting to meet her son's father at the hospital.

Wearing an elegant suit, the man stuck his hands in his pockets and greeted her. "Hey, Sandra…"

Karen looked at the three of them apologetically. "I'm sorry but only two guests are allowed here. One of you will have to leave."

Andrew cleared his throat and gave a step forward. "It's alright. I'll leave you two." The blond angel knew that he would not actually go too far, as it was just a matter of seconds before he was back at Monica's side, but now in his angelic form. As he left the room, Karen closed the door behind them, leaving the couple alone.

Visibly taken aback by that sudden appearance, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and gazed at the floor, not wanting to face him. "Jimmy is in his room… he's awake now so if you want to see him, I'll go downstairs to have some breakfast and-"

"I've been there just now." He gently interrupted, tactful with words as it seemed a slight tense situation.

"Oh… So I guess I'd better get back-"

"Your sister is with him right now. I actually came here for two reasons. I wanted to pay a visit to the woman who saved our son's life…" he came closer to Monica's bed and felt his spirit suddenly filled with sadness at the vision of the young teacher lying in there so pale and lifeless. "There is possibly no way to thank her enough for what she did. God couldn't have been more merciful to us." He said, he and his ex-wife unaware that at that very moment, an angel had appeared inside the room. Andrew stood invisible to their eyes and listening to their conversation at the same time he watched his beloved friend.

"No, He couldn’t." Sandra finally turned her eyes to him. "And through Monica's attitude, I guess He wanted to send us a message…"

"I know…That's the second reason why I came here, Sandra. I wanted to talk to you."

"Look, Michael, I-"

"I know that I said and did things that hurt both of us and most importantly, things that hurt our son. And fighting for his guard is probably the worst of them…" He said, barely holding the tears that formed in the corner of his eyes. "And it took me this to realize that…"

Sandra stared at him with surprise, she too had tears in her eyes and they did not take long to fall. "What are you telling me, Michael?"

"I'm telling you that I don’t want to thrive on things that are too insignificant close to our son's happiness. To our happiness. This young woman was capable of putting herself at risk to save our little boy, Sandra. To me, it's far more noble than our constant arguing on things such as Jimmy's favourite toy or taking him to the club pool instead of the baseball."

Crying, Sandra nodded. "I too have my parcel of guilt in all this stupid battle...Taking Jimmy to my mother's and out of the town exactly when I knew you'd come to pick him up, putting him to bed earlier so that he couldn’t talk to you on the phone... These attitudes are cruel and selfish and it took Monica's generosity to open my eyes."

Andrew listened to that conversation in silence. To him, it was nothing new about Monica's selfless and loving nature, he already knew her qualities quite well – perhaps better than Monica herself. Turning caring eyes to the little angel, he stroked her cheek and placed a gentle kiss against her forehead.

Michael came closer to her and finally reached for his ex-wife's hand. "We may not love each other anymore, Sandra. But we can respect each other and become friends, in the name of everything we had and especially because we were blessed with a beautiful child who loves us unconditionally."

"And who needs us to love him." She added. Seconds later, they held each other and Sandra broke into tears of emotion, while Michael closed his eyes, also deeply moved.

"See what you did, angel? You not only saved the life of a young boy but also brought peace to his family." Andrew murmured against Monica's ear, pleased to know that even unconscious, his sweet angelic friend was able to perform miracles. "The mere fact that you exist is enough to touch humans' hearts and fill them with kindness." He took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Soon, the sun will set in the horizon. But I promise you that this night, you will dream about the stars, angel."