CHAPTERS 10 & 11

CHAPTER 10

"Tess." Andrew spoke, staring her straight in the eyes. He couldn't believe she was now standing in the living room of the apartment he was using as his temporary home. The supervisor looked like a hunter who had been chasing his precious Monica up to that place, and who was ready to take her away from him.

"I'm sure you know why I'm here, so please don't make things more difficult than what they already are."

"As a matter of fact, I don't know why you're here. After we last spoke you made it quite clear you wouldn't like to see me again. At least not for a very long time." He replied, not managing to control all the disappointment and even some anger at the supervisor's latest attitudes towards him.

The older angel gave a step in his direction, apparently not bothered by his bitter words. "You know that you won't be paying for this lack of discipline alone... Monica is being insubordinate too and you're encouraging it."

Andrew couldn't believe she was talking like that - all that intolerance and narrow-mindedness couldn't be coming from Tess, his and Monica's dearest friend; the friend who introduced them two, the one who made it possible that he and his beloved angel girl could meet.

"You see, Tess, if you were really worried about Monica's welfare you should know how sick she's been feeling and that she's been like this for a long time!" he slapped, raising his voice a little and frowning at the other angel.

And those words did cause an impact over her - the expression on Tess' face changed from a stern to a surprised and worried one. "What are you saying?"

"You don't know, right? Lately you've been ignoring many things about her. I mean, ignoring or just refusing to see..."

"Mind your words, Andrew! I'm your superior and you have no right to speak to me like that or to accuse me of being negligent!" she replied back, her voice also altered.

"You had no right to judge Monica and me, but you did it anyway! You, Sam and all the others as I've noticed everyone backed off!"

Tess was ready to say something but they were suddenly interrupted by a crying, anguished voice. "Please... stop..."

The two angels turned their eyes to the corridor and saw Monica's fragile form finding support in the walls. No matter their differences, the image of such a dear and beloved friend so sick and so anguished did tear their hearts and caused them to forget what was being discussed then.

"Monica..." Tess' voice held evident worry and shock at the angel's pale image before her eyes.

Andrew shook his head, feeling protective and secretly threatened at the same time. All he wanted was to keep her safe, and in a way he was afraid their supervisors would take the little angel from him again. "Monica... you should stay in bed, angel, you-"

A silent tear rolled down her cheek as Monica walked towards them and interrupted Andrew. "Don't you see how much it hurts to see you two arguing?" she said, with a loud crying voice. "I never meant to cause so much trouble! I never meant to..."

Monica didn't manage to finish that sentence: all of a sudden her vision blurred and the living room started spinning. The two angels saw their friend passing out right there before their eyes.

"Monica!" Andrew let out a desperate cry and managed to catch her before she hit the floor, and Tess also rushed to stay next to her; both of them terribly scared.

"Monica? Angel? Please, answer to me!" he pleaded, cradling her in his arms and gently cupping her cheek.

Tess knelt right next to him and took her hand. "Angel girl! Please, talk to us! What's wrong with you, baby?"

Andrew raised the Irish angel in his arms and carried her to the sofa, carefully laying her against the soft cushions. He placed one of these cushions underneath her head and cupped her face again with a trembling hand, while Tess knelt right beside the sofa and caressed Monica's auburn hair.

"Angel? Please, talk to me! Please, baby, don't do this to me!" the angel of death said, feeling the warmth coming from her skin.

"She's burning with fever!" Tess spoke; the argument and the reason of her being there completely forgotten.

"Monica?! Talk to me!" he pleaded, on the brink of despair, as well as Tess.

Slowly, the little angel in human form regained consciousness and opened her eyes. And Andrew's and Tess' scared faces was the first thing she saw.

"Monica? Monica, can you hear us?"

"Are you conscious again, baby?" They wanted to know, both holding each of her hands and with an urgent tone in their voices.

"What... what happened?" a very confused Monica replied.

"You fainted, angel... You can't wait any longer. I'm gonna take you to the hospital right now!" The angel of death firmly stated.

"We'll take you in my car!" Tess was quick to offer, and this time Andrew didn't reply or protest, as her help at that moment was more than welcome. "Dear Father, please help us!"

The blond angel wrapped a warm blanket around Monica's small body and held her in his arms and they left the small apartment moments later. with his dearest angel carefully cradled in his arms, on the back seat of the red Cadillac, Andrew prayed in silence along the way. He could feel Monica's vital signs were weak and once in a while she dozed off to a light sleep. Whatever was causing her to be so ill had to be discovered soon.

CHAPTER 11

The Salt Lake City Hospital wasn't strange to the three angels. All of them had been there accomplishing past assignments, some well-succeeded, and others filled with sadness and pain. But now the assignment was one of them - their dearest, beloved Monica. The gentle and warm-hearted little angel who was so part of their being. The mere thought of staying away from her for a day was enough to make them feel as a part of their own soul was missing.

Once they got there, Andrew held her in his arms and he and Tess headed to the ER, where two nurses were quick to come along and bring a wheelchair. Andrew carefully placed his dear friend on the chair and before she was taken away from his caring eyes, the blond angel knelt next to her and took her hand. "I'll be here all the time."

"What about your assignment?" she wanted to know, a crying voice that broke his heart for the hundredth time.

Andrew looked deep inside her brown pools, "You're my assignment now." He lay both hands on each side of her pale face and brushed a loving kiss against her forehead. Frowning with concern, anguish and doubt, Tess watched that scene in silence and without knowing what to think or say. When she appeared in Andrew's temporary home that morning, she was angry and had a range of hard words to say to both angels. She was also determined to take Monica away from there and maybe even find a way to punish her for disobeying superior's orders. But all that anger turned into uncertainty and now the oldest angel found herself wondering if her attitude was really right.

"I love you, angel." She heard Andrew saying, before he also kissed Monica's hands.

"I love you very much, Andrew..." the Irish angel replied, tears falling from her sad eyes, as she squeezed his hands tightly, not wanting to let go. One of the nurses interrupted that moment and informed they had to take Monica to the doctor.

The Irish angel still looked at her supervisor, and anyone could see that despite the latest events, she loved Tess dearly. But the words died in her mouth as Tess's eyes didn't meet hers. Monica's disappointment wasn't left unnoticed by Andrew. Feeling his annoyance with the oldest angel grow even more, he squeezed Monica's hand, turning her attention back at him. "I'll be with you soon, angel."

She nodded, biting her lower lip and doing everything she could not to break down and cry. As the nurses pulled the wheelchair away, Andrew still walked next to her, their hands remained entangled, refusing to let go. Finally, sliding doors that led to a restricted area broke that light contact apart. The angel of death stood there, watching powerless as they took his dear Monica away along the cold alleys of that hospital, feeling the presence of tears in his eyes and not even noticing as one of them rolled down his face.

Only long minutes later did he walk back through the same corridor, and saw Tess sitting on a bench, a reflexive expression on her face. As he approached, she looked up at him, as if going to say something. But, like Monica a few instants before, she didn't have the opportunity to speak as Andrew passed by her in silence and without looking back at her.

X

The wait in the hospital reception was long and painful for the two angels, and the two hours they spent there seemed a while century. But all of a sudden, a man in his early sixties came along holding some papers in his hand. As Tess and Andrew were each in a different side of the room he seemed confused.

"Who brought the young lady named Monica?" he wanted to know, and those magical words caused the two to immediately rush towards him.

"How is she?"

"Can we see her?" They said at the same time.

"I believe you're Andrew and Tess... I'm doctor Arthur Burke and I'd like to talk to you both in private. Please, come with me."

They followed the doctor along the corridor up to a room, anguish about their friend's condition rising every second. As the man closed the door behind them Andrew spoke again. "How is she, doctor? She had a high fever when we arrived and-"

The expression on the doctor's face was serious and he too seemed worried, which only caused the two angels to imagine the worst. "Please, have a seat..." he pointed at the two chairs across his table and once they were all seated he spoke again. "Monica is being treated. The fever is a consequence of an infection and we already added antibiotics to her IV tube. She's also too weak."

Andrew felt his heart pounding in his chest at that piece of news and Tess felt like standing up right now and rushing to hold her "angel girl".

"What's causing this, doctor?" she asked, with genuine mother concern.

"We don't know yet but we're running a series of exams and expect to find the answer soon." He said, and made a short pause, as if studying their faces. "She said you're both her family."

"Y-yes... we are..." the supervisor replied, somewhat embarrassed while Andrew turned his face away.

"I see... and how long has she been feeling like this? Having fever and feeling weak?"

"The first symptoms started about a month ago," the blond angel explained, remembering the time when he met her in the cabin up in the mountains: she was then having trouble preparing some tea, closely assisted by their friendly cocker spaniel puppy dog. He took care of her and thought that her indisposition was a mere cold, as the little angel was prone to have these once in a while when she was in her human form. That day, Tess arrived a little later and also helped to take care of her and those symptoms seemed to have disappeared a while later.

They told that doctor what had happened on that occasion and about her sudden fall, which happened twice in the last 24 hours. The doctor made some more questions and took a few notes, and when he was over he turned to the two very worried angels and tried to smile. "I'm glad you brought her here and we'll do everything to find out what's wrong with this young lady. I can see she is much loved."

"Can I see her, doctor?" Andrew asked, once again, as having to stay away from a fragile Monica was tearing him apart.

"Yes, the nurse will take you to her room."

"Thank you, doctor." Tess spoke, in a low voice. She knew Andrew didn't welcome her presence there, and she herself couldn't understand the mixed feelings that were going on inside her heart that moment.

As a supervisor, Tess had the duty to reprimand and punish her charge for her latest actions. And right at that moment the angel realised that Monica's latest actions had been nothing but showing immense love for one of God's child, and searching for his help when her human form got ill. Tess also realised that the decision to put Monica and Andrew apart had come from her, Sam and some other fellow angels, who were all acting in the name of a God they had never turned to in order to have an answer if their behaviour was right or not in the first place.

All these thoughts were running through her mind as she and Andrew followed the nurse who took them up to the third floor. There , they walked along a corridor and finally stopped at the room 301.

"The other nurse will bring her lunch and change her IV in an hour." She informed, smiling at them and secretly feeling sorry for the two angels.

"Thank you," Andrew spoke, and as she opened the door for him he entered the bedroom. The angel of death still looked at Tess and briefly met her eyes, but she lowered her head, not really sure if she would enter now. Andrew let out a frustrated sigh and decided to go inside by himself. It was his Monica standing there and Tess'  tantrums and judgmental attitude became very small if compared to the whole situation.