CHAPTERS 14 & 15

CHAPTER 14

The shock caused by the doctor's words was such that left both angels speechless. That couldn't be happening. Not to Monica - she was an angel, she was on Earth to fulfil assignments as a God's messenger, not to suffer from a terrible human disease!

"I... don't understand..." the Irish angel spoke, as Andrew ran a nervous hand through his hair, his eyes searching for something inside the room; an answer, a comforting word, some reassurance and the statement that it wasn't happening.

"That cannot be possible, doctor, you... you should repeat the exams, I'm sure there's a mistake and-"

"I wish that was a mistake too, son, but the tests are correct."

"I have cancer... I... I was feeling alright..."

"It's a Hodgkin's lymphoma. It affects your lymphatic system and your blood cells, spreading quickly through your organism."

Andrew felt Monica's fear flowing to his own heart, which was pounding loudly in his chest. He held her hand in both of his, wanting her to feel she was never alone.

"We have to do some more tests but you will start the treatment soon, Monica." The doctor kept on talking. "The chemotherapy sessions will be scheduled today and you'll start them in two or three days at most."

Lost for words, and fighting back the tears that were threatening to fall at any moment, Monica bit her lower lip and nodded. She looked at Andrew and in her eyes he could see a frightened little girl begging for help. The blond angel was quick to pull her close to him and held her tightly. "I'm here, angel.. I'm with you..." he spoke, as she rested her head over his shoulder.

"I understand it is difficult for both of you to face this but I also want you to know that there is a treatment and a chance of cure." Dr Burke spoke, feeling sorry for the couple and aware of the immense love that brought them together. "But you have to fight."

Still making a tremendous effort not to break down and cry, she gently pulled away from Andrew's warm embrace and searched for his hands. Then, she looked at the old man. "You are right, Dr Burke. I know you're perfectly right."

He went on giving them more details about the treatment she was about to face and both Monica and Andrew had existed long enough to know that it wouldn't be easy to go through it.

What none of them noticed was another presence inside that hospital bedroom. Tess was standing in a corner in her angelic form and she too had heard that sad diagnosis to Monica's disease. With a shocked, nearly panicked expression on her face, the supervisor covered her mouth. Like her two dearest friends, she didn't know what to do or how to explain everything that was happening at that moment. All she could feel was immense sadness and the wish to hold the little angel in her arms like a mother would do.

Dr Burke left the room a few minutes later, leaving the couple of angels alone. Andrew didn't know what to say or what to do, but that awkward, nearly maddening silence, had to be broken. His angel girl needed him right now.

"Look, Monica, I know what you're thinking but we'll go through this together, angel. We've been through so much, baby... So many difficult assignments that threatened our human forms..."

"It seems that now I'm more human than I was in the past..." she spoke feeling lost and empty.

He cupped her chin so that she raised her head and looked at him. "You are and have always been Monica; the warm-hearted angel I had the honour and the privilege to meet. This is what you'll always be: a beautiful angel of God. And... even if it sounds too pretentious of me... You are my precious Monica."

Her lips were trembling and finally tears of fear and sadness made their way down her cheeks, as now there was only Andrew in there, her precious Andrew, and she held no secrets from him.

"Now... Now I know this cannot be a punishment... That... That I haven't done anything wrong." She let out a sob, "Because if the Father wanted to teach me a lesson, He wouldn't have placed you in my existence... He wouldn't have made an angel with the ability to touch my heart and my soul the way you do..."

Crying, she searched for his arms - her permanent shelter from the storm they were facing at the moment. Fighting his own tears, the angel of death held her sobbing little angel for dear life; fear and sadness also filling his soul along with the uncertainty of a future by her side.

"I love you, Monica. And I will walk with you through this journey." Was all he could say, as words could not express everything he was feeling.

All of a sudden, a third voice was heard in side the room, causing them to pull away and look at the door. "Baby..."

Tess was crying. She had her hands conjoined and was visibly afraid her presence there wasn't welcome - and she couldn't blame them for that.

"Tess..." Monica whispered, as surprised as the angel of death.

"Andrew is right... You're not alone... none of you..." she gave a few steps towards them. "... and if you allow me I too want to walk this journey with you..."

"You turned your back on us, Tess." Andrew's harsh words were full of hurt, but she knew he had good reasons for that.

"Yes... And this is something I will regret for the rest of my existence, Andrew." She looked at their entwined hands. "As I have judged something I had no right and no authority to. I have judged what I could not understand. And I condemned it. Watching you outside... What I can see in your eyes when you both gaze at each other I cannot deny that... that what bring you together is intense and honest... And it is pure. I've known you both for such a long time and I should have known that nothing different or wrong could have come out of your meeting. So here I am now, saying that... Whatever it is that my colleagues and superiors might say about... about what brings you two together, I will stand by your side."

"Tess..." Monica's hoarse and whispered voice nearly undid the supervisor, while Andrew looked away, still not managing to contain his anger at what his co-workers had done to him and to Monica.

"Angel girl... Andrew... I'm standing here to ask for your forgiveness... I'm standing before you two to tell you that I'm ashamed of my latest actions... the way I treated you..." she said, causing fresh tears to fall from Monica's eyes. She looked at Andrew and held his gaze for long silent moments. Yet, intense feelings were conveyed and in her sad brown pools the blond angel could see on of the most remarkable traces of Monica's personality: willingness to forgive.

"Andrew..." She was pleading. There was nothing in the world he could deny her, especially at that very moment. And truth to be told, Tess' presence was necessary. Hard days were about to come and his superiors and fellow angels had all turned their back on him and Monica; all that was left to them was each other and the hope that someday their loving Father would provide an answer to their questions.

Andrew took her hand to his lips again and turned to look at the oldest angel. "Of course you can stay, Tess. If Monica wants." He finally said, causing a smile to appear on his beloved angel girl's face.

The Irish angel then looked at the supervisor, searching for her hand, and Tess couldn't hold the tears that never ceased. "Oh, baby... Angel girl..."

The mother and daughter embrace that followed and how they cried on each other's shoulders, did have an impact on Andrew. He made room for Tess to sit on the edge of the bed and watched that reunion, grateful that at least it brought an inch of joy to Monica's heart.

"I want you to know that I will always be here by your side, baby. You will go through this challenge, whatever its meaning is, and you will succeed." She said, as they pulled away, cupping Monica's face with her hands.

"Thank you, Tess. I'm... I'm so grateful that you're both here with me..." the Irish angel reached out, searching for Andrew's hand. "The ones I love so much..."

The angel of death and the supervisor exchanged a look and she could notice that he still had issues with her due to her latest attitudes. She didn't blame him, though, and truly hoped that some day he could forgive her the same way Monica did. Her heart broke as she saw the blond angel bending his head to press a soft kiss against Monica's lips, and it made her feel ashamed.

Ashamed of herself for judging her two most dearest friends, the ones she loved as if they were her own children.

CHAPTER 15

The always so sparkling and joyful brown eyes now stared at the hospital window with apprehension and deep fear. The angel's cheerfulness gave place to silence and inner emptiness, and sitting in bed, she saw her soul mirrored on that cloudy and rainy morning outside. But a soft knock on the door made her quickly wipe away a sudden tear before replying.

"Come in, Andrew."

The blond angel opened the door and smiled at her. Dr Burke had had a private conversation with him and Tess and emphasised how important it was for Monica to keep a certain normality in her daily life. He had also instructed them not to show they were suffering - Monica already knew that and what she needed now was their encouragement.

"Good morning, angel!" he said, walking over up to her bed and kissing her lips softly.

"Good morning, Andrew." She was smiling too, as in fact his presence there was enough to soothe her spirit.

Andrew sat at the edge of the bed and caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. "Do you think you're ready?"

"I think... I'm not." Monica let out a small sigh, as her smile faded. "But... I know that you and Tess will be there with me, holding my hand, and this should be reason enough not to fear."

Deeply moved, he held her both hands and kissed each of them, "You're perfectly right in there."

"I know..." she replied, serene despite what she was about to face. "And... I also know that the Father is here with me, Andrew. I trust He is."

"Your faith serves you well, angel."

Another knock at the door interrupted their conversation: it was Tess.

"Good morning, baby, how are you today?" she approached the bed and stroked Monica's hair.

"Trusting!" The Irish angel could see all the apprehension on her friends' eyes and it somehow gave her the courage to face what was ahead.

Andrew helped her out of bed and Tess wrapped a robe over her hospital pyjamas. Thankfully, the supervisor was in charge of getting her some clothes as Monica couldn't be released until she recovered at least part of her strength.

X

There was a room especially designed for patients to receive the treatment. When Monica got there, escorted by Andrew and Tess, it was empty and it somehow pleased the Irish angel. Watching others suffering from the same disease was everything she didn't want to see.

She watched in silence as the nurse arranged the IV tube that would carry the medicine for her illness up to her veins and when she placed the needle through her arm, Andrew squeezed her free hand, while Tess stroked her hair. None of them spoke and the room was heavy with silence and with thousands of unanswered questions. The two older angels still couldn't believe they were actually sitting there and watching their dearest friend go through that.

"Is there anything she can eat while she's doing it?" Tess wanted to know, worried like a mother.

"Yes, but I doubt Monica will feel hungry after this, you see." The nurse explained and turned to the Irish angel. "The medication will make you nauseous, Monica. It's a side effect of the treatment, but it's perfectly normal."

Andrew was immediately worried about one more bad piece of news. "And... isn't there any medication so that she doesn't feel that bad?"

"Yes, and I will be ready to administer it."

When the nurse left, Tess broke the awkward silence to engage Monica in a conversation and it seemed to work, even though the Irish angel knew what they were trying to do. When it was over, they took her back to her room, and as the nurse had previously warned, the young lady with beautiful Irish accent started to suffer the effects of the chemotherapy on that same day.

Andrew had to rush with her to the adjoined restroom and hold her in his arms as she went sick over and over again, until tears were running over her reddened face. And Tess pressed the button over the bed to call a nurse, but as she was taking too long to answer to that calling, the supervisor decided to go and bring her in person. Truth to be told, she couldn't bear to see her angel girl suffering like that, so that was also an excuse to run away from a sad and tough reality.

"Try to calm down, angel... Calm down, I'm here, Tess is here..." Andrew spoke, one arm wrapped around her waist as his right hand kept her head up. It broke his heart to watch her like that, and her following words nearly undid him.

"I'm so sorry..." she pleaded, shame covering her gentle features, "I'm so sorry, Andrew... I didn't want to..."

"No, angel, no! Please, don't you ever apologise to me, you hear me?" He pulled back her long auburn locks and gently guided her to the counter, where her both hands were now supporting her weight. Andrew opened up the faucet and helped her to wash her face. "It's okay, angel... you'll be alright now..."

"I feel so embarrassed... so embarrassed..."

"Oh, Monica... you have nothing to feel embarrassed about, baby."

He helped her wash her face and she brushed her teeth but even the taste of the toothpaste was enough to make her stomach twist, even if it was now totally empty. Carefully, the blond angel took her back to bed and tucked her in. Her rosy cheeks, bright brown eyes and smiling face had now been replaced by paleness and much pain. As he placed the quilt over her small form, Andrew removed a few strands of hair from her face; her eyes were closed as she panted heavily.

"It's over now, angel. The nurse warned us that it would happen, didn't she?"

"I... I didn't think it could be... that terrible..." she finally spoke, her voice was something more than a whisper.

He let out a frustrated sigh. He didn't expect it either, but Andrew was pretty aware of the effects - he had seen it before, as an angel of death. Reaching out, he stroked her hair and bent over to kiss her cheek. A second later, the door opened and Tess, along with the night nurse, entered the room. The two angels watched as the woman administered the medicine through Monica's veins so that the sickness went away. Watching one more needle being inserted in her delicate skin, however, didn't bring them the relief they were expecting, but more sadness instead.

Only hours later, Monica finally gave in to exhaustion and fell into deep sleep. Tess found accommodations in the sofa and Andrew remained sitting by Monica's bed. He took her hand to his lips and kissed each knuckle, and then bent down to kiss her forehead, nuzzling his nose against her temple. He watched her sleep like a guardian angel, with her hand in his own and permanently caressing her hair.

In the silence of the night, however, it was the guardian angel who prayed for the one angel who was not only his assignment, but also his soulmate.