CHAPTERS 18 AND 19

CHAPTER 18

Monica’s eyes flung open and although she was lying in bed, she felt dizzy and terribly confused. Where was she? What had brought her to that place? Little by little, her eyes travelled around the bedroom hospital, trying to recognise the place while the memories of the previous hours slowly came back to her mind. Initially, the Irish angel didn’t understand why her heart ached with so much anguish and worry, and she even thought it was because she didn’t know exactly where she was.

But a few moments later everything became clear to her when the noise of a gunshot echoed in her brain and the tragic, terrible image of her dearest friend stumbling on the ground came back to her mind, a scene she’d rather forget, but which she knew would be etched in her own heart forever.

“Andrew!!!”

Tess was sitting on the chair right next to the window and when she heart her beloved angel girl’s voice, the supervisor rushed up to the bed, “Angel girl? Baby?”

“Where is Andrew, Tess? He was shot! The police shot him by mistake, they thought he was the murderer but he was trying to protect me!” she spoke, all at the same time she tried to sit up in bed, as if ready to stand up and go after the blond angel.

“Calm down, baby, please, calm down!” Tess tried to stop her, to put her heart at ease but Monica shook her head.

“No... they must know that Andrew was there defending me and Pamela! He didn’t do anything wrong, he saved us! He saved me from being attacked...”

“Baby, baby, please, try to calm down, you cannot sit up, you cannot make brusque movements, please, lie down in bed, baby...” the oldest angel was almost calling the nurse in charge of changing the IV tube that was inserted in Monica’s arm when her young charge looked inside her eyes – her own eyes filled with tears.

“Tess... what happened to Andrew? He’s hurt, I know...”

“Andrew is in the surgery room, baby. He’s being operated at this very moment.”

That piece of news seemed to paralyse her for a few instants and Tess kept on talking, “The doctors are taking care of angel boy, they’re doing everything they can, baby. And don’t worry, they know who he is.”

Slowly, Monica reclined on the bed, lying her head over the pillow; her tears falling freely from her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. “Oh Tess... I saw everything... it was horrible... it was so horrible, Tess...”

Moved to tears, the supervisor held her free hand and started to stroke her auburn hair, “Shh... it’s over now, baby, it’s over...”

“No, it’s not! Andrew is so hurt... He was hurt before he was shot, that man hurt him, he... he wanted to hurt all of us...”

“But don’t forget God is with Andrew, angel girl. The father is with him inside that surgery room and you know that right now, you and I have to pray with all our faith for him...”

Crying, Monica squeezed the supervisor’s hand, only now noticing that there were bandages wrapped around her forearm and feeling that there were some more around her stomach, under her gown. “I’m so glad you’re here, Tess...”

“Oh baby, you have no idea what was like to stay away from you all this time...”

“I missed you so much...” she sobbed, feeling the stitches in her belly, “There... there were moments I missed holding you so much...”

Overwhelmed with emotion, the old angel couldn’t hold the tears that now were falling from her eyes too. All she wanted was to hold that warm hearted angel whom she loved like a real daughter. Unfortunately, due to Monica’s wounds, she couldn’t do that yet and had to limit herself to brush a kiss on the younger angel’s forehead.

“You need to rest, baby. Please, lie down and rest a little...”

“Stay here with me, please?”

“I will, baby. I will.”

*

It was early in the morning when the nurse entered Monica’s room to remove the IV tube inserted in her arm. The little Irish angel was now sitting on the bed (and she hadn’t managed to sleep much on the previous night) and, while the nurse did her task, she remained in silence, looking at the window with sadness still all over her face and being attentively watched by Tess, who had stood by her side all night long.

The young angel was wearing a robe over the hospital’s gown, and her clothes were hiding the white bandages around her forearm and her stomach. In her neck, there were still marks of the terrible aggression she had suffered on the day before and her eyes seemed to relive those awful moments all over again every time she felt the pain caused by her wounds.

When the nurse left, another presence in the bedroom took her out of her reverie and when Adam placed his hand over her shoulder she turned her head to face him, “Hey, sweetie...”

“Adam...” she searched in his eyes the answer for the question that was lingering in her heart. Tess stood up and walked over to the bed, quickly reaching for Monica’s hand and squeezing it tightly, at the same time she faced the angel of death, also looking forward an answer.

“It’s over... he couldn’t resist the wounds...”

“Dear Father...” Tess murmured.

The little Irish angel nodded her head with teary eyes and Adam put some strands of hair behind her ear and placed his hand against her face as she spoke again, “Were you with him?”

“No... And the Father is sad, believe me. He was His child too...”

After a brief silence, the oldest angel shook her head, “All of this seems to be a nightmare...”

Suddenly, the door flung open and a nurse poked her head inside, “Excuse me, but the surgery is over now...”

The three angels looked at one another with their hearts pounding loudly in their chests. With Adam’s and Tess’ help, Monica got off the bed (as no one – either angel or human, could have managed to keep her there) and they quickly left the bedroom, following the nurse along the corridor until they saw two other nurses carrying a stretcher to a room next to the surgery room.

And lying in it, it was Andrew.

Making an extra effort due to her own wounds, Monica rushed towards him and carefully touched his pale face while walking together with the nurses, Tess and Adam.

“How is he? How did the surgery go?” she wanted to know, frowning with concern to see her dearest friend so pale.

“Well, the doctors managed to stop the internal bleeding and he was lucky that the bullet crossed his body and came to rest in the murderer’s heart.” A nurse explained, “And I’ve heard that this criminal has just passed away.”

“And when will Andrew wake up?” Tess wanted to know.

“We don’t know yet. We’ll have to wait a few hours to see how he reacts.”

“Can we stay with him, please?” Monica asked, as they entered the room.

“Are you his relatives?”

“We... we’re like his family...” the Irish angel said, with tears running down her eyes. And seeing so much sadness, the nurse merely nodded her head sympathetically.

“Sure, you can stay a little if you want.”

They left the bedroom leaving the angels in human form there. Monica, Tess and Adam stood by Andrew’s bed feeling great sadness to see a dear friend hurt.

“That man... Edgar... He was controlled by evil... I could see it in his eyes,” Monica spoke, never turning her own eyes from Andrew, tenderly stroking his hair.

“Yes, he was... things came to a point where there was no more space for God’s love...” Tess replied, equally sad.

“The police didn’t know who the criminal was, you know. When they arrived at the forest, they saw Andrew holding him and holding the knife that he used to hurt Pamela and me...”

Adam reached out and took Monica’s hand. “But it’s all over now. Everything is finally over.”

“I’ll only feel it’s over when Andrew wakes up... When I listen to his voice again...” she replied, with emotion all over her face.

“It’ll happen sooner than you think, Monica. Be sure of that.”

The three angels lifted a silent prayer for their dearest friend and a few minutes later, Adam checked his pocket watch, “I... I have to go now...” he stroked her cheek, “Take care of him. And take care of you too, sweetie. I’ll check on you both later, ok?”

“Thank you, Adam.”

The angel of death disappeared a second later, leaving the other angels alone.

Monica continued to hold Andrew’s hand and to stroke his hair, with permanent tears rolling down her face. She watched everything: the shot, the blood staining his T-shirt, his stumbling on the ground lifeless. Whenever she was scared or in the moments of despair, his soothing voice and comforting words would always put her heart at ease. But at that horrible moment, the blond angel was unable to stop her constant cries, as all he could mutter was her name before his eyes closed.

*

Some hours passed since Andrew had been operated and all this time, Monica remained by his side, either praying or talking to him, in a very low voice, even though the blond angel remained unconscious. Tess had left for a while, having received a silent message she was needed some place else, and for the last couple of hours the two angels had been alone.

Sitting on the chair placed next to the bed, Monica stared at Andrew’s sleeping face for long minutes in the most absolute silence until she let out a long sigh and spoke again, “I miss you so much, you know... I miss talking to you...” she wiped some tears away, hating to see the paleness of his face and the bandages around his head. “But I guess you too must be missing some company there, yes? I wish there was something I could do for you so that you didn’t feel so alone, you know... I... I’d like to sing a beautiful song for you... but... but I’m not sure you’d like it... You and I know that singing isn’t one of my abilities...”

She stopped talking and caressed his blond hair, surveying his pale face and looking for any sign of reaction, looking for anything that could show her that her dearest friend would live. Only a long minute later, realising that he was still too distant from her, did she speak again, “Well... since you’re asleep, I guess I could try to do it in a very low voice... That way I wouldn’t bother you...”

With tears rolling freely on her cheeks, the Irish angel sighed deeply and then started to sing a hymn in a very low voice, almost a whisper.

CHAPTER 19

Monica sang next to Andrew’s bed for some time but her tears and the sad memories of the last two days prevented her from going on. The Irish angel stopped her singing and lowered her head, letting the tears fall freely from her eyes, as the sorrow inside her angelic heart was too much for her to bear. It was at that very moment that the Irish angel felt a soft squeeze in her hand, which caused her to raise her head again, staring at the blond angel with surprise and expectation: Andrew moved his head and opened his eyes - his dearest friend’s face was the first image he saw. Although things were not clear to him yet, as he didn’t know where he was and what had happened in the last hours, a wave of relief washed his soul.

Andrew couldn’t speak, though, as no words could express what he was feeling at that very moment. When Monica’s eyes met his gaze for the first time, all the sweetness, compassion and tenderness so common to her soul seemed to fill his heart immediately, sending away all the anger and fear that had settled there.

Monica for herself, felt her own little heart beating faster, with so much expectation that she nearly doubted that her dearest friend was really awake. But a quick look at their conjoined hands and the feeling of his hand squeezing hers told another story. Fresh tears ran freely down on her cheeks as she looked at his face again: like him, the Irish angel didn’t know what to say. It was as if all the kind and sweet words that always came out of her mouth had turned into a multitude of loving feelings that could not be voiced, but which certainly could be felt.

And, without saying a word, the angels rested their foreheads together and cried.

*

A grey haired woman in her sixties sat down on a bench, in the gardens that surrounded an old little church located in the heart of the small town. With sad eyes, she stared at the building for a long time, lost in her thoughts, trying to understand why that tragedy had happened to her daughter. Even after an angel of God had visited her with a message from the Father Himself, she still couldn’t enter the church. All Mrs Adams could feel was sorrow and pain and there was no place for faith.

Besides this, she couldn’t bear to stay in the same house she and her late daughter and husband lived – the memories were too many. If there was one thing she was grateful for at that very moment was the invitation from her brother to spend some time with him and his own daughter. The old Dr Baker, so dear to that small town, had been insisting that she should move to live with him and she finally decided to accept the invitation.

All of a sudden, a little girl’s voice took her out of her reverie. “Excuse me, madam... are you sad?”

She turned her eyes from the church and looked at little Amy, whose innocent face seemed to bring an unexpected memory to her mind. That child looked like her daughter Dana, when she was little.

“Please, don’t be sad...” she asked, feeling sorry for the old lady.

“I’m sorry, dear, but right now I can’t stop feeling sad...” she replied, some tears already falling from her eyes. Amy sat down right next to her and continued to look at her. “Then I can stay here and be your friend. Is that gonna help?”

Those sincere words had an immediate effect on the woman: a tiny, yet bittersweet, smile appeared on her face; the first smile since her Dana passed away. “Thank you, dear.” She spoke, tenderly stroking the girl’s cheek.

Amy looked at the small flower she had in her hands and offered it to Mrs Adams, “Here, for you...”

Overwhelmed with emotion, she took the flower in her hands, “Thank you, sweetie. It’s very beautiful... What’s your name?”

“Amy. And yours?”

“I’m Mrs Adams...”

“I can see you made a new friend, besides little Joy here, right, baby?” the voice that interrupted the conversation was Tess’. The angel knew who that woman was and at the moment she saw the two talking, she understood that God had a plan.

“Mrs Adams is sad and I wanna help her, Tess.” The girl explained, as the old angel sat down on the bench right beside them. “Oh really? And what did you do then, sweetie?”

“I gave her my flower. Mommy says that when you’re sad you gotta help people. She says that if you do something good for someone then you start to feel good too and then you’re not sad anymore.”

Hearing those words, Mrs Adams let another tear fall from her eyes and she nodded her head. ”That’s a very beautiful thing to say, Amy. Your mommy must be wonderful.” She said, tenderly stroking the girl’s hair. Tess observed in silence the small change that had just happened in the woman’s heart, and, when little Joy barked from a certain distance, somewhat calling Amy’s attention, the old angel saw an opportunity to speak to the woman sitting next to her.

“Hello, Mrs Adams, I’m Tess. I’m doing some voluntary work at the church.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Tess...” the woman replied, politely.

“I agree with you, you know. What little Amy said is something to always have in mind. So wise words spoken by such a young child...”

“Yes... She reminds me of someone, you know...” she said, “Where is her mother?”

“In hospital.” Tess’ answer came together with a sad expression on her face, “We’ve been taking care of Amy here at the church.”

“What? Why?” the woman was suddenly shocked with that piece of news.

“It is a long story, Mrs Adams. And a very sad one...” Tess’ eyes were filled with tears as she said that, “But if you want to listen, I’ll tell you everything that’s happened.”

Mrs Adams looked at little Amy playing with a puppy dog in the church patio, not far from where they were, and was immediately sorry for her. “Please, tell me everything, Tess. If there’s something I can do to help...”

“Well, I believe, Mrs Adams, that you can help each other...”

*

In the hospital room where Andrew was, the two angels remained holding each other’s hands and crying; the strong emotions in their hearts speaking volumes in the silence of the place.

Only after a long time did Monica break the silence, raising her head and looking at him, “...God knows that I’ve never felt so grateful in all my existence as I do now...” the tears in her eyes were so many that they nearly blinded her.

Andrew let go of her hand and stroked her cheek, his eyes were equally filled with tears of happiness and emotion, “Monica... angel... I was so desperate trying to find you... imagining what could’ve happened to you...” the blond angel’s voice was hoarse with emotion and the mix of different feelings in his soul stopped him from talking.

Monica covered his hand with hers and gently admonished him, “Shh... you shouldn’t speak, Andrew. Please, don’t make any effort, you’re recovering from a surgery...”

“Nothing... I said nothing in this world can stop me from saying how much you mean to me, angel...” he took her hand again and pressed it over his heart, “... I missed this opportunity once. I told you harsh, awful words that make feel so ashamed right now... And when I was faced with the possibility of never seeing you again, I realised that not even all the anger in the world can help me if I lose you...”

“But I’m here now, Andrew... [i]We[/i] are here now, thanks to our Father.”

The blond angel nodded with a slight smile, the first smile since that tragedy happened. “Yes... He gave me so much already... Much more than I deserve, I guess...”

“Please, don’t say that... You’re God’s child and deserve nothing less than His love, and He loves you, Andrew. He saw your tears and your despair, He saw your suffering and your pain and cried together with you.” After a short pause, she stroked his blond hair and kept on talking; her eyes full of tenderness, “But the Father can also see this wonderful, loving heart you have and right now I know He’s restoring all the joy and peace so common to your soul.”

Slowly, Andrew took her hand to his lips and looked at her again, “I know He is... After all, you’re here by my side, right?” happy to see a smile now appearing in her face, he added, “Once you told me to trust that He would take care of you for me...You were right again, angel: He did.”

“He took care of both of us, in fact...” Shedding more tears of emotion, Monica bent her head and brushed a kiss on his forehead. It was then that Tess appeared in the room, in her angelic form; her dark eyes already filled with tears of happiness to see her two precious angel babies together again. “Babies... Angel boy...” she spoke, rushing towards the bed.

“Hey, Tess...”

“Oh Lord, you’re awake! You’re finally awake! Oh thank You, Father! Thank You so much for bringing my two babies back to me! I love you two so much! So much, babies...” her heart was full with so much emotion that she could hardly speak.

“It’s so good to see you again, Tess... Having you both by my side again is... is the best present I could ever receive...” he said, his voice low and weak but not less contented; the supervisor grabbed his and Monica’s hands and, together, they offered a prayer of thanks for being reunited again. The strong love that had always shared was filling that room, showing itself in the glow that involved the three angels and in the tears of joy and gratitude that they shared

*

Two weeks later...

It was past 1 AM when Andrew opened his eyes and waited until he got used to the darkness inside his bedroom. He, Monica and Tess were back to the cabin, up in the mountains, and two weeks after the terrible incident that nearly threatened their lives and of their assignments’, they were still recovering from the injuries in their human bodies. Frowning a little, the blond angel sat up on his bed, wincing with pain due to the wound that the bullet had made in his chest. After a short pause, he stood up and left his room, heading up to another bedroom, where he could see a light on.

The door had been left ajar and after a soft knock, he poked his head inside, finding his dearest friend sitting on the loveseat, nearby the window. “Monica?” he said, in a low voice, dreading to scare her.

But the Irish angel turned her head from the dark view outside to face him with a slight smile on her face, “Hi...”

“What are you doing up so late, angel? Is there something wrong? Are you feeling any pain?” he had a worried expression on his face as he entered the room and walked over up to her.

Still smiling, she shook her head, “Oh, no, Andrew. I’m fine.”

“You sure?” the blond angel sat down opposite to her, still not convinced.

“Yes, I’m fine. I just wish I hadn’t drunk so much coffee this afternoon, you know... I should’ve listened to you...” a little relieved to hear that, he smiled and shook his head, “I’m starting to miss the time when Tess used to control your caffeine level, angel!”

She let out a small laugh and lowered her voice, as if she was going to tell him a secret, “I guess she’s spoiling me a little...”

“Yes, she is! But have in mind that this is only temporary! She wouldn’t be Tess if she didn’t pick on your... ‘admiration’ for coffee!” he replied, chuckling at his own wording.

“That’s why I have to enjoy it the best I can!”

Still smiling, Andrew nodded and then searched for her hand, not missing the white bandage that was still wrapped around her forearm and which he knew was also around her stomach. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m getting better every day, Andrew. This is temporary too.” She tilted her head and looked deep inside his green eyes with tenderness, “What about you?”

He looked down at his chest, which was also wrapped with bandages underneath his T-shirt, and sighed with a little bit of disappointment, “Getting better too, I guess. I just wish we could heal by other means... Staying in human form has some drawbacks...”

“Yes, I know. But we should stay away for a while, it’s important that the ones we helped have some time alone with each other now.”

“And judging by how cheerful little Amy is, we can be sure they’ll get along just fine! She can melt even the hardest of the hearts!”

“She sure can!” the Irish angel let out a small laugh and then became serious again, letting go of his hand to place her own hand over his heart, “And how are you feeling in here?”

Sighing, Andrew lowered his eyes for a second, turning to face her still with an inch of sadness, “Getting better too... Learning to transform my pain into something else other than hate and anger... Learning to be an angel again.”

“The joy and happiness so common to your heart are still there, Andrew, you just have to let them appear again. And I’m sure that this will happen sooner than you think!”

“I believe that too...” he reached out and caressed her cheek with tenderness and his eyes filled with love, “... after all I have a loving Father, I’m surrounded by friends who I love very much and... and I have you, angel. My angel.”

Now with a broad smile, Monica leaned on his gentle touch and reached for his hand one more time, “I am.”

Andrew leaned forward and brushed a tender kiss on her forehead, “Come with me...”

The angels left the bedroom and climbed down the stairs. A few minutes later, they were both sitting on the couch, in front of a warm fireplace. Andrew covered themselves with a warm quilt and waited until Monica snuggled close to him, resting her head over his chest. But when she noticed how he hesitated to wrap his arm around her shoulders and pull her closer and looked at him with a questioning face.

“You’re still healing, I think we should stay like this...”, he said, “I... I may hurt you...”

“You would never hurt me, Andrew!” she replied, frowning at how absurd that statement was.

“No, of course not on purpose, angel, but I could unintentionally, I...”

“Andrew, could you please hold me?” the somewhat demanding expression on her face was nearly funny and caused him to frown with disapproval.

“Why do I always have this problem in saying ‘no’ to you?” he complained, knowing that he lost another battle. Carefully, Andrew placed his arm around her small shoulders, bringing her closer to him and feeling a wave of inner peace to hold that loving and warm hearted angel in his arms once again.

Monica let out a contented sigh and smiled, “That’s because of this kind loving heart you have, ya know?” saying that, she reached out and kissed his cheek. Then, she returned to the comfortable place against his chest.

Overwhelmed with tenderness and deep love, the blond angel smiled and kissed the top of her head repeatedly. “Oh, angel... I love you.”

“I love you too, Andrew...”

With his eyes filled with love, he watched as the monotonous movement of his fingers softly running through her auburn hair lulled her to a pleasant sleep. Only then did he sleep too.

*

Some hours later, Tess woke up and found her two angel babies peacefully sleeping on the couch, in the warm living room. Her face immediately softened and, carefully not to wake them up, the supervisor came closer to them and straightened the quilt around their human forms, which were now miraculously healed. “Sleep well, babies. I love you two very much...” she whispered. Then, she kissed the top of their heads and left.