PART 12

CHAPTER 12

Obs. This chapter contains some references to some of my previous stories.

(see prologue scene)

On that dead end corridor inside the hospital, for some strange reason, Andrew’s angry words didn’t sound so terrible to Tess’ ears. With tears that never stopped from falling from her eyes, the old supervisor gave one step forward and held his hand.

“I don’t think the Father will ask you to do anything other than staying here with our Angel Girl... He wouldn’t do this to you or to me...”

“He’d better not, Tess. Because I won’t obey to His will if He does!”

“Come with me, we have to go back to the ICU...”

Sighing deeply, she guided him through the corridors back to the ICU and spoke to the doctor who was taking care of their beloved friend.

“Please, can we see her, doctor? We can’t stay away from her anymore...”

The man was a bit hesitant to let them in, “Well, only the family is allowed to stay with the patient... But... if you two are everything she has, then... it’s ok.”

“Thank you sir!” Tess replied. The man looked at a miserable Andrew.

“But you should also take care of yourself too, son. You’re badly hurt too.”

“I will, doctor. But I need to see her before anything else.” The blond angel spoke. He and Tess crossed the 2 huge doors that separated the ICU from the rest of the hospital and followed a long corridor. Then, they stopped at the room 309. The man opened the door and allowed them to enter.

Monica was lying lifeless on the bed, surrounded by machines and monitors. She was breathing hard, with the help of the equipment and a tube was inserted in her mouth. Her right leg and arm were in plaster and, besides the bruises on her skin, the Irish angel had a big bandage on her temple.

Feeling deeply afraid of touching her and hurting her even more than she already was, Andrew rubbed his fingers on the palm of her free hand, while Tess placed her hand on Monica’s hair. Words seemed to vanish from some minutes, as all they could do was cry.

Managing to control himself, the blond angel stroked her hair; his touch was so light that, even if she were awake, she wouldn’t feel it, “Hang on in there, sweetie. Please... Tess and I will be right here with you and all you have to do is fight a bit more, ok? Do it for us, honey... Do it for me... I won’t forgive me if you... if you go away...”

“Monica knows we’re here, angel boy. She’s fighting to stay here as well, you know how much she loves us. And... she knows it wasn’t your fault, Andrew.”

They remained in the bedroom in complete silence for about 30 minutes. Suddenly, Andrew raised his head, taking his eyes from Monica for the first time, and looked at the supervisor.

“Tess I have to leave just for an hour. I... I need to take a shower and change these dirty clothes and... there’s something else I have to do...”

“Of course baby, go. I’ll stay with our Angel Girl.” She handed him the keys of her Cadillac, “Here, take the car and please, take little Joy home. She’s been inside the car for hours... Now I know why she had to stay with me all the time...”

Andrew looked away from her; a bitter look could be seen in his sad green eyes, “Yes... she was useful... but not to everybody, I’m afraid.”

He grabbed the keys and left the room afterwards.

*

In less then an hour later, the blond angel came back to the hospital. His appearance was much better now that he had cleaned himself and changed his filthy clothes and the bandages on his forehead. But the expression on his face remained the same: sad and miserable, and now dark circles were more visible in his eyes, either from exhaustion or from crying.

He was crossing the corridors carrying a small bag when he heard a girl’s voice coming from behind him, “Andrew!”

“Hey Grace... How are you feeling?”

“I’m ok. And you?” the girl saw the bandages and the cuts on his face.

“I’ll be fine, just some scratches, that’s all.”

“I know about Monica. I know she’s in the ICU.”

“Yes... she’s... very hurt...” he replied, forcing back the tears that threatened to fall from his sad eyes.

Noticing his great sorrow, and also feeling that herself, the girl held his hand, “I’ll pray for her, Andrew. You and Monica taught me about having faith and to always trust in God and now I now that miracles exist, cause we asked for help and it came when we most needed.”

Hearing that, the blond angel merely nodded his head and stared at the ground, as she continued to speak.

“So I’ll pray to God to make Monica heal, like I’m praying for Mrs Bale and her baby. God is taking care of them now.”

Andrew sighed deeply, unable to reply to her words. Instead, he simply ruffled her hair, “Thank you, Grace. I have to go now and stay with Monica. You go home and rest. Take care of yourself, ok?”

He returned to Monica’s room and found Tess standing next to her, at the edge of the bed, with her hands conjoined and praying. The bedroom was in shadows as, by that time, night was starting to fall, together with a light rain. Andrew’s steps broke the disturbing silence and interrupted the supervisor’s prayers.

“Angel boy...”

“How... how is she, Tess?”

“Still the same since you’ve left. The nurse came here to change the IV tube and the doctor checked on her a few minutes ago.”

Coming close to the bed, he brushed away a strand of hair from her face and gently stroked her hair, “What did he say?”

“The same he told us a few hours ago. She’s in coma and now we have to wait to see how her organism reacts...”

Andrew leaned over and never stopped the soft movement of his fingers through her hair, “Hey sweetie... I’m here again. And Tess and I know that you just need some time to rest. I know things were hard for you down there, but we also know all this is just temporary, until you feel better...” he remained in silence for a couple of minutes. Then, he turned away from her and took the small bag he was carrying and reached inside.

“I know that the idea of staying here, locked inside a hospital bedroom doesn’t sound good, especially to you, who are always so active and lively. So I brought some small things to make this place be more like a home to you...”

The first thing he took out of the package was a photo frame. In it, there was a picture of Monica, Tess, Andrew and little Joy. He was tickling the Irish angel and both had a broad smile upon their faces, while Tess was holding an excited little puppy dog and frowning with disapproval.

“Here, look. I brought your favourite picture. Remember that day on the beach? It was the last day of our vacations. The first vacations we 3 spent together. Remember how much you laughed? And Tess got mad because we messed up the picture! Look at her face!”

The supervisor chuckled, in a bittersweet way and without saying a word. Andrew placed the frame on the table beside the bed and reached for another object: it was a small heart shaped musical box.

“I would never forget to bring your portable ‘I love you’! When I first saw it and when I heard the tune I knew it had been made for you, Angel Girl. You were the light that guided me out of the darkness on that occasion and even in a thousand years I won’t be able to compensate what you did for me. You were so brave, even being so ill, you faced the evil and your fears to save me...”

Fresh tears appeared in his green eyes and his voice became hoarse with emotion for some instants, “... I’m so ashamed I couldn’t do the same for you now... Please, forgive me...”

He winded the key of the musical box and “You light up my life” started to play. Placing the box next to the photo frame, he took one more thing from inside the bag: it was a card, with a smiling little Angel Girl, with auburn hair and brown eyes and wearing a lilac dress on the cover. Both Andrew’s and Tess’ handwritings were in it and there was a big “Happy caseworker anniversary” written on it.

“This is the most recent one. We did have a lot of fun in that campsite, didn’t we? And celebrating your anniversary there, on the last day, was also great. I have to confess that hiding our little surprise party from you wasn’t easy! But when I saw your face once you arrived there and found the cake and the card... I guess I’ve never felt so happy!”

He put the card together with the box and the frame and once again started to stroke her hair, “Unfortunately I couldn’t bring another precious gift you’ve received because, well, you know how playful our little Joy can be and, like her mom, she can’t stand still in the same place for more than a couple of minutes! She would make things a little bit exciting here and, though our baby is a very polite little lady, I guess people here aren’t prepared for her yet! She’s at home now, but she told me to give you a kiss and that she’s missing you very much!”

He bent down and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. While he spoke, tears fell from Tess’ eyes, now so naturally that she didn’t even bother to wipe them anymore.

“And you will be there soon, honey, I’m sure you will,” Andrew continued to speak, “And when you’re fully recovered, I’ll take you to that beach we went some time ago, remember? The one you dreamed about once. We can make another picnic, like the one we made then. And with a lot of coffee for you, I bet Tess won’t mind this time, will you, Tess?”

Smiling with bitterness, the supervisor held Monica’s hand and also caressed her hair, “Andrew is right, I won’t, baby...”

The blond angel turned his eyes to his dearest friend one more time, “And we can also go to the movies. I know how much you love watching cartoons. I’ll buy you popcorn and a lot more mocha latte, and we’ll have a great time, I’m sure. And, on the other days, we could do a lot of different things, such as playing pin ball, bowling or football, lying on the beach or in a forest and watch the stars... And of course, we can dance of joy until you get tired. So that on the following day we can start all over again. We just have to wait a little bit more, ok?”

Andrew had hardly said that when he and Tess felt another presence inside the bedroom: with a sad miserable expression on his face, Adam stood by the door in his white suit, staring at them.