CHAPTER 13

“What’s going on down here?” Andrew usually wasn’t one to barge in, but his relationship with the family, along with his wife’s condition had a very emboldening affect on him.

Rob and Paul both looked up as the angel entered the study, and the looks on their faces pretty much said it all. Paul’s was full of self-loathing and disgust, and Rob’s held regret tinged with anger. Neither one of them said anything, and Andrew crossed his arms and stared at them, suddenly seeming to grow in stature as he glared at them.

“I was just telling Rob what we knew of the terrorists.”

Alex’s brother heard the remorse still so evident in Paul’s voice and it took some of the anger out of him. It was blatantly obvious that the man would never do anything to intentionally hurt Alex or anyone else, and being angry at him only took it from where it rightfully belonged, the people who had planned and carried out the attacks.

“Paul, you need to stop beating yourself up, man. You were just doing your job.”

“Yeah, and a lot of people died because apparently I wasn’t doing it well enough, and now that’s what everyone is going to know.”

Andrew looked at Rob, waiting for the young man’s reply. The angel knew that he could be pretty ruthless when it came to the pursuit of a story and he wondered what he was going to do about this one.

“I’m not gonna lie to you. This story is coming out, whether I tell it or not. It’s already on the wire and half the papers probably have it set for the front page tomorrow. But look at me. I’m not going to spin it like it was the bureau’s fault, much less yours. It was a tragedy, made more so because the ability to prevent it was close. Close, Paul, but not in hand. There was nothing you could have done.”

Paul looked up sharply as he saw Alex approaching down the stairs. “Tell that to your sister,” he said with a defeated sigh, as he stood up and headed for the kitchen.

Alex watched him leave with a heavy heart and knew she was going to soon have to find the words to start at least opening the door of communication between them.  Turning to Andrew, she touched him arm urgently, “Andrew, I don’t think Monica is feeling very well.  She’s in my room and we were talking and-.”

He didn’t wait to hear anymore.  The angel had already turned and was taking the steps two at a time, his heart in his throat.  Racing to Paul and Alex’s room, the demand of “what are doing out of bed?” already on his tongue, he stopped at seeing how pale she was.  One trembling hand was laying over her chest as she was forcing herself to take in air.

“Angel?” He sat down beside of her and laid a hand against her face, seeing the pain in her eyes when she turned to face him.

“Andrew…I don’t….feel so well…” She forced out the words between shallow gasps.

“She looks worse than she did when I went down to get you,” Alex observed worriedly, “She could have punctured a lung, Andrew…”

“Call an ambulance,” He ordered, voice low, but his wife was already shaking her head, her dark eyes pleading.

“No hospital…please.”

“Monica, we have to know what is wrong.  You haven’t been in this kind of pain since right after the surgery.”

“Just tired…I’ll be fine…” She didn’t really believe it herself, but she was willing to try.

“I love you and I need to know that for certain,” Andrew replied firmly, letting her know that this was not up for debate.

“Andrew,” Alex began urgently, “A doctor for the FBI lives two doors down.  Paul could check to see if he is home and maybe he could tell us if she needs to go the hospital.  He may be able to treat her right here.”

He only considered it for a fraction of a second, “Go.  Get Paul.”

As Alex disappeared back out the door, he turned his attention back to his wife, carefully wrapping an arm around her shoulders to pull her close. She was so pale it terrified him and he cursed himself for leaving her alone.  Her need to help her friends was more important to her than the need to help herself and he should have known better.

“Not you fault,” As if reading his mind, Monica’s words caused him to look down at her with surprise.

“Maybe not, but I’ve left you alone too many times in the past two weeks.  I can’t help but think that if we hadn’t been parted in the first place, you woudn’t be in pain now,” He replied softly, kissing the top of her head.  He knew it was not up to him to question, but when it came to his wife, he didn’t seem able to help it.

“Andrew…” She stopped as a cough escaped her, the pain so great it ended on a sob.

“Shhh, don’t try to talk right now, angel.  Just relax as best you can until the doctor gets here,” He rested his chin on top of her head, listening to her struggled breathing as he prayed for her safety.  Though it was only minutes, it seemed more like hours to him before he heard the front door opening and the sound of footsteps on the stairs.  A moment later, Paul, Rob, Alex and the doctor had come through the door.

“Dr. Barringer,” He introduced himself quickly as he got his stethoscope from the bag he was carrying, “I understand you’re having a bit of trouble breathing, Monica.”

She managed a slight nod as he warmed the instrument in his hands before listening to her lungs.  Andrew’s eyes remained watchful as he searched the man’s face for any clue as what was wrong with his wife.

“Sounds like a bit of air could be trapped in what I believe to be a punctured lung,” He explained, before listening once more, “Alex said you had some broken ribs…that you were one of the lucky ones to get out of the FBI building.”

Another nod, as Andrew replied for her, “Yes, she was.  She was doing pretty well until a few minutes ago.”

“How serious is it?” Paul demanded, his expression laden with worry.  He was feeling constant pangs of guilt over the little angel’s condition and he wanted to alleviate her pain as quickly as possible.

“Depends,” Dr. Barringer replied, reaching into the black bag once more, “I’ll try to aspirate it here, but if her pain doesn’t improve, she’ll have to go to the hospital.”

Monica blinked as he pulled a needle and syringe from the bag and her breath caught briefly.

“I need for you to hold perfectly still, young lady,” He explained gently, seeing the fear as well as the pain in her eyes, “It won’t take but a minute, but I can’t have you moving.”

She blinked back tears as she turned her head and buried it against Andrew, feeling him bring his other hand around to shield her from seeing anything.

Paul watched as the doctor inserted the needle but then his focus was entirely on the two angels as he felt emotion well up inside of him.  Monica was lying perfectly still and though he couldn’t hear what was being said, Andrew was speaking to her in soft murmurs.  That was the way things were supposed to be, he surmised.  When one was hurting, the other was supposed to be gentle and supportive.  Instead he had been brash with Alex, allowing his frustration to get the better of him again and again.  He was sure that Andrew was probably feeling frustrated as well with all that had happened to his wife, but none of that showed now.  He was intent on one thing-that Monica feel better even as he wrapped his love for her around her.  The agent suspected he could take a few lessons from the newlyweds.

The pain of the needle seemed to lessen as Monica listened to Andrew’s soft words of love and his encouragment over how proud he was of her and how blessed to be united with her for the rest of eternity.  She felt the pain in her chest begin to improve, even as her heart ached pleasantly with how much she loved him.

The procedure was over quickly, but the little angel didn’t move from her place in her husband’s arms, not wanting to abandon the feeling of safety and of being cared for so deeply.  She realized as the doctor listened to her heart and lungs once more that her breathes were coming much more easily now and the pain had diminishd significantly.

“You sound better,” Dr. Barringer remarked, noting the relief on the faces of his two neighbors, “But are you feeling better?”

“Yes.  Thank you,” Monica whispered wearily, the feeling of Andrew running his hands through her hair lulling her exhausted body closer and closer to sleep.

He nodded his head as he placed his stethascope back in his bag, and gave a stern look to Andrew, “She needs rest and plenty of it right now.”

“She’ll get it.  I promise,” Andrew replied seriously, “Thank you for helping her.”

Paul and Alex exchanged a few words with him before he left the bedroom, Rob showing him to the door and a moment later, the angel had met his steely green eyes with them.

“It’s…it’s my fault,” Alex said quietly, seeing as Monica had fallen into a deep sleep, worn out by her ordeal, “She came in here to talk to me and-.”

“Alex,” Andrew interrupted gently, even as he readied himself to lift his wife into his arms to carry her back to their room, “I’m not blaming anyone, but the fact remains that you two are going to need to start dealing with this thing that has come between you.  The longer you go on not talking to each other, the more Monica is going to want to help.  Though I can’t fault her for that, she needs to heal right now,” His eyes swept over her sleeping face briefly, “I’m not sure I can handle another scare like this one any time soon.  You know how much she loves you both and would do anything for you, so would you please do both her and I a favor and for a few days make sure she doesn’t feel as if she has to do quite so much?”