CHAPTER 12

Andrew's doctor had to call a nurse to administer him a tranquilizer as the blond angel insisted on leaving the hospital and trying to find his beloved Monica. Even though he refused any kind of medication, Tess managed to at least make him listen to her.

"There's no way you'll leave this hospital right now!" the supervisor said, with all the authority that she could muster.

"Tess, Monica! Somebody has to find Monica! She was alone with that man! What if he caught her? What if he..."

"We don't know that, Andrew!" she replied, even though she felt a shiver running down her spine at his incomplete sentence.

"When the paramedics brought you and Annie, the police remained at the farm to search the area and look for more possible victims, Andrew." Dr Grove spoke, "And they didn't find anybody, which probably means that your friend might be somewhere out there, maybe she found a shelter, maybe-"

"I can't feel her!" he replied, on the verge of despair, and totally forgetting that his true nature should not be revealed in those circumstances.

But Dr Grove interpreted it as natural confusion and nervousness due to the terrifying experience he had been through. "I understand what you're trying to say, Andrew, but right now it's up with the police to do their job. Have some patience."

"And most importantly, have some faith." Tess added, giving Andrew a meaningful gaze he could not ignore.

"He was a rapist... He shot Annie and me and was ready to hurt Monica when I stopped him..."

Those words touched the doctor deeply, as she had already treated many patients that had been through that terrible experience. She pictured the young lady whom Andrew spoke of with so much love being beaten and violated. She could imagine the shame and pain the young woman would feel and also the terrible night she, Andrew and Annie had experienced.

"I'll tell the police you're awake and that you have many things to tell them." She finally said, and left the bedroom on the following second.

X

At Utah General Hospital, one more ambulance was parked outside and a nurse and a doctor came towards the stretcher where he was.

"Michael Davis, 45. A car accident caused one broken leg and many other minor injuries. He is coming from Salt Lake City Hospital now that his condition has improved. His family lives a few blocks from here." One of the paramedics who had accompanied the patient informed the medical staff.

The nurse and the doctor conducted the stretcher through the corridors of the hospital where Monica was, amongst many other people who were waiting to be assisted. As she passed by the Admissions counter, the nurse handed the new patient's file to the secretary and disappeared at the end of the corridor. Lisa took the paper in her hands and placed it next to the other patents' files, all the ones that had been admitted in the last 48 hours.

Some time later the phone next to her rang one more time on that busy Monday morning.

"Salt Lake City Hospital, Lisa speaking." She spoke, while typing a report.

"Good morning, Lisa. This is doctor Grove, from Utah General Hospital. One of my patients has been transferred up there and I guess he might have already been admitted. His name is Michael Davis."

The secretary checked the files on the counter and soon found the name she'd been told. "Yes, Dr Grove, he arrived here 20 minutes ago."

"Oh, good. Would you please get me in contact with the doctor who will be assisting him? There are some details that are probably missing on his file."

"Oh, sure, Dr Grove, I'll transfer you in a minute..."

Andrew's doctor frowned a little when she saw the policemen coming out of Andrew's room and spoke again. "Wait... Lisa, could you do me another favor before you transfer the call?"

"Sure!"

"Could you check if a young woman named Monica has been admitted in the last 48 hours?"

"No last name?"

"Sorry, no..."

The young secretary scanned the system and finally spoke again. "No... no Monica... Strange, it's the second time someone asked me something like this..." she said, remembering the "Jane Doe" who had been admitted two days ago.

"Really?" the doctor said, on the other side of the line.

"Yes. There's this young lady who is still unconscious and keeps on calling out for two people who haven't been admitted here and nobody knows who they are... She keeps on calling Andrew and Annie but there are no last names either and-"

"What?" the doctor interrupted her, her eyes wide open as it couldn't be a coincidence.

X

Sometime later, Dr Grove entered Andrew's room and there was a very worried expression on her face. The blond angel was awake but the effects of the tranquilizer she had administered him earlier that day would soon be over with the news she was about to break.

"Andrew..." she started, glad that Tess was also there.

"What is it, Dr Grove?" he wanted to know, not missing all the worry in the woman's eyes.

Tess rose to her feet and also stared at the doctor with nervousness. "Is there something wrong, doctor?"

"Andrew, you have to be calm, okay..."

"What's wrong, doctor?" he said, feeling his heartbeats accelerating.

"I... I found your Monica..." She finally spoke, and that was enough to make him sit up straight in bed, and if it wasn't for the tremendous pain in his stomach and the IV tube connected to his arm, he could have risen to his feet.

Andrew and Tess looked at each other and felt joy and fear at the same time.

"What? When? Where is she? How is she?" came the avalanche of questions and the woman placed a hand over his shoulder and tried to force him to lie down.

"Please, Andrew, stay calm! You cannot make any quick movements; you've just been through surgery!"

"No, I have to go to her! Is she hurt? What happened to her?"

"Please, doctor, tell us, is she alright?" the old angel wanted to know, as anguished as Andrew.

The woman sighed deeply. "She's been admitted to Utah General Hospital."

"A hospital? Is she hurt? Is she conscious?"

"Monica was found in the woods and when she was brought to the hospital she was already unconscious."

"Unconscious?" he feared the answer to his half-spoken question.

"Yes. I've spoken to the doctor who is taking care of her. Apparently, she spent the night in the woods, it was extremely cold and she has lost a great amount of blood."

"What? How did this happen?" Andrew was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and a nurse entered the room to insert another dosage of medicine to his IV tube.

"Please, Dr Grove, tell us the truth... How is Monica now?" Tess pleaded, feeling the presence of tears in her dark eyes.

"She had a nasty cut on her leg. She needed a transfusion and twenty three stitches in her leg, and she has many other injuries..."

Andrew felt a knot in his stomach as if he was going to throw up at any moment. His beloved Monica, his precious little angel, being badly beaten and hurt by that animal, a beast in human form. She was so innocent, so pure and there was so much joy and kindness in the sparkle of her eyes... And now everything had been shattered by an evil man! A man that should have never been born. A man that he would hunt even if that meant going until the end of the world and make him pay for what he did.

Anger was burning inside his very soul, in a way that he had never felt before. His jaw tensed and he contracted his fists, fearing to imagine what he would do once he put his hands on the man who dared to hurt his Monica.

His angelic nature would probably be left aside then.

"And Monica also has pneumonia... That's why we took such a long time to find out where she was, she's unconscious and her condition is serious, I'll be honest with you."

Tears finally fell from Tess' eyes as she listened to the dreadful scenario the doctor was describing them. Her angel girl was so badly hurt! Like a loving mother who watches over her daughter, she needed to go there and stay with Monica!

"...And it seems she keeps calling out your name, Andrew."

That piece of information was enough to break his heart. The little angel who had made his heart her home needed him. Andrew would spend the rest of his eternity by her side if that made her heal from all the evil she had been exposed to. He would be her guardian and even give up his duty as an angel of death just to love her even if that meant just holding her in his arms and soothing away the sorrow and pain that had certainly settled in her very soul.

Andrew turned to look at his dear friend with tears in the corner of his eyes, despite the anger that consumed his soul. "Tess... She needs me... I need to go to her... right now..."

"Andrew, I don't think it's wise to leave-" his doctor tried to speak, but he didn't give her a chance to finish.

"You have an idea of what might have happened to her, don't you doctor?" he quickly replied, and could see the answer in the woman's eyes.

"We don't know that for sure..." she said, silently praying for the young lady who was so dear to his heart.

"I have to be there for her when she wakes up... I know I shouldn't leave the hospital but I can be treated there... If you don't let me go, doctor, I'll leave anyway... It's my Monica there... my entire world..."

x

It was the beginning of that cold afternoon when someone pushed Monica's bedroom door open. She was in the ICU, where the only guests allowed were the patient's relatives, one by one, and for only a few minutes. They were not relatives, but who could deny the powerful bond that kept Monica and Andrew together? His green eyes quickly scanned the area, staring at all those machines attached to the little angel's body.

And there she was. Lying lifeless in the hospital bed. So close now and yet so distant from him.

Andrew's slow steps were the only sound inside the room besides the steady beep of the heart monitor, as he crossed the short path between the door and her bed. He walked with difficulty and trying to ignore all the pain those slow movements caused him. There was something a lot more urgent than this physical condition. His greatest priority needed him. And he needed her just the same. Now, more than ever.

A part of him desperately wanted to be reunited with her once again, but another part was dreading to see the physical evidences of what had happened to her in the woods. He rather be shot and die a hundred times then to see her suffering.

The angel of death was finally by the bed now and the image he saw was more devastating than everything else he had witnessed in his whole existence. The wound on her forehead, the many cuts on her face and arms, her paleness and exhaustion, the nasty gash on her leg and... all the rest he could imagine and which made him tremble, seemed like a nightmare that had turned into a painful reality.

Feeling the presence of tears, Andrew raised his hand to caress her face, but he suddenly froze, unable to do so. He was afraid to touch her. Afraid that even the slightest contact of his fingertips with her delicate skin would cause her any pain. He wouldn't forgive himself if he hurt that innocent little angel more than she had already been hurt. Andrew already felt guilt tearing up his heart for not being there to help her when she most needed him. That terrible feeling would remain there forever, that was for sure.

He had failed at his most noble assignment, the one he had promised to fulfil throughout his whole existence, along with God's will: protect and watch over the beautiful and warm-hearted angel lying before his eyes. A lonely tear finally made its way down on his face and he moved his steady hand to stroke her hair. The fact that she made no movement to acknowledge his presence hurt him deeply. But he didn't blame her. How could she welcome any caress after all the harm that bastard had inflicted on her?

"I'm so terribly sorry, angel... Please, know that I'm so terribly sorry for all the times I let you down..." he whispered, as a sob escaped him while he fought back the tears. "... I don't have the courage to ask for your forgiveness... I cannot forgive myself for not being there for you..."

The pain caused by the stitches in his stomach was almost unbearable. Feeling that he couldn't stand on his feet anymore, the blond angel knelt down by the bed and reached for her hand, desperately needing to feel that contact, even if it was the smallest one.

But when his fingers touched hers his heart seemed to skip a beat as he finally felt a tiny fraction of her body respond to his presence. Andrew gasped as Monica moved her hand slowly, allowing him to entangle his fingers with hers.

"Angel?" he called, hoping to see those sweet brown eyes open for him. But she made no other movement. The permanent noise of the heart monitor went on, as the angel of death said a prayer for the most beautiful angel he had ever met. He needed her to continue in his world as much as a human being needed air to breathe.

As simple as that.