Chapter 19

“We have to do something, Andrew!” Monica cried out, pulling away from him as she watched in horror as the flames burned completely through the door,

            “Is there a window?  There has to be window!”

            His eyes burning from the smoke, the blond angel looked around him as he rose to his feet shakily.  The flames made it easier to see as his eyes came to rest on a boarded up window on the other side of the attic. 

            Racing over to it, he wrapped his fingers around the first board and pulled on it as hard as he could, letting out a small cry as the nails came lose from the window and the wood dug into his fingers.  His desperation fueled him as he continued tearing at each wooden board until they had all been removed.  He then walked back to Monica and took his coat, wrapping it around his arm, before he returned to the window and shattered it with his wrapped arm.

            His human lungs welcomed the clean air that came racing into the attic, and he turned back to his best friend as he realized she had started coughing as the smoke and fire came closer.  Racing back to her, he dropped the coat and knelt down beside her,

            “Put your arms around my neck, baby.  Let’s get you over to this window so you can get some air.”

            Monica nodded her head though she couldn’t speak for coughing and crying as she wrapped her arms tightly around him and he lifted her up into his arms. 

            Andrew carried her over to the window and lowered her back to the ground, kneeling beside of her, watching worriedly, as she took in several short gasps of air between coughs. 

            “You okay?” He asked, his voice etched with deep concern for her as his eyes darted nervously to the flames that were now well on their way into the attic.

            “Yes,” She managed to say after a moment,

            “Andrew, is there a way out?”

            Andrew turned away from her and stuck his head out the window, his hopeful heart sinking at what he saw.  Yes, there was a way.  A very narrow ledge that seemed to lead to an upper porch as it rounded the corner.  It would be possible for him to get to it, but not for Monica.

            He would never be able to carry her on so narrow a walkway and there was no way she could walk on that ankle. 

            “There is a ledge, sweetie,” He said softly, not meeting her eyes, less she see the tears that shimmered there,

            “But it’s only a few inches wide at best, and…I wouldn’t be able to get us both safely over it.”

            Monica lowered her head, fighting another outpouring of tears as her mind raced frantically for a moment.  She could feel the heat from the flames, and she looked up, seeing them now flowing across the rafters above them,

            “Then go, Andrew!  Go and get help!”

            “Monica,” He turned to look at her, his expression one of disbelief,

            “No, I’m not leaving you.  I can’t do that-“

            “Yes, you can!  There isn’t a choice in this any more, Andrew.  If you don’t go and try to find help, then…” Her voice trailed off for a moment, unable to say the words.  Instead, she reached for his hands and gripped them tightly in her own; her brown eyes brimming with unshed tears,

            “Please?  Please go while you can!” She was begging now, as her eyes searched his pleadingly.

            “No!” Andrew cried out, tears slipping onto his cheeks at the pain her request was causing him.  If he went out that window and something happened to her, he would never forgive himself.  Looking into her eyes now, he could see so much-it was like looking into a window of her life over the last three years as it all came to an abrupt head right now.  He could see every ounce of pain and humiliation she had endured with Denise’s failures as well as her devastation over possibly losing her first caseworker to Kathleen’s dark and dangerous influence.  He could see the exhaustion in her eyes and her great sorrow over his not forgiving her lying.  It was a look that would be forever etched into his memory.

            “Please Andrew!  This is what I was so afraid of…I don’t want you to get hurt!  I could never forgive myself if that happened, especially not now.” Her anguished words brought him back to the present as he sat back down close to her.

            “Please Father,” his heart pleaded as his mind raced with confusion as he watched the flames grow closer,

            “Tell me what to do!”

            Andrew closed his eyes for a moment as he felt a peace fill his waiting heart and when he opened his eyes once more, he took Monica’s tear-streaked face into his hands,

            “I’m not leaving you, Angel Girl, and we are forgetting something very important here,” He looked deeply into her eyes, searching them to see if she would remember for herself, but there was so much pain and panic in them that he knew she was far from thinking clearly,

            “God is in control here, sweetheart, and instead of asking each other what we should do, perhaps we should ask Him.”

            The Irish tongued angel was trembling violently as a fit of coughing from the smoke overtook her for a moment,

            “How can I ask Him for help now?” She whispered,

            “I may have lost my caseworker, I lied to my dearest friends…how can I ask for His help when I don’t deserve it?”

            “No one deserves His love or His forgiveness, Monica.  You KNOW that.  Oh Angel Girl, you know it with every bit of truth that is within you.  All you have to do is ask.  All WE have to do is ask,” Andrew tried to reach through the hurt that was consuming her so she could remember what she already knew.  Moving his hands from her face, he took her hands and bowed his head as he began to pray to their Heavenly Father, lifting his words up to the One who loved them both so much and would provide for them.

            Monica listened to her best friend’s words as she gripped his hands tightly, her widened eyes never leaving the flames that continued to grow ever nearer to them.