Chapter 7

“Monica!”

Tess heard the cry of her former charge, as she and Andrew rushed in the direction of the pain-filled voice. 

“Oh Father, please let her be all right,” The older angel muttered softly to herself as she followed Andrew as quickly as her legs would carry her.

Andrew stopped abruptly, nearly falling into a large hole that suddenly appeared before him, seemingly out of nowhere.  He held out his arms to steady himself, as well as to stop Tess.  Dropping to his knees, he struggled to see into the darkness of the hole in the earth,

“Monica?”

“Andrew!” His friend’s voice caught in a sob as it floated back up to him and he said a prayer of thanks at having found her.

“Hang on, sweetheart.  We’re going to get you out!” He looked around quickly for something he could use, as the hole was too deep for him to be able to reach for her. 

“Here, baby,” Tess held out a rope, which was now in her hand and seeing her Angel Boy’s puzzled look, her eyes briefly looked upward so he would understand.

Andrew took the rope and tied a loop into the end of it, before lowering it into the ground,

“Monica!  I’m lowering a rope.  Grab hold and hold on, so I can pull you up.”

Monica saw the rope being lowered, and her friend’s anxious faces at the mouth of the hole.  Through tears, she grabbed hold and linked her arms through the loop, holding on tightly.  Feeling herself being lifted, she closed her eyes and bit her lip from the pain in her head from the sudden movement.

Andrew pulled her up as carefully as he could, with Tess’ help, and as soon as he could, he reached forward with his hand to grab onto his friend to pull her the rest of the way out.

Feeling his strong arms around her, the auburn-haired angel’s tears fell like rain as she held onto him tightly for several minutes.  Feeling a hand stroking her hair, she looked over Andrew’s shoulder at Tess, who then reached out to grasp her hand.

There were no words between the three for many moments and no sound other than Monica’s soft sobs as she buried her face in the nape of Andrew’s neck.  Though her heart was heavy with grief over what had occurred with Denise, it was also fairly bursting with love for the two angels who had been there for her at the moment when she had needed them the most, just as they had promised three years ago.

Feeling Andrew pull away slightly, she put her weight down on both feet and gave out a cry of pain as she nearly collapsed.  Andrew was there, however and broke her fall as he carefully lowered her to the ground, his green eyes full of concern.

He saw her swollen ankle and for the first time, noticed the gash on her forehead,

“Oh Monica,” He uttered softly, his tender heart aching for her.

“I’m okay, Andrew--.”

“No, you’re not, baby,” Tess interrupted as she knelt beside her friends.  She wrapped her arm around Monica’s frail shoulders and pulled her nearer, enjoying the moment of having her Angel Girl in her arms again.

“Oh Tess, I’ve missed you so much,” Monica whispered, leaning against her former supervisor, as several tears escaped her reddened eyes,

“I’ve missed you both so much.”

“I know, Angel Girl, I’ve missed both of my babies, more than I ever thought possible.  Not a day has gone by that I haven’t thought about you and Andrew.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, so she could dab at the gash on Monica’s forehead.

“What are you both doing here?” Monica uttered, trying to stop the flow of tears.

“We were both given some time off, baby and Andrew had a feeling that you were in trouble.” Tess replied gently,

“And it seems he was right.”

Andrew looked up as Monica met her eyes with his and he could see a panic in them that he didn’t understand,

“It isn’t broken,” He said softly, indicating her ankle,

“But it is badly sprained.  As long as you are in human form, you’ll have to stay off it for a few days,” He was quiet for a moment, his eyes showing his concern and deep love for her,

“Sweetie, what happened?”

Feeling further panic welling up inside of her, the angel lowered her dark eyes.  How could she tell them what had happened?  Andrew, maybe, but Tess, the angel who had mentored her for years?  How could she tell Tess that she was failing?  How could she explain that she was losing her one caseworker to a force she didn’t even understand? 

Tess would be so disappointed in her.  Monica had learned everything she knew about supervising from her, so how could she tell her what Denise had done?  That her caseworker thought she was a terrible supervisor.  How could she ever explain what it felt like to have to repeatedly tell humans that someone they loved had been taken from them because an angel had failed?  The pain of having to say those words was more than the angel thought she could ever bear.  Tess and Andrew had such faith in her abilities, and it was all in vain. 

She was failing.  She knew that now after what had happened today and it broke her gentle heart.

Andrew studied her carefully as he exchanged a look with Tess, but Monica refused to meet either of their gazes.  He knew she was in physical pain, but this was something more than that.

“Monica?”