CHAPTERS 6 & 7

Chapter 6

Andrew walked down the quiet hospital corridor a few hours later, looking for Monica’s room number.  Since leaving she and Tess, he had walked around the campus for a long time, trying diligently to make sense of everything that had happened today.  The problem was that he couldn’t.  Nothing made sense anymore and he couldn’t seem to find the answers that would make this road easier to follow.   He was exhausted, both physically and emotionally and all he really wanted to do was curl up somewhere and sleep, but even if he was able to do that, he doubted he would be able to turn his mind off to actually rest.

He stopped in front of Monica’s room and peered inside.  She was fast asleep, her head bandaged and he noticed she was hooked up to an IV, which could only mean one thing; Monica was still in human form. 

Andrew jumped, feeling a hand on his shoulder and he quickly turned around and came face to face with Tess.

“I didn’t mean to startle you, baby,” Tess said softly with a gentle smile.  Her smile faded somewhat as she looked into his eyes and saw all the sadness there.  Without a word, she opened her arms to her friend.

Andrew wrapped his arms around Tess and returned her hug, feeling his eyes burning with unshed tears,

“How’s she doing?” He asked, pulling away to meet his gaze with Tess’ once more.

“As well as can be expected, I suppose.  She has a few broken ribs and they had to operate to stop some internal bleeding.  They seem most concerned about the cut on her forehead.  She hasn’t woken up since the surgery, which concerns us all, but could be a blessing in disguise.  When she wakes up, she’ll be in a lot of pain, so it may do her good to be out for a day or two, but then again, we don’t want her going into a coma.  We just have to trust that God knows what he’s doing.”  Tess took Andrew’s hand and led him into Monica’s room, noticing that he held back, not wanting to enter,

“Angel Boy, I don’t know what happened today, but Monica is very much asleep, so why don’t you come on over here and see her, especially since we both know you want to.”

Though he looked uncertain for a moment, Andrew walked over to the other side of his friend’s bed.  His eyes flooded with love and compassion as he looked down upon the sleeping angel, and his hand reached out to stroke her bangs back away from her face.  He shook his head sadly,

“I just cannot believe someone would do this to you,” He whispered softly, as he sat down in the chair beside the bed.

Tess, too, had sat down on the other side of Monica and had taken her hand,

“Baby, why don’t you tell me what happened today.  Lets see if we can make sense out of any of it.”

Andrew sighed, his other arm resting on the bar alongside the bed, while his other hand continued stroking Monica’s hair, wanting to offer her whatever comfort he could.

“Well, it started right after she met Stacey.  I found Monica to talk to her about my assignment…well, actually she asked me why I was there and I told her.  Tess, she became angrier than I had ever seen her.  She was convinced that you and the Father wanted me to keep an eye on her because you didn’t trust her anymore since Nancy.”

“What?” Tess frowned as she steadily held Andrew’s gaze,

“Where did she get an idea like that from?”

Andrew shook his head,

“I have no idea.  I kept trying to tell her she was wrong, even though I didn’t know that for sure.  I mean, Tess, C’mon, it is a little strange for an angel to be assigned to another angel.”

“Maybe strange to you, Angel Boy, but if God says that Monica needed an angel, then Monica needed an angel,” Tess looked down at Monica’s swollen and bruised face,

“Doesn’t seem so strange now, does it?”

“No, it doesn’t.” Andrew admitted sadly, resting his chin on his arm.

“So, what happened then?” Tess pressed him, wanting very much to get to the bottom of this.

“Well, she told me she wanted me to leave her alone, and she told me that I was the one who distracted her the night Nancy died.  I was pretty shaken up after hearing those words, so I left.  Tess, it was Monica standing in that room with me, but the things she was thinking and saying wasn’t like our Monica at all.” Andrew looked away from Tess for a moment,

“I know that probably doesn’t make much sense, but that is the only way I can explain it.”

Tess was quiet for a moment, reflecting on what he had told her so far,

“It doesn’t make any sense to me for her to blame you, Andrew.  Number one, what happened to Nancy was no ones fault but Nancy’s.  We tried, we did our best and we lost.  Number two; this little Angel Girl adores you, Andrew.  She looks up to you and I can’t imagine her saying that to you.”

Andrew shrugged his shoulders,

“I don’t know, Tess.  I don’t know what was going on in her mind.  Maybe, like me, she was just feeling guilty about what happened last week.  All I can do is guess.”

“So, how did you wind up at the football field and what was all this nonsense about your being there but not helping her?”

I have no idea, Tess.  After I left the dorm, I went for a walk.  I’ll admit, I was angry and was ready to call it quits on this assignment, but I knew that was wrong.  So, I prayed and asked the Father for guidance and forgiveness.  He told me that I needed to talk to Monica to straighten things out, and then he told me that it was already too late for me to help her.” He fell silent for a moment, turning his attention back to Monica, his finger tracing softly along her cheek.  When he continued, his voice was scarcely a whisper.

“When I asked Him what he meant, all of these images flooded my mind.  Images of her being hurt..badly.  He told me it was happening right at that moment.  I didn’t listen to anymore, I just ran.  I had to find her.  I knew I had failed my assignment, probably the most important assignment I had ever had and the thought of that was eating me up inside.”

“Looks to me like it still is, baby,” Tess remarked softly, watching as he nodded his head.

“Then I found her in the field and went to call for help.  I wasn’t there when it happened, Tess, I swear I was not.  But I don’t know why she thinks I was.” Andrew sighed, running his hand through his blond hair in frustration.

“She said she heard you, but that’s impossible,” Tess remarked, still completely confused by what had taken place today.

“I just wonder was she alone when this happened.  I can’t help thinking that unless Stacey was around, Monica would have had no reason to be in that field in the first place.”

“Maybe she was there, Tess.  If this was happening when God showed me it was, then Monica laid in that field for about 3 hours until I found her.  Maybe Stacey was there and left.”

“If that’s the case, Angel Boy, then why didn’t that girl get help for Monica?  It just doesn’t make any sense.” Tess sighed heavily as she turned her attention back to Monica,

“You rest up, baby,” She said softly, her finger stoking over Monica’s hand,

“Andrew and I are going to figure all of this out….somehow.”

Monica had listened to Andrew and Tess from somewhere in the back corner of her mind.  She couldn’t seem to wake up; actually, she didn’t want to wake up.  Nothing made any sense to her, and the things she thought were real, she just wasn’t sure about any longer.  All she knew was that where she was right now, lost inside of herself, was so much safer than anywhere she had been lately.  Where she was now didn’t hurt and she didn’t have to try to figure out why Andrew was lying or why he seemed to care so much that she was hurt.  He hadn’t cared while it was happening. 

Feeling the pain of her heart breaking, she cleared her mind and slipped further away.

Chapter 7

Andrew waited impatiently for Tess to finish speaking with the doctor outside of Monica’s room.  Distractedly, his thumb stroked Monica’s hand as he tried to tell if what the doctor was saying was good new or bad, but he couldn’t tell.  Sighing, he gazed down at his friend’s face, noticing that the bruises were beginning to fade.  Now, if only she would wake up. 

It had been over a week and Monica remained in a coma.  The doctor’s seemed as perplexed about it as Andrew and Tess were.  He couldn’t imagine what they would say if they knew that their patient was an angel.  Yet, for some reason this angel still remained in human form and that was what Andrew really didn’t understand. 

He looked up sharply, when Tess came back into the room.  He tried to read her expression, but failed miserably,

“Well?”

Tess shook her head sadly,

“He says that there is no reason whatsoever that she should be like this, Angel Boy.  She should have woken up days ago; actually, she should have been released by now.”

“Tess, why is she still human?  I don’t understand this at all!  God could heal her, could bring her back to us and He isn’t doing that!” Ashamed by his own words, Andrew looked away from Tess and back to Monica, willing her to wake up.

Tess was quiet for a moment, watching the two of them,

Well, baby, maybe she has to want to come back to us.”

Andrew jerked his head back up to look directly into his supervisor’s eyes,

“What do you mean?  That Monica wants to stay this way?  C’mon, Tess, you know her better than that.  She wouldn’t do that.”

“Sometimes the physical wounds aren’t as difficult to face as the emotional ones,” Tess said softly, trying to make him understand,

“Her physical wounds are healing, but we got a glimpse of some emotional distress before she lost consciousness.  I think Monica feels protected where she is right now and that’s the reason she isn’t in any hurry to come back.”

Andrew closed his eyes as the pain of what Tess was saying tore through him.  For whatever reason, he was the reason that Monica wasn’t waking up, but how could he try to repair the damage that had been done to her tender heart when he didn’t know what had happened?  Everything about this assignment remained a mystery and Andrew was beginning to lose patience.

Tess eyed him worriedly as he stood up,

“And where do you think you’re going?”

“I can’t just sit here any longer, Tess and do nothing.  Somebody on that campus has to have some information on what happened to Monica.  Now, if I can find out what happened, then maybe I can persuade her to wake up.  I mean, the doctor told us before that she can probably hear us. “

“And just who do you plan on talking to, Angel Boy?  You running off half cocked is not gonna help Monica!”

Andrew closed his eyes again, trying to stop the tears from falling,

“Tess, you don’t understand.  You’re not the one she thinks was there while this happened to her!  Now, I know I wasn’t there and you know it too, but whatever she heard must have been pretty convincing for her to be judge and jury about this.  In her mind, Tess, I’m guilty and nothing I said last week to her could change that.  Don’t you see?  I have to know what happened!” He gripped the bed rail so tightly his knuckles turned white as several tears escaped his eyes,

“One of my best friends is not only in a coma, Tess, but feels like I betrayed her and I can’t just sit here any longer and pray that when she wakes up, she’ll realize the truth.  There’s too much at stake.”

Tess’ eyes flooded with sympathy, feeling her friend’s heartache right along with him,

“But maybe she will see the truth when she wakes up, Andrew.”

“And maybe she won’t,” He replied softly.  He looked down upon the sleeping angel with all the love in his heart.  He reached down and kissed her gently on the forehead,

“I love you, Angel Girl and I’m going to fix this.  I promise.”

He turned his attention back to Tess,

“I have to do this, Tess.”

“I know you do, baby,” She replied gently,

“Know that God is with you in your search for truth.”

Andrew managed a smile as he walked over to hug his supervisor,

“Always.”