ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN

BY: Deyse Magalhães

PROLOGUE

The long corridors of the biggest hospital in town were full of people going from one place to another, either searching for help or trying to offer it to the desperate ones who never stopped passing through the huge doors. Some of them had light injuries, but the majority had blood covering their faces and clothes, and the nurses carried the most seriously wounded patients in stretches along the ER.

Cries of both pain and despair echoed through the halls, and, in the waiting rooms, members of different families waited with anguished faces for some news about their beloved ones.

In one of these corridors, Andrew wandered off, desperately running his hands through his dirty blond hair. He was badly hurt, that was evident. His right arm was in wrapped in bandages and he was limping. His head had many bruises, as well as the rest of his human body, and there were nasty cuts on his cheeks and forehead. His clothes were also filthy, all covered with a mix of dirt and blood. The blond angel had just received the first aids, but, due to the chaos that was spread all over the hospital, the dressings had been done urgently, as lots of other people, whose condition was 10 times worse than his, needed medical care.

But he didn’t seem to care about his unclean appearance or the physical pain he was feeling, nor about the blood that could be seen through the white bandage. His eyes were fixed in an invisible point up ahead of him, as if he were searching for something, perhaps an answer to all that confusion or at least a way to run away from that place. He had tears in his eyes, evidences of the great sadness and despair that flooded his heart, and not even Tess’ callings, coming from behind him, were able to make him stop.

But the blond angel wasn’t paying attention to them; he wasn’t listening to any sound at all – the turmoil of thoughts inside his head was already too severe and intense. And neither did he care about where he was going. A dead end corridor was the only obstacle that stopped him, allowing Tess to catch up with him seconds later.

"Andrew, please, look at me!" the oldest angel pleaded, holding his arm and trying to meet his eyes. She too was devastated, and had tears rolling down her cheeks: it was far too clear that they were both sharing the same sorrow and feeling exactly the same pain.

"We have to be strong, Andrew… We need to pray like we’ve never prayed before; with all the faith in our existence!" she spoke, her voice hoarse with emotion.

He stared at her helplessly, "It was all my fault… I let that happen…"

"Please, don’t say that! Don’t blame yourself because there’s no one to blame… It just happened…"

"And why did this have to happen, Tess? Why?"

"I… I don’t know…" she sobbed, "There were very few moments like this in my existence… When all the answers seemed to vanish… and all I could do was pray…"

Fresh tears rolled down the supervisor’s cheeks, while Andrew ran his fingers through his dirty hair once more.

"… I can’t imagine the world without her…" he miserably spoke, almost in a whisper, as some tears finally made their way down on his face.

The oldest angel nodded her head, crying desperately, "Neither can I, Angel boy… To think that my baby is inside that room, in so much pain… It hurts more than anything else in this world…"

"She’s suffering… I can even feel that!"

"I know... I can feel that too! But, right now, the only thing we can do is ask the Father to take care of her. He knows what’s best for her… Let His will be done…"

For some seconds, Andrew turned his face away from Tess, with a pensive look. Finally, he stared at the supervisor again; hurt and anguish filling his green eyes,

"I just hope He doesn’t ask me to be an angel right now, Tess… Because all I am at this very moment is a selfish creature who wants back what’s been taken away from me…"

CHAPTER 1

One month earlier...

It was a beautiful spring afternoon, with thousands of flowers which were blossoming in a huge variety of colours and smells, and the bluest of the skies. All of those who lived or visited that city at that time of the year were greeted by such pleasant scenario. Vacations hadn’t started yet, that was true, but all the beauty that surrounded the place, as well as the warm sun, were announcing that hot summer days were about to come.

That atmosphere of joy was one of the greatest responsible for the opening of the local amusement park two hours before the usual. There, observing the (still few) little visitors who entered the park hand in hand with their parents, a beautiful auburn lady, with long hair and sparkling brown eyes, smiled at the excitement in the children’s eyes. She was standing near the Ferris wheel and the expression on her face was one of satisfaction for being in such a joyous place.

Monica had been watching the little ones for some minutes when a tall, handsome man, with short blond hair and bright green eyes came from behind her. He was carrying a cup of coffee and, as soon as he saw her, Andrew smiled and slowed his pace. Quietly, he came closer to her and, as he gently covered her eyes, the Irish angel’s smile became wider. A second later, Monica let out a giggle and placed her hands over his:

"Double mocha latte mixed with cinnamon and extra cream?", she said, and giggled even more when he uncovered her eyes and stared at her with a mock upset and hurt expression on his face:

"An angelic coffee machine?! Is that all I am?!" there was an exaggerated offended tone in his voice. Still laughing, the Irish angel wasted no time in wrapping her arms around his neck in a big embrace, which he quickly returned, a smile already forming on his face as well:

"Well, I have to agree that you’re the greatest responsible for keeping my caffeine level high!" she spoke. Rather shocked, he pulled away just enough to look at her face:

"And you confess!"

"Yes… But I can also say that you are the greatest responsible for many other things, such as making me smile and dance of joy, putting my heart at ease and taking me to beautiful places, like this one!" she held him tightly once more, "And I really missed those things, you know."

"Me too, Angel Girl!" he said. Holding her once more, he kissed her temple and rested his cheek on the top of her head, "You have no idea how much. These 3 weeks away from you, as well as from Tess and Joy, were really tough! I’m glad I’m back!"

"So am I, my friend!"

With happiness evident in her eyes, Monica pulled away again and gazed at him, "But… Was I right about the coffee?"

Still pretending to be upset, he rolled his eyes and gave her the cup that was in his hands, "Yes… Including the cinnamon part…"

Grinning at him, she grabbed the coffee cup and, standing on the tip of her toes, the Irish angel placed a loving kiss on his cheek, "I love you, you know?"

"I know that!" he replied, as if there wasn’t anything new about her previous comment, and wrapped his arm around the giggling angel’s shoulder, "Now, c’mon, we can take a walk while you drink."

"Well… I sure won’t have any problem in drinking it, but… when I received the call to meet you I was worried about our appointment with Tess, she had already told us to meet her and this is supposed to be in…" she glanced at her watch, "… 10 minutes…"

"Oh, don’t worry about Tess. I’m under the impression that she’ll be a little late…"

"She will? But… She told me that she was only going to find someone to take care of Joy during this assignment and then she would meet us…" Monica said, slightly confused.

The blond angel chuckled and led her to the Ferris wheel, "It’s just a feeling, Monica. But be sure that, as soon as she finds an angel who agrees to stay with our little one, she’ll meet us! Now come, I want you to try this!"

"Ok," she agreed, and, without fully understanding what her dearest friend was trying to say.

*

Some time later, in the top of the Ferris wheel...

"It’s such a lovely view, isn’t it?" Monica sighed, and rested her head on Andrew’s shoulder. He was absentmindedly playing with a lock of her hair and nodded.

"Yes, it really is. I knew you’d like it!"

"Oh, yes, I do. Especially in a day like this: warm and sunny, with no clouds in the sky."

"It’s possible to see the whole city from here."

"And this is such a beautiful city! I’m happy that our next assignment will be here!"

Suddenly, the 2 angels heard an unmistakable voice right beside Monica.

"Well, I can assure you it won’t be on the top of a Ferris wheel, Miss Wings!"

Rather surprised, they looked at their left: a dark skinned lady, with shoulder length grey hair and black eyes was now sitting on the empty space next to Monica. Tess was sternly staring at them and holding a chubby black cocker spaniel puppy tightly in her arms.

"Tess…" both angels said, as they didn’t expect the supervisor to find them in a place like that. A tiny puppy bark drew their attention and Monica was quick to hold the little animal who was nearly jumping in her arms.

"Oh wee baby, come here with your mommy!"

After covering the Irish angel’s face with lots of tiny kisses, Joy turned to Andrew and barked once more, as if begging to be in the blond angel’s arms.

"Hey little one, did you miss you dad, huh?" he said, now holding the chubby dog that Monica carefully handed him.

"I missed you too, sweetie!" he spoke, also receiving dozens of kisses. But that cute scene wasn’t enough to send away Tess’ bad humour.

"I’m sure I made myself quite clear about the place you two were supposed to meet me! And I don’t remember having included the words ‘amusement park’ in my instructions!"

"Well… the view was so beautiful here that… we didn’t realise it was time to meet you, Tess…" the Irish angel answered, without knowing what to say and feeling a bit guilty for not following the supervisor’s orders.

Andrew, for himself, wasn’t all too worried about their delay, "We were going to meet you. We only stopped here for some minutes. But… weren’t you supposed to find someone to take care of our little one?"

The supervisor was even more distressed to be reminded of that detail.

"Yes. But what seemed impossible happened! All the angels are busy right now, on long term assignments! Sam, Adam, Rafael, Philip, Gabriel and even Emma! None of them could stay with Joy for a few weeks!" she grumbled, causing the blond angel to chuckle secretly.

"How come, Tess?" Monica was equally surprised with that.

"I don’t know! There isn’t a single angel available to take care of our precious baby!"

"You know, that’s really unbelievable!" Andrew exclaimed, finding the situation really amusing. And the supervisor continued to talk:

"And there’s more! I was on my way to locate Ronald and see if he could do us this favour when I was told to stop looking for an angel and to take care of Joy myself!"

Monica and Andrew stared at her even more surprised, "You mean He told you…"

"That’s right, Miss Wings! I was clearly instructed to keep Joy with me all the time while we are working on this assignment!" the oldest angel didn’t seem to be all too pleased with that ‘extra assignment’, "But if you ask me, I guess Sam had something to do with that! And now, just because of a pair of shoes and some shoelaces, I won’t be able to stay with you full time and supervise you two properly!"

While Andrew was still trying to hold his laugher at Tess’ bad humour, Monica smiled somewhat pleased, "Well, try to look on the bright side, Tess. The 4 of us will be together! And aren’t you happy that you’re going to have our wee baby with you all the time?"

The supervisor took those words into consideration and looked at Joy: the puppy’s tiny black eyes and her cute and meek face made Tess let go of her previous annoyance:

"Well… yes… You got a point there, Miss Wings," she reached out and took the little dog back in her arms, "I feel much better if I’m responsible for this precious baby. After all, I’m her grandma, and I can’t think of anyone better than me to take care of her!" the tone in her voice was a bit conceited and caused both angels to exchange an amused glance. Then, the supervisor became serious again.

"Now let’s get going, cause we are already late and it’s because of you two!"

The seat they were on was lowered and Monica, Tess and Andrew stood up and left the Ferris wheel, under a rather puzzled look of the attendant in charge of placing the visitors on the seats.

*

Tess, Monica and Andrew were now in front of a huge school building and lots of children and teenagers were leaving the place to go back to their houses.

"So, our next assignment is going to be here?" Monica wanted to know, immediately pleased with the atmosphere which surrounded the place.

"Yes, Miss Wings. Take a look over there…" the supervisor pointed to a woman who was leaving the building together with the students. She had blond hair and blue eyes and appeared to be in her thirties. But the most remarkable detail in her appearance was a 6 month pregnancy belly, which she was now absentmindedly stroking while walking in the side walk.

"Susan Baker has been a devoted teacher in this school for some years and the students really like her," Tess explained.

"But it seems that pretty soon she will have to be away from them a little while..." Monica was especially pleased to see that a new life was about to start in a few months, "She must be very happy though…"

"Oh yes, in fact she and her husband can’t wait to hold their first child. She’s your assignment, Angel Girl."

"Is there something wrong with her?" the Irish angel was immediately worried.

"Well, all I’ve been told is that you have to be close to her during the time we stay here."

Decided to do the best she could, Monica nodded her head obediently.

"What about me, Tess? Where do I fit in?" Andrew questioned.

"See that group of children over there?" The students Tess was referring to were near the school gate waiting for the school bus, "The school bus driver is retiring tomorrow. And guess who is going to be the new one?"

Amused to be working with the kids, the blond angel smiled.

"I like this assignment, but… I can’t figure out what’s wrong here, Tess…"

"Yes, Monica is right. Aren’t we supposed to know anything else to deal with it?" Andrew agreed.

The supervisor sighed with a pensive expression on her face, "Well, all I’ve been told is that you two have to do the job you were assigned to. At the right moment, you’ll know why you are here.

Monica and Andrew glanced at each other, not missing an inch of apprehension on the supervisor’s eyes, as she too didn’t have any idea of what was going to happen in the next few days. But, decided to do their best, they nodded their heads yearningly and continued to look at the school building, wondering why their presence was so necessary in that place.

CHAPTER 2

Lots of children crossed the huge gates of the biggest school in town on that sunny morning, and their voices echoed through the corridors and gardens as the first class hadn’t started yet.

A pregnant woman was walking through one of these corridors holding lots of books in her hands and a big bag on her left shoulder. But, carrying so many things, some steps ahead the inevitable happened: the books ended up falling on the floor.

"Oh, great!" she grumbled, as kneeling was not an easy task for her anymore. But, all of a sudden, she heard a soothing voice, with an Irish accent, coming from behind her.

"Let me help ya…"

The woman looked at the auburn lady that immediately knelt next to her and picked the books she had let fall on the floor, "Thank you! I should have known that this was going to happen. I’m carrying a lot with me already!" she joked, causing her interlocutor to smile.

"Don’t worry, I’ll carry your books and the bag, so that we can share the loads!"

"Thank you so much!" the woman replied, relieved to find a person to help her, "I don’t know you. Are you looking for someone?"

"Well, actually I’m the new teacher. My name is Monica."

"Oh, nice to meet you, Monica. I’m Susan. I’m the teacher you’ll be replacing in the next months." They shook hands with each other and started to walk along the corridor.

"Well, I’m glad you work here, cause, in fact, I’m a wee bit lost, you know."

Susan smiled at Monica’s friendly tone of voice, "So, you don’t have to worry anymore, Monica. I know the school pretty well and I’ll be happy to show it to you – while I still can, cause pretty soon, I’ll have to stop walking around, if you know what I mean!" she placed her hand over her belly.

"How long have you been pregnant?"

"Six months. And this little one here doesn’t seem to be in the mood for waiting 3 months more! It doesn’t stop kicking!"

A kind and warm smile appeared on Monica’s face, "Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?"

"No, the baby is in the wrong position, so it’s not possible to see. But, if you ask me, my husband and I are so happy that it doesn’t really matter."

"You’re right. Children are always a blessing."

"Well, considering me, I’d say I’ve been blessed twice, as doctors said that the chances of getting pregnant were almost non-existent."

"God is always good."

"I agree with you again, Monica. I guess we’ll get along quite well! Now, come with me, I’ll show you the school and introduce you to your future noisy students!"

*

The yellow school bus stopped in front of the 2 huge iron gates and the students (most of them the youngest ones in the school) started to get out of the vehicle. One of them was a little girl, of about 10 years old, with long brown hair, bright brown eyes and wearing glasses. She stopped next to the new driver holding a small pad of paper and a pink pen:

"Your average speed was between 30 and 35 miles an hour, and because of this we got here 20 minutes earlier than what we’re used to!" she said, carefully analysing the result of her calculations. And such a pensive and serious expression on her meek face caused Andrew to smile:

"Well, I think I can take it as a compliment!" he said, a friendly tone in his voice.

"Well, I’m glad to get here earlier, cause I have some homework to finish, but… It all depends on the point of view. I’m afraid 99% of the kids here weren’t pleased to get to school earlier…"

Finding the seriousness in the girl’s tone of voice really funny, Andrew nodded his head understandingly as she continued to talk.

"… And this is more evident if we’re talking about the boys – no offence!"

"Oh, that’s ok." he replied, trying to hold his laugher, "But I bet there’s another point of view to be considered, isn’t there?"

"Oh, yes. Our old driver, Mr Spencer, was too slow and we used to arrive here 2 minutes before the class started. Besides, I guess he was a bit old, you know. We always had to speak twice louder with him…" she straightened her glasses, "Besides, once you drive a lot faster than Mr Spencer to get here, you’ll also drive faster to go away, and that means getting home 20 minutes earlier than the usual. And I believe that, in this case, everybody’s gonna love it!"

"So I guess I’m not that bad, huh?", Andrew said, chuckling at the girl’s conclusion. Still with a pensive expression on her face, the girl placed her finger underneath her chin and narrowed her eyes, carefully analysing him.

"Umm… Yes, you look nice…" she finally answered.

"Well, I’m honoured you think that!" he replied, with all the seriousness he could muster.

The girl stretched her hand, "My name is Grace Turner."

"Andrew." they shook hands with each other.

"I gotta go now, Andrew. I have lots of experiments waiting for me in the laboratory. See you later!"

"See you, Grace!"

*

Due to her pregnancy, Susan had to share half of her groups with Monica, who would also be in charge of her other groups as soon as Susan got her leave. In that afternoon, the teacher introduced her new co-worker to her students.

"Alright, children, I want everybody to sit down cause there’s someone I’d like you to meet," the teacher announced, as she and Monica entered the classroom. About 20 children, who, so far had been making a little mess, quickly obeyed to her command. "Children, this is Monica. She’s a new teacher here."

"Good afternoon, Miss Monica!" the children greeted.

"Hullo, children!" the Irish angel warmly replied.

"Well, as you all know, I’m having a baby soon and I’ll need to be away from school for some time."

Hearing some children complain, Susan smiled, "Calm down, it’ll be just temporary. I’ll be back in a few months."

Pleased to have calmed the students, she continued to talk, "But, in this meantime, I’ll need some help and Monica will be here to share some of my groups with me."

"Mrs Bale, when will the baby be born?" a girl asked, while she straightened her glasses.

"In 3 months, Grace. And I’ll be here for one month more."

Suddenly, a boy raised his hand, "Oh, Mrs Bale, I know where babies come from!", he exclaimed, enthusiastically.

But the same girl was quick to reply, "Silly, everybody knows that! It’s a scientific process!"

And almost immediately, the other children started talking all at the same time. Trying to suppress their smile, Monica and Susan exchanged an amused glance and the teacher interrupted the discussion, "Alright, that’s enough!", she said, finally silencing the kids again.

"Edward and Grace, I’m glad you’ve been doing your Science homework, I really am. And talking about scientific processes, did you bring the projects you are supposed to present at the University exhibition, next month?"

All the children pointed to all sorts of different appliances and showed them to the 2 teachers.

"I’m sure I’ll like your students, Susan, for I can see all of them are very talented!" Monica said, "All these works are beautiful!"

"Almost all of them..." Edward pointed to Grace’s project: a wooden box, which was of the same size of a shoe box, with lots of wires connected to one another, "What the heck is that?!"

"For your information, that’s my new invention!"

The Irish angel came closer to her and studied the object, "And what does it do exactly, Grace?"

"It emits a long distance sound, in a frequency different from the human ear."

"It’s useless!" Thomas retorted. But Grace ignored his comment.

"If you wanna call your dog, for example, you don’t have to use a whistle. You can use this."

"That’s a really good idea, Grace! I can see you’re very creative!" Monica spoke, with a warm smile.

"I’m gonna be a scientist!" the girl explained, now pleased to hear such compliment.

"Silly, girls can’t be scientists! This is for men!" Thomas, replied.

Monica intervened, "Of course they can! And from what I can see here, Grace has the most important quality a scientist needs: imagination!"

Those word caused the girl’s smile to be wider than before, "Do you really think so?"

"Yes, and all of you did a really great work with your projects, and I’m sure you can do lots of wonderful things!"

Extremely satisfied with Monica’s kind words, the students liked their new teacher from the start and the same thing happened in the other groups, as whoever had the opportunity to meet the Irish angel soon noticed her warm hearted personality and immediately became very fond of her.

*

At the end of the day:

"Well, I guess you passed the test, Monica!" Susan said, while the two were keeping their books and school material in the teachers’ room, "Children just love you!"

"I can say the same thing about them. They are very smart kids, easy to work with!"

The teacher stopped what she was doing and sighed, "Yes... and I’ll miss them..."

"Well, you’ll have a wee one yourself to take care of pretty soon!"

"Yes, but I wish I could stay longer. Pity I have to take my leave earlier than the usual." she lamented, a trace of sadness in her voice, which Monica didn’t miss.

"Why do you?"

"Remember when I told you I had almost zero chances of getting pregnant? Well, this little baby here was a miracle, but my pregnancy is considered a very risky one. It was very difficult at the beginning, I got ill many times an the doctors thought my body wouldn’t resist and that I would lose my child."

Hearing that, a sad look appeared in Monica eyes, "I’m so sorry to hear that, Susan."

The teacher smiled, "But I got better and this last month has been really calm. My doctor is afraid, though. He thinks that it’s better for me to stay away from work and rest as much as I can, cause the last 2 months can be quite dangerous and the baby can be born prematurely.

Frowning with concern, Monica placed a supportive hand on Susan’s shoulder, "I’ll pray that everything goes well for you and your baby, Susan. I have faith that, besides the doctors, there’s Someone else watching over you both."

"Yes, I confess that I doubted that myself at the beginning of my pregnancy and wondered why all this was happening. But when I got better and everything started to work out fine, I knew that God wouldn’t leave me alone. And I trust that He will make things work just fine out for us!" the teacher said, with a confident smile.

*

The yellow school bus made its last stop at a white house, full of flowers and with a green garden surrounding it. Andrew looked back and saw Grace holding her pad of paper and her pen.

"Ok, last stop: Grace Turner house!" he announced, watching amused as the girl walked over to him, "So, did I pass the test?"

"Yes, and with honours! I’m so early that mom isn’t waiting for me yet!"

"Well, now you can rest a little!"

"I wish I could! I have some work to do on my Science project. The other kids said it was weird, but my teacher, Mrs Bale, said it was fine. And Monica, the new teacher who will substitute Mrs Bale, told me it was very creative."

"Hum, and I bet it was the encouragement you needed, right?"

"Yes. You see, I’ve always loved Science. I wanna be a scientist and work at NASA as an astronaut!"

"Wow! That’s quite a plan!"

"Yes. I showed my work to Monica and she said that I already have the first thing a scientist needs: imagination!"

"Well, I haven’t seen you work yet, but if it was Monica who said that, then I do believe her – your work must be great!"

Grace smiled pleased to receive such a kind compliment twice in one day, "You know Monica?"

"Very well."

"I like her; she seems to be really nice, just like you!"

Secretly agreeing with her, the blond angel nodded his head with a smile, "Thanks!"

"You’re welcome. I gotta go now. Bye!"

"Bye!"

He watched as the girl got out of the bus and crossed the gardens of her house. A minute later, her mother came to open the door and Grace greeted her with an embrace. As soon as they entered the house, Andrew heard two familiar voices behind his seat:

"She’s an adorable child!" Monica said, sitting next to Tess.

"Yes, and with a great potential!" the supervisor added.

"Kids do have a lot of creativity!" Andrew completed.

"I guess this assignment isn’t going to be so difficult, you know. And I’m quite pleased with it," the Irish angel spoke, "What do we do now, Tess?"

"Well, we have a little child at home too and she’s waiting for us!"

Monica leaned forward so that she could stay close to Andrew’s ears, "Oh, yes. She must be missing playing with her daddy’s shoes!" she teased.

With a mock indignant expression on his face, he turned his head and stared at his dearest friend, "Not as much as she misses hearing her mom’s loud laugh attack filling the house!"

Monica was about to answer when Tess rolled her eyes with impatience, "My little one is not to be in the middle of a mess made by two grown up angels! What that baby really misses is her grandmother! And you’d better turn this bus around and go home, Mr Halo!"

"Yes, ma’am!"

CHAPTER 3

One month had passed since the angels assignment had started. Monica and Andrew easily befriended the children and both seemed quite pleased with their tasks, trusting that their job was practically finished and well accomplished. It was Friday already and the clock ticked 2 AM. The three angels had gone to bed believing that would probably be the last day of their assignment, as Susan would take her leave and, very soon, the summer vacations would start and classes would be over.

Strangely, Andrew had woken up at about midnight and, try as he might, he couldn’t get back to sleep. The blond angel checked his pocket watch, which he had left on the small table beside the bed, and sighed, bothered with his unusual insomnia. Suddenly, he heard a low whimpering coming from another room and it took him just a second to recognise that voice. He jumped out of his bed and ran towards Monica’s bedroom: she was weeping softly and trembling.

He lit up the bedside lamp and placed a gentle hand on her cheek, "Monica... Wake up, Angel Girl! You’re having a bad dream..." as she didn’t respond to him, he put his other hand on her shoulder and shook her softly, "Monica, wake up, you’re in your bedroom and I’m here with you!"

Suddenly, she opened her eyes and gasped, desperately searching for air, "Andrew?" she spoke, with a puzzled expression on her face.

"It’s ok, it was just a dream, it’s over now, sweetie, you’re safe here! Come, I’ll help you." Andrew helped her to sit down on her bed and took one of her hands, "Try to calm down and breathe."

"It was all dark and... and suffocating... I wanted to scream but I couldn’t..." Monica spoke, after catching her breath again.

The blond angel sat right beside her and held her close to him, "Shh... It was just a bad dream, and it’s over now, so forget it!"

Gratefully, she held him back and rested her head on his chest, "I’m sorry I woke you up, but it was so scaring..."

"Monica, you don’t have to be sorry for that! You shouldn’t even think of it!" he admonished her, his voice always soothing and kind. Monica closed her eyes and focused on the sound of his heartbeats, wishing that her heart could follow the same rhythm of his. And, in fact, some minutes later, the blond angel’s loving presence managed to calm her down, "Feeling better now?"

She nodded her head without opening her eyes, clearing enjoying the movement of his fingers running through her hair, "So I’ll tell you what: you will lie down again and continue to sleep peacefully, like an obedient Angel Girl is supposed to!"

The Irish angel smiled at the mock serious tone in his voice and finally opened her eyes, shooting him a pleading look, "I’ll try but I don’t know if I can... Could... could you stay here, please?"

He kept a serious face, as if pretending to be pondering about her question, "I don’t know... It wasn’t my intention... Only if you promise you won’t snore!"

"I’m not the one who has to make that promise!" Monica replied, giggling, as he settled against her pillow. Then, she snuggled close to him and lay her head on his chest, feeling her eyes heavy with the constant movement of his fingers stroking her hair.

"Sleep now, my angel..." he chuckled at his own words, "Can I call you like that?"

The Irish angel giggled at the new term of endearment, "I love it..."

Andrew placed a tiny kiss on the top of her head, "You’ll only have sweet dreams now, I promise," he whispered, and, a minute later, she fell asleep in his arms.

*

In the morning, the Irish angel stirred in her bed and woke up: Andrew had already left and was probably in the kitchen preparing breakfast. And now, a pair of tiny black eyes was quietly staring at her a few inches from her face.

"Hey wee one, what are you doing up so early, huh?", she greeted, smiling at Joy with a sleepy face. But instead of jumping on her "mom" and covering her face with lots of tiny kisses, the little chubby dog remained still, staring at Monica without even blinking.

Finding all that seriousness rather funny, the Irish angel sat on her bed and gathered the animal in her arms, "You’re such a serious wee baby this morning, sweetheart! What’s the matter with you?", she asked, kissing the top of Joy’s head. Only then, the puppy reached up and kissed the angel’s cheeks repeatedly.

"Oh, that’s my wee baby!", she said, giggling at the animal’s action. And, a second later, Joy snuggled comfortably close to her mom’s neck, resting her head on Monica’s shoulder.

"Oh, honey, you’ve been missing me lately, haven’t you? I’m so sorry I’m not giving you enough attention at the moment! Can you forgive me?"

Joy raised her tiny head and placed some more kisses on Monica’s cheeks.

"Come with me, I’ll prepare you a delicious breakfast!," The Irish angel got out of the bed and headed to the kitchen, with the little dog in her arms.

*

Andrew was finishing to prepare breakfast when Monica entered the kitchen carrying the little animal, "Hey angel girl!" he greeted, walking over to his dearest friend and kissing the top of her head, "Feeling better?"

"Yes, thank you for staying with me!" she gazed at him with her eyes full of love.

"I’ll always be with you!" he replied, gently stroking her cheek, "And there was somebody else worried about you! I found this little one standing by your door when I woke up!"

"Yes, I guess I’ve been an absent mom lately, you know."

"That’s nonsense. I bet she thinks you’re the best!"

Monica kneeled on the floor and placed a bowl full of dog food in front of Joy but, amazingly, the little animal didn’t eat its content. Instead, Joy continued to stare at her mom insistently.

"I think you must be ill, wee one…" Monica finally said, frowning with concern at that strange behaviour.

Andrew kneeled right beside her and patted Joy’s head, "Hey little one, looks like your day has started really well, huh?"

But the dog remained looking at her parents in silence.

"There’s something wrong with her, Andrew." Monica said, and noticing the dog’s strange behaviour, he was also worried,

"Our little one doesn’t want to eat? Wow! That’s disturbing!"

"I’ll take her to the doctor right now!" the Irish angel decided.

"Whoa, hold on, Angel Girl! I guess we can handle this!" Andrew stopped her, "Let’s see if milk can solve that problem!"

He stood up, took the carton of milk which was on the table and poured some in the animal’s bowl. Then, even though half heartedly, Joy started to eat, causing both angels to heave a sigh of relief.

"See? There it is! Our little one’s appetite is back again!"

"Oh, good Heaven, I’m so relieved!"

"With kids you just have to use psychology, my angel!" Andrew had a playful tone in his voice.

Letting go of her previous worry, his dearest friend tilted her head and smiled, "You’re such a good father, you know?"

"Yeah, I know!" he replied, causing her smile even more.

"But I guess you’ve also been conceited lately!"

"I disagree, I’m not conceited; I’m self conscious, that’s quite different!"

Finding his words, as well as his pose, rather funny, Monica bent to the side and placed a tiny kiss on his cheek, "You are conceited, but I love you just the same!" That’s when they heard another voice in the kitchen.

"I guess this time I’m the one who’s late!" Tess said, seeing that all her "babies" were up before her.

"Well, I woke up with our wee one watching over me but I have to confess that I didn’t sleep much this night, Tess. It is the last day of our assignment and I guess we could fulfil it perfectly!" Monica responded, taking Andrew’s proffered hand and standing up from the floor.

"Oh, yes, Monica’s right. Susan is having a calm pregnancy, she and her baby are fine, and Grace is delivered safely at her home!" the blond angel agreed, and it was possible to see a look of cheer satisfaction on both angel’s face.

The supervisor nodded her head, "Yes, that was an easy task, I must admit it. And now I understand why I was told to take care of Joy myself, as it wasn’t necessary to supervise you all the time. But the assignment is not finished yet and you have one more day ahead to keep things all set!"

"Yes, you’re right, Tess… But… as everything turned out fine and we’re almost finishing here… can I have some coffee?" Monica asked, somewhat sheepishly.

The expression on the supervisor’s face turned to a stern one, "In your dreams!", was her reply. Monica was about to protest but Andrew quickly silenced her by squeezing her hand. With pleading eyes, the Irish angel looked at her dearest friend, who smiled and blinked mischievously at her. Immediately she understood what he was trying to say and, now with a pleased expression on her face, Monica silently nodded her head.

"I’ll get ready…" Andrew said, placing a kiss on her hand and leaving the kitchen afterwards.

"Let me help ya, Tess," the Irish angel offered, happy to know that, in probably an hour, she would be sitting at a table of the school canteen together with her dearest friend and savouring her favourite drink.

*

Time seemed to fly away on that day and soon classes came to an end. All the kids left the classrooms and headed to the front gate, some of them to wait for the bus school which would take them home.

That was also Susan’s last day at work. From that moment on, the teacher would take a leave and would only return in a few months. And, on that afternoon, she had to remain a little bit more at school to gather and pack all her material. Monica had offered to help her and both stayed there nearly one hour after the classes had finished. All the other teachers and students had already gone and the people who cleaned the building were about to finish their work.

"I guess it’s all set then!" the Irish angel said, as Susan finished to talk to her husband on her cell phone.

"Yes, Tom is coming to pick me up. Thank you so much for doing this, Monica. You’re such an angel!" the teacher said, with a grateful smile upon her face. And Monica couldn’t help but chuckle at those words, "I guess it would take me a lot more time to do it, considering that I’m not that fast anymore!"

"There’s no need to thank, Susan. I’m glad I could help ya and I hope everything goes fine for you and this wee one."

"Now I’ll just have to wait for Tom. He’s so excited about the baby and, though I’m a bit sad to leave sooner than the usual, I get so happy whenever I see him smiling and making plans for this little one!"

Happiness quickly filled Monica’s soul when she heard the teacher’s words, as well as the look of contentment on her face. That was definitely a happy ending for such a joyous assignment.

*

The children were already set inside the bus, impatiently waiting to go to their homes and finding it strange that Andrew remained on the bus door, with a worried look at the school building. The ‘bus driver’ was already known for his efficiency in delivering the students quickly and safely at their houses, but on that day, the blond angel wasn’t willing to leave so soon, and, as the school inspector approached the gates, Andrew saw in him the opportunity he had been waiting for.

"Mr Davis, please, I need some help here…"

"Hey Andrew, weren’t you supposed to have left by now? It’s been about 40 minutes the bell rang."

"Yeah, I know, but one of the kids is missing. Grace Turner didn’t come to the bus!"

The man frowned, "Hum… I’ve already checked the classrooms. All the classes have finished and the teachers have already left, with the exception of Mrs. Bale and Monica, and I’m about to close the school. But now that you’re saying that I’ll go back inside the building and check that out…"

"No, I’ll do it!" Andrew quickly replied, filled with worry for the little girl. Besides, he hadn’t missed the inspector’s last words: Monica was inside the school as well and it only reinforced his decision to go inside the building, "I guess I already know where to find the girl. Could you please take a look on the kids in the bus, I won’t be long."

"Alright, I’ll be here…" Mr Davis agreed, but the blond angel left so quickly that he didn’t even listen to his words. A sudden and unexpected sensation of panic had crept over him; it wasn’t something he could explain, but he had to find Grace and Monica as soon as possible.

*

The laboratory where the children had their Science classes was located on the basement floor of the school building. By that time, almost 5 o’clock in the afternoon, the people in charge of cleaning the building had already finished their work and were getting ready to leave.

Due to the fact that they were inside the teacher’s room, Monica and Susan didn’t listen to Grace’s callings, coming from the basement floor, as the distance between the stairs that led to the laboratory and their room was a bit long. The girl was knocking on the door and turning the knob with all her strength, but it was locked and she had been forgotten inside, "Help somebody! I’m down here! Anybody!… I’m stuck here!…" she shouted, for the 100^th time, but, again, nobody heard her.

Andrew made his way through the building and, a minute later, the blond angel was in the corridor where the teacher’s room was. Monica and Susan were ready to leave when they heard a light knock on the door and it was opened a second later.

"Andrew?" although Monica was happy to see her dearest friend, she was also surprised that he was still there by that time, as she knew he should be driving the children to their homes.

"Hey, Monica, Mrs Bale…" he greeted, and now the Irish angel could notice the apprehension on his face.

"Why aren’t you in the bus with the children?"

"Because one of them is missing. Grace Turner didn’t show up until now and I’m looking for her!"

Now worry was also filling the two teachers’ hearts, though Monica was twice concerned, as she knew that her dearest friend’s job wasn’t only to take those children home, but also to watch over them, especially over the little girl, as now she was the one who needed him the most.

"We’ll help you to look for her!" Susan volunteered, "I’ll have to wait for Tom anyway."

The 3 left the teacher’s room and walked through the long corridor, "Do you have any idea where she must be, Andrew?"

"I guess so, Monica. She told me she loves doing experiments at the laboratory and that she was still making some final adjustments on her Science project."

"I doubt the projects are still there, I guess they were all taken to the University already..." Susan remembered. Suddenly, as they approached the stairs that led to the basement floor, they heard the girl’s cries for help coming from downstairs.

"It’s her!" Andrew walked faster ahead of Monica and Susan and was the first one to go downstairs. Due to the teacher’s condition, she and Monica slowed down the pace and climbed down the stairs a minute later.

"Thank God!" the Irish angel murmured, watching as Andrew walked along the long corridor over to the huge lab door.

But what seemed to be the end of a well succeeded assignment would turn into a terrifying nightmare. It was 5:14 PM and, at that exact moment, the group could feel the first tremor. The floor was trembling under their feet and soon the big clock hanging on the top of the wall fell. The crash that came from it was followed by the sound of breaking glasses and, suddenly, all the tables, desks and chairs were shaking with intensity. The earthquake hit the city in full force and, in a matter of seconds, entire buildings started to collapse, including that one.

"Oh God!… What’s happening?!" Susan cried, panic evident in the teacher’s eyes, as she placed protective hands over her belly while the walls inside the school started to crack.

"Come with me!" Monica said, quickly taking her by the hand and going back to the stairs to look for the exit. She looked back at the corridor for a second and felt her heart clench with fear, "Andrew… Grace…"

But a piece of concrete fell down inches from her, and the Irish angel knew that she had two lives that depended on her. She and Susan followed back the long corridor but before they could reach the stairs the worst happened: a big part of the ceiling collapsed, blocking the passage.

"Oh God! My baby! Please Monica, we have to get out of here!" Susan cried.

"Isn’t there any other passage?"

"No!... Just this one..."

Desperate, the Irish angel returned through the same corridor and seeing a small room, with a door open and a small table inside of it, she ordered, "Here, we have to stay under the table!"

Their only shelter was a small wooden table above which blocks of concrete started to fall. Teacher and angel held each other and closed their eyes, praying for the earthquake to be over soon.

Andrew’s heart nearly jumped with fear for the lives that were inside the building. With the tremor, the lab door was quickly removed and he managed to enter the laboratory.

"Andrew, what’s happening?!" Grace’s terrified voice echoed inside the large room. He wasted no time in gathering the girl in his arms, "It’s an earthquake, sweetie, we have to get outta here soon!" he said, crossing the entrance of the lab again to return to the corridor and finally reach the stairs. But before he could do so, a huge part of the ceiling fell a few steps ahead of them and blocked their way.

"God… please help us…" he whispered, and, without any other choice, the blond angel had to return to the lab, "We have to look for a shelter, Grace!"

"We can’t get out, Andrew…" the girl cried, completely in panic.

"Right now we have to protect ourselves from the blocks of concrete that are falling, sweetie…"

A huge board, where the experiments were done, became their shelter, and the angel held the frightened child tightly in his arms, constantly and desperately praying for her and Susan, and, wholeheartedly, for his dearest friend.

Chaos and destruction were spread all over the city, which, in less than 1 minute, was hit by the worst earthquake in its history. The school building where the angels had been assigned to had been one of the most seriously hit by the tremors, and now it was practically destroyed.

CHAPTER 4

The earthquake lasted less than 1 minute but it would certainly take months to repair all the destruction it had caused. Entire constructions had collapsed onto the ground and the ones that remained standing had been seriously damaged, including the school building. In some streets, large holes had been opened and chaos was spread all over town.

Minutes after that horrible tragedy, the noise of sirens filled the air, mixing up with the desperate cries of the ones who had survived the catastrophe. The fire-fighters and paramedics started to work fast, though, due to the magnitude of the disaster, it was difficult for them to know where to begin.

Susan was the first to open her eyes and move, instinctively placing her hands on her belly. The last thing she remembered was being under a wooden table holding Monica and praying for their lives. The Irish angel was lying next to her and when the teacher realised that she was unconscious, she became twice scared. They were now in a partially dark place, with some light bulbs still blinking, underneath tons of concrete. But, somehow, the corridor where they were had been partially intact. Although the access to the stairs was blocked, as well as part of the corridor itself, the beams that supported the building were miraculously able to resist to the impact the earthquake had caused and kept the structure still standing.

As the table they had used for a shelter was a bit small for the two of them and Monica could hardly protect herself, Monica did everything she could to save the teacher, practically forgetting about herself, and when Susan moved to her right side she could notice how hurt the angel was, "Monica? Can you hear me?" she asked, frantically.

But the Irish angel didn’t reply to her calling at first. Susan moved and turned to her friend, carefully touching her bruised skin, "Monica, for Heaven’s sake, answer to me!…" her voice was a crying one. Slowly, and rather painfully, the angel finally moved her head and opened her eyes; a huge block of cement had hit the table, breaking a piece of it, and falling above her leg.

"Oh, thank God, you’re conscious!"

"Susan?… Are you ok? Are you hurt?" Monica’s voice was still weak.

"I guess I’m not so hurt, there are just some scratches. You protected me and now you are the one who’s hurt!"

Carefully, Monica placed her hand on her forehead and could feel the blood flowing from a nasty cut, "I’ll be fine…" she tried to move, but her leg was stuck under the concrete, "I can’t move my leg …"

"Let me help you…"

Gathering all her courage, and still trembling with shock, the teacher abandoned their shelter. The wooden table that protected them was nearly destroyed, like everything else around them, and the constant blinking of the light bulbs allowed them to have an idea of the real state of the school.

"Jesus… We’re stuck in here, Monica…"

"At least the children had already left the building when the earthquake started…" the Irish angel replied, and, a second later, a memory made her heart jump, "…Andrew and Grace!…"

*

Not far from where Monica and Susan were, at the laboratory, Andrew opened his eyes and looked around him: destruction was everywhere and a sensation of panic was creeping over him as the worry for the people inside the building. He was also hurt, that was true, but fortunately, the board where the students used to do their experiments served as a shelter for him and for the little girl who was still clutching his t-shirt with her small hands.

"Grace?" he called, and heard a quiet sob in response. Immediately, he pulled away just enough to look at her pale and scared face. She remained voiceless, with tears in her eyes and couldn’t even breathe properly, much more because of the tragedy that had just taken place. She had scratches and bruises in her arms and face and her clothes, as well as his, were covered with dust.

"It’s over now, sweetie... Everything will be alright now, just try to stay calm, ok? It was an earthquake, but the tremors are over..."

"I... I’m so scared..." she sobbed, holding the blond angel, and started to cry again.

"Shh... Everything will be alright now, honey..."

"You promise?"

"I can assure you that God is with us, dear, and He is watching over us all..." he wasn’t just referring to both of them but also to his dearest friend and Susan.

"Can God see us now?" she asked, somewhat hopefully and trying to control her tears.

"Oh, yes, dear, He can." Andrew smiled shortly with the spark of hope in the girl’s voice, "And we must trust that He will take care of us. But there are two other people here in school, Monica and Susan were helping me to find you..."

"I came down here cause I lost one of my books and I thought it was here... But I should have gone home, to finish my homework, as Monica told me... Now I’m stuck here..."

"We will find the way out of here, dear... Now that the tremors have stopped we have to find Monica and Susan and get out of this place. Come, I’ll help you." he placed some strands of her hair behind her ear and, slowly, they moved from under the huge wooden lab table, now partially smashed.

*

The firefighters started the procedures to rescue people stuck under the debris in the neighbourhood and also in the school. As time went by, lots of people who had survived the earthquake started to arrive at the city hospital, taken by the several ambulances sent to different points of the city. The school building had been seriously damaged, but the people who were cleaning it at the moment of the tragedy were in another annex and the firefighters were able to rescue them.

"Sir, do you know have any idea of how many people were in the building? Were the kids inside?" a fireman asked.

"... no... the classes had already finished..." one of the employees said, extremely hurt, and lost consciousness a second later.

"Take the stretcher, let’s take this man t the hospital, quick!"

At that moment, a red Cadillac and a caravan stopped almost together nearby the school and their drivers got out of the vehicles almost at the same time: the same look of perplexity and an immediate feeling of panic and despair crept over them.

"... Oh Father... Please... Please tell me that’s not true!..." Tess prayed.

The man who had got out of the car practically together with her gave a few steps away from the vehicle and couldn’t believe in what his eyes were seeing, "Susan! Susan!" he shouted, immediately trying to make his way to the building.

A firefighter came towards the two newcomers and stopped them from coming closer, "Sir, madam, please, stay away, this is a risky area, you can stay together with those other kids, over there." he pointed to the children who were in the school bus.

"No! You don’t understand, my wife, she’s a teacher in this school, her name is Susan Bale!" the man insisted, causing Tess to stare at him twice scared.

"Well, apparently there weren’t other people inside the building, sir, just the people in charge of cleaning the school, but they are being rescued by now."

"Are you sure there aren’t people in the building?" the angel asked, though fearing the answer.

"Yes, I’m positively sure. One of these people has just told us..."

A middle aged man, with some bruises on his face, came closer to them, "No! You’re making a mistake here! There were people inside the building!"

"What are you saying?!" the firefighter asked, now surprised with that piece of information.

"There was one little girl missing. Andrew, the school bus driver, went inside to look for her."

Those words were enough to make Tess’ heart jump in her throat. But the man hadn’t finished his report.

"And there were also 2 teachers inside the building: Mrs Bale and Monica. It was Mrs Bale’s last day, so Monica was helping her to pack her things."

Hearing that, the fireman turned to his colleagues and shouted, "There are people under the debris! Let’s move on, we have to find them!"

The man who had just arrived ran his fingers through his hair in complete despair, "It’s my wife who is in there! She’s pregnant! She’s 8 months pregnant! Please, please, help her!" he pleaded, as the firefighter tried to back him and Tess off.

"We’ll do everything we can, sir."

Quietly, Tess closed her tearful eyes and offered a silent prayer. She covered her mouth with her hand a minute later, "... my angel babies... Please, I beg You... let them be safe... Take care of them, Father..."

*

In the basement floor, Monica and Susan finally managed to remove the block of concrete that had fallen on the angel’s leg, and, with a lot of effort, she also stood up and went back to the corridor, contemplating the destruction around them, "How are you feeling?" she asked, forgetting about her own injuries and extremely worried about Susan’s condition.

"I’m terrified, Monica! We’re buried in the basement under a three floor building! Look at the stairs: it’s fallen to pieces! What’s gonna be of us now?" she cried, her hands were shaking with fear.

But Monica held them in her own, "The first thing we should do is to remain calm, Susan..."

"How can I possibly be calm, Monica? Look around us!"

"Susan, please, you’re carrying a life inside you!"

The teacher placed her hands over her belly and cried, "My baby... What’s gonna happen to us now?"

"Honestly, I don’t have any idea of what’s going to happen in the next few hour. But I do know that, whatever happens, God is with us and He’ll be watching over His children. And that’s the most important thing to have in mind, always."

Although she was desperate, the teacher sensed the truth in the angel’s words and nodded her head. Monica looked the corridor ahead of them: besides her assignment, there were two other people down there and one of them she loved wholeheartedly.

"Andrew! Can you hear me?!" she shouted, "Please, answer to me!... Andrew!"

The passage was almost completely blocked, but the sound of her voice immediately reached the blond angel’s ears, bringing relief to his worried heart.

"Monica..." he whispered, still holding a crying Grace in his arms, "Thank you, Father..." he turned to the little girl and gently stroked her cheek, "Come with me, sweetie."

They left the lab, but didn’t go very far, as the corridor was blocked by a pile of wreckage which nearly touched the ceiling. He and Grace were in one side of it, and his dearest friend and Susan, in another.

"Monica? Are you ok? Are you hurt?" he cried, his heart still filled with worry.

Hearing her dearest friend’s voice, the Irish angel heaved a sigh of relief, "Susan and I have some scratches..." she avoided telling him about her leg, "What about you and Grace?"

"We are fine, but now all of us need to stay together."

"There’s no way we can remove so many blocks of concrete, Andrew. How could we ever reach you two?"

But the blond angel was already working on it: he climbed the pile of concrete and started to remove the upper blocks carefully.

"I guess I can open a passage here. If you and Susan climb up these blocks, you can come to this side. We have first aid material inside the lab."

"Ok..." Monica replied, secretly yearning to hold her dearest friend. But those moments of relief soon ended: pieces of the ceiling above Monica and Susan started to fall, and the whole structure threatened to collapse at any moment.

"Oh no! No! God, please, don’t do this with us!" the teacher pleaded, despair taking control over her once more.

Although she was also scared, Monica held the teacher and tried to calm her down, "Ease Susan, we’ll get out of here..."

Andrew started to work twice faster, terrified with the impending tragedy. But the pieces were falling down quickly and a big crack appeared on the ceiling, now causing both angel and teacher to be terrified.

"Please, Andrew, be fast or we’ll die here!", the woman pleaded.

CHAPTER 5

Andrew worked as fast as he could, his hands frantically removing the blocks of cement in the upper part of the pile of debris that was blocking the corridor and. Monica and Susan remained holding each other, waiting as he worked, and the Irish angel felt responsible for the teacher’s life and for the baby she was expecting.

"Father please help Andrew..." she prayed, as the cracking of the ceiling grew bigger and more blocks fell, nearly hitting their heads.

"I got it!" he shouted, on the other side, opening a hole on the top of the debris pile.

Immediately, Monica turned to Susan, "I’ll help you!"

"Ok."

Carefully, although quickly, Susan managed to reach the top, always helped by the Irish angel, and grabbed Andrew’s hand on the other side.

"Come with me, I’ll hold you!" he said, and, with some difficulties due to her huge belly, the teacher passed through the opening and reached the other side. Andrew helped her down the pile of debris by placing a supportive arm around her waist, never missing the nervousness coming from her.

"You’re safe," he said, as she was on the floor now.

"Thank you."

"Go to the lab with Grace, while I take Monica," he commanded, immediately climbing on the pile again. With difficulties due to her hurt leg, Monica reached the passage he had opened. And an inch of relief filled the blond angel’s heart when his hand touched hers.

"Andrew..."

"I got you, sweetie!"

The ceiling on Monica’s side started to collapse entirely, but, before the Irish angel was hit by the huge blocks of concrete, Andrew grabbed her other hand and pulled her through the passage at the exact moment the ceiling fell down. Now placing a supportive arm around her waist and not missing the bad cuts on her head and arms, the blond angel helped her to her feet and the two quickly entered the lab.

The two angels held each other for some minutes and they all remained in silence and afraid of doing any single movement that could cause another tragedy, only listening as the blocks of cement fell on the floor.

Only when the noise finally ceased, Andrew pulled away just enough to look at Monica’s eyes, with a mix of sadness for her wounds and happiness for being at her side. He placed some strands of her hair behind her ears, "You’re hurt..." he said, in a low voice, carefully caressing her cheek.

"It’s nothing serious, Andrew," she replied and a weak smile appeared on her face when she saw that, now, the teacher, Grace and her dearest friend were also safe, "And thank God we’re all together again!"

Noticing that she couldn’t step properly, Andrew gently led her to sit on the floor. He and the others knelt right in front of her a second later.

"She protected me all the time when the earthquake started," Susan explained, "It was because of her that I didn’t get hurt. And a block of concrete fell over her leg."

"What?!" the blond angel asked, in shock.

"But I’m not that hurt. Actually, it fell over my foot..." the Irish angel replied, not wanting to make that a big problem. Twice scared, Andrew made her stretch her left leg and raised the hem of her jeans up to her knee: her ankle was swollen and there was some blood on it due to the impact with the block.

"God..." frowning with concern, he sighed heavily: judging by its appearance, it was probably broken.

Monica searched for his hand and squeezed it, "Andrew, it’s not so serious... I’m sure it’ll heal in some days."

Not at all convinced by his words, he shook his head, "You’re hurt, Monica, and need proper treatment," he gently stroked her hair, "And I feel awful for not being able to do anything for you."

"You’ve just saved Susan and me! I’m afraid that way we’ll become spoiled!" she joked, covering his hand with hers.

A bit calmer, Susan placed her hand over her belly, "Monica is right. If it hadn’t been for you, I can’t imagine what would’ve happened. Thank you, Andrew," the teacher said, with a bittersweet smile.

Grace sat down beside the Irish angel and, equally sad, checked on her bruises, "I’m sorry you’re hurt, Monica... but... well, we are in a lab, we could treat her here! There’s a lot of material here we could use to clean bad cuts."

Glad to see that Grace and Susan were finally calming down, Monica smiled and squeezed Andrew’s hand once more, "See? I guess we are in the right place at the right time, don’t you think?"

Although the blond angel was shaken up by the latest events, he tried to smile, "As long as I’m together with you, I’m always in the right place!"

*

Despite Monica’s protests concerning herself, she and Grace were the first ones to receive treatment. There wasn’t a variety of medicines in the place and Monica needed to have her foot and part of her leg immobilised, but at least they could find a bottle of alcohol and some gauze, which allowed them to clean the bad cuts on their skin.

"I wonder what’s happening outside right now... How Tom is..." Susan said, leaning on the wall and constantly caressing her belly.

"Susan, I’m sure he is fine. Remember he was already coming to pick you up? He probably stopped somewhere to wait until the earthquake was over and now he must be outside," Monica spoke, continually trying to keep the teacher’s heart at ease, while Andrew finished to clean the wounds on her forehead.

"What about mom and dad? Dad always arrives later than me, but mom was probably home..." Grace remembered, a great worry in her voice as well as in her eyes.

"And I’m sure nothing bad happened to neither of them, Grace," Andrew spoke, "Your house is a lot smaller than this school and if your mom was inside, it would easier for her to get out. And I’m also sure that your parents and Mrs Bale’s husband are outside, waiting to give you a big hug when we get out of here!"

"Do you really think so?" she asked, with a spark of hope in her eyes that always reminded him of Monica.

The angels exchanged a look and a slight smile appeared on their faces, as Andrew continued to speak, "Sweetie, whatever happens to us or to the ones we love we have to be sure that God is taking a good care of us all."

"And remember that He loves us very much," Monica added.

"I believe you two, you’re really nice. I’m glad you two are here!"

That comment caused the angels’ smiles to grow wider, and even Susan, who, so far, had been listening to their conversation with sadness in her eyes, looked at them gratefully, "Grace is right. Despite of what happened, I’m glad you two are here."

Monica reached out an squeezed the teacher’s hand, "We’ll be with you all the time, Susan, until this is over."

*

Outside, Tom, Susan’s husband, and Tess watched with distress and great anguish as the firefighters rescued the few workers who were in the school building, most of them seriously hurt.

"God... my Susan... what will become of me without my Susan and the baby?!" he desperately said, running his fingers through his dark brown hair.

Although she was equally miserable, the supervisor heard his word and looked at him, "It’s not over yet. If your wife is there, we just have to pray that God takes care of her until the firefighters find her."

"But look at all this... How can a person survive this?"

"I’ve lived long enough to learn that it’s in times like these that miracles happen, although some people prefer to call them ‘luck’."

"Do you really believe that a miracle can happen or... are you just saying that to make me feel better?"

"My faith is strong. And, right now, it’s what keeps me standing." the angel responded, and the certainty and firmness in her voice were such that the man’s heart seemed to beat a little slower. "Besides, there are two people I love very much inside that building too, and I trust that God is watching over them, as well as your wife and that little girl."

Humbly, he nodded his head, "Thank you. I can imagine what you’re feeling. My name is Thomas. Thomas Bale."

"My name is Tess."

"Are these people your relatives?"

"Monica and Andrew are like my children."

"I’m sorry..."

"Would you like to pray with me, Mr Bale?"

"Sure..."

*

Andrew, Monica, Susan and Grace finished to clean the cuts on their faces and arms and, for some time, remained in silence, waiting to hear any sound that could come from outside.

"It’s awfully quiet..." Grace spoke, breaking the silence, "I wonder when the firefighters will start working."

"They must be working already, sweetheart, but on another spot. But I’m sure that, soon we’ll listen to them," Monica spoke, sitting beside Andrew and resting her head on his shoulder.

"We will. Mr Davis knew you and Mrs Bale were inside the school building when I left the bus to look for Grace. He knows we didn’t come out." Andrew spoke, holding Monica close to him and absentmindedly running his fingers through her hair.

The blinking lights inside the lab soon went out but Andrew had found a gas lamp inside the room. Another half hour passed by and, as they watched as the flame inside the glass burned, the 2 angels prayed in silence.

With apprehension still in his eyes, Andrew bent down and placed a kiss on the top of Monica’s head. Although she was trying to hide it, he knew pretty well that she was in pain, as, among the 4 of them, the Irish angel was the most seriously hurt, and that scared him terribly. A light squeeze in his hand took him out of his reverie and made him look down at her.

"I’m sure He’s listening..." she said, and her kind smile was like a warm embrace.

"I know He is," he responded, never stopping to caress her hair.

Susan, who had been extremely quiet so far, also lost in her thoughts, looked at them, "Have you known each other for a long time?"

"Yes, Andrew and I have been friends for many years."

"Do you have relatives? Anyone waiting for you outside?"

"Yes, our friend Tess," the blond angel replied, imagining how worried the supervisor would be at that time.

"She’s like a mother to Andrew and me. We love her very much."

"I hope you can see her again..." suddenly, the teacher stopped talking and closed her eyes. A second later, a small cry of pain escaped her as she placed her hands on her belly.

With their hearts jumping, Monica and Andrew quickly took her hand, "Susan, what is it?"

"It hurts!..." she said, breathing hard, "... it hurts so bad, Monica!"

"Please, try to calm down, Mrs Bale!" Grace, equally scared.

The 2 angels exchanged a worried look, "My God, Andrew..." Monica murmured.

CHAPTER 6

"Susan, please, try to stay calm, breathe!" Monica said, holding the teacher’s hand.

"... I’m gonna lose my baby!"

"No, you’re not! If you hang on in there just a bit longer, I’m sure you’ll be rescued and taken to a hospital!" the Irish angel insisted, extremely scared. Fortunately, there was still a gallon of water completely full inside the lab. Andrew filled a bowl containing fresh water and wetted a piece of cloth, placing it on the teacher’s forehead.

"It’s hot in here. I know it’s not much but the water is cold," he spoke.

Grace found a destroyed desk took its fluffy part out of it, "She could use it as a pillow..."

"Yes, good idea, Grace. Susan, lie down a little," Monica helped the teacher to lay down on the dirty floor, but the pain didn’t stop.

"It hurts so much!" she whispered, scaring the two angels even more.

"She’s having contractions, Andrew!"

"Yes, but she can’t have the baby here... look around us!"

"Oh, Father, please, help us!" the Irish angel closed her eyes and prayed, "Help this mother and this poor little child!"

Susan’s contractions lasted for a few minutes more, but they finally stopped. The teacher had tears in her eyes and on her face, but they were not from pain. The fear she was feeling was the greatest she had ever experienced and the angels and Grace also shared it.

Monica wetted the piece of cloth in the water and replaced it on Susan’s forehead, "You did great, Susan. Just great!"

"... I’m so scared..."

"Don’t be," Andrew intervened, "Cause God is taking care of you right now."

"I don’t understand... Then why did He let that happen?"

"God didn’t let this happen. Earthquakes happen everyday and it’s not the first time this city is hit by one," Monica spoke, "And I’m glad that, this time, we are here with you."

After swallowing hard, Susan sighed somewhat sadly, "Thank you..." her voice was a weak one.

"You don’t have to thank us. The contractions are over and right now the best thing to do is rest a little."

Feeling extremely exhausted, the teacher drank some water and fell into a restless sleep. Although they couldn’t see the difference under tons of debris, night had already fallen down and outside the rescue team worked as fast as they could, trying their best to find the 4 lives buried under the school building.

Tess watched everything with anguish filling her eyes. She knew Monica and Andrew were on assignment and that God was always with them, but that didn’t stop her from worrying deeply about her two beloved friends. With everything in her soul, she prayed for them to be alright and, at the same time, tried to put Tom’s heart at ease by saying words of encouragement and faith to him.

By 10 PM, a couple made their way through the crowd that watched the rescue work. The woman was crying desperately while the man tried to pass through the barrier the firefighters had set. One of them came to stop him, "Sir, you can’t go further than that, it’s a risky area."

"My daughter is there! She’s inside that building!"

"Grace Turner?"

"Yes! We went to the hospital and Mr Davis, the inspector, told us that our little girl is here!"

"We’re looking for her already, sir. We’ll do everything we can to find her."

As the firefighter returned to his work, Tess approached the couple, "Mr and Mrs Turner? My name is Tess, this is Thomas Bale. We too have people who we love inside that building."

"Our Grace is everything we have..." the mother cried. The angel placed a supportive hand above her shoulder.

"We’ve been praying for her and for the others, Mrs Turner. Please, pray with us."

*

Inside the lab, beaten by exhaustion, Susan and Grace ended up falling asleep. Andrew was checking out the room to see if there was any danger of a new collapsing but, so far, he didn’t find any. Monica was sitting on the floor, next to the others and, with her hands conjoined, she had just finished to offer a silent prayer when he kneeled in front of her. The Irish angel opened her eyes and raised her head, a tiny smile already forming on her lips. Andrew was going to return her smile but, at the moment he looked at her face, the blond angel frowned with concern.

"Monica..."

"What is it?..."

He stood up and took the bottle of alcohol and some more gauze to wipe the blood that was again flowing from the cut on her temple, near her eyebrow, "You need to have these wounds treated, honey," he said, hating when she flinched as the gauze touched her skin.

"I will, pretty soon, you’ll see," she answered, "And I’ll even have time to take care of you!"

Her cheerful tone of voice caused a tiny smile to appear on his worried face, "Not that I wouldn’t like it, much on the contrary, I would love it; but I’d rather take care of you instead."

The Irish angel took his hand in both of hers, "You’re already doing it."

He finished to treat her cut and gathered his dearest friend in his arms, kissing the top of her head repeatedly. Monica also held him tightly and both angels remained in this embrace for some minutes.

"I would’ve never imagined that something like this was going to happen," the blond angel said, after some time, always soothing her hair.

"None of us would, Andrew. Please, don’t think that you could have done something to stop it, cause nobody could!" she replied, resting her head on his chest.

"I know... It’s just that I’ve seen things like this happen before and all I could do was wait to take people Home, after much suffering..."

Monica raised her head and looked deep into his sad green eyes, "As an angel of death your gift is to bring peace and comfort to the ones who are in pain, Andrew, and take them to the Father’s presence. But everyday I raise my eyes to the sky and thank Him for allowing you to work with Tess and me, as a caseworker. That is a gift I treasure with all my heart."

Her kind words were like a warm embrace and filled his heart with a sudden sensation of peace. "I’m so eternally grateful for the truth that comes from you, Monica. It’s amazing how it’s always there to bring comfort to my heart whenever I need it," he said, carefully placing the palm of his hand on her cheek.

She covered his hand with hers and, always smiling, continued to talk, "And I believe that’s why you’re here now, as a caseworker and not as an angel of death. God sent you to stay with this little girl and if you hadn’t found her when the earthquake started, I don’t even like to think about what could’ve happened. Not to mention what you did for Susan and me a few hours ago."

Andrew placed some strands of hair behind her ear, "But then, again, what would I do without you, my angel?" he placed a tiny kiss on the tip of her nose and a loving kiss on her cheek, and held her close one more time.

"Then I guess it’s my turn to tell you that you don’t need to worry about that, because I too have no intention to go anywhere away from you and Tess for the next few centuries... and in the ones after these!" she replied, burying her face in his shoulder.

"I would never let you try that anyway!" he joked, causing a small giggle to escape from her.

*

Another hour passed by and the Irish angel ended up falling asleep in Andrew’s arms. He was holding her closer and each and every time he looked at the ones around him, the blond angel felt his heart clench with sadness and a slight sensation of guilty. Despite Monica’s words, if he just had gone after Grace some minutes earlier he would have found her and all of them would’ve left the school building before the earthquake started. He sighed deeply and wished those thoughts would go away when he suddenly heard a tiny voice right beside him.

"Andrew?..." Grace murmured, with a sleepy and confused face.

"Hey Grace, are you feeling ok? Is there something you want?"

"No..." she placed her glasses on and sat up straight, "... just had a dream that I was at home, doing some paperwork on my computer."

"Well, that’s what you’ll be doing very soon, sweetie!"

"You and Monica always make people feel better."

He managed a small smile, "Well, concerning Monica, I can say you’re perfectly right. About me, I just can say thanks."

The little girl looked down at the Irish angel and straightened her glasses, "I have to tell you something... A little secret I’ve just found out..." she said, with seriousness.

"What is it?"

"I guess Monica loves you!" she completed, and it took Andrew a lot of effort not to laugh at the solemn tone on her voice and at that conclusion.

"Do you really think so?" he asked, as serious as her, as if he too was surprised with that statement.

"Yes! Haven’t you noticed the way she looks at you?"

"Well, to be honest, I had a suspicion about this... But now that you’re telling me that, I’m quite sure!"

Giggling, and sure she had solved a mystery, Grace continued to talk, "And do you love her back?"

The blond angel smiled and looked down at the sleeping angel, "Yes, I do. With all my heart."

"So, are you going to ask her for a date?"

Chuckling at the girl’s insistence, he rolled his eyes to figure out how he would explain his relationship with Monica, "Well... We’ll see about it later..."

Suddenly, a low noise interrupted their conversation and both of them nearly stopped breathing: the firefighters were working somewhere above them.

CHAPTER 7

The noise became louder a second later and Andrew and Grace stared at each other with their hearts pounding louder in their chests, "Can you hear it, Grace?"

"The firefighters! They’re digging here!"

Quickly, they woke Monica and Susan up and the four started to cry for help.

"Down here! Anybody can hear us?"

"We’re stuck in here! Please help us!" the angels shouted.

Outside, Tess, together with Susan’s husband and Grace’s parents, watched as the firefighters worked, and the little girl’s mother wiped the tears that rolled down her face continuously, "I can’t understand why she had to be the only child inside that building! All the others were already in the bus... Why did she have to go back? God, is this some kind of punishment?!"

Tess stared at the woman and placed her hand on her shoulder, "Of course it isn’t, Mrs Turner! God would never use a little girl’s suffering as a punishment! And He is not punishing you or anybody here. He’s holding your hand right now and grieving with you."

"It’s so hard to believe it, Tess. So hard when you have someone you love in so much danger."

"I know that, Mrs Turner. But I trust in his infinite wisdom and I know He’ll be merciful to us all."

The woman gave up drying the tears that kept on falling from her eyes, "When the earthquake started I was at the gate, waiting for the bus and finding it strange that it was late... I was worried already... But... if Grace had come back earlier we would probably be down in the basement when the tremors started; there were some things we were selecting to give to the poor..." she shook her head still not believing that all that was happening, "Our house was almost entirely destroyed... We would’ve been stuck in the basement..." she started to cry again, and Tess offered her a hug.

Although she was deeply worried about her 2 charges, the supervisor was also impressed with what the woman had just told her and raised her head up to the sky, "Father, I know you have a plan... I trust in it with all my heart..."

*

Monica and Andrew shouted for about 30 minutes but nobody answered to them, and the noise stopped. Grace sat on the floor with anguished and tired eyes, "I want my mom! I’m so afraid..."

"Shh... come here, sweetie..." Monica pulled her close in a warm embrace and soothed the girl’s hair, "Soon, I mean, very soon you’ll be with your family again, dear."

"What if they never find us?"

"They will find us! We heard them working just now! They’re getting closer to where we are, now it’s just a matter of time!" the Irish angel spoke.

"I do pray this happens soon, Monica..." Susan added, caressing her big belly.

"It will Susan, I’m sure it will!"

Andrew stood by the laboratory door observing as his dearest friend tried to calm Grace and the teacher down, never losing her hope, not even for a second, and bearing bravely all the pain caused by her wounds.

The blond angel sighed with a mix of disappointment and worry, wondering when that situation would be over. Deep inside, he felt a sensation of panic creeping on him and, no matter how hard he tried to put it aside and focus on his assignment, it was constantly returning to his mind.

Monica pulled Grace away and turned to Susan, "How are you feeling?"

"I’m fine, Monica, the contractions stopped."

"Thank God."

"I just feel a bit tired."

"It’s over midnight now," Andrew said, joining them, "We should try to get some sleep. Specially you, Mrs Bale."

Monica nodded her head in agreement, "Yes, Andrew is right. You shouldn’t do any effort at all. Please, lie down and try to rest a little."

"Ok..." the teacher replied.

"How long do you think it’ll take the firefighters to find us?" Grace wanted to know.

Andrew stroked her cheek, "I don’t know, sweetie. But, in this meantime, we should pray to God to protect us and to help them to find us."

"Is that ok if I do it in silence, so that I won’t disturb Mrs Bale?" the girl asked, in a low voice, causing Monica and Andrew to exchange a glance and smile softly.

"Yes, sweetie, I’m sure He’s listening just the same!" the blond angel turned to his dearest friend and stroked her cheek gently and carefully, "And you? How are you feeling?"

"Hopeful, now that we are sure there are people looking for us!"

With a tiny smile, he nodded his head, "Let me see this ankle."

Before she could protest, he had already moved to check on her wounded foot: her ankle and her shin were more swollen than before, her shoe hardly fit her small foot.

"It’s a sprained ankle, I know..." the last thing Monica wanted was to see his worried frown.

"I’m afraid it’s more than that; I guess it’s broken..." he said, avoiding to touch her swollen skin. Hearing that, the look on her face was one of fear.

"Broken?" she asked, as scared as a 7 year old little girl, causing him to regret saying that.

"I’m sorry, Monica, I didn’t mean to scare you..." he quickly sat down beside her and pulled the Irish angel closer to him in a warm embrace, "It’s just that I’m so worried and scared too..."

Monica closed her eyes briefly and let the soothing movement of his fingers gently stroking her hair put her heart at ease, like it had done many times in the past, "We all are, Andrew. Even Tess must be desperate knowing that we are here." She raised her head to look at his face, "But we’ve been through difficult situations before, and the Father never let us down, He was always constantly reminding us of His love."

He sighed deeply and kissed the top of her head, "I know that... But it doesn’t stop me from worrying about you all; and praying that this nightmare finishes soon."

Monica wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him tighter than before, "It will be over soon, Andrew. Be sure it will!"

Then, she placed a loving kiss on his cheek and managed to make him smile for a few seconds, "Even if I were the most faithless of the creatures, I’d be convinced by now!" hearing her giggling, he grabbed her face with both hands and rested his forehead against hers, "You’re right. We’ll go through this together, Angel Girl."

"Don’t we always?"

*

Time went by painfully slowly in that dark night. There were no stars in the sky, as it was all covered with rainy clouds and after the firemen had rescued all the five people in charge of cleaning the school, no more sign of life had been found. To worsen the situation, much of the equipment used in locating victims of earthquakes had been destroyed in one of the buildings they were kept, and even trained dogs, which were so useful in times like these, unfortunately had been killed inside their shelter.

Andrew checked his pocket watch and saw that it was 4:30 AM. Nearly 12 hours had passed after the earthquake had hit the city in full force. Sighing heavily, the blond angel checked on his dearest friend: Monica was sound asleep on the floor, using his leg as a pillow, while Grace and Susan shared the chair cushion the girl had found. He couldn’t imagine 3 more fragile victims to be trapped under a 3 floor building and felt extremely responsible for them.

"Father..." he prayed, his voice nothing more than a whisper, "... please, protect them... Don’t let them be more hurt than they already are."

He nodded his head a few seconds later, "I know you are with us... But please, use me as an instrument to keep them safe."

He bent down and took some strands of hair off Monica’s face and gently stroked her cheek. Although his dearest friend was close together with him, every time he looked at her he would feel a constant and disturbing sensation of panic creeping over him again and again, "I love you, my angel..."

*

When the day started, the clouds in the sky became darker than before and it started raining. Tess, Susan’s husband and Grace’s parents stood by the security limits set by the rescue team all night long and now, together with the other people who had come to watch the firemen work, prayed in silence for the lives of their beloved ones.

But, by 7 o’clock, an event made their hearts clench with fear and panic: a loud noise was heard and, a second later, another part of the school building collapsed.

"Oh God! Please, no!" Tess covered her mouth with her hand, feeling as if all her hopes were being shattered together with the school walls.

"My daughter is in there! You have to find her!" Grace’s father tried to cross the barrier but was soon stopped by one of the firemen, while his wife nearly fainted and hit the floor had not Tess supported her. And Tom, Susan’s husband, sat on the ground with his head in his hand, speechless.

"Everybody back off! The building is collapsing!" one of the firefighters shouted, and his co-workers started to run away from the spot they were digging.

What they didn’t know was that, once more, the subsoil wasn’t affected by that landslide. In the lab, Grace, Susan and the angels were already woken up and drinking the water from the only gallon there was in the room when they heard the noise.

"What is it?" Susan asked, immediately alert.

"Is it another tremor?" Grace was equally scared.

Andrew was the first to calm them down, "It doesn’t sound like a tremor. And we would feel it if it was!"

"It probably must have been the firemen working."

"Yes. It’s morning now and there must be more men working around the building." Monica agreed.

"It’s so distant... It seems to be where the teacher’s room is..." Susan spoke, as she knew each part of the school very well.

"But it’s just a matter of time before they find us now. They’re looking for us there because they know you and Monica are teachers and, well, it would be the first place to start." The blond angel concluded, and they all nodded, as it made perfect sense.

Fortunately, the part of the building which collapsed didn’t affect the lab or the area around it and they couldn’t imagine all the despair their beloved ones were facing at that moment.

All of a sudden, Susan dropped the plastic cup of water and placed her hands on her belly, "Oh my God!" the teacher cried, closing her eyes a second later.

Monica quickly placed her hand on her shoulder, "Susan? What is it?!"

"Another contraction..."

"Please, hold on in there, try to breathe!" Andrew was as scared as Monica and Grace.

And, to worsen the situation, this time the teacher shook her head, "I can’t hold it... Not this time... It’s more powerful than before!"

Grace’s eyes grew wide and the girl said what they were all thinking, "Oh my... She’s gonna have the baby!"

CHAPTER 8

Susan’s cries echoed through the lab and the dark corridor: the contractions were more powerful each minute and realising that they wouldn’t be over anymore, Monica placed a supportive hand over the teacher’s shoulder.

"Please, help me, Monica! I can’t bear this anymore! It hurts too much!"

"You’ll have your little baby, Susan. And we will help you!"

Andrew stared at his dearest friend with haunted eyes, "Monica..."

"She can’t hold it anymore, Andrew. She is having more contractions and now it’s just a matter of time before this baby is born!"

"God! How are we gonna make it here?"

"We are everything she has now, Andrew."

The blond angel felt extremely worried about Susan’s condition and how dangerous it could be to have a baby trapped under tons of debris, and he also knew that the teacher’s pregnancy was a risky one. But they had no other choice, it was an emergency and he was suddenly glad to be there and be able to help that woman.

"Yes, you’re right, Monica. We’ll help this child to be born.

*

Outside, the firemen and the police kept the people who watched the rescue away from the building; all of them with anguished faces.

"I don’t know what will be of me without my Susan!" Tom spoke, never taking his eyes from the pile of debris that had just collapsed.

"And my Grace... yesterday we were playing on the computer... She let me win... and now..." Grace’s father spoke, holding his crying wife. Tess stood by their side, trying with all her strength to keep under control the pain she herself was feeling inside her heart.

"It’s not over yet! We must keep praying! We must ask God to take care of them!"

"You saw the building collapse, Tess! How can I possibly expect..."

"It’s not easy for me either, Mr Bale! There are two people I love in there! But... but if I don’t hold onto my faith, then what’s left for me to hold on to?"

"She’s right..." Grace’s mother miserably spoke, "While there’s still hope, we must keep praying!"

The two men joined them and they continued to pray and ask God for the ones inside the school building.

"Father... please, take care of those poor woman and child... but please, I beg you, take care of Andrew and Monica too..." Tess secretly prayed.

*

Inside the lab, Monica placed Susan into the birth position, while Andrew gathered some first aid material and water. He placed a wet cloth on the teacher’s forehead and frowned with concern at the pain that was evident on her face.

"Breathe, Mrs Bale. And trust Monica, she has done it before."

"The contractions hurt so much!"

"Have in mind they’ll be over soon!" the Irish angel spoke, "Now, Susan, I’ll count to three and I want you to push, ok?"

"The last time I had an ultrasound, the baby was in the wrong position..."

"It was one month ago, Susan. The foetus changes it’s position when the birth date is closer."

"But it’s my 8^th month pregnancy..."

"Susan, we have no other option, this child has to be born right now!"

"I’ll pray for your baby, Mrs Bale!" Grace spoke, also extremely nervous and worried about the teacher’s condition.

"Oh God! What have I done to deserve this?! Why did God let that happen?" the teacher cried, a mix of pain and despair evident on her face. Hearing that, Monica and Andrew looked at each other and the Irish angel nodded her head.

Then, she looked back at the teacher and reached out to take her hand, "Susan..."

Immediately, Susan felt her contractions and the pain diminish.

"What’s happening?" she asked, confused with that sudden change. Then, she looked at Monica and Andrew and what seemed impossible happened: a beautiful glow involved the couple who had been helping her all that time. There were no more injuries on their skin and they had a comforting and reassuring expression on their faces.

"Monica? Andrew?"

"We are angels." Monica announced.

Susan was still confused, "Angels?"

"Yes."

"You’ve come to help us! That’s why you’re here!" Grace exclaimed, with astonishment.

Andrew smiled at the girl’s surprised and hopeful face, "Yes, that’s it, Grace. God sent us to help you, Susan and the baby in this difficult hour."

"But... I don’t understand... If you’re angels, how come you’re both hurt and suffering with pain the same way Grace and I are?"

"We come to earth in this form to help the ones who need. And, in human form, we are exposed to the same risks and dangers another human being is. But don’t let your thoughts confuse you. God’s will is powerful, Susan. And it’s always perfect, as He never makes mistakes." Andrew explained.

"We’re here to accomplish it, to let His will be done here on earth as it is in heaven, because whatever comes out of it, I can assure you, is always beautiful." Monica added.

"But why is this all happening with us? Why me? Isn’t it enough that I’ve already suffered so much? I was starting to believe He really existed when my pain went away, but now..."

Monica squeezed the teacher’s hand, "Susan, believing in God when everything is going well in our lives and when we’re feeling happy and have everything we want is very easy. But believing in Him through difficult times, when the world is falling apart and everybody seems to be turning their back on you... that is a real demonstration of faith."

With some tears in her eyes, Susan nodded her head, finally understanding what the angels were trying to say, "God is always good..." she repeated Monica’s words, the same words the Irish angel had told her a month earlier.

"Yes, He is. He never abandon’s His children and right now, He wants to help you and this little child, but, for that, you need to have faith and trust your lives to Him."

"If... If God sent you two here... Then I can’t deny the evidence He’s been watching over me all this time... I know this birth is not gonna be easy, but, yes, I trust you’ll do your best!"

*

Outside, the firemen returned to work, after being sure there wouldn’t be another collapsing. The man who was coordinating the search stared at the wreckage of the building with frustration on his face, "God... keep their souls with You..." he prayed, secretly feeling his hope vanish at the view of destruction before him.

"You don’t hold much hope, do you?" another fireman asked.

"I’ve seen things like this happen before... Look at all this... How can a person survive this?" the other man nodded.

"Yes, it’s difficult. But I believe you’ve seen miracles happen too..."

"Yes, I have. And that’s why I continue to do this job."

*

The dirty basement floor was filled with Susan’s cries. Two hours had passed since she had started to feel the contractions and, so far, her suffering and struggle to give birth hadn’t produced any result.

"Please, Susan, you have to push harder!" Monica insisted, she and Andrew back to their human forms. The Irish angel was trying to ignore her own pain in order to help the poor woman and the baby, as she knew that Susan’s pain was even greater than hers.

"I’m trying, Monica!" the teacher replied, catching her breath. The conditions of the place didn’t help either: it was hot and stuffy; besides, there was dirt and dust spread all around them. Andrew wiped Susan’s forehead once more, fearing that he would have to take her and the baby Home if anything went wrong.

"Father, please, help us..." he secretly prayed.

"Another contraction!..." the woman cried.

"I’ll count to three and you have to push harder, ok?" Seeing her nod, Monica continued to talk, "One... two... three!"

Using all her strength, Susan pushed harder than before and, a second later, a smile appeared on Monica’s face, "It’s coming! It’s coming, Susan! Your baby is on the way!"

"Oh God... please, help me..." she said, with tears rolling down her face, and trembling body.

Grace watched her teacher’s suffering with her small hands conjoined.

"Please, please, help Mrs Bale and the baby..." she prayed, in a low voice. Andrew voice interrupted her prayers.

"Grace, bring more water, please!"

She obeyed his command immediately and, while Susan recovered from her last effort, Monica continued to speak words of encouragement, "Keep on, Susan, you’re doing great! I need you to push once more!"

"OK..."

One more cry of pain filled the air a second later and the angels and Grace thought that she would pass out. But, all of a sudden, another cry echoed inside the destroyed room and, with a broad smile upon her face, Monica held a small baby in her arms, "You’ve done it, Susan! Your baby is here!" she exclaimed, with tears of joy in her eyes, "And it’s a beautiful little girl! It’s a beautiful little baby girl!"

Her happiness was shared by Andrew, Grace and Susan, despite the exhaustion she was feeling.

"Oh, thank you God..." the teacher murmured, while Monica cut the baby’s umbilical cord.

CHAPTER 9

Monica cut the link that had kept mother and daughter together for 8 months and, before Grace’s and Andrew’s marvelled eyes, the Irish angel took the baby close to Susan. The little one was still dirty with blood, but the mother’s need to see her and touch her was more urgent than anything else. Monica placed the baby close to Susan’s face and, with tears of both happiness and pain, the teacher reached out and caressed the little girl’s cheek. She was premature, it was true, but just a bit smaller than a regular 9 month baby.

"Hi sweetie... You’re so beautiful!" she said, her voice tired and hoarse with emotion, "Mommy is so proud of you... And so happy because you’re here!" She turned her face to the angels, "Thank you so much..."

"Don’t thank us, Susan."

"Oh, yes, I have to thank you two, Andrew... I don’t know what would’ve been of me without you. But I have to thank God too. And ask for His forgiveness... I doubted of His wisdom, of His power... I was so blind... And just look at the present He gave me."

Monica and Andrew exchanged a look of contentment.

"Don’t you want to hold her a little?" the Irish angel offered. Weakly, Susan stretched her arms and held her daughter for the first time, placing the baby against her chest, closer to her face. The little one was warm and never stopped crying, which indicated that, despite the difficult and unexpected birth, she was probably as normal as another new born baby.

"You’re a little early, honey... Were you curious to know what’s like outside, huh?" the teacher spoke, gently stroking the girl’s brown hair, "She looks like her father... Tom will be so happy when he sees her!"

"And I’m sure it’ll be soon, Mrs Bale," Andrew said, now as hopeful as his dearest friend. For some moments, the little baby brought a breath of fresh air to the ones stuck inside the laboratory, and now, with their souls renewed, getting away from that place didn’t seem an impossible dream anymore.

But their worries were away just for a few seconds. Feeling extremely tired, Susan closed her eyes and sighed, "Monica, could you please take her? I... I want to stay with her but... I’m feeling so weak..."

Scared again, Monica and Andrew looked at each other and the Irish angel was quick to take the baby back in her arms, "Susan?! Oh my God, she’s getting worse, Andrew!"

"Give me the baby, I’ll clean her up, you take care of Susan, Monica. Try to keep her awake."

Monica handed him the little girl and he took her to what had once been the lab table, "Grace, I’ll need your help here with this little one!"

"Oh, sure, I’ll take care of her!" the girl said, immediately feeling responsible for the little child, like an elder sister.

Monica replaced the wet cloth on Susan’s forehead and held her hand, "Please, Susan, you have to resist now, just a wee bit longer! Your daughter needs you!"

"I’m so weak, Monica... Don’t know how long I can hold on..."

"Please, try to stay conscious!" Monica became even more nervous when she noticed the great amount of blood the teacher had lost during the birth, "Oh Father, please, help us again..." she prayed.

Monica and Andrew were trying their best to take care of Susan and the baby, but there wasn’t much they could do under such conditions. The lab was practically destroyed and a thick layer of dust and dirt covered the floor. Besides, the first aid material and the water were coming to an end. They needed to be rescued as soon as possible, otherwise there wouldn’t be much chance of survival, especially concerning the teacher and her daughter.

Andrew, with Grace’s help, finished to clean the baby and looked around him, "I need something to cover her..."

For a minute, Monica let go of Susan’s hand and, limping, walked over to a broken chair, where she had hung her light pink cardigan, "We can use this..."

While Andrew held the little child, Monica gently wrapped the outfit around her, "It’s a bit hot, but she still feels cold, you know..."

Feeling all the sadness and distress that were coming from his dearest friend’s heart, Andrew placed the baby in Monica’s arms, "But I guess she’ll feel a lot better if you hold her, Angel Girl!"

And, in fact, some seconds later, the girl stopped crying, causing the 2 angels to smile and look at each other, "See? This little one has been here for only half hour and she already likes you!"

Monica shot him a grateful and loving smile and carried the baby to stay close to her mother. Susan was partially awake and her face was pale with weakness and exhaustion.

"Here she is again, Susan. Your wee one is awake and wants to stay close you her mom forever!"

The teacher reached out and took the baby’s tiny hand, "She’s the most beautiful little creature I’ve even seen in my entire life... I never thought I’d say such thing in a place like this..."

"That’s how God can turn something horrible at first into something wonderful..." Andrew replied.

"She’s a miracle, isn’t she?" that question caused Monica to smile.

"Oh yes, she is, Susan. Every child is a miracle, a special gift from God," she turned her eyes to the baby and stroked her cheeks, "And this wee one is the most wonderful way He found to tell you that He’s with you, always."

"I know that..."

"Have you chosen the name already?" Grace asked, still marvelled at all the latest events and at the little creature in Monica’s arms. Susan shook her head at that question, "Tom and I didn’t know if it would be a boy or a girl and we had decided to wait until the baby was born so that we could decide together."

"I keep imagining how surprised he will be when you two are rescued!" the blond angel spoke.

"Yes... he’ll be very, very happy..." the teacher’s voice started to become lower and weaker and she suddenly closed hr eyes.

"Susan? Susan, please, you have to stay conscious!" Monica pleaded, with anguished voice.

"I... I’m trying... it’s difficult..." she replied.

*

Outside, the rain stopped but there was still the danger of collapsing. The firemen worked carefully, all of them doubting whether they would find anybody alive under tons of cement and wreckage. But they kept on looking for the 4 people, trying not to think about the worst.

With anguished faces, Grace’s parents, Susan’s husband and Tess watched everything, now from a more distant place. The group had spent the last hours praying for a miracle, unaware of the one that had just occurred some feet under the soil.

"My little girl... I wanted so much to hold her tight right now..." Grace’s mother spoke, in between tears.

"Be sure that this is what God wants too, Mrs Turner..." Tess placed a supportive hand over her shoulder.

"I appreciate your kind words, Tess... but... honestly, I think it’s so difficult to believe something good can come out of all this..." Tom, Susan’s husband, said, with distress. The angel stood before the 3 desperate people with a very serious expression on her face, "You don’t know that, Mr Bale. Nobody knows what’s going to happen from now on... But I have the highest authority to assure you that God has never been so present in your lives as He is at this very moment..."

They looked at her and, with shocked faces, saw a beautiful glowing around her. "Tess... What... what’s happening to you?"

"I’m an angel, Mr Turner. Sent by God. The same Almighty God that has been grieving with you since this tragedy began."

"Then why did He let that happen?!"

"Mr Bale, this is the force of the nature and that things like these happen everyday. But don’t you think that God just stands merely watching them. His power and wisdom become evident in another way when those events take place." After a short pause, she continued to speak, "And right now, He chose to show His power by sending His 3 angels to Earth to help a future mother and her baby, a little girl and 2 families..."

"Tess... you mean that... that your friends inside that building..."

"Monica and Andrew are angels too, Mrs Turner. And their assignment is to keep Susan and Grace, as well as the baby, safe. And I trust that they’ll accomplish the Father’s will beautifully."

With tears of emotion in their eyes, they bowed their heads gratefully and prayed.

And, secretly, the oldest angel also offered a prayer for Monica and Andrew. The thought of having her two dearest friends trapped inside the school building was still scaring her, even knowing that they were angels and were fulfilling their assignments.

Besides, deep down inside of her heart, Tess felt an inch of pain, an eerie sensation of panic she couldn’t explain and she didn’t know where it was coming from, "Father... I know you have a special plan in Your mind and I’ve witnessed your wisdom before, but... Please take care of them all... and of Monica and Andrew..." she tried to blink back some tears, "Suddenly I feel like holding that Angel Girl again... Please, make that possible..."

*

Monica tried everything she could to keep Susan awake, but it was getting more difficult every second. The teacher needed proper treatment urgently, as well as her small child. Knowing that soon their condition would be twice worse, Andrew walked over to the lab door and checked their surroundings, "What is it, Andrew?" Monica asked, feeling nervous just to watch him move away from her a few steps.

"I’m trying to listen if there is any sound coming from outside... Hello? Anybody can hear me?! We need help here! Please, help us!!"

He shouted out loud for several minutes, but there wasn’t any reply. He shook his head with disappointment, "...They seem to be working far from us!"

Suddenly, their hearts nearly jumped and their faces were immediately pale: another tremor was hitting the city. They felt the floor under their feet trembling and the noise of collapsing walls echoed through the remains of the school building.

Quickly, the firemen abandoned their positions once more, while people on the street cried and ran away from the other buildings and houses which surrounded the area.

Down on the basement floor, the lab ceiling started to collapse, together with the walls, close to its entrance. Monica held the crying baby close to her chest and watched horrified as a piece of ceiling hit her dearest friend. "Andrew!!!" her anguished cry echoed inside the room together with Grace’s and Susan’s, all of them believing that would be their end.

"Stay where you are!" the blond angel replied, trying to protect himself with his own hands. A huge closet bent to the side and, seconds later, fell onto the floor with its doors wide open, blocking Andrew’s passage.

Susan closed her eyes and prayed, "Oh God I’m so scared... please, spare my daughter’s life..."

The tremor wasn’t as intense as the first one and lasted about 10 seconds Yet, it managed to bring even more chaos to a place which was already devastated.

"God... if there was a chance for those poor souls... now it’s completely over..." the chief of the firemen whispered.

Down on the basement floor, part of the lab had collapsed, leaving the angels, Susan, the baby and Grace stuck in a small corner, all of them dirty with the dust that filled the air, with the exception of the baby, who the Irish angel had carefully covered and protected.

"Andrew?! Andrew?! Where are you?! Answer to me, please!!!" Monica cried desperately, as she couldn’t see much through the cloud of dust and the light of the gas lamp didn’t help.

"Stay calm, Monica, I’m here!" he quickly responded, and, now that the new earthquake had stopped, he walked over to where they were.

"Oh my God, you’re hurt, Andrew!" the Irish angel spoke, terrified to see the new cuts and injuries on his body.

"Just some bruises, nothing serious. Is any of you hurt?" he asked, gently placing his hand over Monica’s head.

"Susan? Grace?" the Irish angel looked at them with a questioning face.

"No," the girl managed to say, with trembling voice, and took off her glasses to wipe her tears away.

"I’m fine... how is my daughter?" Susan asked, struggling to keep conscious. Monica looked down at the baby and stroked her cheeks: the little girl never stopped crying, but, thanks to the angel’s protection, she wasn’t hurt.

"She’s fine, Susan. Just a little scared..."

Hearing that, the teacher closed her eyes and sighed, "Thank God... and thank you, Monica. Please... take care of her..."

Saying that, Susan passed out, causing the angels to be desperate.

"Susan? Susan? Please, you have to be conscious!" Monica cried; tears rolling down on both her and Grace’s face.

"Mrs Bale? Please, wake up!" the girl pleaded.

"Mrs Bale! You have to be conscious! Can you hear me?" Andrew placed his finger on her wrist and after on her neck.

"She... she isn’t..."

"No, Monica, she’s alive, but her pulse is weak, we need to get her out of here immediately!"

CHAPTER 10

If there was a feeble spark of hope to see their beloved ones again, it had been completely shattered by the second earthquake. To Grace’s parents and Susan’s husband, seeing another part of the school building collapse was like a blow in their stomach and now they couldn’t even speak – their crying was all that could be heard in the place where they were standing.

And sadly, the angel who was supposed to bring them comfort and reassurance walked away from the group and rushed to her Cadillac. Tears were rolling down her face when she opened the car door and took the driver’s seat. Little Joy had been lying on the passenger’s seat so far; the animal hardly acknowledged Tess’ presence, merely raising her head as if, somehow, the small dog could feel the sadness in the air.

Shamefully, the supervisor covered her face with both hands and cried, "Father... if there’s still a chance... please, show me, cause I... I just can’t hold it anymore..."

*

Andrew and Monica cried for help until their voices were hoarse. But, again, there wasn’t any reply.

"I just can’t understand that! They should be looking for us, why can’t they listen to our calling?!" she exclaimed, despair consuming both of them.

"They must be digging far from us..." the blond angel replied.

"And what are we going to do? Father, please, show us a way!" Monica pleaded, crying helplessly. Now that the dust had settled down, it was possible to see what had become of the laboratory. Grace straightened her glasses and looked around her. It was then that something inside the destroyed piece of furniture called her attention. Carefully, but quickly, she stood up and walked over to where it was.

"Grace, what are you doing?! Come back here!" Andrew called. But she was already pulling the closet door to open it completely and, some seconds later, she managed to do so. Inside, there was the strange machine she had constructed some weeks earlier, for her Science project.

"Look what I found!" she exclaimed, showing them the weird looking gadget, "I didn’t know it was here! I thought Mrs Bale had already sent it to the university !"

"What is it?"

"It’s a sort of a transmitter. It emits sound waves that can be heard miles away.

"And can you make it work?" the blond angel asked.

"Of course I can; look, when I gave it to Mrs Bale I left the batteries inside it..." she turned on the strange machine, but, much to the angels despair, they couldn’t hear a sound.

"I don’t understand... It must be broken..."

"No, Andrew. It’s not broken..." Monica spoke, as she already knew how the little device worked.

"Yes, Monica is right; it’s not broken. It’s working just fine, the sound waves are in the maximum volume. It’s just that they’re emitted in a different frequency, not audible to the human ear."

The sudden hope that Andrew had faded away with the girl’s explanation and both angels exchanged a disappointed and frustrated look, being careful not to let her notice it.

With tears still in the corner of her eyes, Monica looked down at the weeping little baby in her arms and stroked her pink cheeks, "I know, sweetheart, I know you want to get out... But we have to be a little patient, you know... Don’t cry..." she whispered, kissing the baby’s forehead and doing an extra effort not to burst into tears. Andrew could feel the great sadness coming from her heart and felt his own heart clench with sorrow. There was nothing he could do to help her or the others; there was nothing he could do to cease their pain. He sighed deeply and frowned: how would they be able to get out now?

Trying not to think about those issues, the blond angel wrapped his arms around Monica’s shoulder and brought her close to him in a tight embrace, kissing her temple afterwards. Gratefully, she rested her forehead against his and Grace joined their embrace, and the 3 continued to pray for help.

*

Outside, Tess cried for about 10 minutes against the car wheel. But, all of a sudden, the supervisor heard a silent message coming straight to her heart. She wiped away her tears and nodded her head, "Yes, Father. I know my place is together with those 2 families and that I have to comfort their hearts; I know... I just hope you don’t forget to comfort this old angel’s heart as well..."

Only then, she noticed that little Joy was walking around in circles on the passenger’s seat, moaning and nearly frantic, as if there was deeply something bothering her.

"I know you’re missing your mom an dad, baby, but... They’re busy now. But I trust you’ll see them later..." Tess spoke, stroking the puppy’s soft black fur. The angel opened the car door and got out but, before she could close it, little Joy quickly jumped out of the vehicle and started a nearly desperate rush towards the ruins of the school building.

Tess couldn’t grab her in time and started to run after the small animal, "Joy come back here! It’s dangerous out there! Come back here now!" she shouted, but Joy never replied to her callings. Grace’s parents and Susan’s husband watched as the little dog crossed the barrier set by the firemen and headed to the area which they had given up digging on the day before.

"Joy, come back here!" Tess called once more, as she couldn’t cross the yellow banner that isolated the risky area. But again, Joy didn’t obey to her command. Instead, she stopped running and started to sniff around. Seconds later, she seemed to find the spot she was looking for and, with her tiny pawns, started to dig the debris on the ground.

"This can only be a horrible nightmare!" Tess exclaimed, watching the dog’s unexpected and strange behaviour. But all of a sudden, the supervisor’s eyes grew wide and her heart nearly stopped: only then, did she realise what Joy was trying to do, "Oh Father... Now I understand... I understand your message..." she whispered, and then shouted at the firemen, who were working on a place far from there, "I need help here! Now!!!"

In some minutes, the rescue team was gathered around a talkative dark skinned lady and not really believing in what she was saying. "Madam, in that place there was a laboratory and some corridors and, according to the school inspector, there wasn’t anybody there; the probability to find them..."

"Oh don’t you tell me about probabilities! Take a look at that dog and tell me why she’s digging in that place like crazy!"

The chief of the firemen sighed deeply: although he didn’t believe they would find the victims alive, he knew that a dog would be very useful in a search and rescue mission like that one and during all this time was sorry not to have dogs to help them.

"Bring half of the men, let’s dig here!"

*

"I just hope they don’t take too long to listen, cause the batteries will be over soon!" Grace spoke, never letting go of their embrace. Looking down at the baby in Monica’s arms, Andrew stroked her hair, in the most absolute silence, and placed a kiss on his dearest friend’s forehead. She raised her eyes and met his sad gaze.

"It’s not over yet, Andrew."

"It’s getting pretty hard to believe it..."

"If the Father sent us here, then we have to believe." She replied. Andrew nodded his head and gently caressed her cheek.

"Well, I can clearly see why He sent you to work with me..."

A tiny smile was about to appear on the angel’s lips when they heard a noise coming from above them.

"The firemen?! They are looking for us! They heard the signal!!!" Grace exclaimed. They shouted for help as loud as they could and, this time, the rescue team heard their voices coming from under tons of concrete.

"My God... That’s unbelievable..." the chief of the firemen murmured, a perplex expression on his face, and then the man shouted, "We found them!!! They are alive!!!"

Tess, who was holding little Joy in her arms, Mr Bale and Mr and Mrs Turner nearly fainted when they heard the news, and Grace’s mother fell on her knees, "Oh God, thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Is it true, Tess? They’re alive?!" Tom spoke, his voice hoarse with emotion.

"Yes, baby, that’s true! That’s true! The Father didn’t let us down! I knew it!" she replied, equally happy.

*

In nearly an hour, the rescue team managed to dig a narrow hole, finally breaking the lab ceiling and found the victims of the earthquake. That action caused some small pieces of the ceiling and of the walls to fall and Andrew was quick to protect Susan and Grace against them, while Monica held the baby tightly against her chest.

"You’re four people, right?" a fireman shouted, barely seeing them.

"We’re five!" Andrew replied, "Please, get us outta here, Mrs Bale needs help!"

"Five people?" the man was confused for an instant, "I thought they were four..."

Quickly, the lowered a set of cables through the hole, appropriate to rescue victims of landslides.

"Ok, 2 of you get attached to the cables and we’ll pull you up! Be as fast as you can! This is a very risky area!" he shouted. The weight of the many men working right above them, as well as the opening of the ceiling was causing the whole structure to fall into pieces and now the risk of a new collapse was great.

"Oh Father, thank you so much!" Monica spoke, as Andrew took the cables.

"C’mon, we have to do it quickly!"

The Irish angel nodded her head, "Grace, you go first. Come here..." she placed the little baby in the girl’s arms, "... take this wee one with you."

Feeling extremely responsible for that tiny creature, and decided to do anything she could to help, she nodded her head enthusiastically, "I’ll take care of her, Monica, I promise!"

Monica quickly stroked the girl’s hair with a grateful smile, "Thank you so much, sweetheart."

Andrew attached them to the cables and shouted, "You can pull it up now!"

The firemen took them out of the hole and finally Grace and the baby could see the day light. Before the men’s perplexed eyes, she showed them the little creature that had been born under the most inhospitable conditions, a miracle that nobody believed could happen in that place.

"Jesus Christ..." the chief of the rescue team whispered.

"She was born down there, earlier than we expected..." Grace told, "Where is Mr Bale? He has to see her!"

A second later, Grace’s parents, Tom and Tess broke through the barrier and Mr and Mrs Turner could finally hold their daughter again, "Oh, thank God, you’re alive!"

"We love you so much, dear!"

"I love you too..." she replied, with a happy smile, and then looked at Mr Bale, who seemed to be motionless with the image before his eyes.

"It’s your daughter, Mr Bale. She’s a little early!" she handed him the little baby and finally tears rolled down the man’s face.

"It’s a girl... My little daughter..." he spoke, his voice hoarse with emotion, which was also evident on the other people’s faces. "What about my wife?"

"Mrs Bale isn’t conscious, the firefighters need to take her out as fast as possible!"

"Call the paramedics! Take them away from here!" the chief of the rescue team shouted, and soon both girls were inside an ambulance, receiving the first aids.

The cables were lowered once again and Andrew held them, "Go, Monica, and take Mrs Bale with you."

But the Irish angel shook her head, "No, you go with her, Andrew."

"Monica..."

"Mrs Bale is taller and heavier than me, I won’t be able to hold her straight so that we can go through this narrow passage. You can do it."

He knew her words were true and made perfect sense: the hole the firemen had opened was narrow and it was necessary to stand up straight to pass through it. Mrs Bale was unconscious and somebody had to hold her in the process and it had to be him.

"Please, Andrew, go with her! I’ll be right behind you!"

Still unsure and frowning with concern, he took the teacher in his arms, "Monica..."

"Go Andrew, I’ll be fine!"

He attached the cables to himself and to Mrs Bale but, before they were raised, the blond angel looked at Monica and stroked her hair, "I’ll be waiting for you outside, my angel."

"I’ll be with you in a minute, Andrew." He placed a kiss on her cheek and shouted at the firemen. A minute later, he and Mrs Bale were out of the hole and Tom nearly panicked when he saw her.

"Oh God..."

"Take her and the baby to the hospital, now!!!" the chief of the firemen ordered, and the woman was quickly placed in a stretcher and then, inside an ambulance, together with her baby, and the vehicle left the place on the following minute. Grace, Andrew and Monica would also be taken to the hospital, but in another ambulance, which was parked nearby.

Partially relieved to see her "angel boy", Tess walked over to Andrew and gave him a tight hug, "Oh, Father, thank you so much! Angel boy, I was so afraid for you and Monica!"

"I’m fine Tess..."

"How can you say that? Look at you! You’re hurt!"

"Just a few scratches, Monica is more hurt than me, she broke her ankle..." he informed, causing the supervisor to frown with concern, "Please, take my friend out of that place!"

His request wasn’t even necessary, as the firemen were already lowering the cables to take away the last victim of the earthquake. But, contrary to what they thought, their nightmare hadn’t come to an end: down in the remains of the school laboratory, Monica didn’t even have time to attach the cables to herself. All of a sudden, the ceiling and walls, which were already falling into small pieces, collapsed all at the same time, not giving her the chance to be pulled out of the hole.

CHAPTER 11

The collapsing of the lab walls and ceiling caused another tremor to be felt on the surface but this time it wasn’t the force of the nature that was acting. The weigh of the men who were working on the area, together with the fragile structure of the room produced that. And it wouldn’t have been such a big deal except for one detail: Monica was stuck down there. When the tremor took place and they realised what had happened, Andrew’s and Tess’ hearts practically stooped beating. At that very moment, they saw everything as in slow motion, never really listening to the firemen’s cries to move everybody away from the area. The rescue team was in shock with the other tragedy that had just taken place.

But their despair wasn’t as great as the two angels’: Tess covered her mouth with her hand and fell on her knees; tears again rolling down on her face.

Completely in shock, Andrew walked over to the hole which had been opened on the soil, "Monica! Monica! Please, answer to me! Monica!" he cried, frantically. There wasn’t a reply for his anguished callings though, but the rescue team was already working to take the Irish angel from that place. Andrew continued to call his dearest friend’s name over and over again, practically trying to dig another hole on the ground with his hands. Two firemen were necessary to take him out of the place and they didn’t have much success because, although he was hurt, the blond angel didn’t want to stay away.

"Monica! Please! Somebody take her out of that place!"

"We’re working on it, sir," one of them said, "But please, stay away."

To rescue the little angel, the firemen did more effort that they had done in all the 24 hours that had passed. Monica was practically buried with debris, only free from her chest up. But she had also been hit on the head by a block of cement and was bleeding unconscious. It was possible to see her from above with the help of a flashlight and an operation to pull her up was quickly prepared.

Andrew and Tess watched everything with anguished faces and with tears in their eyes: how could something so bad happen now, when they thought the nightmare had come to an end? Grace was taken to the hospital in another ambulance, despite the girl’s protest to remain on the place.

One hour later, the rescue team was ready to take Monica out of the hole and, all the tension of the moment was shared by the angels and firemen. The chief of the rescue team was lowered, with 2 cables attached to him, until where she was, and attached 2 cables around her chest, under her arms. Then, at his command, they were both pulled through the narrow passage out of the hole.

Tess and Andrew ran to be at her side and the image of their dearest friend so badly hurt caused their hearts to clench with sorrow. There was blood on Monica’s face, her clothes were covered with a mix of sand and dust and her feet was even more swollen. But the damages caused by the accident were much serious internally: she probably had broken some ribs and the risk of an internal bleeding was great.

"Monica... please, answer to me... Monica?..." Andrew miserably pleaded, his voice hoarse with emotion.

"Angel Girl? Please, talk to us... give us a sign you can hear us..." Tess cried desperately. The Irish angel was quickly placed in a stretcher and the paramedics put a mask for oxygen on her face and checked her heartbeats.

"Her pulse is weak and she’s in shock, we have to take her outta here right now!" one of them said, and they took her to another ambulance. Andrew went together with her, refusing to leave Monica’s side and Tess followed the vehicle in her own car, controlling herself to drive properly.

*

The magnitude of the earthquake could be observed from 2 different points of view. First, with the destruction and chaos along the streets; and secondly, with the thousands of victims that arrived at the biggest hospital in the city. Most of them were seriously hurt, as they had been hit by the tragedy in full force and hadn’t been able to escape. Some, unfortunately, had passed away in the way to the hospital and others in the ICUs.

Another ambulance stopped in front of the large building, which, fortunately and miraculously, hadn’t been completely destroyed by the earthquake. The paramedics took Monica in a stretcher through the long corridors until the ICU.

Despite his own injuries, Andrew followed them all through the way, holding her hand and talking to his dearest friend, despite her being completely unconscious. "You’ll get over soon, sweetheart, don’t be afraid! Tess and I will stay here with you all the time, you won’t be alone. Remember that we love you, Angel Girl... you’re our angel and I won’t let you go away from me and Tess!... I love you so much..."

When they crossed 2 large gates one of the nurses stopped him. "We’ll take care of her from now on."

"Oh, no! Please, let me stay with her, she’s so frightened!" he pleaded, as Monica was taken to a surgery room, not bearing the thought of another separation.

But the nurse placed a supportive arm on his shoulder. "I know you want to stay with her but, right now, you won’t be of much help. Let the doctors heal her body. Then, when they have finished, I’m sure you’ll be the one to complete their work, healing her soul."

Andrew’s heart was aching with maybe the greatest pain he had ever felt. His eyes sought the stretcher with his dearest friend until it disappeared in the corner of the ICU corridor, and, miserably, the blond angel nodded his head, "I know... please, take care of her, she’s so precious to me..."

Despite the dramatic situation, the woman smiled, noticing the great love he had inside his heart, "I can see that. Be sure we’ll do everything we can. But, right now, you too need to receive the first aids, come with me."

And the nurse was right: Andrew was also seriously hurt and needed to be treated as soon as possible. Walking along the corridors, he saw hundreds of people just like him, those ones had escaped from the earthquake with minor injuries and would certainly survive. But the blond angel also saw, in the same corridors, other angels like him: angels of death, in charge of taking the ones whose suffering was so intense they couldn’t bear anymore.

Tess arrived some minutes later and left little Joy inside the red Cadillac. The animal was weeping lowly, miserably lying on the passenger’s seat, and it was far too clear that she could understand that something very serious was going on.

*

In another part of the hospital, Tom, Susan’s husband, stood still, hands in his pockets, observing the baby who had just arrived at the children’s ICU. His daughter was inside an incubator and there was a doctor checking the machine. Through the window glass panel, he saw when the woman left the room and came towards him, in the corridor.

"How is she, doctor?"

"She’ll have to stay in the ICU, as she’s premature and was born under so bad conditions. But the good news is that, despite this, she’s also a healthy baby and she will survive, Mr Bale. Scientifically speaking, your daughter has a very strong organism. But, personally speaking, I consider this a miracle."

A slight smile formed on Tom’s lips and he nodded his head, totally agreeing with the woman, "Thank you, doctor!" he replied, his voice hoarse with emotion, as he was experiencing 2 different feelings: the joy to see his first and so much waited child and the sadness of having his wife in critical condition.

A minute later, Grace and her parents came closer to the man and saw the little baby girl through the glass window, "She’s very pretty, Mr Bale," the girl said, sympathetically, as she had witnessed Susan’s suffering to give birth and could understand his suffering, "I had never held a baby before, she was the first one. I even helped Andrew to take care of her when she was born!"

Tom looked down at her and ruffled her hair, "I have to thank you so much, sweetie. You helped those two to bring my daughter to this world and you found a way to call the firemen’s attention to where you were."

Grace just lowered her head a bit embarrassed and it was her mother who spoke then, "How is Mrs Bale?"

"She’s in critical condition. The doctors are doing everything they can but... it’s not gonna be easy."

"We’ll pray for her, Mr Bale. After everything that has happened, we can’t deny the evidence that God is watching over us." Grace’s father spoke.

"Thank you very much, Mr Turner."

"And you should also pray for the other teacher, Monica." The woman said.

"Monica?" Tom was surprised to hear that.

"You don’t know yet... She’s in critical condition too. There was a landslide before they took her out of the hole and she was practically buried."

"Oh my God!" the man exclaimed.

*

Andrew had already received the first aids when Tess found him, "How are you, angel boy?"

"I’m fine Tess..."

"And where is Monica?"

"The paramedics took her to the ICU but they didn’t let me stay with her."

"Did they say anything?"

"No. She’s unconscious and she’s very hurt too, Tess..." all the sadness and fear he was feeling were evident in his eyes, "I’m so scared..."

"I’m scared too, baby, but let’s wait until the doctors examine her and wait to hear what they say."

They returned to the ICU corridor and remained sitting on a nearby bench, silently praying for Monica’s recovery. They had done it before, in a past difficult assignment, but now it was different: Monica had never been so seriously injured and they had never been so frightened.

*

Three hours had passed and now Andrew was walking from one side to another, running his hand through his hair once in a while. Tess nervously rubbed her hands on her lap and had an anguished expression on her face. The blond angel was the first on to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Why is it taking so long, Tess?"

"I don’t know... but you’re right, she’s been there for hours!"

They had hardly said that when one of the doctors who were assisting Monica crossed the ICU gates with a heavy expression on his face.

"I believe you two are together with that young lady who was stuck in the landslide, Monica is her name..."

"Yes! How is she, doctor?"

"Is she awake already? Can we see her?" Tess and Andrew respectively asked, a desperate look in their eyes. But the man’s sad face was enough to tell them that bad news were about to come.

"Are you two her relatives? I need to speak with her family."

"We are her family, sir, you can talk to us!" Andrew spoke, despair consuming his heart. The man sighed deeply, as if taking courage to continue.

"She’s in a coma..."

"What?!" the blond angel and the supervisor felt like caught up in a terrible nightmare, not believing in what they were listening.

"Please, doctor, tell us this isn’t true..."

"Unfortunately it is true, madam. Monica got a bad concussion in her head and has several injuries in her body. Her right leg is broken in 2 different places. And she also broke her right arm and 4 ribs; he had to control an internal bleeding just now..."

Tears started to form in the angels’ eyes as the doctor spoke and, when he finally finished, they started to roll on Tess’ cheeks. Andrew, for himself, was struggling to keep his, as he seemed not to fully understand the implications of what the man had just described.

"And how long will it take until she wakes up?"

The doctor lowered his head, "I’m sorry to tell you that... I don’t even know how to put this but..."

"But what? Please doctor, when are we going to talk to her again?!" the blond angel shouted, not managing to control himself any longer.

"I don’t know if she’ll wake up again... We, my colleagues and I, we worked on her until now. We don’t know if she’ll get out of the coma... I’m so sorry."

Tess’ crying was even more intense and she had to sit on the bench not to fall on her knees. Andrew bit his lower lip and looked around him, his head seemed to be spinning with what he had just heard. The blond angel was completely lost, without knowing what to do, say or think. Suddenly, he left the place and started to walk fast along the hospital corridors, passing by the other patients and doctors with a mix of sorrow, despair and fear on his bruised face.

"Andrew! Where are you going? Please, wait!" Tess called, with her voice hoarse due to the tears, but nothing seemed to stop him. Without any other choice, the supervisor left the ICU and ran after him.

CHAPTER 12

[b]Obs. This chapter contains some references to some of my previous stories. And now you can find all of them on my blogger, on the following link:[/b]

http://deysetbaafanfic.blogspot.com

(see prologue scene)

On that dead end corridor inside the hospital, for some strange reason, Andrew’s angry words didn’t sound so terrible to Tess’ ears. With tears that never stopped from falling from her eyes, the old supervisor gave one step forward and held his hand.

"I don’t think the Father will ask you to do anything other than staying here with our Angel Girl... He wouldn’t do this to you or to me..."

"He’d better not, Tess. Because I won’t obey to His will if He does!"

"Come with me, we have to go back to the ICU..."

Sighing deeply, she guided him through the corridors back to the ICU and spoke to the doctor who was taking care of their beloved friend.

"Please, can we see her, doctor? We can’t stay away from her anymore..."

The man was a bit hesitant to let them in, "Well, only the family is allowed to stay with the patient... But... if you two are everything she has, then... it’s ok."

"Thank you sir!" Tess replied. The man looked at a miserable Andrew.

"But you should also take care of yourself too, son. You’re badly hurt too."

"I will, doctor. But I need to see her before anything else." The blond angel spoke. He and Tess crossed the 2 huge doors that separated the ICU from the rest of the hospital and followed a long corridor. Then, they stopped at the room 309. The man opened the door and allowed them to enter.

Monica was lying lifeless on the bed, surrounded by machines and monitors. She was breathing hard, with the help of the equipment and a tube was inserted in her mouth. Her right leg and arm were in plaster and, besides the bruises on her skin, the Irish angel had a big bandage on her temple.

Feeling deeply afraid of touching her and hurting her even more than she already was, Andrew rubbed his fingers on the palm of her free hand, while Tess placed her hand on Monica’s hair. Words seemed to vanish from some minutes, as all they could do was cry.

Managing to control himself, the blond angel stroked her hair; his touch was so light that, even if she were awake, she wouldn’t feel it, "Hang on in there, sweetie. Please... Tess and I will be right here with you and all you have to do is fight a bit more, ok? Do it for us, honey... Do it for me... I won’t forgive me if you... if you go away..."

"Monica knows we’re here, angel boy. She’s fighting to stay here as well, you know how much she loves us. And... she knows it wasn’t your fault, Andrew."

They remained in the bedroom in complete silence for about 30 minutes. Suddenly, Andrew raised his head, taking his eyes from Monica for the first time, and looked at the supervisor.

"Tess I have to leave just for an hour. I... I need to take a shower and change these dirty clothes and... there’s something else I have to do..."

"Of course baby, go. I’ll stay with our Angel Girl." She handed him the keys of her Cadillac, "Here, take the car and please, take little Joy home. She’s been inside the car for hours... Now I know why she had to stay with me all the time..."

Andrew looked away from her; a bitter look could be seen in his sad green eyes, "Yes... she was useful... but not to everybody, I’m afraid."

He grabbed the keys and left the room afterwards.

*

In less then an hour later, the blond angel came back to the hospital. His appearance was much better now that he had cleaned himself and changed his filthy clothes and the bandages on his forehead. But the expression on his face remained the same: sad and miserable, and now dark circles were more visible in his eyes, either from exhaustion or from crying.

He was crossing the corridors carrying a small bag when he heard a girl’s voice coming from behind him, "Andrew!"

"Hey Grace... How are you feeling?"

"I’m ok. And you?" the girl saw the bandages and the cuts on his face.

"I’ll be fine, just some scratches, that’s all."

"I know about Monica. I know she’s in the ICU."

"Yes... she’s... very hurt..." he replied, forcing back the tears that threatened to fall from his sad eyes.

Noticing his great sorrow, and also feeling that herself, the girl held his hand, "I’ll pray for her, Andrew. You and Monica taught me about having faith and to always trust in God and now I now that miracles exist, cause we asked for help and it came when we most needed."

Hearing that, the blond angel merely nodded his head and stared at the ground, as she continued to speak.

"So I’ll pray to God to make Monica heal, like I’m praying for Mrs Bale and her baby. God is taking care of them now."

Andrew sighed deeply, unable to reply to her words. Instead, he simply ruffled her hair, "Thank you, Grace. I have to go now and stay with Monica. You go home and rest. Take care of yourself, ok?"

He returned to Monica’s room and found Tess standing next to her, at the edge of the bed, with her hands conjoined and praying. The bedroom was in shadows as, by that time, night was starting to fall, together with a light rain. Andrew’s steps broke the disturbing silence and interrupted the supervisor’s prayers.

"Angel boy..."

"How... how is she, Tess?"

"Still the same since you’ve left. The nurse came here to change the IV tube and the doctor checked on her a few minutes ago."

Coming close to the bed, he brushed away a strand of hair from her face and gently stroked her hair, "What did he say?"

"The same he told us a few hours ago. She’s in coma and now we have to wait to see how her organism reacts..."

Andrew leaned over and never stopped the soft movement of his fingers through her hair, "Hey sweetie... I’m here again. And Tess and I know that you just need some time to rest. I know things were hard for you down there, but we also know all this is just temporary, until you feel better..." he remained in silence for a couple of minutes. Then, he turned away from her and took the small bag he was carrying and reached inside.

"I know that the idea of staying here, locked inside a hospital bedroom doesn’t sound good, especially to you, who are always so active and lively. So I brought some small things to make this place be more like a home to you..."

The first thing he took out of the package was a photo frame. In it, there was a picture of Monica, Tess, Andrew and little Joy. He was tickling the Irish angel and both had a broad smile upon their faces, while Tess was holding an excited little puppy dog and frowning with disapproval.

"Here, look. I brought your favourite picture. Remember that day on the beach? It was the last day of our vacations. The first vacations we 3 spent together. Remember how much you laughed? And Tess got mad because we messed up the picture! Look at her face!"

The supervisor chuckled, in a bittersweet way and without saying a word. Andrew placed the frame on the table beside the bed and reached for another object: it was a small heart shaped musical box.

"I would never forget to bring your portable ‘I love you’! When I first saw it and when I heard the tune I knew it had been made for you, Angel Girl. You were the light that guided me out of the darkness on that occasion and even in a thousand years I won’t be able to compensate what you did for me. You were so brave, even being so ill, you faced the evil and your fears to save me..."

Fresh tears appeared in his green eyes and his voice became hoarse with emotion for some instants, "... I’m so ashamed I couldn’t do the same for you now... Please, forgive me..."

He winded the key of the musical box and "You light up my life" started to play. Placing the box next to the photo frame, he took one more thing from inside the bag: it was a card, with a smiling little Angel Girl, with auburn hair and brown eyes and wearing a lilac dress on the cover. Both Andrew’s and Tess’ handwritings were in it and there was a big "Happy caseworker anniversary" written on it.

"This is the most recent one. We did have a lot of fun in that campsite, didn’t we? And celebrating your anniversary there, on the last day, was also great. I have to confess that hiding our little surprise party from you wasn’t easy! But when I saw your face once you arrived there and found the cake and the card... I guess I’ve never felt so happy!"

He put the card together with the box and the frame and once again started to stroke her hair, "Unfortunately I couldn’t bring another precious gift you’ve received because, well, you know how playful our little Joy can be and, like her mom, she can’t stand still in the same place for more than a couple of minutes! She would make things a little bit exciting here and, though our baby is a very polite little lady, I guess people here aren’t prepared for her yet! She’s at home now, but she told me to give you a kiss and that she’s missing you very much!"

He bent down and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. While he spoke, tears fell from Tess’ eyes, now so naturally that she didn’t even bother to wipe them anymore.

"And you will be there soon, honey, I’m sure you will," Andrew continued to speak, "And when you’re fully recovered, I’ll take you to that beach we went some time ago, remember? The one you dreamed about once. We can make another picnic, like the one we made then. And with a lot of coffee for you, I bet Tess won’t mind this time, will you, Tess?"

Smiling with bitterness, the supervisor held Monica’s hand and also caressed her hair, "Andrew is right, I won’t, baby..."

The blond angel turned his eyes to his dearest friend one more time, "And we can also go to the movies. I know how much you love watching cartoons. I’ll buy you popcorn and a lot more mocha latte, and we’ll have a great time, I’m sure. And, on the other days, we could do a lot of different things, such as playing pin ball, bowling or football, lying on the beach or in a forest and watch the stars... And of course, we can dance of joy until you get tired. So that on the following day we can start all over again. We just have to wait a little bit more, ok?"

Andrew had hardly said that when he and Tess felt another presence inside the bedroom: with a sad miserable expression on his face, Adam stood by the door in his white suit, staring at them.

CHAPTER 13

Adam had a sad expression on his face and when he saw Monica lying on the bad, so badly hurt, and the sorrow on Andrew’s and Tess’ face, the angel of death felt his own eyes being filled with tears. Andrew stopped caressing Monica’s hair and walked over to the edge of the bed, standing in front of it somewhat protectively.

"What are you doing here, Adam?" he spoke, with a hint of anger in the tone of his voice.

"I... I was told to come to this hospital... I took some victims of the earthquake Home and..."

"So you’re in the wrong bedroom! There’s nobody for you to take Home here! Monica is hurt but she’s recovering, she just needs to rest!"

"Andrew... I came here to see how Monica is... But... but I have my orders, I should wait here..."

"I don’t care what your orders are, Adam! You’re not taking Monica away from here! You’re not taking her away from us! From me!"

Rather shocked with his friend’s angry words, Adam looked at Tess, who had remained in the most absolute silence, almost indifferent to his presence, "Tess?"

"We should put flowers here too, Andrew. She loves flowers and this room is very sad..." the supervisor spoke, with tears incessantly rolling down her cheeks.

Adam sighed deeply sad and concerned: both Tess and Andrew seemed to be in shock with the accident that threatened to take Monica’s life away. And he too felt his heart clench with sorrow at the idea of taking the little Irish angel Home and, consequently, away from her two beloved friends.

Feeling terribly sorry for the 2 other angels, Adam placed his hand on Andrew’s shoulder, knowing that he couldn’t even fathom out the great sorrow that filled his heart at that very moment, as he knew how special Monica was for him, "I’ll pray for her, Andrew."

The blond angel, however, didn’t reply to those words. Instead, he returned in silence to the chair beside his friend’s bed and continued to stroke her hair like before.

Adam turned away and was almost leaving when he heard Tess’ voice, "Adam..."

"Yes?"

"Thank you for praying..."

"I won’t stop, I promise."

*

Nearly 3 hours later, a nurse came to the ICU to change the IV tube in Monica’s arm. For the first time since he had arrived there, Andrew stood up and turned his face away, as he couldn’t bear seeing his beloved friend feeling the smallest inch of pain. Noticing that the woman was also checking on the other machines, he grabbed his coat, "Tess, I’ll buy her some flowers; I’ll be back soon. You stay with her in case she wakes up."

"Ok, angel boy."

It took Andrew about half an hour to find a flower shop and buy some lilacs, Monica’s favourite flowers. He felt like buying the entire shop and deliver all the flowers at her bedroom but he had to reign himself with 2 bouquets and a vase. The blond angel returned to the hospital and went straight to the ICU. But when he arrived at the corridor where Monica’s bedroom was he felt his stomach tighten with what he saw: Tess was standing by the bedroom door, crying helplessly in Adam’s arms. The blond angel let the flowers fall on the floor and, with his heart pounding loudly in his chest, he came close to the 2 angels.

"Tess?... Tess, what..."

"She’s getting worse, Andrew..." Adam spoke, as all the supervisor could do was cry.

"What?! But she was fine when I left! It can’t be true, I’ll go in there, they must be doing something wrong!"

Adam let go of Tess’ embrace and stopped Andrew from entering the bedroom, "You can’t go in there, Andrew! There are 3 doctors taking care of her now!"

"Well, so I’ll stay there to see if they’re doing the right thing!"

"They are doing everything they can to save her!"

"So how come she’s got worse?!"

"She wasn’t fine when you left!"

Andrew got rid of Adam’s hands and stared at him with anger burning in his eyes, "You know something, Adam? You don’t care! You don’t care about what’s gonna happen to Monica! You’re only here to do your job and the sooner you do it, the better!"

"I came here to pray with you because Monica is also my friend! And I didn’t come here to ‘do my job’; I came to accomplish the Father’s will, to bring her peace and comfort if her human body can’t resist!"

"Well, then the Father’s will is wrong! Monica’s place is here with Tess and me!"

"... angel boy..."

Tess’ hoarse voice interrupted that serious argument and both angels of death turned their heads to face her.

Andrew was the first one to speak. "Tell him that, Tess! Monica is ours, he can’t take her away from us!"

"... Andrew... Monica is suffering... she’s in a lot of pain right now. It’s so strong that I can feel it and I’m sure you can too..."

"I know that, but she’ll be strong, she’ll resist those wounds..."

"I know this is painful and difficult but... but if she cannot resist anymore... if her pain is so strong that it stops her from fighting, then we have to accept the peace and comfort Adam is offering..."

"I can’t believe you’re saying that, Tess!"

"You’re an angel of death too, Andrew. You know your presence alleviate suffering." Adam said.

Tess gave some steps towards the blond angel, "And Andrew... Differently from what we feel and think... She’s not mine; she’s not yours. She’s God’s. And wanting her to stay here, even knowing how much she’s in a lot of pain, is not fair..."

"You’re both wrong!" the blond angel shouted. At that moment, one of the doctors came out of the bedroom.

"How is she, doctor?" Adam asked.

The man sighed deeply, "I’ll be honest with you: her condition is very serious. We almost lost her a few minutes ago, but fortunately we could bring her back. We’re trying everything we can to stabilise her."

"Can... Can we see her? Can we stay with her?" Tess wanted to know.

"No, not now. We’re still working on her."

Still very angry, Andrew stared at his angelic friends and walked away from them.

*

Andrew walked fast along the corridors of the hospital with tear filled eyes and a mix of anger and despair on his face. But, without knowing what to do or where to go, he got out of the building and sat on the steps at the front entrance. Holding his head in his hands, he stared at the ground for some minutes, feeling completely lost. Then, the blond angel raised his head up to the cloudy sky and some tears made their way down on his face.

"... why are You doing this? Why are You taking her away from us? From me?" he whispered, his voice hoarse with emotion.

"Excuse me?"

Andrew turned his head and saw a man standing beside him.

"Are you Andrew?"

"Yes..."

"My name is Thomas Bale, I’m Susan’s husband."

"Oh... Mr Bale..." He shook hands with Tom and the man soon noticed the great sadness in his eyes.

"Mind if I sit here?"

"No..." he replied, turning his eyes to the ground, "How... how are Mrs Bale and the baby?"

A slight smile appeared on Tom’s lips, "The baby is fine, thank God. She’s in the ICU but the doctor explained that it was a precaution, a normal procedure cause she’s premature. But she’s also a healthy baby and will survive."

"I’m glad to hear it. What about Mrs Bale?"

The tiny smile the man had on his face faded away with that question, "Susan... is in critical condition... she’s lost a great amount of blood and is too weak. Right now she can’t even speak."

"I’m sorry. I guess I know how you must be feeling..." the angel spoke, an inch of disgust in his voice.

Tom nodded his head, "I heard about Monica. I know she’s not doing very well right now."

"No, she isn’t..."

"When I knew Susan was stuck in that school building, I was desperate. I didn’t know what to do and deep inside, I wanted to blame even God for what had happened. But then, He sent this wonderful lady to stay with me and Grace’s parents. Tess stood by our side all the time and her words keep me standing right now." Tom stopped speaking when he realised something, "Wait a minute... Tess told me you and Monica were her friends... you’re angels too?"

Andrew nodded his head, as if there wasn’t anything special about that status anymore.

"So... how come you’re hurt and Monica is...?"

"We’re in human form, Thomas. Every time we come to earth we have to remain in human form and due to this, we’re exposed to all sorts of dangers any human would be..." Andrew clenched his jaw, trying to keep his emotions under control, "And now she and Susan are in the same situation."

"Yes, but I know I’m not alone. God is with us and I’m looking for some comfort in my prayers..."

Andrew stared at the man slightly surprised with his resignation, "Aren’t you afraid for her?"

"I know she’s in great pain, Andrew. Maybe greater than mine. And right now, the only thing I can do is pray to God not only to keep her alive but also to take her pain away, to make her suffering stop. Of course I want her to stay by my side for the rest of my life so that we can raise our daughter together. But... I’d be a selfish creature if I said that I want her alive just because of me, even knowing she would be in endless pain..."

Those words hit Andrew like a punch in his stomach, and fresh tears soon filled his sad eyes. Slowly, the blond angel nodded his head, as Tom concluded, "I love her too much to ask God such thing. And Tess told me He is suffering together with me. So, all I ask for in my prayers is that His will is done, because I know it’s always right."

The man placed his hand on Andrew’s shoulder, "But you know that better than me. And I want to thank you, Andrew. If it hadn’t been for you and Monica, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation..." he stood up and spoke once more, "Monica will be in my prayers too."

As Thomas left, Andrew lowered his head and stared at the ground once more. Then, he cried helplessly, as he had never done before.

*

When the doctors finally finished to work on Monica, Tess and Adam were allowed to enter the ICU room. There were more machines surrounding the Irish angel and the only noise that echoed in the place was the beep of the equipment that monitored her heart beats. Tess sat on the chair by her dear charge and took her hand, "Hey baby, we’re back. And we’ll stay here with you, I promise."

Adam stroked Monica’s hair, sure that he had never felt so sad, "You’re the bravest little angel I’ve ever met, sweetie. I’m so proud to be your friend." The angel of death placed a kiss on her forehead, "The Father is with you, Monica. He’s right here watching over His angel." Then, he turned to Tess, "I have to go. Unfortunately the earthquake left many other victims..."

"I’ll take care of her, Adam."

"Take care of Andrew too, he’s in great sadness." He placed his hand on her shoulder, "And take care of yourself, Tess. I’ll be praying for you all."

When Adam left the bedroom, the supervisor turned her full attention back to Monica, "I’m here, Angel Girl. I’m always by your side, you know that." She started to stroke the Irish angel’s hair, "You’re the closest thing to a daughter I know... Matter of fact, I love you just as if you were my daughter, my Angel Girl. And I’m deeply scared to lose my baby... But I can’t bear to see you suffering either..."

Sobbing, the supervisor wiped the tears that insisted on falling from her eyes, "I just want you to know that I love you, baby. And don’t worry about replying, cause I know you love me too. You’ve already told me that a thousand times, either with words or with gestures. And the Father knows that Himself. I thank Him each and every single day for sending His little angel into my existence. So, whatever happens, I know it was the best for you."

Tess put some strands of Monica’s hair behind her ears and away from her face. Then, she straightened the pillow and the sheets on her bed and the hospital garment the Irish angel was wearing. "Now rest. You need to recover your energies, Angel Girl. I’ll be here with you."

*

Hours later, the bedroom door slowly opened and Andrew entered the room. Tess raised her head, interrupting her prayers, and looked at him, "I’m glad you’re back, angel boy."

Without saying a word, he walked over to the supervisor and held her tightly for a long minute.

"You were right, Tess... you always are." Andrew spoke, when they finally pulled away.

"She’s fighting, Andrew. For us. For you."

He nodded his head, "Can I stay with her for some minutes?"

"Yes. I’ll get ourselves something to eat."

As soon as the oldest angel left the room, Andrew sat down on the chair by the bed and held Monica’s free hand. He started to stroke her hair with his other hand and brushed a loving kiss on her forehead.

"Hey sweetie... My angel... I thought that you would like to know that the little baby you helped to come to this world is gonna live, and it’s thanks to you. Though I’m not surprised, as you’re always doing wonderful things to those who cross your way..." the slight smile that formed on his face soon faded away, "I know you’re tired and that you’re in pain. I wish I could change places with you, but I can’t. I’ve learned that, right now, all I can do is pray for you... Pray that God takes care of you, no matter how. And... if that means you have to go away from here, then I just have to accept it. I’ll suffer, of course, and I guess my heart will be broken with so much sorrow... To be honest... I’ve never felt so much pain in my whole existence, Monica."

The blond angel forced back the tears that were already filling his green eyes and continued to speak, "But I know that if you go, it’ll be the Father who you’ll meet and it’ll be in His arms that you’ll remain. And there, all the pain and suffering you’re feeling now will disappear and your spirit will be filled only with peace and joy. When I think about this... Knowing that you’ll be much better than you are here is enough to make me feel better too. I could say that I’d be happy, but... being happy and away from you are two things I’ll never be able to conciliate."

After a long minute contemplating her face, he finally started to cry, "If one day I made you feel sad, in any way, please, forgive me. You know that even angels aren’t perfect and that I would never ever mean to cause you pain, because I love you. Since the first day we’ve met... When I first saw you, I knew immediately that, behind that jealous angel’s pout, which I found quite funny and adorable, there was a kind and compassionate heart and I could feel the great joy and peace you transmit to the ones who are near you."

Andrew leaned over and kissed Monica’s forehead and her cheeks, "So... if you have to go, I’ll understand. And I’ll spend the next days or years or centuries to come praying to the Father and asking Him for a new chance to make you smile and dance of joy, to put your heart at ease and to take you to beautiful places, or to simply hold you again and tell you how much I love you. Now and always."

CHAPTER 14

Thomas Bale was in the nursery, next to the incubator and, wearing plastic gloves, he played with his daughter’s tiny hand. Two days had passed by since they first arrived at the hospital and, so far, Mrs Bale’s condition had remained the same. The baby, though, was growing stronger every minute, and even the doctors were surprised by how a premature could have been born under such conditions and be so healthy. And at that time of the day, she was awake and stared at her daddy with big brown eyes.

"It looks like you and I have a lot in common, right, little one?" he said, in a low voice, observing the great similarities between him and the baby. And, all of a sudden, in a totally unexpected gesture, she smiled at him, for the first time. Tom felt a mix of joy and anguish inside his heart, "You’re smiling, honey! You’re smiling at your daddy! Oh God, how I wish Susan were here to see that!"

At that moment, one of the nurses entered the room and walked over to him, "Mr Bale?"

"Yes?" he didn’t even look at her.

"It’s your wife..."

Hearing that, he turned his eyes to the woman and his smile faded away, "What is it?"

Seeing all the apprehension on his face, she smiled, "Mrs Bale is awake."

Minutes later, Tom was standing by Susan’s bed, holding her hand into his and kissing her lips, "You have no idea of all the happiness I felt in less than 5 minutes!"

"Why? Where were you?" she asked, still with a weak voice, but with a tiny smile on her pale face.

"Well, when I heard you were awake I thought I wasn’t awake and that it was all part of a dream. And I was in the nursery ICU, with our baby. She smiled at me for the first time, Susan!"

The smile on the teacher’s face grew wider, "She already recognises her ‘daddy’..."

"Yes, but soon she’ll be here in your arms, grinning at her mom!"

"She’s beautiful, isn’t she?"

"Oh yes! She’s the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen!"

"I agree, she looks just like you!"

"But she’ll have her mom’s heart!"

They kissed once more and a doctor entered the bedroom, "Well, it looks like you’re doing as fine as your little baby, Mrs Bale!" she said, holding some papers, "I have here the results of your last exams and they show you’re doing fine on your recovery!"

"I’m trying the best I can, doctor. For me and, especially, for the ones I love..."

"Yes, I can see that. But you’re still weak and will have to stay here for some more time. Though I can say the worst is gone and the tendency is that you get better soon."

Tom could hardly contain the happiness inside his heart, and carefully held his wife, "Oh God... I guess I cannot put into words how thankful I am right now!"

It was then that Susan remembered something else, "Tom, what about Monica, Andrew and Grace? How are they?"

*

Three days more had passed by and, if Susan’s and the baby’s conditions were improving each and every minute, Monica’s one hadn’t changed. Andrew and Tess stood by her side all the time, watching over her day and night, and, once in a while, Adam showed up to see how she was. Every time he did so, the other angels’ hearts clenched, fearing he was there to take their beloved friend away.

Tess had left the bedroom for just a few minutes, to have lunch, and Andrew stood by the bed, always caressing Monica’s hair and holding her hand, "Tess will be right back, sweetie. We wish we didn’t have to eat or drink but we’re in human form and these things are necessary. When she gets back I’ll go and buy some more flowers for you, ok? The ones I bought have faded already. But I promise I’ll stop to eat something too, don’t worry. Do you know who’s much better? Susan. The doctors said that soon she and that little one you helped to come to this world will leave the hospital. I knew you’d be happy to know that. And I went to our temporary home last night to take a look on our baby. Joy told me that she misses her mom very much and sent you this..." he bent his head and brushed a tender kiss on her cheek. At that moment, Tess opened the door and entered the room. The blond angel stood up and kissed Monica’s forehead, "I’ll go by now, but I’ll be back soon, ok?"

He left the bedroom and Tess took his place on the chair by the bed.

*

There was a small chapel inside the hospital building and, before he went to the flower shop, Andrew stopped there for some minutes. Sitting on the front pew, he stared at the altar with his hands conjoined.

"... I guess I haven’t asked for Your forgiveness, Father... Not directly, I mean. I know I was wrong, angry and selfish... As a matter of fact, I was blind to see that you are suffering as much as Tess and me, because Monica is Your daughter too... I’m terribly sorry, Father. And please, take care of her. I know that whatever You have in Your mind, it’ll be the best for her..."

He prayed for some more minutes and then left.

*

As usual, Tess arranged the blanket and the pillow on Monica’s bed and took some strands of her hair off her face. She was going to sit down on the chair again when, all of a sudden, the supervisor’s heart nearly stopped beating: Monica grabbed Tess’ hand and slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the oldest angel’s shocked face.

"Oh Father! Angel Girl! You’re awake! You’re awake!!!" she shouted, without knowing what to do. Monica couldn’t speak because of the tube inserted in her mouth and along her throat, but the look in her brown eyes spoke for her: she was confused and looked around her with a questioning face.

"Calm down, Angel Girl! Calm down!" the supervisor repeated, more to herself than to her dear charge, "I’ll... I’ll call the doctors! I’ll call everyone in this hospital" she hit the button on the wall beside the bed and, in a minute, a nurse entered the bedroom.

"She’s awake! Monica is awake!" that was all Tess could say. And seeing the Irish angel’s questioning brown eyes wide open, the nurse herself was perplexed.

"Oh God! I’ll call the doctors!"

Some minutes later, 2 doctors and a nurse were inside the bedroom, checking every single machine connected to Monica’s body.

"It’s amazing! She’s out of the coma!" one of them said, as surprised as the others. Then, they removed the tube inserted in Monica’s mouth and after she coughed, a nurse gave her some water.

"Monica? How are you feeling?" the woman asked.

Monica looked at her dear supervisor, "...Tess?..."

"I’m here, baby! It’s ok! You’ll be alright! Everything will be just fine!" she said, taking the Irish angel’s hand.

"... what happened?"

"There was an accident when the firemen were taking you out f the hole and we had to bring you to the hospital," she explained. One of the doctors checked her eyes, "You’ve been here for a week, young lady," he said, still amazed.

"...Susan, the baby and Grace?" her eyes were soon filled with tears, "Andrew? Where is he?"

"Calm down, baby, they’re alright!"

"The baby?"

"The baby and Susan will live, Angel Girl. They’re both having a nice recovering. Grace is fine too, she’s with her mom and dad; and everybody has been praying for you!"

"... where’s Andrew? Why isn’t he here?" she asked, in a low voice, still a little confused and groggy.

"He went out to buy you flowers and eat something, baby. But I’m sure he’ll be here soon; if I know that angel boy he won’t waste his time having lunch! And, oh Father, what a surprise he’ll have!"

Monica squeezed the supervisor’s hand weakly, "It’s so good to see you, Tess..."

"Oh baby! You have no idea how much I prayed to have you back, to hear your voice again!" she replied, tears of joy falling from her eyes, "I love you so much, Angel Girl!"

"I love you too, Tess..."

*

Andrew returned to the hospital one hour later, as he had to wait for the man at the flower shop to make the bouquet. The blond angel crossed the hospital gates and headed straight to the ICU, back to Monica’s room. Slowly, he opened the door and came in.

"Tess, I’m back..." he announced, in a low voice, and was surprised to look around and not see the supervisor. Frowning with concern, he quickly put the bouquet on a nearby chair and walked over to Monica’s bed. The Irish angel was sound asleep and the monitor set the steady rhythm of her heart beats. It was then that he realised that the tube she had inserted inside her mouth had been removed.

"Father, what’s going on here?" he whispered, twice scared. He walked over to the door and looked around the corridor to see if he could find Tess or any other nurse nearby, but the place was empty. The blond angel returned to Monica’s side and, still extremely scared, he took her hand and placed his finger over her wrist just to assure there was nothing wrong with her heart beats. Then, he pushed the blanket down partway and watched as her chest rose and fell, indicating that her breathing was also normal.

Putting back the cover, he gently stroked her pale skin and carefully studied her delicate features, still looking for something different. "How I wish I could hear your voice again, my angel..." he said, caressing her hair, "I bought you flowers honey..."

Andrew arranged the flowers inside the vase and whispered once more, "I hope you like them..."

Nearly 10 minutes had passed since Andrew had called the nurse to know why part of the equipment had been removed, but, so far, nobody had come to the room. He was starting to become nervous and walked over to the window, looking at the blue sky and praying that his dearest friend’s condition hadn’t got worse. It was then that Monica slowly opened her eyes and saw first the flowers and then the blond angel standing by the window, with his back turned to her.

A tiny smile appeared on her lips, "... I love the flowers..."

Andrew practically stopped breathing as the sound of that all too familiar voice reached his ears. Slowly, he turned around and looked at the bed, where a smiling Monica gazed at him with sleepy but sparkling brown eyes.

"Monica..." the blond angel whispered, his body trembling from head to feet.

"... I woke up... but you weren’t here... I slept again... Sorry..." she whispered.

"Monica... Monica, you’re... you’re speaking!" he didn’t waste any more second and rushed towards her bed, placing his trembling hand on her cheeks and caressing her hair, "Oh Father! You’re awake! You’re out of the coma!!!" he spoke, his heartbeats now were so fast that he thought his heart would jump from his mouth at any second.

"Oh God! I prayed so much, Monica! I wanted so much to see your smile again, my angel!" his eyes were immediately filled with tears and seeing such reaction, Monica raised her hand and placed her palm against his cheek, "...you didn’t know I was awake... I’m sorry I scared you..." she said, deeply moved.

Carefully, as she had an IV tube inserted in her arm, Andrew took her hand and placed a kiss on her palm, "You’re the sweetest creature I’ve ever met in this entire world, Monica!" his tears were now mixed with a joyful smile, "You don’t have to apologise, honey! I’m just so happy you’re here with me again!"

He bent down and lay kisses all over her face, causing a giggle to escape from her, "I’m happy that you’re happy..."

"I wish I could hold you tight in my arms, honey, and tell you how much I love you!"

"I’d love that too, but you’re doing fine with your kisses!" she joked and watched as his face turned into a more serious one.

"I was so afraid of losing you... I guess I’ve never felt so scared in my whole existence..."

Some tears made their way down on Monica’s face and slowly, she nodded her head, "Me too... And when I woke up and you were not here..."

"Oh, please, forgive me, I... I went to buy you flowers and pray..."

"No... It’s ok, you don’t need to apologise..."

"Oh yes, I do. I’ve been quite selfish myself these days and my attitude wasn’t a very angelic one. When I knew your condition was critical, I was angry with everyone, even with the Father. I thought He wanted to take you away from me. I was asking for His forgiveness right before I came back here."

"And I’m sure He has forgiven you, Andrew." She let go of his hand and, once again, stroked his face, "All the time I was lying here, I felt His presence, His comforting hand holding mine, and His loving words telling me I should resist to stay with you and Tess. His reassurance made some of my pain go away and then I started to listen to other voices speaking to my heart... They were yours and Tess’." She spoke slowly, in a low voice.

"We stood here all the time."

"I know. And I wanted so much to see you again and hold you tightly and say I love you that I had to fight to be with you again... I’m glad I could make it."

A broad smile appeared on his handsome face and he kissed the tip of her nose and rested his forehead against hers, "You’re the most courageous little angel I’ve ever met, sweetie. I’m so proud of you... I’m so proud to say I love you!"

At that moment, the bedroom door opened and Tess, Adam and one of the nurses came in.

"Oh, I guess we don’t have to look for him anymore!" the supervisor happily exclaimed.

"Yes!" Adam agreed, "And who else was better to give him the good news than Monica herself?!"

CHAPTER 15

Andrew and Tess had been taking turns to watch over Monica and, whenever he could, Adam came to visit her as well. Two days after she had regained consciousness, she was still sore and her condition was considered delicate. But no one could deny she was getting better and the doctors, pleased with her recovery, had stated the worst was over.

On that morning, while Tess had gone home to feed little Joy, Andrew stood by Monica’s bed sitting on a chair, always holding her hand and softly soothing her hair. Some time later, the Irish angel stirred and finally opened her eyes; her dearest friend’s face was the first image she saw.

"Hey! Good morning, my angel!" he greeted, with a smile upon his handsome face.

Still sleepy, she smiled back at him. "Good morning, Andrew..." then, she frowned with concern, "What time is it?"

"It’s 9:10. Why?"

"Joy’s breakfast..."

He couldn’t help but chuckle at her concern, "Don’t worry, Monica. Tess went home to check on her. Our baby is gonna be alright."

She sighed more relieved and looked back at him, "You stood here all night long?"

"Yes. I told you I’d keep a close eye on you, Miss Wings!"

"You didn’t sleep very well..." she was now worried about the tired expression on his face.

"Well, I managed to get some sleep once in a while... when you weren’t snoring away!"

She started to giggle and the sound filled his heart with happiness.

"I have some great news for you."

"What is it?"

"Susan is leaving hospital today. She had an excellent recovery."

"Oh really?!" she exclaimed, her heart now full of joy.

"She wanted to come here and visit you, but visitors in the ICU aren’t allowed. I told her you’re doing fine too."

"What about the wee baby?"

"The baby will have to continue in the ICU for some more time, as she’s a bit underweight. But there’s nothing to worry about, she’s recovering as well and, as soon as she reaches the ideal weight, she’ll go home too."

"Oh Andrew, that’s wonderful!"

"Yes, and it was thanks to you!"

"No. You were there too and..." he held a finger to her lips.

"But it was because of you that Susan survived. If you had left the lab when I told you to, she and I would’ve been the ones stuck down there when the ceiling collapsed. I would’ve survived, maybe. But Susan... she surely would’ve died." He looked at her with all the love in his soul, "I guess the Father couldn’t have chosen a better angel to take care of her."

She gazed at him full of gratitude, "But you were there too and I guess the Father couldn’t have chosen a better angel to take care of us all..."

For some instants, Andrew lowered his eyes with an inch of sadness, "I just wish you didn’t have to go through all this..."

"Andrew, you saved my life down there, remember? When I needed you the most, you were there to take my hand and pull me close to you. It was right after the building collapsed. If you hadn’t been there, what would’ve become of me? What would’ve become of Susan, Grace and the baby?"

The blond angel sighed and looked back at her with the same loving way, "You know, I... I guess I feel responsible for you... As if I had to protect you..." he admitted, slightly embarrassed.

Finding his embarrassment adorable, Monica smiled broadly, "Andrew could you come closer, please?"

"Why?"

"Because I want to kiss your face!"

"Monica!" he spoke, twice more embarrassed, and now blushing deeply. But he finally obliged her and she brushed a loving kiss on his cheek. Andrew looked deep inside her eyes with so much love inside his heart it ached and continued to speak, "I guess Tess feels that way too... It’s one of the consequences of being close to you..."

"You’re so sweet..."

"No. I’m just telling the truth, like an angel should do. But of course loving you deeply is the greatest consequence of being close to you!"

*

Three long weeks had passed since Monica woke up from the coma and the doctors who treated her were pleased to see how well she recovered from her injuries. Her arm and leg were still in plaster, that was true, but the bad cuts on her skin had disappeared completely and her broken ribs were healing faster.

The Irish angel was sitting on the bed, wearing a long flowered skirt and a white sleeveless shirt and Tess was finishing to comb her wet auburn hair when they heard a light knock on the door, "Come in, Andrew..." Monica spoke, she and Tess chuckling at his anxiety.

The blond angel entered the room with a smile upon his face, "So? Everything ready?" he said, a spark of happiness in his green eyes.

Monica sighed deeply, more than ready to leave the hospital, "Yes! I can’t wait to be back to our temporary home and, most importantly, I can’t wait to hug our precious wee baby again!" she replied, as Andrew gently stroked her wet hair.

"Poor baby, she’s missing her mom terribly! I’ve never seen such a sad little creature!" Tess spoke, "I’ll go and get the car, I’ll park it in front of the gate."

As Tess went out, one of the nurses came in with a wheelchair, "Well, looks like someone is finally going home!"

"Thank you, Clarice. For everything! You were so kind to me during the time I was here."

The young nurse smiled and took Monica’s hand, "Oh no, I’m the one to thank you, Monica. You helped me so much with your advice! I guess I needed to hear the truth and now Jack and I aren’t thinking about eloping to get married anymore. And yesterday, he came to talk to my parents again and they didn’t argue! My parents even invited him to go back next Saturday!"

"See? I told you running away wasn’t the right solution!" the Irish angel winked at the young woman, totally pleased to see how happy she was. Andrew for himself never got tired of watching his dearest friend, always marvelled at Monica’s loving nature, amazed with the fact that, even being in hospital and seriously hurt, she had managed to help the others.

The nurse hugged her gratefully, "Thank you for everything, Monica! I hope you get better soon, and I know you will!" she turned to the blond angel, "I know Andrew will take good care of you!"

Blushing deeply, he nodded his head, "I sure will!"

As the nurse left the room, the blond angel turned to Monica, who was unsuccessfully trying to hold her giggling, "What?!"

Her cheeks were getting pink when she managed to speak, "Clarice thought you were my husband!"

Hearing that, Andrew blushed twice more, deeply embarrassed and fairly annoyed, as he knew Monica was laughing at his reaction, "You’re going to do this over and over again, aren’t you?!"

"Well... you look rather cute when you blush!"

"Monica!" his stern tone of voice only caused her to laugh even more.

"Don’t worry, Andrew, I told her we’re not married. But she said that you would propose soon!"

With his face completely red, he took the giggling angel in his arms, "Wait until you get rid of all that plaster, Miss Wings! You and I will have a very serious talk!"

Still laughing cheerfully, she wrapped her good arm around his shoulder and took the opportunity to place a tiny kiss on his cheek, "You know you look cute when you’re upset too?"

He carefully placed her in the wheelchair, "One more of these and I will forget about the plaster and start tickling you right now!" the blond angel threatened, "And I’m not upset!

"I know, you’re just pretending, and that’s what makes it cuter!"

Shaking his head with disapproval and nearly laughing himself, he pushed the wheelchair out of the room, "I guess you need a cup of coffee urgently!"

"Oh, that would be wonderful!"

*

Tess met the 2 angels at the hospital front gate and after Andrew had placed Monica (who was holding a large cup of mocha latte and surprisingly hadn’t heard a word of protest from Tess) inside the Cadillac, they headed to their temporary home.

Thirty minutes later, Tess opened the apartment door and found little Joy waiting right behind the door. And the sad expression on the animal’s face changed into a happy one when she looked right behind the supervisor and saw Andrew carrying Monica in his arms.

"Hey little one, look what I brought you!" the blond angel joked, finding the puppy’s reaction really funny. Joy wagged her tiny tail, barked, ran around Andrew’s feet and even tried to stay on her 2 leg, trying to reach her ‘mom’. And the Irish angel smiled broadly to see her precious baby again.

"Oh my wee one! I missed you so much!" she exclaimed, also eager to hold the puppy in her arms.

"I bet she’s saying exactly the same thing!" Tess spoke. Andrew placed Monica on the couch and carefully placed a cushion under her plastered leg, while Tess straightened 2 pillows behind the Irish angel’s back.

"Thank you Andrew, Tess. I love you two so much, but now could you please give me my precious wee baby?"

"Of course!" Andrew scooped the little dog and Joy wasted no time in covering her mom’s face with hundreds of wet kisses, causing her to giggle and hug her tightly in her arms

"Oh sweetheart, I missed you too! I’m sorry I had to stay away from you for so long!"

Nothing could stop Joy from kissing Monica and she kept the chubby little puppy close to her chest and stroked her soft black fur. Tess and Andrew remained still, happily contemplating such sweet scene.

"That’s an image we’re never tired to see, right, angel boy?"

"You’re absolutely right, Tess!"

The Irish angel looked at her 2 dearest friends, "I’m so happy we’re all together again! It’s so good to wake up knowing that you’ll be by my side... I feel so much blessed, you know."

Deeply moved, Tess took her hand while Andrew stroked her auburn hair, "I guess I can say I feel like my daughter is back..." the supervisor said, with some tears forming in the corner of her eyes.

"That’s exactly how I feel: as if I had come back to my mother’s arms, you know." The Irish angel replied.

Andrew nodded his head, "And... well... I’d say I have my angel back again... though we both know now that you’re not really ours..."

"Oh, but I am!" she gently disagreed, "I belong to you both with my heart and soul and I guess the Father knows that as well, and He doesn’t mind sharing me with you two!" she looked down at little Joy and quickly corrected herself, "I mean, you three!"

Monica smiled even more as Tess squeezed her hand and Andrew brushed a gentle kiss on her temple.

EPILOGUE

On the following weeks, the 3 angels and the little puppy had fallen a pleasant routine: although they would give everything to see Monica completely healed, taking care of the little Irish angel was the best assignment they could ever receive and, indeed, they were doing a great job.

Occasionally, Monica had some nightmares; the hours of terror and despair still alive in her memory, but usually Andrew was the one to soothe them away. That night had been one of them. He had woken her up from a bad dream and, much against his will, as he was afraid of hurting her by making any movement, the Irish angel had insisted he should stay with her. And, in the end, that wasn’t such a bad idea, because his loving presence managed to soothe her heart and she had a peaceful night’s sleep. On the following morning, she stirred in bed and opened her eyes: his dearest friend’s handsome face was still there, beside her, as she had pillowed her head against his shoulder, and he greeted her with a cheerful smile, "Good morning, sleepyhead!" giving her a gentle squeeze.

"Hi..." Monica managed to say, looking at him with sleepy eyes.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, softly running his fingers through her hair.

"Wonderful..." she inched closer and hugged him, "Thank you for staying!"

"You don’t have to thank me for that! I’m always with you, Monica. Always." He kissed her temple and, carefully holding her, rested his cheek on the top of her head.

"I know."

The two angels remained in silence for a long minute, enjoying each other’s presence, until the Irish angel sensed a pleasant and familiar smell coming from the kitchen. "Tess is preparing breakfast... I guess I’m hungry..." she said, with a smile upon her meek face.

Andrew chuckled at her sudden excitement, "Correction, my angel: you are ‘thirsty’; not ‘hungry’!"

Blushing, Monica looked at him sheepishly, "Well... I found out that Tess makes a wonderful mocha latte, you know."

Still chuckling, he studied her meek features, "Judging by the smile on your this pretty face of yours, it must be really good!"

Blushing even more, she continued to speak, "The truth is that you, Tess and even wee Joy have been spoiling me lately and I guess I’m starting to get used to that!"

While he laughed, she reflected about her words and then made a quick correction, "I mean, I’m getting used to Tess and Joy spoiling me!"

"Hey! What about me?"

"You’ve always spoiled me, Andrew!"

Still chuckling, the blond angel nodded his head, knowing that it was completely true, "Well, yes... though I wouldn’t call it ‘spoiling’; it’d be much more like ‘loving’ you, honey!"

Giggling, she tightened her hold on him once again and he continued to speak, "And talking about it, do you wanna have your breakfast here or at the kitchen?"

"Oh, can I have it at the kitchen, please? I’m a wee bit tired of staying in bed all day long, you know."

"Your wish is my command, Angel Girl!"

He carefully pulled away from her embrace and helped her to sit down in bed. Then, he took the Irish angel in his arms and carried her up to the kitchen, where Tess was finishing to set the table and Joy was already devouring her breakfast.

"Good morning, Tess! Hullo sweetheart!" Monica greeted, watching with happiness the little dog’s excitement, and Andrew carefully placed her on a chair.

"Hey Angel Girl! Have a seat; I prepared you a double mocha latte mixed with cinnamon and extra cream!" the oldest angel said, placing a large mug with Monica’s favourite drink. The little Irish angel and Andrew exchanged a quick look and secretly smiled, amused with Tess’ extra care.

*

Some more weeks passed by and Monica’s recovery was so amazing that even the doctors were surprised when she finally got rid of the plaster in her arm and leg. The therapy sessions that followed only confirmed what everybody already knew: she was completely healed. Andrew and Tess remained by her side during all this time and it was possible to see all the happiness they felt reflected in their eyes when they left the hospital for the last time; holding hands with Monica.

"It’s so good to be able to walk again!" she said, smiling beautifully with the sun on her face.

"Yes, I can imagine how trapped you were feeling in that apartment, baby!" the supervisor replied.

"Well, in fact, the fact that I had to stay in the same place all the time bothered me. But I have to confess that I enjoyed having you two pampering me all the time!" The two angels smiled with her words, "I’ll miss the double mocha latte you prepared me, Tess. And you carrying me everywhere too, Andrew!"

"Anytime you want me, I’m here, my angel!" Andrew answered, squeezing her hand.

"Well... you shouldn’t get used to that mocha latte anytime you want, Miss Wings!" Tess spoke, with a stern tone in her voice. But then, she looked at her dear charge’s face, "... Ok... maybe a cup once in a while..."

"I love you, Tess!" Monica exclaimed, giving her a tight hug, which caused the oldest angel’s face to soften.

"I love you too, Angel Girl!"

They came closer to the red Cadillac but only Tess got into the vehicle. "I’ll see you two later!"

"Why? Where are we going?" Monica wanted to know.

"This is a secret that is about to be solved..." Andrew took her small hand into his, "Bye, Tess!"

"Bye, babies!"

*

Monica and Andrew stepped in front of a house and the blond angel rang the bell.

"Andrew what are we doing here? You didn’t tell me..."

The Irish angel stopped talking when the door flung open and Susan smiled at them, "Andrew! Monica! Tom, they’re here!"

"Susan?"

The teacher and the angel hugged each other and she invited them to come in. "I’m so glad you two are finally here! You are the first guests in our new house, in fact!"

"I’m glad to see you too, Susan! How are you? And how is the baby?"

"We are all fine, and fully recovered! And I can see we’re not the only ones! You look great, Monica! Though I thought that, well, being an angel you could recover faster."

"Well, if the Father wanted me to recover faster, I would have. But I believe it was His will that I remained here a little more time. Besides, I had Andrew and Tess taking care of me all the time and they’re wonderful." Smiling, she looked at her dearest friend, who smiled back at her slightly blushed.

"That I’m pretty sure of!" the teacher said, not missing the great love and affection between the two angels and finding it adorable. At that moment, Tom, Susan’s husband, entered the room, carrying a small ‘bundle’ in his arms.

"Somebody is awake and insisted on welcoming the guests!" he said, with a happy smile upon his face. Monica and Andrew stood up and the Irish angel came closer to the little baby girl.

"Oh God!" she exclaimed, with a mix of happiness and emotion on her face. And soon, some tears of joy appeared in the corner of her eyes. The baby had gained a lot of weight and had rosy cheeks and now much more hair, which was reddish brown, matching the colour of her eyes. "She’s so beautiful!"

"Yes, she really is..." Susan agreed, "... and she missed you, Monica!"

"Me?"

"Oh yes! She was eager to see the one who first held her when she came to this world!" Then, Tom gave the small child to Monica, who carefully held her in her arms.

"Hi, wee one... you’re such a cute lady!" a single tear made its way down Monica’s cheek and everybody watched when the little baby looked at the angel and smiled, "Oh... you do remember me, don’t you sweetheart?"

Monica’s voice was filled with emotion and she soon felt Andrew’s hand over her shoulder. "I don’t blame her," he said, looking at his dearest friend with all the love in his heart.

"She would never forget the ones who save her life, as well as mine..." Susan said, "If my daughter and I are here today it’s because God sent His two angels to help us when we most needed..." she looked at the baby, "And if I can hold her and see her growing, it’s especially because of you, Monica. You nearly lost your life to save mine..."

"Susan, I only did what I had to. It was God’s will that Andrew and I were there and of course I was scared, but I trusted in His great wisdom all the time."

"God is always good... An angel told me that some time ago!" the teacher completed, as the little baby stirred.

"Hey, you wanna take part in the conversation, honey?" Monica gently stroked her rosy cheek, "What’s her name?"

Susan and Tom exchanged a glance and the teacher smiled, "Right before she was born, Tom and I didn’t even know if it would be a boy or a girl. But now, after everything that’s happened... we both agreed she could only have a name... This little one is Monica..."

Now it was the Irish angel who stared first at Andrew and after at the couple really surprised, "What?..."

"She is named after the angel who brought her to this world, the angel who first held her in the arms and who soothed her little heart when she was crying with hunger and cold... The one who protected her all the time during that tragedy and took care of her when I myself couldn’t."

Monica looked down at the baby now crying with emotion, "Hey, Monica... I guess I never said that before, but welcome to this world, wee one! I know that your first hours here were a bit confusing but..." she smiled even more as she heard a few silent words whispered to her heart, "... But I was told that you’ll have a very happy life and that you will make many other people happy too!"

Andrew smiled at the image right before his sparkling green eyes: his dearest friend was not only completely healed but also very happy and he could feel all her joy flowing straight to his own heart. Yes, God was always good. So good that he felt like offering a silent prayer giving thanks for having that little angel, his ‘Angel Girl’, back at his side. He watched Monica with the baby in her arms in the most absolute silence. His eyes were undoubtedly filled with emotion and with so much love that he himself was suddenly surprised to feel that way. What seemed impossible had happened: his love for her had grown even more; it had taken deeper roots than he could ever imagined. He didn’t have any idea where it had come from or if it had always been there, deep inside his heart, but it sure made him feel like his soul had been invaded by a great sensation of joy.

Still smiling, and completely amazed with that unexpected feeling, Andrew gently soothed Monica’s hair, causing her to look at him with grateful tear filled eyes, "You already knew it, didn’t you?"

"Well..."

"Yes, he did, Monica!" Susan said, "But he didn’t want to spoil the surprise!"

"I wouldn’t miss this expression on this pretty face of yours for anything in this entire world, my angel!" the blond angel said, reading the words ‘I love you’ deep inside her brown eyes.

"It was his idea not to tell you about little Monica until you saw her. And he was right!" Tom spoke while his wife nodded her head.

"Andrew loves you very much, Monica!"

The Irish angel looked at her dearest friend and giggled when he nodded his head and blushed deeply, as he always did. "I know that!"

They turned their attention back to the baby as she stirred once again and this time, it was Andrew who rubbed his finger on the back of her tiny little hand, "Hey little Monica! You’re really a cute little lady, you know? Though I’m not surprised, considering that being cute is a characteristic of your name!"

At that moment, the baby moved her small hand and grabbed Andrew’s finger, causing everybody to laugh. "Our little one likes you too, Andrew!" Susan said.

Monica nodded her head, "Yes, and I guess that she and I have one more thing in common besides the name!"

*

Monica and Andrew left Susan and Tom’s house some time later and now were walking hand in hand in the street and stopped at the park to watch a beautiful sunset.

"You know it’s the first sunset I watch since we started working on this assignment?" the Irish angel said, leaning her head over his shoulder.

Smiling, the blond angel nodded and let go of her hand to wrap his arm around her small shoulders. "I know. That’s why I decided to bring you here first..."

She turned her head to look at him with an intrigued expression on her face. "First? Are we going somewhere else?"

Now that he had managed to raise her curiosity, his angelic smile turned into a mischievous one. "Yep..."

Monica kept on staring at him now with an adorable mixture of confusion and annoyance due to his purposeful silence. "So... you took the day to surprise me and to make me feel curious, right?"

"mmm... yep..."

She continued to stare at him, still waiting for his reply or even trying to guess what else he had in mind. Struggling to hide his laugher, he looked down at her. "You’re missing the sunset, Monica!"

Sighing deeply, now convinced that he wouldn’t tell her anything else, she decided to turn her attention back to the orange coloured sky, taking the opportunity to lift a silent prayer and thank God for being back to earth and together with her beloved friends.

*

"That was a lovely surprise, Andrew!" Monica exclaimed, leaning her head on Andrew’s shoulder as they danced close together a beautiful song. They were in a restaurant, located at the bank of a beautiful lake, and the soft light music filled the air. The place was cosy and casual and beautifully decorated. Besides, the pleasant night, with a sky full of stars, only added more charm to their surroundings.

Andrew was holding Monica close to him and smiled satisfied as he felt the contentment in her heart flowing straight to his.

"I’m glad you liked, Monica. It’s been quite a while since the last time we danced together and I don’t think I could stand it any longer!"

She smiled and looked up at him, "I can say the same!"

"Now that you are completely healed, I thought it would be a good idea if these were your first steps."

"It was a lovely idea... I’ll never forget that, Andrew!"

"Oh, but don’t give me all the credit for that! Grace had something to do with it too..."

"Grace?"

"Well... yes. She... uh..." the Irish angel didn’t miss his slight embarrassment, which she always found quite cute, "She suggested that after we had been rescued I should invite you for a date..."

To his ears, Monica’s giggles were like the soft music that had just finished, "Grace is such an adorable little girl!" she remarked, "And very a smart one too!"

Blushing deeply, he nodded his head and, as they had stopped dancing, Andrew took one of Monica’s hands in both of his. "Well, she sure is but... the truth is that I love you so much, my angel, that even cute little Monica was able to notice that..."

Now it was the Irish angel who blushed and her smile grew wider than before as he gently stroked her rosy cheek.

"I could feel that even being in hospital, unconscious..." she noticed as a trace of sadness appeared in his bright green eyes. Monica quickly placed her hand on his face and caressed his cheek lovingly, "No, don’t be sad, Andrew... I don’t ever want to see you sad because of what happened, it’s all in the past now and I’m so grateful that it all ended up well."

A slight smile appeared on his face, "You have this light inside of you, Monica... This gentle and warm heart of yours is so full of love and I never get tired of contemplating your beautiful soul!"

"Look who’s talking!" she replied, with a playful tone in her voice.

"That’s why I got so desperate with the possibility of staying away from you or never seeing you again... it makes me sad even now that it’s all over..."

"Oh but you shouldn’t..." she gently admonished him, and then she looked deep inside his green eyes; her own gaze full of confidence in what she was saying and filled with pure love, "Because in fact, after all that’s happened, I can say that I’ve never been so happy! And you know why, Andrew?"

He took her hand to his lips and softly placed some strands of hair behind her ear, "Tell me..."

"The Father’s will was done here on Earth as it is in Heaven. His children were safe from a terrible tragedy, a new life was brought to this world and..." Monica took his both hands in her own and squeezed them, "... we are together again."

Without saying another word, Andrew pulled her to his arms and the two angels shared a tight and loving embrace, which lasted for long silent and pleasant minutes. As the blond angel bent his head to place a tender and affectionate kiss on her forehead, a white dove cooed and perched on a nearby tree.

The end