"Mykaila!" I heard the shout from Gabriel as I plummeted towards the ground. Pure white feathers flew past me as I stared at the sky. Soon they became black as night, and stopped falling out. I turned away from him and watched as the earth came closer and closer to me.

"Don't come after me, Gabriel! This is my choice!" I screamed at him before I hit the ground. Agony shot through me, from my head to my feet. And I blacked out.

I woke up in a hospital. I only knew where I was because of the countless Souls I had accompanied to Heaven from there. But now I was a patient in the hospital, as weak and unhealthy as any stupid Mortal.

"You're awake!" the nurse in the room exclaimed, looking at me. "Darling, tell me your name. You've been unconscious for days!"

I opened my mouth to speak, but only a cough came out. When I could speak, I said, "My name is Mykaila Neil." As I spoke, she wrote down my name.

"Where's your family, Mykaila?" she asked, looking around the empty room.

"I don't have any family," I responded, not caring at the flatness in my voice. "None here, anyways." As I spoke, I thought of Gabriel. My beautiful Gabriel, positively crushed by the choice I had made in Heaven. To Fall. To leave him. To destroy every possibility we had of being together, like both of us had wanted.

"None? Boyfriend? Husband?" she pressed. "No siblings or anything?"

I swallowed. "No boyfriend. Anymore." Gabriel's face as I fell from the sky, the longing in his face that showed how much he wanted to grab me and pull me back into the sky, cradle me in his arms until he was sure I would never leave again. But Gabriel knew, and I knew, that God wouldn't allow such a thing. My choice had been made.

The nurse nodded sympathetically. "Alright. Well, you seem to be alright. You can leave tomorrow morning if you want to. But one thing first; how old are you, Mykaila?"

"I'm…" I paused. I was thousands of years old. But how old did I look? "Eighteen." I knew it was the legal age for people here to become adults, and I was just being safe. "I'm eighteen years old."

She wrote it down and left. I sat back against the pillows, rubbing my face. "I love you, Gabriel," I whispered.

"Gabriel is the name of an Angel, correct?" someone asked from the doorway. I looked over at them and froze.

The man who stood there was the spitting image of Gabriel. He had the shaggy blond hair, the impossibly blue eyes, and the boyish smile. I covered my mouth, a cry stuck in my throat. It scared me, even when the confused expression crossed his face, his nose crinkled and his eyebrows furrowed.

"Gabriel!" I gasped. His expression became even more confused. My hands were shaking, and I was close to tears.

"My name isn't Gabriel," he said slowly. "My name's Vick." His lips turned up into the mischievous smile I loved so much. "I'm an intern at the hospital. I'll be bringing you your food and such."

I barely heard any of the words he spoke at the end. I only heard his first sentence. Shaking, I covered my face with my hands. "You…you look just like him," I said shakily. "Oh, what have I done?"

Vick heard me and raised his eyebrow. "Okay, so who exactly is this Gabriel guy that I look like?" he asked, curiosity in his voice.

"He's…" I looked at the ceiling, taking a shaky breath. "No one. Just no one. Forget about it." I looked back at my hands.

"He doesn't sound like no one," Vick said, walking closer to me. I didn't look at him; it would be too painful.

"Forget about it. Seriously," I snapped. "I don't even know you." I kept my eyes on my hands, trying to calm myself down.

"What's your name?" Vick asked, breaking my concentration.

"Mykaila," I told him. I heard him chuckle, and I acted before thinking, lifting my head to look at him. As soon as I did, I felt a pang in my chest, as if God was punishing me for Falling by sending a double of Gabriel to torment me. "What's funny?"

"Sweet name for a tough girl, don't you think?" Vick laughed, his eyes crinkling just as Gabriel's had done.

"My name means 'who is like God'," I said bitterly, and it was like a punch in the stomach. I didn't deserve a name that meant that anymore. "And I'm not tough. Not by a long shot." I turned away from him.

"Well, perhaps you should be nicer to me. I am the one that found you," Vick said, the grin appearing on his face again. "You should be thanking me for your life."

I took a deep breath. "Thank you. For finding me," I murmured, shutting my eyes. A memory of Gabriel and I flashed through my mind.

We were sitting in a small meadow, laying down, looking at the sky. It had been a day where we had come down to Earth, and we were watching the clouds. I was curled up by his side, my head resting on his shoulder. He was stroking my hair, twirling it around his fingers, smiling.

"What did I do to deserve you, Mykaila?" he had asked me, making me look up at him and smile. I had kissed him quickly before responding.

"I should be asking you that question," I had replied. "You're greater than I am. A better Angel." I sat up, my hair falling into my eyes. He sat up, too, and had kissed me sweetly for several seconds, and I had twined my fingers into his beautiful hair. Then he'd pulled away and tickled me, making me squeal.

It was one of my favorite memories. And it hadn't been long ago. Several weeks, maybe. But it seemed like yesterday.

Gabriel:

"I'm sorry, Gabriel," Mykaila had whispered before kissing him one last time. Then she'd slipped right through his grasp and tumbled out of the sky.

"Mykaila!" he had screamed, his heart shattering into millions of pieces as she Fell. No! he had screamed in his mind. Bring back my beautiful Mykaila!

He screamed her name again, and her only response was, "Don't come after me, Gabriel! This is my choice!" And it had completely and utterly crushed her. He wanted to jump after her, force her to come back to Heaven with him and never let her out of his sight again. His beautiful and happy Mykaila, reduced to a depressed Fallen Angel.

Before he could make the decision to throw himself after her, God had put a hand on his shoulder. "She's right, son," he said in a sad voice. "This is her choice. If she seeks forgiveness, she will be allowed to return to my Kingdom. Find her later. Tell her that." Then he left Gabriel alone in his mourning.

"Mykaila," he whispered, tears dripping down his cheeks. "You will come back to me. You have to. I love you."

He brought a happier picture into his mind; Mykaila happy and laughing. He thought about her every feature. Her dark brown hair that was as straight as corn silk and fell into her eyes all the time. Her big green eyes that used to be filled with wonder and curiosity, and framed by thick eyelashes. Her rose-petal pink lips, full and always turned up into a smile. Her porcelain-like skin, her features soft, but also defined, her high cheekbones and chiseled jaw line. The way she would cover her mouth with her thin, elegant fingers when she laughed.

He stood up, pulling out the gold necklace he had been planning to give her. Then, caught in a wave of anger, he threw it at the earth before collapsing again. She was gone. She was really gone, and it was all by her own choice.