With a Thankful Heart - an episode tag to 4x14
By Glistening Sun
Sharon stepped into the dark church, her fingers dipping into the blessed water, the sign of the cross second nature to her. Unconsciously, she wiped her wet hand on her jacket and continued down the path between the pews towards the eternal light glowing in the distance.
She had been coming to church ever since she could remember, together with her grandmother, with her parents. They had gone to church not just to attend Mass, but for every occasion, to say thanks, to bid goodbye, to grieve. Today she was here to say thanks – unlike the night before when she had been here to plead with the Lord for the life of the man she loved.
The church smelled of candlewax and incense, familiar to her from the years she had watched her brothers serve as altar boys yearning to stand there herself. Then, that path had been closed to girls. She remembered vividly the first time Emily had served as an altar girl; her mother's heart bursting with pride at least until the moment when her little girl had passed out. Too hot, too stuffy. She had always felt that Emily had been relieved to find a way out of living her mother's dream without actually having to tell her. Ricky had served, too, with more cheek than was good for him once famously setting the Priest's soutane on fire. She was sure that had not been an accident.
Her steps echoed in the empty building as she let her hand trail over the wood of the pews. Once she reached the front she reverently knelt down and crossed herself once again. She sat down her eyes finding the large crucifix hanging suspended above the altar. The church she had grown up in had had a similar one and she remembered wondering how it could hang there. Maybe it was just another one of those many miracles her grandmother liked to tell her about: walking on water, feeding thousands, making a blind man see. Miracles.
She took a deep breath and knelt down, the wood hard under her knees. Today she had witnessed her very own miracle when Andy had woken up from his surgery, a smile lighting up his face when he recognised her. She had leaned in to kiss him not caring that there were other people in the room and for a moment, the world had disappeared around them. She closed her eyes and rested her head on her folded hands, her lips moving in a silent prayer of gratitude.
Peace. That was why she had come here last night and so many times during the past weeks since Andy's accident. Peace that surpassed all human understanding. Peace that surrounded her no matter how busy the world around her was. Peace that gave her the strength to go on and face another day. Peace that filled her heart with joy and confidence in the life that lay before her. Peace.
She didn't know how long she had been kneeling there, but her knees were numb when she finally got up, crossed herself and walked over to the side chapel. She picked up one of the small candles and lit it from one of those already burning. She watched its bright flame, the image swimming before her eyes when the tears held in over weeks finally fell.
Andy was alive and he would recover. All the candles in this church would never be enough to express her gratitude for that.