Chapter 2: Miracle Worker
Part 1
One week later.
Cas, Daphne and Zoey were sitting in the kitchen having breakfast. Cas still hadn't learned how to use a fork and a knife and so again he was eating with his fingers. Zoey sighed irritated and pulled Cas' plate to her. She grabbed her own fork and knife and cut his egg into pieces. She then aggressively shoved his plate back.
"See how it's done?" she asked disdainful. Cas looked down at his plate.
"Can't you try and be nice?" Daphne said. Zoey looked at Daphne. "What? The guy's a total idiot. It's annoying"
Daphne rotated her head to Cas and smiled. "How's your egg, sweetie?"
"It's okay" Cas answered, feeling uneasy.
Zoey scoffed. "I bet he couldn't even do that" She looked at Cas. "I'd like to see you try, though"
"Try what?" Cas asked confused.
"You don't have to, sweetie" Daphne said.
"What? Scared that I'm right?" Zoey said.
Daphne got up. "What's the big deal? So what if he can't cut his food or cook or whatever? Why do you have to make such a fuzz about everything?" she shouted hysterical.
Cas frowned concerned, but Zoey raised her eyebrows. "I think you need to swallow another pill"
"That is not funny" Daphne said with a trembling voice.
The bell rang, putting an end to the unbearable silence.
"I suggest I'll go see who it is" Cas said, getting up and walking to the front door. He opened it and a woman appeared.
"Hi, I hope I'm not bothering you?" she said. She was carrying a plate with chocolate muffins.
Cas looked over his shoulder and back at the woman.
"I just moved in across the street. Figured I should make some kind of announcement" she said, lifting the plate. "I'd shake your hand, but…"
"I'll take that" Daphne said. She was curious about what took Cas so long to get back in there.
"Thank you" the woman said. "I'm Meg" She grabbed Cas' hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you, handsome"
Daphne jerked Cas' hand out of Megs and shot an angry look at Meg. Meg smirked. "Well, I guess I'll be going, then. I'll be seeing you around"
She winked at him and left.
Daphne dragged Cas inside and slammed the door. She turned to Cas. "Who was that?" she asked furious.
"I don't know" Cas said, frightened by Daphne's anger.
"Why did she look at you like that?" Daphne asked. Tears were coming up in her eyes. "I thought you liked me! And now it turns out you have a girlfriend! Is that how you thank me for letting you in?"
"Now who's making a fuzz?"
Zoey had entered the hallway and she looked dead serious. She looked at Cas, who swallowed. "Emmanuel, can you go clean the table? My sister and I need to talk"
Cas gladly followed that order and walked back into the kitchen.
Part 2
Zoey walked into the local bakery and put down a pile of flyers on the desk.
"Do you know this man?" a customer read. It was a teenage girl. She looked up. "No, I do not. Is he a convict? Or is he missing?"
"He's not missing" Zoey said. "He lives in my house. And as far as being a convict, let's say it's still undecided"
"Who is he?" the girl asked. She picked up a flyer. "Mind if I take one of these?"
Zoey shook her head. "Maybe you could help"
"Sure, anything you want" the girl said and she and Zoey left the bakery.
"Thanks" Zoey said.
"You haven't answered my question yet" the girl said. "Who is he?"
Zoey sighed deeply. "He goes by Emmanuel, but that's not his real name. He doesn't remember who he is, where he comes from. It's like his mind's gone blank and most of the time I really think there's nothing in there"
The girl laughed.
"Hey, you should come more often. Alexia misses you" Zoey said.
"Yeah, kind of busy with school, but I'll try drop by next week" the girl said.
"Sweet" Zoey said. "Okay, dear, I have to get going. Say hi to your parents"
"Sure thing" the girl waved as they separated ways.
Part 3
Cas and Daphne were sitting on the couch, when Zoey came in. Cas quickly looked up, but Daphne kept her eyes on the photo album, lying on her lap.
"I see you two are talking again" Zoey said and she sounded a little disappointed.
"I have no idea what you're talking about" Daphne mumbled. She lifted her head and gave Cas a kiss on the cheek.
"I saw Shannen in the bakery today" Zoey said. "She's my daughter's babysitter, FYI" she said to Cas.
"Okay" Cas said. He always felt uncomfortable in Zoey's presence.
"You'll get to see her soon" Daphne smiled. "You're going to adore her"
"Yeah, just don't adore her too much, alright?" Zoey said.
Daphne squeezed her eyes and stood up slowly. "What is that supposed to mean?"
Zoey shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, we still don't know who he is, do we? And he showed up naked"
"They stole his properties!" Daphne exclaimed.
"See, this is your problem. You believe your own fairytales. You have no real proof" Zoey fired back. "As long as we don't know who he is exactly, I'm not letting him near my child"
"I would never hurt anyone, especially not a kid" Cas defended himself.
Zoey rotated her head to him and scoffed. "Yeah, only because you're too stupid"
Daphne grabbed Zoey by her hair. "Stop calling him stupid! He's not stupid!"
"Let go of me!" Zoey growled and she scratched Daphne's arm. Daphne cried and Cas jumped up. He grabbed Zoey's arm and pushed her away. She landed on the other side of the room. Daphne looked shocked at Cas, but he walked out of the sitting room and out of the house.
Across the street, behind the window, Meg was watching through a field glass. "Poor, poor Cas, stuck in a house of lunatics. One will make you cry and one will cut your heart out for kicks"
Part 4
Two hours later Daphne was baking cookies, while Cas was staring at the screen of Daphne's laptop.
"How do I turn it on?" he asked careful; Zoey was in the room. She walked towards him and pointed at the start button. "This button" she said polite. She was still shaking from Cas' last move. She'd had no idea he could be that strong.
"Thank you" Cas said. He looked up with puppy eyes. "Is your shoulder still hurting?"
"I'll live" Zoey said soft.
"It was not my intention to cause you pain. My first priority was protecting Daphne" Cas explained.
Zoey raised her hand. "Yeah, I totally get it. It seems our priorities are similar to one another" She stuck out her hand. "Truce?"
Cas frowned and Zoey did her best not to sigh irritated. She grabbed his hand and shook it. "It means we'll try not to fight anymore. For Daphne" she explained.
"For Daphne" Cas repeated.
Daphne turned around and her eyes were wet. "You guys are so sweet" she sniffed. "I knew you'd come around, Zoey"
"I'll try my best" Zoey promised. She looked at Cas. "But you have to try and find out everything you can about your life"
Cas nodded quickly. "That goes without saying"
"Good. Are you done with those cookies?" Zoey asked.
"Yep, we're all set" Daphne said. "You coming?" she asked Cas.
"Where are we going?" Cas informed.
"To the orphanage. These are for the children" Daphne said. "Hey, maybe we can take some of those muffins, too, in case we run short of cookies"
"Yeah, that's a good idea" Cas said. "But I think I'm going to stay here"
"Why?" Daphne asked disappointed.
"Well, we don't have to be together all the time, do we?" Cas said careful.
"No, of course not" Daphne said and the temperature in the room seemed to have dropped a degree.
"Maybe you should spend some time with your sister. I'm sure Zoey would like to be alone with you for a change" Cas said.
A smile appeared so fast on Daphne's face that it was almost creepy.
"You are so considerate" she said, caressing his cheek. "That's one of the many reasons why I love you" She kissed him on the cheek. Then she turned around. Zoey had already added some muffins with the cookies and she was closing the box. She picked it up and followed Daphne outside.
Part 5
Daphne parked her car at 309 Jerry Street Suite 202. She and Zoey, who was carrying the box, stepped out of the car and walked towards a building with the name 'Hope's Promise' on it. As they were walking an older woman came their way.
"Daphne, how lovely it is to see you again. The children have missed you" she said and she lay her hand on Daphne's cheek.
"Not as much as I missed them" Daphne smiled.
"Zoey, how are you, my dear?" the woman asked, taking Zoey's hands in hers.
"Oh, well you know, trying to save my soul from eternal doom" Zoey replied sarcastic.
"Keep praying, sweetheart" the woman smiled. "Someday God might save you, if you just believe"
"You know me, believe is my middle name" Zoey said and Daphne shot her an angry glance.
"Mrs. Fueller? We baked some cookies and muffins for the children" Daphne said. Mrs. Fueller's face changed. She sighed. "You know the rules, Daphne. No unhealthy snacks. I'm sorry"
Daphne blinked her eyes and swallowed. "Of course. Why didn't I think about that?"
Zoey took Daphne's arm. "Come on, let's go home. Too bad for them" She tried to drag Daphne to the car.
"I mean, it's not like I just drove all the way up here, wasting gasoline" Daphne continued and her voice was a little hysterical. "And it's not like I spent two hours making these and it's not like I left Emmanuel alone for it"
"I'm sorry, Daphne, but those are the rules" Mrs. Fueller said.
"Yeah? Well, if your parents had forced you that rule you may have been married to someone other than God" Daphne said rude.
"Daphne, please don't make scene" Zoey said soft. "We're going to drive home and eat all of these together. You, me and Emmanuel. And we're going to watch a Ringer marathon and it's going to be fun"
"You're going to hell, Mrs. Fueller!" Daphne shouted. "You are an ungrateful, selfish, spoiled descendant of Satan! You don't care about anyone but yourself!"
Mrs. Fueller was too shocked to react, but Zoey gave her an apologizing look.
"Come on, D, get in the car" she said and she tightened her grip. Daphne freed herself and grabbed the box out of Zoey's arm. "Gluttony is a sin, right?"
Zoey nodded. Daphne smiled.
"Mrs. Fueller, we have to go. We have a sin to commit" Daphne said. "Please pray that we might find redemption" she added.
Part 6
Someone knocked the door and Cas jumped up. He wasn't supposed to let strangers in. But the person outside kept knocking and ringing, so Cas shuffled the hallway in.
"Who's there?" he asked.
"It's me, Meg" the person outside said. "From across the street? I brought you a plate with muffins earlier"
The door opened.
"I know you" Cas said. "You're not a stranger, you can come in"
"Thank you" Meg said sweet and she smiled as he let her pass. She entered the sitting room and turned around. "Okay, confession, I waited until your girlfriend left before I came up here. I don't think she likes me very much"
Cas pulled his shoulders. "No, she's just-"
"Jealous, obsessive, crazy?" Meg summed up.
"She's very protective of me" Cas said. "She loves me and I love her"
"Yeah, cool story, bro" Meg said and her eyes widened. "Did you like the muffins?"
Cas' cheeks turned pink and he looked away. "I, eh, I haven't tried them yet" He looked at Meg from the corner of his eyes, expecting her to be furious.
But she just slapped his arm. "Then we should do something about that" she smiled. "Where did you put them?"
Cas walked to the kitchen and Meg followed him. He opened the oven and pulled out the plate with muffins. He put it on the dresser and turned around, coming face to face with Meg.
Meg stared in his blue eyes and felt his warm breath on her face. Her mind went back to when Cas had pushed her against a wall and kissed her. He had seemed to like it. She knew she had.
Cas made a few steps backwards until his back hit the dresser. Meg came closer and as her body was pressed to Cas's she grabbed a muffin.
"Tell me, how is she?" Meg whispered in Cas' ear.
"What do you mean?" Cas asked difficult.
"I mean, in bed" Meg clarified. She saw the confusion on Cas' face and shook her head in disbelief. "You haven't banged her yet?"
Cas shook his head. Meg gave him the idea that he should be ashamed of that.
"Have you seen her lady parts?" Meg asked blunt.
Cas' face turned red now.
"I'll take that as a no" Meg said and she took off her shirt. "This is what lady parts look like"
Cas swallowed and he tried to avoid looking down.
"Well, you'd get a better look if I took of my bra" Meg continued.
"Please, don't" Cas quickly said.
"Alright, big boy" Meg smirked. She took a step back and put on her shirt.
"I think you should go home now" Cas said hoarse.
"Yeah, I should" Meg agreed. "But, hey, if you ever get tired of this, you know where I live" she winked and blew him a kiss.
Part 7
Daphne and Zoey were drinking coffee in Starbucks, at 62 Founders Parkway. Daphne had ordered some donuts with it. Taking your own snacks was against the rules of the house, so they had left the box in the car.
"You're going to eat those?" Zoey asked, nodding at the donuts.
"No, I'm going to take them to Mrs. Fueller and shove them up her big, fat butt" Daphne said angry.
"Well, that would be a waste" Zoey said.
Daphne rubbed her eyes. "I'm not feeling very well. I think I'm getting a migraine" she said.
"You want to go home?" Zoey asked.
Daphne nodded. "Yeah, just let me throw some water in my face" She got up and walked to the ladies room. She entered and walked to the sink, opened the tap and splashed water in her face. She pulled out some paper napkins from a machine and as she dabbed her face her eyes fell on a familiar face.
Zoey was waiting outside when she was pushed forward. She turned around and Daphne waved one of her flyers before her face.
"It's not what you think" she started.
"Don't talk to me" Daphne said while she walked to the car.
"Daphne, come on" Zoey begged.
Daphne turned around. "You promised, Z! You said you'd give it a rest!" she shouted furious. She wanted to get in the car at the driver's seat, but Zoey grabbed her arm. "If you're going to keep doing that people will start thinking I'm being abused and they won't point the finger at you" Daphne said.
"I am only trying to help" Zoey said, ignoring Daphne's last comment. "Put yourself in his shoes. Don't you think he wants to know the truth about himself? Don't you think he deserves that?"
Daphne looked down, then up again. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry, Z"
"Get in the car, nutcase" Zoey said.
Part 8
Zoey was driving on Front Street. They were almost home. Daphne hadn't said a word during the entire ride. Not because she was still angry, but her migraine had gotten worse.
"Can you give me one of those muffins? I'm hungry" Zoey said.
"How, for the love of God, can you be thinking of food right now?" Daphne mumbled and with her eyes closed she searched for the box.
"You're going to have to take a peek, I put it on the backseat" Zoey said.
Daphne groaned and opened her eyes. She turned around on her seat and lifted the box from the backseat. She opened it and lay it on Zoey's lap. "And then people say I'm difficult" she mumbled and she closed her eyes again.
Zoey made a turn in Allen Street, the street where they lived, while she took a bite from the muffin. She chewed, swallowed… and gagged. She started coughing and gasping for air, but she couldn't get any. She gripped Daphne's arm.
Daphne screamed and opened her eyes. She looked aside and saw how Zoey was lying backwards, blood running out of her mouth, and her eyes bulged.
"Zoey!" Daphne screamed. She shook her sister, not realizing the car was driving by itself.
She heard a honk and looked up. A bright light blinded her eyes and she took the steering wheel and turned the car.
The trucker pushed the brake pedal, but he couldn't avoid hitting the car on its side, pushing it back. When the trucker could finally stop his truck he jumped out of it and ran to the car. He opened Zoey's door. Daphne was still conscious, though she looked very pale, as if she was about to throw up.
"Are you okay, Ma'am?" the trucker asked shaking.
"I'm fine" Daphne said trembling. "My sister needs help. She's sick or something"
"I'm already calling 911" the trucker said, while Daphne loosened Zoey's belt. She had already loosened hers. She got out of the car and walked around it. She lay Zoey's arm over her shoulder, dragged her out of the car and lay her down on the street.
"They'll be here as soon as possible" the trucker said. "Is she going to be okay?" he asked, nodding at the unconscious Zoey.
"She's still breathing" Daphne said. She frowned. "Did you feel that? Someone was touching my arm"
"I didn't feel anything, but you have to move" the trucker said. "Your car and my truck are about to cause a firework"
Daphne tried to get up, but she seemed to be stuck on the street. She looked up. "I can't move"
"What?" the trucker said.
"I can't move" Daphne panicked. She grabbed her legs and tried to lift them, but it was as if she was paralyzed.
The trucker took her arms and tried to pull her up.
"Stooooppp! You're breaking my arms!" Daphne cried. The trucker let go of her slowly. "You take Zoey and wait for 911 to arrive"
"What about you?" the trucker said.
Daphne looked at the car and back at the trucker. "Ask Zoey to tell Emmanuel that I love him" she said and she started crying.
The trucker nodded and lifted Zoey in his arms. As he quickly walked away, the two vehicles caught fire and exploded.
Part 9
For the third time that day someone was ringing the bell. Cas walked in the hallway and stared at the door. "Daphne and Zoey are not here. Maybe you should come back at a more appropriate time"
"Emmanuel, open the door"
It was Meg and she sounded scared to death. Cas quickly opened the door and looked at a terrified Meg. Before he could ask what was going on she threw herself in his arms and started crying. Cas, not knowing what else to do, tapped her on her back.
"This feels rather uncomfortable" Cas said difficult. "Perhaps you could let go of me?"
Meg let go and took a step back. "I'm sorry" she sobbed and she wiped her eyes. "There's been a huge car accident and everyone is dead"
"Friends of you?" Cas asked.
"Just my new neighbors" Meg sobbed.
"I feel terrible about this" Cas said. He sighed. "I wished Daphne and Zoey would come home"
"Why? You don't think I'm going to hit on you again, do you?" Meg asked.
"No, I have a strange feeling in my stomach" Cas said.
"You're worried" Meg said.
Cas nodded. His face stiffened. "I hear something" he said.
"What?" Meg asked, though she knew perfectly well what Cas was hearing. Cas walked past Meg and opened the front door. He walked outside and a few yards further he saw a red van with red and yellow triangles on the back and a yellow van with yellow and green stripes.
Meg followed him outside.
"Who did you say had an accident?" Cas asked slowly.
"They're dead, Emmanuel" Meg said. Cas wanted to run, but Meg grabbed his arm. "Let me go" Cas commanded.
"They are dead!" Meg repeated, raising her voice. "The car exploded. They burned. You don't want to remember Daphne looking like that, trust me"
Cas jerked his arm and pushed Meg away. Meg, who couldn't give her true identity away, fell backwards on purpose. She watched Cas running of.
Ten, maybe eleven seconds later Cas stopped. There were people all around and the police was
trying to keep them to a distance. Cas tried to make his way through the mass, pushing people aside.
When he saw a body covered with a white sheet he knew it was Daphne. He wanted to go to her, but a deputy stopped him. "Sir, I need you to stay behind the tape" she said.
"I have to help her" Cas said and he pushed the woman away. He walked to Daphne and kneeled. He could still hear her breathing. "Please, don't die" he said hoarse. He caressed her hair or what was left of it and when his fingers touched her forehead something magnificent happened.
Slowly but surely Daphne's body healed and her hair grew back.
When her body was in perfect condition again Daphne opened her eyes and gasped for air.
Part 10
"Where's Zoey?" was the first thing Daphne asked.
"She's at the hospital" a nurse said. "She'll be alright, but you need to go too, for a checkup"
Daphne shook her head. "I feel fine" she mumbled. She looked down and realized she was naked under the sheet. She looked helpless at Cas. He wrapped the sheet around Daphne's body like a dress and lifted her in his arms.
The crowd parted when he came their way and walked past them.
Twelve seconds later they were home. The door was still open and Cas carried Daphne over the doorstep. He carried her upstairs to the third room on the right, next to the bathroom, and lay her down on the bed. He sank down and Daphne sat up and leaned against the head of the bed.
"I don't know how you did it, but you saved my life" Daphne said soft, but full of admiration.
"I assume I have" Cas said.
"Now I just know God has sent you to me" Daphne said a little emotional.
"Don't cry" Cas said helpless.
Daphne conjured a smile. "Don't worry, honey. I'm crying 'cause I'm happy. You make me happy"
"Then I'm happy, too" Cas responded.
Daphne took his hand. "I don't want to lose you. You have to stay with me forever" she insisted.
Cas nodded, not really considering what she was saying.
"Emmanuel, I want you to make me your wife" Daphne said breathless.
