Chapter 3

"Alright, we've got about five minutes left. I'm going to end the lesson early…" John began. As he expected, the twenty teenagers in his class whispered a celebratory "yes!" and began to shove their books in their schoolbags. John held up his hands so they would stop. "Wait, you still have to listen to me though." He ignored the students' groans and continued, "I ended early to remind you all that you need to get your permission slips signed for the planetarium labs as soon as possible. And that anyone who brings it in late gets five points off their next test."

The students groaned again. John suspected that many of them lost their permissions slips, which were handed out a week ago since only seven students had handed theirs in already. Well, that was their problem. Fifteen-year-olds should be able to take responsibility for getting a piece of paper signed by a parent. "To prepare you for the sessions, I have this handout," he said. He took a stack of worksheet packets from his desk, divided it in half, and handed one pile each to the two students on either end of the classroom to be passed around. "In these packets you will find two pictures with a bunch of different colored and sized dots, with a number next to each. Those are stars, planets, and moons – all things you will find in the night sky projection at the planetarium. You all see where I'm going with this, yes?"

"Yes Mr. Baker," about half the students replied. The others gave him annoyed looks. One student half raised his hand but didn't wait for John to call on him. "You mean we gotta ID the whole freakin' sky?"

There was a trickle of laughter, and John shook his head. "No, Dean, you don't have to 'ID the whole freakin' sky.' These are only areas of the planetarium display, and don't worry, I'll point out which two each of you has been individually assigned – the planetarium also has a grid projection that divides up the sky into squares for educational use. You all will be relieved to note that these are basic identifications, most of which we've seen in class. This packet will count for one third of the entire planetarium grade, so I expect…"

His lecture on coursework quality was cut short when the end-of-class bell rang. The students bolted out of there before he could say another word.

"What do you expect, John?"

Surprised, John turned to find an elderly woman in his doorway once the classroom was empty. From the teacher-appropriate attire she wore, he guessed she was a new colleague he hadn't met yet. "They'll never know, I suppose," John joked, then welcomed her into the classroom. However, he would have to keep it short – it was his last class of the day, and he wanted to get home to his wife. "So, how can I help you?"

"Well, my name is Tess. I'm the new assistant vice principal," she answered and held out her hand for him to shake.

New assistant vice principal? John thought while he shook her hand. Since when? Why didn't I hear about this? At the very least, an email would have been sent around. "Oh, hello Tess, nice to meet you. I didn't even realize that Vice Principal Phillips hired someone," he answered.

"It was a sudden decision," Tess explained. "I just wanted to stop by and tell you that I'll be your chaperone for the planetarium trips."

John raised an eyebrow. "Oh. No offense intended, but I thought one of the PTA parents would be coming. Typically the assistant vice principal doesn't do this sort of thing."

"Baby, you'll learn soon enough that I'm not your typical assistant vice principal," Tess replied with a smile. "And anyway, none of the parents volunteered, so I stepped in. I like to keep track of what's going on in the different departments, and science happens to be first on my list."

"Aren't I lucky," John replied, but it took a determined effort to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. Tess was one more stress he didn't need. While a parent would have been easy enough to deal with, he had a feeling that he and Tess would butt heads more than once over the course of the planetarium trips.

Tess nodded in agreement to his remark, then said, "I have an idea. Why don't we get a cup of coffee at the teacher's lounge to get to know each other? I have some suggestions for planetarium coursework."

And here we go, John thought in aggravation. He already had all of the activities planned out, and didn't need Tess' help. All he needed her to do was what she'd been assigned to do – chaperone. "Look, Tess, that's good of you to offer, but I think I'm fine with coursework. Besides, I really have to get home to my wife," he quickly replied as he passed her and reached the classroom door.

"Oh? Special occasion?" Tess asked.

At the innocent question, John hesitated. He didn't normally advertise about his wife's condition, but he figured that if he and Tess were going to be working together, the assistant vice principal should know. "Well, not exactly," John answered. "My wife…she has ovarian cancer, and her in home nurse just started work today. I'm eager to get home to see how things went."

Tess frowned in sympathy and walked out of the classroom. "I'm sorry about that, baby. We can always have coffee another time."

"That would be nice," John said, for the sole purpose of being polite. "I guess I'll see you around school." When she nodded and left, John locked the classroom door and headed out the door. He hadn't been lying when he said he wanted to check on his wife. All day long he'd been extremely worried about how well the nurse was taking care of Erica, so much that he called the house at least three times during his breaks. Even his students noticed his anxious, jittery behavior. For the sake of his mental health, he needed to get home as fast as he could.

When Erica woke up from her afternoon nap, she breathed a sigh of relief. The room was empty. The muted noise of the vacuum cleaner in the hallway revealed Gloria's location.

It wasn't that she didn't like the young nurse. In fact, she was both amused and intrigued by Gloria's constant perkiness and curiosity. But Gloria also didn't know the meaning of companionable silence. While they watched television or played card games, Gloria kept up a stream of questions about everything from Erica's family to her childhood. It got to the point where Erica sent her out of the room for a glass of water just to hear what was happening in a scene of her favorite soap opera.

This was only the first day, of course, so Erica predicted that Gloria would mellow out after a few days. Hopefully.

Then Erica glanced at the phone at her bedside, as if her waking up would cue it to ring. Another consistent interruption was John. True, she loved when he called once or twice during the day, but today he had been borderline obsessive. This she also hoped would fade before the week was over.

She didn't like all this fuss over her. By nature, she didn't love being the center of attention, so this was one more reason to hate her disease. It put her in a position that people with their own lives had to take care of her.

Of course, she hated cancer more because she was going to die soon. But not because she was afraid to die. No, she had faith, and knew that she would be going to Heaven. Her fate troubled her because she would be leaving John and Lucy behind. They…they were so alike that they still fought. John's discovery of his faith in God, while a miracle in itself, hadn't solved all their family problems. There were plenty of other issues where Lucy wanted John to listen to her, but he shut her out and insisted on his way.

"God help this family," Erica said in a quiet, pleading whisper.

Erica jumped slightly when the bedroom door opened and Gloria poked her head in "Oh, good, you're up! I'm about to start making some lasagna for dinner. Do you think you feel up to helping me?"

A 'no' at the tip of her tongue, Erica paused. She actually felt more energized than she had been in days. Never mind assisting; she felt like she could cook a whole meal by herself. "That…that would actually be very nice, Gloria," she replied. She put a steadying hand on the bedside table, then slowly brought her legs over to the side.

Gloria was almost instantly at her side. "Here, let me help you."

"Thank you," Erica replied. She transferred her hand to Gloria's shoulder, and the nurse helped her stand. Once on her feet, Erica found that she could stand and probably walk on her own. "Actually, I think I'll be able to make it on my own."

Gloria gave her an encouraging smile. "That's great! I'll walk next to you though, just in case."

The two made it to the kitchen without incident, and Erica sat at the kitchen table while Gloria began to get out the ingredients. Erica offered her own recipe for lasagna, which happened to be John and Lucy's favorite, and they chatted during dinner preparation. By the time John got home, dinner was in the oven and almost done.

"Wow, it smells great in here," John remarked as he came in and kissed Erica hello. "But I'm more amazed to see you up, honey."

"I woke up from a nap, and was feeling much better," Erica explained. "How was your day, sweetie?"

John shrugged. "The usual. Except that this woman named Tess is going to chaperone the field trips with me. Honestly I'd have preferred a parent. She seemed, well, a little more opinionated than I'd like."

There was a choking sound, and the two turned to see that Gloria had for some reason spit out the water she'd been drinking. She gave them a weak smile. "Sorry about that. Hi John!"

"Hello, Gloria. So, how did things go today?" He asked, his eyes still on the nurse.

"Great!" Gloria answered before Erica could. "We watched TV and played games and got to know each other. We had fun."

While the answer might have been pleasing, John frowned. "Not too much fun, I hope. Erica needs a lot of rest these days."

"No, it was fine," Erica insisted. Yes, Gloria had been a little overwhelming, but she was a nice young woman, and Erica wouldn't want her and John to get off on the wrong foot. "Gloria is wonderful company," she added.

The dinner proceeded in much the same way. When Lucy got home a half hour later, Gloria had dinner with the family. Erica felt sorry for Gloria, who was quizzed by her concerned family. Lucy and John asked her dozens of "what if" questions about anything Erica could possibly need, and even inquired about Gloria's nursing background. Erica spent the meal playing defense – with every question, Erica followed up with a compliment about Gloria's first day of work. But by the time the meal was over, she found herself exhausted and in need of another nap.

"I'll see you later, sweetheart," Erica said as she hugged her daughter. Lucy needed help with her history class, and since it was Erica's favorite subject in college, Erica had insisted that Lucy wake her up later to help. "Remember, come back and wake me up in an hour, okay?"

Lucy nodded. "Sure, Mom. Sweet dreams," she said. With tons of homework to do, she turned and headed towards her room.

Within five minutes Lucy had gone back to bed, and within six minutes she was fast asleep, the television still on…

She was in a beautiful field of wildflowers. A night sky was overhead, and she couldn't see anything else but the field for miles…except for a large rock, perfect for sitting and looking at the billions of stars above.

Instantly she knew she was dreaming. It was one of those dreams, where she was conscious of the fact that her real, sick body was in a bed at home. But she didn't care. If there was one thing Erica learned from her disease, it was to enjoy the moment.

"It's wonderful," she whispered to herself.

She didn't expect a response, and was therefore startled when there was one. "Yes it is, isn't it? God does create wonders."

Erica turned around to find that a young man in a beige suit was sitting on the rock. He had a warm smile on his face that reached his eyes, and she relaxed. She could trust this man, whoever it was that inhabited her dreams. "He certainly does. Who are you?"

"My name is Andrew," Andrew answered. He got up from the rock and offered her his hand for her to shake. "It's an honor to meet you, Erica."

After she shook his hand, Erica realized that he knew her name, and had mentioned God. For some reason, she reached a surprising conclusion. "Are you an angel?"

"Yes, I am," Andrew replied. "You're in God's country, a limbo between Earth and Heaven. It's a peaceful place where many angels go for personal reflection. This time, however, I have been instructed to use this place to talk to you through dreams."

Amazed, Erica paused to take in the information. God had sent her one of His angels. But why? "I don't understand," she confessed. "I have faith in God and know that I am going to Heaven when I die. Why does he feel the need to send you?"

Andrew smiled. "Yes, God loves you, and your faith in Him. But he also knows that this is a deeply troubling time for you, and that you don't feel you have opportunity to share your thoughts and fears. That is why I was sent."

"So…you're here just to listen to me talk?" Erica asked in disbelief.

"No, I'm here for you," Andrew explained. "To comfort you, to answer questions, to guide you."

Once Erica processed the answer, she found the was…relieved. Never one to keep a diary, she'd held many worries to herself over the years. She had no doubt that a good talk with Andrew would translate to a more relaxed waking life. "Wow, thank you," she said. "Tell God I said thank you as well."

"You just did," Andrew assured her.

One more concern occurred to her. "How will I get here again?"

"When I am needed, you will be here," Andrew explained. He paused and glanced to the sky. "Until next time, then."

Confused, Erica watched as God's country began to fade to white.

Before she could panic, her eyes opened to find Lucy giving her a worried look. "Mom, are you okay? You looked like you were having a weird dream or something."

"I'm wonderful, sweetie. Do you have your history books?" Erica asked. When Lucy held up her textbook and notebook, they settled down and began to go over Lucy's homework assignment.