DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own the characters from TBAA. They belong to CBS. Everyone you don't recognize, I do own.
Enjoy!
God loves you!
A/N: Here is the chapter everyone's been waiting for! Get ready for a fast paced time!
"Leave, Get Out"
Chapter 4-No Safer Place
"What have we got!" A female doctor by the name of Arielle Larson shouted to her colleagues. They had just unloaded the ambulance with Celine in it and were now heading towards an available trauma room.
"Thirteen year old female, possible suicide attempt.
"What's her name?" Dr. Susan Larkin asked.
"Celine, please, don't do this. " Gloria whispered to Celine's spirit. "Please. God wants you to live, sweetheart. He doesn't want you to do this. It's not your time to go home yet. Please." The youngest angel was pleading now, tears in her voice.
Gloria knew it was her time to become visible for the time being. She did so, surprised when her attire changed to match that of the staff's.
"Celine." Gloria replied, answering Susan's unanswered question. "Her name is Celine. Celine Casey."
"Gloria?" Susan asked, not sure she was seeing right. "Wha-what are you doing here?"
"I'm here for the same reason you are." Gloria replied. "I'm here to help you save this little girl. She means a lot to me. She's one of my best friends."
Susan nodded. She heard the catch in the angel's voice at the last part of her statement.
"We'll do all we can." Susan replied.
Gloria nodded. She stood by Celine's bedside and took her friend's free hand.
"Celine, please, if you can hear me, hang on. You have to fight to live. Do it for your Mom, do it for me, but most importantly, do it for yourself and God. God loves you, Celine. He doesn't want you to come home to Heaven just yet."
By this time, Susan and Arielle had gotten Celine hooked up to an IV and had done some necessary tests to make sure her blood count was normal. They also did an ultra-sound to see if there were any traces of pills in her system.
They were now rehydrating her via IV, along with giving Celine the necessary medicine to help her survive.
"Father, please," Gloria prayed. "Please, help her. Please!"
"We need a #8 ET tube and I need a hundred of atomidate and a hundred of sucks!" Susan ordered. "She's not moving any air through."
Just then, Gloria felt Celine squeeze her hand slightly. She gazed down to see Celine's blue eyes starting to open.
"Gla…Glor…." Celine tried. Her voice was tired and full of pain. Despite this, the young girl managed to get across who she wanted to help her. "Gloria!"
Gloria grinned, despite the tears that were coursing down her cheeks.
"Thank you, Father, thank you." The youngest angel praised. "Thank you!" She then turned her attention to Celine.
Susan was just about to intubate her, but Celine was fighting her out of fear.
"Celine, it's okay, sweetheart. I'm right here." Gloria assured her frightened best friend. "I'm right here, but you need to let Dr. Larkin help you. I'm not gonna leave you."
Celine let out a sob as she squeezed Gloria's hand. She tried to sit up in an attempt to bury her face in Gloria's shoulder. Gloria was the only familiar person she saw and she wanted her to protect her.
"No, no, sweetheart, you can't do that." Gloria told her. She gently pushed her back down before starting to stroke her hair.
"Gloria, I wanna go home!" Celine cried. "I just wanna go home!"
"We need to sedate her." Lucy observed. She hated doing this to kids, but Celine was panicking and they needed to help her.
"What did you say, Cel?" Gloria asked.
"I wanna go home!" Celine repeated.
It was then that Gloria saw what Lucy was going to do.
"Wait. I need to ask her something. It's important." Gloria stressed the last word so that Lucy would understand.
Lucy gazed into Gloria's eyes and nodded. She had never worked with her before, but she had heard about her from Susan and Arielle. They both said Gloria was sweet, but they would be silly to try and interfere with her duties from the Father.
"Celine, listen to me." Gloria instructed kindly. "When you say you want to go 'home, do you mean home to Heaven or home to your Mom?"
Celine gazed into Gloria's eyes before answering her question.
The youngest angel could see fear in their depths. She wanted nothing more than to take Celine into her arms and hold her, but she knew she couldn't right then.
"I wanna go home! I want my Mom!"
That was enough for Gloria. She had gotten the answer she needed. She only hoped Celine would listen to her.
"Thank the Father." She breathed gratefully. She then turned her attention to Celine. "If you want to go home to your Mom, you need to let Dr. Larkin and Dr. Chasity help you."
"Gloria, I hurt!" Celine cried. She squeezed Gloria's hand desperately, praying she could help her.
"I know you do, honey. That's why the doctors have to help you. They're gonna make it not hurt anymore, but you need to cooperate."
"Okay!" Celine whimpered.
"Aw, good girl. I'm not gonna leave you. I promise. I'm gonna warn you, you won't like what's going to happen next, but I'm not going to leave you."
Celine nodded.
Gloria made eye contact with Lucy and shook her head.
"I can keep her calm." Gloria assured her. "At least for now. Trust me. God wouldn't have sent me here if He didn't think I could help."
"She's right." Susan chimed in. She could tell Gloria was telling the truth. She had seen her work miracles with other children before.
Lucy nodded. She put the sedative away for now and let Susan do her part.
"Okay, Celine, I need you to swallow and keep on swallowing once I put this in your mouth, okay?"
Celine looked at the tube wearily before nodding her head. She had already started crying, which broke Gloria's heart.
The young angel knew her best Human friend was in emotional pain and she couldn't take it away.
As the tube entered Celine's mouth, she began to swallow.
"That's it," Gloria encouraged. "You're okay, Cel. It's okay. I'm right here. Just keep swallowing. You're doing fine."
Celine made the sign for 'no before making the sign for 'hurt.
"I know it hurts, sweetheart." Gloria assured her. "Believe me, I know. But you're gonna be okay. You need to do this. It's the only way you'll feel better. I'm right here."
As Celine swallowed again, she felt the sudden urge to throw up. She started to give in, but the youngest angel was faster.
"Celine, you can't do that." Gloria told her. "You need to swallow. I know it hurts and I know you're feeling nauseous, but you can't give into it. At least not yet."
Celine tried her best, but it was hard. She managed to swallow again, but she was still in pain.
"That's it," Gloria continued to encourage. "Good girl. It's okay, Cel. It's okay. It'll be out soon, honey."
Just then, Celine made the sign for Monica and pointed to her left.
Gloria looked up to see her supervisor coming towards them. She came to Celine's right side and put a hand on her shoulder.
"How are you doin'?" She asked. She patted Celine's shoulder gently to let her know she was there.
Celine shook her head as a few tears coursed down her cheeks.
"She's not doing so well." Gloria informed her supervisor and best friend. "She keeps signing that it hurts and she feels like she's gonna throw up. She was pretty scared when she woke up. They almost had to sedate her, but I stopped them."
Monica nodded.
"And you did a good job." She assured her. "Celine's gonna be okay. It's the road she must travel after the physical recovery that I'm worried about."
Gloria frowned.
"What do you mean?" She asked. She was still stroking Celine's hair in an effort to keep her calm.
Monica frowned.
"Caleb has been accused of raping another student. There's goin' to be a trial in two weeks." She gestured towards Celine before glancing at Gloria.
Gloria shook her head in disbelief.
"No, please tell me Cel's not going to have to…" Gloria's voice trailed off.
"I'm afraid so, little one." Monica replied. "Celine is going to have to testify against him."
Celine awoke a few hours later to find herself in a different place altogether. She was in a field and Gloria was there. She glanced up at her best friend before asking the first question that came to her mind.
"Gloria, where are we?" She asked. She was surprised she could talk. She was also surprised she didn't feel any pain for the moment.
Gloria gave Celine a reassuring look.
"We're in a safe place, Cel. This is God's country. It's a place between Heaven and earth."
"Why did you bring me here?" She asked curiously.
"I brought you here so we can talk." Gloria told her. "Come here and sit with me."
Celine obliged without a second thought. She cuddled into Gloria, making the youngest angel's heart melt.
"I've missed this." Celine admitted. "I know I haven't been nice to you. I'm really sorry, Gloria."
"Celine, I don't blame you for anything." Gloria assured her. "Like I told you yesterday, I'm not mad at you. I promise. I just want you to feel better."
"I'm scared!" Celine cried suddenly, her voice tearful and desperate. She buried her face in Gloria's shoulder all of a sudden.
"I know you are, Cel, I know. It's okay, it's okay. I have you. You're safe now, sweetheart. You're safe. You're as safe as you can be." It was then that the youngest angel recalled somethin' her supervisor always told her. "God's care is the safest place to be."
"I know!" Celine replied, her voice slightly calmer. "But I can't stay here forever!"
"That's right," Gloria confirmed softly. "I'm glad you realize that. But even though you can't stay here forever, God is always with you. He won't leave you, Celine. He loves you so much. He wants you to live for Him. He wants you to accept His help to win this fight."
"Will He protect me from Caleb?" Celine asked.
"Yes, oh yes. Of course He will. That's why He sent me and Monica to help you. Tess too. But the Father knows you trust me and Monica above any other angels, so He sent us to help you. God loves you so much that He gave you free will. He also gave you courage and strength. The courage to do what you know is right."
"I can't testify against him, Gloria! I can't!" Celine cried, getting worked up again.
Meanwhile, back on earth, Monica was sitting by Celine's bedside, waiting for Gloria to return. She could tell by the way Celine's monitors were acting up, she was worked up herself. The Irish angel could tell she was pretty upset.
"Gloria, please calm her down before someone finds out." Monica prayed. "Father, please, let Gloria get through to Celine."
"Celine, shh, it's okay, it's okay. I know you're afraid, honey. So does God. God knows too. But He wants to give you the strength and courage you need to fight this battle. You can testify against Caleb-but if-and only if-you ask God for what you need. He'll give you anything you need. All you have to do is ask." She assured the shaking and crying teenager in her arms.
"Really?" Celine asked. She had calmed down considerably, but she was still crying a little.
Gloria smiled, happy she had gotten through to her best Human friend.
"Really." She confirmed.
An hour later, which was really twenty minutes on earth, Gloria returned to her supervisor's side.
Monica gave her 'little one an expectant look.
"I think I got through to her." She reported.
"Good. Now we just need her to wake up."
As if an answer to the Irish angel's prayer, Celine's eyes started to flutter open. She gazed at Gloria and made the sign for out and pointed to the tube.
"Soon, Cel." The youngest angel assured her. "The tube will be out soon."
A few minutes later, Dr. Susan Larkin walked in. SHE gave the two angels a smile before checking Celine over. She made sure her IV line wasn't crooked before preparing to exubate her.
"Are you ready to get that tube out, sweetie?" Susan asked.
Celine nodded and made the sign for 'please.
"Aw, sure thing. All right, I'm gonna take it out, but you need to help me out. I need you to take a deep breath in and then blow it out hard on the count of three. Now do you want me to count or Gloria?"
Celine shrugged before turning her gaze upon Gloria.
"Okay. Deep breath in." Susan instructed the little girl kindly.
Celine did as she was told. She held it and gazed at Gloria for further instructions.
"Okay. 1-2-3, blow out now!" Gloria instructed.
Celine did just that.
As she did so, she started to cough and then gag. She was on the verge of throwing up and Gloria got to her first. She placed a bucket in front of Celine as Monica helped her to sit up.
"That's it, Cel. It's okay. You need to get it up." Gloria told her.
"Gla…Gloria…" Celine said, her voice coming out scratchy and full of tiredness. "Gloria, it still hurts!"
"I know it does, sweetheart, I know. Shh, shh. Hush. You need to stay quiet for now. You need to rest your voice."
Celine nodded. She did as Gloria said. Before obeying her best friend, she requested one thing.
"Can I lay in your lap, ple…please?" She asked before starting to cough.
Gloria grinned.
"Sure." She then looked to Susan for the okay.
"She certainly can. You need to be careful because of the IV." She advised.
"Okay." With that, Gloria helped Celine get situated. After the little girl was comfortable, Gloria tried to get her to sip at some water, but Celine wouldn't have any of it. She was comfortable and very tired. All she wanted to do was sleep.
Monica smiled at the interaction before excusing herself to get a cup of coffee. SHE promised Gloria she would be back.
After Monica was gone, Gloria turned her attention to Celine. She started singing to the child, knowing it would help her fall back to sleep.
Sure enough, ten minutes into Gloria singing "Safe in the Father's Arms," Celine was in dreamland once again.
"I love you, Celine. Sweet dreams, sweetheart." With that, Gloria sat there, praying Celine would be okay.
'Father, please help Celine find the courage to fight this battle with faith.' Gloria prayed. She knew the Father would answer her prayer in His time. And it was enough for the youngest angel at the moment…