CHAPTER 6
On the following morning, while the rain was still falling down outside, Andrew woke up with a pair of sparkling brown eyes staring at him. Monica had spent the last ten minutes sitting at the edge of the bed just looking at him, as if monitoring his sleep, and praying for his condition to get better.
"Angel..."
"Andrew? How are you feeling?" she wanted to know, quickly moving closer and placing her hand against his forehead.
"I'm... I guess I'm fine..." he quickly replied, trying to sit up in bed. But his dearest friend had other plans and gently stopped him. "No, Andrew, please you have to stay in bed and rest as much as you can. Besides, it's still too early."
"But I'm feeling better already, angel, I..."
"Your fever has broken but your human form is still healing... Please, stay?"
It was a long time ago that Andrew had come to terms with the fact that Monica's pleading look was definitely something he could not resist to. Sighing with resignation, and not all too happy about that situation, he nodded. "Alright... I'll stay a little more, but tell Rose that I'll join you downstairs for breakfast."
"How do you know I'm going to talk to her?" she asked, a bit surprised.
"Because, Monica, I know you so well that I can read this sparkle you have in those beautiful eyes, angel! And I'm under the impression you've found a 'free time assignment' here in this inn, and that you're off to work on it!"
Smiling and with her cheeks slightly blushed, she lowered her head and searched for his hand. "Promise me you'll rest a wee bit more?"
He nodded his head and took her own hand to his lips, "I promise."
Monica leaned over and kissed his cheek, "I'm going downstairs and see if I can help Rose to prepare breakfast. I'll be back later, okay?"
His eyes followed her until she disappeared through the door and once she was gone, he frowned with concern and amusement, "Help to prepare breakfast?"
X
"Good morning, Rose!" Monica greeted, once she entered the kitchen. The Irish lady smiled friendly at her at the same time she got the objects for breakfast. "Good morning, Monica. I hope you had a good night despite the storm."
"I confess I was a wee bit shaken at first but I offered my prayers and thanked God for putting you and John in our way, and it made me feel better."
Rose smiled and nodded her head, "I'm happy to have you guys in my house. How is Andrew?"
"The fever broke down but he's still tired. I asked him to rest a little more. Let me help you with this..." she offered, taking some objects from her hand.
"Thank you, Monica, you shouldn't be here helping me out, you're a guest, and-"
"I'm happy to help!"
And Monica's presence was really useful. She helped Rose to prepare all the food for breakfast (although the little angel didn't have much contact with the cooking part) and set the table. Soon, the typical Irish breakfast was ready: grapefruit with sugar, rashers, sausages and eggs, the lot served with scones and brown bread warm from the oven, honey, fresh butter and a pot of tea. She also made a bowl of smooth oatmeal porridge cooked in milk for her little daughter, who would wake up soon.
They were chatting about trivial matters when John's voice interrupted the conversation. "Good morning, Rose, Monica..."
"Good morning, John..." the Irish lady replied, with a slight smile on her face but at the same time, with an intense spark in her eyes - a spark that Monica could also detect in his own eyes.
"I was gonna ask you if you needed any help, but I can see that girls are really faster than the guys here!" he joked, taking the last tray with food from Rose's hands and placing it on the table.
"Well, you can tidy everything up later, mister!" Rose replied, forgetting for a few seconds about the great sorrow she seemed to bear in her heart. Monica smiled slightly and bit her lower lip, just observing as the couple looked at each other, and at how happy John was to see his friend's smile.
"Hey, this is not fair! You had Monica's help, and I'm on my own as Andrew has a cold!" he said, crossing his arms in front of his chest, and highly amused.
They heard another voice at that exact moment and looked at the door. "G'morning everybody!" little Marie spoke, rubbing her eye with one hand and carrying her inseparable teddy bear with the other.
"Hullo, Marie! Hullo you too, Alice!" Monica greeted the little girl.
"Good morning, sweetie! Did you sleep well?" her mother asked, her smile growing broader at seeing the little girl, who had slept with her due to the scaring thunderstorm.
"Yes, Alice was afraid but I told her uncle Johnny was here too, and then she wasn't afraid anymore," she answered, making the three adults exchange an amused glance.
Smiling mischievously, John gave a step towards her, "Hey! I guess I found two people to help me tidy up the kitchen!"
Marie let out an excited yelp and rushed to the kitchen door, "You gotta catch Alice and me first, uncle Johnny!"
"Well, here I go!"
As they left the room, with the little girl's laugher filling the air, Monica turned to look at Rose again. "He seems to be very fond of her..."
"Yes... And the feeling is mutual. Marie loves John, she's always so happy to see him..."
The angel noticed how, little by little, the expression on Rose's face changed to a sad, melancholic one.
"He seems to be very protective of you two... I saw the look in his eyes yesterday, when we were running away from the storm. He was so worried about you and wee Marie being here all alone..." she said, as Rose moved to sit on a chair.
"Yes... John is... Sometimes I believe he's an angel watching over my daughter and me."
Monica sat down in front of her and kept on talking, "I know how it feels... And... if you ask me, I guess it's not only wee Marie who is happy with his presence..."
Rose gave a bittersweet smile, and then looked at Monica with her eyes filled with tears, "Do you want to know how we first met?"
"Sure..."
(Rose's flashback)
Rose drove along the road, appreciating the beautiful green valleys and flowered fields that formed one of the most beautiful landscapes she'd ever seen. The lady had been born there but left the region to finish her studies, and got married right after that. That tour would always bring many memories to her mind. The latest ones, though, were not happy ones. Her father had passed away a few months earlier and, now divorced and with a cute three year old daughter, she decided to come back for good and start a new life - away from her abusive husband, who she hoped never to see again.
Rose had inherited a small castle, where she'd grown up and spent some of the happiest moments of her life. Her father had turned it into an inn for hikers and travellers who would explore that beautiful region, and now that her parents were not there anymore, she would be the one to own the place. Marie, her little daughter, would grow up there and in the future, the girl would have wonderful memories of a childhood spent on the fields of Ireland, surrounded by beauty and tranquillity.
"We're almost there, wee one!" she said, looking at the baby girl sitting on the car chair placed in the back seat.
"Wanna see the sheep, mommy!"
"Mommy is gonna take you to see the sheep, the goats, the squirrels... You'll see all of them, poppet!" She laughed as the little girl clapped her hands excitedly and let out a yelp. "Yey!"
But that happy moment didn't last for long: all of a sudden, a car with a group of apparently drunk teenagers came along in the opposite direction and, with a quick movement to avoid the collision, she made her car turn to the right and lost control over it. Everything happened very fast: the road was narrow and the abysm just a few steps away from it. Although Rose used all her strength to swerve to the left, the car went to the opposite direction. The vehicle skidded, overturned on its right and started to roll down the hill in an unstoppable spinning; panic took over the young lady and her little daughter, and the two of them started to scream terrified at what was happening.
After descending for some minutes, the car struck many trees, slowing down, and stopped upside down. But with its back half hanging on the edge of another precipice. With a nasty cut on her temple, she turned to look at Marie, and saw she apparently had just a few scratches. The fact that she was attached to the car chair avoided her from being thrown from one side to another inside the car.
"Marie... sweetie, tell mommy... does it hurt somewhere?" she wanted to know, her entire body trembling with panic. But everything the little girl could do was cry and call for her. Rose tried to move but only then she realised her leg was stuck and she had probably broken a few bones due to the sharp pain she was feeling. But the attempt to move caused another terrifying discovery: the car was about to fall again, as the small trees that were supporting it wouldn't hold it for a long time.
"Oh, God... Please, please help us... My little daughter... please, save her..." she prayed, crying desperately.
John drove along the road with a worried expression on his face. A car with a group of young guys had passed by him, heading opposite direction, and the way it zigzagged along the narrow road told him they were all drunk. Being a History teacher and an avid reader, he was able to read the license plate and keep the number in mind. They were not from there and the first thing he would do when he arrived in town was warn the local chief of police. John even accelerated the car, worried about the few vehicles that travelled on those roads and a possible accident that could happen.
But unfortunately his fears seemed to materialise sooner than he thought. The History teacher saw the marks on the asphalt just ahead of him and slowed the car. The few broken twigs that grew close to the road were enough to make him pull over and leave his car. He followed the marks and the remains of the tragedy that had just happened, and his eyes soon caught sight of a car, partially destroyed, hanging in the abysm not far from him.
"Oh, no..." he whispered, listening to Rose's cry for help a second later.
Quickly coming down the ravine, he managed to reach the car a minute later, and his heart clenched at the image of mother and daughter stuck inside the vehicle.
"Please, calm down, I'm here to help you..." he managed to say, never feeling so nervous in his whole life.
"Sir... Please, save my daughter..." Rose spoke, not believing that, in those deserted roads, someone had actually appeared to help them.
"I will... I'll help you..." he said, placing his hand over her shoulder for a moment. Then, he turned to the crying little girl. "Hey, sweetie... I'm gonna make a big noise here to open the door, ok?" Careful not to hurt the baby, he broke the car window and managed to open the back door from inside. Then, he reached out and grabbed the car chair. It was then that they felt the vehicle balancing in the abysm.
"God, help us... save my little daughter..." Rose cried, with her heart pounding erratically in her chest.
"Please, please, be calm lady... I'm gonna take you two out of here," he finally set the little girl free from the chair and took her tiny hand, "Come with me, sweetie... I'm gonna take you to a good place..."
"Mommy! I want mommy!" she replied, permanently crying.
"I'll tell you what: I'll take you out and then I'll come back to get your mommy for you, ok?"
"Go with the gentleman, sweetie... Mommy is going next..."
Sobbing, Marie finally took his hand and he gathered her in his arms, taking her out of the vehicle. "Shh... It's ok, sweetie... It's ok..." John whispered, trying everything to put her little heart at ease. "I'll come back for you, miss..."
Quickly, he climbed the ravine and took the girl up to his car, making her sit on the back seat. "Now you stay here like a big girl while I'll get your mommy for you, ok?"
"Mommy!" she cried, and as much as it broke his heart, he had to be fast: that beautiful young lady's life depended on him. "I'll get her for you, sweetie."
John kissed the top of the girl's head and went down the ravine once again. "She's alright now, I put her in my car..." he quickly informed, practically deciphering Rose's questioning look.
"Thank you, sir... Thank you so much... God must have sent you here..."
He shook his head, frowning with concern and not wanting to have any credit for what he was doing. "I have to take you out now..."
"My leg is stuck... I can't move it..." she said, but that didn't stop him. After a few attempts to open the door, he decided he would take her through the window.
"Give me your hand..." As she reached out and felt his firm grip around her small hand, she spoke again, "But I'm stuck..."
"I know, but I'll help you... I need you to hold my both hands so that I can pull you out, it's the only way... if I get in the car it'll fall down the abysm..."
"Okay..."
John knew that young lady's life depended on him, and at the moment she held his hands, his heart was filled with compassion, protectiveness and a surge of other loving emotions. All he wished at that very moment was to take away the utter fear he could see written in those soft brown eyes.
And Rose immediately saw the fierce protectiveness written on his handsome face. She was putting her life in his hands and, despite the fact that he was a total stranger, somehow she felt it was the right thing to do. Surprised, she felt her heart filled with deep trust, and her fear diminished as John grabbed her other hand and pulled her close to him.
She let out a painful cry as he removed her out of the car and, a few moments later, when she was already safe in his arms, they saw the small trees that supported the vehicle give in, and the car fall down in the abysm.
"Oh, God... Thank you!" John whispered, holding Rose in his arms. Although he was aware she was in deep pain due to her leg, he couldn't help heaving a sigh of relief: mother and daughter were safe. "Come on, miss, I'll take you two to the nearest hospital. I'll help you."
"I... I have no words to thank you..." she said, crying with emotion in the arms of her saviour.
"You don't have to thank me... I'm the one who's grateful... grateful that I was here at the right moment, and that I could help you two..."
He helped her up to the car and as she saw her mother, little Marie practically jumped in her arms, both crying with emotion.
x
On the following day, at the city hospital.
"... and then Baloo, Mowgli's Papa Bear, held Mowgli in his arms and rocked him until he fell asleep."
Rose was sitting in bed, with Marie sitting by her side, and the little girl was attentively listening to her mother's words as she read for her. Fortunately, their wounds were not serious. Little Marie had just a few scratches on her face and little arms, and that was thanks to the car chair. Rose also had some scratches and a concussion in her temple, and had broken her ankle. But the young lady spent hours sending prayers of thanks for surviving that serious accident and being able to hold her little daughter again.
A soft knock at the door interrupted the story, and after hearing Rose's reply, John opened the door. "Hello... How is everybody doing?" he greeted, with a friendly smile, even though he'd spent the night there and only left for a few hours, after talking to the doctor and being assured they would be fine.
"Oh, please, do come in... We're both fine, and you're one of the greatest responsible for this!" she replied, as he came closer to bed.
John shook his head, gently disagreeing with her, "I did what any decent person would have done..." he was carrying a bouquet of flowers and a cute female teddy bear. "I brought you these..."
"Oh... they're lovely!" she said, taking the bouquet in both hands and smelling the wild flowers sweet perfume. And her broad smile was the best reward he could ever have.
"And this is for you, sweetie..." he gave the cute teddy bear to Marie, whose broad smile was as enchanting as her mother's, "... I told her there was a little girl who would take really good care of her!"
The little girl looked at the present she'd just got and then back at him, her sparkling hazel eyes beaming with happiness, "Thank you..."
"You're more than welcome!" he replied, tenderly ruffling her curly brown hair.
"My name is Rose... and this is Marie."
He quickly held her hand in both of his, "I'm John. It's really nice to meet you, Rose."
(End of Rose's flashback)
"John visited us every single day until the day we left hospital. And he was there too, offering himself to bring us home." The Irish woman told Monica, who was smiling at the end of the story.
"I'm always happy to know there are people with a good and gentle heart in this world."
"Yes... That's John..." Rose agreed, also with a smile on her pretty face, and her eyes shining with emotion. "... from that moment on, he became a dear friend; maybe the closest friend I have here, as I lost my mother when I was still a little girl, and my father a while ago..."
"I'm so sorry..."
At that moment, they heard Marie's excited giggles coming from the other room, bringing back a smile on Rose's face, "Oh, but I have the most precious treasure God could ever give me!"
"I'm sure you do!" Monica said, and even though Rose's eyes were filled with happiness whenever she talked about Marie, the Irish angel could feel that there was a permanent hint of sorrow lingering in her heart. It was time for breakfast but later on she would find out what was causing all that sadness, and a way to help her.
And secretly, the little angel had a strong feeling that John could help the healing process a lot more than any angel or other human being could.