Dana stumbled to her car in a daze, barely aware of her surroundings. The
man who had attacked her had finished the violation, and then left,
ordering Dana to count to fifty before getting up. She dared not chance a
look; for fear that her attacker would kill her. Everything hurt so badly,
she could hardly walk, but she knew that if she didn't get to where people
were she was as good as dead. Once she got to her car, Dana realized that
she didn't have her purse, leaving her with no car keys, no cell phone, and
no money to call anyone. A groan of pain and frustration escaped her, as
she exhaustedly slid into a sitting position next to her car, leaning
against the tire. Andrew stood near Dana, protectively watching the
parking lot, in case her attacker returned. He spoke quietly to her,
trying to soothe her spirit. It was at times like this when angels didn't
have interest in speaking to a person's mind, but to their heart and
spirit. Sometimes, the spirit is the only thing that can still hear.
A man who appeared to be in his mid 50's exited the convenience store carrying a brown paper sack. Norman Ramke was in the middle of his routine, one that had been uneventfully occurring since he was in his thirties. He would get off work, go to the same convenience store, and pick up a six-pack of beer. Then it was home to his wife and hopefully, a football game. In the morning, he'd do it all over again. Norman was a man who liked his life to be kept uneventful, but little did he know that this night would be anything but.
As he walked toward his car, he noticed that there was a slumped figure sitting next to the tire of the car adjacent to his. He quickened his pace, and all at once he realized that the figure was a young woman, and even in the poor lighting, he could see that she had been hurt. His guts twisted as he took in her badly torn pants and shirt, and the look of raw fear on her face. He could only guess what she had been through, but he thought he had a pretty good idea what had happened. And if his suspicions were correct, the young woman wasn't going to be too thrilled about any man coming near her for quite a while.
Norman placed his sack on the ground, and slowly approached Dana. As soon she saw him, though, she cowered further against her car. "Miss, I'm not going to hurt you, okay?" Norman told her, trying to keep his voice as soft and unthreatening as possible. "I just want to get you inside so we can get you some help." Andrew breathed a sigh of relief, and offered up a prayer of gratitude as he realized that Dana was finally going to get some help.
Dana didn't seem to be registering anything that was being said to her, and Norman was afraid that she was going into shock. He considered picking her up and taking her inside, but quickly decided that would be a bad idea. Instead he pulled out the cell phone that his oldest daughter had bought him. "You never know when you'll need one," she had told him. Norman didn't think this was what she had in mind.
He fiddled with the phone for a second, trying to remember how to use it. After a minute of pushing buttons and a few muttered curses, he finally managed to dial 911. The operator answered and Norman quickly told her the situation and their current location. She took Norman's name, and promised that help was on the way and would be there soon. "What can I do for her in the meantime? I mean, if she's been through what I think she has, a man is probably the last thing she needs around her right now."
"Just stay with her and try to reassure her that she's safe, and that nobody's going to hurt her," the operator told him. "There's really nothing else you can do."
"Okay, thanks," Norman said, and hung up the phone. He turned his attention back to Dana, and crouched down to her level. She was sitting with her back against the front tire of her car, her knees pulled up to her chest. "Ok, miss, I called the paramedics, and help is on the way. You're safe now, and nothing bad's going to happen to you." Dana briefly looked up at him, and for the first time Norman looked full into her eyes. He felt like he had physically been punched as he saw the pain and horror that radiated from their azure depths. He also saw something else that haunted him, something that he couldn't remember seeing since his days in the army - the empty look of someone who's spirit has just been shattered.
Norman pulled his eyes away from Dana's as he heard the approaching sirens in the distance. He stood up from his crouch and looked across the lot and down the road, where he could see the flashing lights as they drew closer and closer. "I'll be right back, I'm just going to direct the paramedics."
The older man broke into a run that an 18 year old would envy, and reached the edge of the lot just as the ambulance was pulling in. He quickly directed the rescue workers to the young woman, and watched worriedly as they took care of her, and loaded her onto a gurney. As Norman watched, he thought about his own daughters, the oldest of which was about the same age as this young woman, and shuddered. He couldn't imagine how he would react if this was one of his children. All he knew was that even though he didn't know this woman, he still felt his blood boil with anger toward her attacker. He watched as they put Dana into the ambulance, and as the paramedics started to climb into the back with her, he grabbed the arm of one of them. "What hospital are you taking her to?" Norman knew that he'd want to know how she was doing, and maybe he'd take her some flowers or something.
"Mercy General," the young man replied. "She'll go in through the ER, but I think the cops are gonna want to talk with you before you go anywhere."
Norman nodded, and turned back towards the police cruisers that had entered the parking lot. There was a small crowd of employees and customers from the convenience store that had gathered, and some of the officers were busy trying to keep the onlookers from contaminating the crime scene. Kathleen was one of the people in the crowd, and as she watched the ambulance that held Dana pull away, she hid a smug grin of perverse pleasure. Andrew had been so intent on Dana, that he didn't even notice the presence of the evil demon. The only one who had known Kathleen was present was Jason, Dana's attacker. She had been planting the seeds of this crime in his head ever since he first saw Dana and Monica jogging that morning. How easy he had been to sway, she thought. It didn't take much for that particular human to be convinced to do the unspeakable.
One of the officers was filling out a report next to his cruiser, and when he saw Norman approach, he beckoned for him. "Hello, Mr." the officer paused, waiting for Norman to supply a name.
"Ramke, Norman Ramke," he replied, extending his hand.
The officer shook it and then continued. "Mr. Ramke. I'm Detective Peyton. I understand you were the one who found the victim."
"Yes. I was coming out of the store and I saw her by the car." Norman watched as Detective Peyton jotted down notes as he spoke.
"Did you see anything else out of the ordinary, either going in or coming out?"
Norman shook his head. "No, I didn't see anything. Which doesn't make any sense now that I think about it. I was only in the store for about 15 minutes. That doesn't seem like enough time for what happened to that girl."
"Well, it's really hard to say how long the attack took, but it didn't occur near her car. The perp dragged her into an alley, and then we think she got herself back to the car. Do you know her?"
Norman let out a long, low whistle, "Geez, that's one tough cookie. No, I don't know her."
The detective pulled out a business card and handed it to Norman. "Here's my card. Call me if you think of anything else. If we find a suspect you may be called to testify, so try to stick around. we'll be in touch."
"Ok, thanks detective," Norman shook the man's hand again before retreating to his car. On his way home, he stopped at a gas station and bought another six-pack. After what he had seen that night, he didn't think that one would do it.
****** Tess looked through the kitchen to check on Monica, who was sitting on the couch, her legs tucked underneath her. The young angel had practically been jumping out of her skin at every noise since Tess had told her that Dana was in trouble. Finally, Monica's preoccupation had Tess worried that she would hurt herself preparing the casserole, so she sent her charge into the living room. Now Monica was just sitting, staring at the phone as if she was willing it to ring. "Tess, have you heard anything?" Monica asked, breaking the tense silence that had been hanging over the house. "I can't sit here much longer."
"I don't know anything more than I've told you, Angel Girl," Tess told her, "but the Father says that we'll know soon."
As if on cue the phone rang, and Monica jumped before answering it. "Hello?"
A professional sounding, female voice came onto the line, "Hello, is this Monica?"
"Yes. What's going on?" Monica tried not to give anything away, but her voice was already sounding strained.
"My name is Leslie Graves, and I'm a doctor at the Mercy General emergency room. We have a patient here by the name of Dana Larkin. Do you know her?"
A hospital? Monica's mind whirled, coming up with all the worst possibilities. "Yes, she's my roommate. What happened to her? Is she all right?"
"Dana was attacked, and she was brought in to the ER here about forty minutes ago. We don't have much information yet, because she is in shock. Your name is the only word she has said since she arrived, and we found her phone number on her ID. We took a guess that you might be her sister or a friend." The doctor's voice was laced with sympathy. As Dr. Graves spoke to Monica, her mind wandered back in time to the moment Dana was brought in. The young doctor remembered hearing in medical school that there were certain images seen in medicine that burned themselves into the memory. For her, this was one of them.
All the color drained from Monica's face, and her eyes filled with tears. "What kind of attack?" She choked out. The seemingly insignificant incident from their morning jog came barreling into the angel's mind, and with it came intense fear of what the answer might be.
"I think you should come down here, and we can talk when you arrive," Dr. Graves replied. She hated telling things of this nature over the phone, even though she hated saying them at all.
"I'll be right there," Monica said quickly before hanging up the phone. She turned to Tess, who had sat down next to her on the couch when the phone rang. "Dana was attacked," She said, her voice shaking. "The doctor won't tell me what happened, only that Dana's in shock. But, I can't help thinking that this had something to do with that guy we saw the other day."
"Baby, we don't know that," Tess began, "we - "
"Well, why didn't I know something was going to happen, huh Tess?" Monica interrupted. "Why couldn't I stop it? Why wouldn't God let me? I'm supposed to be Dana's friend, and her angel, and now she's lying in a hospital. hurt.. Because I was told to stay here. I feel like I let it happen to her." her voice trailed off, and tears slipped down her cheeks.
Tess put her arm around Monica's slender shoulders and pulled her charge close. "Angel Girl, I don't know why this has happened, but I can tell you that it was not something that you could have stopped. Humans have free will, baby, and sometimes they use it for terrible things. As hard as it is sometimes, we can't intervene in free will, because even though some humans use it for the most unspeakable evil, it is God's greatest gift to his people. And it's not something that we can take away, no matter how much we want to. God doesn't plan things like this, but He will help Dana through this. That's what you're here for. Now, I suggest we get down to that hospital so we can start doing just that." Monica wiped at her eyes, and nodded slightly. The two angels left the house and got into Tess's caddy, and started for the hospital.
Once they reached Mercy General, Monica entered the ER alone. At the last minute, Tess had been called away to get ready for her role in this assignment. Monica steeled herself and walked up to the nurses' station. "Hello," she said to one of the nurses, "My name is Monica. I was called by a Dr. Graves, about my friend, Dana."
The nurse looked up and nodded, "Ok, just have a seat over there and she'll be out shortly." She gestured to a bank of chairs against the wall. Monica smiled and took a seat, looking at her surroundings. There were other people sitting in the waiting room, and being an angel, Monica could see the other members of the angelic realm wandering around the entire ER. There were angels with all of the patients, and their families. Not all of them were caseworkers like her, though. Monica recognized several angels of death that she had seen over the years, and her heart skipped a beat as she prayed fiercely that none of those angels were here for Dana.
Dr. Graves walked up to the waiting area and scanned the room for Dana's roommate. "Is there someone here for Dana Larkin?" She asked.
The young angel looked up into the green eyes of Dr. Graves. Her stomach twisted into knots as she saw the sympathy there. "Yes, I'm Monica," she said. The young angel stood, and followed the doctor to a corner of the room, away from the other people. "Is Dana all right? What happened to her?"
Dr. Graves sat down next to Monica, "First of all, Dana is doing fine physically. She has some scratches and a lot of bumps and bruises, but she's going to be all right. However, emotionally she has a long road to travel."
"Why?" Monica asked, already knowing that she didn't want to hear this.
The doctor hesitated for a moment before continuing, "When Dana was brought into the ER, there was evidence of a sexual assault. We did a rape kit, which confirmed our suspicions." Monica took a deep breath. Part of her had suspected this from the moment the doctor had called her, but hearing the words spoken somehow made it more real. She tried to blink back the tears that sprang to her eyes, but they escaped anyways and rolled down her pale face. "Has she come out of shock yet?" She asked quietly. "Can I see her?"
"I'll take you to her in a moment," Dr. Graves replied gently. "We did give her a sedative to help her during the examination. It's usually pretty traumatic on someone who's been assaulted, so she's asleep right now. She should be much more lucid in the morning, and we'll have a crisis counselor come to speak to her." She stood up, "I'll take you back to see her now. Just follow me."
Monica stood and followed the doctor back to a closed exam room. She stifled a gasp when she saw her friend and assignment, lying in the hospital bed. Her face was bruised and swollen, and dark bruises also adorned her arms and neck. She was hooked up to an IV and a heart monitor, which steadily gave assurance that Dana was indeed alive. Dr. Graves left the room quietly as Monica sat down in a chair next to the bed. "How could anyone do something like this to another human being?" She whispered aloud to nobody in particular.
She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see Andrew standing there. His green eyes were shining with unshed tears, and his face was drawn with sadness. "Andrew?" Monica said. "You were there, weren't you?"
Andrew nodded silently. "And not being able to do anything was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. It was terrible, Monica, and I don't know how anyone could do something like this."
"Me neither," Monica replied as Andrew voiced her earlier question. For several minutes, the two angels remained silent, Andrew's hand still resting on his friend's shoulder. It was finally Monica who broke the silence. "Do you know where Tess is?"
"She's going to be Dana's crisis counselor. I guess this is where the backup comes in." Andrew sighed heavily.
"Do you think I'll be able to help her through this, Andrew?" Monica asked in a whisper. "Do you think anyone can?"
Andrew shuddered involuntarily as the memory of Dana's attack raced through his mind. "If anyone can, it's God and you, Monica," he told her, squeezing her shoulder. In the back of his mind, he knew that he hadn't given his true opinion to his friend, though. Honestly, after what he had seen, he didn't know how anyone could get through it.
A man who appeared to be in his mid 50's exited the convenience store carrying a brown paper sack. Norman Ramke was in the middle of his routine, one that had been uneventfully occurring since he was in his thirties. He would get off work, go to the same convenience store, and pick up a six-pack of beer. Then it was home to his wife and hopefully, a football game. In the morning, he'd do it all over again. Norman was a man who liked his life to be kept uneventful, but little did he know that this night would be anything but.
As he walked toward his car, he noticed that there was a slumped figure sitting next to the tire of the car adjacent to his. He quickened his pace, and all at once he realized that the figure was a young woman, and even in the poor lighting, he could see that she had been hurt. His guts twisted as he took in her badly torn pants and shirt, and the look of raw fear on her face. He could only guess what she had been through, but he thought he had a pretty good idea what had happened. And if his suspicions were correct, the young woman wasn't going to be too thrilled about any man coming near her for quite a while.
Norman placed his sack on the ground, and slowly approached Dana. As soon she saw him, though, she cowered further against her car. "Miss, I'm not going to hurt you, okay?" Norman told her, trying to keep his voice as soft and unthreatening as possible. "I just want to get you inside so we can get you some help." Andrew breathed a sigh of relief, and offered up a prayer of gratitude as he realized that Dana was finally going to get some help.
Dana didn't seem to be registering anything that was being said to her, and Norman was afraid that she was going into shock. He considered picking her up and taking her inside, but quickly decided that would be a bad idea. Instead he pulled out the cell phone that his oldest daughter had bought him. "You never know when you'll need one," she had told him. Norman didn't think this was what she had in mind.
He fiddled with the phone for a second, trying to remember how to use it. After a minute of pushing buttons and a few muttered curses, he finally managed to dial 911. The operator answered and Norman quickly told her the situation and their current location. She took Norman's name, and promised that help was on the way and would be there soon. "What can I do for her in the meantime? I mean, if she's been through what I think she has, a man is probably the last thing she needs around her right now."
"Just stay with her and try to reassure her that she's safe, and that nobody's going to hurt her," the operator told him. "There's really nothing else you can do."
"Okay, thanks," Norman said, and hung up the phone. He turned his attention back to Dana, and crouched down to her level. She was sitting with her back against the front tire of her car, her knees pulled up to her chest. "Ok, miss, I called the paramedics, and help is on the way. You're safe now, and nothing bad's going to happen to you." Dana briefly looked up at him, and for the first time Norman looked full into her eyes. He felt like he had physically been punched as he saw the pain and horror that radiated from their azure depths. He also saw something else that haunted him, something that he couldn't remember seeing since his days in the army - the empty look of someone who's spirit has just been shattered.
Norman pulled his eyes away from Dana's as he heard the approaching sirens in the distance. He stood up from his crouch and looked across the lot and down the road, where he could see the flashing lights as they drew closer and closer. "I'll be right back, I'm just going to direct the paramedics."
The older man broke into a run that an 18 year old would envy, and reached the edge of the lot just as the ambulance was pulling in. He quickly directed the rescue workers to the young woman, and watched worriedly as they took care of her, and loaded her onto a gurney. As Norman watched, he thought about his own daughters, the oldest of which was about the same age as this young woman, and shuddered. He couldn't imagine how he would react if this was one of his children. All he knew was that even though he didn't know this woman, he still felt his blood boil with anger toward her attacker. He watched as they put Dana into the ambulance, and as the paramedics started to climb into the back with her, he grabbed the arm of one of them. "What hospital are you taking her to?" Norman knew that he'd want to know how she was doing, and maybe he'd take her some flowers or something.
"Mercy General," the young man replied. "She'll go in through the ER, but I think the cops are gonna want to talk with you before you go anywhere."
Norman nodded, and turned back towards the police cruisers that had entered the parking lot. There was a small crowd of employees and customers from the convenience store that had gathered, and some of the officers were busy trying to keep the onlookers from contaminating the crime scene. Kathleen was one of the people in the crowd, and as she watched the ambulance that held Dana pull away, she hid a smug grin of perverse pleasure. Andrew had been so intent on Dana, that he didn't even notice the presence of the evil demon. The only one who had known Kathleen was present was Jason, Dana's attacker. She had been planting the seeds of this crime in his head ever since he first saw Dana and Monica jogging that morning. How easy he had been to sway, she thought. It didn't take much for that particular human to be convinced to do the unspeakable.
One of the officers was filling out a report next to his cruiser, and when he saw Norman approach, he beckoned for him. "Hello, Mr." the officer paused, waiting for Norman to supply a name.
"Ramke, Norman Ramke," he replied, extending his hand.
The officer shook it and then continued. "Mr. Ramke. I'm Detective Peyton. I understand you were the one who found the victim."
"Yes. I was coming out of the store and I saw her by the car." Norman watched as Detective Peyton jotted down notes as he spoke.
"Did you see anything else out of the ordinary, either going in or coming out?"
Norman shook his head. "No, I didn't see anything. Which doesn't make any sense now that I think about it. I was only in the store for about 15 minutes. That doesn't seem like enough time for what happened to that girl."
"Well, it's really hard to say how long the attack took, but it didn't occur near her car. The perp dragged her into an alley, and then we think she got herself back to the car. Do you know her?"
Norman let out a long, low whistle, "Geez, that's one tough cookie. No, I don't know her."
The detective pulled out a business card and handed it to Norman. "Here's my card. Call me if you think of anything else. If we find a suspect you may be called to testify, so try to stick around. we'll be in touch."
"Ok, thanks detective," Norman shook the man's hand again before retreating to his car. On his way home, he stopped at a gas station and bought another six-pack. After what he had seen that night, he didn't think that one would do it.
****** Tess looked through the kitchen to check on Monica, who was sitting on the couch, her legs tucked underneath her. The young angel had practically been jumping out of her skin at every noise since Tess had told her that Dana was in trouble. Finally, Monica's preoccupation had Tess worried that she would hurt herself preparing the casserole, so she sent her charge into the living room. Now Monica was just sitting, staring at the phone as if she was willing it to ring. "Tess, have you heard anything?" Monica asked, breaking the tense silence that had been hanging over the house. "I can't sit here much longer."
"I don't know anything more than I've told you, Angel Girl," Tess told her, "but the Father says that we'll know soon."
As if on cue the phone rang, and Monica jumped before answering it. "Hello?"
A professional sounding, female voice came onto the line, "Hello, is this Monica?"
"Yes. What's going on?" Monica tried not to give anything away, but her voice was already sounding strained.
"My name is Leslie Graves, and I'm a doctor at the Mercy General emergency room. We have a patient here by the name of Dana Larkin. Do you know her?"
A hospital? Monica's mind whirled, coming up with all the worst possibilities. "Yes, she's my roommate. What happened to her? Is she all right?"
"Dana was attacked, and she was brought in to the ER here about forty minutes ago. We don't have much information yet, because she is in shock. Your name is the only word she has said since she arrived, and we found her phone number on her ID. We took a guess that you might be her sister or a friend." The doctor's voice was laced with sympathy. As Dr. Graves spoke to Monica, her mind wandered back in time to the moment Dana was brought in. The young doctor remembered hearing in medical school that there were certain images seen in medicine that burned themselves into the memory. For her, this was one of them.
All the color drained from Monica's face, and her eyes filled with tears. "What kind of attack?" She choked out. The seemingly insignificant incident from their morning jog came barreling into the angel's mind, and with it came intense fear of what the answer might be.
"I think you should come down here, and we can talk when you arrive," Dr. Graves replied. She hated telling things of this nature over the phone, even though she hated saying them at all.
"I'll be right there," Monica said quickly before hanging up the phone. She turned to Tess, who had sat down next to her on the couch when the phone rang. "Dana was attacked," She said, her voice shaking. "The doctor won't tell me what happened, only that Dana's in shock. But, I can't help thinking that this had something to do with that guy we saw the other day."
"Baby, we don't know that," Tess began, "we - "
"Well, why didn't I know something was going to happen, huh Tess?" Monica interrupted. "Why couldn't I stop it? Why wouldn't God let me? I'm supposed to be Dana's friend, and her angel, and now she's lying in a hospital. hurt.. Because I was told to stay here. I feel like I let it happen to her." her voice trailed off, and tears slipped down her cheeks.
Tess put her arm around Monica's slender shoulders and pulled her charge close. "Angel Girl, I don't know why this has happened, but I can tell you that it was not something that you could have stopped. Humans have free will, baby, and sometimes they use it for terrible things. As hard as it is sometimes, we can't intervene in free will, because even though some humans use it for the most unspeakable evil, it is God's greatest gift to his people. And it's not something that we can take away, no matter how much we want to. God doesn't plan things like this, but He will help Dana through this. That's what you're here for. Now, I suggest we get down to that hospital so we can start doing just that." Monica wiped at her eyes, and nodded slightly. The two angels left the house and got into Tess's caddy, and started for the hospital.
Once they reached Mercy General, Monica entered the ER alone. At the last minute, Tess had been called away to get ready for her role in this assignment. Monica steeled herself and walked up to the nurses' station. "Hello," she said to one of the nurses, "My name is Monica. I was called by a Dr. Graves, about my friend, Dana."
The nurse looked up and nodded, "Ok, just have a seat over there and she'll be out shortly." She gestured to a bank of chairs against the wall. Monica smiled and took a seat, looking at her surroundings. There were other people sitting in the waiting room, and being an angel, Monica could see the other members of the angelic realm wandering around the entire ER. There were angels with all of the patients, and their families. Not all of them were caseworkers like her, though. Monica recognized several angels of death that she had seen over the years, and her heart skipped a beat as she prayed fiercely that none of those angels were here for Dana.
Dr. Graves walked up to the waiting area and scanned the room for Dana's roommate. "Is there someone here for Dana Larkin?" She asked.
The young angel looked up into the green eyes of Dr. Graves. Her stomach twisted into knots as she saw the sympathy there. "Yes, I'm Monica," she said. The young angel stood, and followed the doctor to a corner of the room, away from the other people. "Is Dana all right? What happened to her?"
Dr. Graves sat down next to Monica, "First of all, Dana is doing fine physically. She has some scratches and a lot of bumps and bruises, but she's going to be all right. However, emotionally she has a long road to travel."
"Why?" Monica asked, already knowing that she didn't want to hear this.
The doctor hesitated for a moment before continuing, "When Dana was brought into the ER, there was evidence of a sexual assault. We did a rape kit, which confirmed our suspicions." Monica took a deep breath. Part of her had suspected this from the moment the doctor had called her, but hearing the words spoken somehow made it more real. She tried to blink back the tears that sprang to her eyes, but they escaped anyways and rolled down her pale face. "Has she come out of shock yet?" She asked quietly. "Can I see her?"
"I'll take you to her in a moment," Dr. Graves replied gently. "We did give her a sedative to help her during the examination. It's usually pretty traumatic on someone who's been assaulted, so she's asleep right now. She should be much more lucid in the morning, and we'll have a crisis counselor come to speak to her." She stood up, "I'll take you back to see her now. Just follow me."
Monica stood and followed the doctor back to a closed exam room. She stifled a gasp when she saw her friend and assignment, lying in the hospital bed. Her face was bruised and swollen, and dark bruises also adorned her arms and neck. She was hooked up to an IV and a heart monitor, which steadily gave assurance that Dana was indeed alive. Dr. Graves left the room quietly as Monica sat down in a chair next to the bed. "How could anyone do something like this to another human being?" She whispered aloud to nobody in particular.
She felt a hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see Andrew standing there. His green eyes were shining with unshed tears, and his face was drawn with sadness. "Andrew?" Monica said. "You were there, weren't you?"
Andrew nodded silently. "And not being able to do anything was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. It was terrible, Monica, and I don't know how anyone could do something like this."
"Me neither," Monica replied as Andrew voiced her earlier question. For several minutes, the two angels remained silent, Andrew's hand still resting on his friend's shoulder. It was finally Monica who broke the silence. "Do you know where Tess is?"
"She's going to be Dana's crisis counselor. I guess this is where the backup comes in." Andrew sighed heavily.
"Do you think I'll be able to help her through this, Andrew?" Monica asked in a whisper. "Do you think anyone can?"
Andrew shuddered involuntarily as the memory of Dana's attack raced through his mind. "If anyone can, it's God and you, Monica," he told her, squeezing her shoulder. In the back of his mind, he knew that he hadn't given his true opinion to his friend, though. Honestly, after what he had seen, he didn't know how anyone could get through it.