CHAPTER FIVE

Monica struggled to see through her blurry eyes. She had just awoken and had no clue where she was or what was happening. All that she could remember last was being carried and she was struggling to get away. Then she had blacked out. She heard voices in the background but it didn't register to her who those voices belonged to. She was getting homesick. She hadn't been home for a long time. She began to think that she didn't have a home anymore. God didn't love her. He had let her be beaten and didn't do anything when she had fallen. What kind of test was the Father giving her?

Her whole body hurt so terribly bad that she started to cry. She couldn't hold the tears in anymore. They only stung her brown eyes.

"Monica?" a voice asked. "You're awake!" Gloria's figure came into focus through Monica's blurry sight. The Irish angel managed a slight smile.

"Gloria," she mouthed. Nothing came out of her hoarse voice. "I'm back," she said. A small giggle was forced through her mouth.

Gloria sat down next to her and put her hand on her supervisor's cheek. She gave Monica a sympathetic look through her glasses.

"Tess," the smart angel called. She motioned for the older angel to come. Tess looked at Gloria with a confused expression but as soon as she saw the tears rolling down Gloria's eyes, she focused on Monica.

"Oh, thank you, Father!" Tess exclaimed. She leaned down and embraced her angel girl tightly, not even thinking about how much pain Monica was in.

"Tess," she squeaked. The strong arms that held her quickly withdrew and Tess scolded herself.

"Oh, Baby, I'm sorry," she cried. "I'm so glad that you're all right."

"What's going on?" the angel of death asked as he entered the room. He didn't even look at Monica, for he thought that she was still unconscious. "Tess?" he asked with a worried tone when he saw his two friends crying. Gloria removed her glasses and wiped them on her shirt.

"Oh, Andrew, God really does care," Gloria told the angel of death. Andrew looked at her sideways and then turned to stare at Monica who was sitting up in the bed. Her tear-stained cheeks had some color in them once again, and her brown eyes filled with joy. Her heart skipped when Andrew laid eyes on her. Would he be mad, sad, or upset?

"Monica," he gasped. There was a long moment of silence and finally he stepped forward, not quite sure what to do or say. She was okay. She was recovering. What could he tell her?

"Hey, Andrew," Monica said gently. She touched his cheek when he kneeled beside her. Gloria and Tess, seeing that the two needed to be left alone, immediately exited the room. "I heard you tried to save me a couple times. You did a good job 'cause you brought me back here."

"Monica," Andrew said almost in a laugh though tears streamed from his eyes. "You're okay?" She nodded. She sat up farther and wrapped her arms around his neck. There was pain in her back and shoulders when she did so, but it was all taken away when he held her. "I love you," he said.

"I love you too, Andrew. This has been some experience, hasn't it?" the Irish angel asked.

"I can't imagine how much you suffered. I can't believe you had to go through all this!" Andrew laid his head in her lap and sobbed loudly. He was happy and sad at the same time. He almost could feel the pain that she was feeling. Then he put his head up and reached into his pocket. "I think you'd like this," he told her. He handed her the broken necklace.

"Oh, honey," she lamented. "I wore it every day until he ripped it from my neck. Vern ripped it! He took the other half. But I found it the next day. It had fallen out of his bag that he left in that one alley. I kept it without him knowing."

"I can try and fix it," Andrew suggested, seeing how sad she was that it broke. "And maybe if I can't, we can take it to the jeweler down the street."

"Sure, that would be nice. I prayed for all you every night."

"You did? You mean…even though you knew that you were in the presence of evil, you prayed for the ones you loved?" Andrew asked in astonishment. "I wish I had your faith."

"I have to admit that some nights, I didn't believe that God was still out there, but then I looked up into the sky and saw the stars. They reminded me of him."

"I prayed for you too. All of us did," Andrew admitted.

"Why don't we pray right now, to thank God for bringing us back together," Monica implied. Andrew nodded.

"Thank you, Father, for this day. Thank you so much that Monica is with us again. Please never take her away like that again. Please heal the memories that she will be left with for the rest of her life. I pray for Gloria and Tess…" Andrew trailed off.

"What's the matter?" Monica asked curiously. "Why did you stop?"

"I just remembered something," Andrew began. "Tess needs to tell you something." Andrew started to cry again. "This is not going to be easy for you to hear or for her to tell. I can't believe this is all happening at once. And just last night when I saw you, I though things couldn't get any worse. First of all, you're captured, second, Tess disappears, third, Amy almost blew up the offices, fourth, Kathleen did blow up the offices, fifth, Roy almost left Amy, sixth, Amy is now in the hospital and is going to die, and seventh, Tess has some really bad news. I just can't explain how I feel right now."

"Neither can I, Andrew," Monica said. Andrew finished praying and Tess walked back into the room.

"Monica, I need to take you somewhere."