The next day, Tonya followed Tess up the long flight of stairs that led them to the girls' ward at Summerlea Hospital. Tonya remembered that she had to pretend that she had just met Tess, who was taking on the role of head supervisor of the girls' ward, and Tonya was the newest patient.
"Tess, before we get up there, I gotta know. How am I supposed to act like a suicidal teenager when I don't know anything about it? What if they ask me questions? I don't have answers, because I didn't try to kill myself. What am I supposed to say?" Tonya asked as they continued to climb the stairs, bringing them closer to their next assignment.
"Well baby, that's for you to figure out. If I told you everything you were supposed to do or say, then God wouldn't have made you a case worker, would He?" Tess asked as Tonya blushed. Tess grinned.
"But God's giving you something different in your human form for you to better understand Laura. Last year, she slit her wrists, trying to kill herself. The problem now is that Laura sees those scars everyday and remembers the day she put them there. She feels a lot of shame with those scars, and so for you to understand that..." Tess pointed down to Tonya's arms and Tonya looked down right away to find a long scar on each of her wrists. Tonya gasped and looked up at Tess, frightened.
"Tess!" She cried.
"Don't worry, baby. These are only temporary. This is just for Laura's sake. You see, she won't expect you to understand unless she feels that you've been there." Tess explained. Tonya pulled her sweater from around her waist and struggled to put it over her T-shirt.
"Angel baby, what on earth are you doing?" Tess asked as they reached the top of the staircase.
"Well I don't want anybody to see these. It's embarrassing. They'll think that I..." But Tonya saw Tess's eyebrows raise and Tonya sighed as she tied her sweater around her waist again.
"But that's how Laura feels too." Tonya read Tess's mind, as Tess only nodded and unlocked the heavy door that locked the teenage girls away from the world. Tonya took a deep breath and entered her new home. She carried her backpack and began walking toward the same room she had watched Sarah and Laura in the day before, but she had barely made it a step when she heard Tess yell,
"Freeze, angel baby!" Tonya twirled around and watched as Tess motioned for her to come closer. Tonya went back to Tess, confused.
"What's wrong, Tess?" Tonya asked.
"What do you think this is, the mall?" Tess asked angrily. Tonya puckered her brow.
"What are you talking about? This is a hospital." Tonya replied.
"Yes, this is a hospital for suicidal teenagers. That means the teenagers here are suicidal. So baby, give me your belt, your earrings, and your necklace." Tess put her hands out.
"What? Why?" Tonya asked, eyes widened.
"Don't you argue with me young lady. Earrings are sharp enough to break skin. Belts and necklaces can be used for strangling so hand them over." Tess said as Tonya unclasped her necklace.
"Sorry Tess. It just seems strange that girls would use everyday things to kill themselves." She said as she handed her stuff to Tess. Tess put them in a bag and patted Tonya's shoulder.
"You'd be surprised baby." Tess led the way as the two angels walked down to room 14.
"Remember baby, you don't know me as of now. We just met." Tess whispered, as she knocked on the door of room 14. Tonya nodded and heard a voice call, "Come in." Tess opened the door and found Laura and Sarah sprawled out on the floor, as they listened to the radio.
"Girls, maybe you should be doing something. Why don't you go to the game room or the tv room or something." Tess asked.
"We don't really feel like it." Laura said as she stared at the ceiling. Sarah sat up and looked at Tess curiously.
"Who are you?" Sarah asked.
"My name is Tess. I'm the new head supervisor. If you need anything at all, you just let me know." Tess replied. Sarah nodded and then looked over to Tonya, who smiled slightly. She didn't want to appear overly happy, because she was supposed to be a suicidal teenager, but she wanted to be polite too.
"And who's this?" Sarah asked, more eager to meet the young teenager than the head supervisor.
"Well ladies, this is your new roommate. Her name is Tonya. I hope that you'll get along just fine with her." Tess smiled as Laura and Sarah stood up.
"I'm sure we will. Thanks Tess." Laura said as she and Sarah brought Tonya into their room and showed her her new bed. Tess nodded and left the girls to themselves, saying a short prayer for Tonya, for she knew that things were going to get much more complicated for this young angel very soon.
"It's about time we got a new roommate. Our last roommate was released three months ago. It's just been the two of us, but it's cool to have someone new to pick on." Sarah laughed and Laura rolled her eyes with a smile.
"We're just kidding. Nobody gets picked on in this place. We're just really glad you're here. My name's Laura." She said.
"I'm Sarah." Sarah said.
"I'm Tonya, but I guess Tess told you that already." Tonya said as she sat on her new bed. Laura and Sarah did the same. Laura noticed the scars on Tonya's wrists and was immediately intrigued, but didn't say anything.
"I guess you're here for the same reason all of us are here, so I guess there's no point of bringing it up." Sarah said as she leaned back against her pillows.
"Yeah. It's hard to talk about, but I'm sure you both know that already." Tonya replied as she touched her new scars. Sarah and Laura nodded.
"When I first came here, they had to lock me in isolation for a week because I tried to use anything I could find to kill myself. Eventually, I was okay though. They let me into a normal room. Well, not like anything in this place is normal." Sarah said as she ran her fingers through her red hair.
"How long have you been here?" Tonya asked, as she made herself more comfortable.
"Well, I've been here for four years. I was 14 when I first attempted suicide. My parents were getting a divorce and I'm the only child so they really pressured me into who I would live with. I loved them both and couldn't decide. The pressure sent me over the edge. I tried to overdose but I ended up here instead. It's not the greatest place but at least I didn't have to choose between my mom and dad. In fact, they decided to stay together after I attempted suicide." Sarah replied, as Tonya listened. Her heart broke for these girls. She just couldn't understand.
Laura remained silent, and Tonya hoped Laura would open up as eagerly as Sarah had but Tonya had a feeling that getting Laura to open up would take time.
"Laura's been here for about a year and I'm so glad she came because we became best friends in no time." Sarah continued as she smiled at Laura who smiled back.
"Yeah, it's been an interesting year, that's for sure." Laura replied. The three girls continued to chat and as they did, Monica, who was strolling by, stopped and smiled as she could hear the three girls talking. Tess joined her soon afterward.
"Hey there angel girl. You look like you're all ready to start group therapy with the girls." She said as she smiled.
"Yes I am, Tess." Monica returned the smile. "Oh Tess, I'm so glad. It sounds like Tonya's getting along with the girls wonderfully. But Tess, I just don't understand. Why do we need two case workers when we're only here for Laura? If Tonya's taking care of Laura, then why am I here?" She asked.
"Oh baby, you're here for a very important reason. You're right, Tonya is here for Laura. That's her assignment, and yes baby, you have an assignment too. You need to be there for somebody very important." Tess explained. Monica tilted her head.
"Who Tess?" She asked curiously.
"Tonya." Tess replied bluntly. Monica's mouth dropped open as she stared at the closed door of room 14.
"Tonya's my assignment? I don't understand Tess. Tonya is an angel. Angels don't need angels. Do they?" Monica asked, bewildered by this new information. Tess sighed.
"Well yes, but not in the same way human beings need angels. Tonya needs you because we aren't the only ones working here." She explained sadly as she shifted her gaze past Monica. Monica turned around to see what Tess was looking at.
"Oh no, Tess." Was all Monica could say. There, down the hall, pushing a tray of medication was Kathleen, a fallen angel from hell. Time and time again, Kathleen was sent to try to ruin the work the angels were trying to do. She was very clever, but used her cleverness for evil.
Monica turned back around to face Tess.
"What is Kathleen doing here?" She asked, now feeling a little bit nervous.
"She also has an assignment, and unfortunately, we can't do much. Kathleen is here for Tonya." Tess replied.
"Why? What would Kathleen want with Tonya?"
"Well baby, Kathleen is here to try to convince Tonya to quit this assignment and make her believe she's a failure."
"But Tonya's a smart little angel. She'll know better than to believe her."
"See, that's the thing angel girl. Tonya doesn't know that Kathleen is evil. Remember, ever since Tonya became an angel, not long ago, Kathleen hasn't been on any of her assignments. Tonya has no idea what she'll be facing for this assignment." Tess sighed.
"Well then we need to tell her!" Monica turned to open the door of room 14, but Tess held her back.
"No can do baby. The Father doesn't want you to tell Tonya anything until He tells you to. See, God wants Tonya to learn about temptation, and so she needs to deal with Kathleen on her own." She told the worried angel.
"So I'm just supposed to sit back and watch Tonya with pure evil? If I'm not supposed to tell her, then what is my assignment?" Monica asked, somewhat angry.
"Don't worry baby. God wants you to intervene, but not yet. He will tell you when, but for now, you just have to keep an eye on Tonya." Tess replied, knowing that her answer didn't satisfy Monica. Tonya and Monica were so close and Tess could see the pain in Monica's eyes when she knew she just had to stand back.
"Tonya's a wonderful angel. She will be fine. She learns from you, miss wings, so I have no doubt that she'll be okay." Tess assured Monica, who nodded, but continued to worry. She stared at Kathleen, who sneered back deviously. Monica sighed out loud.
"I hope you're right Tess." She said quietly, as she heard Tonya's voice from behind the closed door. "I really hope you're right."