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Help from an Angel

Joanne's POV

By now, some time had passed since I started down the stairs. I was running down the stairs two steps at a time trying to get out of the building as soon as I could. At about the 30th floor, I ran into an older woman who was having a hard time getting down the stairs. She was walking slowly and her breathing sounded labored. I decided to give her a hand after all I couldn't leave her there.

"Are you ok?" I asked her

She assured me that she was fine but I wasn't buying it so I decided to start a conversation with her hoping that it would make the time go by faster for her and for me. She said her name was Sarah Hanley and that she had worked at the World Trade Center for 20 years. She had two grown sons that she was proud of and that she liked talking about. I told her about Maureen and the girls and some how I got around to talking about Angel and the rest of my friends. The conversation worked to make time go faster because we finally managed to make it to the ground floor. I was sweating and exhausted and my feet were killing me. But I had almost made it to safety. What I wasn't prepared for was what I saw when I made it outside. There were bodies on the ground and debris from the buildings and just general chaos. Just as the policeman came to lead me away from the buildings, there was a deafening crash and then silence. When I opened my eyes again I could see that I was trapped in the rubble. I couldn't feel anything except the searing pain in my legs. Suddenly I could hear someone talking to me and it sounded like Angel. This is crazy, Angel cannot be talking to me, she's been dead for eleven years. Angel looked perfectly serene and healthy like she had never had AIDS.

"Chica, you can't die yet, you've got too much to live for" she said

"I can't" I gasped, the pain becoming unbearable

"Don't give up Joanne. Maureen and those beautiful daughters of yours need you. Don't give up." I could hear her saying as her voice faded out. I slowly opened my eyes again and with whatever strength I had left, I tried to stick my hand up through the rubble and I started shouting for help. My cries were answered by two firefighters who moved me onto a back board. I was finally safe and on my way to the hospital and I thanked god for that. Angel had saved Mimi once and now she came back and saved me.

Maureen's POV

After the shock of finding out where Joanne was wore off, I concentrated on the girls. I told them what had happened and let them ask questions. The hardest question to answer was where is Momma? (Joanne), I didn't want to have them frightened so I told them that she was trying to get home. I tried calling Joanne's cell phone again but all I got was her voice mall. I hadn't actually spoken to her or seen her since last night because I was asleep when she left this morning. I missed her and was beside myself with worry. At about 1: 30 in the afternoon, I got a phone call from St. Vincent's saying that Joanne was in the emergency room there. As soon as I hung up the phone, I felt a huge wave of relief come over my body. She was alive and she was asking for me. It was going to be ok.