The case today: a gang shootout.

In the ER of all places.

For all I care, the gangs can just shoot at each other until they all die.

As long as none of the public gets hurt, it doesn't matter.

They are better off dead anyway.

Save us a lot of trouble.

The only casualties in this attack were gang members, but it could have easily been much worse.

--------------------

Calleigh and Eric were chasing bullets.

Well, Calleigh was chasing bullets. Eric was helping.

They were trying to find the origin of all the rounds that had been fired.

With the help of some lasers and two foam crash dummies, she quickly found out where their mystery bullet had come from.

Is there anything she can't find out about bullets?

I doubt it.

She span around and followed the laser, but as she did, I felt a sensation that was all too familiar.

Thick, golden mist descended over the world and everything was still.

I could see people through the translucent fog but not the person I was looking for.

Suddenly, I felt a strong hand on my shoulder.

"Tim."

"Eve."

I knew who it was without even turning around.

"Shall we talk?" she asked.

That statement was phrased as a question, but we both knew I couldn't argue.

I followed her out of the hospital crime scene and a little way down the road to the nearby beach.

She strode onto the sand, her bare feet making no prints.

I followed her toward the Ocean, wondering when she was intending to stop, when she halted and sat down.

I wondered for a moment whether it mattered if she got sand on her flawless white dress, but then realised that she was Eve.

She was God.

It didn't matter if she got sand on her robes, because she is every grain of sand.

She patted the sand next to her, so I slowly sank to my knees and sat down beside her, my feet towards the sea.

The waves were the only think moving in this still, silent world.

We sat and watched the sea move for a few long minutes, or was it seconds? I can't remember.

Then Eve spoke.

"How are you coping?"

"I'm fine. Yeah, it's great. I'm doing my best for Calleigh, even thought that's really not good enough for her is it? She deserves better!" I gushed. "A weird thing happened a couple of days ago though. It was like we solved-"

"No, Tim," she cut me off. "How are you doing?"

I realised that I had been babbling like an idiot and not actually answered her question.

Before I started to try to answer again, I thought about my words and weighted them carefully before saying them.

"It's hard."

She nodded.

"It's not like it's physically hard or anything… but it's hard for me."

"In what way?"

I couldn't help feeling like I was back at the department, talking to the department shrink.

"I'm struggling to get through each day. This feeling of responsibility is…huge."

"Tim, you were chosen as a guardian angel because you are the right person to do it. You care for everyone in that team so much."

I nodded.

That much at least was true. I cared for them all, even Ryan, in the strangest way.

I didn't want him, or any of them, to suffer the same fate I did.

"It is a shame that you have to do this alone, without anyone to talk to…"

I thought then would be a good time to tell her about Alexx.

"Um… actually there is someone…"

"Which is why," she continued, "I made sure that someone in your team could get through. I gave her the gift."

"You did?" I asked. I was totally grateful for Alexx being able to talk to me and me being able to talk to her.

I've said it many times before, but it's her that kept me sane.

"Tim, does anyone other than Alexx know about you? Has she told anyone?"

"No. We agreed that she wouldn't say anything to anyone."

"Good. That's very important. If the guarded knows about the angel, the bond of trust between them is broken. The guarded trusts the angel without even knowing it."

I swallowed, glad the Alexx and I had agreed that I should stay secret.

Eve continued her explanation.

"Never has it happened that the guarded knows about their angel, either before or after the guardian time."

At that moment, I nearly opened my mouth to ask a question that had been burning on my mind for quite a while, but decided against it.

I said nothing.

A chill breeze touched my skin and told me that the gold, translucent fog had lifted.

I turned to where Eve had been sitting, just moments before, only to find the beach empty.

--------------------

The rest of the day was uneventful. Boring even.

The only remotely interesting thing that happened was Ryan saving a baby from the nanny that had kidnapped her, and returning the baby to her mother.

Strangely enough, the nanny loved the child more than it's mother did.

--------------------

With another sleepless night ahead of me, I headed to Calleigh's flat.

No, the dead don't need to sleep.

Just, many like to sleep.

Guardian angels are always denied that luxury.

I spent my night sitting awake in Calleigh's room, watching her sleep.

It would have been very romantic, if I wasn't dead.

That's how I spend every night.

I wait for her to change and get into bed.

Then I step into her bedroom and watch her.

Sometimes, she'll read. Other nights she'll go right to sleep.

Once the light goes out, I sit on the end of her bed and watch her sleep.

But that night… that night was different.

At about half midnight I felt, for the second time that day, the fog that told me that Eve was around somewhere.

I glanced around the room and saw Eve standing by the bedroom window.

"Eve?"

"I thought earlier that there was something that you wanted to say, but didn't. Do you want to ask me now?"

She was right.

There were things I didn't say, that I wanted to when we met earlier that day.

My mouth went dry as I decided to go ahead and ask my question.

I knew that I wouldn't get another chance to say it.

"Is it… is there any way I can talk to Calleigh?"

Eve avoided making eye contact with me as she made her way across the room to Calleigh's bedside.

She knelt down on the bed, and gently brushed Calleigh's hair off her face.

I had not dared to touch Calleigh.

I didn't have the nerve.

I just couldn't do it.

It would never feel right, to touch Calleigh now, even in a way like that.

Something as simple as brushing away her hair was an area I wouldn't like to enter.

I looked at Eve and Calleigh again.

Eve's hand was still on Calleigh's face, gently grazing her cheek.

Eve's dark skin was a huge contrast against Calleigh's pale skin.

"No."

Eve's voice brought me back to reality.

I felt a pain in my chest.

The possibility of talking to Calleigh again was always in my heart, until Eve shattered my dreams.

"So that's it? I can never talk to Calleigh again…ever?"

Eve paused. She seemed to be choosing her words.

"You cannot talk to her while you are her guardian angel."

I felt a glimmer of hope.

"What about after? After I'm her guardian angel? What about then?" I asked eagerly.

Our eyes met.

The slightly mournful look on her face told me all I needed to know.

I nodded.

My question was answered.

I closed my eyes.

I was disappointed and despairing.

One of the few things that was keeping me going, had been ripped brutally out from inside my heart.

I felt the fog lift.

Eve was gone.