Two hours later, a doctor came in and said Gabriel was all right to leave the hospital. He prescribed him some pain medication and reminded him to stay off his feet for the next couple of days. The doctor gave them some extra bandages and reminded Mica to change the dressing on Gabriel's wound every few hours to keep it clean. Mica asked the doctor to call a cab for them to take them home and helped Gabriel change back into his regular clothes before they left the hospital. Once the cab pulled up to the curb, Mica and Gabriel got into the backseat. The driver asked them for a destination, and Mica told him to take them back to the motel she was staying at. As they rode on their way to the motel, Gabriel turned his head right and looked at Mica.
"Where did you get money to pay for a motel?" Gabriel asked her.
"From finding a little boy's lost puppy", Mica explained. She pulled out the remaining bills from her coat pocket and showed them to him. "His mother gave me two-hundred dollars as a reward. I've already spent half of it on coffee and a motel room to sleep in for the night. We can afford to stay another night until I figure out what to do for us next."
"And what exactly are you going to do?" Asked Gabriel.
"Lots of people lose their animals everyday, don't they? The chances of me finding another lost dog or a cat is a fifty-fifty change."
"You really think these people are going to show you gratitude by giving you money for finding lost pets?"
"Only one way to find out for sure."
When they got to the motel, Mica thanked the cab driver and paid him for the ride, then she showed Gabriel into the room. The former Archangel stood in the doorway, taking in the room's features. There was a bed and a nightstand next to it with a lamp on top, a small table with two chairs next to the window, plus a strange box with a glass cover sitting on top of a larger nightstand on the other side of the room. Neither Gabriel nor Mica knew what the strange box was called, but as long as the room had four walls and a bed to sleep in, the temporary shelter was more than sufficient enough for the both of them.
Gabriel turned his attention over to the Bible sitting on the nightstand next to the lamp and went over to it. He set his trumpet on the nightstand and picked up the book and opened a chapter. He sat down on the edge of the bed, while Mica set a small paper bag on the table and took out an orange pill bottle and a packet of bandages, setting them next to each other.
Mica looked to Gabriel and asked him, "You think you'll be okay while I head out for a while?"
Gabriel looked to his left, asking her, "You're leaving me?"
"Only for a few hours", said Mica. "But I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise."
"Where are you going?"
"You'll see. Just stay here and don't leave this room until I return. I'll see you later." Placing a loving kiss onto his forehead, Mica turned around and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. She wasn't sure long she and Gabriel could keep up with spending the night in a motel room, but the money she had earned was bound to run out, sooner or later.
Because of her knowledge of knowing where certain pets resided with their owners from watching them in Heaven, Mica was very careful in selecting which animals to return to their rightful owners. She learned a lot from observing people in Heaven and knew several things about them, especially the way they treated their animals. So far, Mica had succeeded in finding one lost puppy mainly out of pure luck, though she had a feeling that God might have had something to do with it, as well. Now she was about to see how much luck was really on her side, or if God would provide her with an answer.
When she returned back to the motel three hours later, Mica opened the door and found Gabriel sitting in the exact same spot as when she left him. He was still reading from the Bible when he heard her come in and looked up from his page, as Mica closed the door behind her and set a plastic bag from the convenient store down on the table, then dug into her pockets and spilled out several crumbled-up dollar bills onto the bed.
Gabriel closed the Bible and set it back on the nightstand, gathering up a small handful of bills and staring at them with wide, curious eyes, then he looked up at Mica and asked her, "Where'd you get all this?"
"From finding seven dogs and three cats", Mica answered. "I even found a rabbit and returned it to a man who lost it while he was performing at a child's birthday party. I paid the motel manager another fifty dollars for us to stay the night here again."
"You do realize it's gonna take a lot more than this to help us get through this me-being-human thing, don't you?"
"I know, but this is only enough money to help us get through the next couple of days. Once you've recovered your strength, I'm gonna see about-"
"Let's get one thing straight here", Gabriel interrupted, cutting her off. "I'm not about to let myself get kicked around like some homeless monkey living on the street."
"You keep up with that attitude and you may just find yourself living there", said Mica. "This is why I'm trying to help you get back into Heaven. You brought this on yourself, Gabriel. God wants you to do this alone, but I know you won't do it unless I help you."
"Leave the Boss out of this, will you?"
"Why? Are you still angry with Him?"
"I'm not angry. I just don't understand why He had to place this kind of punishment on me just for trying to make things better."
"You'll soon find out, won't you?"
Mica turned to open the plastic bag on the table and took out the contents: two plastic-wrapped sandwiches, a box of donuts, two water bottles and a bag of potato chips. She handed one of the sandwiches to Gabriel.
"Here. You should eat."
"I'm not hungry", Gabriel lied, feeling his stomach rumble with hunger.
"Don't be ridiculous, Gabriel", said Mica. "You need to keep up your strength."
"Why are you so insistent on keeping me alive?"
"Because I'm an angel and I love you. I love people and want to help them, because that's what we do. We keep watch over the people on Earth and help them find peace where there is none. Please take it, Gabriel."
Gabriel kept his gaze locked on her face for a while, not sure what to say or how to thank her. He regarded the sandwich she was holding in her hand, offering it to him. With another rumble from his stomach, Gabriel took the sandwich and peeled back the plastic before biting off a corner, chewing slowly. It tasted dry, but it wasn't half bad. His eyes met Mica's again, offering her a bite.
"Aren't you hungry?" He asked.
"No, I'm not hungry right now", said Mica. "You go ahead and eat it, Gabriel. You need it more than I do."
Gabriel turned his gaze away from her and took another bite. While he ate his first meal since being turned human, Mica went over to the closet and removed her long coat, exposing her wings beneath. Gabriel couldn't help but stare at them, wishing he still had his own pair of wings. Before he started a war in Heaven, there was nothing he liked better than to soar above the clouds with Mica, having not a care in the world. He felt a slight resentment with himself, wishing he'd never done what he did and that everything would go back to normal.
Mica hung her coat on a hanger, then turned back to look at Gabriel, who she noticed was staring at her. "What is it?"
Gabriel shook his head. "Nothing. I was just admiring your wings."
Mica cast her eyes to the ground, looking guilty and feeling self conscious about her wings. She almost forgot she had them and wondered if Gabriel resented her for still having hers when he didn't have his own.
Gabriel set his half-eaten sandwich aside and stood up, approaching Mica and cupping her cheek, causing her to bring her gaze back up to look at him.
"Your wings look more beautiful each time I see them", Gabriel whispered.
"Do you hate me for still having mine when you have lost your own?" Mica asked him.
"No. Why should I? Besides, I love your wings. I used to help you groom them myself, remember?"
Mica smiled softly, happy to hear that Gabriel still held onto those memories. "Maybe you would like to help me groom them once you've finished eating."
"Mica, I can't. Humans aren't supposed to touch an angel's wings."
"I don't mind. Besides, you know there's no one I'd rather have groom my wings other than you. Finish eating, Gabriel, then I'll let you help me groom them."
Later that night, Gabriel tried to figure out the strange box in the room, which Mica heard was called a television. She spotted the owner of the convenient store sitting behind the counter watching a smaller version and asked him what it was called. The owner looked at her like she was crazy and asked her if she had been living under a rock, but told her what it was, nonetheless. Whatever was on, neither Gabriel nor Mica was paying much attention to it. They just stared at what was happening on the screen, looking as thought they didn't understand television.
"Which monkey was it that came up with the idea to make something as useless as this?" Gabriel questioned.
Mica shrugged and answered, "I'm not sure, but I'm sure there must have been a good reason why humans invented it."
Having lost interest in staring blankly at the television and being bored with the program, Gabriel got off the bed and went into the bathroom to take a shower. He took off his shirt, pants and shoes, and stayed in there for a long time, enjoying the spray of hot water from the faucet that helped loosen his muscles, the steam opening up his pores. He was told by the doctor not to get his bandages wet, but Gabriel wasn't about to take orders from any human, no matter how professional they thought they were. There was something relaxing about taking a shower he found that he liked, and he understood why most people enjoyed it. Even the simple task of lathering his hands with a bar of soap was a satisfying experience, especially while smearing the foamy suds all over his naked body, allowing the water to wash away the dirt and sweat, making him feel cleaner.
When the water started to turn cold, Gabriel turned off the water and pulled back the curtain to grab a towel and dry his hair. He emerged from the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist and found Mica in the exact same position as before. Her eyes were still glued to the television screen, and she never even noticed him come out of the bathroom.
"Something I missed?" Gabriel asked.
Mica shook her head. "No, not really", she said, still keeping her eyes locked to the screen. "You know, this thing isn't so complicated once you get used to it."
Gabriel lowered his eyes, nodding slightly, and sat down on the bed, placing a hand over his chest to feel his ruined, soaked bandages. Mica turned her attention away from the television for a minute to help him change the dressing on his wound, which was healing slowly. Once Mica was finished, Gabriel lied back against the headboard, propping his head up onto a pillow. He lied there watching the television with Mica for a while, until his vision swam and started to turn dark.
When a commercial came on, Mica looked at Gabriel and noticed his sleeping form. She lightly traced her fingers across his lips and bent over to plant a gentle kiss onto his forehead. She took his half-nakedness into consideration and covered him up with a blanket to keep him warm. She then carefully folded her wings behind her back and lied her head down on his chest, listening to Gabriel's heartbeat. She rested her hand there, as well. Because she was an angel, Mica didn't need to sleep, but she kept her eyes closed and lied there with Gabriel all through the night, forgetting to turn off the screen that bathed the room in soft, blue light.