Chapter 17: Christmas Angel

Looking out of her room Kira watched as the doctors and nurses that had ended up having to work on Christmas tried to brighten the day of their patients. To a young Kira, she really didn't see what was so special about it. At least this year she wouldn't go hungry. Some of her previous foster parents had drunk away the holiday. They had been the better ones. Now at sixteen Kira was too old to believe in magic or miracles.

The only reason she had let the woman from Child Protective Services find her and take her back with her was because it had gotten really cold outside. She hadn't felt right in a while either. She always seemed to be far too tired and had been getting sick a lot too. Bruises she had gotten several weeks ago from a fall still haven't faded.

Like always, once brought back off the streets, Kira had been taken to be checked out for a clean bill of health before being placed with other kids. This time had been different though. The doctors had said something was wrong with her blood. Instead of being sent back to the group home until a single-family home could be found for her, she had been admitted into the hospital.

That had been almost three weeks ago. Each day she seemed to feel sicker, not better. Her hair had started to come out too. One nurse had told her it was from the medicine. She had been angry that someone would give her something that would make her hair fall out. Of course, many of the kids in this section of the hospital had lost their hair.

As she looked out her door that a nurse had left open to encourage her to participate in the special activities of the morning, Kira watched as families came to visit the other children. The nurses had started to pity her since she had no family to visit her. Her case worker had dozens of other children to check in with and had only been able to come twice since her arrival. She had wanted to tell them exactly where they could stick their pity and would have if she just had enough strength to do it. So instead, she sat in bed, staring out the door.

Wondering what was so Merry about Christmas.

Morning broke the next day to a bustle of activity. Daisy and Uncle Jesse were in the kitchen preparing a grand breakfast for the special morning while Judd had gone out to help his brother with the morning chores. That left Bo without anything really to do until the others were done. Going to the guest room, he knocked on the door to wake his sister.

"Hey Kira, wake up. It's Christmas."

'I'm awake. Now go away.'

Bo snickered as he headed back to the kitchen. Looks like not even Christmas could help his sister become more of a morning person. Briefly, he wondered what it would have been like if his aunt and uncle had to have dealt with not one but two kids that hated waking up in the morning as badly as he and Kira did. Especially Kira.

Daisy and Luke were always easy to wake up in the morning. Shoot, Luke was such a light sleeper that all Uncle Jesse had to do was open the door to the bedroom and just softly tell his oldest that it was time to get up and that would be the end of it. It usually then fell to Luke to get Bo up and about.

"Good morning, Daisy, Merry Christmas." Bo popped a kiss on her forehead and grabbed a piece of bacon from the table before Jesse could see him. Earning him a cross-look before Daisy just laughed at his usual antics of getting food before mealtime. He's done it since he could reach the table and it didn't look like he would ever outgrow the habit.

"Good morning, Bo, Merry Christmas. Kira up yet?"

"She's awake; don't think she's up yet, though. It's still a bit early for her."

"I guess farm hours are a bit rough to get used to. Breakfast is just about ready. You may want to hurry her up a little."

Back in the bedroom, Kira was getting ready to head out to the kitchen still trying to shake the remnants of the night's dreams out of her head. Walking out the door filled with mixed feelings, Kira painted a smile on her face. Otherwise, she'd bring the others down. She didn't want to be responsible for ruining the holiday for the others.

In the kitchen, the rest of the family was already waiting at the table. Breakfast was an animated event with good-natured joking and picking back and forth. Kira enjoyed watching the others though she held back from joining in too much. She assumed that if anyone noticed, they'd just chalked up her quietness to it still being so early for her.

After breakfast, everyone moved into the living room for presents. Kira went ahead and grabbed the present that she had brought with her. She had drawn Luke's name to shop for, so she handed the package to him before she sat down on the couch.

Opening the present, Luke was surprised to find a new pair of boots. Snakeskin boots at that. Kira had noticed that the ones that he was wearing were worn completely out. She'd be willing to bet that he felt every pebble that he stepped on. Kira also didn't bother with sticking to the budget limits either. She knew that Bo's boots were in just as bad shape as Luke's, too. She'll have to find a way to fix that after Christmas.

After Luke thanked her, he gave Bo his present which was a new belt with a shiny new buckle. It had a Confederate flag on it. Bo had gotten Daisy a new blue dress for church which earned him a big hug. Then it was time for Daisy to give Kira her present. Opening the box, Kira found a very pink, very bright, sweater.

"I figured you needed a little color. You're always wearing those drab browns and greens. So, when I saw this sweater, I figured it would be just the thing. I hope you like it." Daisy was practically beaming knowing for sure that she had gotten her cousin the perfect gift.

"Thanks Daisy. It's a lovely sweater."

'Liar.'

Bo grinned at her knowing that Kira most likely was just trying to be kind. He knew that lovely would not really be the way she wanted to describe the sweater.

'Hush. And it would be a great sweater if it had been a different color.'

'You ain't gonna tell her you hate the color pink?'

'No and neither are you!'

Kira glared at Bo as if daring him to say anything. The silent argument continued for several minutes unnoticed by the others in the room. So wrapped up in ensuring that Bo didn't spill the beans about the sweater, Kira totally missed what Judd and Jesse had gotten for Christmas. She didn't really worry about it too much though; she'd figure it out later.

While preparing for Christmas dinner, Kira was surprised when Rosco showed up. Apparently, he and his basset hound, Flash, were Christmas regulars. How her family and Rosco could be pitted against one another for the majority of the year and be able to happily celebrate together was something that she really didn't think she'd ever understand. Daisy had even gotten Flash a new collar for Christmas. And of course, it too was pink. Poor Flash didn't look as pleased with Daisy's choice of colors and she had been.

Sitting down in the living room after dinner, Kira soon found that Flash had decided that her lap would make a good pillow.

"Well, it looks like Flash likes ya."

"As a comfortable bed at least," Kira responded to Rosco as she absently scratched behind Flashes ears.

"You like dogs?"

"Yeh, used to always want to get a real big dog. Never had one though."

"Why don't 'cha get one now? I wouldn't give mine up for the world." Rosco asked.

"Nah. My building doesn't allow pets. Plus, with the hours I always work, it wouldn't be fair to a dog; for it to be cooped up all day long and all. Maybe if I ever get out of the city but not right now."

Once the kitchen was all cleaned up and the evening chores were done, the rest of the family migrated to the living room as well where Bo and Luke got their guitars out and played while everyone else sang various carols. Soon the evening began to wind down and Jesse got the large old Family Bible out and read the Christmas story. With that done, Rosco took his leave and the Dukes all began to get ready to call it a night after a festive day.

No sooner had Kira closed the door to the guest room, however, than there was a knock on the door. Kira opened it and let Bo in.

"Alright, give. You've been quiet all day. What 'cha been thinkin' about?"

Kira shrugged her shoulders. She had hoped that she had gone under the radar with everything else that had gone on throughout the day. She should have known though that she wouldn't have gotten anything past her brother.

"Just thinkin' about Ben, I guess. I met him on Christmas Day. I guess you could say that that was my first Christmas miracle."

Bo leaned forward to give Kira something she'd never ask for; a comforting hug. All the while hoping that she'd share the story of how she had met her very own Christmas Angel.

As Ben Kyle was going down the hallway of the hospital, he couldn't help but be disgusted as he thought on the scene with his kids that morning. Every year since his kids were little, they knew that he and his partner Tom Callahan and his wife Michelle visited the kids in the hospital on Christmas Day. It was something that had never even been an issue. It was just a fact. Though for the past few years, he knew that they had begun to resent all the time he spent on "the charity cases" at the hospital. He had volunteered in various ways over the years.

For which he knew that his ungrateful children had begun to refer to him as an "old fool" and said that he was getting soft in his old age. Maybe he had given them too much when they were growing up. Made it where they didn't appreciate what they had or just how fortunate they were. They still acted as if they were in their early twenties with the parties they constantly threw and attended instead of each pushing forty.

His son-in-law and daughter-in-law were just as bad as his own kids when it came to being spoiled by the money he had acquired over his life. He had already given up on ever having the grandchildren that he had so wanted too. Shoot, if his kids had given him them grandchildren, they'd be getting close to getting out of high school now. Instead, the closest thing to grandchildren it looked like he would ever get were the kids he visited here at the hospital.

Getting to the nurses' station, Ben saw Michelle's sister Susan. The head nurse on staff in this wing. She had a few of the kids of various ages all lined up waiting for Santa to arrive to bring them their presents. They had been told that HE would be making a special trip just for them today. Looking at all the kids, his heart just about broke as they all started to happily scream as he walked into view.

"Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!"

Behind him, Tom and Michelle helped pull the other bags of presents that he himself couldn't carry. He had practically bought out a small toy store of whatever toys that they had left on the shelf the night before to add to the toys that he had already bought to bring today. Another reason for his kids to be so upset with him this morning. They were upset at how he was wasting THEIR inheritance away. Well, he ain't dead yet. So, it was still his to spend however he wanted. After all, it was he that had built up the wealth over the years, not them. If he wanted to buy out toy stores and candy shops on occasion, then no one was gonna stop him.

Kira watched from her opened door as an old man in a Santa suit was surrounded by the kids in the wing, each practically screaming to the point of going hoarse. She should have known that the hospital would pay someone to visit all the kids.

A part of her wished that she was still young enough to believe in Santa Clause and the hope that he seemed to bring with him as he was handing out the presents that he'd brought with him. From where she sat in her room, she was impressed that the toys that were handed out didn't seem to be the factory rejects that she had sometimes seen given out by the various charity groups that had tried to collect toys for the kids at the orphanage over the years.

Despite herself, Kira climbed out of bed and stood by her door to watch the goings ons a bit better. Everyone was having such a good time. It was as if for an hour, the kids and their parents were able to forget that they were in a hospital where the kids were in a very real fight for their lives. Standing where she was, she could almost, ALMOST, believe in miracles. After all, everyone else in the wing seemed to believe it, if just for a while.

She then reminded herself that her life itself was enough to disprove such foolish thoughts. If miracles existed, she certainly wouldn't be here without any family or spent all her life in various foster homes and then bouncing back and forth on and off the streets. So instead of joining in with the Christmas fun, Kira closed her door to the smiles and laughter that seemed to be running rampant in the hall.

Tom and Michelle handed out most of the various toys to the children along with the many types of candy that had been brought for the kids as Santa finished talking to the last kid who had waited eagerly for his turn. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a sad teenager with thinning red hair, who had been watching the morning activities from her room, close her door. He had seen a stark contrast in her room from the other children's rooms. Their rooms had flowers, balloons, toys, and other personal touches to make their rooms feel like less of a hospital room. He had seen none of that in the teen's room. Making his way over to Susan, he asked about the girl.

"She's the saddest case I've seen in a while; doesn't have any family to visit her. Her own social worker referred to her a Throw-away Case. Just came back in off the streets before she was brought here. Hardly ever says two words to any of the nurses either when we go in there to check on her."

Ben watched Susan leave to respond to a call in another room as he thought about the teen. Heading across the hall, Ben slowly made his way to the only room with a closed door. Once at the door, he knocked and waited for permission to go in. When it didn't come, he opened the door anyway and poked his head in.

"Mind if I come in?"

"You gonna leave if I say I do?"

"Maybe."

Kira looked at the man in red for a minute before resigning herself to the intrusion. "Knock yourself out. Don't you think I'm a little old for a visit from Santa though?"

"You're never too old for a friendly visit, regardless of who that visit is from." Closing the door behind him, he walked over and extended his hand while offering his name. "I'm Ben."

Kira looked at his hand distrustfully before taking it. "Kira. Aren't you supposed to lie and say your name is Kris Kringle or something?"

"Well, you're the one who said that you're too old for Santa Claus. And since you didn't come out, I figured I'd come to you. You may be too old for a doll, but you're never too old for candy. We brought all kinds. What's your favorite? I'll bet we have some for you." Kira just shrugged her shoulders. She really hadn't had many sweets; one was the same as another. "Well, I'll just bring ya in a mixed bag. How's that?"

"Fine, I guess." Kira tried to go back to reading an old book that the night-time cleaning woman had left her. It was a textbook that she had used last semester. The school was using a different one this semester, so it was just lying around.

"What 'cha reading?" Ben flipped the book up to see the title and was surprised. "Western Civilization. Isn't a college textbook a little old for you?"

"Not really. I've always liked reading about history anyways. And there ain't much else to do while stuck in here."

Ben got Kira to tell him about what she'd been reading. She was reading about the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. Ben was impressed by how bright she seemed to be. Both in the book learning that she seemed to be keeping up with despite not having been in school on a regular basis, and with her natural quick wittiness. Even the fact that she was almost constantly sarcastic seemed to endear her to him.

Ben spent over an hour talking to the snappish teen until it was clear that she was becoming overly tired. He left with a promise to return the next day. Kira didn't really believe she'd see Ben again. After all, she'd heard that promise before from others who had yet to return.