Daughter of the Deadman III

Chapter 13: Making Progress

Three months had passed since Angel had been in the accident. She was still in the Kindred Spirit Rehabilitation Hospital, but things had changed a lot. She was making leaps and bounds in her rehabilitation. She could walk and talk really well now, but if she tended to get upset or angry, she would still stutter over her words. Wyatt and Kristy were back in Houston too. They had gone back to Tampa and stayed there about two months before she and Adam had had a fight. Kristy had called him out on being jealous of Kristy's friendship with Angel and he had denied it, leading to the fight. Kristy had packed up her and Wyatt's things and gotten on the first flight back to Houston. The two of them had been so happy to see Angel's progress.

Ozzie was also three months old now and he was certified as a therapy dog now and was able to stay with Angel in the hospital. He was protective of Angel and tended to bark at any strangers who came into the room, although he was used to the therapists now. The rest of the Harts were back in Calgary spending time with their families and David had gone back to work in Japan. Oddly enough, Angel didn't miss him that much and it didn't bother her that she barely heard from him. Lea and Wyatt were in the bed with Angel on either side of her watching her read braille.

"You two, you're crowding Angel." Kristy said.

"But braille is so cool, Mom. Plus I never heard of it before Aunt Angel got hurt." Wyatt said.

"Yeah. It's so neat!" Lea said.

"You're just happy because I can still read stories to you guys." Angel said with a laugh.

"Daddy, do you think Angel will be back home soon?" Lea asked.

"I don't know. But about home….I'm thinking we might need to move to a one floor house for Angel's sake." Taker said.

"But….the house we live in is the one you lived in when Mom was with you, Daddy. All the memories of Mom are there. I don't want to take that away…." Angel said.

"Angel, all the memories I have with your Mother are right here in my head." Taker said.

"I know. But still…" Angel said.

"Ang, I'm sure Aunt Beth would be more concerned about your safety than anything else." Kristy said.

"Daddy, what if we just fix up the house and put Angel's room on the first floor?" Lea asked.

"Uncle Taker, do you think you'll have enough time to renovate the house?" Kristy asked.

"I'm not sure. It depends on how long Angel spends here." Taker said.

"Daddy, if I have to sleep on a couch, I will sleep on a couch. Anything would be more comfortable then the hospital beds I've been in sleeping in." Angel said.

"Fair point. But I need to be here with you." Taker said.

"What if we asked Grandpa Dean and Uncle Liam to help out? I'm sure they would." Angel said.

"I'll talk to them about it." Taker said.

"And I think the best thing to do would be to gut the inside of the house and start over. Because the alternative is going to take a lot longer." Angel said.

"You mean tearing the whole thing down?" Taker asked.

"Yeah. That would take longer than just gutting the inside and redoing it." Angel said.

"Good point. I'll give them a call." Taker said.

Angel nodded. It was then that the therapist came in. Angel cringed. It was time for physiotherapy. Taker asked Kristy to go with Angel this time so that he could call Dean and Liam and get the process of renovating the house going as soon as possible since it was going to take a lot of time to pull off. Kristy agreed. Angel left with Kristy, Lea, and Wyatt while Taker took Ozzie outside for a bit of a walk and a bathroom trip so that he could use his cell phone. He called Dean and Liam's house. To his shock, Dean answered after two rings. The phone was on speaker obviously, given that Liam said hello too.

"How's our Angel Baby holding up?" Dean asked.

"She's going in leaps and bounds over here. But that's not why I'm calling. I need to call in a favour. And given that it's something that will help Angel, we were sure you'd jump on it." Taker said.

"What's up, Mark?" Liam asked.

"Well, we were talking and I told Angel I was thinking about moving to a one floor house for her safety and she got upset, naturally. Then Lea came up with the idea of renovating the house and building Angel a room on the first floor so she didn't have to worry about stairs. So, we need your help. I'll pay for everything, but we need the two of you to kind of getting everything going." Taker said.

"What were you thinking of doing, Mark?" Dean asked.

"Gutting the inside of the house and starting from scratch." Taker said.

"Ah. Well, alright then. We'll make some calls and see what we can do." Dean said.

"Thanks, you two. I appreciate it. And Angel does too. She sends her love." Taker said.

"Tell her we love her and we'll see her soon." Dean said.

"Will do. Bye guys. And thanks again." Taker said.

"No problem, Mark. We'll see you later." Dean said.

Taker hung up the phone and went back inside. He walked with Ozzie to the physiotherapy room. Lea was sitting outside with Wyatt and the two were talking. The two of them didn't like going in there when Angel had her physiotherapy. The reason was that they were sure that it was hurting her rather than helping. Taker sighed. He went in and told Kristy to go and wait outside with the two children while he stayed there. Kristy nodded and Taker took over, holding Angel's hand and keeping her calm.

"Miss Calaway, you're doing great. If you everything going at this pace, you'll be home in no time."

"Good. Then I can get myself back in shape and get myself back to work." Angel said.

"When that time comes, baby girl, just make sure you don't exhaust yourself." Taker said.

"Don't worry, Daddy. I won't rush it. Promise." Angel said.

"I'm gonna hold you to that, baby girl." Taker said.

Angel nodded. After about an hour of stretching Angel's legs, she stood up. She walked back and forth across the room no problem. The doctor grinned from ear to ear and so did Taker. Angel beamed.

"It looks like you'll only have a few physiotherapy sessions left, Miss Calaway."

Angel nodded. She walked out of the room with Taker. Lea jumped up and hugged her sister and so did Wyatt. Kristy was grinning from ear to ear. Angel hadn't been able to move on her own in months. They walked back to Angel's room and she walked over and sat by the window. Kristy sighed. She explained that she had just got a call from the Houston PD saying that Lea and Angel would have to testify at Lexie's trial that started next week.

"What?! Why can't they just play the taped statements?" Taker asked.

"The prosecutor suggested that, but the defense wants to hear what Angel and Lea have to say in person." Kristy said.

"Alright. Do you two think you can do that?" Taker said.

"I'll do it!" Lea said.

"I'll do it if it means that she never gets out and can never hurt anyone else again!" Angel said, looking determined.

"I get the feeling Angel isn't doing this just for herself." Kristy said.

"I'm doing it for Mom too. And all the other families and people that she has hurt. Even her daughter." Angel said.

Taker nodded. Then he explained that he had spoken to Dean and Liam about renovating the house so that Angel could safely move around in it and that they were going to make some calls and get things started.

"But…what if I get out of here before the renovations are done?" Angel asked.

"We'll think of something, baby girl." Taker said.

"OK, Daddy." Angel said.

Angel continued to stare out the window. Lea walked over and stood next to her. Then Lea started to describe what she could see from where they were. Angel got an idea. She asked her Dad to put her special drawing board on her lap and give her a pencil. Taker did. Lea went quiet.

"No. It's OK, Lea. Keep talking." Angel said.

Lea looked confused, but she did as Angel told her. Angel started to draw what Lea was describing. It went on for about five minutes until she had to stop because her hand was hurting her. When Lea looked at the paper, she was stunned. Angel had drawn everything that Lea had described to her.

"Wow, Angel!" Lea said.

"You drew everything perfectly, girl. That's amazing!" Kristy said.

"Wow, baby girl." Taker said, looking over her shoulder.

"How does she do that?" Wyatt asked.

"Well, even though I have the power to see in my own sort of way, my eyes don't quite work the way they used to. But my mind's eye works just fine. So I could see everything that Lea was saying in my head and just put it on the paper." Angel said.

"That's cool." Wyatt said.

"I'm just glad Angel isn't too broken and that I still have my big sister. It would be weird to be here without her." Lea said.

Everyone looked at each other. Then they nodded in agreement. It would have been strange had Angel not pulled through and survived what had happened to her. Angel looked down at Lea and then gave her a hug.

"Hey, Daddy, can we go outside and go for a walk? I mean, I want to walk Ozzie and I need some fresh air. Besides, there's a park down the street and I think Lea and Wyatt need some time as normal kids." Angel said.

"Leave it to Aunt Angel to think about us when she's going through a lot of stuff." Wyatt said.

"She wouldn't be Angel if she didn't worry about us all." Kristy said.

"Sure, baby girl. We can go for a walk." Taker said.

Angel grinned. Kane helped her get her shoes on and Taker helped her get a sweater. Then he hooked Ozzie up to his leash and handed it to Angel. They walked from the room and told the receptionist that they were going for a walk and they would be back in a little while. As soon as they stepped outside, Angel was hit by a wall of sounds.

"I never realized how noisy Houston is." Angel said.

"It's because of your heightened sense of hearing, Little Angel." Kane said.

"I know. But I felt like I was getting hit by a wall just now. I need to get outside more and get used to it." Angel said.

They nodded. They continued to walk to the park. Angel was listening to the sounds as they walked and Lea was describing what they were walking past. When they arrived at the park, Lea and Wyatt went off to play. Angel sat down on the bench with Kane and Taker.

"What are you thinking about, baby girl?" Taker asked.

"David." Angel said.

"Oh?" Kane asked.

"I'm wondering when he's going to break up with me." Angel said.

"Do you think that will happen?" Taker asked.

"Probably. I mean, I haven't seen him in over three months. In the last three months, he's called once. I can see it coming, Daddy." Angel said.

"Well, baby girl, if that's what you think, that's OK, but I don't think David will break up with you." Taker said.

"If you say so, Daddy. I guess all we can do and wait and see what will happen." Angel said.

Taker nodded. That was about all they could do nowadays was wait to see what would happen with life in general. They sat there for a long time. Kristy, Taker, and Kane watched Wyatt and Lea play while Angel sat there with Ozzie, occasionally getting up to let him use the bathroom.

After a few hours, everyone could see Angel getting tired so they decided to head back to the hospital so she could rest. They called Lea and Wyatt over and then stood up and walked back toward the hospital. When they got back to the hospital, the nurse greeted them. They went back to Angel's room. Angel sighed and got back into bed. Within a few minutes, she was asleep.

"You OK, big brother?" Kane said.

"Just thinking about what Angel said about David." Taker said.

"Do you really think that he'll break up with her?" Kane asked.

"I don't know. I hope not." Taker said.

"He's not really being much of a boyfriend right now. I wonder if my Mom got to him again." Kristy said.

"I doubt that. If she did, he'd come right out and break up with her instead of stringing her along like this." Kane said.

"Kane's right." Taker said.

Kristy nodded. Kane was probably right. If Diana had gotten to David, he would have come right out and broken up with Angel instead of hiding behind the fact that he was busy working in Japan. Lea was watching Angel sleep looking worried.

"What's wrong, Lea?" Kristy asked.

"Just wondering how much longer Angel is going to go through all this bad stuff before something good happens for her…or to her." Lea said.

"I don't know, Little One. But it can't get any worse for her then it has already. So, it has to get a lot better." Taker said.

"Good." Lea said.

She reached up and gave her sleeping sister a hug. Angel stirred a little bit and hugged her sister back. Kristy, Taker and Kane all looked at each other. They hoped that Taker was right and things would only get better for Angel from here.