10. Chapter 9 (1/2)

chapter 9

a taxi was parked in front of a big

two-floor house, in new orleans, residence of judith harris, and she

got out of the car with a content smile upon her face. andrew and

monica were sitting in the back seat and, from the airport until that

peaceful neighbourhood, the blond angel had his arm permanently

wrapped around her small shoulders. grateful for his reassurance,

either with encouraging words or gentle gestures, the little irish

angel had rested her head on his shoulder in this meantime and when

they arrived at the house, andrew gave her a gentle squeeze. "let's

go?"

"yes..."

he got out first and

offered his hand to help her out of the vehicle. "monica, andrew,

from now on this is your new house!" judith said, after the taxi

was gone. monica continued to hold andrew's hand and looked at the

yellow building, happy to see some lilacs planted in the front yard.

"it's lovely, judith!" she said, with a beautiful smile upon

her meek face.

"i'm glad you like

it! come on in, we have a lot to do today!" they crossed the yard

and climbed the porch steps. then, she opened the front door and they

crossed a small hall, which led to the living room. next to it, there

was the dining room and, after, the kitchen.

"i'm under the

impression that i've been here before..." monica spoke, studying

carefully the wooden furniture and the rooms.

"yes! i invited you

both to have dinner as soon as you started to work with me!" the

woman explained, she and andrew secretly happy to see that a small

piece of memory had come back to her mind.

"come, i'll show

you to your rooms!"

they climbed the wooden

stairs on the corner of the dining room up to the second pavement.

there was a long corridor in it and 4 other doors: one at the end of

the corridor, 2 on the right and one on the left.

"there's a bathroom

at the end of the corridor and i have another one in my bedroom, so

you can fight for it... although i think you two would never fight

with each other for anything in this entire world!" she joked,

causing them to exchange an amused glance. "these are the bedrooms.

the first one on the right is mine. the other one used to be my

daughter's..." a little hint of sadness appeared in her eyes as

she mentioned that, but it quickly vanished when she opened the door:

the room had light yellow walls, white wooden furniture and there was

a flowered blanket covering the bed, matching the flowered curtains

in the window. some delicate flowers in a small vase, on the bedside

table, filled the room with a sweet perfume.

with a surprised smile,

monica stepped inside and looked around her with enchanted eyes,

"oh... judith..."

"i hope you like it,

dear. i prepared it the same way i used to do for my daughter...

everything here is pretty much the same..."

the little angel held

her hands in both of hers and squeezed them, "it's beautiful,

judith, thank you so much!"

"yes... i guess

judith got it right; it reflects who you are, angel girl." andrew

added, gently stroking her hair.

"come with me, i'll

show you your room, andrew."

they moved to the other

bedroom, on the left side of the corridor, and she opened the door:

now the walls were light blue and the furniture was similar to the

one in monica's bedroom. on the floor, a beige rug, matching the

beige curtains, completed the decoration. "i hope you like it too,

andrew. this used to be our guest room but i haven't had guests

since... well, since you two arrived!" judith spoke.

"it's very

beautiful too, andrew!" monica said, moved with the woman's

generosity. the blond angel smiled and placed his hand over judith's

shoulder. "it's perfect, judith! thank you; for everything!"

she took the angels'

hands, "you don't have to thank me... in fact, i guess having you

two here was exactly what i needed... and now let's go! as i said,

there's a lot to do!"

"where are we going?"

monica wanted to know, as they headed to the stairs.

"shopping!"

"oh, but, judith...

you gave us clothes already..."

"yes, and we don't

want you to spend more money with us..." monica and andrew

respectively spoke, but judith interrupted them. "oh, don't argue

with me! we'll spend the afternoon at the mall!"

monica was the most

excited of the trio on that afternoon, enchanted with all those many

coloured displays, which showed all sorts of products and were

beautifully decorated. chuckling at her childlike manners, andrew and

judith exchanged amused glances while the little irish angel seemed

to have a comment for each and every tiny little thing that appeared

on their way. judith bought them clothes and other personal objects

and after walking around so much, monica started to feel tired.

"oh dear, i'm

sorry, i made you walk so much, you're still recovering from the

accident..."

"oh no, judith, i'm

having such a great time! really! i just need to sit for a while, you

know." the irish angel was quick to say, shooting a reassuring look

at her two dearest friends.

"ok, then. let's

stop to eat or drink something!"

"yes, judith is

right, we just have to choose a pl..."

"a coffee shop!"

seeing monica's

own eyes focused on the coffee parlour not far

from them and shining enthusiastically, andrew and judith looked at

each other with amusement.

ten minutes later...

"... don't you feel

something special when you taste coffee mixed with milk? i mean, the

combination of the flavour and the smell do make you feel something

different... as if it filled your soul..."

monica spoke, holding a

large cup of mocha. andrew raised his eye

ows and looked at his cup,

which was considerably smaller than hers. "hum... not really..."

the irish angel stared at him in shock, "honestly i prefer tea or

chocolate... hot chocolate, i guess." he watched with amusement as

she shook her head in disbelief.

"well, i agree that

coffee tastes good and i actually like it but i guess you absolutely

love it, dear..." judith said; she and andrew looking at monica's

cup, which was practically empty.

the little angel stared

at the cup too and sighed with some frustration to see it was almost

over. and also noticing the look of amazement in her friend's eyes,

she blushed a little embarrassed. "well... yes... i think i kind

of... love it..."

"would you like

another cup?" judith offered.

monica's eyes became

ighter and she nodded enthusiastically, "another cup would be

lovely!"

another 10 minutes

later, andrew and judith watched in disbelief as the irish angel

finished to drink the second large cup of coffee and seemed eager for

a third one.

"look at this,

judith: it seems our angel girl is addicted to coffee!" the blond

angel spoke, teasingly, and laughed even more when monica glared at

him with an adorable mix of annoyance and amusement, as she herself

was having fun with the whole situation.

tess crossed the gates of the

baltimore hospital and headed to the counter. in her eyes, it was

possible to see all the sadness and worry caused by her two month

search for her beloved friends, and in her heart, echoed a constant

prayer to see them again.

"excuse me, baby. i need some

information about two patients..." she said.

"ok, what are their names?" the

attendant was quick to ask.

"monica and andrew. i was told they

were transferred to this hospital after they suffered a bus accident

near new orleans..."

"oh, yes, monica and andrew no last

names! yes, we have some information about them..."

the angel's eyes grew wide hearing

that piece of news, "you do? where are they? can i speak to them?

what's their bedroom number?"

"i'm sorry, ma'am, but monica

and andrew aren't here. i have all registered in our files: we were

waiting for them but, in the last minute, they were transferred to

houston..."

"oh no! don't tell me that!"

"yes... i'm sorry, but you'll

have to go to the methodist hospital and look for them there, i'm

sure they'll be able to help you to find them."

later, at night,

after an exciting afternoon at the shopping mall, judith

and the angels came back home starving and monica had offered to make

dinner, saying that she would prepare them meatloaf. fortunately,

andrew had an unexplainable feeling that he should go to the kitchen

to check on his dearest friend's job and found monica cooking (or

at least trying to cook) the meat loaves, which were all irregularly

cut and with a visible excess of pepper and other condiments in them.

the blond angel frowned with concern when he saw that dinner was

about to be ruined and knew that he had to do something quickly.

"monica... would

you like me to help you out here? i mean... i know you can handle

that yourself but i think that... if... if we work together, dinner

will be ready faster, you know... and... i guess judith

is hungry..." he spoke, trying his best not to show his great

concern. and now it was monica who frowned with worry. "oh my! did

she say something?"

"no! no, she's watching tv in the

living room but... well, we had such a busy day that i thought you'd

be a bit tired to do everything all by yourself and needed some

help..."

"well... in fact, i guess i'm

having a wee bit of trouble here, you know..." she confessed, a bit

embarrassed.

"i know... i mean, i can help you,

angel girl..." he replied, immediately taking care of the food and

decided to do everything he could to fix the damage she had done.

while he worked, andrew had wisely

given monica some small tasks, so that she wouldn't feel useless

and, some time later, with great effort, he managed to save the

meatloaves.

"... hum... it

tastes good! you two did a very good job!" judith

spoke; she and the two angels were now sitting at the table, in the

dining room.

"really?" the irish angel's

eyes grew wide and she was so pleased to hear that compliment that

andrew felt twice happier to have saved the meal.

"yes! you and andrew did great! but

i'm not surprised, though; at least not about andrew's