11. Chapter 10 (1/2)

chapter

10

some

days after they had returned to new orleans and settled at judith's

house, monica and andrew went back to work at the travel agency, and

their lives fell into the pleasant routine of, always together,

taking many tourists to beautiful and historical places, providing

all sort of help that any of the visitors could need. and both angels

felt it was the easiest part of the job.

along with the adaptation, the

friendship the angels shared since from the day they woke up in

hospital grew stronger each and every single day. all the support and

reassurance andrew and monica found in each other and in their faith

in god had helped them to overcome the pain

ought by the accident

and the anguish and sadness for not knowing who they were; little by

little, happiness was coming back to their hearts.

monica

had finished to give some information about the huge cathedral they

were now visiting and she and andrew watched as the group walked

along the interior of the ancient construction. it was then that a

middle aged woman approached the irish angel. "excuse me, young

lady..."

"yes,

madam? is there anything you need?" she asked politely.

"n-no...

not exactly... it's just that... i believe you've met my daughter

some months ago."

at

the mention of a past that neither she nor andrew knew, the

expression on her face turned into a serious one, and she looked at

andrew, who was equally concerned. "r-really?" monica said,

visibly nervous.

"yes.

susan made this same trip about 7 months ago and she told me about an

irish young guide from this agency that helped her when she was

diagnosed with liver cancer. she told me that they entered this same

cathedral and, while she was sitting there, staring at the altar,

this young guide suddenly appeared by her side and started talking to

her... susan said they prayed together and at first i even thought

she had spoken to an angel..."

noticing

monica's anguish for not remembering that, andrew took her hand and

squeezed it, as the woman kept on talking. "...but now i see it can

only have been you, monica. all the reassuring words you told susan

ought her so much hope and peace... i guess it

ought peace for us

all..." some tears appeared in the corner of her eyes, "i just

wanted to thank you, my dear."

"well...

i... i'm not really sure if i can remember that..."

"oh

it's ok, i imagine how many people you meet every day. but after

watching you with the group here and how kind you are, i'm

definitely sure that it was you my dear susan met..."

"where...

where is she? i mean, your daughter, susan?" andrew asked, feeling

a desperate need to protect monica from the sadness he could feel

flowing from her heart for not remembering that.

"my

susan passed away two months after that trip..."

"i'm...

i'm so sorry..."

"yes,

i'm terribly sorry, madam..." both angels replied.

"thank

you. but my husband and i are taking this loss calmly, and we know

that she is with god now... thanks to the reassuring words you once

told our susan, she died with the certainty that she'll meet us

again and my husband and i do share the same feeling. we know there's

a loving father taking care of us all and that's been the most

important thing for us to survive. for months i thought that she had

been talking to an angel... and..." she smiled, trying to send away

the sad memories that that visit had

ought, "and looking at you,

meeting you in person, i guess i wasn't totally wrong about the

angel thing!"

when the woman walked away from them,

monica looked at andrew and he could see the tears forming in the

corner of her

own eyes. "don't cry angel, please." he gently

lay both hands on each side of her head and searched for her eyes.

"i can't help it... i wish i

could remember this..." the irish angel replied, covering his hands

with hers.

"i also wish you could... i'd do

anything to see your memory coming back, but that's not how it

works. it'll come back with time and we have to be patient." he

leaned over and tenderly kissed her forehead, "besides.. didn't

you hear what that woman said? 'there's a loving father taking

care of us all.' you said that yourself, angel, and i truly believe

that."

a tearful smile appeared on her face

and she nodded her head, looking at him with her heart filled with

tenderness and a sensation of joy that had become quite usual lately.

"i believe that too, ya know... after all, he gave me you..."

saying no more, he held her tightly

in his arms, feeling fiercely protective of that kind and warm

hearted creature who he too considered a gift from heaven. and once

again, monica rested her head on his chest, finding there all the

comfort and reassurance she needed when sadness invaded her heart.

he recognised the dark skinned angel

the moment she crossed the street right in front of the café

where he had stopped to buy an orange juice. "teeeesssssss!" adam

shouted despite the curious looks of all people around him. running

to cross the street too, balancing a dropping glass of juice, the

angel of death reached the supervisor and smiled at her, yet not

missing the slight hint of sadness in her dark eyes.

"well, well, that really is a sight

from heaven, adam!" the old angel said when they were together.

"where have you been, baby?"

adam reached to hug tess with his

free arm. "here and there, you know. pretty busy! it looks like the

father keeps on wanting me to do my job as well as andrew's!" he

tried to joke but he regretted it immediately when he saw the

supervisor looking away at the mention of her missing "angel boy".

"i'm sorry..."

"it's ok, baby," tess replied

with a sad voice. "i guess i have to get used to this. i mean...

we're not forgetting them, are we?"

adam felt a knot forming on his

throat at the clear

eaking on her voice. "i take it as you

haven't found them."

"no, adam, i haven't."

the angel of death finished his juice

in one gulp and put the glass in a nearby trashcan, before he wrapped

an arm around the older angel's shoulders and start walking with

her. "i really can't understand this, tess. we have looked for

them all around the places where they had to be! we even found them

at the hospitals, but... it's just as if we are meant not to find

them... yet," he added at the sudden hurting look tess gave him

with his last words.

they walked in silence for a couple

of streets more until the dark skinned angel spoke again. "you're

right, adam, you know? i too think we are not meant to find my angel

babies yet... not even after seven months..."

"tess, i..." adam interrupted her

stopping their walk.

"no, baby, it is true. how many

times we were so close to find them? at the last hospital i went to,

they had been released just a day before! but they didn't leave an

address, nor a personal information that i can track! and they

haven't tried to contact me either! i have asked the father more

times than i can count already about all this, and the answer i have

gotten once and again is that i'll

understand the reasons when the time is correct!" big tears had

formed in her dark eyes and were now running freely down her cheeks.

it hurt adam to see the always so strong tess in such a state. "i

trust him to keep them safe, that's all i want to! i miss my

babies, you know? we were always together, they were the closest

thing i guess i can have to a son or a daughter, and it hurts me not

to know where they are. but i am an angel," she said standing still

and looking more like the imposing heavenly being she normally was,

"i know there is a god that is always keeping an eye on all his

children, angel or humans. so i have handled him all my concerns. all

i ask him is to let me see them again one day, whenever he wants it

to be..."

the deep trusting tess was showing in

her words also had adam in the

ink of tears. yes, andrew and monica

were his friends too and he missed them. he missed the childlike joy

of monica and the long chats with andrew when they both had a rare

free moment between their assignments. but as much as he loved his

friends, he knew it was nothing compared to what they shared with

tess.

he had been the angel of death

assigned to assist monica in the first years of her as a caseworker,

already under tess' guidance, but after the very first time andrew

had joined them, it was out of discussion who had to be there. it

seemed a natural trio, both the two older angels willing to protect

the younger one and guide her through her tough labour. in the times

he had joined them, he had marvelled at the way the friendship

between monica and andrew had grown, taking them to a level of deep

understanding of the other, where one could easily know what the

other needed, felt or had to do. he had seen the pure feeling the two

angels felt for each other and it warmed his heart as if he was

contemplating face to face a piece of the father's greater love.

and he knew tess had to feel the same and more, as she got to see

that every single day. not looking at the divine miracle of andrew

and monica together had to be really hard for the old supervisor.

"i'm sure we will see them again,

tess," adam said placing one of his hands on her shoulder and

squeezing it reassuringly. "one day, any time soon, we'll find

them and we'll understand all this..."

"we have to, adam..." tess