Signs
The warm sunrays crossed the bluest of the skies and were shining through the huge green trees up in the mountains. In the deserted forest, covered with beautiful wild flowers and vivid vegetation, there was one single cabin, a cosy home inhabited not by human beings but by angels who would use it once in a while, during their free time. But at that very moment, it was empty, although a few excited giggles could be heard not far from there.
“Andrew, this is not fair! You’re way too much taller than me!”
“That’s not an excuse, angel! If you want to learn how to play soccer you have to find a way to steal the soccer ball from me!”
Monica and Andrew were evidently having great fun while the blond angel tried to teach his beloved angel girl to play soccer. There was nothing in the world he could deny her, that was for sure, but when she asked him to teach her that “funny game”, he remembered the day when he tried to teach her how to play football and wondered if her performance at the new game would be as “successful” as the other one.
“It’s impossible with you blocking me!” she replied, grabbing him by the T-shirt while he controlled the soccer ball with his foot.
“This is part of the game, Mrs! And for your information, you’re breaking a rule here by grabbing my shirt!”
Monica placed her hands on her hips and stared at him, “Oh, really?”
“Really! And that’s a very serious fault!”
“Alright...” for a moment, she remained still.
“What’s the matter? Did you give up fighting already?” he teased her.
“Well...” suddenly, the Irish angel took him off guard and grabbed the soccer ball in her both hands and started to run away, leaving an astonished (and highly amused) Andrew behind.
“Hey!”
He was soon running after her, purposefully giving her some advantage so that he could hear her excited giggles echoing in the flowered field they were now in. The gentle wind that was blowing on their faces disarrayed her auburn hair and made her long blue dress fly up in the air, an angelic vision that would always make his heart skip a beat with so much love.
Suddenly, Monica felt a pair of strong arms grabbing her by the waist and Andrew carefully made her stumble on the ground and then pulled her to sit right on his lap, still holding her, laughing at her own laughter. “You are such a cheating little angel!”
“Oh, you... you deserved it!” she replied, with a broad smile on her face, “... it was not fair what you were doing!”
“Oh, really? I’m gonna give you something you deserve too, Mrs!”
When his fingers started to tickle her belly, Monica let out a squeal and melted into giggles, forgetting about the soccer ball she had stolen from him and unsuccessfully trying to escape from his embrace. Only when he saw the tears in her eyes and how red her face was, did Andrew stop tickling her.
Still laughing and trying to catch some air, the Irish angel finally relaxed in his arms, while he gently caressed her hair, trying to calm her down. As the laughing subsided a bit, Monica felt herself being pulled back into Andrew’s embrace and she let out a sigh of contentment as she felt his arms around her. They both lay on the soft green grass and she wrapped her own arms around him and leaned into him, her head resting up against his chest.
“My cheating little angel girl... You’re the prettiest and most adorable little angel in all heaven, you know that?” He whispered into her ear as he stroked her auburn hair.
Smiling at him, she gave him a squeeze as she replied, “Thank you… Except for the cheating part!”
He couldn’t help chuckling at her mock indignation, and kissed her forehead lovingly, “Wanna go up to the lake?”
“Yes! It’s been such a long time since I last visited it, you know. I definitely have to take this day off to go there...” he watched with amusement as her eyes grew wide with an idea, “Oh, maybe we could do a picnic there, Andrew!”
Unable to hold back another chuckle, the blond angel nodded his head, “I’ll tell you what: we’ll go back to the cabin and prepare a basket with food and something for us to drink, and then we can spend the afternoon by the lake, what do you think?”
With a broad smile on her face, she inched a bit closer and gave him a kiss on the cheek, “I think I love you!”
“Well, thank you!” he replied, bending his head to kiss her lips softly. Then, he finally pulled away and helped his beloved Monica back to her feet and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, “So... Let’s have hot chocolate for drink, right?”
The Irish angel eyed him with indignation: he was obviously teasing her and she was going to say something when suddenly she stopped walking, feeling her head spinning and the ground slipping away from her bare feet. “Oh... Andrew...”
“Monica? What is it?” he spoke, his heart racing to see the colour disappearing from her face.
“Andrew... I’m...”
The sentence died in her mouth as her vision blurred and her legs grew weaker. Hadn’t Andrew wrapped a supportive arm around her waist, she would’ve hit the ground at that very moment. “Monica! Monica, angel talk to me!” he shouted, as she fainted in his arms. Carefully, he lay her on the ground and placed her back against his leg for support, and held her head close to his chest, “Monica! Angel, please, answer to me!”
His callings became more and more desperate when she didn’t reply to him and the last couple of minutes seemed like a whole eternity. “Angel, please, come back to me... answer to me...” he caressed her cold cheek with a trembling hand and she finally moved her head. “Monica? Angel, talk to me, please!”
Slowly, her eyes flickered open and she looked at him rather confused, “Andrew?”
Her voice was a mere whisper but it brought him some relief after moments of panic, “Monica? Talk to me, angel! What are you feeling?”
“I’m... confused...”
He took her hand and squeezed it against his face, “You’re so cold, baby...”
“What... happened?”
“You fainted, angel, you fainted here in my arms...” Andrew was looking for any sign of injuries or any other symptoms that could tell him what the problem was, but he knew she hadn’t reached the floor or got hurt. Then, what had caused that?
“I... I feel a wee bit dizzy...”
“I’ll take you to a hospital, Monica, I’ll...”
“No... please, take me to the cabin, Andrew...”
“But Monica, you’ve just fainted here, something is wrong with you and...”
“I’m... I’m going to a hospital... but... not... not now, I can’t handle a trip to the town...”
Andrew pondered about her arguments: in fact, they were up in the mountains and the nearest town was 2 hours distant from the cabin. It would be risky taking her to a hospital as she wasn’t feeling alright yet. She could faint again along the way.
“... please, take me to the cabin? Please?”
Sighing deeply, he nodded his head, “It’s alright, angel. I’ll take you back to the cabin...” Gently, the blond angel passed his hand under her knees and back and held her in his arms. He kissed her forehead and carried his beloved Monica back to the cabin, where they were spending their day off.
X
The blond angel deposited Monica in their bed a few minutes later and straightened the pillows under her head. Then, he sat by the edge of the bed and took her hand, “Comfortable now?”
“Yes... thank you...” she didn’t miss the distress and anguish on his face and felt sorry and a bit guilty for scaring him that way.
“Angel... I need you to tell me something... but be honest with me, ok?”
“What is it?”
“When we were out there... did I... did I hurt you?”
Her eyes grew wide with shock at how absurd that question was and she immediately shook her head, “Oh, no! Of course not, Andrew! You’d never ever hurt me, what gave you this idea?”
“I might’ve hurt you but not intentionally... I...”
“No!” she motioned to sit down in bed and he tried to stop her, “Please, Monica, calm down...”
“No, please, let me hold you... please?”
He couldn’t resist to her crying voice and helped her to sit up straight, then the blond angel involved his dearest Monica in his arms, holding her tightly and feeling the presence of tears in the corner of his eyes, “Oh, my angel...”
“I love you so much, Andrew... So much that it makes me cry with so much joy...”
The only thing that stopped Andrew from holding her tighter was the fear of hurting her, but the blond angel couldn’t help shedding a tear to hearing her words. “Baby, I... I can’t imagine losing you... the mere thought of seeing you hurting is... unbearable...”
“But don’t think you caused it, because you didn’t!” she pulled away and caressed his hair, “The only things you’re responsible for are my laugher and these growing love and happiness I carry in my heart.”
A shy smile finally appeared on his handsome face, “You’re so precious to me, angel... so very precious...”
Monica could see her image reflected in his green pools, along with his endless love, and it was so intense that she felt a wave of joy bathing her very soul. “So are you to me, Andrew.”
He brushed a tiny but tender kiss on her lips and motioned for her to lie down, “Please, baby, I want you to rest a little.”
She nodded her head and lay down in their bed; the blond angel covered her small form with a warm blanket and then started to run his fingers through her auburn hair, “Maybe I should take you Home... You have been in human form for a long time and I’m sure you have some human disease; whatever it is, it’ll go away at the moment you get there...”
“I... I don’t want to go Home now... You’d have to stay here on Earth and far from me...” there were fresh tears in the corner of her eyes as she said that.
“No, baby, I won’t stay away from you, never! If... if you don’t want to go Home you’re going to a hospital, ok?”
“Yes...”
“I’ll also call Tess tomorrow to be with you.”
A slight smile appeared on her face as she remembered her dear friend and supervisor, “Tess... I miss her...”
“Then don’t you worry, cause all the ones you love will be right here with you. Now rest, angel. I want to you to sleep a little while I prepare dinner.”
“It’s okay...”
Andrew lay another tiny kiss on her lips and waited until she fell asleep, the traces of exhaustion still visible on her pale face. Then, with a permanent worried expression, he headed to the kitchen.
X
Later at night, after a warm shower, Monica changed into a pair of comfortable flannel pyjamas and, once she was settled in her bed again, Andrew brought her a tray with a delicious meal. And much to his surprise, the Irish angel practically devoured the food in front of her. “I’m suddenly so hungry, you know... Maybe that’s why I fainted, maybe I didn’t eat enough at lunch!” she said, with a pleased smile on her face, which was also a bit dirty with plum and with a milk moustache. Her visible and quick recovery was certainly a relief to his troubled heart, but Andrew couldn’t help wondering what had caused her to faint a few hours earlier. Whatever it was, he was decided to find out and would certainly do anything to see her healing.
With marvelled eyes, he watched her eating, finding her extremely cute and adorable; dazzled with the childlike gestures that had always made his heart skip a beat with so much love. “Well, although I can see that you’re definitely much better now, I should remind you that you ate quite a lot during lunch too, angel. I don’t think that what happened to you this afternoon has something to do with food...” he placed a strand of hair behind her ear and softly caressed her cheek, “... and we have to find out what’s causing this...”
“I promise I’ll go to the hospital tomorrow.”
“Good. Now finish your dinner, Mrs!”
“I think I’ve finished!” she replied, and Andrew saw, with a surprised expression on his face, that in fact, she had eaten everything he’d prepared her.
“Well... I guess female angels can be really intriguing sometimes!” he exclaimed, raising his eyebrows.
“Well, the Father never ceases to amaze me either, Andrew! I have... a wee bit of difficulties preparing food, so He created you and gave you the talent to cook well...” she inched closer as if to tell him a secret and concluded, “... and then He gave you to me!”
Chuckling, the blond angel contemplated her meek face for a few instants, enchanted with her usual cheerfulness and with her beautiful features, and the fact that it was also dirty with fruit and milk only made her even more adorable to him. “My sweet little angel... I love you...” he lay both hands against her cheeks and crossed the small distance between them, kissing her lips softly and tenderly, tasting the sweet flavour of her mouth, accentuated by the savour of the fruits she’d just eaten.
“That’s the best way to make me heal, ya know?” Monica spoke, as they parted, their foreheads resting together.
“What if I tell you that I’ll keep on doing this even after you heal, huh?”
Giggling, she placed a tiny kiss on his lips and tenderly caressed his face, “Well, then I’ll say I’m the most blessed angel in all universe!”
Enjoying the sound of her giggles and happy to see her smiling face, Andrew took her hand and kissed it, “And what if I tell you you’re wrong, cause the most blessed in all universe is me because I have you?”
Still giggling, Monica couldn’t help but wrap her arms around his neck and cover his face with lots of tiny kisses, “I love you!”
X
After the Irish angel had eaten the delicious dinner Andrew had prepared, she snuggled against him, and the smile that was still playing on her lips seemed to put his heart at ease – whatever she had felt early in the afternoon had to be treated, that was for sure, but no one could deny she was a lot better now. It was past 10 PM and the blond angel was lying in bed with his arms wrapped around the sweetest creature he could ever dream of. He noticed that she had fallen asleep lulled by his gentle caresses and, very carefully, he tilted his head to kiss her hair, while rubbing soothing circles on her back.
A slight shadow was still haunting his very soul, filling his heart with great fear and apprehension wherever he remembered the incident early in the afternoon and the long painful minutes she had remained unconsciously lying in his arms. His hand stilled as he hugged her closer, suddenly feeling fiercely protective, fearing even the slightest thought of seeing her hurt. Andrew spent the last couple of hours just watching her sleep, drinking the mix of beauty and meekness he could see written on her face. But he was also in human form and, beaten by exhaustion brought by the events of the day, he also ended up falling asleep.
Little did he know it was far from being a calm night.
“....no! Andrew! Come back, please! Don’t go!” Despite the fact that she was still asleep, Monica started to shout, moving her head from one side to another, lost in the middle of what seemed to be a terrible nightmare. “Please, be careful! Please... be careful!”
For a few hours, Andrew had been fast asleep by her side, with his arm across her midsection like a loving embrace, and her desperate callings soon woke him up. Alert, the blond angel immediately turned on the lamp on the bedside table and cupped her cheek with one hand, gently steadying her face, “Angel? Baby, wake up!”
“Andrew! Please, don’t go!” she spoke, in a crying, anguished voice, and he could see that tears were falling from her still shut eyes. “Please... I need you so much!”
Feeling extremely sorry for his beloved angel, Andrew took her hand and squeezed it tightly, moving his other hand from her face to her shoulder, gently shaking her, “Monica! Angel, wake up! You’re having a nightmare!”
“... please, don’t go... don’t go...” she continued to mutter, now in a lower voice. But Andrew’s soothing words, his gentle touch against her face and his loving presence alone made her come back slowly, putting an end to that terrible dream. “Shh, angel... I’m here, I’m not going anywhere...” he said, and finally her eyes flickered open.
“Andrew?” although confusion clouded over her face, she clearly remembered the nightmare and immediately sat down in bed to hold him tightly, breaking into tears over his shoulder.
“Calm down, angel! Shh... it was just a bad dream! It’s over now!” he started to run his fingers through her hair and returned the tight hug, trying desperately to put her troubled heart at ease. “Just a bad dream, baby! I’m right here with you, I’m not going anywhere!”
“You were suddenly away! I called you but... but you didn’t answer to me... there... there was fire and water and... and then everything became dark...” the anguished sobs were far from subsiding and he pulled away just a few inches to look at her face – there was a mix of pain, agony and utter fear there.
“Baby, try to calm down, please! It was just a dream! I was here all the time, trying to wake you up!”
Shaking her head, blind by the tears that pricked her eyes, she insisted, “No, it was too real! It was so awful, so...”
Then something interrupted her and Monica quickly pulled away from his embrace. She covered her mouth and placed her hand over her stomach, feeling a terrible sensation of sickness running inside her body.
“Monica? Angel?”
Weakly, the Irish angel climbed off their bed and ran towards the bathroom, followed by a desperate Andrew, who wrapped a supportive arm around her waist when she started to throw up in the sink. Terrified, imagining that she’d got worse in the last few hours, he wiped at her forehead and neck with a cloth and when she was finally over he carried her back to the bed.
“Come, baby... lie down a little... I... I’ll try to get a doctor and bring him here!”
“No!” her pleading voice broke his heart: on one side, he wanted to go and get some help, but on the other, how could he leave her all alone in the cabin?
Desperate, praying that she would get better or for some kind of help, he gathered her in his arms and kissed her head repeatedly, “Angel... I can’t bear to see you suffering like this... Father, please help her!”
They spent the rest of the night wrapped in each other’s embrace. Andrew’s constant prayers were the only words heard in the silence of the night. Little by little, Monica’s sickness started to subside and slowly, the angel fell asleep again.
To be continued