A 'Touched By An Angel' story

And Sequel to 'Blowing Smoke', 'The Watch and the Star',

'The Hero', 'Christmas Wishes', 'In Need of Answers'

'Unspoken Whispers' and 'Affirming a Friendship'

By: Yvette Jessen

It had been a long day and ten-year-old Brittany Harrows slowly trudged her way through the mud covered road that extended between the school she attended and the house where she lived with her mother and grandmother. She walked slower than usual towards the front gate leading towards the large garden of the large plantation, but all the while, she sighed deeply as she ran a trembling hand over her arm, where a number of bruises now were. She could not get the leering look of the class bully out of her mind, and worse still; she had no courage left to stand up to the boy. The last time she had tried, his older cousin had joined in tormenting her.

She stared at the road in front of her, and for an instant, she could have sworn that she had seen Tess on the road, her bright red Cadillac shimmering from the droplets of rain that had fallen earlier that day.

After rubbing her eyes, Brittany shook her head and sighed deeply, there was no way that Tess could have come back, she hadn't seen an angel since the hurricane had passed through some two years ago, and since then, her life had been just as normal and boring as it had been before the Angel of Death named Adam had abruptly come into her life. Today, she resented the fact that he wasn't there, though she understood that he had things to tend to besides her, but yet, she pondered whether or not she was even important enough for an angel to want her in his life.

She shook her head as she stared down at her clothing, but her thoughts instead of being on angels were now on the idea of starting middle school once she got through with her last days of fourth grade. She had been through a lot, her father was still serving time in jail, her loneliness still existed and her pain still encompassing her whenever she thought about the abuse she was now subjected to almost on a daily basis. It almost seemed as though he would just beat her up whenever she saw him and now the grim reminders of this appeared as black and blue marks that covered her skin. Because of the intense nature of his treatment of her, she was now too frightened of him to do anything about it, instead, she merely endured it, repressing the feelings she carried about him.

Through it all, she couldn't help but wonder how long it had actually been since she had seen Adam, and now her belief in the existence of angels had started to fade. She still carried the golden pocket watch that had been given to her when she was six, but only because her skin had an allergic reaction to the leather of a watchband.

She glanced up and could see the light at the end of the street, but when she immediately recognized the boy at the other end of the street, she shrank back, the fear and intimidation overwhelming her, thus causing her to pick up her pace a little and try to get through the gates and onto her family's land before he had reached her. When she didn't reach the gate in time, she could feel the more athletically fit boy grabbing her hair and pulling on it brutally, thus causing her gaze to instantly be on the overcast sky.

"Brittany," he smiled wickedly at her, the look on his face was encased with unkind intent and the young girl was well aware of what it was he wanted to do.

"What do you want, Jason?" She finally found her voice and spoke as bravely as she could muster contrary to the tears that were falling from beneath her frightened eyes. As her words emerged, they could be heard above her hammering heart, their cadence somewhat shaky.

"The answers for the math homework would be a nice start, you little genius," he sneered as he wound her hair around his hand, and pulled on it, the pain nearly causing her to yelp. "I know you have them, so give them to me, and I'll decide if I won't beat you to a pulp today for trying to run away."

Once she reluctantly gave him a piece of notebook paper, she could feel the tears still stinging her eyes. "You have them now, so go away," Brittany said all the while trying to keep the pain out of her voice. Before she could stop him, he roughly pushed her to the ground all the while holding tightly to her hair. As her body shakily hit the muddy ground, she cried out "Let me go," one last time, the pain enveloping her all the while she tried to wrench her hair out of the boy's unrelenting grip.

Seconds slowly ticked by and without any warning whatsoever, the boy was suddenly jerked away from her, his hand abruptly releasing her hair and Brittany completely collapsed onto the muddy ground in a heap, the pain from her hair being pulled caused her to reach up and touch her head all the while trying to back further away from Jason.

"I think you had better leave, if you know what's good for you, young man," the guard said abruptly and upon hearing these words, she realized that he had appeared practically from nowhere, thus coming to her aid. The strong voice of the guard did not emerge recognizable to her, but she was not paying any attention, she was concerned with getting as far away from the bully as possible.

When the guard reached out and touched his shoulder, Jason suddenly ran away.

Before taking after the boy, the guard looked at her. "Are you OK?"

Brittany nodded numbly. "T-thank you," she managed to speak, but she remained on the ground as someone else approached and the guard was free to take after the boy who had beaten her. Once the security guard was gone, Brittany tried to crawl away from the large mud puddle that was already caked to her dress.

When she realized that she was too shaken up and couldn't fully stand up, she remained on her knees in the mud. The rain had once again started to fall and she tried to pull the hood of her jacket up over her head, but after a few moments, she had given up all attempts and she rested her hands once again in her lap as her breathing returned to normal. The tears were still falling from beneath her eyes, the shame overwhelming her.

A few moments later, she had finally found the courage to look up, and as she did, she realized that she was not alone and once she had reached this conclusion, she began to tremble once again as the cool breeze blew against her arm. She began to rub her face with her hands, and smeared the mud across her face, and seconds later; she felt that the person who had joined her had wordlessly sat down on the ground next to her.

When she said nothing, but continued to stare down at the mud as it seeped through the material of her cotton red dress, she did not notice that the person who was next to her had slid closer in order to wipe her face with a cloth handkerchief. As soon as her face had no more traces of mud on it, the person next to her rested a gentle hand on her now trembling shoulder.

"Please don't hurt me," she managed to stammer when she felt the pressure and it was obvious that she was no longer used to feeling anyone touching her in such a gentle manner. Her voice had emerged filled with anxiety and fear and rather than looking up, she covered the back of her neck with her trembling hands and tried to curl herself into a ball.

In response to her pleas, the person kept their hand on her shoulder, but at the same time, she could feel the pain enveloping her and she flinched and the man spoke, the gentle but deep voice emerging. "I'm sorry, Brittany, it was not my intention to hurt you."

Upon hearing this soothing and kind voice, she managed to open her eyes again and looked up to see a pair of gentle gray-blue eyes. The man who was now next to her was looking down at her with a gentle and compassionate smile covering his face. Unconsciously, she rubbed her eyes before finding the courage to speak, but instead of finding the words, her voice emerged as nothing more than an incomprehensible squeak. "A-Adam?"

As she felt the tears streaming from beneath her eyes, she watched as he crouched down beside her, his gentle fingers reaching down and brushing the moisture away from her still somewhat muddy face. Seconds slowly ticked by and the angel pulled her onto his lap, his hands brushing through her tangled hair. "Shhhh, it's OK," he cajoled her gently.

"I-I was s-so scared…" She gasped as she looked around and could see that all her schoolbooks as well as the notebook paper were scattered across the ground and she reached out with the intention of collecting them, but after a few moments, she gave up, her arms literally dropping back onto her lap. "H-he hits me, and hurts me, and nobody cares, why doesn't anyone care?"

"Someone does, Brittany, you know that, sweetheart, but now I'm here and you know that I am going to do whatever I can to keep you from getting hurt again." Emerged his gentle response.

Upon hearing his words, she wound her arms around him and buried her face against his chest. "He hurt me, Adam, he hurt me so badly," Brittany repeated her words but could now feel the tears now streaming from beneath her swollen eyes. "I-I thought that he was still here and wanted to beat me up. But, it's you, and I thought all this time that you had forgotten about me."

"Brittany, I can promise you one thing and that is, I would never ever forget you, not even for a moment, now tell me, sweetheart, tell me exactly what happened to you today," Adam said gently as he took her gently in his arms, but she flinched once again and he loosened his hold slightly, but he could not help but notice the bruises that lined her arms. He reached over and pulled up the sleeve of her autumn jacket and dress and when he saw them, he literally gasped.

Brittany responded by the pressure on her arms by wincing as pain overcame her and she began to cry once again, her face meshed up against the chest of her best friend. "I'm so scared, Adam, he hits me, and today he pushed me down the stairs for no reason."

"I know, honey, I saw everything that happened to you," he said gently as he brushed his hand gently through her hair. "But, you're not alone, the Father knows what has happened here, and he sent me, and a few other angels to help you."

Brittany remained in his arms, her face buried against him as hiccup like sobs emerged from the frail child that Adam held in his arms. As the Angel of Death continued to hold the his young friend on his lap, he ran his fingers gently through her hair, as soft but gentle humming emerged from the recesses of his throat, the melody coming to him as he calmly stroked the hair of the little girl.

Seconds later, another angel appeared next to them, this one a young woman Brittany had met the last time Adam had visited her, but was someone the young girl thought or believed she would never see again. The young angel's name was Hallie and although she looked more confident than before, she was standing behind Brittany and did not receive any acknowledgement until she managed to find her voice and speak. "Adam? Brittany?"

The Angel of Death and the young girl looked up. "H-Hallie?" Brittany was the first to speak, and all the while, the young girl tried to get the tears out of her eyes, this action proved unsuccessful and the young angel kneeled down to her, the hem of her gown remaining clean although it was brushing against the mud that Brittany was now caked with.

"Yes, it's me, Brittany," the young angel smiled weakly as she reached a gentle hand out to the little girl and felt the small child's arms wrapping around her. As the embrace loosened, she managed to sit down on the ground next to where Adam was holding the little girl. With a gentle hand, Hallie reached over and brushed the hair of the child out from in front of her eyes.

"I thought you were still at Home," Adam said softly looking at the young angel, and smiling gently at her.

"The Father sent me to help, Adam," Hallie said softly. "I'm on what you probably would call 'probation', but the Father told me that I would get a chance to help with this assignment because you would be here, but He wants me to get accustomed to working with Tess, Monica, and Andrew."

"I'm a case?" Brittany asked all the while trying to rub the tears out of her eyes.

Upon hearing the words of the young and frightened little girl, Hallie shook her head slowly. "No, Brittany, not you, actually Jason and his family are the assignment. Adam is here because you are affected drastically by what this boy has done and I think you probably are glad that Adam is here, huh?"

The little girl nodded but looked at her best friend before looking up at Hallie. "Why does he get an angel when he's so mean?" Brittany asked softly.

"I know that this isn't easy for you to understand, but you remember when Adam found it in his heart to forgive me for what I had done to him, well, now you need to find it in your heart to forgive Jason. He has done a lot of things that have hurt you, and we all know that, but try to look beyond what he has done to possibly asking yourself why he does this sort of thing to you," Hallie began. "You know that God loves him as well, and He wants me to get him to talk about how he feels about life and maybe through that, we can discover the real Jason, and why he is as he is."

Adam nodded as he took up the story. "Whether you believe it or not sweetheart, that boy does need an angel, and desperately, maybe if for no other reason, but so that he will stop hurting you," Adam said softly as Hallie squeezed Brittany's hand one last time, stood up, and started to walk away from them. As the first drops of rain began to fall, Adam looked at his young friend. "Come on, I think it's time for me to get you up to the house before you get wetter and then become sick."

Brittany nodded and loosened the hold she had on her friend so that he would be able to get to his feet. Once he was standing, he leaned down and helped her to stand up. Moments later, they walked slowly towards the outer gate where another guard was stationed and would eventually allow them access to the plantation. As they walked, the little girl looked around and could see that Hallie had disappeared. "Adam?"

"What is it, sweetheart?"

"Where'd Hallie go?" Brittany asked.

"Like she said, she went to find Jason," Adam said.

The young girl nodded as they reached the first of two gates and the guard waved them through.

"I missed you," Brittany said softly as they made their way in the direction of the large mansion at the end of the drive. As they passed through the second gate, Brittany found her voice and spoke, her voice somewhat unsteady, her lifelong insecurity emerging in her words. "Are you still my best friend, Adam?"

"Yes, I am," he smiled gently at her as she began to sneeze, the chill of the air starting to get the better of her, and he realized that the chill in the autumn breeze was quickly becoming harsher. When Brittany tried to keep up with him, he turned around, came over to where she was standing, somewhat out of breath, and instead of making her try to keep up with his quicker pace, he scooped her up in his arms and started to run all the while holding tightly to her. When they eventually reached the landing, Adam ran as fast as he could up the stairs leading to the porch with his friend still cradled gently in his arms.

Once he had reached the door and was under the eve of the house, he put her gently back on her feet. Although it was still dry, it was still cold and Adam opened the front door and ushered his friend inside. Standing in the front hall was Hunter Livingston, Brittany's uncle. He had just hosted a business luncheon and the executives were coming out of the dining room and were standing in the large foyer, all of them staring at the mud-soaked little girl and the angel dressed in a beige suit.

"Brittany, what on earth?" Hunter asked looking somewhat hesitant, the executives looking at the child through disapproving eyes.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Hunter," the small child began to sneeze once again, thus causing Adam to intervene, his voice filled with his calm and gentle assurances.

"Excuse us for the intrusion, Hunter," Adam said cordially, "but Brittany and I were caught out in the rain."

Once the man nodded and had motioned for them to go through the large open space towards the stairs, the angel and his friend did so. When they were out of the earshot of the executives, Brittany finally spoke, her voice trembling as the words emerged. "Did you see what happened?" She stared down at the carpeted floor as they reached the second level and started walking down the hall in the direction of her room.

"Yes, I saw everything," he said softly as he reached over and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, thus causing her to stop walking. As she flinched from beneath the touch, he had no choice but to remove his hand.

"I think I'm the biggest looser in the world," Brittany said softly, her voice filled with despondency as they reached her room and went inside.

Adam shook his head adamantly as he went over to her closet and pulled out the first thing he found, a pair of warm sweat pants and a cotton t-shirt. "Brittany, go put these on, and when you are finished, come back out here and we will have a little talk, OK?"

She nodded, and once she held the clothing, she went into the adjoining bathroom, showered and got dressed. As she came out into the room, her eyes sought those of the angel.

For his part, Adam went over to the bay window and sat down. Once she had joined him, he smiled gently at her. "Now, first tell me why you would even start to believe that you are a looser?"

The little girl looked down at the ground, and after a few moments of stillness passed between them she found the courage to look at him as well as to speak. "You abandoned me."

"No, I didn't, Brittany," Adam said softly.

"It's been two years, and Jason has been beating me up for over a year," she looked down at her lap. "Why did God wait to send you to me? Why did I have to go through so much before He sent you to see me?" As the words emerged, Brittany stood up, went over to the bed and threw herself across the bed, her face buried against her arms, her body wracking as her weeping began to go out of control.

Adam stood up as well, went over to where she was lying on the bed. Gently, he placed his hands on her shoulders and tried to roll her over, but when he did finally managed to get her so that she could see his eyes, he noticed that she unconsciously tried to ball herself up like a snail. Finally, he leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Brittany, I'm sorry you feel abandoned by me, I didn't mean to do anything that would hurt you." As he spoke, he tried to pull the little girl onto his lap, but as he did, he applied too much pressure against her abdomen and she released an agonizing scream, her hands immediately pushing his away and covering her stomach.

"It hurts, oh God it hurts so much," she wept softly.

"Tell me what he did to you?" Adam implored her weakly, his voice encased with worry.

"You don't care," she cried.

"Yes, I do, I care so much for you that sometimes it hurts," Adam reached over and placed a gentle hand against her face, his soft touch causing her to look up at him. "Tell me, Brittany, you can't keep this to yourself any longer." He pulled up the hem of her t-shirt and exposed a dark black and purple bruise across the lower part of her abdomen. His breath caught in his throat when he realized how bad this was for her, but the realization overwhelmed him when he realized that this could not have just come from another ten-year-old child. Someone else was abusing this frail child, but who? Who would do such a thing to her? The questions continued to wrack his conscious and eventually he could feel the tears stinging his unhappy gray eyes.

"Brittany, honey, I want you to tell me who did this to you?" Adam eventually said softly. "Please, let me help you. I know that I've been away from you for a long time, but I'm here now and I will not leave you to face whatever this boy has been doing to you."

Brittany glanced up at him her eyes filled with tears as she spoke. "It was Jason…and his cousin, Dennis."

*****

At this time, Jason Anderson was walking down the street in the direction of his home, behind him, Hallie was walking, her head constantly down, but after a few moments of trailing some three feet behind the boy, she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around to see Tess standing behind her.

"I don't mean to startle you, Angel Child," Tess said gently.

"I just didn't expect to see you so suddenly, Tess," Hallie said softly but nervously.

"How are you doing, Hallie?" She asked trying to help make the young angel relax somewhat, but her stern demeanor was not overly successful at the calming effects she was striving for.

"Well, the truth is, I am glad to be of service to the Father, but I don't really know why I'm here, except to help Jason, but what can I do? I mean, before, I was an Angel of Death and now because of terrible mistake, I don't know what I am anymore," Hallie said weakly.

"You're now an instrument of the Father, Hallie," Tess said gently. "First of all, you need to let go of the past, baby. You need to forgive yourself for what has happened, you sought to find forgiveness two years ago, now that you have attained it, you must look for that same sense of forgiveness within."

The young angel nodded, she knew that Tess was right, and together they started walking towards the house where Jason lived. "Now then, do you know what it is you have to do?"

"Not really," Hallie said softly.

Tess wrapped her arm around the younger angel's shoulders. "You remember what you told Brittany back on the road?"

"Yes, I told her that Jason needs to know that God loves him," Hallie said softly.

"Yes, and right now, you are going to be Jason's guardian angel, baby. If you need me, I'll be nearby, just so you'll know, Monica and Andrew will be helping at Children's Protective Services, but I fear you'll see Andrew soon enough. If you need any one of us, then you know where we'll be," Tess said as they reached the house and she could hear the sounds of glass shattering from inside, seconds later, the sound of someone screaming in agony emerged and when Hallie turned around, Tess was gone.

At that moment, the young angel realized that she was in angelic form, and slowly made her way in the direction of the house. As she came into the living room, her eyes widened in surprise when she saw Jason was in one corner of the room, his body trembling and an older boy, was holding a gun and was aiming it at a man who appeared to be drunk and staggering closer to them, his eyes bulging and his speech slurred as he demanded the gun be given to him.

She glanced up to see Andrew standing on one side and when she started to walk towards him, his shook his head and pointed over towards where Jason sat cowering in the corner. The young angel nodded and sadly she went over and crouched down beside where Jason was, his body hunched over, fear etched across his face.

"Jason," she spoke gently, her voice very soft, but he looked up, his eyes filled with fright, and her gentle heart went out to him, even though she knew that her dearest angelic friend had witnessed him beating up Brittany Harrows only a few hours before.

Seconds later, the gun went off, and Jason looked up to see that his father, Harry Anderson, was now standing and holding a smoking revolver in his hand. Jason's cousin, Dennis lay on the floor in a puddle of blood.

At that moment, as if catapulted back to reality, Jason screamed, but when his drunken father looked at him, the scream died on his lips and he continued to cower in the corner.

"Hide him," his father snarled.

"H…." Jason's voice emerged a squeak, and he looked down at the body of his cousin.

"You heard me, put him in the basement, now," Harry snarled. "And one word about this, and you'll join him. Have I made myself clear?"

Jason nodded numbly and crawled over to where Dennis lay in the middle of the living room floor. He could feel the gasping breath of his sixteen-year-old cousin as he tried to move him to the basement. "Oh God," he whispered under his breath, his voice emerging with the most intense fear. He could hear that his father had left the house and Jason stopped trying to move his cousin's now rigid body.

"You don't have to do this, Jason," Hallie said softly, and she looked at Andrew and saw him giving her an encouraging look, thus prompting her to continue. "You may be able to save his life, but if you put him in the basement, he will die."

Jason looked up at her. "W-who?"

"My name is Hallie, Jason, and I'm an angel sent by God to help you, but you have to trust Him," she said but looked at Andrew as Jason continued trying to move his cousin towards the stairs. "Andrew, what else can I tell him?"

The Angel of Death shook his head. "You're telling him what you are supposed to, Hallie, but it will be his choice as to whether or not he listens. Don't give up, he will eventually have to listen to you, but you just have to be there when the time comes for him to do so."

"Who are you talking to?" Jason looked at her as though she was crazy.

"He can't see me, Hallie, only Dennis can," Andrew said softly.

Hallie shook her head as she looked back over at Jason with the intention of answering his question. "I'm just talking to a friend."

"Yeah, well, I don't have too many of those, so if you're really a friend like you said, then you'll help me, he weighs a ton," Jason said, his voice trying to sound much tougher than he, in reality was.

"I can't help you in that capacity, Jason," Hallie said softly. "I can only be here and give you a message from God and try to help you find the courage to go to the authorities about what has happened. You may be the only person who can save Dennis' life now. The choice is going to be yours, but the friend I was talking to, whom you asked me about, was Andrew, and he's Dennis' Angel of Death."

"Y-you mean there's an Angel of Death here?" Jason asked, his voice cracking as he stopped trying to move his cousin toward the stairs and he looked over at her, the fleeting interest shadowing his terrified eyes.

"Yes, there is, and He doesn't want to work tonight, but if he has to, then he will take Dennis away from you," Hallie said softly.

Jason wiped his hand over his eyes and looked at Hallie. "What should I do?"

"I can't tell you what to do, but if you want to save the life of your cousin, then you will call the emergency number and get him medical help," Hallie said gently. She looked at Andrew and after watching him remove his pocket watch, open it, look down at it, and shake his head indicating that time was of the essence.

"We're running out of time, if he goes without help, he will die in less than a half an hour," Andrew said softly and Hallie nodded as she looked back at the young boy, her eyes somehow begging him to understand.

"Jason, Andrew said there's no time, you're going to have to call for help, or your cousin will die and very soon."

The boy looked at her, "H-Hallie, will you stay with me?"

"Yes, Jason, I promise," she said gently and within seconds, Jason had reached for the telephone and called for an ambulance.

*****

On the other side of town, Monica was processing data into a computer system for the child protection group when the call came in that she needed to get downtown to assist in a case. The auburn headed angel quickly filed the paperwork away and walked towards the door that led outside. She knew something was wrong, simply because Andrew had not joined her there, so she guessed that there was a case in the making for him.

As she got into Tess' red convertible, she cast a quick glance towards the heavens as she stuck the key into the ignition and shifted the large car into gear. As she was driving, she could hear that the cell phone she carried had started to ring. Sighing deeply, she pulled to the side of the road as she picked up the object that she had been given upon starting at the agency.

"Children's Protective Services, this is Monica, may I help you?" She spoke into the receiver and waited.

"Yes, hello, my name is Marcie Fitzgerald and there's another bunch of commotion going on over at the Anderson' house. I know I reported something happening, but this afternoon, I heard a gunshot from my kitchen window and when I tried to call the police, they said a 911 call had already been processed. The reason I'm calling is because I'm really worried about the two boys that live there."

Monica nodded almost self-consciously, but began to speak to the distraught woman once again. "Mrs. Fitzgerald, I can assure you that our office has already been contacted and we are in the process of doing something about it."

"The father is a very dangerous man, Monica, he's got a temper that never quits, and now I'm really scared for those boys," the distraught woman continued.

"Please, rest assured that we're going to take care of this situation, but I will be sending the police to interview you, as I think that based on this case, everyone who has seen or heard something will probably be able to help in this particular situation. Is that OK?"

"Yes," came the prompt answer, "but please hurry, I just saw Harry Anderson' car pulling into the drive, and something tells me that he is not going to take kindly to this one single bit."

"We will," Monica said and instead of getting back on the road, she dialed the number to the local police precinct. When someone answered, she spoke. "Yes, good afternoon, this is Monica from the Children's Protective Services and we have another disturbance at the Anderson house." A pause. "I see, so Dennis Anderson has been transported to the hospital. Yes, I'm already on my way to the hospital, but I honestly think that the boys could still be in some kind of danger, as do some of the neighbors."

After a few minutes, Monica hung up the phone, restarted the car and pulled back out onto the street.

Ten minutes later, she arrived at the hospital and the grim news was relayed that Dennis Anderson was in a coma and the chances of him ever recovering from the gunshot wounds he had sustained, were slim bordering on non-existent.

She walked slowly into the chapel and could see that a young boy was seated in the front of the room, his dark hair tousled, his eyes staring down at the ground before him. Monica came closer and immediately recognized him as being her assignment; it was Jason Anderson.

"Hello, Jason," Monica said gently as she came over and sat down next to him. On his other side, she could see that Hallie was seated, the young angel a practical mirror image of the hopelessness that adorned the face of the boy.

"Who are you and how do you know my name?" The boy asked sullenly.

"My name is Monica, and I work for 'Children's Protection Services'," she began.

"So I take it that you're the new bodyguard coming to save me from my dad?" Jason asked, his voice still sullen, and he looked at the front of the room, his eyes a depiction of disbelief. He knew his father, and if he was determined enough to do something, then there would be nothing that would stop him; he would do it, and anyone that happened to be in his way would get trampled to death if that was Harry's will.

Monica looked at the boy. "You know, it was very brave of you to call the emergency service when your cousin was shot."

"What difference is that going to make, he's going to die anyway, and then I'll be all alone," Jason said.

"No, you won't, you will have people to help you, Jason," Monica said softly.

"Like this angel chick, all talk and no action," Jason mumbled under his breath, and Hallie looked as though he had struck her.

"Excuse me?" Monica asked, but it was obvious that she had not only heard these words, but she had also seen how devastated Hallie looked.

"Nothing," Jason whispered.

"I don't think it was 'nothing', you did say something," Monica said softly. "Don't you want to tell me?"

"Sure, and when I do, then I get flung head first into the psycho-ward?" Jason asked sarcastically. "No thank you, besides Dennis was the only person I could count on to not hurt me, and now he might as well be dead."

Hallie looked at Jason. "You hold so much anger inside, don't you think it would help to talk about it?"

"Shut up, just shut up, and stop dogging me," Jason got up and fled from the room leaving Hallie staring after him.

"You need to go and stay with him, Hallie," Monica said.

"All those hurtful words," Hallie whispered shaking her head.

Monica rested her hand gently on the young angel's hand. "Listen to me, sweetie, you have been through so much during the past years, but so has Jason and the Father knows that it may be hurtful for you to go through his abuse and blame, but look at how much pain he's harboring, and an angel knows that the words can hurt, but the anger, when it is released, can help to heal."

"Monica, I don't know if I can do this," Hallie whispered. "I want to go home so badly, it hurts."

"I know, sweetie. I also realize that this is your first real assignment in over two years," Monica put her arm gently around the young angel. "I know that you went through a lot back then, and when you found the forgiveness you needed, you were sent Home and had a lot of time in the Father's presence. We all know it was hard; you were able to find forgiveness with Adam, and with yourself, but now, I think you know that to work with this little boy, it will somehow help you to find the healing that two years at Home may not have been able to give you." Monica smiled gently at her young friend.

"I'll do my best, Monica, I really will," Hallie said softly.

"I know you will, Tess knows, and the Father knows," Monica smiled as the young angel got to her feet. "Just trust that He has a reason for you to be here, there is something in you that can help Jason, and as long as He knows that, you're going to be just fine."

Hallie nodded and slowly, she walked out of the room.

Once the younger angel was gone, Monica looked towards the stained glass windows, her eyes filled with sadness. It was always the cases with child abuse that seemed to bare deep sadness in the heart of the Caseworker. After a few moments of sitting in silent prayer, she got up and went out into the lobby in order to catch herself up on this particular case.

*****

Back at Livingston Manor, Brittany had dried off and changed into some warm, dry clothes. As she came out of the bathroom after having a shower, she looked up at Adam, her insecurities emerging and she once again stared down at the ground, her eyes still puffy from the crying that she had done.

Adam smiled weakly at his young friend, but he knew that something was wrong with her, and he also knew that she had not told him everything about the events at the school. He looked at her. "Brittany, I need to ask you some more questions, OK?"

The little girl nodded, but her head was still in her hands, her stomach in so much pain, and though Adam had taken some gauze and wound it around her abdomen, he knew that she was still hurting and possibly suffered from some minor internal injuries.

"I'm going to take you to a doctor, OK?" He whispered softly.

The little girl shook her head, the fright of going to a doctor or hospital bringing back the operation she had when she was six.

"What is it, sweetheart, are you afraid?" Adam asked as she backed away from him, her eyes wide. "Oh, Brittany, I haven't been told that you have suffered anything extensive, but you need help, and I can't just leave you to suffer this out."

"I'm scared, Adam."

"I know you are, but you have nothing to be afraid of, I'm here with you, and just like then, I made a promise to you, and that was that I would not leave you. Please believe me, Brittany, I still love you so much, and you are still so precious to me. Will you trust me with this?"

The little girl looked at him without offering an answer, but his next word made the decision for her.

"Please." Adam's face was covered with tears as he implored his young friend.

"OK," she said softly and looked into the eyes of the angel. "Adam, you really are my best friend."

"Yes, I am, and you know that I will do whatever I can for you," he said gently as she crawled over to him and wound her arms around his neck.

The Angel of Death got to his feet with her still in his arms, and he carried her out of the room. In route, they met up with Hunter, who was standing in the front hall with a stressed out look on his face.

"Hunter?" Adam spoke, thus causing him to turn around to see his niece in the arms of the Angel of Death.

"Adam, why are you here?" The Patriarch of the family asked.

"Brittany has been bullied at school, and she's in need of a doctor. Where's Holly?" Adam asked; his voice filled with concern as he inquired about the whereabouts of the child's mother.

"She flew to Manhattan last night on business, she should be back tomorrow," Hunter said and looked at Brittany. "Why didn't you tell us about what has been happening?"

Brittany shook her head, but instead of speaking she buried her face against Adam's chest and the angel spoke up. "Hunter, she probably would have said something to you, but the way you looked at her this afternoon when we came in, I think she felt like she was in the way."

Brittany nodded timidly, her eyes downcast.

"I guess I've gotten in over my head with all this stuff, I'm sorry Brittany," Hunter said softly.

The little girl nodded but after a few moments, she felt another spasm of pain, and once more buried her face against Adam's chest.

"Do you have a way of getting to the doctor?" Hunter asked.

Adam shook his head, this point he had forgotten about, but Hunter smiled. "My jeep is outside, you take her out and put her in the back, there's a blanket for her, and I'll grab my keys and be down in a few minutes."

The angel nodded and carried Brittany outside and laid the small child in the back of the jeep as Hunter had indicated. Instead of crawling in the front, he got in the back and sat next to his friend, her head eventually coming to rest on his lap. "Adam, it hurts."

"I know, maybe the doctor can give you some salve and pain medication to help ease that a little," the angel said gently as he brushed her hair out from in front of her eyes.

"Am I your assignment again?" Brittany asked all the while remembering the events during her surgery.

Adam reached over and took her tiny hands in her own, his fingers curling around them and squeezing gently, but reassuringly. "In a way, yes, but honey, I'm not going to be taking you Home this time either."

"You're not?" She asked innocently.

"No, do you remember when I told you that I had watched you as a little baby?" He asked after a few seconds had passed and he smiled down at the girl in his arms.

"Uh-huh," came the meek response.

"And you remember that I had asked the Father to send me whenever something happened to you and you needed an angel?" He asked.

Brittany nodded. "I thought you forgot me."

"I know, but I never did, honey," Adam said gently as he pulled a piece of construction paper from his pocket. The paper was now worn around the edges but he held it so that she could see it and she immediately recognized it as the drawing that she had given him when she had seen him some months after her grandfather died.

Brittany looked down at her lap. "It's just that I didn't see you for two years, and I missed you so much it hurt more than this does." She touched the area on her abdomen where the dark bruise was. As she spoke, the tears burnt her eyes. "Adam, I thought you didn't want to see me anymore. After you left the last time, Jason's family moved here, and he started beating me up after school. I kept hoping everyday that you would come and stop him from hurting me, but you never did. T-then his cousin started to do it too. It was then when they were trying to get my watch from me that they kicked me in the stomach. They never got it because the guard showed up, but it hurt so bad, and I thought…" Her voice trailed and she looked up at him with tears streaming down over her face.

"…You thought that you were going to die?" Adam said gently finishing her statement.

"Yeah," she reached up and wiped her face with her hands, hoping to keep the fresh tears from blurring her vision. "I was so scared and I thought you had abandoned me. Those boys were so mean and I was so scared…"

The angel nodded, but he looked down at her tearstained face. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart," he said gently. "I honestly didn't know. If I did, then I would have come back to you, and have been here to help you."

Brittany sniffed as she looked up at him. "You still love me, Adam?"

"Yes, very much, you're my little angel, you always will be," he said gently as Hunter came outside and wordlessly crawled into the driver's side of the jeep. When he started the motor, he checked in the rearview mirror to see that his two passengers were in the back. Once he could see them, he sped off, instead of the direction of the doctor's office; he drove in the direction of the local hospital.

*****

When they arrived, Adam helped Brittany out of the back of Hunter's jeep and they walked slowly towards the entrance to the large glass encased building.

"I thought we were going to the doctor?" Brittany offered weakly when she recognized where her uncle had driven them. She looked to Adam for some sort of support, as this large intimidating looking building frightened her.

Adam looked at Hunter, a question looming and the young man nodded.

"I know that's where Adam thought we were going, but I saw how much pain you were in, and thought it best to bring you here," Hunter said softly, but did not add that he was concerned about the fact that the Angel of Death was present and he was not about to take any chances with the health of his niece, no matter how nice of a guy Adam was.

Brittany could somehow see through her uncle's façade and she looked him in the eyes. "I'm not dying, Uncle Hunter, Adam is here because he's my friend."

"OK, but let's get inside, I really don't have time to argue the point with you," Hunter said and both Brittany and Adam could tell that Hunter was not thoroughly convinced.

Reluctantly, she allowed Adam to pick her up in his arms and carry her inside, all the while her fear rising, even though her best friend was securely holding her.

As they came inside, Adam followed Hunter over to the admittance desk. "Excuse us," Hunter eventually spoke, thus causing the woman at the desk to look us, her eyes filled with sadness when she noticed the girl now resting in Adam's arms. She could see the bruises on Brittany's arms, as now the small girl was wearing beige colored t-shirt and denim colored sweatpants.

"Oh dear God," the compassionate woman said as she regarded the little girl. "What happened to you, sweetie?"

Brittany shook her head and buried her face against Adam's chest, the shame overwhelming her, but the angel looked down at his young friend. "Brittany, sweetheart, you have to tell her what has happened to you."

She shook her head, but instead of letting this entire incident slide, Hunter spoke up. "She's been bullied at school, but I had no idea who has been doing this, and why."

"This looks as though it goes beyond just being bullied at school," the receptionist said softly. "I think we need to admit you for some tests, nothing extensive, but if you easily bruise, then something could be wrong."

Brittany immediately looked at Adam and Hunter could see the fear that was now on his niece's face, and his heart really went out to her.

Adam shook his head. "She's going to be fine, Hunter," he whispered once the receptionist turned away to retrieve the admittance papers. "The seriousness of the beatings by her classmate has been more severe than just a schoolyard scuffle, I'm afraid."

"Who is doing this?" Hunter asked.

"Jason Anderson," Adam said softly.

"You mean the boy that lives on the outskirts of town?" Hunter asked, and when Adam offered him a reciprocating nod, he continued. "I've heard about him, his family is a mess, you know that Sam has been having problems at the hotel because of these boys, something about vandalism, and she won't do anything about it, even though I think now things are quickly getting out of hand with them."

Adam nodded. "There is something," he said softly, all the while wondering if the two humans present could see his fellow Angel of Death standing next to the door leading into the ER. "Andrew's here, and things are looking official."

"W-what happened?" Brittany asked, but when her friend pointed down the hall, her blood went cold when she saw Jason standing in the corridor staring inside a glass encased room. After a few moments, she looked at her best friend. "Where's Hallie?"

"You can't see her, but she's still with Jason," Adam said softly as the receptionist returned and called out to Hunter, thus breaking them out of their conversation.

"Excuse me," the woman said. "There's a doctor on call that can see her now. Are you both family?"

"I am," Hunter began, "but this man is her best friend, and I think she would like to have him with her during the examination."

The woman looked at Brittany and nodded when she saw the little girl holding tightly to the angel's hand. "I guess if a family member concedes, than it is OK, please follow me."

The three of them followed her and when they reached a doorway leading into the ER, Brittany suddenly stopped. "Andrew, what are you doing here?"

Andrew turned and looked down into the eyes of the little girl. When he saw the intense fear that emanated her, he got down on his knees and looked into her eyes. "I'm here for Jason's cousin, Dennis."

"What happened?" Brittany asked, her face suddenly pale. Although she did not like Dennis, and would prefer stepping out in front of a bus to seeing him, she had heard the rumors around town about what went on at the Anderson house, and when she saw the gravity on the face of the angel, she knew that something serious must have happened.

"Dennis was shot this afternoon," Andrew said softly.

Brittany turned back to see Adam behind her, but seconds later she looked back at Andrew. "You're sad because you have to take Dennis to Heaven?"

Andrew nodded as the little girl wrapped her arms around him as she leaned over and kissed his cheek. "You shouldn't be sad, Andrew, I know about what happened, and I think God will be a lot nicer to Dennis than Mr. Anderson was."

Once their hug loosened, she looked somewhat embarrassed. "I've got to go, the doctor is waiting."

Andrew nodded and watched as the little girl walked over to her best friend, and continued following him and the woman down the hall. Before they reached the door leading into the examination room, Hunter looked at his niece. "What did you tell him?"

"I told him that Dennis will probably be happier in Heaven than with Mr. Anderson," Brittany said matter-of-factly once the woman left and the little girl was alone in the room with her uncle as well as her angelic companion.

*****

Outside in the lobby some twenty minutes after Brittany had gone into the examination room, Jason was still trying to make heads and tails of what had happened. He was mulling over all the things that had happened since he had been brought to the hospital, and one thing was clear to anyone who was to look at the boy, he was angry.

On the other corner of the room, Hallie and Tess were standing and the younger angel's face was filled with pain. "He doesn't like me, Tess."

"Oh baby, he doesn't like anyone, he doesn't discriminate against anyone, he's just a little boy on the edge. Imagine how you felt when Monique tricked you and how disconnected you felt. You came Home, but that little boy has yet to really come home, he associates anything that had to do with home, as being around his daddy, and a father figure as someone who would beat him black and blue in a drunken rage," Tess said as she looked down into Hallie's distraught face. "I know this is a hard assignment, and this being your first case since going Home, but the Father knows that you are capable of helping Jason, there is something that connects you two, and maybe you should tell him your story. For some reason, I think that that will help him better relate to you."

Hallie's face paled, she wanted, more than anything, to forget the past, and what had happened, but somewhere inside of her, she knew that Tess was right, that she needed to tell Jason the truth about herself. She looked back towards Tess and when she realized that the other angel had disappeared, she walked with weighted steps over to the boy.

"Jason," she spoke his name and he looked up.

"You're wasting your time, angel, I'm not listening," he said icily.

"Please, just listen for a moment, and then you can choose to walk away or to stay. OK?"

Jason, figuring he had nothing to lose, nodded.

"You know, I was a demon once," she said softly as the shame crept up her cheeks.

"A demon?" Jason looked somewhat interested and he turned his head. "You mean, from the devil?"

"Yes," Hallie whispered. "I was tricked by someone who wanted me to fall, see it's hard to explain, but I was an angel for a long time, and I had a friend and she was really wonderful, but you could say, she had an evil twin, and this evil twin made me believe that she was my friend. I was very naïve, Jason, and I turned away from God."

"What did you do when you were a demon?" Jason asked.

"I'd rather not say," Hallie said softly looking down at her lap, but the Father's voice resonated her being.

He needs to hear the truth, sweetheart, you have to tell him. You know I love you and have forgiven you, now this is a way of finding self-forgiveness.

"I did a lot of terrible things, one of which was I brought a great deal of harm to an angel that I love dearly," Hallie began. "Adam and I had been assigned to work in orphanage out in California. There was a little girl who had the AIDS virus, and she was dying. I had started listening to Monique, that was the demon that looked like my friend, and I started telling her that she would die and end up in darkness. The little girl believed me and she was so frightened that when Adam came to be her Angel of Death, the child was so distraught that she screamed at him, called him 'Death'. This really hurt Adam because a great many children are afraid of him, and I knew this, and I exploited it."

"What happened next?" Jason asked weakly.

"The little girl didn't go to Heaven, instead she came with me when I fell," Hallie's voice was soft as she ended the story. "Adam was totally devastated, I had turned away from God, and from my friends, as well as my supervisor. I was a demon for over two years, and then something happened."

"What?"

"I found forgiveness," she smiled weakly. "I had been cast out of the darkness for having a conscience. I had been sent to torment Adam about what had happened. I had really given him a lot of grief, and he was in so much pain, he didn't know how to deal with this. When I realized what I had done, God had sent me an angel. I didn't think this was possible, but that was what He did, He had forgiven me, and through Sam, I found out that I would have to go and seek Adam's forgiveness for what I had done."

Jason continued to listen attentively to her words, but as she spoke, Brittany's face flashed across his mind. "Did he?"

"It took him a little while, but I was sent here, to Virginia, and while I was here, I met a little girl who became my friend," Hallie said as she looked at the little boy. "If it hadn't have been for Brittany Harrows, I wouldn't have found the forgiveness I sought to find."

"So the stories about Brittany being friends with angels were true?" Jason asked.

Hallie smiled and nodded. "Brittany's best friend is an angel, Jason, his name is Adam, and he was my former supervisor. When I was sent back here, it was during a terrible storm, and we had to move into the cellar at Brittany's home. It was there, where I found Adam's forgiveness, but Brittany helped him to find it. Without her, I wouldn't have attained it."

The little boy could feel the tears streaming from beneath his eyes as he looked at her. "You know I hurt Brittany pretty bad," he whispered as he looked down at his lap.

"I know, and God knows, but He loves us all, Jason, even when we make mistakes," she said softly. "He's not going to stop caring for us because of the things we may do, He's just going to keep on loving us."

"I don't think I deserve God's love," Jason said as the tears began to stream from beneath his eyes. "My dad said it, I wasn't worth it, and he said that if I ever talked about the family, then he would skin me alive."

Hallie nodded. "You know something, Jason, we have more in common than you think, and maybe that's why God decided that I would be your angel."

Jason nodded. "Maybe, but I don't want an angel. When all this is over, you're just going to disappear, and I'm going to be all alone again."

"No," Hallie said softly. "I won't just disappear, I want to be your friend, Jason, tell me what it is you want."

"Why should I?" He asked sorrowfully. "It's not going to happen, so what's the point?"

As he spoke, Andrew came into the waiting room and walked over to them. When he reached them, he reached down and rested his hand on Hallie's shoulder. "You can't give him what he wants, Hallie."

The young angel nodded numbly, but she looked at Jason. "What is it you want?"

"I want my cousin back," Jason said. "If you can't help him, then I don't want anything from you or from your God." With that, he turned away from her but after a few moments, he turned back to see that she was gone, or so he thought she was. Now she was standing next to him in angelic form.

"You can't leave him, Hallie," Andrew said softly.

Hallie nodded and sat back down on the neighboring chair, but her eyes sought those of the Angel of Death. "I failed, Andrew."

"No, you didn't, human beings have free-will, Hallie, and you know that an angel cannot interfere with that, but you were very brave to tell him the truth about your past," he said as he sat down next to her and wrapped a gentle arm around her shoulder. "Monica is going to be in here in a few minutes and she will have to tell him about Dennis."

"He died?" Hallie asked weakly.

"Yes, he did, just five minutes ago, I took him home," Andrew said softly.

"Jason has no one left," Hallie said softly.

"He's got someone, the Father is here with him, he just needs to acknowledge His presence," Andrew said gently as he squeezed the shoulder of the young angel. "You know that God won't abandon either of you, not now, not when you need Him the most."

Hallie nodded, but she could feel the tears streaming from beneath her eyes. "Andrew, why am I here? The Father could have sent someone better; every angel in the celestial realm is more qualified for this than me. I was a demon."

"Hallie, God chose you to deliver His message to Jason, but don't ever forget that now you are an angel, and it's time for you to stop chastising yourself about those things that you cannot change," when she didn't look at him, he reached over and took her face in his hands and made her look at him. "You know you found Adam's forgiveness, and now, you need to forgive yourself for what happened. Adam doesn't blame you anymore, the Father doesn't blame you, for what it's worth, I don't blame you, but you are blaming yourself, and you need to stop doing that, it's only going to do more harm than good."

The younger angel nodded as Andrew stood up. "You're leaving?"

"Not in the way you think, I'm going to be around, but this is your assignment, Hallie, and the Father knows that you're afraid, but He wouldn't have sent you here without viable reason."

Hallie nodded, but when she looked over at her assignment, she knew that this would be the hardest task she had ever had. "Thank you, Andrew," she finally managed to speak.

The Angel of Death nodded as he disappeared and she was left seated next to Jason. Maybe if Jason can find forgiveness, then I can as well, she thought to herself as she stared out across the waiting room.

*****

Moments later, she was brought out of her reverie when Monica walked into the room, and she immediately could tell that the angel was in human form because she wore a dark brown business suit and had her hair pulled back in a conservative ponytail.

"Jason," she spoke causing the boy to look up.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"Well, as you know, I'm with the 'Children Protection Services' and I have to talk to you about something very important."

"Can it wait, I want to find out how Dennis is doing?" Jason asked.

"No, it can't, because it is about Dennis," Monica began. "Jason, Dennis…" her voice trailed and she sighed deeply as she tried to tell him what it was she had to say. "Jason, I know how much you love your cousin, but the doctors couldn't revive him, he passed away about five minutes ago. I have been instructed to tell you."

Jason looked at her. "No, you're lying, he's going to be OK, he has to be, and there's no one else to take care of me."

Monica rested a gentle, but firm hand on his shoulder. "I'm not lying, Jason, Dennis is gone, and your father, well, your father has been charged with murder."

"M-murder," Jason looked in the direction of where Hallie was sitting, but when he didn't see her, he lost it. "See what faith gets you, angel, it doesn't do any good, I've lost everything I had."

Monica reached over and touched his arm. "Jason, I think that losing your cousin is very hard for you, and I'm sorry to be the one who had to tell you this, but now you cannot go back home, so I've been instructed to take you to the Summerview Children's home."

"No, I'm not going there," Jason shouted. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Please, Jason, there is nothing else I can say that would make things easier," Monica said, but before she could say anything further, the little boy had bolted from the room leaving her alone. When she saw that Hallie was starting to go after him, she smiled encouragingly at the younger of the two angels, and once the dark-haired teenage angel had disappeared, Monica turned around to see that Tess had appeared.

"It's impossible."

"Nothing is impossible, Miss Wings," Tess snapped. "That little boy has an angel with him, and now we're just going to have to wait and see what happens."

"I want to help," a voice emerged and the two angels turned and could see that Brittany was standing in the waiting room, Adam was next to her and he smiled down at his young friend.

Hunter was also a few feet behind them, but he looked at Tess. "OK, fill us in on what's happening."

Tess looked at the two humans and she waved her hand indicating that they should all sit down. "It's like this, babies," she began. "Jason Anderson has been in an abusive home since his momma died. Now, his father is in jail and his cousin has died, and that little boy has a great deal of anger inside."

Brittany looked at Adam, and when her friend nodded, she wordlessly turned back to look at Tess.

"Monica has been working at the 'Child Protection Services' and she will still be doing that. Adam, you know what you're to do."

"What?" Brittany asked looking up at him.

He leaned down and whispered in her ear and she giggled. "I like that." She wound her arms around his neck and held him tightly.

"What did you say?" Hunter asked and looked into the shining eyes of his niece.

"That he was going to stay with me," Brittany grinned like the cat that ate the canary.

Tess chuckled when she saw the closeness between Adam and the little girl. "I will be working here at the hospital, and Hunter, there's something for you and Samantha in this."

"What?"

"Do you remember when your daddy was sick?" Tess said softly.

"Yes, it was when Brittany was six, but it was before I had to courage to tell Samantha how much I loved her," he said smiling.

Tess nodded. "You want to help us, then maybe you will be the human contact for that little boy."

"Me? What can I say to an abused child, I mean, I pretty much had it made from the get go," he looked at the angels somewhat hopelessly.

"Not entirely, do you remember when you had to defend Samantha the night your sister and mother wanted to throw her out?" Monica broke her silence. "You found the courage within to face those who hurt the one you love, now the real test will be for you to defend and encourage someone whom you don't know, but who needs someone to step in and help."

Hunter nodded as though he understood, but he was still confused by the angel's wording. "I guess I'll do what I can."

"What about me? What does God want me to do?" Brittany asked looking at Tess.

"Besides look cute?" Adam quipped, but instead of getting a smile from his friend, the little girl scowled.

"I want to help too, and I don't want to just look cute," Brittany said looking at Tess. She wanted to take part in this assignment, and looking cute was hardly a sign of confidence that she had hoped for.

"Aren't you afraid of Jason?" Hunter asked. "I mean; he did fracture a couple of your ribs." He pointed to her stomach and from beneath her thin cotton t-shirt one could see the white gauze that wound around her abdomen.

Brittany looked at her uncle. "I know that, Uncle Hunter, but I also know that he was probably hurting more than that when he did it."

"Baby, you want to help, then try to be a friend to Jason," Tess said gently. "You're not mad at him, are you?"

"Maybe a little, but I'll try not to get mad at him if I talk to him," Brittany said hopefully. "If Adam's with me, then it will be easier."

"OK, now that everyone knows what we have to do, Hallie, you might as well go and see if you can find Jason, Adam, you can take Brittany back up to her room," Tess said. "Miss Wings, you need to call the children's home and tell them that Jason has run off, and I need to get down the hall and see what needs tending."

Once Tess had left the room, Hunter pulled the keys to his jeep out of his pocket. "I'll head home and get some of the things Brittany may need while she's here, then I'll have to go and pick up Samantha since she's working out at the hotel and it's not too far from here."

Adam nodded as he offered his hand to his young friend.

When Brittany took it, she looked up at him. "Do you think Jason is going to be OK?"

"With the number of angels here as well as you and your uncle?" Adam asked winking at her. "I think he's going to be just fine."

*****

Outside, Jason was running as though his life was in some sort of danger. He had spoken to Hallie, and somewhere inside him, he could understand the young angel, but he was scared. He didn't know what was happening to him and this so soon after Monica had said that his cousin had died. As he ran towards the park, he could feel the tears streaming from beneath his eyes. This was simply not fair.

Not far from where he stood, Hallie was watching him, her eyes filled with sadness. "Father, what should I tell him? He looks so lost?"

He is, Hallie, but you have the gift to reach him, I have all the faith in you, and I know you will reach him where the others may not be able.

"You have more faith in me than I have in myself," she muttered as she came closer to where Jason was sitting. When he heard her whispered words, he looked up, his eyes filled with bitterness.

"What?"

"I'm sorry," she offered, "I guess I didn't realize I was praying so loudly."

"Praying, what good is that?" Jason asked. "God doesn't care."

"That's not true, Jason," Hallie began. "It's true, a prayer may not change God, but it will change you, if you let it."

"Yeah, you should talk, you walked away from God," he sniffed as he looked at her with spite in his eyes.

"I know, but maybe in this particular situation, I know better than anyone, because I know both sides of the story, not just one," she whispered. "I can't change my past, any more than you can, but I can do what I can to make the present, the gift that it is."

"You have no idea what I have done," Jason said.

"God does, and He loves you anyway," she said as she tried to reach out to him, but when he jerked away from her, she could feel the hot tears against her cheek.

Jason, upon seeing this, looked at her. "Why are you crying?"

"Maybe because I care," she said softly, her challenging tone taking not only him by surprise, but herself as well.

"Why? I'm nothing more than an assignment to you, you probably have had hundreds of cases, and when you go to 101, then you'll have forgotten all about me," Jason said unconvincingly.

"No, actually you're the first person I was sent to since coming Home," Hallie said. "If you don't believe me, then go upstairs and ask Brittany, she was present when I was made human and died. She was there when her friend Adam took me Home. Since that time, I have not been back here at all."

Jason looked at her and somewhere in her words he could detect the sincerity that seemed to emanate her. "Why am I so important? I mean; God took Dennis away, so why would He even care?"

"God took your cousin so that Dennis would not suffer any more than he already had," a strange voice emerged and the boy looked up to see that Andrew was now standing near the bench and was looking down at them.

"W-who are you?" Jason looked up at the Angel of Death. "Are you some kind of preacher? Are you just hanging around the hospital and telling the faithless to have faith?"

"Jason, my name is Andrew, and I'm an angel, like Hallie, and God sent us to you to help you, but none of us can unless you listen and stop biting off the head of every angel who tries to get close to you. Hallie is not at fault because Jason died, she is doing everything she can to help you, and it is going to be your choice if you allow her to do so."

Jason looked at Andrew, his eyes filling with tears. "What do you care what I do?"

"Whether you believe it or not, Jason, I do care, but there's someone else, besides God, who cares."

"Yeah, who?"

"Your cousin," Andrew said gently. "Dennis was shot trying to protect you, and he said he would do it again if he had to. He went Home today, but he wants you to know that he's only a thought away, and that he loves you, and doesn't want to see you ever get hurt again."

"Why couldn't she tell me that?" Jason asked bitterly as he pointed to Hallie.

"I couldn't," she whispered, "I was not his Angel of Death, Andrew was."

"Y-you're an Angel of Death?" Jason asked.

Andrew nodded, but instead of the boy speaking further, he stood up and fled from both of them. Hallie had tears streaming from beneath her eyes once the boy was gone. After a few moments had passed, he wrapped her in his arms and pulled her gently against his chest, his hand brushing her coal-black hair. "We'll reach him, Hallie."

"When?" She asked weakly as she rested her head against his shoulder.

"I don't know, but the Father doesn't want either of us to give up on him, so we're not going to do so, OK?"

Once she nodded, they remained on the bench and watched as Hunter came towards them. "Did you guys strike out?"

"You could say that?" Andrew said softly.

"Yeah, I saw the boy running back in the direction of the waiting room, but who knows if he's going to find what he's looking for?"

Hallie nodded, as his words sank in, she was starting to lose all hope that they would reach Jason at all.

*****

Inside the hospital, Brittany and Adam had reached her room, and she had released a frustrated sigh when she saw the backless hospital gown on the bed waiting for her. She looked up at her best friend. "You said that I would not have to stay in the hospital, Adam," she said weakly, as she reached for the gown.

"I didn't know," he said softly. "But, at least we know that you're OK, these tests are just to make sure you did not sustain any internal injuries."

The little girl nodded. "Yeah, I know."

"Hey, you know I wouldn't lie to you, don't you?" He asked, trying all the while to look wounded, but this attempt caused her to giggle.

"I'm not mad at you, Adam, I know angels don't know everything," she said softly. "I know that you can't solve all my problems. It's enough that you're here with me through all this."

Adam smiled as he looked down at her. "You know that thing I said about you looking cute was just a joke."

"I know that now," Brittany said as she stuck her tongue out at him. "But, you'd better be careful, next time I might have to resolve to tickle torture."

Adam feigned shock as he dramatically backed away from her.

Brittany for her part, approached him, her hands extended, her fingers wiggling as though she was going to tickle her best friend to death. As she came closer she began to laugh wickedly, thus causing him to chuckle.

When she reached him, instead of tickling him, she wrapped her arms as far around him as she could as she felt his arms around her as well; she looked up and in his gray-blue eyes. "I love you, Adam, you're always going to be my best friend in the whole world."

"And you are mine," he said smiling as he gently picked her up off the floor so as to not press against her injuries and gently spun around with her. When he put her down on her feet, he smiled weakly, his eyes filled with love. "Now, you need to get changed, I'll wait outside, and when you're done, just come and open the door, OK?"

"OK," she smiled weakly, as she returned to the bed and picked up the gown as he closed the door behind him leaving her alone to start changing her clothes.

Adam came out into the hallway, but was surprised when he saw Jason standing on the other side, the boy must have been standing there listening to them for the last five minutes or so, because when he saw Adam, he backed away and looked up at the angel with obvious surprise etched on his face.

"Hello, Jason," Adam said gently.

"How do you know my name?" The boy stammered.

"You know who I am, so don't try to feign surprise," Adam said softly, but sternly. "My name is Adam, I'm an angel, and I'm Brittany's friend."

The boy backed away, but Adam reached out and touched his shoulder. "You don't have any reason to be afraid of me, but you overheard everything that happened in there, and I think you and I need to have a little talk is all."

"What do you want from me?"

"Shall I reel off a list, or do you want to listen?" Adam asked softly. "First of all, let's get one thing clear, you are not here to hurt Brittany, and I think you know that I may not be able to interfere with human free will, but I will not allow you to hurt my friend again."

"You know about what happened?"

"I saw what happened this afternoon after school when you took Brittany's homework, pulled her hair, and abused her, in very much the same way you have been abused," Adam said. "But, Hallie has said it, Andrew has said it, and now I'm saying it, God has forgiven you, Jason, and He does love you, you just have to accept it. Once you do that, you will find forgiveness not just of yourself, but probably also from those around you."

"It's true," Brittany appeared in her doorway, the little girl was now dressed in her hospital gown.

Jason looked at her but shook his head. "You're really friends with him?"

Brittany nodded. "Adam is my best friend, Jason, and he was with me this afternoon when you hurt me."

The boy looked at her his eyes filled with scorn. "I don't think you deserve a best friend."

Before Adam could object, Brittany looked at the boy, her voice completely calm as she spoke. "I am not one who ponders the question of deserving a best friend, you are."

Without thinking the boy lunged towards the girl, but as promised, Adam intervened and held the boy tightly to keep him from hurting the little girl. The angel turned towards his friend. "Brittany, go back in your room, please."

The little girl, feeling the fear engulf her, did as the angel suggested. Once inside the room, Brittany closed the door.

Adam turned back to face the boy. "You see, Jason, I do keep my word."

The boy looked up at him. "Why are you and your friends here, and why do you care about me?"

Adam looked at him. "You say cruel words to Brittany, but I think they are not addressed to her, they are more or less addressed to yourself."

Jason looked up at him. He didn't believe that Adam was an angel, but something inside of him told him that he was. He looked down at his tattered tennis shoes, and then after a few moments, back at Adam.

"You feel lost, don't you, as though no one cares, or is there fur you, but Jason, there are people who want to be there for you?" As he spoke, he reached over and took Jason's face in his hands, and held it firmly all the while the boy struggled to get away from him. "You came up here for a reason, you knew that you would find an angel here, didn't you? You knew that Brittany had someone with her, that the Father would not leave her to face you or your abuse again." His eyes never faltering, he stared down at the boy. "You can run, and chances are, you will, but tell me this, how long do you intend to run? The mistakes of the past will always catch up with you, it's just a matter of how long it takes for that to happen."

Jason looked at him, but no words emerged, instead tears began to stream from beneath his eyes as Adam's words struck a chord with him. He tried to wipe his hands over his face, and recompose himself as being tough, but with the eyes of the Angel of Death on him, he knew that this was just an act, and suddenly it melted away like a snowball left out in the summer sunshine.

"I…" he tried to speak, but his words were literally caught in his throat.

"No one is angry with you, Jason, we are here to help you, but God has already tried with two other angels, and you wouldn't listen, because you were angry, now you have a choice to make in this regard." Adam said as he maintained the hold on the boy that he had.

Once he had finished speaking, he lowered his hands slowly, and watched as the boy collapsed onto the floor, the misery he felt completely overwhelming him.

Adam got down on his knees next to the boy so that he would be eye-level with the youth. "Jason, look at me, it's OK, I'm not angry with you."

"Y-you have every right to be…" he stammered as he felt the wetness of the tears along the contours of his face.

"No, I don't," Adam reached over and gently brushed the tears from beneath the boy's eyes. Instead of speaking further, Adam slid over to where Jason was sitting, and he pulled the boy onto his lap. "It's OK," he whispered when the boy's body became stiff, and he looked at the angel with fear and dread in his eyes. "I'm not going to hurt you, Jason."

The young boy nodded, and instead of feeling someone lashing out at him, he could feel the strong arms of the angel wrapping comfortingly around his trembling body. When he realized that Adam was not going to hurt him, Jason's body collapsed against him, and the boy began to sob uncontrollably.

"That's it, just let it out," Adam said softly, his eyes closing as he held the youth in his strong arms. As Jason cried himself dry, the angel looked at him. "Better?"

The boy nodded mutely.

"Good," he smiled gently as Hunter came out of the elevator and came down the hall in their direction.

"Hi Adam, hello Jason, my name is Hunter," he said smiling as he crouched down to where Adam sat, still holding the boy in his arms.

Jason, using the palm of his hand, wiped the tears from his eyes and looked up at the man who had joined them. "What do you want?"

"I want to help you," Hunter said. "I talked to Monica downstairs, and she said that you would be given a choice. You could go to the Children's home, or I would take you to my cabin and you can stay with us for awhile."

"Us?" Jason looked up at him.

"My wife Samantha and me," Hunter said.

"Why?" Jason asked bitterly. "I don't need anyone."

"I think you do," Adam looked at the boy, his eyes earnest. "You've convinced yourself that you don't need anyone, but you do, Jason, and you know it," he smiled reassuringly. "Hunter and Samantha are friends, they won't hurt you and they will listen to you if you want to talk to them."

Jason looked hesitantly at Hunter, but after a few moments, he looked up at the man and nodded. "OK."

"Great," Hunter said and as Adam helped the boy get to his feet and the man regarded the angel. "I don't know what you did, Adam, but thanks."

The angel nodded and once Jason and Hunter had walked towards the elevator, he opened the door and returned to Brittany's side.

Once inside, Brittany looked at Adam, her eyes filled with sadness. "What happened?"

"Jason will be staying with your uncle for the time being," Adam said softly. "He and Samantha are going to try and take care of him."

"He scares me, Adam," she whispered, "but I also feel sorry for him."

The angel nodded. Yes, I know. Are you OK now?"

The little girl nodded as he sat down next to her bed.

*****

Outside in the hallway, Jason was walking alongside Hunter. Behind them, Hallie was walking slowly, her eyes filled with sadness. She felt a failure in that she had failed in getting through to Jason and although she knew that she and Adam were always going to be on the same side, she was sad because it was him that got through to the boy and not her.

As she walked behind them, Tess appeared next to her, the wise angel smiling gently down at her younger charge. "Hallie?"

She looked up and offered a weak smile. "I'm sorry," she managed to speak.

"Whatever for, you have done an adequate job with Jason," Tess said. "No one is angry with you."

Hallie shook her head. "I failed, Tess, and Adam had to come in and clean up my mess. I guess things will always be this way, I will fail and another angel would have to step in and clean up what I destroyed."

"What on earth are you talking about, baby?" Tess turned and looked sternly at Hallie. "Now, you didn't get put on this case to start feeling sorry for yourself. You need to get over that. Self-pity is the last thing you really need, and as of now, you've still got an assignment to tend to. You are still assigned to Jason, if I am not mistaken."

"Maybe Adam or someone else should do this case," Hallie said softly as she slowly walked away. Tess started to go after her, but someone stopped her and she turned around to see that Sam had appeared and was now resting his hand on her shoulder indicating that she was not to follow the younger angel.

"You see this happening again, don't you?" Sam asked.

Tess nodded. "I know that little baby won't go to the other side, but she's got about as much confidence as…" her voice trailed off and she sighed deeply.

Sam smiled gently at her, "Tess, the Father knows what is going on, and he knows that right now Hallie does have a few more things to learn before she gets sent here to work as a caseworker. But, she also needs to realize that it doesn't matter which angel it is that gets through to the assignments, but that they do."

"Do you think Monique will show up?" Tess asked, all the while remembering what had happened with Hallie the last time she had worked with the younger angel.

Sam shook his head, "Monique won't come within three feet of her. Hallie was excluded from the dark side, so chances are, she is going to have to find her place with us."

The supervisor nodded, but when she looked up, she could see that Jason and Hunter had disappeared into the elevator and Andrew was coming down the hall, his green eyes meeting their own and a small smile on his face as he came closer.

"Sam? What are you doing here?" He asked softly once he had reached where they were standing in the hall.

"Andrew, did you see Hallie when you were coming down the hall?" Sam asked.

"Yes, I did, and I have to say, she looked totally lost, why?"

"Do you have any idea where she may have gone, Angel Boy?" Tess asked.

The young Angel of Death shook his head. "No, but Adam might know, he's been around here for some time and I would be willing to bet that he knows just the place where angels would go to be alone."

They went down the hall towards Brittany's room, and once Andrew tapped on the closed door, it opened and Adam was looking out at Tess, Sam and Andrew. "Don't tell me," Adam began, "something's wrong."

"Adam, can you tell us where Hallie might have gone?" Sam asked.

"Hallie, but I thought she was supposed to work with Jason," Brittany said as she sat up in the bed and looked at the angels who were now assembled in her room.

"She was, but she left," Tess said softly.

Andrew looked at the little girl. "Brittany, do you have any idea where Hallie might have gone?"

The little girl shook her head, but after a moment, she smiled weakly and nodded. "You might try the lake. It's not far from here and it's the one place that I used to go when I was sad. She might have gone there." She looked at Adam. "Maybe you should go with them and see if you can find her."

The gray-eyed Angel of Death nodded, but he looked at Brittany, "are you sure?"

The little girl nodded. "Positive, besides, with all these angels around, what could happen?" She looked at Sam. "You're an angel too, right? Or are you one those intimidating guys who have come to change the bed pan that I haven't used?"

The angels all laughed, and Sam smiled weakly. "Something tells me that she's been spending just a little bit too much time with you, Adam, your humor is starting to rub off on her," instead of scowling, however, the coal black eyes of the angel sparkled merrily.

"No, Sam, that's where you're wrong," Tess said smiling.

Brittany smiled weakly and nodded in concurrence with Tess' words. "I haven't seen Adam in a very long time and I missed him so much."

Tess smiled and nodded before she followed Andrew and Adam out of the room and into the hallway.

Sam was left standing in the room and he looked down at the little girl in the large hospital bed as he came over to a chair and sat down, his dark eyes shining brightly as he spoke. "I have heard a lot of wonderful things about you, Brittany," he said smiling, all the while trying to break the ice.

She smiled weakly. "I heard only a little bit about you, from Hallie and Adam, but I have a question."

"What's that?" He asked.

"I was just wondering why you decided to come here now," Brittany said.

"I guess I wasn't needed until now," he offered honestly.

Brittany nodded, but smiled weakly as she closed her eyes and lay back against the pillows. After a few moments, she opened them to see him still seated next to the bed. "Are you going to be my guardian angel while Adam's gone?"

Sam chuckled and nodded. "It certainly looks that way, doesn't it?"

She nodded and closed her eyes again.

*****

Not far from the hospital, sitting at the bank of the lake, Hallie was staring out across the water, her eyes filled with sadness, but not because Adam had reached Jason, but rather because she felt as though she had failed at her first assignment. She glanced skyward. Father, please don't be angry with me, her silent prayer drifted up to the heavens and she shook her head as she felt as though no answer was coming.

Instead, when she opened her eyes again, she could see a woman who looked to be in her mid to late thirties coming closer to where she was sitting. Hallie offered the woman a weak smile, and it surprised her that she had sat down next to her.

"Hello," the woman said.

"Hi," the unhappy angel responded.

"Are you new here?" The woman asked.

"Yes, I guess you could say that," Hallie responded. "My name is Hallie."

"My name is Vicki Hudson," the woman said with a smile. "I suppose I should leave you alone, as this is a wonderful place to think, but something tells me that you are not really up to being by yourself right now, are you?"

Hallie shook her head. "There seems to be very few people who understand me," she whispered.

"Welcome to the new millennium," Vicki said smiling. "How many people do you think understand me? I am still single, I teach a rowdy class of first graders, and I live with two cats, a hamster and a goldfish. No husband, no relationship and absolutely no attachments. I have no interest in the dating game, been there, done that, but the point is, sometimes people march to the beat of a different drum, if that means they don't understand you, then so be it."

"It's not that," Hallie started. "I know I'm different, but I feel like a failure because someone else was able to reach someone when I couldn't."

Vicki smiled gently at the despondent young angel. "You know, if two people are trying to reach the same person and help them, does it necessarily matter who got there first? Maybe, you should be glad that the other person got to them before the unspeakable could have happened."

Hallie looked down at the ground and then back at Vicki. "How do you know all of this?"

"I guess it was a few years ago when a very dear friend of mine told me that making a difference does not mean pushing a person out from in front of a bus, maybe one can move a person through a kind word, a gentle gesture, or even leading that person to another who can help," Vicki smiled as she fingered the necklace that hung from a chain around her neck.

"You believe that?" Hallie asked.

"Well, the person who told me that was an angel, and I don't think angels would like," she smiled as she looked up and could see that Adam was standing not to far away, the angel carried a gentle look on his face, and when he approached them, he reached for Vicki's hands, pulled her to her feet and embraced her.

"Thank you," he whispered in her ear.

"Adam, what's happening?" Vicki asked softly.

"Sit down with us and you'll find out," he smiled at her.

Vicki did as he said as Hallie looked up at him. "What do you want?" She asked weakly.

"Hallie, we need to talk, and you know it, now either you can talk to me, or I can go find Tess," he said sternly.

"She's an angel?" Vicki asked softly.

"Yes, Vicki, she is," Adam responded, his voice soft.

Hallie started to get to her feet to run away and Vicki reached out and touched her arm. "You know, sometimes even an angel needs an emotional boost, and I happen to know that Adam is wonderful about giving people this, so maybe you should listen to what he has to say, you might find that it helps."

The young angel sat back down on the ground and Adam looked at her. "Hallie, I don't know why you ran off, and that's between you and God, but I will tell you this; sometimes an angel helps an assignment reach out to another angel."

"I wanted to help Jason," Hallie said softly.

"Maybe you did," Adam said gently. "You didn't fail because Jason started to realize his own fallacies. You talked to him, you faced the truth about your own past and you were able to reach him in that way. Just because he didn't completely listen and do what you hoped he would does not mean that you failed. Vicki said it very well, and she knows what she is talking about because Andrew was the angel who told her those things and she used them in her own life."

Hallie looked up at her. "He did?"

Vicki nodded. "The angels I have met taught me a great deal, Hallie. I remember what Andrew said to me because I have mostly been in contact with him, but he could have been repeating those words from Tess, Monica, or Adam. Just because I remember who told them to me doesn't take away from the importance from who originally said them."

Hallie looked at Adam. "Did I help Jason?"

Adam nodded, "you did, but now you have to go back and finish this assignment, Hallie. If you run away in the middle, Jason will not know what it is that God intends for him to know. There are some things that an angel has to do on his or her own."

She nodded and stood up. "OK," she whispered. "I have nothing to lose."

"Well, just look at all you can gain," Vicki said, and once Hallie had walked back in the direction of the hospital, Adam looked at Vicki.

"How did you find her?" He asked.

"I came here to think," she smiled. "It's been such a long time, Adam. Where have you been keeping yourself?"

"Oh, just here and there," he smiled.

"Well, it's great to see you again, and before you take off, maybe you could come by and see me before you go," she said and he nodded as he got to his feet and followed Hallie across the field.

Vicki smiled as she glanced skyward. "Thank you Father, for giving me the right words to say."

*****

That evening, Hunter and Jason arrived at his cabin and Jason came into the small wood-framed house where Hunter and Samantha lived. As they came in, Hunter found a note from Samantha saying that she would be spending the night at the hotel, and he led the boy into a small guest room.

"We'll get you a bigger room taken care of when we get some more time," Hunter said smiling and Jason shrugged his shoulders. When no words emerged from the boy, the man looked at him. "You always this quiet or am I just boring to listen to?"

Jason shrugged his shoulders yet again, but this time, he sat down on the bed. "What do you care?" He eventually asked, his question emerging filled with more bitterness than he intended.

"Something tells me you don't want an answer to that question, because it might actually prove to you that someone would prefer to see you in a home as opposed to just being another ward of the court." Hunter sat down on the corner of the bed and the boy self-consciously backed away from him. "OK, I'm going to level with you Jason, I don't like that you beat up my niece. Brittany is a wonderful person, she has a very caring disposition, and she doesn't deserve the grief you dished out to her." Hunter's eyes never faltered, but he looked at the boy. "Yet, when she needed someone, I wasn't exactly the best person to be there for her, I got caught up in the family business and not in the real issues of family, but that happens sometimes, now tell me truthfully, Jason, why did you beat her up?"

The boy shrugged his shoulders as he looked around the room, and in one corner, he could see that Hallie was now back in the room, her eyes regarding him with compassion and he looked up at Hunter.

"I don't know," he whispered. "I was scared."

"You were afraid, so you inflicted pain on a little girl, probably in the same way your daddy did to you," Hunter shook his head. "Why didn't you hit your pillow instead or tell someone what he was doing?"

The boy shrugged his shoulders again, this time no words emerged. As the two of them sat in silence, Hallie came over and sat down next to Jason. "I know why," she whispered. "It was the same reason that I ran away, denial."

Jason looked at her and then at Hunter. "Do you see her?"

"Who?" Hunter asked softly.

"The angel," Jason looked at Hunter half expecting the man to think that he was crazy. When he saw a look of openness on Hunter's face, he shook his head. "She's here," he whispered.

"What is she telling you?" Hunter asked gently.

"T-that I was in denial about what my dad was doing," Jason whispered.

"And what do you think?" Hunter pressed gently.

"I don't know, I'm just scared," Jason whispered.

"Your father is in jail now, Jason, he murdered your cousin, and chances are, you won't ever have to go back to that again, but you need to heal from all of this, maybe that's why God sent you an angel," Hunter said softly.

"You believe me?"

Hunter nodded. "Yes, I do. I think that God works in wonderful and mysterious ways. He probably sent you the very best angel, because He knew what He was doing. You see, there have been angels in and out of my life for a number of years, probably ever since Brittany was six."

Jason looked at Hallie and the young angel smiled and nodded. "Hunter and his family have had a lot of visits by angels. The last time I was here, I had to seek forgiveness from Adam, Brittany's best friend. Once I did, I went home because I found peace, and now I know why God sent me here, because He knew that you need peace, Jason."

The boy looked up at Hunter. "You won't believe it…" his voice trailed.

"What is important is that you face the truth, not whether or not I will believe your words," Hunter said softly. "If you speak from the heart, Jason, then your words will be believed because the other person will see the sincerity in them."

He swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. "H-he killed Dennis, right in front of me. Oh, God…" The boy sank to the floor, the tears washing down over his face.

Hallie came over to him and wrapped her arms around the boy's shoulders. As she did, Hunter could suddenly see her and he smiled weakly at her. "Will you stay with him?"

The young angel nodded and Hunter left the room for a moment.

As he finished crying, the boy looked up at her. "Hallie, how could an angel ever care for me?"

"An angel is an expression of God's love, Jason," she began. "When I left the light, I learned about how empty one can be, and I realized that I needed Him. You have lived without God for 12 years, and today, you are discovering how much you need Him, how much you need to feel His love and understanding in your life." Pausing, she took a deep breath. "I wanted to be the angel that would help you find that, but I didn't, you were able to get encouragement from Adam and Andrew, and I thought I had failed you somehow, but the truth was, maybe what I did was I got you to thinking about all of these things, and maybe that's why you're here now, with friends and a family who will never hurt you."

Jason shook his head. "I was so mean…"

"You were in pain, and sometimes pain is the only way people can respond," she said. "But, God loves you, Jason, and He will be here for you if you let Him."

The young boy looked at her. "Thank you, I don't think anyone has ever told me that before."

Hallie smiled. "If you listen, you'll hear it, and it will emerge in the words of forgiveness and hope. It comes when you least expect it, but it fills you up in a way that brings you closer to the source of all love. It brings you to a Father who will never scold, or harm or hurt you. He will just love you."

The boy looked at her as Hunter returned. When the man saw the boy wrapped in the arms of the angel, he smiled. Things were going to be OK, and with a lot of help and love, Jason would find his place in the world.

*****

Across town at the local hospital, the following afternoon, Brittany opened her eyes to see that Adam had returned and had been seated next to her bed. When she looked up at him, she smiled weakly. "Hi, Adam. How long have I been asleep?"

"Most of the afternoon, but the doctor said that tonight, you can go home," he smiled gently at her.

"Everything's going to be OK, isn't it Adam?" Brittany asked softly but could feel the dull pain in her arms and along as abdomen as she tried to sit up on the bed.

"Lie still, honey, you're still in pain, I can tell," the angel admonished gently. "But, to answer your question, I think things will be better than OK." He reached for her hand and the delight was evident when she immediately reached for his hand. As his warm fingers wound around her smaller hand, he continued. "You know Hallie did a wonderful job helping Jason, he's in a safe place, and he's trying to find healing."

"Adam, can I ask you something?" She whispered.

"What is it, honey?" He asked gently.

"Why does an angel only seem to come when things are so bad?" Brittany asked as she wiped a stray tear from her face and looked up at him.

"I don't know why, but I do know that God has perfect timing, and even if there isn't an angel present, God is, and sometimes that timing isn't the same as what it would be for you," he said as he smiled at her. "But no matter what happens, I will never ever forget you, and I hope that even when we're not together, that you remember that your friendship is precious to me, and I won't ever take that for granted." He smiled weakly as he shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know how much time will pass before you see me again, but when I gave you that watch, I wanted you to know that I no matter what day or week it is, that I am with you in spirit and if I could, I would be there every time you cried so that I could wipe those tears away."

"Really?" She whispered as she looked up at him.

"Really," he confirmed. "Brittany, I'll never forget you, and when I come back to see you, you mustn't be afraid that I'm only there because of work, sometimes I'm here because I have time to spend and there's no one I would rather spend it with then my little princess." She giggled as he remembered the Halloween they had spent together. "I will sometimes be here because God knew how much you needed a friend, but He also knows that sometimes I do too, and maybe it will be our friendship that will enable us to be together." As he spoke, he could see the sense of relief that crossed her face, but another emotion seemed to emerge and that was uncertainty.

"Adam?"

"What is it, sweetheart?" He asked gently.

"What's going to happen to Jason?" Brittany asked.

"I'm not entirely sure," As he spoke Monica appeared in the room and she smiled gently at the girl in the hospital bed.

"Monica?" Brittany spoke the angel's name and once she had come over to the side of the bed, Brittany repeated her question.

Monica smiled her brown eyes filled with joy. "I think your uncle and aunt are going to adopt him, and you'll have a new cousin," she said smiling.

"Maybe, but I'm still scared of him," she whispered.

"Imagine how scared he is, he only knows pain, sweetheart. He only knows what it feels like to have someone hurt him and not love him. Coming to your family will give him that sense which he has never experienced before, and sometimes that is the greatest gift that one human being can give to another. You may not believe it, but I think he will," Monica said smiling gently.

"I want to forgive him, like Adam did with Hallie, but I'm scared, Monica," Brittany said softly. "If Adam hadn't have been here when I saw Jason the last time, Jason probably would have hurt me again."

Monica nodded as she looked at Brittany. "Hallie is getting through to Jason now, and that should help everything find a peaceful resolution." She looked at Adam before taking her leave. "You are to stay with Brittany for a few days, but I suppose you already know that."

"Yes," Adam said as he smiled down at his young friend. "Well, I'll be here with you, Brittany, and if you need me to help you with that, I will."

"You're really staying?" She asked softly once Monica was gone.

"It looks like for the time being, yes," he said gently as he reached over and brushed a lock of her hair from her face.

"I love you, Adam," she whispered as she tried to lean back against the pillows, but after a few moments, she could feel his arms wrapping around her and pulling her up onto his lap.

"I love you, too, Brittany," he said and smiled, his blue gray eyes twinkling merrily as he felt the child meshing her face against his chest. As he felt this, he began to brush his hand gently through her hair.

The little girl smiled as she felt him holding her and as their embrace ended, Adam looked deeply into her eyes as he held up a small golden object and she immediately recognized it as the watch he had given her when she was six.

At that moment, Brittany Harrows knew that no matter what came about, that her friendship with Adam would survive even when they were separated and she smiled up at him. "Adam?"

"Yes?"

"Everything will be OK," she smiled up at him. "I forgave Jason even before we had talked, and I know that everything is going to be OK." Glancing over she could see that a white dove was standing at the window and peering into the room.

Adam smiled as the dove that was sitting in the window flew away. Without warning, he suddenly felt her grabbing his hand and holding tightly to him. When she provided no explanation, he looked into her eyes, his own shining brightly as he regarded her. "What's that for?"

"That's my assurance that you won't just disappear," Brittany said matter-of-factly. "Every time he flies away, you always seem to disappear from my life, and if you decide to disappear again, then maybe if I hold you tight enough, I'll disappear too."

Adam chuckled as he looked down at her. "You know me too well, but I'm not going anywhere, sweetheart. We still have some catching up to do."

Brittany smiled. "How long?"

"As long as you need," he smiled. "Angels get days off too, and the Father has assured me that we'll have at least a week together."

The young girl smiled and nodded.

*****

That evening, Hunter brought Brittany and Adam to the cabin where he and Samantha lived. Brittany was nervous as she came inside, but her nervousness was nothing compared to Jason. The boy could positively not sit still and although Hallie and Hunter had assured him all afternoon that everything was going to be OK, he was not convinced.

Brittany came into the room as he stood up to retreat to his room. Brittany turned back to face Adam. "I don't think he wants to talk to me," she whispered to him and the angel rested a gentle and probing hand against her lower back.

"Just try," he said and smiled. "Remember, change may not come over night, but it will come as long as two people make the effort."

Brittany nodded and smiled as she approached where Jason was now standing. "You don't want to talk to me, do you?" She asked; her voice filled with sadness.

"Not really," he said. "Hallie said that it might help."

Brittany nodded. "That's what Adam said."

"You're really friends with angels?" Jason asked. "I thought that was just some rumor started by some crackers who thought that you were a few quarts low."

Brittany shook her head. "A lot of those people who spread those rumors are kids that know Adam, but they are scared of him and won't admit it."

Jason shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sorry I beat you up."

"It's OK," she said softly. "I mean; it's not OK, but all is forgiven."

"You forgive me?" He asked. "Just like that?"

"Why is that such a surprise to you?" She asked softly.

"I don't know, it just seems weird," he said softly.

"I guess I figured that you were scared, I mean, I got kidnapped once, and the guy beat me up pretty badly," she said softly. "Adam was with me and he saved my life."

"Tell me about it?" He asked. "I mean, if you don't mind."

"I don't really like talking about it, I guess it's just something I'd rather forget about if I can. He beat me because he was angry with God, and his younger brother was one of my friends," she said sadly. "He and I were in the same class together, and then a few years ago, he moved away."

"What happened to his brother?" He asked softly.

"He's in jail," she whispered. "He was really mean. It wasn't just that he hit me, but that he said things to me that hurt."

"You remember all that?" Jason asked and as he looked at her, he realized that this girl probably had more in common with him than he could have imagined.

"You don't forget, you remember everything that happened and you try to ask yourself if it had been your fault," she whispered as a tear streamed down her cheek and she felt Adam sitting down next to her. On the other side of Jason, Hallie had taken a seat.

"I guess; we're more alike than I thought," Jason said softly as he looked at the two angels that were now seated with them. "Do you see her?" He asked after a few moments and he had glanced back in Hallie's direction.

Brittany smiled and nodded. "Yes, and do you see Adam?"

Jason nodded and as he looked at the elder of the two angels, his two word question emerged. "Now, what?"

Adam smiled at the two children as he nodded. "Now, the healing will begin."

The End

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