A 'Touched by an Angel' story

By: Yvette Jessen

© 2001 not intended to infringe on any previously held copyrights.

Please Note: This story is the seventeenth in a sequence of stories, which I have written, which are centered on my character, Christina, her family and friends. The first one is entitled ‘The Innocence of a Child’, the second ‘A Little Girl’s Wish’, the third ‘The Senior Prom’, the fourth 'Stealing Second', the fifth 'Another Halloween Night', the sixth 'An Overdue Appointment', the seventh 'Homecoming', the eighth 'Solitary Without Hope', the ninth 'Making the Grade', the tenth 'Till Death Do Us Part', the eleventh 'Olivia's Battle', the twelfth 'In the Father's Arms', the thirteenth 'The Healing Spirit', the fourteenth 'Fulfilled Promises', the fifteenth 'Pennies From Heaven', and the sixteenth, 'The Father's Little Ones'.

*****

Jeremy Lowery was really excited when he crawled out of bed on the early June morning. He had been looking forward to this day for as long as he could remember, and when he could see that it was still dark outside, this mattered very little to him, and he crawled out of bed making certain that he didn't disturb his wife, Christina, who was sleeping peacefully next to him.

It was one of those very rare days when he was just too excited to sleep, after all, a trip to Europe was one of those dreams he had had since he was a little boy and today he and his family were flying there for three whole weeks. He was positively thrilled with this idea, and could hardly wait until he, Christina, and their four children would be on their way.

As he stepped out into the hallway, he could hear the voice of his 18-year-old daughter Laura. She had just come out of her room, was already dressed, her hair was combed and it looked as though she had been awake for quite awhile. He glanced over towards the clock on the wall, but without his glasses, he couldn't see the time all that well and eventually shrugged his shoulders and smiled at Laura.

"Hey Dad, you're awake." Laura asked as she sighed contentedly. Looking around she could see that the rest of the house was quiet.

Jeremy could plainly see that his daughter looked not only awake, but she was also alert and seemed happy, a change that came as a breath of fresh air to him when he would look at her. For the past few weeks, she had looked so unnerved by something that he often wanted to ask her what was wrong. He was not convinced that she was just tired as she had often said, but he figured that it was centered on something else, and he simply did not know what that something was. He knew that she was excited about the trip, but there was something hidden in her behavior and he was, to say the least, somewhat worried about her.

Unlike the rest of the family, he was also concerned that she would be staying by herself in Europe for an extra week, giving her a full month away from home. This had been promised the day she graduated from high school.

"What time is it?" He asked as he yawned and ran his hand through his hair.

"Five thirty," Laura said once she looked at the clock. "I've been up for about an hour or so. I'm too excited to actually sleep," she said smiling broadly. "This is going to be the greatest graduation present I ever had."

Jeremy nodded, and smiled at his daughter. "You know this trip has been my dream…"

"…Ever since you were a little boy," Laura finished for him and giggled. "You've been talking about nothing else for the past month, Dad. I mean, ever since you got the extra time off from work and booked the flight. You think you're excited, I can't believe I'm getting an extra week there to spend with Renate. We've been writing letters since she left nearly five years ago and she's about the closest friend, besides Andrew, that I've ever had."

"Come on, Laura, give me a break," Jeremy said softly, his eyes were practically dancing and she could tell that he carried the typical good humor which seemed to go hand in hand with Jeremy's personality.

"I know how excited you've been about this trip, you've talked about nothing else but this in such a long time," she said smiling as they came down the stairs and walked into the living room. "I think that it will do Patrick some good, too." She sighed deeply when she thought of her 14-year-old brother. The signs of AIDS was starting to show in him again and although no one said anything about it to him, they all knew that Patrick was losing ground quickly and they were all worried about him.

Somehow Laura could only shake her head in profound disbelief. She was always amazed with how well Patrick had learned to live with this disease, and ironically, he had even started to accept Andrew's presence in all of their lives. Of course, it had been over three years since Andrew's last visit, and maybe that had something to do with it. Although Andrew was an Angel of Death, the young boy as well as his twin sisters had somehow grown to accept and trust him.

Andrew was also like a member of their family, and he had known Laura's mother since she was seven-years-old, and Laura since she was six. Today, 18-year-old Laura shared a connection to him that was very strong. The angel was someone she adored, and most people who know her said it was because he had helped to save her life when she was very small.

Laura sighed deeply as she thought about how much her younger brother had gone through in order to overcome this disease, but at the same time, she could not deny the prevalent relief that Andrew had not been around, for that was a sign that Patrick's desire to overcome the disease was winning the battle. For once, even though it nearly killed her to admit it, but Laura was glad that Andrew had chosen to make himself scarce during these past weeks, but only for Patrick's sake. As for her own emotional state, she was literally coming unglued.

Jeremy looked at her upon noticing her prolonged silence, "what is it?"

"It's nothing really bad, I've been thinking about Andrew again, and I feel like a horrible person because I'm actually glad he's not here," she whispered. "You know, I would have really loved it if he could have been here for my graduation, but I feel like such a traitor because I was partially relieved."

"Laura, remember what your mom always says about Andrew, he's an Angel of Death, yes, but he's also a dear friend to this family. Just because he shows up doesn't mean someone is going to die," Jeremy said softly. "Patrick has accepted him as well as Tess and Monica, so I wouldn't worry excessively about this, and if he does show up, seek out the comfort in his wisdom and the help he offers. You know, you have already discovered an invaluable friend in him."

She looked down at the ground. " It's been three years, Dad, and I'm scared."

"Why?" Jeremy asked.

Laura could feel the tears of confusion falling from beneath her eyes. "I don't know, I just wish that I could see him and tell him what I feel inside without being afraid that Patrick will die."

"Laura, when God decides it's time, it will be time," Jeremy said. "You mustn't be afraid of that, you must simply accept that God's timing is perfect."

Laura nodded and followed her father down the stairs. "You know, I often wonder what Andrew would say if he were to see me right now."

"I'd say you're just as beautiful as you've always been," Andrew's voice emerged and she turned abruptly around to see that the angel was now standing in the room, his green eyes filled with love and his smile genuine.

"Y-you heard what I said?" She asked, her face becoming the shade of an over-ripened tomato, thus causing her to look down at the ground. She could feel that Andrew had approached her and was wrapping her in his arms. It was obvious to him that she was embarrassed because of what she had said, but when she saw that Andrew did not seem to mind, she relaxed somewhat in his arms, but the guilt was still showing in her eyes.

"You've grown since the last time I saw you," he smiled gently at her, but nodded all the while trying to change the subject.

She could feel her face flush, so much so that eventually all she could do was to look at her father and after some time had lapsed, she was finally able to look at Andrew. "I'm sorry, what I said wasn't intended to hurt you. I just never know when you're going to show up. It's been so long, over three years."

"I know it's been a while, you've been worried, and probably for good reason," Andrew said softly and looked at Jeremy and shrugged his shoulders.

"Something tells me you're here about Patrick?" Jeremy said softly.

Andrew shook his head, and looked at Jeremy earnestly. "Jeremy, I don't know how much time he has left, but I can tell you that it may, sadly, not be very much. Patrick is not the reason that I came back, that much I can assure you."

"Should we even be planning or making this trip to Europe, Andrew?" Jeremy asked weakly and as the words emerged, they could both see the heartbreak on Laura's face.

"You can't stop living, Jeremy. Patrick is looking forward to this trip as much as you have been," Andrew said softly.

"I sense a 'but' coming," Laura said softly, but her words emerged so faint that neither of them had even heard her speak. When Andrew and Jeremy did not say anything in response to her words, Laura decided that it was better to let them speak privately and she walked slowly towards the sliding glass door and stepped outside. The cool morning caused her to shiver slightly and she wrapped her arms around herself once she could feel the soft summer breeze wafting through her hair.

Time seemed to stand still all around her and after some moments in the stillness, she sat down on one of the chairs and closed her eyes.

"Laura?" When she heard her name whispered, she opened her eyes, stood up, turned around, and realized that Andrew had followed her out onto the terrace.

"Hi," she said shyly.

"Are you OK?" He asked as they sat down together.

"Sure," she said softly offering him a brave smile.

"You know, I've known you for a long time, and I know when you are not telling me the truth. Come on, Laura, you don't look at all OK right now," he began gently.

"Maybe I would be OK if you had been here three weeks ago," she whispered sadly, but after a few moments of silence, she looked at him. "I'm sorry, that wasn't intended."

"It's OK, I know I haven't been around these past few years, and I realize that it is awkward for you when I just show up like this, but Laura, you've always talked to me about what has been bothering you, why won't you do that now?" He asked.

Laura sighed deeply. "I can't, it'd be too selfish of me to even try to talk openly about all of this right now. Andrew, my entire family is going mad because of Patrick's illness, and my troubles are so insignificant in comparison."

"You know that's just not true," Andrew objected gently. "Whatever it is that you have to say is just as important as what is happening with Patrick. Your feelings are just as real, and if you don't face them, then they will only succeed in tearing you apart, and I don't want to see that happen to you." He reached over and rested a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Now, tell me, what is it?"

She sighed deeply and looked at him. "Everything in my life has fallen apart is all. Billy dumped me two nights before the prom, so I went alone, then a bunch of my friends from over at the Community Center left for good. The deal is this trip has been the only thing that's keeping me going, just looking forward to it has been all that I have."

"Why didn't you tell anyone about what happened?" Andrew asked.

"Who would I have told?" Laura asked. "I mean, here I am 18, I'm supposed to be an adult now, but I don't really feel like one. I didn't tell Mom and Dad about it because they've been so worried about Patrick and I didn't want to overburden them with my petty problems."

"That's why you looked so sad when your dad said something about canceling the trip," he said gently. "You lost so much in the past months, and then you were afraid of loosing that, too."

"Yeah, I've been looking forward to this since Renate went home," Laura said softly. "But, how can I feel excited or good when I'm scared for my little brother?"

Andrew took a deep breath before he began to speak. "Laura, when I told Jeremy that your brother may die, it doesn't mean that he will today or tomorrow. There are a lot of people who live with being HIV positive, but this doesn't mean that their fate is sealed. I remember the last time I was here, and how you gave Patrick and his little sisters so much strength, and you have been there for them, not just as their older sister, but also as their friend."

Laura sniffed, but looked down at her lap. "I haven't been much of a friend to them lately. Dawn and Denise seem to be doing well, they have made friends, but right now I feel so alone. I can't explain it, but I'm no longer in school, and I don't know where my life is going. I don't even know who I am anymore. Am I Patrick or the twins' older sister or am I more than just that?"

"You're Laura," Andrew said gently. "You're a sister, but you're also a friend, you're smart, and caring. You know, I may be somewhat partial, but I will never forget when you were there for me. I had been so sad about the school shooting, and you came with me to the park and we talked about all those things. You may not believe it, but that helped me rectify things with the Father, and I'd be the first to tell you that what you offered me was a wonderful gift."

"I wish you had been there to see me graduate," Laura mused more to herself than to him. "It's been three years since I last saw you and I've missed you so much. It was the only regret I had when I celebrated my last birthday, that you would no longer see me as being special to you, that there would be no more hugs, no more teddy bears, no more visits, nothing."

Andrew smiled gently at her. "You know, your mother had those exact same fears and I didn't see her very much throughout her childhood, in fact, I saw you a lot more, but nothing will ever change the feelings I've always had for your family. Laura, you're always going to be my friend, and you're always going to be special to me." She nodded as Andrew reached over and rested a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You want to know a secret?"

"What?"

"Well, you can't tell Tess, but I'm on vacation," he smiled, his green eyes twinkling.

"You are? For how long?" Laura asked.

"I've got a month," he smiled weakly.

"So much time? I thought that angels don't get that much time off," Laura said softly.

"Usually not, but I have had some very hard assignments these past few weeks and so I asked the Father if it was possible for me to go with your family to Europe because I really needed a break," he smiled weakly. "He said 'yes'."

"You mean; you actually want to travel with us?"

Andrew nodded, but smiled playfully at her. "Does that scare you?"

"No," Laura managed to sputter, but she smiled. "You're going to actually fly on an airplane, in those cramped seats and everything?"

He smiled weakly and nodded.

"Nothing weird is going to happen, is it? I mean, you are an Angel of Death," Laura said softly. "You think any of the other people there will recognize you there?"

"I certainly hope not," he smiled gently and Laura grinned impishly.

After a few moments, Laura seemed to have recovered, because she look him squarely in the eyes and spoke. "Could we maybe sit together? Then we could catch up."

"OK," he smiled gently at her as he wrapped her in his arms and hugged her.

*****

Christina crawled out of bed later that morning and she reached for her robe and walked towards the door all the while yawning and stretching. "I love Paris in the springtime…" she began to sing as she opened the door and watched as the twins were charging through the hall towards the stairs.

"Hey, hold up, you two, what's up?" She asked as the two 12-year-old girls with strawberry blonde hair bounded towards the stairs.

"Andrew's here," Denise said happily.

"Yeah, Laura just came up and told us," Dawn said smiling brightly.

"He's on vacation," Denise interrupted her sister as the two girls bounded down the stairs.

Christina smiled weakly, the thought of seeing her longtime friend was a good thing, but as Patrick came out of his room, she looked at him and could see the fatigue on his face and she could not help but ponder if this was it. "Hey, how'd you sleep?" She asked trying to keep her voice upbeat.

Patrick shook his head. "Not so good, I had a weird dream about a large meadow and flowers, then I got hay-fever. It was not pleasant."

"Last week you dreamt that you had eaten a large marshmallow, and then you couldn't find your pillow," Christina said smiling.

Patrick smiled slightly. "Yeah, and then I woke up with the hiccups."

Christina began to giggle.

"What was all the noise, anyway? I thought the natives were restless," Patrick said softly as he rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes.

"The twins just went downstairs, they're happy because Andrew's back," Christina whispered, and although her face was now unconsciously pale, she managed to maintain a cheerful expression.

"Christina, do you think it's time?" He asked weakly.

"I don't think so, Patrick," Christina said softly. "Besides that, only God knows how much time we have here, honey. Are you afraid of seeing Andrew today?"

"A little, I mean, I trust him and all, but I'm still a little scared. Don't get me wrong, I will be happy to see my folks again, but I'm also going to miss you guys, too," Patrick said softly. "I guess I'm more afraid of how things will be for Denise and Dawn after I'm gone."

"You shouldn't worry about that, Patrick, they're both going to be OK, they're going to be with us, and we will always be there for them," Christina said softly as she ruffled the hair of her adopted son.

The boy nodded, and walked slowly back in his room. "I'll come down in a few minutes," he said softly. "I still have some packing to do."

"OK," Christina said gently and once she went down the stairs, Patrick went into his room and closed the door.

As she came down the stairs, she could see that the twins were sitting in front of the television and were watching the early morning cartoons. Sighing happily she walked towards the dining room and into the kitchen. There she found Jeremy and Andrew drinking coffee and talking.

"Hi," she said, her voice causing them both to turn around.

"Hello Christina," Andrew offered.

"Hey Mom, did you know that Andrew got vacation time and he's going to come with us to Europe?" Laura's excited voice could be heard above the television. The young woman walked over to her mother, her face was positively filled with excitement.

"Vacation time?" Christina asked looking at him, her eyes dancing merrily.

Andrew nodded. "I've had some rather difficult assignments these past few weeks, and was given some time off."

"That's wonderful," Christina said. "Lindsey will be thrilled, she's going to be in Europe next week to promote her new album."

"How is that going? I haven't seen Lindsey since just before she got married," Andrew said softly.

"I know, she's been keeping herself rather scarce around here. Her husband, Lenny, has been trying to get her music promoted," Christina began. "I guess she's getting to do just what she always wanted, to make music."

Andrew smiled. "I heard that her music is doing really well over in Europe."

Laura smiled, "yeah, she sent us tickets to her concert in Berlin, Renate is going to come with us."

"Renate?" Andrew looked at Christina.

"She used to work over at the Community Center," Christina said. "Laura's been writing letters to her since she went home, and now the two of them are going to have an extra week with one another in Berlin."

Andrew nodded. "I remember her, she and I met when Billy's brother died."

"Please don't mention that rat around me," Laura's happy face suddenly changed and she looked as though she was going to cry. Instead of speaking further, she fled from the room leaving her parents staring after her.

"What on earth?" Jeremy muttered as he stared after his daughter.

"Did she tell you what happened?" Andrew asked.

Christina shook her head, "no, she didn't. Did she tell you, Andrew?"

Andrew nodded. "Billy broke up with her, she's still hurting because of it, but I think there's more, but she didn't say anything to me about it."

"Why didn't she tell us?" Jeremy asked.

Christina looked at her husband. "I think I know, she's been so quiet these past few weeks. I think she's been worried about Patrick. Is that why you're here, Andrew? Are you here to take Patrick?"

The angel shook his head. "No, Christina, I'm on vacation, actually, but right now I'm worried about Laura. She's in a lot of pain right now because of what has been happening in her own life. She talked to me about it, but not in detail. I thought maybe I could get her to talk to me during the flight this afternoon."

"Well, that will give you a little time," Jeremy mused, "but I don't understand why a girl could be so selfless that she would hide away these things from us."

"I think she was trying to protect us," Christina said softly. "Laura knows that we've been concerned about Patrick and the twins lately, maybe she was feeling a little out of the loop."

Andrew nodded but smiled gently at the two of them. "Perhaps, but the only suggestion I can give is to just give her the space to deal with things in her own way."

Once Jeremy and Christina nodded, he smiled weakly, but eventually went back into the living room and began to watch cartoons with the twins.

*****

Seven hours later the family and Andrew arrived at the airport. After they had checked in at the counter, Laura was walking with Andrew through the large terminal building when something suddenly dawned on her and she turned and looked at him. "Do you have a passport?" She asked him.

Andrew shifted the duffle bag that was resting on his shoulder and dug inside the pocket of his lightweight jacket. Once he pulled out the flight ticket, she could see that a small blue notebook was inside and Laura smiled when she saw it.

"You're going to have to show me that when we get seated on the plane," Laura said smiling.

"Only if you show me yours," Andrew said, his green eyes sparkling.

"Are you kidding? My picture looks like something from a horror movie," Laura said jokingly. She turned around and could see her parents and her three siblings following. "You're not here to take Patrick home yet, right?"

Andrew shook his head. "No, and I think I have already clarified that point, you really have nothing to worry about."

"I'm not," she smiled weakly. "Are you going to stay the extra week with me after my family goes home?"

"Do you want me to?" He asked.

"Yes," Laura said softly. "I mean if you can swing it with the Big Guy."

"Big Guy?" Andrew looked at her.

Laura smiled impishly and pulled her carry-on bag up onto her shoulders. "OK, you call Him 'God' or 'Father'."

Andrew chuckled and turned around and could see that Christina was waving to them and they stopped walking and waited for her to catch up with them.

When she finally did, she looked at Laura and Andrew. "Listen, you two, Jeremy got all of our seats together except for two, and he wants to sit with Patrick and the twins. Is that OK that you're a few rows behind us?"

"Come on, Mom, on the return flight I'm going to be traveling this way, so I think I can use this experience to get used to the long trip," Laura replied as her mother handed her the tickets for her passage.

"Christina, don't worry about us, we're going to be OK," Andrew said smiling warmly at his friend.

"I'm a mother, I'm supposed to worry, Andrew, it's in my job description," Christina said smiling at them. "The gate number is 20 in case we get separated."

Laura smiled and nodded as they continued to walk. Christina turned back around and walked back over to Jeremy who was having quite a struggle with keeping two curious girls in one place as well as a teenage boy who couldn't stop staring out the window at the large airplanes.

"Sometimes I think she still sees me as a little kid," Laura whispered under her breath.

"To a mother you will always be her little girl," Andrew said softly. "Remember you said the same to me back at the house. You told me that you wanted to sometimes still be that little girl to me, and get the hugs and the teddy bears. Do you remember?"

Laura nodded. "Yeah, and I'll also remember that you have the memory of an elephant."

"Does that bother you?"

"No," she said. "But, sometimes it confuses me."

"Confuses you?"

Laura shrugged her shoulders. "There's gate 20," she said when she saw the illuminated numbers over her head and a vast number of seats off to one side. Once they went through the passport control, they took a seat inside the glass-encased room.

"Now tell me," Andrew said softly once they had deposited their belongings on the ground and he eventually reached over and touched his friend's shoulder.

"I guess its just because I don't know what I want, and I am confused," Laura said softly. "I just graduated from high school, and I feel so lost, Andrew."

"You're not, Laura," Andrew said softly.

"I am so," she whispered under her breath. "I wish I could tell you how I feel right now about everything that is going on inside without you thinking that I'm completely loosing my mind."

"Listen, when we get seated on the plane, we'll have a good seven hours to talk about anything you want," he said gently. "I know there are things you want to tell me, I can tell by looking at you, but there are also some things I need to tell you too, but in God's timing everything that needs to be said will be said, OK?"

Laura nodded numbly and as Christina and Jeremy passed through the passport control with the three children. All the while, the young woman tried to smile as they were approaching where they were seated.

Within the hour, they would be boarding a plane bound for Frankfurt, Germany.

*****

Two hours later, Laura was seated in the plane and she was pressing the buttons for the music stations once all the announcements had been said and the safety checks explained. As she pulled the headphones off, she could see that Andrew was still looking out the window.

I wonder what he is thinking, she thought to herself, but when he turned back around, she could see the warmth and understanding in his eyes and she smiled weakly all the while trying to stop the butterflies from going haywire in the pit of her stomach.

As she stuffed the headphones into the pocket in front of her, she stared down at the cola that now sat untouched on the small table in front of her. When she eventually looked up, she could see that Andrew was now looking at her rather intently and she knew that eventually she would have to let the cat out of the bag and start talking to him. The only trouble with all of this was that she didn't even know where to start.

"Laura, is everything OK?" He asked when she did not start speaking.

"I should be excited, is all," she answered.

"But, you're not, you have too much on your mind to be excited," he said gently.

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Why don't you try talking about it?" Andrew said softly.

She shook her head. "I wouldn't know where to start."

"How about at the beginning?" He cajoled her gently, but when she didn't reply, he looked at her. "Laura, you know you can trust me. Now come on, I can either find out from you or from the Father, so what do you chose?" Andrew said softly.

"IIf I told you, you'd probably hate me," she whispered.

"No, I wouldn't, Laura, I couldn't, I care so much for you, and nothing you could possibly say to me is going to make me hate you," he said gently.

"I can't say it," she said softly.

"Try," he said gently.

"I sometimes wish you were a person like me and not…" her words trailed off and she looked down at her lap helplessly.

"…An angel," Andrew finished and when he looked into the eyes of the young woman, he could see that she was nodding ever so slightly, the pain so evident in her eyes that he could tell what she wanted to say even without him even having to hear it from God. When he tried to make eye contact with her, he noticed that her eyes were closed, her face flushed and the embarrassment of having said her innermost feelings evident.

She was indeed no longer a child, he thought sadly, and as she grew, the intensity of her feelings for him had also grown. So many people had hurt her in her life that her only wish was to find the love with someone who wouldn't hurt her, and right now, that someone was him.

Laura looked down at her lap, the shame enveloping her like a cold, wet, blanket. She knew that there was no way she could even make eye contact with him, but something compelled her to look up and that was because of the gentle touch of the angel's hand under her chin. He was tipping her face up so that he could look her in the eyes.

When he saw the tears now threatening to stream from beneath her eyes, he spoke, his voice gentle, and filled with all the love he could muster. "Billy hurt you pretty badly, didn't he?" Andrew finally asked.

Laura nodded, the tears still streaming down her cheeks. "I-I…" her words trailed off and she looked at him, her face the picture of helplessness and suddenly the answer was clear to him. The pain she carried in the deep recesses of her heart was overwhelming, her young teenage heart had once again been broken, and she needed someone to help her pick up the fragments, which remained. As she tried to speak once more, her voice emerged as a crack and was, in fact, two octaves deeper than usual, and finally Andrew responded to her words as best he could.

"Shhh, it's OK, and what you told me, well, we will work all of this out, OK?" Andrew said gently as he reached over and began to wipe the tears from beneath her eyes. "But, you know that I can't be more to you than just your friend, don't you?"

She nodded, her face red with embarrassment. "That's why it hurts, I d-do know that, that's why I feel so ashamed."

"It's OK, you really have no reason to feel shame. To be completely honest, I am deeply moved by your honesty," Andrew said softly.

"Y-you w-won't tell my mom what I said, w-will you?" She finally asked, her voice trembling.

"No, I won't say anything to them if you don't want me to, but you are going to have to find the courage to tell them what has happened with Billy. They really do want to help you with that," Andrew said softly and once she offered him a feeble nod, he continued. "Another thing, you can tell me anything you want to, and I will listen and care for you as I have always done."

"I tried not to allow myself to feel this way, really I did," Laura whispered as the tears continued to stream down her cheeks. "I-I just couldn't help it, Andrew."

"I know, I don't blame you," he smiled gently at her. "I guess, I didn't realize the impact all of this was having on you. Would it be easier for you if I were to go?"

"No, please, you can't go, I'm afraid," she whispered.

Andrew looked at her. "I won't leave you then. Now, tell me what happened with Billy. I know something must have happened as I remember what happened at the house when his name was mentioned. This is obviously very hard for you, Laura, but you have to get these feelings out."

"About a year ago, h-he started taking drugs, and he wanted me to as well," Laura stammered, her voice soft. "One time he even put something in my lemonade at school. It made me so sick."

"Yes, I seem to recall Adam telling me a little bit about this? Did you see Adam that day?" Andrew asked gently, referring to his friend and fellow Angel of Death. Andrew knew that Laura had a special connection to Adam and the two of them often shared stories whenever they were to come in contact with that particular family. After all, it was Adam who had been with her when she had been abused by her birth parents, and so it did not surprise Andrew that Laura shared such a powerful friendship with the elder of the two angels. For his part, Adam truly adored this young woman, she was one of the few human friends he had.

"Only briefly, he was with me and helping me when I was sick, but after they managed to induce vomiting, I was OK but when I looked up, he was gone," Laura said softly.

"Did you ever confront Billy about this?"

"Yes, and a-after I told him no more drugs, he got angry and started beating me up. He would say stuff like if I-I loved him that I would do as h-he said. I wanted to hold on, Andrew, but then h-he started taking my money away from me to b-buy his drugs with. When I finally told him that I didn't want to give him anymore money for it, he hit me again and blackened my eye." She covered her face with her hands and cried; her body shaking as the events leading up to her and Billy's break-up tumbled out. "I-I told him that I needed the money to buy a prom gown, a-and he said 'why, you're so ugly, there's no way any guy in his right mind would ask you to the prom'. Once upon a time, I had saved his life, and now, this. Anyway, after that, it was over, and I was alone again." As her words stopped, he could see that the flow of tears had not.

"Oh Laura, I'm so sorry," Andrew said softly.

"I h-had to borrow the money from Lindsey to get my gown for the prom. I didn't tell my mom because I'm so ashamed of what happened, I feel like it's my fault."

"It's not your fault," Andrew said gently.

"I-I wanted to earn the money myself for my dress so that I could go. I was working part time after school at a deli, and then Billy took everything away from me," Laura cried. "When I s-see Lindsey, then I will be able to pay her back with the graduation money I got from my Grandma."

"Why didn't you tell someone about this?" Andrew asked gently.

"W-who would I have told? Everyone's been so concerned with Patrick and there was no way they would have listened to me," she said weakly. "I couldn't even tell you without feeling stupid about it."

"Listen to me, Laura, you have no reason whatsoever to feel stupid. What happened, well, it was not your fault," Andrew said softly.

"Everybody just uses me for things. How can I even believe that people are good when they treat me this w-way?" She whimpered. "I just want to believe that people like me and aren't out for something."

"Oh Laura, they do like you, and the right people do care," Andrew said softly. "Look at your friend, Renate, look at how much love is in her heart that compels her to write so many beautiful letters to you. Not everyone on this Earth is going to hurt you, sweetheart, not everyone is going to use and degrade you."

"You haven't," Laura said weakly as she wiped her face with the side of her hand.

"No, and I never would, but there are people out there that care for you. Your mother, your father, the twins, and Patrick. Renate hasn't, and the friends you have at the Community Center haven't either. You have been blessed with friends and family who love you dearly. You have made this world a better place because of your faith and the empowering love that is in your heart. Don't stop believing that you can make a difference. If you do, then you will lose that part of yourself that is God's gift to you."

As the tears continued to stream from beneath her eyes, Andrew took her in his arms and held her as she cried.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I know, and I love you, too. You're always going to be my friend, Laura, nothing more, and I know that that hurts right now, but a friendship is one of the most powerful blessings that the Father can give His children or His angels." As he spoke, he glanced outside the small window and watched, as the sky grew darker and darker. When he looked back down at the girl in his arms, he smiled gently.

"What am I going to do?" She asked from the sanctuary of his embrace.

"You've got four weeks to enjoy a part of the world that has only been like a fairy tale to you. Embrace that, Laura, and when we get back to your home, then we can work on finding a resolution for all these other things," Andrew said gently.

"Y-you're going to be with me through all of this?" She asked.

"If I can be there, then yes, I will," Andrew said softly.

"And you don't think I'm crazy because of what I said?" She asked; her voice filled with uncertainty.

"No, I'm flattered, actually," he said smiling gently at her. "But, to me you're always going to be that sweet little girl I once knew. In all the struggles you have had in your life, I can see so much strength in you, so much hope. Don't ever let that die in you, OK?"

The young woman nodded and when she glanced up she could see that the movie was starting, but she found herself not very interested in it and she closed her eyes briefly.

"Are you tired?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, a little bit. I mean even though I feel better having talked about all these things. I still don't think I will be able to sleep."

"Maybe you should try and rest a little," he suggested.

She nodded and pulled the small pillow from behind her and looked down at it. "This thing looks like a giant marshmallow and it's scratchy." The blanket she pulled out of the plastic bag and wrapped it around herself and tried to lean against the uncomfortable seat her head resting against the small pillow.

She eventually closed her eyes, but sleep did not come and she continued to fidget against the seat. Finally, Andrew pushed the armrest up, which separated them and took her gently in his arms and allowed her to lean comfortably against him.

It was then, in the comforting arms of her friend, when Laura fell into a deep sleep.

*****

"How is she?" Christina asked nearly three hours later. She had gotten up to stretch her legs and came back to see how Laura and Andrew were faring.

"She's coping with so much, but I think she will be OK," Andrew said gently.

"Did she tell you what was going on?" Christina asked.

"Yes, but she asked me not to tell anyone about it," Andrew said gently. "Christina, in time, Laura will be able to talk to you about what she has been going through. Just give her some time."

"It would have been easier for me if I were to have know," Christina said softly as she looked down at her daughter.

"I know," he said gently. "How are you guys doing?"

"Jeremy crashed out about ten minutes ago, the twins are playing 'rummy' and I've been reading this novel that's about 1,000 pages long."

"And Patrick?"

"He found a airplane technical magazine at the airport before we left and he has delved into that," Christina said. "You know, I think he wants to be a pilot when he grows up." She could feel the tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. "I wish he could."

"The human spirit is very strong, my friend," Andrew said gently as he tried to shift in his seat without waking Laura. Next to them, Christina sat down in the empty aisle seat.

"You know, I think she really loves you, Andrew, maybe the same as I did when I was her age," Christina said softly as she watched her daughter rest her head against his chest. "You have an amazing impact on women, you know? It must be strange for you to have seen me react to you in this way and now to see Laura clinging to you as well."

Andrew nodded, but his voice emerged filled with surprise. "You knew?"

"She's my daughter, Andrew, of course I knew. I could see it as she got older, and how her face would literally light up whenever your name was even mentioned. Lindsey said once that I did the exact same thing, but I never realized it," she said softly. "Don't worry, when she meets the right man and really falls in love, she will forget."

"She's been through a lot," Andrew said softly.

"I've always known that you and her were very close, probably much closer then you and I were. You saved her life once upon a time, you encouraged her to no end, and gave her so many reasons to just pick up the pieces and keep going," Christina said softly. "I envy that, you know."

"I know," he said smiling at his friend. "Christina, you're always going to be my little angel, you know that, don't you?"

"Yes," she smiled, "but now my daughter needs to have someone lift her up, and give her a reason to believe that she's special. I don't know if I can do that, you've always been there to do that for her. She trusted you even before she began to trust me."

"Do you think I have been around too much as she's been growing up, Christina? Is that what you're trying to say?" Andrew asked gently. "Do you think maybe I should have kept my distance from her at least for a little while?"

"I don't know. I just know that my daughter's in love with an angel and I can't even think of the words that I should say that might help her," Christina said softly.

"Laura is a young woman now, Christina, and you're not always going to be able to protect her from the emotion of 'love'," Andrew said softly. "It is awkward for me, yes, but I can see that the pain she's in is much more intense then the expression of that emotion she carries. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Christina shook her head.

"You told me many years ago that when Ted Gordon ended his life that you yourself had carried those feelings for me," Andrew said gently. "You found Jeremy and discovered a deeply beautiful realization of love. The only difference between you and Laura is that Laura has faced the feelings she carries in her heart while she is carrying them, not waiting until after the emotion has somewhat died in her before actually admitting them."

"She told you?" Christina asked.

Andrew nodded. "She's embarrassed about having them, but I am not going to stop being her friend because she expresses with words the emotion of love that she feels for me. You see, my friend, if I leave now, she will feel another emotion and that is one of abandonment. This particular emotion is already far too real for her."

"Andrew I…" her voice trailed and she looked at him helplessly.

"Would you have wanted me to leave you alone when you were dealing with those feelings?" He asked gently.

"I didn't see you when I was having them," Christina said softly. "How could I have told you what I felt, when I hadn't even seen you?"

"You did, it was when you saved Robert Davies' life, just before meeting Jeremy," Andrew said softly. "You never told me, but I could sense it, Christina. I knew that you had feelings for me, you just chose not to speak of them, and that's perfectly OK. But, Laura's feelings are very, very strong, and she should not feel shame for having them. Perhaps, part of the trouble she faces, is in realizing that."

"You're saying I did everything wrong," she whispered.

"No, my friend, you are saying this," Andrew said gently, but he reached over, took Christina's hand and squeezed it gently. "You must not feel badly for having had those feelings, OK?"

She nodded numbly. "It's embarrassing."

"I know, just as it is for Laura, but she knows that what she dreams of will never happen with me, but that doesn't invalidate the beauty of the dream that she carries in her heart," Andrew said gently. "Christina, don't worry, in time your daughter will confide in you what she feels, but until she does, allow her to work through those emotions that are gripping her."

Christina nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes, but she stood up. "I'd better get back to my seat and see how the others are doing."

"OK," Andrew said gently. "They should be serving breakfast pretty soon."

Once Christina had gone back to her seat, Andrew looked down at Laura as she slept in his arms. "Father, please continue to hold this family in your love," he whispered under his breath as Laura began to open her eyes.

"W-what happened?" She asked as she rubbed her eyes.

"You slept, for about three hours," he said. "You feel any better now?"

"A little," she whispered, but looking up at him, she suddenly remembered what had happened before she had fallen asleep, where she was, and her face paled and she abruptly sat up.

"Is something wrong?" He asked.

"No, it's just that I think I made a mess of everything. You probably think I'm the biggest fool that ever lived."

"No, I don't," Andrew said gently.

"You don't hold anything against me about what I said before, do you?" she asked.

"No, I don't and you really shouldn't believe that you are foolish because of your feelings," he smiled gently at her. "I had an experience some time ago with a young girl who had HIV and she had those same kinds of feelings you described, and she didn't know who I was. This was a very difficult situation, and I did everything I could to help her, but she thought I didn't want a relationship with someone who in her words 'was going to die'."

"What happened?" Laura asked.

"Well, I never really got a chance to talk to her one on one after she found out the truth, but I think she realized that it wasn't because of her, but it was because of me," he said softly. "These kinds of things, these human emotions are very real, Laura, and there's nothing wrong with having them. It is through them that you have experiences and realize what it is you want in life."

"I wish I knew," she said softly. "After Billy dumped me, I thought I was just a looser. I had no prom date, no boyfriend, and no future. I thought my life was over."

"It's not over, and regardless of what happened with the prom or the boyfriend, you do have a future, Laura, and I would be willing to bet that it will be shared with someone who will love you as much as you deserve to be loved," he said.

"I wish I could believe that," she whispered.

"You believe me, don't you?" He asked.

She nodded.

"Then believe it, and these next few weeks, you just try and do what you can to heal that broken heart of yours, OK?" He reached over and squeezed her shoulder.

"Thanks, Andrew," Laura said softly as the fresh tears began to stream from beneath her eyes.

"You're welcome, my friend," he smiled.

After maybe ten minutes had passed, she looked back over at him. "You know, you never showed me your passport," she said trying to brush the last of the tears from her eyes.

Andrew pulled the small book from his pocket and handed it to her. She opened it up and looked at the picture. "You look funny in the picture," she said softly.

"Well, let me see yours, and then we can talk about who looks funny," he smiled.

Laura pulled hers from her purse and handed it to him.

As he opened the small booklet he looked down at her picture. "Yours is nice," he said gently. "Much nicer than mine, I'm afraid."

"You don't think I look like a geek?" She asked.

"No, I think for a passport picture, you look quite nice," he said as she looked at the name on his passport.

"Andrew Andrews? Isn't that a bit redundant?" She asked after a few moments had passed. "I mean; it's like this book I read some years ago called Your Bird is Here Tom Thompson."

"What would you have suggested?" He asked, his green eyes twinkling.

"I don't know something a little fancier," she smiled weakly.

"Such as?"

"I don't know, maybe something like…Andrew…. Oh I know, how about 'Vestnik'?"

"What on Earth does that mean?" Andrew asked.

"It means, 'messenger', in Russian," Laura smiled impishly.

Andrew chuckled and his reaction caused Laura to begin giggling as well. Once she handed the passport back to him, he opened it and looked down at the name printed inside. Yes, it was true, Andrew Andrews was definitely redundant and it occurred to him that the customs people would probably not even buy it. "How would you write 'Vestnik', then?"

"V-E-S-T-N-I-K," Laura spelled the word. "I learned it from one of the volunteers at the Community Center, his grandfather came from Russia."

"I see, like this?" he handed her the passport and she was surprised to see that the name was now changed.

Laura looked at him in complete surprise. "You let me pick your surname?"

Andrew smiled. "I'm funny that way, but what do you think of the name, it's got a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

"I guess so, just don't start doing Cossack dancing, or they may ship you off to Siberia," Laura said all the while laughing. "Besides that maybe it's a good that I couldn't date you, because I don't know if I could handle going from 'Cantu', to 'Lowery', to 'Vestnik':"

Andrew began to chuckle once again and when he looked at his friend, he could see that although some of the pain was still present in her eyes, she seemed to be feeling at least a little bit better.

"What about your other stuff, like your plane tickets?" She asked.

"I already took care of that," he smiled, "now we can look forward to four weeks in Europe, and I promise not to embarrass you by learning Cossack dancing."

As she began to laugh, she looked at him, her face suddenly becoming earnest. "You always say the things that make me feel better, did you know that?"

"That's what friends are for," he smiled gently.

"And you're the best friend I've ever had, Andrew," Laura said and could feel the tears in her eyes. As she spoke the flight attendant placed a tray on the table in front of her.

"No more tears," Andrew said gently. "You don't want the already watery orange juice to get even more watery, do you?"

Laura shook her head and smiled.

*****

Renate Müller was waiting rather impatiently at the Frankfurt airport for her friends to arrive early the following morning. She smiled as she looked around and could see that the note-board was displaying the time that the Lowery family's flight would be arriving as being closer and closer. She could not help but noticed that the plane had already landed, so all she could do was wait for them to clear customs and come out into the terminal.

She had not seen them since she had gone home to Berlin over five years ago, and now she was excited about the fact that they were actually coming to visit.

It had been a long trip from Berlin to Frankfurt, the train running late and she wondered all the while if she would get there in time to meet them. She had already bought tickets for them to come back to Berlin with her where they would start their tour of Germany, thus ending in Berlin, the place where they started. She and Laura would accompany them back to the airport and then they would spend the week together visiting some of the places that Laura had her heart set on seeing. She had been so excited about this visit she had barely slept.

As the translucent glass doors slid open she could see more people coming out into the large terminal building, but there was no sign of any of the six people she was expecting to meet. Instead a tall blonde headed man emerged and his face brightened when his eyes met hers.

"Renate?" He called her name and approached where she was standing and waiting. In his hand, he carried a single large duffle bag out into the terminal building and this hung loosely from his shoulder.

"Andrew?" She tried to conceal the surprise that was evident in her joy filled green eyes. Even after rubbing her eyes, she had to blink a couple of times to be sure that it was really him standing there in front of her. "What on Earth are you doing here?"

"Vacation," he smiled impishly, but continued to speak in his somewhat unpracticed German. "Bist du nicht froh mich wiederzusehen?" (Aren't you happy to see me?)

"Na klar, I mean, yes, of course I am," she smiled feeling the shyness envelope her. "I just didn't expect to see you again and here of all places. Are you with the Lowery family?"

"Yes, I got some vacation time and came over with them. I would have asked them to contact you about this, but the plans were made rather quickly," he said.

"Well, will you stay here and wait for them, I need to go take care of something real quick then? I'll be back in a few minutes." Renate waited until he nodded and went to buy another train ticket.

Five minutes later, she returned and the entire family was assembled and waiting for her. "Hey, Laura," she called out and the two friends shared an embrace. Once everyone had greeted the young German woman, Jeremy looked at her and began to speak, all the while trying to push the large suitcases along with them.

"So fearless leader, where to?" As his question emerged, his eyes were twinkling mischievously, even though, physically, he looked to be completely jetlagged.

"We have to go to the train station, and I've already gotten the tickets for everyone," Renate said happily. "Once we get there, there's a train that runs straight to Berlin, I think every hour and I figure that you guys can sleep in the train, I reserved us a compartment, but we can decide from there what we want to do."

They followed her down the escalator to the underground subway system and once they had reached the doors of the arriving subway train. They got on board and soon they were on their way to the large downtown train station.

Ten minutes later, they pulled into another large underground subway station and Renate was helping them with their belongings. As the doors closed and the train left, Christina turned around and could see that the twins were standing next to Jeremy, she could see that they were all huddled together in the large open space.

Once they were standing somewhat alone in the underground station, Renate began to help them wind their way through people and up through the tunnel, which would lead them to the large train station. As they came out into the open, they could see that the station was quite large; it extended from one end to another to another with over twenty different train platforms. Around one side, they could see kiosks, restaurants, and small businesses stationed. Throughout the large open building and along the lobby area, they could see gray colored pigeons flying through the building searching for some dropped breadcrumbs from the nearby bakery restaurants.

"Did you guys get something to eat on the plane?" Renate asked.

"Yeah," Jeremy said. "We had breakfast, though I am doubtful if that is exactly the best and most filling food in the world."

"That's not going to last you till we reach Berlin," she said as she handed her backpack to Andrew. "I'll go and get some sandwiches and things, you guys wait here."

She disappeared into the crowd and within minutes she had returned with two large cloth bags in her hands, both were bulging and she smiled warmly as she handed one of them to Christina, which contained bread rolls filled with cheese, salami, and cucumbers. The second, she handed to Jeremy and this one contained a variety of canned drinks.

"Now, we need to get to the platform, and I'm guessing it's the same one that I came in on, number 14." She led them through the large train station and when they reached a large board, she nodded and turned to face them. "Come on, the train leaves in five minutes, we need to hurry."

When they reached the platform, Andrew helped them get on board the waiting train and Christina counted the heads as they boarded to make sure that no one had gotten lost or that Patrick or one of the twins had wandered off. When she noticed that everyone was on board, she started following them through the long narrow hallways of the train in order to find their designated compartment.

Once they reached the compartment that they had reserved, Christina, Jeremy, Denise, Dawn, Patrick and Laura entered the small room. Renate handed their tickets to Christina before the door closed behind them. Once Renate entered the neighboring compartment, she looked at Andrew as they took a seat inside the small and empty room.

"Whew, what a relief that I managed to find everyone," Renate said smiling weakly. She closed her eyes for a moment and stretched her legs out. "Maybe we'll get this compartment all to ourselves," she said. "I could use a nap."

"You came all the way from Berlin just to meet them?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah, I woke up around three or so this morning," Renate said smiling slightly as she yawned. "I'm exhausted, but you know, it's really nice to see you again."

Andrew smiled. "It's nice to see you too."

"Did you sleep on the plane?" She asked.

"Yes, perhaps a little bit," he smiled, "I don't require much sleep, though."

"Must be nice," she said and looked earnestly at him. "Andrew, can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure you can, what is it?" He asked gently.

"I don't know, I just get this strange feeling that something is going on with Laura, but I can't put my finger on it," Renate said. "Her last few letters have been hard for me to read, much less understand. I mean; even though I had over eight years of English in school, I can't read this. Andrew, please, look at this." She pulled an envelope out of her purse, opened it and removed the contents.

"I don't know if it would be right for me to read Laura's letters to you," Andrew said honestly.

"No, I don't mean that you should read them, I mean, just look at the handwriting. I don't study this kind of thing, but this isn't anything like her older letters, and it scares me." She pulled a second letter from her purse and handed it to Andrew. When he could compare the two of them, he understood the cause for Renate's concern. Laura's handwriting was barely legible in the second letter, while the first one was neat and orderly.

"Did Laura tell you anything that had had happened during the past month?" Andrew asked.

"No, but I know something did. Do you know? Something tells me you know," she said softly.

"I can't tell you," Andrew said. "She did talk to me, but I promised her that I wouldn't tell anyone what she said. I think it's hard for her to deal with this stuff with Patrick."

"She told me," Renate said softly. "That poor boy, he must have so much on his mind right now. Did you talk to him, I mean, one on one?"

"Not yet," Andrew said.

"Maybe you should," Renate said as the train began to pull out of the station.

Andrew nodded, "I think it would be a good idea."

*****

As the train pulled into the station of a town called Erfurt, Andrew stood up to stretch his legs. Renate had fallen asleep against the seat and he stepped out into the hallway and walked down the aisle towards the small café. He was not intending on buying anything, he just wanted to explore these strange new surroundings. As he came down the aisles he could see elderly people struggling with their bags, and using his limited German abilities he offered to help them. Many were kind, but some gave him strange looks as though they were not expecting him to be as kind as he was.

Making his way down the aisles towards his compartment, he could see that Patrick had come out of the compartment and had sat down in one of the seats lining the hall. The teenager looked tired but he was rubbing the persistent sleep from his eyes as he looked up and his eyes met those of Andrew.

"Hi," the boy offered.

"Hi, Patrick," Andrew offered.

"You can call me 'Pat', that's what everyone calls me at school," the teenager shrugged his shoulders as he began to roll the aviation magazine up in his hands.

"You into planes?" Andrew asked noticing the magazine.

"Yeah, I guess so, never really got to fly in one of those small ones before, but I know all about them. My favorite plane is the Cessna 152, probably because the cockpit looks a little less complicating than the others. Do you know the difference between a Cessna 172 and a Cessna 152?" Patrick asked as he opened the magazine and began to flip through the pages. As he showed Andrew the illustrations, he could see that the angel appeared to not know the answer. "A 152 is a two-seater and the 172 has room for four. You know something? I want to learn to fly the 152, just 'cause they're lighter and they don't look as complex as the others do."

"Sounds like you know a lot about them," Andrew said.

"Yeah, well it's just because I read about them," Patrick shrugged his shoulders as he showed the angel the glossy cover to the magazine. "I wanted to be a pilot when I grew up."

"Hey, that dream can still come true, Pat," Andrew said.

"It's OK, I know I'm dying, but the thing is, I'm not dead yet, so I wish people would not walk around me as though I am made of porcelain or something. It drives me nuts," Patrick said, and Andrew could hear the annoyance in the boy's words.

"That's true, and you still have the right to work towards your dreams," Andrew said gently.

"If that's so, then why are you here? I kept getting this image in my head of you and Adam in the movie 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'."

"I don't understand," Andrew looked at him.

"Well, in the movie, there are these two vultures who are just sitting in a tree and just waiting for the wicked queen to die off so they can have their lunch," Patrick said, all the while grinning at the now squirming angel.

"You think Adam and I are like the vultures in that movie?" Andrew asked, the shock evidently showing in his deep-set green eyes.

Patrick began to laugh. "Actually, Laura was the one who came up with that idea, not me, I just thought it was funny the whole idea of seeing two Angels of Death sitting in a tree where those vultures had been. I mean; that was pretty funny for me to contemplate."

"Well, I assure you, I'm not a vulture, I'm on vacation," Andrew said simply. "You know, even angels need a break now and then to have some fun."

"Fun? With all the people hovering over me, I start to wonder what fun really is," he said.

"You don't like that people are worried about you?" Andrew asked.

"Well, yeah, I guess it's OK, but the more they go on about it, the more abnormal I feel. I mean, they didn't want me to freak out whenever you show up, but then they do," he said and shook his head. "I wish they would just stop it. I mean, the twins are doing OK, and Laura, well, Laura's like a clam anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"Well when things go bananas for her, she just retreats to herself and nobody seems to concern themselves with her. I can't do that, and I wish I could," Patrick said honestly.

"I think sometimes Laura wishes she could talk openly about how she feels," Andrew said softly.

"You mean like the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence?" Patrick asked.

"Yes, I guess you could put it that way. It is a hard situation, that's a given, and chances are, you're probably going to want to have some fun while you're here, and not have to worry about what is happening at home," Andrew said.

"You're really smart, even if you don't know squat about airplanes," Patrick said.

"Well, thank you," Andrew smiled at the teenager. "You're not uncomfortable about me being here, are you?"

"Nah, it makes no big difference to me. Denise and Dawn like you and I think they're excited that you're back, and between you and me, I think Laura has the hots for you."

Andrew's face flushed, everyone in this family seemed to have the same thoughts about Laura and he shook his head sadly, it is no wonder that she felt so awkward with everything, she was dealing with the pain of having everyone possessing the ability to read her like a book.

"Besides that, you're going to be the one who will take me there," he pointed skyward. "Right?"

Andrew nodded.

"Well, the way I see it, I'd prefer to go there with a friend than with a perfect stranger," Patrick said. "I know I'm a little bit afraid of it, but I think I can trust you when you tell me that I have nothing to worry about. Does that make any sense to you?"

"It does, Pat," Andrew said gently.

"And you're my friend, right? You wouldn't let anything bad happen to me?" The boy asked.

"No, I wouldn't, I will be there to help you, and I will do everything I can to make your journey wonderful," Andrew said.

"Andrew, when I go, will you do me one favor?" The boy asked.

"Yes, what?"

"Would you just try to remember my sisters and come back and see them when you can," Patrick asked.

"You're worried about them?" Andrew asked.

"I know Christina and Jeremy are good people, and they will help them, but I know that if you're there to help them, that they will one day understand why I'm gone," Patrick said.

"I'll do whatever I can, but Pat don't give up," he said gently. "You never know what the Father has in store for you."

"No I don't, but when He sends someone like you to me, I think that it must be pretty darn good," Patrick reached his hand out to Andrew and when the angel took it, the two of them sealed their friendship with a handshake and a mutual clap on the shoulder.

*****

Just before the train pulled into the Berlin Zoological Garden train station, the announcement woke Renate up. As she rubbed her hand over her eyes, she stood up and looked around the compartment. Andrew and Patrick were deep in conversation and she smiled weakly as she saw Laura standing in the corridor looking out the window.

She yawned and stretched before standing up. "We're nearly there," she said. "We should get our things and get ready to get off the train."

Andrew nodded as Patrick stood up. "I guess I'll go and see if the others are awake," he said and left the compartment.

"You guys talk about everything?" Renate asked once Patrick had left the compartment and went to tap on the neighboring one.

"Yes," Andrew said as he grabbed his bag and reached for hers. "We had a nice time to chat about airplanes and getting a pilot's license."

"Patrick is interested in flying?" Renate asked.

Andrew nodded as they exited the compartment. "Yes, and I know very little about this kind of thing." As he looked around, he noticed that she had grabbed the two cloth bags that were now next to her feet. "I suppose we didn't eat all that food you bought."

"No big deal," she smiled weakly. "I guess I should have known that they would sleep nearly the whole time, the jetlag does it to people sometime. When I came home, I was in hibernation for nearly a week until my sleep patterns were back on track. Anyway, I only did this because I wanted to be prepared."

As soon as they reached the station, they emerged from the compartment and managed to all meet out on the platform.

Once they were all there, Renate looked at them, her eyes bright. "We're going to stay at my mother and father's house," she explained, "it's much bigger than my flat and then Christina and Jeremy could have their own room. Anyway, they promised to be waiting for us tonight with a wonderful dinner."

The family, the angel, and their German guide left the station, they could all see that it was getting late. The sun had descended behind the trees, and dusk was falling on the large German city as Renate herded her charges as well as their entire luggage onto one of the busses heading into the more rural suburbs of the large city.

"This is where the American military used to be stationed some ten or so years ago," she explained. "We had Americans in this sector of the city for over forty years. Today, there aren't as many, simply because the wall came down in 1989."

"Were you here when it happened?" Jeremy asked.

"My father was here when the celebrations broke out here, Actually, I was a little girl at the time," Renate answered. "I remember seeing all of this on television from my aunt's house in Büsum, and it was really incredible, but I didn't understand the significance of the Berlin Wall until I was a little bit older."

"The wall?" Dawn asked.

"Well yes, in 1961, the Berlin wall was erected by the Eastern German government, this was done from their point of view to keep the capitalist west out of the GDR, however, what it actually was, from the Western German point of view was to keep their people in," Renate explained. "We have a few pieces of the wall at home, and my mother is a historian, so she could probably tell you stories about all of this. She also had a brother who lived in Sachsan during the erection of the wall. Today, this is one of the new German states. Anyway, before the wall was even built, many people perceived that this would happen and they essentially fled to West Berlin."

"Woah, wicked," Patrick commented. "You mean people actually ran from the Eastern German government?"

"Yes, and a number of people died in their attempts. It has only come out recently on the television that a number of people risked their very lives to escape from the tyranny of the GDR's system of government. I have heard stories of people who could not even fly an airplane who would steal a plane and try to take their family over the North Sea and reach Helsinki or Scandinavia. Some people tried with surfboards, and some would just swim," Renate said as the bus pulled to the final stop and they disembarked.

Down a street and around a corner, Renate reached a large house with a tastefully decorated garden. She rang the bell and smiled when an older woman answered the door, her bright green eyes meeting those of Renate and her American friends.

"Hallo," the woman's thick German accent erupted through the group. "My name is Roswitha Müller, I am Renate's mother."

"Hello," Christina said with a smile.

"Mom, this is Christina Lowery and her family," Renate said. "That's her husband, Jeremy, and the twins are Denise and Dawn, this is Patrick, and of course, you've heard all about Laura."

"Yes, yes, I have seen photos of all of you, welcome, but who is this young man, I don't believe we've met or heard anything about you?" Roswitha said with a cordial smile.

"Oh, Mom, this is Andrew, he's a friend of ours, too. I met him when I was working in the States."

Roswitha smiled, and brushed her hand through her now graying hair. "Yes, yes, of course, please, come inside, we're more than happy to accommodate you."

"Danke," Andrew broke his silence and smiled warmly at the woman. Upon making eye contact with her, he couldn't help but feel connected to her as she reminded him a little bit of Tess, though definitely not in appearance, but rather in her warmth and motherly personality.

The middle-aged woman was short, heavy-set, with gray curly hair. Her green eyes were the same as her daughter's and she carried a warmth about her that made even the most stringent of people relax. She wore around her neck a pendant with a cross, signifying that the family were people of the Christian faith, but the wisdom that lurked in her expression was one of such intense love that Andrew could only smile and understand fully the close-knit family that emanated through the compassionate daughter they had brought up.

"Please, come inside," Roswitha repeated her words and waved the entire group inside and the door was closed behind them. "Friedrich, Schatz, sie sind endlich hier."

"What did she just say?" Christina whispered to Laura as Roswitha left the room for a moment.

"I think she said that we're here," Laura said softly once she had consulted her dictionary.

"Yes, that's right," Renate said smiling at them, "my parents have been looking forward to your visit for a very long time, so she wanted to get my father in here to say hello before we have Abendessen, uh, I mean dinner. My father speaks only a little English, so I am hopeful that you would be able to help with translations, Andrew."

The angel smiled and nodded as an older man hobbled out into the room, his body weight leaning heavily on a cane. "Guten Abend, Freunde!" (Good evening, friends) he called out.

"Guten Abend, Herr Müller," Andrew said nodding in the direction of the man and offering him a warm smile.

"Ach gut, Sie können deutsch sprechen," (Good, you can speak German) he smiled, his dimples showing, and his deep blue eyes sparkling. "You understand, my English is bad," Friedrich said, trying all the while to formulate his English words carefully. "I do speak English, but only little bit." As he spoke he held his thumb and index finger up so that they could see what he was meaning. After a few minutes, he looked at Andrew. "You translate, yes?"

"Of course," came the soft answer.

"Ich bin der Friedrich," Renate's father began by introducing himself. "Herr Müller war mein Vater; I mean, Mister Müller was my father. You understand me, young man?"

Andrew smiled, "Ja ich verstehe." (Yes, I understand)

"Gut, gut, jetzt es ist Zeit zum Essen." He held his hand up and pantomimed the action of eating. The others nodded and they followed the head of this family into a rather large dining room. They looked around and the smells of cheeses and baked breads and rolls welcomed them as they all of them sat down around a large table. On the table were cold cuts, varieties of cheeses as well as cakes, rolls, juices, and coffee.

Andrew sat down between Laura and Friedrich. "Darf ich duzen?" (Literally, Andrew has asked if he may address Friedrich with the informal German 'you', rather than addressing him formally.)

"Natürlich," Friedrich answered smiling as the rest of the family sat down at the table.

"We are not a formal family, Andrew," Roswitha said simply. "We accept you into our home as a friend and we do not wish for it to appear as though you are strangers," she tried to explain as she sat down at the table. Her smile was warm as she reached for the hands of the two people seated next to her, one of them being Christina the other being Denise.

The twelve-year-old girl looked at her somewhat confused, but eventually she offered her hand across the table to Renate's mother and with her other, she took Dawn's hand.

"Dear God," Renate began to speak in English as they bowed their heads. "Thank you for the gift of friends, the food that is provided before us, and the blessings which abound."

As soon as the prayer was spoken, each person squeezed the hand of their neighbor, released them, and they began to eat.

*****

The following morning, Patrick woke up early and pulled up the blind to look out the window as the sun rose and he looked around the room for a clock to see what time it was. When he noticed that it was half past seven, he returned to the bed and lay down and continued to watch the sunrise. He looked over and could see that on the bed on the other side of the room, Andrew was laying in bed with his eyes closed and his arms cradling his head. The angel looked so relaxed, Patrick thought to himself, but instead of smiling, he noticed that his breathing felt heavier and once again he crawled out of bed, walked out of the room and down the hall towards the bathroom.

By this time, Andrew had opened his eyes, crawled out of bed, and followed the teenager out of the room.

In the hallway, Patrick stopped walking and leaned up against the wall all the while trying to catch his breath. When he looked up, he could see that Friedrich had come out of his room and was coming towards him in the opposite direction.

"Patrick, you OK?" The older German man asked softly, thus causing Patrick to glance up at him once he had heard the gentle voice of their host.

"Yeah, I mean, yes," the boy stammered.

"I am adoctor," Friedrich said gently, his English still somewhat broken, but he looked at the teenager hoping that the boy could understand his words. "I can help."

"I'm sick," Patrick said softly, the fear evident in is eyes.

The old man nodded. "I know." He pointed to the teenager's eyes and when he looked up he could see Andrew was now standing in the hallway. "Andrew, der Junge ist Krank."

Andrew nodded and looked at the teenager. "Patrick, Friedrich knows that you're sick, and he wants to help you, so you need to tell us exactly what's wrong. OK?"

The boy nodded and looked up at his host. "I can't breathe, and I feel really sick."

Andrew translated and Friedrich nodded and said something to Andrew, after a few moments the angel nodded and replied.

"Andrew, what's wrong with me?" Patrick asked.

"I don't know yet," he replied as he shook his head sadly. "Let me get Christina and Jeremy, and we will take you to the hospital. Don't be afraid, Patrick, you're not alone, you're never alone." He stood up slowly and went to knock on Christina and Jeremy's door.

When Christina opened it, she looked up at him. "What is it?"

"Patrick is very sick, Christina, we have to get him to a hospital," Andrew said gently.

"Is it time?" She asked weakly as the color faded from her tired face.

"I don't know, but Friedrich is with him," Andrew said, and when he heard Friedrich speaking out in the hallway, the angel nodded and looked down at his worried friend. "Christina, Friedrich said that it looks as though Patrick is showing the signs of a latent form of pneumonia."

"No," Christina whispered softly.

Andrew took the hand of his friend and squeezed it reassuringly. "My friend, try not to worry, put this in God's hands, OK?" Once she nodded he smiled gently at her. "I'm going back to Patrick now, you two might want to get dressed and then Friedrich can call an ambulance and help us get Patrick to the hospital."

"This was a mistake, coming here, wasn't it, Andrew?" Jeremy whispered from behind Christina.

"No Jeremy, Patrick would have gotten sick regardless of what had happened," the angel said gently. "Now, try and calm down, I'm going back to sit with him. Patrick is afraid right now, he doesn't speak the language here, but I'm going to make sure that he knows he is in good hands and that he will understand everything that happens."

Jeremy nodded and went back inside their room. Seconds later, Christina joined him and the door closed. Andrew returned to Friedrich and Patrick and crouched down beside the teenager.

"It's not time yet, is it?" Patrick asked weakly looking at Andrew once he had sat down on the floor next to him.

Andrew shook his head slowly. "No, Pat, it's not, if it was, then I would have known, but the next few days are going to be very hard. You're not afraid are you?"

"A little," the boy admitted with shame evident in his green eyes.

Andrew noticing this reached over and took the boy's cold but sweaty hand in his. "You know something, if people weren't just a little afraid, then I would be out of a job."

Patrick smiled weakly. "You won't leave, will you? I mean, you're going to stay with me?"

"I promise, I'll be right here with you, through everything," Andrew smiled reassuringly at him.

Patrick nodded but after some time had passed he looked at Andrew. "There's just so much that I want to do before I die," Patrick said. "Andrew, will you help make these things happen? Will you help make it possible for me to start taking flying lessons as soon as we get home?"

The angel, sensing the finality in the boy's voice could only nod. "I'll do everything I can to help make your dream come true."

Friedrich could only stand in the hallway and listen to this exchange in complete surprise. Although, he could not speak the best English, he could certainly understand many of the words exchanged between Andrew and the teenager and this surprised him.

After a few moments, he looked at Andrew and shook his head sadly. "Wie könntest du solche Versprechungen zu den Jungen geben?" (How can you make such promises to this boy?)

Andrew did not answer, he simply looked up and when his compassionate green eyes met those of Friedrich, somehow the older man knew the truth and his words died on his lips. For his part, Andrew continued to stroke the cheek of the ailing boy until the ambulance arrived.

*****

The hospital was relatively empty when Christina and Jeremy arrived with Renate and Laura. The twins decided to remain at the house with Roswitha as their jetlag was still present and Christina had worried if they would be able to deal with their first full day in Europe by sitting around a hospital waiting room. Roswitha had promised to take the girls to the zoo and they had been excited about the trip.

Patrick had already been taken into an examination room and Andrew was acting as translator between the frightened young boy and the doctors who were treating him.

Renate was now sitting in the waiting room with them, and she sighed deeply as Christina was pacing through the room, the young woman finally giving up on trying to get her friend's mother to calm down. "He's in good hands, Christina," she offered weakly for what seemed to be the twentieth time, but she knew that Christina's thoughts must have been literally racing. She continued to watch the couple's anxious mannerisms.

"Jeremy, we shouldn't have come," Christina said softly, the guilt overwhelming her, but neither she nor Jeremy could see the utter devastation on their eldest child's face. Instead of speaking to Laura, she continued, her voice filled with sadness. "Something told me that Patrick couldn't have handled this trip."

"I've had this feeling since Andrew showed up," Jeremy said softly.

Laura, upon hearing those words looked at her parents. "I need some fresh air, I'll be back later." With that, she walked out of the room leaving them alone, her head down as she walked.

Once she was gone, Renate walked over to where Jeremy and Christina were sitting. "I think Laura's in love with Andrew," Renate whispered under her breath, thus causing Jeremy to look up abruptly.

"What do you mean?" He asked as though she had taken a bucket of cold water and dashed it over his head. "Do you think he showed up here to resolve something with my daughter?"

Renate nodded. "Something has been happening with Laura, Jeremy. I didn't mention it earlier at the house because I didn't want to embarrass Laura, and I ask that you please not say anything to her about this, but I think that she loves Andrew and is going through something really difficult right now. I mean; maybe I'm off track but I think everyone has been so concerned with Patrick that we have forgotten that Laura has been dealing with things that she has no control over."

"What should we do?" Jeremy asked.

"There's not a lot we can do, but Andrew already knows what's happening," Christina said softly. "He and I talked about it on the plane when Laura was sleeping."

"I guess we have been ignoring her needs as of lately, but how can we keep focusing on her when we have a little boy who is very sick?" Jeremy asked weakly.

Renate reached over and squeezed his shoulder. "Maybe you should try and make the best of Patrick's time and not focus so much energy on his illness. I don't think he is very fond of people making a big deal about him anyway."

Christina nodded. "I guess that's what we've been doing."

"Yes, baby, you have, and now with not a lot of time left, God has sent you a little back-up," a familiar voice boomed and she looked up to see that Tess was standing in the hallway.

"Tess?"

The angel smiled. "Hello, Christina," she said and turned around. "Miss Wings, are you coming?"

Monica approached, in her hand she carried a German-English dictionary in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other.

Jeremy smiled weakly as Monica placed the cup and small book on the table in the waiting room. Once she had completed the task, she sat down in a vacant seat and smiled warmly at Renate.

"I remember you guys, you were at the hospital when Chuck Hudson died," she said softly.

"That's right," Tess replied. "How are you doing, Renate?"

"Pretty good, considering…" her voice trailed off and she smiled weakly as another dark headed woman with glasses entered the room. "I cannot believe everything that's going on, I mean, I'm supposed to be strong, but there's no way I can be completely in control here."

"No, honey, God is the only one who is in control," Tess scolded her gently and when she turned around and her eyes met those of the dark-headed woman who was picking up magazines from off the waiting room table, she smiled broadly as she went over and took the woman's hand, thus drawing her towards them. "There's someone I want you all to meet, this is Gloria."

"Another angel?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes," Monica said smiling. "Gloria, these are some of our friends, Christina, and Jeremy, and Renate."

The dark headed angel smiled somewhat shyly and began to take in her new surroundings.

"Does she speak?" Christina whispered to Tess.

"Yes, she does, but she's starting to learn about human emotions and a lot of the things she sees are perceived as being completely new," Tess said.

Jeremy looked at Gloria as she was looking through a magazine on modern art. "I need to do something," he muttered and went over to where Gloria was now sitting and he touched her shoulder, thus causing her to look up. "Gloria, would you look up, I'm going to sketch your profile."

When she did not understand him fully, he reached over and took her chin in his hand, thus positioning it so that he could begin drawing the sketch of the young angel's face. Once he had done that, he seated himself comfortably in front of her, and he began to draw her likeness in a large brown colored notebook. "It must be very strange for you to be here, huh?" He asked as his pencil practically flew over the page.

"Yes," came her soft reply. "It is strange, but also interesting. But what are you doing exactly?"

Christina came over and looked down at her husband's drawing. "Don't mind him, Gloria, this is what Jeremy does when he's worried or upset. He tries to block things out by drawing pictures of people. He has about 30 drawings of me, I guess he needed a new subject." She smiled weakly. "You know, he works for the police, he draws composites of criminals for a living."

"Yes, honey, but this lovely angel is hardly a criminal," Jeremy said and winked.

Monica and Renate both began to giggle somewhat, but Tess eventually cleared her throat and looked at them earnestly. "Babies, we have a serious situation we need to discuss."

Christina nodded numbly as she released a pent up sigh. "I know, Tess, but this isn't exactly something that we are wanting to face."

The wise angel came over to Christina and put her comforting arms around the woman. "Baby, you knew from the start that God would be calling Patrick home, and I know that taking him as your son was a decision that you both made, but now this little boy is getting ready to go, and you and Jeremy are going to have to find the strength to let go when the time does come, and honey, it is coming very quickly."

Christina could feel the tears beginning to stream down her face and she sat down on the sofa next to where Gloria was sitting. Tess came over and sat down next to her while Monica and Renate excused themselves and went down the hall towards the cafeteria.

"I'm trying really hard not to forget that, Tess, but it's so hard when you love someone. It's hard to face the fact that we have to say good-bye," Christina said softly.

"Christina, we all know this," Tess said as she rested a gentle hand on the woman's shoulder. "We know that you are not happy about facing the possibility of saying good-bye to that little boy."

"You're right, I'm not feeling exceedingly well right