A 'Touched by an Angel' Story

By: Yvette Jessen

The alley was empty except for a few stray animals that had made this place their home. At one end, a young girl lay; it was fifteen-year-old Linda Kilgore, her body beaten and aching, the dirt and drudge of this place surrounding her. As her assailant rushed away, she reached her hand to her face and smeared the blood from her shoulder across her nose and mouth. She had been nicked with a knife when a drug-addicted man assaulted her and left her for dead.

The homeless teenager, like many kids, had been abandoned by her family, thus leaving her to battle life on the streets all alone and destitute. She really did not know if she was going to survive that night, but at that moment, she didn't care either way. If Hell really existed, she often thought to herself, then the slums of Los Angeles where the epitome of it. Up until now, she had been attacked for the fifth time that month, yet the hardest part was that she really had nothing worth taking. When her assailants would discover this, they would only get angry, thus beating her unmercifully and leaving her for dead. Today's drastic situation was merely case in point.

Her trust in others had been shattered, and though she had all her senses about her, she would use her inability to speak as a way to play off on the idea that she was insane. No one really knew that she was something of a remarkable girl, but if truth were really known, she used this handicap as a means to keep herself safe. The actual fact of the matter was that anything in which to stay safe would help, as well as any nourishment she could find in order to stay alive. Often times, this left her with the dubious task of digging through garbage cans in order to find something edible. It was this life that she had to pave out for herself, and the main objective was to stay alive, the rest, well the rest did not seem to matter whatsoever.

Alive or dead, this did not matter at that moment, she was dizzy from the attack, and eventually had no choice but to allow herself to slip out of consciousness. The loss of blood was not severe, but the pain was certainly enough for her to not wish to remain awake. As she passed out, she failed to notice that someone had approached her. It was a man, but her eyes only focused on him for a split second before everything spun away in rapid succession and she allowed herself to drift away to a place where pain and suffering did not reign.

The man crouched down next to her, his green eyes filled with love and compassion. "Linda, my name is Andrew, and I'm an angel from God. He sent me to be with you during the coming days, and to let you know that you're not alone, sweetheart, God is with you as well and you're safe now," he whispered softly as he brushed a gentle hand through her hair and then along the side of her bruised face.

As soon as he saw the blood that was smeared across her cheek, and the small injury on her shoulder, he glanced skyward as though an unanswered question was looming, yet all the while; no verbal intonations emerged. To any onlooker, this man was merely crouched in an alleyway next to her, his eyes momentarily focused on the sky.

Moments passed and his gentle green eyes came to rest once again on the girl that lay amidst the garbage in the alley. "I'm going to take you some place safe, Linda, don't be afraid." Without saying another word, he got to his feet, scooped her frail body up in his arms, and once he managed to steady himself, he carried her in the direction of the all-night clinic some two streets over from where he had found her.

As he walked, the motion roused her and she began to stir, her eyes opening only slightly as a bolt of pain surged through her body and unable to stop herself, she began to weep softly in his arms. "It hurts…" she mumbled through her tears, the simple utterance causing the man's attention to divert down to her.

Although most people could not have understood her meanderings, Andrew could and responded to her words, his voice gentle. "I know it hurts, sweetheart, I'm going to get you some help." His words, like his motions were with the utmost gentility and within seconds he had brushed a lock of her oily hair out from in front of her eyes, the side of his hand brushing gently along her gaunt cheek.

Linda, having never heard such soothing words from a man, could only nod numbly and once again she allowed herself to pass out, her head coming to rest against the chest of the angel who now held her in his arms. No one had ever called her 'sweetheart' before, much less held her as though she was a frail piece of chinaware.

Her tragic reality was a depiction of hateful words, and those usually emerged from her stepfather, who was more often intoxicated than sober, and who beat her whenever he got angry with her. She remembered often how the angry words would literally slap her, causing her to retreat into her own world, and after some years of emotional abuse, the words of her mother's husband had turned into beatings as well as other forms of abuse and neglect. Eventually, these things all ended with her being thrown out of the house by those who were supposed to have loved her unconditionally.

As Andrew reached the clinic with her, she stirred again, her eyes weakly opening as she heard the voice of the man who had brought her in, but along with that was the deep throaty voice of the doctor in charge. "Take that wretched child somewhere else, we only accept patients with the proper insurance."

Upon hearing the words of disdain and rejection being spoken, she began to tremble in Andrew's arms, her eyes opened, and she covered her face with her hands, as though to block something much more severe than the words of scorn emerging from the doctor.

As soon as those words were out, and as if on cue, Linda began to cry out in agony, this time her panic attack not an act, but rather the emergence of the pain she felt. She began to squirm in Andrew's arms, her body thrashing uncontrollably as though she wanted to wiggle out of them and run away to a corner and hide herself away from the world.

Andrew eventually rested his hand against her cheek, his soothing whispers eventually overshadowing the words of the doctor until she relaxed in his arms. Her face remained buried against his chest, her fists grasping the lapels of the jacket, and her soft sobs emerging, the desperation in her cries somehow imploring someone, anyone, to help her. Andrew leaned down and brushed her tears from beneath her eyes. "Shhhh, little one, you're not alone," his soft whispers could only be heard by her, but he knew that her thoughts were now something like a kaleidoscope of hazy ideas and impressions, yet, through all of this, he knew that the greatest of these feelings were a depiction of sorrow and rejection.

When Andrew could not convince the doctor at the clinic to tend to Linda's needs, he carried her outside and continued to speak soothingly to her, his words soft and gentile, and Linda looked up at him through pain filled eyes. He reached down and brushed her cheek with his hand, thus encouraging her to sleep, which he understood at that moment, as being the best thing for her.

With weighted steps, he carried her in the direction of a small house that was located about three blocks away from the clinic.

As soon he arrived, a pretty brunette woman with glasses came out followed by an older woman with mahogany colored skin, and another woman with auburn hair and a gentle smile.

"They wouldn't take her, Tess," Andrew said softly as he glanced down at the bruised face of the young girl and lovingly touched it with gentle fingertips. "I don't understand."

"It's called bureaucratic blah blah, Angel Boy, now take her upstairs and we'll see what we can do to tend to her, remember the Father gives us what we need when we need it," the eldest of them spoke. "Miss Wings, you help Andrew, Little Angel, have you been reading the Encyclopedia of Medical Facts like I asked you to?"

The brunette nodded as the auburn headed angel left them and followed Andrew up the stairs.

"I thought that we're not supposed to get involved in human free will, but why did Andrew bring her here and not let what happened play out, Tess?" The brunette asked once they were standing in the front hall of the house alone.

"Andrew brought Linda here because she didn't die, Gloria, and he knew deep inside that gentle heart of his, that he couldn't possibly have left her in the alley. He sought the guidance from the Father, and bringing her here was all that he could do after the medical facility turned them away."

"Why would a clinic turn a prospective patient away?" Gloria asked innocently and it was obvious that the naïve angel had no running concept of the medical system where they had been assigned. This entire thing made little, if no, sense to her and she took off her glasses and cleaned them before putting them on and waited for Tess' answer.

Tess shook her head. "The long and the short of it is this, Little Angel, people place money and power over simple empathy. They believe that they are doing a service to humanity, but they forget that what people need is not always money, but a simple emotion they have lost somewhere in the hustle and bustle of society. It is called 'compassion', and in her life, Linda has not experienced what true compassion really is; in fact, she has been beaten, spoken cruelly to, and made to feel unneeded in this world. Tonight was just a part of that being played out, but tomorrow, when the sun rises, the doctor who turned her away will realize just how far a little human understanding and empathy can really go."

"What do you mean?" Gloria asked.

"You'll find out, honey, now get upstairs and put some of that medical know-how to work," Tess said smiling weakly and with that, Gloria went up the stairs to fulfill her part of the assignment.

*****

Linda awoke again some three hours later and sat up in bed and looked around the darkened room where she had been sleeping. Her initial reaction was to scream, but she discovered that it might not be prudent for her to do so, as it might bring the other inhabitants of this house into the room faster than one could say 'Jack Robinson'.

The light from the moon was shining inside the room, and instead of contemplating how frightened she was, she decided to get out of bed and investigate her new surroundings. She eventually reached over to the bedside table and switched on the light.

Once the room was filled with light, she glanced around this new place, her apprehension mounting with each second. She continued to take in the room all the while struggling to sit up in bed, but her frantic eyes were not to be mistaken, and she looked around the room with the utmost terror darkening her expression.

Moments later, as if propelled by adrenaline, she threw the blanket to the side, and slowly crawled out of bed, the grogginess overwhelming her and she sank to the floor in both dizziness as well as hunger. After a few moments, she successfully got back on her feet and managed to hobble over to the window, all the while trying to remain quiet and not disturb the other inhabitants who obviously were still in the house.

Moving the curtains aside, she reached for the lock to the window, released the clasp, and slowly managed to open it. She would have climbed out, but the window was covered with burglar bars, which only succeeded in mounting her panic. Looking through them only left her feeling as though she was in some sort of prison rather than in someone's home.

As she stared at the metal bars, she remembered the night she had spent in jail. She had not done anything wrong, and had been released the following morning, but it had been the scariest night of her life. Taking a deep breath, she remembered how she had been released back out onto the streets and this was only because she had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Shaking her head, Linda could not help but remember how she had been rounded up by the police with a bunch of streetwalkers and taken into custody. This entire house only brought to mind how she had been so frightened, and even today; this experience still left an extremely bitter taste in her mouth.

She closed her eyes for a moment trying to propel herself along as well as trying to block the memories she had. She was still in so much pain and she could feel some sort of strange material that covered the spot on her arm where she had been cut. She pulled up the sleeve of the nightgown she now wore and could see that a large white gauze covered the wound and she shook her head as though in denial.

Try as she might, Linda wanted to remember the only pleasant part of this entire event and that was the kind man from the alley, the one who tried to get her help, the one who whispered soothing words to her, thus preventing her from being afraid. Yet, through it all, her conscience was asking her 'what man' as though his presence had merely been a large dosage of wishful thinking.

If he really had been wishful thinking, she thought to herself, then what am I doing here? She sat down on the floor and could feel the softness of the carpeting beneath her hands and feet. Reaching over, she pinched her unwounded arm, as though trying to prove to herself that this was just a dream and nothing more. The more she subjected her arm to, the more convinced she became that this was all real and that she was not about to wake up in an alley somewhere.

She looked around this place once again, her gaze finally coming to rest on the now opened window and she could feel the soft breeze wafting into the room and through her hair. After a few moments, she shivered as she got up to close the window. Once she had done that, she sank back down onto the floor, her knees hugging against her chest as she stared blankly around the small room.

Smiling weakly she noticed that on one of the shelves in the room, there were a number of books adorning them. She used to love reading and in her mind, she wondered if this room had been especially fixed up for her because there was not a lot to do in there, but there were some of her favorite books there. As she got up off the floor, she approached the shelf and touched the bound books that had been placed there. Her favorite was about a fantasyland that lies beyond a wooden wardrobe, with magical animals and beings.

As a little girl, there was nothing like finding a book like this that would take her away from the swearing of her stepfather. This place was so far removed from the hellish reality that she lived in that she wished that that had been switched and she could live in 'Narnia' forever. Standing at the bookshelf, she pulled a book down and smiled as she ran her hand over the hard cover of it.

Her back was now to the door and she didn't see that Andrew had come into the room only to see her staring up at the shelf. After some moments of reading the titles, she released a blood-curdling scream when she suddenly felt his hand on her shoulder. She dropped the book onto the ground, and quickly crouched down to where her hands were covering the back of her neck and she managed to literally roll herself into a ball.

Andrew, seeing this, took a deep breath, but he got down next to her on the floor and touched her head tenderly, his fingers gentle as they stroked her hair, thus causing her to briefly look warily look up at him with fear and mistrust in her eyes. Before he could speak, her head went back down into her lap, the eye contact broken. "I promise, I won't hurt you, sweetheart."

There it was again, 'sweetheart', he had actually called her 'sweetheart', this one word caused her to slowly glance up, her deep set brown eyes meeting his green ones, but her shyness caused her to almost immediately look away.

"Y-you…" her voice emerged, but it came forth unintelligible; her thoughts were complete, her words an incomprehensible stammer. She wanted more than anything to acknowledge him, but somewhere the ability was not coming and she felt herself filling with shame as she regarded him.

"Shhh," he whispered gently. "I know you have trouble speaking, little one, it's OK."

Linda shook her head her hand against her throat indicating that she could not speak so well, but even still, she had understood what he had said and simply could not understand how he would have known this. "You know…how?" She managed to utter.

Instead of leaving her to ponder this, Andrew reached over and brushed a lock of her hair out of her face. "You wonder how it is that I know so much about you, don't you, little one?"

Linda nodded, her eyes filled with fear. "Scared…"

"No, it's OK, you have nothing to be afraid of. I'm here to help, but I think you know deep inside that I won't hurt you," he said softly.

She shook her head quickly, her thoughts literally rushing, her inability to express herself so hard for her, that her bodily motions were the only way she knew to communicate with him. After a few seconds passed, she was still shaking her head, and Andrew reached over and touched the side of her face with a gentle and loving hand. She winced unconsciously when she felt his warm and smooth hand against her cheek, thus brushing the tears away.

"It's OK, honey, I know that all of this is overwhelming, you're also tired and you've been through something traumatic tonight, but you're not alone," he said softly as he withdrew his hand, but his voice emerged soothing.

"H" her stammering once more emerged, it was incomprehensible to just about everyone else, but he seemed to understand her utterances perfectly.

"I won't hurt you, you're safe here, Linda," He said softly.

Upon hearing her name spoken by this unusual man, she frantically backed away from him, her eyes only searching for a way out. Unfortunately, she discovered that Andrew was blocking her only means of escape. Within seconds, she scurried over to the corner of the room and pressed herself up against the wall, her head once again in her lap as she tried without success to cope with the overwhelming terror that encased her. The terrified cries emerged as Andrew was left staring at her with sadness shadowing his face.

Eventually, he got to his feet and approached where she was still on the floor. Now she was looking up at him, apprehension overwhelming her as she unconsciously began to tremble.

When he saw this, he shook his head. "No, no, no, don't be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you. You see, I know who you are, Linda, because God told me all about you, and He sent me here to help you. You know who God is, don't you, sweetheart?" Andrew spoke softly his voice filled with gentility.

She nodded slowly but continued to stare at him completely in awe as he began to glow. "Angel…" Her single word somehow emerged and Andrew, knowing what she was trying to convey, offered a reciprocating nod.

"Yes, that's right, I'm an angel, Linda, and I'm here to help you." Seeing her responding shudder, he continued to speak, his voice gentle. "I won't hurt you. I found you tonight in the alley, and brought you here so you would be safe."

Linda nodded and instead of feeling the fear that many like her experienced when he would begin to glow, she licked her dry lips and sat silently there looking up at him, her eyes filled with uncertainty, but another emotion also emerged and that was innocent wonder.

After a few moments, she reached a trembling hand out towards him, her eyes were wide, but with a pain that she was verbally unable to express and Andrew could tell that this was literally killing her. Seconds later, she felt his hand taking her own, the touch like everything else about him, loving and gentle.

"I know that you feel that your inability to speak prevents you from expressing how you feel, but I understand what you want to say to me, and I'm here to help you discover that regardless of what you can or cannot do, God loves you," Andrew smiled gently at her. "You have nothing to be afraid of here, sweetheart."

Linda nodded, but she rubbed a hand over her mouth. "M-me…"

"Yes, and you know that you're in a safe place here," Andrew said softly. "No one is going to hurt you, I won't let them."

Nodding numbly, she could feel that Andrew was still holding her hands gently in his, but moments later, he released them, and very slowly, he got to his feet and was towering over her. Seconds passed and he extended his hands to her. Once she surrendered her own and allowed him to help her, he managed to pull her gently to her feet.

Once she was standing, he quietly led her over to the bed, and helped her to crawl back under the covers. As soon as she was comfortable, he pulled the blankets up and over her exhausted body. Leaning over, he turned the light off, but as he did, he could hear her soft utterances and voice emerged and he realized that she was frightened.

"Andrew…" she tried to say his name, and after a few seconds, she felt the gentle pressure of his fingers over her lips.

"Shhh, it's OK, I'm here, and you have nothing to be afraid of," he said softly and when he saw her hands reaching out to him, he could feel them touching his face as a blind person would see how someone appears through the sense of touch. After a few moments had passed, she drew her hands away, and nodded numbly as she closed her eyes.

Once Andrew was certain that she had drifted off to sleep, he stood up and silently crept from the room.

*****

The following morning, the angels met in the kitchen, and all four of them had the same concern, Linda, and specifically, what would become of her. Andrew, after the events of the preceding night, was the most worried. He knew that she was starting to trust him, but he wondered if it was because she had no choice in the matter.

As Tess finished making breakfast and sat down at the table with her three younger charges, she carried a somewhat tired expression on her face.

"She knows I'm an angel," Andrew finally broke his silence and spoke to Tess. "I don't think she would have trusted me not knowing the truth."

Tess reached over and patted the hand of the Angel of Death. "I know baby, you feel responsible for her. She's been through so much and needed someone to trust, and maybe knowing the truth now will, in some ways, help her."

Andrew nodded as he watched Monica bring a steaming mug of coffee to her lips. As she replaced the cup on the table, she looked at Gloria. "Are you ready?"

Gloria nodded. "I think so."

"You'll do fine, Little Angel," Tess said smiling gently as Monica and Gloria left the kitchen and walked towards the front door.

"Where are they going?" Andrew asked as he took a deep breath and released it slowly.

"Gloria is going to work as a nurse at the same clinic where you and Linda were last night, and Monica is going to be a receptionist there," Tess filled him in as she bit into a piece of toast.

"Why?"

"Well, think about it, Angel Boy, you get a couple of angels in there, and perhaps you find out that the doctors start using their hearts over their heads. Maybe if they know that angels are somehow among them, they might stop going by insurance policies and start putting the human factor ahead of all this 'blah blah'," Tess reasoned. "Sounds a bit harsh, I know, but that's how it is and there is a certain doctor who really needs to find his heart in all of this, because right now he is the key to everything."

Andrew nodded. "I guess I understand, but before we do anything else, maybe I should go and see if Linda is awake."

"I was just going to suggest that you get yourself up there, Andrew. Something tells me that she is not going to be overly willing to emerge from that room without your presence."

He nodded and once he had finished his coffee he walked towards the stairs and once he climbed them, he could see that Linda was bashfully standing in the doorway to her room. Tess had been right, she really was afraid to come out of the room alone. Instead of stepping out into the hallway, she stood timidly in the doorway, still in her nightgown, and biting down on her lip nervously.

Keeping his motions slow, he came closer to where she was standing, her hands now rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, but all the while it looked as if she could not believe that he was there or that he had helped her the night before. Something told him that she had perceived the entire incident as a dream and nothing more.

"Hello there, little one," Andrew said softly, his voice filled with gentility as he reached towards her and touched the side of her face with a comforting hand. He realized that although she was fifteen, the malnourished, frightened, and timid girl that stood before him just seemed to not necessarily be the depiction of what one would describe as being a young lady. She carried herself as though she was younger; her disposition seemed innocent and filled with childlike wonder. Andrew was left only to surmise that this label was probably affixed to her because of how scarred she was whenever people would pass false judgment on her. He knew that these words were damaging, and harder still, this child was blocked when it came to speaking about her feelings because no one could understand her, or her emotions at all.

When she finally looked up to him, she could see that he was smiling gently at her, his eyes filled with compassion. She nodded numbly as though she wanted to speak, in fact, the intention was clearly there, but what emerged were incomprehensible stammers, and when he made eye contact with her; he could see that her eyes were brimming with tears. She wanted to speak; she just physically could not. Seeing the devastation on the face of this young girl nearly broke his gentle heart.

"It must be very hard for you to want to speak but not find the words. People look upon you in judgment, and yet I know that you're very smart," Andrew said softly.

Linda shook her head as if to deny that an angel was capable of seeing something remotely positive in her. "Me? No…"

"Yes, you," Andrew said gently as he reached over and brushed a lock of her hair away from her eyes.

"Andrew?" She tried to speak his name and when she couldn't, she covered her face with her hands and shook her head. After a few moments had passed, she managed to glance up at him.

"Sometimes words are not always the purveyor of truth, little one," Andrew said gently.

Linda reached her hand up and when she felt his cheek she began to stroke the contours of his face, her eyes looking up at him, speaking in a language that was purely her own. "My Angel," she mouthed the words and Andrew nodded as he took her hands in his and held them between his own.

"Are you hungry, Linda?" She nodded and he continued. "Then why don't we get you some breakfast, I'm going to try and get you some help at the clinic again. Something tells me that they will have no choice but to see you this time."

Linda shrugged her shoulders and followed him down the stairs and in the direction of the table. As they walked, she could see that there was a piano in the parlor and instead of walking towards the table, she walked over to the large instrument. She rubbed her hands together and smiled weakly as she left Andrew and went over to seat herself on the wooden bench in front of it. For the first time since meeting this frail child, Andrew watched as she began to stroke the ebony colored instrument, all the while, her eyes were shining radiantly.

As he watched her, and Instead of pressing her about eating, Andrew followed her over to the piano and watched as she slowly raised the lid.

"Do you play?" He asked softly, but what happened next left him literally flabbergasted, yet the same response emerged from Tess who heard the commotion from the dining room, and literally stumbled over herself to get into this room to hear what was taking place there.

In fact, Linda's response went beyond a mere nod or shake of the head. It was something that took both Andrew and Tess by complete surprise, it was something that neither of the angels even expected, but their faces radiated the most extreme joy when the swells of music emerged and filled the room as though a concert pianist had been hired to entertain in their home.

Andrew smiled, the words she may not be able to speak, but the emotions emanated in the music as the fingers of the young prodigy literally flew across the keys.

*****

Outside on the street, Richard Thompson was walking; the doctor would often spend a great deal of time walking. His office was not too far away from where he lived and as he passed in front of a large split level house, he stopped abruptly as the music that emerged from it came relatively close to putting him into a hypnotic trance.

He could not help but remember how his wife had once played that kind of music when they had been married, but because of his work, she had walked out on him nearly six years into their marriage. Shaking his head, he walked brusquely away, the music fading with each step he took. Hard, hard and stoic, that was the way to be, but that was also the way to hide behind the pain.

As he came closer to the clinic, he could see two women standing in front of the glass building with the intention of going inside. Instead of stopping to speak to either of them, he merely brushed right past them and entered the building, his eyes staring straight ahead, the cool demeanor somehow causing the other doctors and nurses to avoid making eye contact with him. Richard was in charge, but he was a man to be feared, in fact, according to the rumors that seemed to circulate around the clinic, he was a man on the edge. He waited for one of his inferiors to slip up and he could go at them with a vengeance.

This was the way of the clinic, but no one seemed to have the courage to stand up to Richard, no one cared about this man except for Frank Simpson, who was not afraid to step on his colleague's toes. He often surmised that it was because he and Richard were partners, they had opened the clinic together some sixteen years ago, and so when there was a problem, these two men were more or less the conflicting balance that somehow made this clinic one of the most successful in the city. However, because they were both in charge of the entire clinic, this contrasting character of each other tended to confuse the staff that worked under them.

Frank was just the opposite of Richard, while everyone seemed avoid Richard, they swarmed to Frank like bees to honey. This man was tall, burley and had the uncanny disposition of an overgrown teddy bear.

Frank smiled when he saw his colleague coming inside, but that too abruptly disappeared when he recognized the usual frown on Richard's taut face. After a few moments of awkward silence, he approached and looked at him. "Hey Richard, what's happening? I haven't seen you in ages. How's life treating you with the 'night shift'?"

"Fine," he said without any sort of emotion at all. "You hear about the crackpot kid that was brought in last night? No insurance, no real past, and the guy who brought her probably found her strung out on the street somewhere and was playing a good-Samaritan."

"Yeah I think I did hear about it, Cheryl told me about her, but come on Richard, you've really got to lighten up man, don't you think that that attitude is a bit harsh? You can't assume that every homeless person is a strung out drug addict, some of them are just down on their luck and deserve your compassion." He paused after speaking, he wasn't sure if he was getting through, and when he saw Richard's face the depiction of anger, he figured that he had once again gone too far.

After a few moments, he continued speaking as though he had nothing to lose. "You know I attended a medical seminar a few moths ago and what I heard there is that a lot of those homeless teenagers have left something far worse when they chose to run, and you remember what they said about these people putting on an act so that you can't see the real person behind the front."

Richard shook his head, his ever-present scowl indicative of the differing opinion of himself and his colleague. Thankfully, he didn't usually work the same shifts with Frank, the guy had gone soft over the past eighteen years since they had met and become friends, but now Frank was left with only one conclusion to reach, and that was that any way you look at it, Richard was a hard nut to crack, and would probably remain a mystery to everyone at the medical care clinic.

Seconds passed and another voice emerged, and he turned to see the same two ladies he had seen standing at the entrance when he had arrived at work. "Excuse us, but we're looking for a Doctor Richard Thompson."

"That's me, what can I do for you ladies?" Richard turned away from Frank, thus leaving the other doctor knowing full well why it was that he had seen his colleague on this particular day, everything with Richard was centered around work, and this was case in point.

"My name is Monica and this is Gloria, the temporary agency sent us over, I understand that you are looking for a receptionist, and a clinical nurse?"

"That's right, did you happen to bring some credentials with you or are those briefcases just for show?" He asked as Frank excused himself and he led them to his office.

Once inside and the door had closed, Monica pulled her references out of the briefcase and Gloria followed suit. They waited until the doctor had taken his seat, and then Monica handed him a small stack of papers. Once he had them, he looked at Gloria with the expectations of getting hers as well. She obliged and handed him the small bound notebook she carried.

"So it says here that you are familiar with Medical care basic needs of patients and what have you?" Richard said as he looked down at the paperwork now spread out on his desk, his attention first on Gloria.

She nodded. "I have been doing extra research on various diseases on the Internet and have been working with a number of highly reputable medical journals."

"Fine, fine," Richard waved her enthusiasm to the side. "Do you have any practical experience?"

Gloria thought for a moment and then she looked at Monica, who nodded. "Gloria and I have both worked in hospitals in the past, she is experienced in caring for patients, not just the extensive aspects such as taking blood and running tests, but also with talking to the patients and keeping them from getting scared of having shots. She's a very empathic nurse."

Richard looked at Gloria, his impatience coming to a head, as he regarded the two women who were seated on the opposite side of the desk. "Why didn't you say that instead of having your friend spout it all out?"

Gloria looked somewhat surprised, but after a few seconds she looked at him. "I didn't want to come across sounding arrogant," she finally said.

"Medicine is an arrogant field, the competition is stiff, the workload hard, and you don't have time to back down and become a wimp when it comes to the competition with other clinics."

"With all due respect, Dr. Thompson, we're not here to compete, we are here because you are looking for a clinical nurse and a receptionist," Monica said. "Our credentials should speak louder than our answers to questions regarding how good we are at what we do."

Richard thought about this and nodded. "OK, I'll give you two a tryout, but at this clinic, we go by the book, no insurance, no treatment."

"Why is that?" Gloria asked innocently.

"Listen to me and listen good, if we had every bum coming in from off the streets then the credibility of our institution would fall through the toilet, and our production would go down. That's why we have to follow a certain procedure. We may not like it, but that is the way it has to be."

"That seems a little harsh," Gloria said innocently.

"Well, that's the way it is, if you can't handle it, maybe you shouldn't be working for me or in a medical field at all," he said icily, but Gloria offered him a feeble nod indicating that she would try to conform to the standards he had set.

When the dark-headed angel glanced over in Monica's direction, she could see that her supervisor was not exceedingly fond of this particular arrangement either, but she too reluctantly agreed, at least for the time being to do things as their assignment wanted.

*****

At the same time, Andrew and Linda stood outside in front of the familiar glass office building. The young girl was now dressed in a peach colored dress and her hair had been pulled back into a ponytail. She looked at Andrew as they were getting ready to go into the building, and the Angel of Death could see that the young girl was scared. He did not know what she was more afraid of, having another run-in with Richard Thompson or if she was scared that she would get treatment and that meant needles and other things that completely horrified her.

She gripped Andrew's hand with all the strength she had, thus causing him to look down at her. "Everything is going to be OK, Linda, don't worry, honey, you're not alone here."

The teenager looked down at her feet, and then back up at him, her eyes filled with suppressed pain, her thoughts constantly returning to the events of the night before, and she wondered if she would still be turned away.

Andrew walked with her into the building, this time; he led her towards the desk rather than carrying her as he had done the previous evening. When he reached the receptionist desk he looked into the dark eyes of the man behind the counter. It was not the same person who had been at this station during the night shift and this came as a relief to him. Not only that, but Andrew could detect a distinctive shift in the overall approach, as opposed to the feelings and impressions he had about coming in during the night shift. The demeanor here was as though he had walked into a completely different clinic even though both he and Linda knew that it was the same place.

"Good morning," Andrew said calmly offering the man a friendly smile as he looked up and made eye contact with him.

"Can I help you?" The man asked.

"Yes, this is my friend, Linda, and she's in need of some medical care. I was wondering if she could be admitted for tests?" Andrew said softly as Linda continued to clasp onto his hand, the fear of this place starting to overwhelm her.

"I take it she doesn't have any insurance or paperwork filed here?"

"No, I'm afraid she doesn't, but she is in need of some help. Is there not someone she could see to do an examination," Andrew said softly.

The man looked down at the phone, and nodded. "Why don't you both go and sit down in the waiting room, and let me see what I can do for you?" He offered as he picked up the phone and dialed. Once it was answered, he spoke. "Hello, Frank, we have a little bit of a problem out here." A pause. "Yes, that's right, there's someone here without insurance, but the kid looks as though she needs a little bit of help anyway," another pause, and the young man looked out across the waiting room. "OK, I'll tell them."

After a few minutes, he got up and came out from behind the desk, through a doorway that led him out into the waiting room where Andrew and Linda were now sitting. "Hi, uh, I talked to the doctor in charge during the day, and he said that his office is opened, and that you can go in to see him right away. His name is Frank Simpson, and he's a real nice man. He'll take really good care of this young lady."

"Thank you very much," Andrew said, but before he and Linda could stand up, Richard Thompson came into the waiting room and looked at the assistant, who only moments before, had spoken to Frank Simpson.

"So this is how it is, you take this child home, clean her up and bring her back here to get on the good side of this clinic," Richard said angrily and he looked at Linda. "I could see through the soap and the new clothes kid, and the fact of the matter is, I want you and your friend out of this clinic before I call security and have you thrown out."

"You're not throwing anyone out of here, Richard," a voice emerged and they all turned around to see that Frank was standing in the room, his hands were on his hips and he looked at his partner with a look that clearly said that Richard had stepped way out of line.

"Frank, you can't treat her, what about protocol?"

"Protocol, schmotocol, I could care less about what the insurance companies say, I have every intention of helping these people," Frank said looking at Richard, his eyes never faltering. "What happened to you? When we opened this clinic, you and I worked great together, we helped people, and we made a difference. We didn't just talk about helping our fellow man; we did it. Richard, I have always respected you, we made this clinic what it is, but your attitude has made me ashamed of calling you a friend."

Before Richard could respond, Frank continued, his voice filled with sadness. "I know that you have been through hell and back, I don't doubt it, Richard, but look at this child. Look at her face, that beautiful, innocent face. How could you be so cold towards someone like her who needs your help? How?" Frank shook his head, and instead of waiting for his friend to respond, he went over to Linda, who was now seated back in the chair, her body trembling as she cowered away from them, her eyes regarding both doctors with fear and insecurity.

Turning back around, Frank looked at the attendant. "Get back to the front desk, John, and thanks for calling my attention to this," he said and once the younger man had disappeared through the doorway, the compassionate doctor looked back at his longtime friend. "What's your name, sweetheart?" He asked.

When no answer emerged from the child, he looked at Andrew, hoping that the angel could at least supply a name. "Her name is Linda Kilgore," he said softly.

Frank nodded as he made the notation, all the while trying to ignore the look on the face of the other man.

"You can't treat her, Frank, you know that," Richard repeated his words from before, but instead of speaking further to the young girl, Frank turned on his friend, his eyes filled with sadness.

"What has happened to you? If I didn't know better, I would say that you've turned into the 'Ebenezer Scrooge of Medicine'."

Once he spoke, his attention diverting back to the young patient only to see that her face was now buried in her trembling hands, and Frank sat down right next to where she was sitting. He reached over and gently ruffled her hair, his touch gentle and causing her to glance up momentarily before looking to Andrew for some sort of stability.

After a few moments, Frank spoke, his voice gentle. "Don't be afraid, sweetheart, I'm going to help you in any way I can, now, why don't you and your friend just come with me, OK?"

Linda remained in the chair and only moved when Andrew and Frank had started to help her. Once she was on her feet, Andrew walked with her in the direction of the examination room. Richard remained standing in the waiting room, his eyes glazed over with anger, but after a few moments had passed, he stormed out of the waiting room and went back to his office.

*****

In the examination room, Frank did all the necessary checks on the teenager and he smiled when he had finished. "You are going to be OK, my dear," he said as he brushed a gentle hand through her soft hair. "You had a couple of friends who knew how to handle minor cuts, but I'm going to give you some salve against infections, as well as some pain pills. Now, I don't want you taking them unless you're in pain. Your body needs to find the balance with this medication and I'm not a doctor who would prescribe stuff just to prescribe it."

He looked at Andrew. "I'm sorry my friend frightened this little lady. Sometimes people just need to learn to understand the painful parts of other people's lives in order to truly understand what is going on with their own. It's hard, I know, but that's how it is with Richard. He's not a bad guy; he's just gotten too much into the idea of rules and following them to a 'T'. Sometimes, there is going to be a special case, and then we'll have to disregard the stringent rules and regulations, but unfortunately Richard has forgotten about the compassionate side of medicine." He looked at the young girl and smiled gently at her. "I heard you were here last night, but I want you to know sweetheart, if you need my help, I will be here to help you, OK?"

Linda nodded numbly and when she looked over at Andrew she could see that he was standing up to go, thus indicating that the doctor had finished his little pep talk. As Frank returned his stethoscope to his lab-coat pocket, he looked at Andrew. "She seems to be just fine, but I know this entire ordeal must have been frightening for her. You did good to get her to a safe place last night as well as getting some antibacterial salve and gauze over that wound. Though it is not a severe cut, I can see where it would hurt, and added to that, out on the streets, it could have very easily gotten infected and then become something serious." He paused and looked at the compassionate Angel of Death before continuing. "You are planning on keeping her with you for awhile, aren't you?"

"Yes, of course," Andrew said softly. "Linda is going to be living with us until she gets back on her feet and we're able to leave her somewhere where she will get some help."

Frank rubbed his chin and nodded approvingly as the angel released her hand in order to help her down from off the examination table. Linda's eyes were still scanning the room and after a few moments, she looked up at the angel.

As if understanding her, he extended his hand towards her and smiled gently as she curled her fingers around his hand and he led her from the room.

Out in the hallway, they saw Richard again, and Linda cowered behind Andrew away from him. When he saw them, he looked angrily at the young girl, but Andrew helped to steer his young friend out of the clinic thus preventing any sort of confrontation from ensuing. Richard was left alone and staring after them, no words emerging, but his eyes filled with contempt.

When they came out of the building and were standing on the street, Andrew looked at her. "I am so proud of you, you handled everything wonderfully, Linda."

She looked at him, her eyes asking the question her words could not, and when she felt his arm wrapping gently around her shoulder, she knew that he was reemphasizing this and she smiled weakly up at him, her eyes filled with wonder as she regarded her angelic companion.

I love you, she wanted to tell him as she tried to wind her arm around him as well, but she, being considerably shorter than him, could only reach to his upper back and after a few moments, the angel stopped and looked down at her as though he could understand her silent communication. Her thoughts were complete, and she sought eye contact with him in the hopes that he could read the words that were crying out from the deepest recesses of her spirit.

Andrew smiled down at her and nodded, his eyes filled with gentility. "I love you too, sweetheart, now we really should get home. Tess probably has lunch ready, and this has definitely been an eventful morning," Andrew smiled, and when he felt that she was still trying to hug him, he kneeled down so that he would be eye-level with her.

From there, she managed to wind both of her arms around his neck and remained stationary, all the while holding tightly to him, thus telling him that she trusted him completely. This touched his gentle heart and instead of breaking the embrace with her, he got back on his feet with her still wrapped in his arms. As he carried her, he realized for the first time how thin she was, considerably less than one hundred pounds. Andrew knew that it was good that he had found her when he did, as she had looked very close to starvation.

None of this seemed to matter to Linda, as she had snuggled up against him, her head now resting against his upper arm and when she closed her eyes, he knew that it wouldn't be long until the exhausted girl would fall asleep.

By the time he reached the house, contented sighs were now emerging from Linda as the young girl slept in the arms of the angel.

*****

Back at the clinic, Richard was still storming through the building, and Monica was watching as everyone there continued to react to him by ignoring or avoiding him. The young Caseworker could understand this, as even Gloria even seemed to be uncomfortable in the presence of the overbearing doctor. Looking around the small cafeteria, she picked at her salad, her eyes a depiction of sadness as she realized how lonely Richard probably was. He would not show this part of himself, but she could see it, and she often contemplated that one did not have to be an angel to see the pain that seemed to literally engulf the doctor.

Some ten minutes after sitting down at the table, Monica watched as Gloria came into the room, her eyes scanning the room and when they landed on Monica, she came hesitantly over to her supervisor, she smiled weakly as she stood next to the table, her appearance was nothing short of being completely frazzled.

"Monica, can we talk?" Gloria finally managed to ask as she pulled a chair out and sat down across from where the auburn headed angel was seated.

"Of course, Gloria, what is it?" Monica asked gently.

"Richard is very angry, isn't he?" Gloria began, her voice low so as to not have anyone overhear her soft words.

"Yes, Gloria, he is, but did you do your case study on this one?" Monica asked to which her charge shook her head.

"I must admit I didn't get to it because I was reading the medical encyclopedia Tess asked me to read for the last two days and I guess I didn't get a chance."

"That's OK, I can cue you in on the human aspects of this case," Monica said gently. "It really is not all that hard, but Richard has had a very hard life, first his younger brother died when he was 14-years-old, the story goes that his mother couldn't get medical help for him because the doctors refused to help him. His brother Wayne, died from a condition called 'Lymphoma' and to this day, Richard blames lousy medicine on his brother's death."

"But, I don't understand, if his mother was unable to get help for his brother, wouldn't Richard be contributing to helping people get adequate medical care rather than squelch the opportunities from other people?"

"One would think so, but that's not the end of Richard's case," Monica said. "Later, it was about ten years after his brother's death, Richard had met a woman and they had gotten married. It was during the time that he was in medical school and while there, he had a few experiences that somehow changed him, and those things were what made him the hardened man that he is today."

"What happened?" Gloria asked as she hung on Monica's every word.

"His first wife walked out on him, told him that he was too generous to become a successful and wealthy doctor," Monica continued. "She had essentially married him for all the wrong reasons, but later after he had graduated and was working at a local hospital, he married a second time, and sadly, after six years of marriage, his second wife did the exact same thing; so this essentially left Richard with only one course of action as to what he thought about himself, that the two women who had hurt him had been right about him. What he doesn't know yet is that his second wife was pregnant with his child when she walked out on him. He never knew that he had a child, and now he has met that child, only to turn away from her and reject her without even knowing that he is Linda Kilgore's father."

"Her father? But, Monica, that's impossible," Gloria said softly.

"No, it's not, impossible, Richard's first wife divorced him years ago, he has long since gotten over her, but his second wife was Trisha Kilgore, and she had a child some seven months after walking out on him. She remarried and Linda's stepfather nearly killed her"

"So we're actually here to reunite a father and his daughter?" Gloria asked. "Why don't we just tell him, and then he can go and get Linda and they can live happily ever after?"

Monica shook her head. "It doesn't work that way, Gloria. Richard has internalized his pain to such a degree that one would need a very large chisel to grind away at all the layers of granite that has surrounded his heart."

"What heart?" Gloria mused as she contemplated how Richard had behaved over the course of the morning.

"You've been listening to too many rumors, Gloria, remember who you are and that you are not here to judge this man, but rather to help him see the truth. It's going to take some time, but this is why we are here, we have to help Richard and Linda find their way to each other, and there's going to be one way that it will happen."

"How?"

"Not through words, Gloria, as you and I know that Linda cannot speak in understandable language, but she does have the power to capture one's imagination through the beauty and wonder of music."

As Gloria glanced over in the direction of where Richard was seated and stirring a bowl of rice pudding, she nodded. Monica was right; she really needed to look beyond the pain to see the real man seated two tables over from them. When she looked back over at Monica, she nodded in concurrence.

*****

Once he finished his rice pudding, Richard stood up with the intention of leaving the cafeteria. As he was walking towards the garbage can in order to drop the container inside, Gloria came over to him. "Doctor Thompson, I just went over the reports…" her voice trailed off and she could see that he was looking at her with a mixture of annoyance and impatience. When she saw his face, her eyes widened slightly and she tried to offer him an understanding smile instead of walking away as many of the other people did.

"Don't you know yet that you're not supposed to disturb me when I'm having lunch?" He snapped at her, his eyes filled with bitterness.

"Well, technically, you're not still having lunch," Gloria offered, her eyes, this time, not faltering. "You had already thrown your rice pudding container away, which brings to mind, why do people eat rice pudding? It doesn't taste like rice or pudding?"

"Are you completely stupid?" Richard asked, his voice bringing Gloria crashing back down to earth.

"No, why do you ask?" She asked as Monica came over to join them, and when she heard her charge's words about the pudding, she could not help but smile. Gloria certainly had a way with words, but Monica did not take kindly to Richard implying something about her level of intelligence, though the naïve angel herself did not seem to mind, in fact, this just propelled her to ask more questions.

"Monica," Richard looked at her as she approached. "Would you be kind enough to escort your friend out of my sight before I commit a crime of desperation?"

The auburn headed angel nodded. "Come on, we can talk about rice pudding later, as I am sure that Dr. Thompson needs to get some things taken care of before he goes home."

Gloria nodded and allowed her supervisor to lead her away, thus leaving Richard standing and shaking his head.

The doctor knew better than anyone that he could not very easily dismiss the nurse or her friend, but he was totally aggravated with people who tried to make small talk with him. The last thing he wanted to do was discuss his turbulent and depressing life, and he wished that these people could just keep things on a level that he could live with. He continued to watch Monica and Gloria until they disappeared outside of the cafeteria, and slowly, he followed them, hoping all the while that they were not standing out in the hallway waiting for him.

As he left the cafeteria, he looked all the way down the corridor as his eyes could see, and when he noticed that neither Gloria nor Monica were there, he released a pent up sigh.

Further down the hallway, he could see Frank coming towards him, and somewhere deep inside of him, he wanted to go to his long time friend and colleague and tell him how hard life had been, but when he saw a contemplative look on the face of the other man, he misinterpreted it and opted to try and make as much distance between himself and his friend as he could.

A he rounded a corner and walked in the direction of his office, Monica and Gloria stood unseen by him and both of the angels carried intense looks of concern on their pretty faces.

"He's in a lot of pain, isn't he?" Gloria asked.

"Yes, and when he finds out that he is a father, I am not sure how he is going to respond," Monica said. "His pain is so intense that people have misinterpreted it for years, and because of this, he may actually succeed in pushing his only friend away and then he will be completely alone."

"Not completely," Gloria mused.

"No, God would never leave him, but right now, he doesn't even know this, and even if we were to tell him, chances are, it wouldn't help anyway simply because he either wouldn't believe it or he would just get angry and walk away. Right now, he feels as abandoned by God as he does by the rest of humanity."

"So he abandons others before they have a chance to hurt him," Gloria mused almost to herself as she continued to watch as Richard went into the small glass encased office, and after a few moments, she and Monica returned to their prospective stations.

*****

As he watched his friend disappearing in the distance, Frank Simpson took a deep breath and turned around to see that Tess was now standing near the doors leading outside. He stopped and watched her, and when his gaze locked with her own, he started to walk towards where she was standing, all the while a weak smile covering his somewhat bewildered face. He knew her from somewhere, but specifically where, remained a mystery.

"Can I help you?" He finally managed to ask once he reached where she was standing, all the while he remained uncertain as to whether or not there was anything he could do that would prove helpful to this woman.

Before she began to speak to him, he noticed that there was a soft glow of light that seemed to embody her, and somewhere deep inside of him told him that there was something absolutely magnificent about her. As soon as he reached where she was standing, she spoke, her voice a gentle and melodious alto, her eyes filled with warmth and empathy. "Frank Simpson?"

"Yes, but who are you?" He finally managed to ask as he licked his dry lips, his gaze was still unconsciously following the movements of Richard, but once his friend had turned a corner and was gone, he looked back over at Tess, with even more unasked questions looming.

"My name is Tess, Frank, and I'm an angel sent by God to give you a message," she said smiling at him and it wasn't just the fact that she was glowing, but something told him that he had better take heed and listen to the words she had to say.

"Have I done something wrong? Is that why you're here?" Frank's questions started to tumble out and before he could make a third or fourth inquiry, she held up her hand and gestured to him, the blatant indication that he should listen, and for the moment, not speak.

"You have done nothing wrong, Frank, in fact, you have opened your heart to those in need, but now God wants you to listen to this message, He wants you to help another one of His children." Tess stopped for a moment, her eyes earnest.

"You mean that little girl?" Frank asked. "I think her name was Linda."

Tess shook her head. "No the little girl does have an angel looking out for her, but the child I am referring to that you are to help is your friend, Richard Thompson."

"Richard? But, Tess I can't even talk to him anymore, he looks right through me and he's angry all the time. Every time I even try to talk to him, it turns into an argument, and it's usually centered around work," Frank shook his head. "If the man upstairs could give me a hint as to how to approach this situation, I would do it in a heartbeat."

"I know, baby, and that's why I'm here," Tess said gently as she reached out and touched the doctor's shoulder. "You want to talk to Richard, catch him away from this place, ask him to go with you to the lake sometime. You go there every time you get a chance, and if you're not working here, then Richard is, well you two need to find a time when neither of you are working."

"How, it seems like every minute of every day, one of us is needed here?" Frank said softly.

"Then, if that's the case, I have an idea, and maybe this will be something that will appeal to both of you."

"An idea? Well, let's hear it," Frank said good-naturedly, but in the back of his mind, he kept thinking 'this is gonna be good'.

"Appoint a day-manager, pick someone on your staff that is trustworthy, and tell them that you're taking the day off and going to the lake," Tess began, but when she saw disbelief in Frank's expression, she continued. "You can take a beeper if there is a big problem here, but trust that they will take care of this place in the same compassionate and understanding manner you have always done. It's not just about you taking time to nurture a friendship, this is about putting your trust in the Father to keep things on even keel here. Let Him guide your footsteps, not a book on procedure, or an idea of being a lifesaver. Let God guide your hands as you heal the sick, but let Him also show you that time away from this place will make you a more understanding and open-minded doctor."

Before he could say anything, she continued. "You know, this isn't just about practicing medicine, Frank, this is about life, the preservation of it, the magnificence of it. Don't forget, you're not alone in this, but Richard feels as though he is, and right now more than ever, he needs a best friend who will stand by him as he begins to face a part of his past that will not be easy for him. He may not say it to you, he may yell at you and emerge as the world's biggest grouch, but the pain is in his words, the pain that emerges in procedures and protocol. However, this is something that as more time goes by, he will have a harder time concealing it from the rest of the world."

Frank nodded. "You're talking about Trisha and Carrie, aren't you? What they did to him, and how they left him one after the other. He wanted to be a doctor, a humanitarian, and I remember how he was in Medical school. He was so gung ho on making a difference, he wanted to take part in things like 'sponsor a needy child', help save the whales, sponsor here, and contribute there. Then he met Carrie, and she changed him. He was no longer the fun-loving person I knew, and after she left him, he was actually able to find his lust for life again. It was beautiful, he went back to sponsoring and contributing just like he always did. Then he met Trisha, and all she wanted was to be married to a doctor with a six-digit income. She didn't care how he got it, just as long as he got it. I knew from the start that she was gonna hurt him, but I didn't say anything simply because it wasn't my place to, but I knew that she was bad news. I could kick myself today for not having told him, but I just couldn't, it would have broken his heart."

"Yes and after six years of marriage, Trisha left him," Tess nodded in the direction Richard had gone in. "Today, you should know that Richard has angels surrounding him, but now that you know this, maybe you could help create a stronger unity between the two of you, not just with this place, but also with your lives. You have been through thick and thin together; you have worked together and are definitely a team to be reckoned with. Now, your partnership is on the brink, and you are the one that God has chosen to help salvage it."

Frank nodded and once Tess had disappeared, he shook his head in profound disbelief, all the while rubbing his eyes, but instead of contemplating what just happened, he made his way down the hall in the direction of Richard's office.

*****

Andrew came into the house carrying Linda in his arms. Tess had not yet returned from fulfilling her part of the assignment, so he carried the girl up to her room and tucked her under the covers. As he leaned over to kiss her forehead, her eyes slowly opened, and she looked up at him, all the while wanting to speak. In fact, she began to lick her dry lips as though she was trying to talk to him, but when she couldn't, she could feel the tears once again brimming from beneath her unhappy eyes.

"Please, Linda, don't think about what you can't do, sweetheart, think about what you can do, the music, and how it brings you so much joy. That brings you closer to God than speaking can." He smiled gently at her, his hand brushing her hair out from in front of her eyes. "You know, I can't play the piano, what I make when I touch the keys is noise, but you make beautiful music. Don't you see? People judge you, they say hurtful things about you, but do you know that what they see is like a piece of coal, and when you put a certain amount of pressure against it, it turns into a diamond."

Linda looked up at him, her eyes filled with disbelief. Was he comparing her to a diamond, she wanted to ask, but instead of even trying, she shook her head as though the words she had heard in the past were more significant than those of an angel.

"This is the truth," Andrew said. "I know that your mother and step-father were cruel to you; I know they took what you couldn't do and used it as a weapon to hurt you and to belittle you. Your mother was not capable of giving you the love you need, but that doesn't mean that you are not worthy of being loved and cherished. Because you are, and I know that this may not be something that you believe, but God loves you, Linda, He loves you just as you are because to Him, you are that diamond, you are precious and worthy of the love of God."

Linda continued to shake her head, but Andrew could see the tears as they began to brim from beneath her unhappy brown eyes. Somehow, his words were starting to leave an affect on her, she was starting to see the truth, that God must have cared so much for her that He would send this gentle and empathic angel to be with and help her. She reached her hands out to him, her fingers now brushing against the sides of his face. He's so beautiful, she thought to herself, he cares for me even though I know the truth, and I know my being born was the biggest mistake ever made.

Before she could continue belittling herself, she could feel that he had taken her gently in his arms and was holding her tightly. After a few moments, she felt a moistness against her cheek and she realized that Andrew had tears in his eyes, and that they were streaming down his face and landing against her own as she rested it against his chest. "Andrew…" she tried to speak his name, but when he did not respond, she began to ponder why it was that an angel would cry in front of her. She looked up at him and reached a tentative hand up to feel the spot where one of his tears had made its trek down his face.

"You wonder why I feel sad," Andrew whispered gently, his voice filled with despondency. Linda nodded. "I know that you don't think much of yourself, and that makes me very sad, because I think you're such a sweet child."

Linda looked up at him, and at that moment, she could feel her own tears welling up from beneath her eyes as the truth hit her, he knew what she felt about herself, and he cared enough about her to be there and help her see that these untruths were literally killing her. She cast a final glance up at him as she allowed the extent of pain she carried to release and she tumbled helplessly into his arms, the agony emerging in her tears. "Andrew…" she tried to speak his name through her tears, but it emerged merely as a strange mix of syllables and sounds. As she tried without success to speak, she shook her head, as her face remained buried against his chest, her cries filled with so much pain.

In response to her outburst, Andrew immediately picked the sobbing young girl up and pulled her up onto his lap. Brushing his hand through her hair, he could feel her trembling from beneath his touch, the pain so overwhelming for her that all the pretense seemed to melt away, leaving the girl limp like a rag-doll in his arms. As she continued to release her heartrending pain, she could feel that the angel was still holding her, her head resting against his chest, but nothing else seemed to matter as the tears continued to fall.

*****

Back at the clinic, Monica and Gloria were still watching their assignment, but neither of them knew how to approach the man. He seemed to have a wall twenty miles high completely surrounding him.

"Monica," Gloria finally spoke all the while trying to focus her attention on something other than how horrible this case was panning out.

"What is it?" Monica asked as she saw Tess coming down the hall towards them.

"How are we going to even reach him, he seems so out of reach?" Gloria asked.

Monica shook her head. "Any changes, Tess?"

"I was told that Frank Simpson was to get involved in this case," Tess responded. "Now we will see if he can reach his friend. If he cannot, then maybe Sam said it best, the heart of a man is dead long before the physical death occurs."

Gloria looked at Monica with a question looming, but instead of speaking, she could see that Frank was coming down the hall and had stopped right in front of the office door.

"Nurse?" He looked at Gloria and when she nodded he continued to speak. "Is Dr. Thompson in?"

"Yes, he just barreled through about ten minutes ago," Gloria said, all the while, the two supervisors looked at her with surprise in their eyes at her use of wording.

Frank nodded and without knocking, he opened the door and went into the small office. "Richard, we need to talk," he began thus causing his colleague and friend to look up from where he was sitting.

"Why? I think you said enough back in the waiting room," Richard said coldly.

"You know, I don't think that you would believe me if I told you, but I've been thinking about some stuff and I have to tell you and it may not be easy to swallow, but you and I need a break."

"A break? With all these claim forms, trying to train a nurse that asks stupid questions about rice pudding during lunch breaks. Right, like I really need a break."

"You're damn right you do. Richard, you need to stop or at the very least, slow down. You know how you're always telling patients to slow down, stop and smell the roses and all that jazz? Well, the truth is, you need to do the exact same thing you endlessly advise them to." He looked around the room, his eyes filled with frustration. "You sit in this office literally sprouting mushrooms. You rummage through files only to come out and yell at some poor kid who is unable to speak in understandable English in order to defend herself. That little girl that you laid into today, cannot speak, Richard, she can only make indistinctive sounds, her vocal chords are not healthy, she was born with this defect, and it could have happened any number of ways, but the fact of the matter is, she can't talk, and I would be willing to bet that that is why Linda Kilgore was on the street to begin with. She probably got kicked to the curb by her parents because of this."

Richard looked up. "Did you say the last name of that child was Kilgore?"

"Yes, here's her file, just take a look," Frank said softly. "I know that when Trisha left you, she went back to her maiden name, and that it was Kilgore. I'm not making assumptions about her, but did you notice that she has some of the same physical characteristics as you have?"

Richard accepted the file from his colleague. "Why are you making these assumptions about this? I mean; Trisha never had kids."

"She didn't or she didn't tell you?" Frank asked, his voice level.

"We never talked about it, and she didn't show," Richard said angrily, but he glanced down at the manila colored folder and shook his head as though in denial.

Frank shrugged his shoulders. "The only way we could determine if Trisha had a little girl after she left is through a blood test."

Richard shook his head. "It can't be, the possibility that she had a child after leaving me, well there's no chance, you know how she was."

"Yes, and that's why I wouldn’t have put it past her to dump her 'less than perfect' child out on the streets just like she did to you. Richard, you're my best friend in the world, you've become hardened by life because of what both Carrie and Trisha did to you, but now you may have the chance to help someone, and maybe you can help find the peace you need."

"Why are you talking like this, it sounds like you've been hanging around Hollywood Boulevard where all those religious speakers who are only there to push their wares." Richard shoved the file back over to his friend. "Do you honestly think that me talking to this kid will make any bit of difference in my life?"

"It can," a voice emerged and Frank turned around to see that Monica and Gloria were now standing in the doorway, the auburn headed angel was holding some files, Gloria was a few steps behind her, but she regarded the two men with a look that clearly said that they both should listen.

Richard looked at them, neither of them were glowing, and it was obvious that he did not like the interruption one single bit. "What are you two doing in here?"

"We're sorry to interrupt, Dr. Thompson, but we wanted to give you some forms to fill out for the insurance company and we couldn't help but overhear what you were talking about," Monica said as she handed the forms across the desk. He snatched them away and looked at her his eyes telling her more than his words could, and in their coldness, it was obvious that he wanted them to get out of the office.

"You know, being strong does not mean shutting out your friends," Gloria offered, but her voice went ignored as Richard looked at them all the while refusing to listen.

"Get out of here!" He shouted as he flung Linda's file back at Frank, the papers falling out onto the desk. When no one moved, he looked at them through cold and angry eyes. "All of you. I want to be alone, now!"

Sighing deeply the two angels left, but Frank remained seated and looked across the desk at his friend. "Get out of here, Frank! I mean it, our partnership is over."

"No," the other man said. "It may have been out of line for these two ladies to come in here, but they could probably have heard you yelling halfway through the clinic. You know they are both right, shutting me out is not going to make your problems go away, it's only going to make them worse. If you don't want to listen to me, then God help us all, because you really need to talk to someone about this, because if you don't, you're going to loose everything."

"What do you mean?"

"Your attitude may do everything to destroy what we spent the last eighteen years trying to build." Frank took a letter from his pocket and threw it across the desk at him. "It looks as though the former nurses who worked here are getting together to file a class action lawsuit against this clinic for mental abuse as well as misuse of authority." Frank looked at his friend earnestly. "You have all the news, Richard, now it will be up to you as to how you use it."

With that, Frank got up and walked out of the office leaving Richard seated alone.

*****

"You shouldn't have gone in there," Tess said once Monica and Gloria came out into the hallway. "Frank was doing just fine in there, and now you may have made things worse, and Richard may be all the more out of reach."

Gloria and Monica took a deep breath. "What are we supposed to do, Tess, just sit around and wait for him to come to his senses?" Gloria asked, for the first time finding the courage to stand up to her and Monica's supervisor. "I mean, we couldn't help but hear him."

Tess looked at Gloria. "That may be so, Little Angel, but Richard Thompson is a hard case, you've known this from the start, and now the way you have gone with it, it looks as though two angels have just succeeded in upsetting the whole celestial apple cart."

"How so, Monica only told him the truth?" Gloria said.

"Tess is right, Gloria," Monica interjected. "I made a mistake, we should have let Frank handle this, he is the one who was halfway there in telling Richard the truth."

Tess nodded. "Now Frank Simpson will probably never get his partner and friend to take a break. Worse still, we will probably never be able to tell Richard the truth about his daughter. He seems to be completely in denial about it and now, this little girl will probably suffer as a result of it."

"What did Frank mean about the lawyer?" Monica asked.

"Just what he said, there are a number of people who were fired without warning nor justification and they have gotten together to file a lawsuit against this clinic, or better said, against Richard Thompson. This man has more than his share of problems, he will have to deal with this or else nothing will get resolved."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Gloria asked.

"Well, babies, chances are, now that Richard knows that there will be trouble coming to his clinic, he will most likely contact a lawyer as a way to protect himself, and there is no way that he will ever be able to think about his personal life again."

Monica looked at Tess. "What can we do now?"

"You and Gloria are to stay here, you still have a job to do, and I've got to get back and see how our Angel Boy and Linda are fairing," Tess said as Monica and Gloria went to take care of their part of this quickly disastrous assignment.

As soon as they found Frank in the hallway, Monica approached leaving Gloria, who returned slowly to the nurses' station.

"Frank?" Monica spoke his name as though it was a question, and after a few moments, he turned and looked at her.

"Monica, I'm sorry, I'm just not in the mood to talk about this," he said sadly. "I just don't know what to do anymore, his bitterness is destroying him."

"I know," she said and smiled gently at him. "I also know that Linda is his daughter, and if he doesn't accept that, then it could destroy her future."

"How could you know that without having seen this file? I mean, you don't know Linda, according to the employment records, you only started here today, how could you have known anything about Linda or Richard?" Frank asked softly.

"You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you, but don't give up on your friend, Frank, if a friendship is as much of a gift as yours is with Richard. You know that a gift such as this, is everything worth fighting for with all that is within you."

The doctor nodded. "Yes, I know you're telling the truth, but this is not exactly easy to do that, I can't just come out and tell him about her."

"When the time is right, you will find the courage to face all of these things, Frank," she said. "Of that, I am certain."

Frank nodded and instead of going back towards Richard's office, he headed towards his office and Monica was left staring after him. After a few moments, she went back over to where Gloria was standing and waiting for her. As she reached the younger of the two angels, all she could do was shake her head. Things here seemed very likely to not get any worse, because it was this moment where thing had already reached that point already.

*****

Once Tess had disappeared, she returned to the house and went up the steps until she had reached the front door. Walking inside, she could see that Andrew was now seated on the sofa in the living room, his eyes closed as though in prayer.

"How is she, Angel Boy?" Tess asked, thus breaking him out of his reverie and causing him to turn around.

"OK, she fell asleep on the way back here this afternoon, I don't think I should take her back to the clinic, Tess, she is in so much pain, and I don't really know what else I could do to make things better for her. I have tried to help her in every way I can think of, but it's just not happening, there is so much that she has been through already, Tess," he said softly.

"You know that her mother and stepfather abused her, and now she has been rejected by her birth father as well. This case is getting harder and harder by the minute because there is a big piece of truth that desperately needs to be said. Linda is going to need you, Andrew, but she's also going to need to know the truth. This is the most important element to that little girl," she said softly as she rested her hand on his shoulder and sat down next to him.

"So her birth father really is Richard Thompson," Andrew whispered softly. "I thought when the Father told me, that He was kidding, that this couldn't be true."

"Do you honestly think the Father in all His glory would kid you about something like this, Andrew?" Tess asked.

"I don't really know," Andrew said softly. "I was hoping that it was a mistake, that Linda's father would turn out to be someone like Frank, someone who is kind, and seems to wear his heart on his sleeve."

"I know what you mean, Angel Boy, but that is not how things are playing out in the real world. One of us is going to have to tell Linda the truth, and how she reacts will be up to her. I think you should tell her, Andrew, she has responded to you much more favorably than to Monica, Gloria, or myself."

Andrew shook his head. "I don't know how to tell her, Tess, I think it is going to hurt her. She was so terrified of Richard, every time she saw him and who could blame her? Every time he even looked at her, he has yelled or gotten angry with her. She only sees him when he's upset and yet seeing her only seems to anger him as though she is to blame for his pain. Tess, she's just a child. How can this happen that he's her father, he's not the depiction of someone who is gentle or loving father."

Tess nodded. "Maybe you should go upstairs and have a little talk with her."

"Do we really need to do this right now?" Andrew asked.

"I wish it would be easier, but the sooner Linda hears the truth, the better, and chances are, she will have to hear it from you," Tess said softly all the while knowing that Andrew was completely entranced by the young girl. She had an innocence about her that somehow seemed to capture the gentle heart of the Angel of Death.

Andrew got up off the sofa and walked towards the stairs. Please Father, he began to pray. I don't know if I can do this, she's so fragile.

It will be important for her to know the truth, My angel, and all of it. She has to know that she needs her earthly father as much as Richard will need her.

But she's so afraid of him. How can I tell her that this man is her father when the mere sight of him scares her to death? Andrew could not help but question the words of the Father; he was just so overwhelmed with concern.

She must know the truth, Andrew, were the only words that emerged and the angel tapped softly on the door to the room where Linda slept.

When the door opened a few minutes later, Linda looked up at him, all the while trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

"Did you sleep well?" Andrew asked gently as he looked down at the young girl.

She nodded and reached for his hand and relaxed when she felt his fingers curling around her own.

"I need to talk to you about something really important," Andrew began, his voice earnest and when he looked at the young girl, he could see the fear in her eyes. For some strange reason, she suddenly looked nervous, almost afraid. He took a deep breath as he continued, this time his voice was softer. "No, Linda, I'm not sending you back to the streets," he said almost as though he was reading her mind. "There's some news my friends and I have for you and I've been elected the one to tell you."

Linda nodded as they went into the room. She approached the bookshelf and sat down on the carpeted floor in front of it. Her eyes sought his and she watched as he managed to sit Indian style on the floor next to her.

Glancing up, he could see that her eyes were on the books. "You really like to read, don't you?"

She nodded all the while standing up and reaching for 'The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe', her favorite of the 'Chronicles of Narnia'.

Andrew looked down at the book that she held, and when he recognized that she had this particular book in her hands, he looked at her. "Linda," he cleared his throat wanting to find a way to lead up to him telling her what he had to say, but knowing all the while that this would not be easy for either of them. "I know that you've been through a lot of pain over the last days, and you look at this book as your escape, but sweetheart, the truth will not be hidden away by fantasy."

When he saw a frightened stare from the child, he took a deep breath, all the while chastising himself. These words sounded so hollow, he thought sadly, all the while he could feel his heart unconsciously hammering against his chest. No, this just isn't working. The fantasy was all she had, all that somehow managed to keep her innocence intact. "I mean; you know how you felt when you finished reading the first book, when the four children returned to the real world, and realized that the first adventure was behind them?"

Linda nodded as she felt a single tear brim from beneath one of her eyes and Andrew watched as it slid down over her face.

"No, it wasn't sad, it was the end of a chapter, the end of a part, but not the end of everything," Andrew said. "You know when I found you last night, I told you that I wouldn't let anyone hurt you, that I was going to help you stay safe?"

Linda leaned over and kissed his cheek, this action an indication to him that this young girl really trusted him and knew that somehow in all the events that had taken place, that he was not going to let her get hurt any more than she already had been.

"Part of feeling safe is knowing the truth, of being able to accept that the truth is supposed to set you free, that it is supposed to help you find closure and peace when you are not always able to find it." This sounds like I'm giving a speech for a political convention; Andrew thought sadly as he saw the confusion on the face of the girl. "Linda, Tess, Monica, and Gloria found your father."

Linda looked at him, her eyes filled with fear and she backed away from him. Her thoughts were a jumble as she remembered the man who had beat her, the man who had treated her so unkindly. She backed away from him as a terrified scream ripped itself from her throat her eyes regarding him with a feeling of betrayal. How could he have done this to her especially after she had trusted him?

Before Andrew could get to his feet, Linda had fled from the room, her tears streaming down her face as she reached the stairs. Not watching where she was going, she stumbled, and as he came out of the room only to witness her as she fell down the stairs. "Linda!" He called out her name, but when she hit the landing, he could see that she lay in a heap on the floor at the bottom of the stairs.

Andrew ran down the stairs and when he reached the girl's side, he was dressed in beige and glowing, his eyes filling with tears as he regarded the child who he had tried with all that was inside him to be honest with. With tears streaming down his handsome face, he sat down next to her; his face filled with agony as he reached over and brushed a gentle hand against her soft face.

"What happened to her, Andrew?" Tess asked as she came over to them only to see the young girl on the floor and the Angel of Death sitting next to her, his face streaked with tears.

"I told her that you found her father, and she lost control of her emotions. She ran out of the room before I could even stop her," the Angel of Death said softly. "It's my fault, Tess."

"No, Andrew, this case is just harder than some of the other. Now, baby, I want you to stay with her, I'm going to see if I can get some help," Tess said as she grabbed her coat and quickly headed towards the front door, thus leaving Andrew still kneeling down on the floor and looking into the face of the young girl who lay there.

*****

Once Tess was gone, Andrew looked down at the girl on the floor. When he was given word, he reached over and brushed the back of his hand against her cheek. Seconds passed and the walls of the house disappeared and a meadow filled with wild flowers suddenly replaced them.

Linda was standing in this place and looking around, her eyes filled with fear, but after a few moments, she looked at Andrew. "Andrew? II can talk here."

"Yes, you can," he smiled gently at her.

"Why?" She asked softly, all the while her hands were grasping her throat, her eyes wide with disbelief at hearing the normal sound of her own voice. "I can really talk." She said the same words again, all the while marveling at the sounds of her own voice. As she heard her words coming forth as though she was a perfectly normal teenager, she could feel the tears in her eyes as they streamed from beneath the lids. "You understand me, don't you?" She asked, and when he nodded, she continued. "I-I can understand myself."

Andrew looked at her as he came over to where she was standing, his hand coming to rest on her shoulder. "In God's country, people can do things that they normally cannot do on Earth. When we go back though, you will, unfortunately, not have this ability any longer."

"Why not?"

"It's rather hard to explain, Linda," Andrew began.

"Then tell me this; if He was going to send me back, then why did you bring me here in the first place?"

"Linda, please, my intention was not to bring you to this place only to rob you of that which you have dreamed your whole life of having," he said softly, but extended his hand towards her. "Would you come sit with me?"

Seeing the heartbreak on his handsome face made the decision for her and she reached a trembling hand out towards him. "Andrew, is this a dream?"

"No, you are here with me right at this moment," he said softly.

"Why did God even make me?" She began to speak.

"Because He loves you," Andrew said gently. "Do you remember when I told you that it doesn't matter what you can say, what matters is what is in your heart. I think that's why God made you, sweetheart, He wanted to have someone show the world without spoken language just how much beauty is out there."

"But, I'm flawed and…" her voice trailed and she looked helplessly at him, her eyes swimming in tears.

"No, you're not flawed, Linda," Andrew said softly, his voice gentle all the while he was shaking his head. However, he could blatantly make out the disbelief on the face of the young girl.

Rather than waiting for her to express further words of bitterness and loathing that she seemed to carry in the deep recesses of her heart, he reached over and touched her face, his fingertips soft as they brushed the tears away. "You know, God made you into such a beautiful and special girl, Linda. I don't believe that you really think that you are all these horrible things you say. I think you want to believe otherwise, but don't know how," he said gently.

"I do," she whispered, "but I don't know how. Please Andrew, can't you tell me how?"

"You mustn't believe that the ability to speak is the only deciding factor as to whether or not you are intelligent, because I can already tell you that you are a very smart girl. When God made this world, he spoke it into being, but what is more important than the ability to speak is the ability to express emotion. To read a book and have it emote a response in you. How would you feel of you were to read a book and not have any emotional response to it? If you did not have this, then you would not likely pick up another one. You see, the ability to speak is a tool, and language is defined as a means by which human beings communicate."

"But if I can't talk, then how do I use this tool? How can I let people know what I feel?" She asked as the tears continued to stream from beneath her eyes. "Not everyone responds to me as you have done. Not everyone is as kind and caring as you are, Andrew." Instead of remaining on the ground next to him, she got up with the intention of walking away, the rejection evident in her every action.

Deep inside of her she knew that these were just words, that when she went back, nothing would change, she would still be this pitiful creature that her parents didn't want, and that society had cast aside. Linda could not find the strength to believe his words.

Instead of letting her go, Andrew reached out and took her hand firmly in his before she could successfully distance herself from him.

"God gave you something that most people don't have, He gave you the music as a way to express feelings, hopes, and dreams. Do you think that He would put you on the Earth without giving you some way in which to accept and cope with what you cannot do?"

Linda stopped and turned around as he continued speaking. "You have been focusing more energy on that which you cannot do than on that which you can. Do you not realize that what God did give you are things that you are taking for granted? You have those beautiful eyes that can see the world around you, your ears that can hear the sound of music as it resonates throughout an empty room. Tell me, how do you feel when you play music?"

"Good," she whispered meekly suddenly feeling ashamed of herself.

"Well, there you go," he said gently. "Look at people who have less, look at people like Helen Keller who beat insurmountable odds to reach the level that she did. Look at how she was born with all her senses intact and during one event in her life, three of them were snapped away."

"Really?" Linda looked at him.

Andrew smiled and nodded as he extended his hand to her, and when the teenager accepted it, he pulled her down so that she would be seated next to him. "Helen Keller suffered from an early childhood illness, at that time it was called 'brain fever', and this disease left her not only blind and deaf, she lost her capability to speak."

"God sent you to her?"

"Yes, I was sent because everyone feared that she would die and that is what an Angel of Death does, we go and are there for people who may be near death or dying. Anyway, as she got older, people would call her deaf, blind and dumb, they would label and judge this beautiful child for the things she could not do instead of the things she mastered. She learned sign language, could read Braille, and conducted seminars and lectures about what she had learned and all of this happened nearly a hundred years ago. She changed the world, Linda, and today there are hospitals and foundations bearing her name, simply because she had a teacher who helped her, but also had the will and ambition to make of her life whatever she could. She, as well as her teacher, showed in a very profound way that language, understanding, and intelligence are not measured in how well one is able to speak, but rather what is inside and how willing they are to listen with their heart. It goes beyond what words you speak, but rather what you feel in your heart."

"How could Helen Keller have done all of this if she couldn't see?" Linda asked weakly, her words indicative of someone who was becoming fascinated with his words.

"Give me your hand, close your eyes, and I'll show you," Andrew said softly.

Linda did as he said and within seconds she could feel the movement of his hand, her fingers covering his hand as he began to sign to her. Not understanding what he was doing, she opened her eyes once again. "I don't understand."

"Well, if you learn sign language, then I think you will be able to speak with your hands. Even when we go back, you'll be able to convey meaning and thought in another way this one through motion and signs, and this is a beautiful manner in which many people communicate," Andrew smiled.

"Did you see her a lot throughout her life?" Linda asked.

Andrew nodded. "Yes, I did, and I'm going to tell you that she was a remarkable woman. Do you know what she did that was so extraordinary?" When Linda shook her head, he continued. "When society considered her to be less than beautiful, she would say things that were the epitome of truth and her life became such a significant thing of beauty. Instead of fitting into the society's image of a burden or hindrance, she refused to be that; instead she became a principal figure and inspiration for those around her who had handicaps. She had it harder than just about anyone you could have possibly have met, but none of that mattered, she had a thirst for knowledge, and this thirst made her an inspiration to others. It didn't matter at all what she may have lost, what mattered was that she had the courage and strength to persevere. She made her life what it was, and you can do one of two things with the knowledge of her story. You can follow her courageous example, or you can continue to allow the jealous words of those around you to drag you down. It's your choice, God hopes you will make the right one, Linda, and so do I."

Linda looked at him. "You don't see me as a freak, Andrew, but everybody else does. I couldn't talk to you, but yet, you understood me, and you spent time talking to me as though I was important as though I could give something back that was special."

"You are and you can, Linda," Andrew reached over and touched her hair with a gentle hand. "Do you know what Helen Keller once said? She said: 'the public must learn that the blind man is neither the genius nor a freak nor an idiot. He has a mind that can be educated, a hand which can be trained, ambitions which it is right for him to strive to realize, and it is the duty of the public to help him make the best of himself so that he can win light through work.' Now, don't you think that maybe it's possible for you to do the same, to use the gift of sight, and music, to help enable you to discover how special you are. This is not just in your own right and your own discovery, but this is also in the eyes of the Father who loves you unconditionally. That same God sent you angels to tell you the truth about your life, as well as about who your father is."

"My father?" Linda looked at him; she had nearly forgotten this aspect of what he had tried to tell her at the house. "I thought my father was Jason Kilgore."

Andrew shook his head. "No, he is your stepfather."

"My what?"

"Your stepfather, Linda, your mother's husband is not your real father, your father was treated as unkindly as you were, he was hurt by the words that your mother chose to say to him, but by no means were those words ever true." Andrew smiled at her.

"He said I was a mistake, that I couldn't talk because I was flawed and ugly," Linda shook her head sadly. "He said I would never ever amount to anything."

Andrew shook his head. "Like I said before, linguistic ability is not something that determines the level of genius in His children."

Linda looked at him. "Then I want to stay here. Please Andrew, let me stay here with you, I don't want to go back there."

The angel shook his head. "I cannot let you stay here, Linda, there are people who are going to need you. You may not yet realize this, but it's truth, and God wants you to go back because He has given you a precious gift that He would like to see you use."

"You just don't understand, I'm not like Helen Keller, I'm weak and scared; I just want all of this to end, I can't take anymore rejection, everybody just looks at me and they see someone abnormal and weird," Linda said softly. "They've all hated me…"

"Not everyone has, sweetheart," Andrew said gently.

"No, but so many have already," she said softly.

"Maybe the reason God sent you angels was to give you some of that strength that will enable you to help people, that you will be able, through that loving spirit of yours, to touch and help people not take for granted those things that they have been given. Maybe, just maybe, you're purpose is to see the best in life that God can give, and then go forward and inspire people, just like Helen Keller did."

"I'm scared to try, Andrew," she whispered.

The angel reached over and took her chin gently in his hands and as he tipped her face up so that she would be looking at him, he smiled gently as he shook his head. "Are you really sure about that? Because something tells me that you are critically underestimating yourself."

Linda shook her head, but instead of speaking further, she reached up and touched his hand that was still holding her face gently. She closed her eyes, but when she opened them again, she could see that she was back in the house, and Andrew was looking down at her with a gentle smile on his face.

She reached up and touched her forehead, but shook her head. It had all been a dream and even though she had hurt herself, she remembered every word she had said, and now she was back at the house. As she tried to sit up, Andrew tightened his hold on her and shook his head.

"You hit your head," he said gently. "Tess is gone to get a doctor, and when she gets here, we'll know if you should be moving around."

Linda did as he said and remained in his arms, her thoughts not on her forehead and the gash she sustained when falling, and her thoughts were on the place Andrew had taken her.

*****

At the Clinic, Richard was getting ready to leave for the day; he was still in a bad mood. Luckily Monica and Gloria had started to back off a little, but he was not certain why it was the two women had succeeded in getting on his nerves, but he did know one thing was for certain, he just wanted to get away from there, get out of the clinic, and away from the source of all his pain.

"Excuse me, Doctor Thompson?" A voice emerged and he turned around to see that Tess was coming down the hall in his direction.

"Yes, but I'm going off duty," he said.

"Doctor, do you remember when you went into medicine? It was some sixteen years ago, if my memory serves me correctly." As she spoke, something in the woman's voice made the doctor stop dead in his tracks. He turned around.

"Do I know you?" He asked.

"Think back, Richard," Tess said and looked intently at him.

"You were my pre-med instructor in college, right?" He asked, as he tried to clear his throat, but his voice emerged more or less as a squeak. "I thought there was something familiar about you."

"Richard, do you remember when you looked at the patients in the clinics where you interned and saw human beings looking back at you?" Tess asked.

Richard nodded. "It was before my first wife left me," he whispered.

"I know baby, but it wasn't your first wife that hurt you and made you this rock solid person, it was after Trisha left you, was it not?" Tess reached out and instead of speaking accusingly at him; she spoke with all the love and understanding that was inside of her.

Richard nodded. "Lately everyone has been trying to remind me of the past, and I don't want to remember the past."

"Because it's too painful, but Richard, you have to face the past before you can begin to face the future. That is what your friend Frank has been trying to do, and that is what Monica and Gloria were trying to do," Tess said gently. "Not only are there people here who want you to help, but God wants to help and He cannot unless you trust Him."

"God?" Richard spoke the name as though he was filled with the utmost bitterness.

"God is real, Richard," Tess said as she began to glow, and she looked at him, her dark eyes regarding the doctor as she spoke. "He sent you angels because He loves you, and He wants to help heal the broken spirit within the man."

"Where was He?" Richard asked shaking his head.

"He is always there, Richard, it was not the Father that left you, it was you who left Him. God wants to restore you, not just your clinic and the work that you and Frank have devoted your lives to, but He wants to restore you, and your family."

"I don't have a family," Richard said softly all the while shaking his head.

"Yes, Richard, you do, you have a daughter, and she needs you," Tess said gently all the while wondering how this man who seemed to be the embodiment of bitterness and hostility would react.

"I have a daughter?" Richard asked, his face now unusually pale. "But how?"

"Richard, God always works in wonderful ways, He creates miracles during the hardest of times, He gives strength when one experiences the most pain, but what he did two months before Trisha left you was he gave you a child, a daughter, who needs you now more than ever."

"Why didn't she tell me?" Richard asked.

Tess shook her head. "I cannot answer that, but I can tell you that Trisha remarried and when she had a daughter, she told her that her father was a man named Jason Kilgore. This man abused your daughter, and now, Linda is alone and she needs you."

"Linda Kilgore?" Richard whispered. "Oh my God, that child was…"

"She was your daughter, Richard," Tess said softly. "She's mute."

Richard nodded as though he understood, but it was obvious that the man was still in a great deal of pain. "I didn't know."

"Baby, God knows that, but now you have a chance to make things better for both of you, as well as for this clinic, and those who work here. You had a dream once, Richard, you wanted to make medicine something that was accessible to everyone, and you started, but you allowed the cruel wods of two individuals to squash that dream. Instead of trying to help people, you delved into this idea that those who hurt you were right, that you deserved to be cast to the side, that your noble work was a sign of weakness."

"And Linda? How did she end up homeless?" Richard asked.

"Her mother, and Jason threw her out because of what she could not do, instead of focusing on that which she could do. She possesses a marvelous musical gift. You remember the white house with the picket fence that in between where you live and this clinic. Do you remember the music you heard one morning, and how entrancing it was?"

Richard nodded. "You couldn't have been there?"

"I was, and I know that the music your daughter made had an affect on you, but it also had an affect of me, as well as the Father. He knows that Linda has a gift, now she needs to have the encouragement to enhance that gift. She needs her father to look into her eyes and see and acknowledge the beauty that she is. Without that, this child will continue to grow feeling unworthy of the love that she deeply deserves as well as needs."

"How can I?" He asked weakly. "She probably hates me."

"She has a forgiving spirit, Richard, allow yourself to be touched by that and then through your sincerity, Linda will find the courage she needs to face whatever it is that she needs to face."

The doctor nodded and after a few moments, he closed his eyes, but when he opened them again, Tess was gone. He took a deep breath as he rubbed his hand over his face; he started to walk towards the door to his office. Just before reaching the door, he could feel the tears as they streamed helplessly from beneath his eyes. "What has happened to me?" He asked the stillness as he shook his head.

"Richard?" Frank's voice emerged and he looked up, his eyes filled with sadness as he regarded his friend. "Is everything OK?"

Richard shook his head. "Frank, something has happened, I remember…"

"Remember what?"

"My dream, our dream, what we wanted to do with this place, how we wanted to help people, and make a difference here. You tried, and I…"

Frank smiled weakly. "You wanted to, but you lost your nerve after Trisha left. You thought that she had been right, but you know now that she wasn't."

"We have to make things right, not just with my daughter, but also with the lawsuit, we have to change, and we have to give up the protocol. I don't care anymore if we lose money, I just know that there are things more important than how much we make."

Frank nodded and smiled. "We'll get through it, my friend, I promise you, we will work through it together. After eighteen years, well, let's just say that old habits die hard."

Richard smiled. "Can you stay a little while, I have something I have to do?"

Frank nodded. "I'll stay on as long as necessary. I thought you always knew that I would be there. We've been through thick and thin together, and one day, you will understand that that is why we are friends and not just colleagues."

Richard nodded as the tears continued to wash down over his face. "I'll try to remember that."

Frank smiled and reached over and smiled at his friend. "Welcome back."

Richard nodded as he raced down the hall in the direction of the exit. It no longer mattered that he went back to his office, he knew now that things were going to be OK, that he had no reason to worry. At least now he had something he didn't have before to sustain him: Faith.

*****

Twenty minutes later, Andrew was still holding Linda in his arms, the young girl had fallen asleep there, and though the Angel of Death did not foresee any danger, he knew that he was not to leave the young girl until someone had arrived to help her.

Linda slowly opened her eyes a few moments later. She was resting in the angel's lap, but her hand reached up to touch his face.

When he felt her fingertips against his cheek, the angel smiled down at her. "Awake again?" He whispered, but when he could read some traces of fear in her eyes. "Don't worry, Linda, you're going to be OK, no matter what happens, God is with you, and I'm also here."

Linda smiled weakly as she snuggled up against him her face meshed against the soft cotton of his shirt. As she laid there in the comfort of his arms, the front door suddenly opened and Richard Thompson came into the house.

Looking up, Andrew made eye contact with him before brushing his hand through Linda's hair and whispering something to her, thus causing her to look up.

Richard came over to her and sat down on the floor next to her, his eyes filled with sadness as he regarded the child Andrew held in his arms. "Hi," he whispered softly, his voice etched with nervousness. "D-Does she know?"

Linda remained in Andrew's arms, but she managed to look up, her eyes meeting those of the man who had always been so hostile every time she had seen him. As she looked at him, she covered her face with her hands, all the while afraid.

"I'm sorry, Linda," Richard began, thus causing her to uncover her face. "Will you forgive me?"

The young girl stared up at Andrew, and when the angel eventually nodded, she timidly looked back into the eyes of her father and offered a barely recognizable nod.

"I didn't mean to hurt you," he continued. "It's not just because you're my daughter, Linda, it's because I was scared, and I didn't want to get hurt again."

The teenager nodded.

"I really had no idea that you are my daughter, that…" he could feel the emotions getting the better of him as he looked shamefully down at her lap. "Oh, God, what have I done?"

As this man began to weep bitterly, Linda slowly reached over and touched his head, the hair tickling her fingertips and when he looked up after some moments had passed, Linda reached over and could feel his face, as well as the tears that were streaming from his eyes. With her free hand, she touched the other side of his face, the tears dampening her hands, and when she felt them against her hands she removed her fingers as she leaned over and began to kiss the tears away. "Don't…cry…Daddy," she managed to speak, her voice soft, but the words hard to say, and this caused Richard to look up at her, his eyes still filled with tears.

"You can speak a little."

"Her words come from her heart, Richard," Andrew said softly and the man looked over at the angel who had backed a little bit away from Linda so that she could crawl over to her father.

Richard nodded, but he looked into the eyes of his daughter. "I can't help it, sweetheart, I rejected you…I rejected you…and you are my child, my daughter. I am really no better a person than those who hurt you because of your inabilities," Richard said softly. "But, you see, you have a gentle heart, something that I don't have. I lost mine when your mother left me. I want to find it again, will you help me?"

Linda nodded as she looked at Andrew all the while hoping that he would help her by expressing to him what she felt. "Andrew…" she tried to speak his name, but the angel shook his head.

"Linda, you have the gift to express your emotions in another way," he said gently. "Use the Father's gift to you, sweetheart, that will convey your love to your Earthly father, better than you can even begin to imagine."

Upon hearing his words, Linda realized that it would be up to her to convey her feelings to her father and that Andrew could not do so, this was what she would have to do herself and when she followed Andrew's gaze over to the piano, she realized what she would have to do.

Linda motioned to Andrew that she wanted to get to her feet and with his help, she managed to stand, and make her way over to the piano. As Richard watched her seat herself on the bench, he too, eventually got to his feet, and walked over as well.

Without even having the music in front of her, Linda began to play the introduction to a song that she had heard and loved. Now, as the music emerged, Gloria suddenly appeared in the room and was standing next to the large instrument, thus accompanying the music that the teenager was playing.

There is an answer

Someday we will know

And you will ask her

Why she had to go

We live and die

We laugh and we cry

You must take away the pain

Before you can begin to live again.

So let it start, my friend, let it start

Let the tears come rolling

From your heart

And when you need a light

Through the lonely night

Carry me like a fire in your heart

Carry me like a fire in your heart.

There is a ripple

Rolling to the sea

It will be with her

For all eternity

But to me that remains

I need you here again

So hold you in your memory

And learn to make the shadows disappear

Yes, let it start, my friend, let it start

Let the love come rolling

From your heart

And when you need a light

In the lonely night

Carry me like a fire in your heart

Carry me like a fire in your heart

And when you need a light

In a lonely night

Carry me like a fire in your heart

Carry me like a fire in your heart

And when you need a light

In the lonely night

Carry me like a fire in your heart

Carry me like a fire in your heart.

As the song ended, both father and daughter had tears streaming down their faces. Moments passed and they both looked around the room. The first thing they noticed was that both of the angels were now gone, and they both knew that this was now the time for them to make a new start, together.

"And when you need a light in this lonely night, carry me like a fire in your heart," Richard repeated the words to the song as he nodded. The song was what would help him make a start, a new beginning and this time, he knew that he would never ever be alone. He would not forget that God was there and that instead of being spiteful towards Him, he was blessed because now he had Linda in his life. As he wiped the last of the tears from his eyes, he looked into the teary eyes of his daughter and knew that for her, this would be her new beginning as well.

As she got up from the piano, Richard came over to her and put his arms around her, thus holding her tightly in his embrace. "You do forgive me, don't you?"

Linda smiled weakly, but she nodded as she hesitantly wound her arms around him, her head now coming to rest against his chest. Moments slowly passed and she glanced over and could see a family of snow-white doves was now standing in the windowsill.

As the beautiful birds flew away, she smiled all the while realizing that her angel, her friend, Andrew, had been right, he knew that she was just as capable of making a difference to people as Helen Keller was. It was the love that dwelled in her forgiving heart that had shown herself prolifically that she had done so; this starting with her own father.

The End.

*****

Dear Reader,

The lyrics for 'Carry Me (Like a Fire in Your Heart) are borrowed and the song is performed by Chris de Burgh. Neither the song nor the information about Helen Keller which I researched from the Internet is mine, and nothing here is intended to infringe on anyone's copyrights.

Blessed be,

Yvette Jessen

July 30, 2002

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