by Mary May
“I would imagine a military hospital would have a lot of those slimy suckers crawling around. This place oozes negativity.”
Gideon nodded at Zareck’s comment. “Yes, it does. Some areas are worse than others. Dr. Reed is a praying man, but I feel that he uses it more as a tool than a line of communication with God. It’s like he is covering all the bases, but I could be wrong.”
Charlotte cast a sympathetic glance toward Charlie. “Poor Charlie has been dealing with this all on her own?”
Gideon followed Charlotte’s gaze. “Yes, but she has really held up remarkably well. I’m proud of her. She hasn’t let this shake her faith and she stands her ground with the doctor.” Gideon felt like a proud parent as he watched Charlie fill her family in on the details of everything. The girl had something special…a spark…that fire in her soul that reminded him of saints of old. Of course, it could just be good old fashion stubbornness, but whatever it was she needed it.
Finally he turned back to the group, the angels. “So how are things at home and with the family?”
Zareck shook his head, a slow grin spreading across his face. “Chickenpox must be an illness from the deepest depths of hell. Never in all of his life have I ever seen Devon so…so…whiny! Do you know that at one point he actually pouted? Full on pout mode! Poochy lip and everything! If he wasn’t so truly miserable, I would have laughed at him.”
Gideon cocked an eye at the blonde warrior before him. “So you didn’t laugh…not even a little?”
All four angels turned skeptical eyes his direction. Shrugging his shoulders in defeat, he nodded. “Ok! Ok! I laughed, but in my defense you would have laughed, too!” That had them all grinning.
“So I see he is recovered. Did the twins recover as well?” Zareck nodded.
“Oh, yeah, they were better days before their dad was. Clearly youth was on their side.”
The angels all turn to see Dr. Reed stepping out of the elevator. Charlie waved to bring him over into the waiting room.
“Dr. Reed, I would like for you to meet my family. This is my mom and dad, Sabrina and Devon Lane, and these are my grandparents, Catherine and Evan Reynolds.”
The doctor shook everyone’s hands. “I’m glad to see Charlie has some family with her now; I understand it was one thing after another preventing your trip.” He turned to Devon, looking at him with an assessing eye. “I’m glad to see you have recovered from the chickenpox. Most people don’t realize how serious this common childhood illness can be for an adult.”
Devon nodded as he rubbed at some of his still-healing scars. “It was uncomfortable, to say the least, but not too bad.”
Zareck rolled his eyes so hard Gideon half expected them to roll right out of his head. Charlotte along with Sabrina was giving Devon a long look, but Sabrina refrained from saying what she was clearly thinking while Charlotte just shook her head.
“I’m sure Charlie has kept you up to date on Nate’s condition. Do you have any questions?”
Sabrina asked when they would remove the bandage from his right eye and how soon they would know if he was in fact blind in that eye.
“The eye itself heals remarkably fast. What I’ve been waiting on more than anything else is to give the wounds around the eye a chance to heal. We have of course removed the bandages to clean the wounds, but I instructed Nate to keep his eye shut. Now that you are here to help Charlie, I see no reason in waiting any longer to find out just what Nate will be dealing with. Charlie, you can bring one family member in with you right now. I need you all to understand that although he is recovering, Nate is still very ill and can take a turn for the worse at any moment. So we need to be careful not to tire him out and bring only positive attitudes into his room.”
After agreeing to his terms, Charlie and Sabrina followed him into Nate’s room. Charlie was surprised to see that Nate didn’t pretend to be asleep when he saw her. She knew he had been faking and, while she didn’t understand it, she tried to smile and act like it didn’t hurt.
“Babe, look who came to see you! Mom and Devon are here and so are my grandparents. They will all come see you soon.”
Sabrina held her breath as she approached Nate’s bed. She had been given descriptions of his wounds and injuries but they didn’t come close to describing what she was seeing. Swallowing her tears, she gave Nate a bright smile; at least she thought she did. “Nate, oh sweetheart! It’s so good to see you. Charlie has kept us all informed on your progress. We have had nearly everyone we know praying for you and of course the twins shared it on Facebook so you are being prayed for worldwide.”
Nate gave her a small smile, as much as the stitching and the burns would allow. His voice sounding low and rough he replied, “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”
The other guardians had followed them in and Shana was being hugged and then passed around to the next angel until she stood in front of Charlotte, who gave her a bear hug and kept blessing her heart over and over. Shana finally pulled back laughing. “Honey, Shana can’t breathe!”
“Oh, I’m sorry! I get carried away; I know! I just feel for you so much. Bless your heart!”
The other guardians all chuckled as yet another “bless your heart” escaped Charlotte’s lips. She looked at them with a frown, her bare foot tapping. “Well, I can’t help it! I’m a heart blesser!”
Baylor patted her between her wings to comfort her. “And we wouldn’t have you any other way.”
They all turned their eyes to the demon that was currently lying alongside Nate stretched out like a contented pet. It was already starting to grow in size. It paid the roomful of angels very little attention, secure in the knowledge that they could do it no harm, at least not yet.
“Egads! How do you stand it?” Baylor asked, his face a perfect picture of revulsion.
Shana and Gideon looked at each other. “It’s not easy, I promise you. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to cleave it in half when Gideon wasn’t here to stop me.”
That statement had Gideon’s eyebrows shooting into his hairline as he stared at her.
“What? I said I wanted to do it. Clearly I haven’t, so stop looking at me in that tone of voice.”
Gideon looked at Shana with a deep frown but refrained from saying anything. The angels all turned their attention to the doctor who was now speaking with Nate.
“Nate, if you feel up to it I thought we would remove your bandages and see how that eye is doing.” Nate swallowed hard then nodded. Gideon knew he was terrified; it was coming off of him in waves, but he faced it with no emotion showing on his face.
The process of removing the bandages and gently wiping away the ointment took only a few minutes. Dr. Reed stood back. “Ok, Nate, whenever you’re ready open your eyes very slowly; give them time to adjust to the light. Charlie, please turn off that overhead light.”
Charlie quickly did as Dr. Reed asked then hurried back over to stand close to Nate’s side while gripping Sabrina’s hand in a death grip. She knew her mother was praying the same prayer she was, that God would perform a miracle.
Slowly Nate opened his right eye, blinking several times. He looked around the room then covered his left eye and looked a moment longer. Dropping his hand, his gaze landed back on Charlie who was watching him with a hopeful expression on her face. When Nate just looked at her without saying anything, she felt her heart drop. Dr. Reed stepped up with a small light, shining it in Nate’s damaged eye. Charlie could see that the pupil didn’t react at all.
“Babe, it’s ok…we will get through this. Maybe it will take it a few days to start working.” She looked up to Dr. Reed. “Is that possible? That it might take a day or two to start working?”
Dr. Reed shook his head. “I’m sorry, if Nate can’t see out of it now, then it’s most likely permanent.”
Sabrina looked at the doctor with tears in her eyes. “There’s no hope at all?”
Once more the doctor shook his head. “Not medically speaking, Mrs. Lane; h
owever, I will never say there is no hope.”
Looking at the blistered and damaged skin surrounding the eye in question, Sabrina knew in her heart that it would take a divine act of God to restore Nate’s sight.
Later that afternoon the family checked into the same hotel where Charlie had been staying. She felt so much calmer knowing they were just a couple of doors down the hall from her. After finding out that Nate was in fact blind in his right eye, Dr. Reed shooed them all out so he could check the rest of Nate’s wounds. When he came out thirty minutes later, he said that Nate had requested to be left alone to rest.
“But can’t I just step in and tell him goodbye and that I’ll see him tomorrow?”
The doctor shook his head, and when Charlie opened her mouth to protest, once more Devon placed his hand on her shoulder. “Charlie girl, let Nate be for a little while. He knows you’re here if he needs you, and he knows you love him. Give him some time to come to terms with this.”
Dropping her head, Charlie simply said, “Ok.”
Later that night Charlie was finally getting ready for bed when she heard a knock on her door. Figuring it was Sabrina, she was surprised to see Catherine standing there. “Mimi! I was thinking it was probably Mama; come in!”
Catherine smiled as she walked past Charlie and sat down on the side of the bed. “I just wanted to speak with you alone for a little bit, darling, if you’re not too tired?”
“Of course not, what did you want to talk to me about?”
Catherine patted the spot beside her on the bed. “Here, come sit with me.”
Charlie sat next to her grandmother, who put her arm around her so Charlie could rest her head on her shoulder. They sat that way for several long minutes, no words needed as they enjoyed just being together. Charlie closed her eyes, letting the warmth of her grandmother’s embrace and the scent of her Chanel #5 perfume surround her with peace and love.
“This reminds me of when you were little and you would crawl into my lap so I would read you a bedtime story. Do you remember?”
Charlie nodded. “I do, I also remember that I only wanted you to read one story and one story only!” They both looked at each other.
“The Little Engine That Could!” they said together.
“Oh, my word, I must have read that story a thousand times! You wouldn’t even let me cheat and skip sections because you knew it word for word.” They laughed together at the sweet memory. Then Catherine spoke once more. “That story was actually what I wanted to talk about. The Lord placed it on my heart to make sure that you remembered it.”
Frowning, Charlie looked up at her grandmother in confusion. “Of course I do, but why would that be important now?”
Catherine shifted on the bed so she was leaning against the headboard and she then pulled Charlie snuggly against her. Stroking her granddaughter’s soft curls, she prayed for wisdom.
“Darling, remember the part in the story where the little engine had all the other railcars hooked to it and then it started to climb the steep hill?” She felt Charlie nod so she continued. “Do you remember what the little engine chanted when it started climbing?”
“I think I can, I think I can,” Charlie answered.
“That’s right, baby, it just kept chanting that over and over until it reached the top of the big hill. Charlie, you are facing a very big hill right now and you will be pulling a lot of weight as you climb it. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Yes, ma’am, I believe so.”
She took Charlie’s chin in her hand so she would look up at her. “You can do this! You just keep chanting the same thing that little engine did. I think I can, I think I can! Baby, this is going to be a hard climb for both you and Nate, and he will need you to be strong for him. But you need to remember where your source of strength comes from. The Lord promises that He will never leave you nor forsake you, and never means never. Even when it feels like He has done exactly that, that’s when you hold on to His promises. He never promised that you wouldn’t have big hills to climb or burdens to carry up the hills, but He did promise to help you up and over until you reach the top.”
“Mimi, I’m scared…for Nate…for me…for us. He seems to be shutting me out and I have no idea how to handle that.”
Catherine nodded. “That’s actually a pretty typical male move. They feel like they have to be strong all by themselves. Give him time and the space he is asking for; he will come around.”
“Are you sure? Because I’m beginning to really wonder.” Charlie sat up rubbing her face in aggravation.
“Well, honey, I can’t see the future, but I know that Nate loves you -- he has for a long time. He is in a very dark place right now and you need to be his light, a steady light to help him find his way back.”
After Catherine had left, Charlie sat down in the chair that she left sitting next to the window. Looking up into the night sky, she wondered if she would have the strength that Nate would need. Bowing her head, she did the only thing she knew to do… she took her fears to her heavenly Father.
Gideon sat in the chair that Charlie had vacated later that night, watching her as she slept. After praying for a good while, she climbed into bed and dropped off to sleep. He knew she was fighting a battle that he couldn’t help her with and it was killing him. He glanced up when Sherrilyn shimmered into view next to the bed. She reached out and gently stroked Charlie’s curls. “Poor little bug,” she murmured softly. Gideon didn’t say anything as she prayed over Charlie for a moment before walking over to him.
“So, do all family members pray for their loved ones still left on earth?” he questioned.
“Sure they do. Why would they stop? Family connection doesn’t stop when you pass over. It changes somewhat, because you realize that your family includes all the saints, but the personal connection doesn’t end. If you had a praying grandmother on earth, then you have a praying grandmother in heaven when she crosses over.” She glanced down at the sleeping Charlie. “It’s been really hard on her, hasn’t it?”
Gideon slowly nodded.
“It’s been pretty hard on you, too, hasn’t it, big guy?” She watched as the usually calm and collected warrior lifted his hands helplessly.
“I don’t know how to help her, Sherry,” he whispered softly. “All her life I have been able to protect her from being hurt…but with this? I don’t know what to do. How do I help her?” He looked up at her, his green eyes begging for an answer.
Sherrilyn sighed as she sat down on the edge of the bed so she could face him. “Oh, Gideon, I wish I had a cut and dried answer for you. But the truth is there isn’t anything that you can do in this situation. This is Charlie’s battle to fight and her storm to face. God will get her through this, and Nate. We just have to be here to give her strength and encouragement.”
Shaking his head, he got to his feet to pace. “How? How do I give her strength or encouragement? She can’t see me or hear me. She can’t feel me!”
Sherrilyn smiled. “Yes, she can feel you, Gideon. The same way Sabrina felt you when you comforted her during my death.”
That stopped his pacing as he looked at her in surprise.
“How do you know about that?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not sure…but I’m not wrong, am I? You went to Sabrina and you spoke to her even though you knew she couldn’t hear you, you held her even though you knew she couldn’t feel you, and you wept for her even though you knew she couldn’t see you. Sometimes love transcends the physical when you truly connect with someone on a spiritual level.”
Gideon appeared almost embarrassed to have been caught in such a weak moment. Sherrilyn laughed as she patted his chest over his heart. “Oh, come on now. Your big old heart just embraces those close to you. Why in the world do you try to hide that?”
He frowned at her. “Having a big heart is not conducive to warfare.” He folded his arms across his chest as if trying to hide the heart that had betrayed him.
&nbs
p; “Big guy, in case you haven’t noticed…you’re not exactly in Kansas anymore.” When his frown deepened in confusion, she waved her hand. “Never mind, it’s a Wizard of Oz metaphor. What I’m saying is you’re not on the battlefield anymore; you’re not slaying legions of demons on a daily basis. Your greatest weapon here isn’t the muscle in your arms or the sharpness of your sword…it’s the tenderness of your heart.” She walked backwards as the shimmering light slowly engulfed her. “Remember that, big guy… You will be just fine, and so will they,” then she faded from view.
Over the next week Gideon watched as Nate grew stronger physically and colder emotionally. He was barely civil to Charlie and downright rude and hostile to the doctors and nurses that were caring for him. They seemed to take it all in stride, except for Charlie, who wore a mask of hurt and confusion. Gideon fought a war with his own emotions torn between understanding Nate and wanting to drop kick his butt clear across the state for hurting Charlie so much. It was even starting to create a strain between him and Shana as each guardian took up for their human.
“Leave him alone, Gideon. He is struggling right now and you know he is being influenced by that hell leach!” were often-repeated phrases from Shana. One day after Nate had been particularly hateful, Charlie fled his room in tears.
Gideon turned to Shana. “Don’t you dare say it! That’s not struggling or being influenced -- that’s just mean for the sake of being mean! Even being blind in one eye he can see he is hurting her!”
Charlie walked quickly down the hall with her head down so no one would see her tear-stained face. She didn’t even know where she was going, just somewhere away from all the aggression that seemed to explode out of Nate for no reason, or very little reason. Today it was because they changed the dressing on one of the deeper burns that still wasn’t healing. It was a painful procedure but it had to be done. Nate all but punched the nurse that was doing it and when Charlie scolded him and tried to do it herself, he grabbed her arm roughly, flinging her away from him.
