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Authors: Shana Burton

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Chapter 27
“Your death will only mean there's one less whore in the world.”
—
Angel King
 
The following Monday was Angel's first scheduled visit with Theresa since finding out her real identity. She dreaded seeing either Theresa or Duke again, but she had agreed to return and was determined to uphold her word.
“You came back!” exclaimed Theresa when she opened the door to Angel.
“I told you I would when I called yesterday,” Angel replied coldly and walked in without being invited to do so.
Theresa didn't seem to mind. “Duke and I are so happy you changed your mind.”
Angel pursed her lips together. “I suppose I should ask how you're feeling.”
“The past couple of days were a little rough without you, but we managed. Please sit down. Would you like something to drink?”
Angel noticed that Theresa had prepared tea. “A glass of water would be nice,” she requested to be contrary. Angel could tell that Theresa was tired, but she hobbled into the kitchen just the same to fetch Angel some water. “Do you have anything to eat?” Angel asked when Theresa returned. “I haven't had a bite all day.”
“What would you like?”
“Do you have any fruit?”
Theresa smiled. “Coming right up.” She came back with an apple.
“Thank you.” Angel bit into the apple. “Do you mind getting me a napkin?”
Theresa, in no way perturbed, left to get Angel a napkin. “Anything else?” she asked after fulfilling Angel's request.
“I'm good for now,” replied Angel. “On second thought, I would like a little more ice for my water if it's no trouble. It's not quite as cold as I like it to be.”
Theresa picked up Angel's glass. “It's no trouble at all.”
Angel's flesh reveled in watching Theresa march back and forth to her demands.
Serves her right
, thought Angel.
“Here you go,” Theresa said and handed Angel the glass. Theresa lowered her body onto the couch, holding her back. “I've got to take a minute and rest these old bones. That walk to the kitchen isn't as short as it used to be.”
“Are you in pain?” inquired Angel.
“A little. Mostly tired, though.”
Angel filled a syringe. “I have something I think might help. Give me your arm.”
Theresa pushed up the sleeves on her housecoat. “Be gentle. I hate needles.”
“I'll try.” Angel jabbed the needle into Theresa's arm. She yelped in pain. “I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?”
Theresa shook her arm to relieve some of the pain. “No more than you intended to.”
“Excuse me?”
Theresa chuckled. “Come on, Angel. Do you really think I'm that stupid?” Theresa smiled. “Don't you know I was expecting this?”
“Expecting what?”
“I knew you wouldn't be able to resist sticking it to me—literally, it seems. I can't even say I blame you. I just hope you'll go easy on me under the circumstances.”
“I'm a professional,” stated Angel. “I would never use a personal vendetta to endanger any of my patients, including the ones with no moral compass.”
“Relax, all right? I'm not going to turn you in to the Medical Review Board. I just want you to know that I understand. I know why you're angry with me, why you would love nothing more than to see me suffer right now.”
Angel's defenses immediately flared. “If you think this is about you and Duke—”
“Of course it's about me and Duke! In your mind, I'm the slut who stole your husband and the reason your baby died. Why wouldn't you enjoy a little comeuppance?”
“Don't try to analyze me,” snarled Angel. “You don't even know me well enough to make an attempt. You don't know anything about me aside from whatever lies Duke may have told you to get you into bed.”
“I know that you loved him and that you wanted his baby more than anything in the world. I know that he hurt you. We both did.”
“Were you worried about hurting me when you started sleeping with my husband?” inquired Angel condescendingly.
Theresa shook her head. “I won't lie, I wasn't. I knew he was married, but I wanted him and didn't care. After a while, neither did he.”
Angel could feel her anger rising. “You're a disgrace to women everywhere. You're nothing but a common whore.”
“Back then, I probably was,” conceded Theresa. “I was wild. I partied all the time, lived for pleasure. I hurt a lot of people with all of my selfish choices, and your name is at the top of that list, which is why I wanted your forgiveness.”
“
Forgive you
?” cried Angel. Her emotions took over. “It's all I can do to stand here and look at you! Do you have any idea what you and that son-of-a-gun did to me? I nearly lost my mind! I actually tried to kill myself and had to be put in a mental facility. If Kina hadn't found me when she did, I'd be dead right now. I haven't even had a serious relationship since my marriage to Duke ended nine years ago. Now you want to come here all contrite and telling me you understand? You know just where you can go with that, Theresa!”
Theresa folded her hands together and calmly asked, “Are you finished?”
“No!” shrieked Angel. “Let me tell you this: we were happy. We were committed to one another. Duke and I were best friends, soul mates! We fell in love the first second we laid eyes on each other, and you slithered in like the demonic serpent you are and destroyed all that. You knew he was married. You knew he had a wife at home, but you didn't care. You seduced my husband and got pregnant—no doubt on purpose. You sank your claws in him and held on until you got him in your house and in your bed.”
“And Duke isn't to blame for any of this?”
“Of course I blame him! I blame him much more than I blame you because he was the one married to me. He was the one who made vows to me and came home and made love to me every night after hitting the sheets with you. Just the thought of his touching you the same way he touched me makes me sick to my stomach. At least he had the decency to walk away and leave me alone. You, on the other hand, deliberately set out to find me and to use me to clear your own filthy conscience.”
“That's not what I'm trying to do, Angel.”
“Really?” asked Angel with a crude laugh. “You're trash, Theresa, just a home-wrecking slut. As this cancer eats away at you, destroying your life, I hope that it is a constant reminder to you of how you destroyed my life. I hope it eats away at you like it eats away at me knowing that my child died because yours was born.” Angel began to cry. “Duke is the only man I've ever given my heart or my body to. I know that he left home on his own accord, but it never would've happened if he'd never crossed paths with you. I'm
glad
you have cancer! I'm
thrilled
that you're dying! Your death will only mean there's one less whore in the world. I hate you, and if I thought I could get away with it, I'd probably kill you myself. Instead, I'll let nature do it for me. You're getting exactly what you deserve. If you sow pain and destruction, that's exactly what you reap!” Angel sank to her knees sobbing, angry, hurt, confused, and relieved all at the same time.
Theresa ran to her and held her. “It's okay,” she whispered. “Let it out!”
“Don't touch me!” ranted Angel, trying to escape Theresa's grasp. “Get your hands off of me. Your hands have my child's blood on them, and you know it!”
Theresa clung to her even tighter. “We're going to get through this, Angel,” she vowed. “I hurt you, and I'm sorry. I broke up your marriage, and I sinned against God and you as my sister in Christ. God told us to show love to one another, but I didn't do that. I was selfish, calculating, and cruel. I didn't care how my actions would affect you; I just wanted what I wanted. Now I'm asking you to forgive me. I have truly repented, and God has forgiven me. I pray that you will, too, not for my sake, but for yours. I pray that you can forgive Duke too. He never wanted to hurt you.”
“You don't prove your love to your wife by sleeping with another woman!”
“Duke will explain everything to you in time. His version really doesn't matter, though. The important thing is that you release this anger and these negative emotions. You can't do what God wants you to do by bottling up all this hatred. You're blocking your blessings. All that hatred and resentment is going to destroy you just like this disease is destroying me. My physical cancer is just as real as your spiritual cancer. We both need to be healed.”
Angel finally broke free from her. “I will never forgive either of you for what you did to me!”
Theresa sighed. “Then you'll always be in bondage. The last thing I want to do right now is say anything to hurt you even more, but the truth is that Duke and I have had a great life together. We have two beautiful daughters, we have good friends, and we're not wanting for anything. We've acknowledged our sins, and we've moved on. But you, you're still stuck in this sad, empty place because you won't soften your heart enough to forgive. What are you gaining by holding on to all of this pain? You've created this little prison for yourself, but you can choose to be the prisoner with the life sentence, or the warden who sets her free. Forgiving is the hardest and easiest thing in the world, but it's totally up to you.”
“Shut up! You will never understand what it's like to be hurt this deeply. Like you said, you have your husband, your family, your life. You can't possibly know what this has been like for me.”
Theresa stood in front of her. “Look at me. Along with everything else I have, did you forget that I have cancer too? My family is being taken away from me just like yours was, only slower, but you don't see me sitting around here bitter, blaming God because I got sick. I had just turned only thirty-one years old when the doctor gave me six months to live. I could be very angry about that, but what would that accomplish other than sending me to the grave that much faster? The devil may be winning this victory over my body, but he won't take my joy and my peace. Neither will unforgiveness.”
“I've been carrying this around for nine long years,” said Angel. “Getting beyond it is not as simple as you want to make it seem.”
“Sure it is, you just do it.” She took Angel by the hand. “Pray with me, Angel.”
“I can't,” she sobbed and shook her head. “Not with you. Anybody but you.”
“You don't have to do anything but close your eyes and give it to Jesus.” Theresa kneeled beside her and prayed, “Lord, we come humbly and boldly before your throne. We acknowledge you as Lord over our lives and as the one true God. We rejoice and serve you with gladness. We thank you for today and for your continued grace and mercy upon us. While we are all guilty of sin, we also know that you are good, are ready to forgive, and are plenteous in mercy to all who call upon you.
“Lord, I come to you on behalf of my sister Angel. My husband and I have wronged her, Lord, in the most deceitful and hurtful way. Even though we have turned from our wicked ways and have sought and been granted your forgiveness, we have yet to be given hers. God, help her to remember that your word says that if we don't forgive those who hurt us, you won't forgive our transgressions. Soften her heart right now, Lord. Deliver her from the stronghold that a hardened heart has put on her life. Help her to recognize that the devil's sole purpose is to keep her bound and in a perpetual state of hurt and depression. Forgive her for her sins so that she may be led to forgive others.
“In the name of Jesus, I release her right now from hurt and negative emotions. From this day forward, she shall walk in the spirit of love and forgiveness. We believe that all we ask in your son's name is done, and we claim the victory right now. Amen.”
Theresa opened her eyes and found Angel shaking her head and quietly thanking God in agreement. Theresa wrapped her arm around her. “It is done, my sister.”
Angel wept for a long time. The memories started flooding back to her at once: meeting Duke, her wedding day, the joy of finding out that she was pregnant, and the agony of losing her child; the devastating blow of hearing Duke tell her that he was in love with another woman and was walking out on their marriage, the indescribable heartbreak of being served divorce papers, and the feeling of being so hurt and so defeated that she sought solace in overdosing on painkillers that the doctor had prescribed her following the miscarriage. Despite it all, though, the Lord had brought her through it. She was still here, still alive. She was surrounded by friends who loved her, and she was in a position to do good in the world and help ease other people's pain. She was blessed, and it took the woman she despised most to remind her.
Angel looked up at Theresa through watery eyes and whispered, “Thank you . . . I forgive you. I forgive both of you.”

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