The Soul Seekers (16 page)

“Okay,” I mumbled, making another effort to remember the women sitting in the room: an older woman with warm brown eyes and a younger sandy-haired woman clutching at her hands looking worried. Next I caught sight of a young man with intense blue eyes sitting in the back corner, looking remorseful. Our eyes met for a moment, but hard as I tried I could not place him. The drugs finally did their job and took me back into painless sleep, and once again I was falling.

Waking up later, I saw the afternoon sun had begun its descent outside the half-shaded windows, causing a coldness to reside in the sterile room. I was dying for a sip of water to ease the dryness in my throat. It was mostly my head keeping me from being able to sit up—it felt like a throbbing bowling ball.

I moaned, lifting a heavy arm to the bedside table where a mug of water sat. If I could just get the straw and hold it to my lips, perhaps a few drops would fall out and ease my thirst.

“Hold on there, little one. I can get that for you.” It was the young man from earlier. I watched as he made it across the room from the country-style armchair over in the corner. “Is this what you needed?” he asked, grabbing hold of the water jug.

I scratched out, “Yes.”

He lifted the straw and let its contents drop through my lips slowly. After four strawfuls he put it back. He brushed the hair away from my face. “You’ve been sleeping. Does your head feel better now?”

“No,” I said with a strained smile to answer his own.

Was he a doctor? Couldn’t be. He was in regular street clothes, or at least, he looked classic in Levi’s and a nicely fitted flannel shirt. What must
I
look like? Probably not so great if the way I felt indicated anything.

“Who are you?” I asked, scanning his handsome face again.

His sucked in a breath. “You don’t remember me?”

I couldn’t shake my head in response. Instead I had to settle with a mumbled, “No.”

“And your family—the women that were in here earlier—do you remember them?”

“Not really. You said they’re my family?”

He sat in the chair next to the hospital bed. “Do you remember the accident?”

I thought about it, the images recalled earlier, and it made me shudder. “Yes.”

“If only I hadn’t been bothering you so much, none of this would have happened. It’s my own damn fault.”

I wished that I could turn a little more to watch him as he talked. “You were with me?”

He didn’t answer.

“Who are you?”

Pause. “Someone you should never have met. Nothing but trouble has come from knowing me.”

“If you were in the car with me, does that mean we are together?”

“We are together, but not in the way you might think. I’m not a regular man, Emma.”

“How long have we known each other?”

Emma sounded like an okay name for a girl. Maybe too nice though. The image of me being some hot chick flew out the window.

“Too long,” he muttered and stood up to grab a gentle hold of my hand, causing a fuzzy, electric zap.

My eyes flew up to his in surprise.

“What was that?”

Instantly he pulled his hand away. “It’s the drugs.”

Drugs couldn’t possibly make a person feel
that
good. “Are you sure you’re not my boyfriend or something?”

A nurse came in with a fresh mug of water and another blanket for the bed. When she pulled out a thermometer and stuck it beneath my tongue, my handsome visitor walked right through her solid flesh to stand by my side.

“Not a boyfriend,” he replied to my widened eyes.

I held in a gasp. What was going on here? Did I die? I tried to think rationally—not an easy task with my head throbbing—but there had to be some explanation.

After the nurse exited I met his eyes. “Are you an angel?”

“Yeah. Sure. I’m your angel. I’ll stay here to protect you until you tell me to go. How about that?”

If I could have jumped up and down I would have. “Okay. I like it.”

“For now,” he announced, “let’s get you warm.” He pulled the extra blanket over my legs and tucked in the sides.

My own angel. This was a good start to a new life, I could feel it. He said he would stay until I told him to go. What more could a girl ask for? “Will you tell me what I was like before this? Was I pretty?”

He carefully adjusted my pillow. “You were a loving, smart, thoughtful girl who cared for others more than herself. Too much. You are very beautiful, achingly so.”

Out of the blue. “Can angels love humans?”

“Yes,” he answered. “However, we’re, uh, not allowed to be with those we love in
that kind of way
. It’s against the rules.”

“Oh.”

I watched as he paced around the room, thinking too hard for an ethereal being. “What’s wrong?”

“I lied. I do have to leave you, but only at night. I promise to come back in the morning, okay?”

“Sure, but only if you promise. Why do you have to leave at night?”

He was back at my side. “To gain strength for each day. It, uh, is very important that we don’t get too weak while caring for beautiful, careless teenage girls.” He flashed a wide grin.

“Hmm.”

That made sense, sort of. A flash of pain shot down through my neck. My eyes squeezed shut as I waited for it to pass.

His cold, fizzy electric hand rubbed my temples and massaged the skin on the back of my neck. “Better?”

I reached up a weak hand to touch his wrist in a thankful caress. “I wish you could stay. Couldn’t the big man let you have a night off?”

He chuckled. “Sorry. I’d get fired. You’d end up with a new angel in the morning, and you just never know what they are going to send.”

“What do you mean?”

“Ex-convict angels trying to earn their wings, old monk angels who won’t talk, overprotective angels who won’t let you have any fun.”

“Okay, okay, I get the point. You have to go. It’s not fair.”

His lips twisted in enjoyment. “I think I will stay. I’d love to get fired. You really do need a strict angel to come in here and get your butt in line. I’ve been too lenient letting you get into so much trouble.”

I let out a giggle. “No! I don’t want another angel, I want
you
. Bright and early in the morning?”

“When the sun comes up.”

I shivered. The blanket he covered me with was not doing its job.

“Still cold?” he asked.

“Yes, actually.”

With a sigh and a slow shake of his head, he lifted the covers and climbed into the bed with me. “I hear I’m freezing at first, but it gets better.”

I gasped at the ice-like chill that met my skin, then felt a hot warmth in the next second. My body melted with sheer pleasure, despite its mangled state. His heat poured through my skin along with that now familiar fuzzy feeling that I could really get used to. Who knew? What had I done in my past life to deserve such utter wonderfulness?

I felt his body beginning to fade inside my arms. As warned, he was leaving just as the last bit of sun dipped below the horizon outside. “Tomorrow, when the sun comes up, you promised.”

“I’ll be here.”

I felt soft lips press into my neck, and then he was gone. My skin tingled with the remnant feeling, but it faded, and as it did, my heart filled with sorrow. I lay there numb and empty until the nurse came in again with that promised IV.

“Ready?” she asked.

I nodded, holding back fresh tears.

“Knock me out.”

He thought about it for a moment, raising his amazing blue eyes to the ceiling in concentration. “No.” Looking back at me with a smirk, he said, “That’s against the rules. I can see I’ll have to work hard to keep you in line.”

“Me? You’re the one who is supposed to do what I say. What kind of angel did I get, anyway?” I pouted heartily for effect. “I want one who listens to me and gets me a hot breakfast with
no
questions asked.”

He started to get up, shaking his head in defeat. “Okay. Remember, I told you what happens when they send alternate angels.”

Crossing my arms, and lowering my eyebrows, I remained firm. “I don’t care, I’ll risk it.” I watched as he made a few steps toward the door. “Wait! That’s not fair. Okay, I can wait until lunch, but these rules are really dumb.”

He came back and stood over me. “If you want me to stay, you have to promise that you will follow the rules. When I tell you something, I want you to obey and do as I say. Understand?”

“Yeah,” I mumbled, “but this stinks. I didn’t know you guys were so grouchy.”

This made him laugh, deep and hearty. “Ha! I’m just trying to keep you alive and safe. That’s my job. No matter what happens, you have to obey me and not get into any more trouble.”

Our eyes met and held for a long, daring moment. “Yeah, okay,” I gave in finally. What kind of reckless girl had I been before?

I tried to sit up to get some water, but he was there first.

“Lie down,” he ordered. I obeyed and watched in heeded silence as he delicately put the mug to my lips and poured some liquid down my parched throat. “Better?”

“Yeah. Hey, when do I get out of here? You’re coming with me right?”

“A few days most likely, and we’ll see.”

“You have to come with me. I don’t know anybody. I’ll need your help.”

“
You
need my help,” he murmured to himself, with the slightest of bitterness. “I told you I would stay until you asked me to go. Why don’t you rest for a moment before they come to do the tests?”

“I rested all night. Besides, I want to hear about you. What’s your name, by the way? How long have you been an angel?”

“William. Over twenty years.”

“That doesn’t seem very long.”

“Believe me, it’s been long enough.”

“What do you mean? Will you get to be human someday?”

“I could never be human, the way you think. I’m just your angel, and that’s all I’ll ever be.”

“But,” I went on, trying to throw a wrench in his strictly laid out rules, “what if somebody wanted you, loved you in that type of way, couldn’t they be with you the way you are? Surely the big man can see some sense in that scenario.”

His face lined with conflict. “There was a time when I might have considered it an option, but it was too dangerous for the other person.”

William stood, moving to look out the window. He was such a beautiful vision, standing there with the framing of outside foliage and blue sky turning his image into an impressionist painting; his tall, muscular frame filling up the middle in an ethereal way. When he turned back around, his face was cleared away of any frustration. When we both heard a slight knock on the door, he explained that it was probably the doctor. “I hope you’re not scared. It should be a fairly easy procedure.”

“Well, now that you mention it, I’ll be fine as long as you’re with me.”

He smiled that warm, calming smile. “I will be.”

The door to my room opened and a thin, balding man in a white lab coat strode in holding a clipboard. A nurse filed after, coming to check an IV.

“Miss Shay?”

“Yes?”

“I’m Doctor Hess. How are you feeling today?” He reached over to inspect some cuts on my skin, carefully turning my head to the right. “Still in a lot of pain?”

“Not as much,” I replied, trying to keep my eyes on William.

“Good. Well, we need to run some more tests, all right?” He felt along my skull. “Pretty good bump there. I hear you have some memory loss.”

“Yeah.” Like all of it. But it was okay, I had an angel.

The doctor scribbled something on his clipboard. “We’re going to roll you into another room now for a few x-rays. Okay?”

I said yes, still locking eyes with William who was on his feet, moving with me as I was lowered to a gurney. He followed down the hall, eyes locked on mine.

There were still some pieces of glass embedded in my scalp and cheek, which they said they’d have to extract. I looked over at William in a panic.

“I’m here,” he whispered, offering me his hand, and I felt the electric fuzziness start up. “Close your eyes,” he commanded softly.

I’m sitting at a table surrounded by books. A library. There’s a sense of boredom, of having been there forever. Nothing’s ever going to change and something’s wrong, I feel weak, melancholy. I don’t care about this day, or the next, or any of the following that come one after the other like slow drops from a leaky faucet.

A door jangles and I look up to see someone walk into the building—a girl. She has long, wheat-colored hair, flushed cheeks. I’ve never seen her before and my adrenaline kicks, my heart starts to quicken.

She moves out of sight, but I can hear her shuffling through the rows of books. I see one move from its place, then it’s shoved back in. A few seconds later she’s speaking at the front desk, and I hear her ask for a job.