Chapter Eleven--A meeting of soon-to-be friends---Angels Among Us/The Blessing

The original book ended here, but I decided to combine the first and second books together.

Chapter 11

A meeting of soon-to-be friends

Once outside, Elizabeth came very close to breaking down again. Now that Josh couldn’t see her, she felt no shame in crying. But she tried to shake it off when she approached Vanessa and Chad.
“Hey, you guys.”
“Oh, hey,” began Vanessa, “soo, how did it go?”
Elizabeth bent down and whispered in Vanessa’s ear.
‘Can I talk to you privately??’
Vanessa nodded and rose. Then, she turned to Chad,
“I’ll be right back, ok? If there is any new information about Mike, come and find me right away.”
Chad nodded in reply and Vanessa followed Elizabeth.
Once they were around the corner from where Chad waited, Vanessa turned towards Elizabeth,
“What’s the matter?”
Elizabeth explained to her how the conversation with Josh had gone. She expected Vanessa to have the same reaction to the ‘Are you alright’ question. However, much to Elizabeth’s surprise, Vanessa didn’t. She actually seemed to understand why he had said that. Then, Vanessa saw the look in Elizabeth’s eyes and knew why she had asked to privately speak to her. She was confused. And Vanessa knew just what to say to her.
“Listen. I understand if you can’t see the point in Josh asking you that. But there is one thing that you have to be able to see. It is very hard to understand and to explain, so think of it this way. Imagine if you were in his situation. Imagine if you had thrown yourself on top of him. When he would walk into your room, wouldn’t you be wondering if your efforts hadn’t been in vain? Wouldn’t you be wondering if he was alright?”
Elizabeth nodded. The way that Vanessa had explained the reasoning behind the comment made more sense to Elizabeth then the way that Josh had explained it. Or maybe she didn’t want him to say that. Maybe she felt guilty that he was saying it, but she wasn’t. The amount of confusing emotions that were swirling around in her head were confusing her as she followed Vanessa back to the lobby to fetch Chad.

Chad, like Vanessa said, was willing to go and see Josh with Elizabeth and Vanessa. He rose and went with them. On the way, he leaned over and whispered in Vanessa’s ear,
“They haven’t told us anything yet…if you want to go and see him later, I’ll go with you.”
Vanessa nodded. However, right now, she didn’t want to worry about her problems; it was Elizabeth who needed the support right now, and she was going to give it to her.

Chapter Ten--A sight to remember---Angels Among Us/The Blessing

Chapter 10

A sight to remember

Poor Elizabeth. Poor, poor Elizabeth. She hadn’t imagined that Josh would look like this. She and Josh had known each other for so long. But the effect that the sight of Josh would have on Elizabeth’s life would affect everything she would do, including her career after high school.
There must have been a dozen machines around him. Maybe more. The show ER on the NBC network had portrayed the Emergency Room scene very efficiently. The I.V’s, the machines, everything. The heart monitors, the donated blood. ‘God’, Elizabeth thought, ‘And the show is so interesting. Yet, when it is happening to someone you care about, it is scary.’
She approached Josh with caution, as if she was afraid to be near him. She touched his hand, which was seemingly smaller than she had remembered previous to the accident. She could feel tears coming; they felt hot behind her eyelids. She squeezed them shut and a tear fell onto Josh’s hand. It only took one tear for Elizabeth to start sobbing. And as she sat on the bed next to him, she wondered why; like so many people who found themselves in the same situation as Elizabeth. Why? Why had this happened? On what had seemed like a simple, normal day, this just had to happen. But it was the cause of Josh’s extensive injuries that plagued Elizabeth the most.
The truth was, she had been the cause. Not necessarily because she had been the driver of the truck that had hit the car that Josh had been in, but because Josh had saved her life. He and Elizabeth had been sitting in the back seat of his mother’s car when a truck being driven by a drunk driver had hit their car.
They had been driving home from school on a Friday afternoon. The buzz of the upcoming football that evening was getting to them and Josh was buzzing, either from the caffeine from the recent cappuccino, or the excitement, no one knew. ‘He must have seen the truck first,’ Elizabeth thought. He had yelled and Elizabeth had turned around, only to see the truck advancing upon them like a shark ready to strike on unexpected prey. Then, she had felt something. Something heavy on top of her.
When she had regained conscience, she had thought about the heavy feeling she had experienced and wondered why she was still alive. Surely the truck, or part of the vehicle, had landed on her. But yet, she didn’t have one scratch on her. What had happened that had caused this miraculous event, not even the doctors could figure out. And then, something hit her. What if the heavy thing that had landed on her had been another human being? And when she told the doctors about her suspicion, they knew that was what had happened. The reason Josh’s injuries were worse than the doctors had predicted was because he had thrown himself on top of Elizabeth.
The fact that someone had almost died trying to save her sent Elizabeth down the road of confusing emotions, including mental questions to herself that began mental debates with herself that would keep her up for hours at night. And this went on for the next week, while she was being kept at the hospital for tests and observation. But the one question that had stumped her was if she would ever have a friendship in which, if she had to, she would sacrifice herself for a friend.

That question was still on her mind as she sat next to Vanessa and Chad in the waiting room. Would she ever be as selfless as Josh had been; to almost die for a friend? It was then that it occurred to her, why were Chad and Vanessa here? They had acted like such good friends, and yet she and Chad had only met earlier on that same day. Turning towards them, and wiping the tear streaks from her face, she asked the question.
“Chad, Vanessa, why is Mike here?”
At first, she looked at them both. And they looked very unsure about it.
And they were. Vanessa was worried about telling Elizabeth about it because Chad was right there. On the contrary, Chad was terrified of telling Elizabeth that he had been the cause for Mike being in the hospital, because he didn’t want to come across as someone who had done something unspeakable. Imagine what kind of influence that would have on their friendship. But he knew that it would have to be done. She wouldn’t be told by a reluctant Chad until much later. For now, she just sat there, not caring whether or not Chad or Vanessa would reply. Anyway, she had taken the hints from the silence that it was pretty personal.

Oh, but Elizabeth would have a good enough friendship to try to save her friends life later on. It would happen a year later, after experiencing a tragedy of her own. But she still had Josh on her mind when she made up her mind that, if the time ever came, she would try to save a friends’ life. The doctor approached her asked her,
“Would you like to see Josh now?”
Elizabeth jumped to her feet.
“Yes. Yes, right now.” Then, she turned towards Chad and Vanessa, “Would you guys like to come also?”
They looked at each other and then back at Elizabeth. Vanessa shook her head and spoke for the both of them. Chad nodded in acknowledgment of Vanessa’s decision. Elizabeth shrugged and walked towards Josh’s room.
Vanessa knew, and later explained to Chad, that it would be much easier for Elizabeth to talk to Josh and not feel awkward with them not in the room. However, Chad couldn’t understand, so she had to put it in lay-man’s terms for him.
“Think of it this way, Chad, would it be strange if we had a person we had just met in the room when we would visit Mike? Wouldn’t it be better and the atmosphere more relaxed if it was just you and him or just me and him?”
The light-bulb clicked on in Chad’s head and he nodded.
“Yeah, I can see now what you mean. It would be kinda strange if someone was just sitting in the room. I wouldn’t be able to have a ‘normal’ conversation without feeling self-conscience.”

In Josh’s room, Elizabeth was trying to regain her composure long enough to hold a simple conversation with him; but she couldn’t. She walked in and Josh asked her a question. The question was a normal one to ask, but when Josh asked it, it seemed ironic, because of the situation he was in.
“Elizabeth, are you alright?”
And even though Elizabeth knew that the question was meant to make her feel better, and that it was just a common courtesy question, she burst into tears. Josh had a strange look upon his face, as if he didn’t quite have a reaction to Elizabeth’s reaction. She had something to say, but wasn’t sure if she wanted to bring up the topic during the present situation. But then, her mouth opened, as if not controlled by her brain.
“Josh, how can you ask such a question at a time like this? I know that question was meant to make me feel better, but it makes me feel guilty. You’re the one who almost died trying to save my life and yet you are asking me if I am alright? I should be worried about you not vice-versa.”
“You shouldn’t feel guilty, Elizabeth, just think of it this way… I didn’t have to think about one thing before saving you.”
“So you mean you didn’t have to think about? You just did it because-.”
“Because you’re my friend,” Josh began, “And that’s what friends do for each other.”
Elizabeth turned and looked at Josh, bit her lip, and tried to smile. Then, she nodded,
“Yeah, I guess. I just never thought that I would go though something like this and that I would be experiencing all these really weird feelings.”
Josh nodded and then changed the subject.
“Elizabeth, who were those people who were in the room with you when you came in earlier?”
“You were awake?”
He nodded,
“Yeah.”
Elizabeth stuttered,
“O-Oh. Well, I met them this morning. Do you want to meet them?”
“Well, I guess.”
“Ok, I’ll go and get them, okay?”
Josh nodded and Elizabeth gave him a light hug before leaving. She had been dying to throw her arms around him since she had found out that he hadn’t died. But she didn’t want to cause any more pain than she already had. So, for now, a light hug would have to suffice.

Chapter Nine--What doesn't kill us makes us stronger---Angels Among Us/The Blessing

Chapter 9

What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger

Elizabeth Hudson had experienced a hard life. But it was that hard life that made her the kind, strong person she was. The long string of terrifying events had started on September Eleventh, 2001, when her father had been killed. Most people had watched the twin towers fall and said, ‘Thank God that no one I knew were in the buildings or in one of those planes’. But Elizabeth hadn’t been one of those people. Her father, a very successful business person, had been on one of the planes that had been hijacked. And that was only the beginning.
The next thing that happened was not necessarily awful, but the results would tear Elizabeth apart. When the war in Iraq started, her oldest brother, Ian, had just graduated from high school. He decided to enlist and was gone and deployed in what seemed like just a day. Everyday, Elizabeth would pray to God to keep him safe. And, for a while, God seemed to do just that; until the next year. Elizabeth’s other brother, Derek, decided to follow in the courageous footsteps of his older brother and enlist also. Now, Elizabeth had two people to pray for at night.
For a while, God seemed to watch over the Hudson brothers, until the beginning of Elizabeth’s eighth grade year. She was doing her homework after school when someone knocked on the door. She went and answered it. There, on the doorstep, were two very official-looking men, standing there, sullen, in their military uniforms. Elizabeth could still recall calling her mother to the door and then watching her mother fainting. When her mom got back up, she told Elizabeth what had happened.

Ian and Derek had been working together when a suicide bomber had blown himself up while standing in between them.

Elizabeth had felt like God had betrayed her. She had prayed so fervently to God to bring her brothers home safe. And God hadn’t listened to her.

It had torn the Hudson household apart. Elizabeth and her mother didn’t talk to each other for days. They had trouble eating. Elizabeth didn’t go to school. Her mom didn’t go to work. For two weeks, life was a blur; Elizabeth and her mom went through life like zombies.

But what really woke up Elizabeth from the zombie-like state she was in was what she attempted two and half weeks after she had gotten the horrific news. She went up to her mom’s bathroom and got the pills that her mom sometimes used for an occasional case of amnesia. She grabbed the bottle and opened it. She dumped the remaining pills into her hand and swallowed them.

She was lying on her bed, listening to music and waiting for the pills to kick in and end the miserable life she was leading, when a certain song came on. And the refrain went like this:
“I’ll be your crying shoulderI'll be love suicideI'll be better when I'm olderI’ll be the greatest fan of your life”
Something happened at that moment. At first, the lyrics had made it sound like the first line said “I’ll be your crying soldier” instead of the actual lyrics. And that did it. She would later find out that it was “I’ll be your crying shoulder”, but that didn’t matter. Just the fact that the words “soldier” and “crying” were in the same stanza of a song was enough. She began crying. For her mom, her brothers, her dad and herself. That’s when she realized something. Her father and brothers wouldn’t want her to do this to herself. And as she thought of it, what her mother do if she lost another love in her life? Elizabeth went to the bathroom and stuck her finger down her throat. As she saw the pills swirl down the vortex of water as the toilet flushed, she felt as if all the despair and hopelessness that had overwhelmed her for just about half-an-hour ago leave her. And not just her. But the whole world.
And that’s when she made a vow to herself. She would live her life for her brothers; two people who never made it past their twentieth birthdays. Everything she did, she would do for them.

And that’s what she was thinking about as she stood in front of her best friends’ hospital room. ‘I have to be strong for Ian and Derek’ she thought. ‘And for myself’ she added a few minutes later, when the doctor came out and said that she could go in and see him now. She was so nervous for what she would see when the door would open. But then, she remembered what Vanessa had said. About how they had both gone through the same thing. She looked at Vanessa and received a reassuring smile and nod. She nodded in return and walked in.

Chapter Eight--Elizabeth Hudson---Angels Among Us/The Blessing

Chapter 8

Elizabeth Hudson

The doctor opened the door and Vanessa nearly passed out. Mike wasn’t conscience, but that didn’t change Vanessa’s reaction to the look of him. It had only been two days after the dance, and this had come of it. Then, as she looked at the sad face and the bandages wrapped around his head, she remembered the mental conversation that she had experienced in the restroom at the Snowflake Ball. The one in which she had blamed herself for the misfortune that Mike had experienced at Chad’s hand, and how she had blamed herself for his problems. And what Mike’s reaction had been, telling her that things just didn’t work that way. ‘Yeah, right’ Vanessa now told herself angrily. She wasn’t necessarily angry with Mike for trying to console her and tell her that she wasn’t being positive, but she was angry at herself for actually listening to something like that, which she knew wasn’t true.

Chad couldn’t believe it. Vanessa had told him that Mike would probably be in a worse condition then the fight Chad and Max had ‘participated’ in, but Chad hadn’t believed her. Now, however, he did, and the guilty feeling that he had experienced after seeing Vanessa, came back, with even more force. He had done this. He had caused all this pain and suffering. A month earlier, he would have never thought that he would be having these thoughts of sympathy and guiltiness. Yet, here he was.
Those guilty feelings became even stronger when he looked over at Vanessa and she was crying. The one girl he had wanted, and he had made her cry. What kind of friend was he anyway? He desperately wanted to hit a ‘rewind’ button on his life and rewind back to the day of the cafeteria incident. If he could, he wouldn’t even approach Mike and Vanessa while they were talking. He would just hang back and, at the most, snarl a snide comment about them to Max. But he would never begin the fight that would result in something as horrific as what had happened. He put his arm around Vanessa’s shoulder and held her. Then, she went limp in his arms.

“Vanessa? Vanessa?? Someone, help! P-please!” Chad shouted at the top of his lungs. The doctor that was standing right outside the door rushed in.
“What? What happened?” Then, he saw the limp Vanessa and he dashed over.
“What’s the matter with her?” Chad asked, getting more and more scared with every passing second.”
“She said she is a friend of Mike. Is that true?”
Chad nodded
“Yes. I am too.”
“Well,” said the doctor, “It could be the initial sight of her friend in this condition.”
Chad nodded. But the truth was, he hadn’t thought of that. He felt more stupid. Actually, he had felt increasingly senseless since he and Max had seen Vanessa the day after the fight. Chad took Vanessa out of the doctor’s arms and carried her out of the room. He walked slowly over to the waiting area and sat down, gently cradling Vanessa in his arms.

Chad was whispering softly to Vanessa, telling her how sorry he was and how he wanted to take back everything he had done, when someone came up to him.
“Just a question, is she alright?”
Chad looked up, surprised. There was a girl standing there. Her eyes were red, but she seemed to be hiding the thing that she had been upset about.
“Umm, it’s a long story. Her best friend is in there,” Chad motioned toward the door which guarded the haven in which Mike lay,” He is badly hurt after being beaten up three weeks ago.”
“Three weeks ago?? Well, what happened?”
“We-we really don’t know. We weren’t in the room barely a minute before she passed out.”
What’s her name?” The girl asked.
“Vanessa.”
“And yours?”
“Chad.”
Then, she asked one more question.
“A-And Vanessa’s friend?”
Chad struggled to get the words out.
“Mike.”
The girl sat down in the hard, plastic chair next to Chad and Vanessa.
“I’m Elizabeth; I’m so sorry.”
Chad shook his head, embarrassed by all the sympathy Elizabeth was giving him. And she didn’t even know him. He never thought it possible that someone you didn’t even know could be so nice. Then, a thought dawned on him,
“Elizabeth. Why are you here?”
Elizabeth suddenly got quiet. Then, she bit her lip and covered her mouth with her hand. Something was wrong, Chad could feel it. That’s why she had been crying. But Chad was going to figure out why Elizabeth was in that hospital.
“Elizabeth….”He began. But Elizabeth raised her hand and waved it, silencing Chad.
“I’m here to see my friend also.”
Chad was confused. Why wasn’t she telling him who her friend was, or what her name was, or-.
“He’s in there.”
Chad snapped out of his mental conversation and turned his head toward the direction that Elizabeth was pointing. He saw two large double-doors there, but didn’t know what was beyond them. He looked at her with a questioning look in his eyes, hoping that she would get the point and explain to him what was beyond that point. She did, and began to explain.
“That’s the E.R.” She said, “The Emergency Room.”
Chad nodded. He had heard of that term before. His mother watch a show called ER. Then, Elizabeth continued.
“There has been an accident and my friend is in there.”
“I’m sorry-.”Chad began, but Elizabeth put her finger to her lips, silencing Chad.
“Please, no. I have heard that enough. People think, for some reason, that saying that will take away all the pain. All the suffering; all the mental anguish that I am in.” Elizabeth paused and covered her mouth with her hand. “People think that saying ‘I’m sorry’ is going to take away everything that has gone wrong. But they don’t know. They don’t know what you are going through; because if they knew, they wouldn’t be saying anything.”
Elizabeth was now crying and Chad was feeling very sorry for her. But she had helped him realize something. Never to say ‘I’m sorry’ to either Mike or Vanessa or to anyone else, because, like Elizabeth said, he wouldn’t know what they were feeling.

“Chad? I-is that you?”
Chad looked down and almost exploded with joy. Vanessa’s eyes were open. And she had spoken.
“Vanessa? Oh, thank God. I was so worried.”
“Is there any news on Mike?”
Chad shook his head, sadly.
“No, the doctors haven’t talked, or even checked on us.”
“And they call themselves doctors??” Elizabeth exclaimed. “I swear, they shouldn’t be. They’ve been ignoring me also.”
Vanessa sat up and looked at Elizabeth. Elizabeth realized that she hadn’t properly introduced herself to Vanessa.
“Oh, sorry. I’m Elizabeth. Elizabeth Hudson.”
“And why are you here, Elizabeth?” Vanessa asked.
Elizabeth sighed and repeated the whole spiel that she had told Chad while Vanessa had been unconscious. At the end, Elizabeth was, amazingly, not crying. But, Chad and Vanessa could tell that she was choking up. Desperately not wanting to see her cry again, Chad made a quick and hasty decision.
“Hey, Vanessa, do you want to go and see Mike again?”
Vanessa nodded.
“Sure.” Then, she turned toward Elizabeth, “Elizabeth, would you like to come with us?”“I would be honored.”

Elizabeth followed Chad and Vanessa into the room where Mike lay. This time, Vanessa tried as hard as she possibly should to regain her composure as she took Mike’s hand. Then, she felt a strong, reassuring grip on her shoulders that sent a tingling sensation down her spine. Positive that it was Chad, she turned around. What she saw shocked her. The strong grip had belonged to Elizabeth, who was now smiling down at her. Vanessa just smiled back. She hadn’t expected Elizabeth to be so friendly to her. After all, they had only met just five minutes ago. But, in a way, she was really happy that Elizabeth was there. It made it a whole lot less awkward between her and Chad.
But something distracted Vanessa, Chad, and Elizabeth from Mike yet again. The doctor came into the room and walked up to Elizabeth.
“Elizabeth Hudson?”
“Yes?”
“If you want to see Josh now, you can.”
Elizabeth nodded, but then looked at Chad and Vanessa nervously.
“Would you guys like to come?”
Chad looked at Vanessa and then they looked at Elizabeth,
“Sure.
As they were walking toward the large double-doors that Chad had seen earlier, Vanessa was watching Elizabeth. And, even though she had seemed so reassuring when they were in Mike’s room, Vanessa could tell that Elizabeth was nervous.
“Elizabeth?” Vanessa began.
Elizabeth turned her head, while they were walking.
“Yes?”
“It’s going to be alright. I know that people must tell you that a lot, but you have to realize something. I am going through the some thing that you are. I have a friend who is in almost the same situation that your friend is in. We have something in common. And don’t you think that it gives me the privilege to say that to you?”
At first, Elizabeth didn’t know what to say. She was shocked. She had just given Chad her whole speech about people telling her ‘I’m sorry’, and yet, Vanessa made perfect sense. They were going through the same thing. Someone that they had a strong relationship with was in life-threatening peril. This time, Elizabeth didn’t say anything. She just kept on walking.