Beat of Angels

Chapter Four: Miracle

Raphael was the healer of his group. In his mild mannered, sleepy exterior laid great power within. The ability didn't just end with angels, but extended to humans as well. He was called upon when the situation was dire enough and the human being in particular was someone special. It took a great amount of energy for him to heal, so he rested often. His responsibilities to others were greater still.

It so happened that the school that Raphael and Gabriel were attending required that they perform some kind of community service. It just so happened that Michael got in charge of it one way or another. So, on a Saturday morning, Michael and a group of students, which included the other two angels, went to a hospital.

Most people didn't like hospitals, but Gabriel immediately went to work without complaining like the other students. Raphael didn't complain either, but he started to wander off from the others. Sometimes in his waking moments, he wandered as if he was sleepwalking. And it lead him to the places he was most needed.

The lights began to dim as he walked along the hospital corridors. The walls didn't hold the regular plaques of donators or names of doctors. He stopped in front of a statue that was of a mother holding her child. On the walls surrounding it were pictures made by children, using paint, crayons, markers, and colored pencils. He paused and lingered at them, staring at one of them in particular.

It was a picture of a hand coming from the sky and a child reaching for it. Raphael could see the forces at work. The angels who walked among them unseen from time to time. He could see them walking around the hospital. He could sense their presence, waiting for the time to come. Raphael's musings were interrupted from the sounds of someone reciting something. He walked onward.

He saw that there was an elderly gentleman reading a story to the children in one of the rooms. Some of them had no hair and all of them had IVs hooked up to them. The noise of the machines seem to whisper as the lone voice continued to read a book. Raphael stood at the doorway just watching. The elderly man paused to look at him and then resumed the story. Some of the children looked towards Raphael, but they were unable to really see him from the angle he was standing at. He was half inside the doorway and half out.

When the story was finished, the man told the children that he would return in a few minutes. He went up to Raphael and smiled at him. "What's your name and what brings you here, young man?" he asked politely.

"I'm not sure," murmured Raphael.

"You're not sure what your name is?"

"Raphael. I was just wondering around."

"You're part of that community service group that comes in from the high school every semester. My name is Thomas. And I've never seen anyone from that group come into this part of the hospital really. Most kids your age don't come here unless they need to."

"I guess I'm different. But why do you suppose kids my age don't come here?"

"If I had to venture to guess, I'd say that most of these kids aren't too far from their ages. Some of them are teenagers like you. When you're in that age, you think you can do anything. You think you're indestructible. This is just too much reality for them." Thomas said in a lower voice, "This is the place of last chances for some of these kids."

"So, you come here to read to them?"

"Yes, I do. So, are you going to be helping out here or are you just passing through?"

Raphael didn't hesitate when he nodded as he replied, "Yes, I'm here to help out. I'll do whatever I can. I don't know what to really do here."

"Now that's what I like to hear," said Thomas with a laugh. "Some of these kids just need some attention. Someone who can listen to them. Every once in a while some of them get put into isolation rooms because of the chemotherapy. Those treatments can render their immune systems unable to defend them against disease."

"I understand. How does one talk to someone who's in isolation without hurting them by being in the same room?"

"If you change your clothes and sterilize yourself, you can go inside. The staff makes a lot of rounds, and expose themselves to a lot, so they don't always go in. They check from the doorways," answered Thomas.

"I see," whispered Raphael as he walked along. "There are so many pictures on the walls. So much that they overlap each other."

"There are a lot of children who come here. Like I said for some this is the last chance as well as for their families. This is the place where they hope miracles will come."

Raphael was immediately brought to the nurses' station and put to work. At first the nurses put him to work stuffing envelopes for an upcoming fundraiser. The nurses talked about each of the children, so that he could better understand what their needs were. He wouldn't be sent to interact with the children until they knew that he was ready for it.

At the end of the day, they told him that they would be seeing him the following week. Raphael went back to go and meet Michael and the other students. When he got there, Michael was tapping his foot impatiently, looking at him expectantly.

"You were supposed to stay with the group," pointed out Michael sternly. "Where did you go? You're lucky that I didn't have you paged."

"I went to the children's ward," explained Raphael. He knew that the other students were watching him. "You said we should go where we feel we can be of use. Would anyone here other than Gabriel want to see the kids? I mean really who would?" Raphael gestured at the group; most of them were looking away.

"You should have told me where you were going," insisted Michael. "I'm not going to continue this. But next week, you will be telling me where you go before you go. Do you understand me?" Raphael nodded. Michael turned his attention back to the other students, "Okay, let's get a move on people."

The bus came and picked them up as planned and everyone had gone home. Gabriel and Raphael left together, while Michael stayed behind to handle the evaluations for the trip before returning back to the loft. Gabriel ended up getting a ride with Raphael as soon as the other students had gone home. Most of them didn't even go inside the school.

When they returned to the loft, Gabriel began to ask questions about the hospital, which Raphael answered freely. He had nothing to hide really. Gabriel listened carefully. "So, you were drawn there?" she asked.

"I suppose so," answered Raphael. "One can never be sure, but those children do need someone there."

Gabriel looked at him solemnly. "Just don't go around healing everyone in sight, Raphael. The Walkers have their work to do as well. You can't interfere as much and you'd draw too much attention to yourself. This is an age of science. The mortals don't put much stock in healing without reason."

"That might be the problem, Gabriel," said Raphael as he got to his feet. "I'm going to get some rest. I may need it."

The students returned to the hospital the following weekend. Raphael separated from the rest of the students and went to the children's ward. When he had arrived, he heard the sounds of screaming as the nurses and doctors were trying to treat one of the children. Raphael saw that Thomas was nearby.

"What's going on?" asked Raphael.

Thomas answered, "One of the kids has to have a treatment today. His name is George."

"Where are his parents?"

"He doesn't have any. His parents died in a car accident two years ago. He's been living in foster care, but after the cancer came he was sent here. A charity pays for everything."

"He's in a lot of pain."

Thomas glanced at him and gave him an odd look. "It's unimaginable," he whispered. "Unless you've gone through it, you'll never want to experience it."

Raphael said nothing after that. It took two nurses to hold down George as one of the doctors prepared the treatment. When it was done, the child was sobbing and crying. He pushed them all away. As soon as they had all cleared, Raphael ventured inside.

"What was that all about?" he asked as a greeting.

"They want to see if I'm getting better," answered George without looking at him. "It doesn't matter if I'm getting better or not. It's not like I have any other place to go to, if I get out of here." George finally turned around and faced Raphael. "Hey, I've never seen you here before. Who are you?"

"I'm Raphael."

George whispered, "Like the angel."

Raphael had a startled look for a moment as he nodded, "Yes, like the angel."

"What are you doing here? You're not sick."

"I came here to see what I can do. Why don't you want the doctors to help you? I know that it hurts, but it will help you get better. You should make it easier on them."

"Do you have a home that you go to after this? Do you have parents?"

"Yes, I have a home to go to. I don't really have what you would call parents. I don't live with parents."

George struggled to sit up. Obviously, he was interested in the fact that Raphael didn't have parents either. He looked at Raphael and concluded, "You don't look like an angel."

"They come in all kinds of forms, George," pointed out Raphael, but he understood what he meant.

"So, you don't have parents either? You don't live with them? Why?"

"Because they are very busy and have a lot of work to do for the others. But I understand that need. I can take care of myself."

"But you have at least a place to go. I have no where else to go if I get well. What would be the point? I have no where else to go. And I know that I'm not getting any better. It hurts a lot when they do the treatments and when they check up on stuff. I'm so tired. I'm tired of all this. I just want to go Heaven and be with my parents."

Raphael pulled a chair up and sat down on it. He reached out his hand and placed it on top of George's. He could sense another presence in the room standing near the window. It was a Walker who staring straight at him. The Walkers were guides that lead the mortals into the next life and this one was waiting. Some of the mortals could sense them when death was close, but some could not.

Raphael just sat with George for a long time until he was at rest. Raphael got to his feet and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. Thomas was just standing there waiting for him. "It won't be long now," he whispered.

"How can you tell?" asked Raphael. He listened to Thomas thoughts and understood. "You've been here for a long time, haven't you Thomas?"

"Yes, I came through here when my son passed through here. Illness has a way of making a strong marriage stronger, and a weak one weaker. My wife and I only stayed together for the sake of my son, Nicholas. When Nico died, my wife couldn't take it. We went our separate ways. She had gotten remarried more than a year ago. I come here as often as I can."

"You are a strong man for coming back to the place where your son died," said Raphael. "Not many have the strength that you do."

Thomas gave a hollow laugh as he shook his head. "No, I am not a strong person. If I had any of this strength, I would give it to them. They are stronger than me. They are braver than me." He looked at Raphael closely. "I don't believe I have ever met anyone like you, Raphael."

Raphael paused as he saw a Walker walk pass them and into another room. They were waiting for the time to come. He rolled his hands into fists as he thought of the power that he had and looked at the doorway again. "Are you going to see George?" asked Raphael.

"I don't normally sit with the children alone. I can't bear it. I'm not as strong as you think I am."

"If you sit with him now and wait. It may make all the difference. He's alone. No one should ever be alone. Least of all, a child. He's frightened even more because of it. He has nothing to fight for. Not even himself. Give him your strength now."

Thomas almost shook his head, but went up to the doorway. He paused for a moment at the knob and glanced at Raphael who was already gone. He was startled by that. He turned and entered the room.

Raphael walked on following the Walker who turned and faced Raphael in the middle of the corridor. "I know that why you are here. I will leave you alone in almost everything, but this. I will do what I think is right." The Walker said nothing as he turned away from Raphael.

Raphael went back to working with the other children. With Thomas staying with George, he took over reading the books to the children. They were all pleased to meet Raphael and asked him a lot of questions about school and other things that normal children did. Raphael answered those questions as best he could, considering that he never had a childhood. However, the fun was interrupted by the sound of the PA system.

"Code Blue. Code Blue. Room 314."

It wasn't George's room, but all the other children had gotten quiet. They knew that someone wasn't breathing. Raphael remained quiet for a bit before picking up the next book and reading it to them. When everything had calmed again, Raphael was summoned by the nurse to come to the doorway.

"We're on locked down. One of our children just passed away," she told him in a whisper. "You can either leave now or stay. But security has to be up here soon."

"Do you mind if you paged my teacher? His name is Michael Archer. I'd like to talk to him on the phone."

"Okay. Come with me to the nurses' station." She turned her attention to the children. "I'll have to borrow Raphael for a bit. I'll bring him right back. I promise."

He followed the nurse back to the station and she paged Michael who answered in less than five minutes. "Mr. Archer," said Raphael. "Would it be all right for me to stay here with children a bit longer? I will call my guardians and tell them that I can't make it home and that they'll have to pick me up later."

"Fine," said Michael with Gabriel at his side. "What are you up to? What's happened?"

"I'll see you at school, Mr. Archer," said Raphael as he hung up. He dialed the loft and left a message on machine. Uriel would understand what it meant. He had gone out to a gig at a local radio station. When Raphael hung up the phone, he smiled at the nurse and told her that he could find his way back to the children on his own.

For the rest of the afternoon, Raphael just talked with the children and read more stories. It wasn't until dark when the nurses and doctors had completely changed shifts did he go and see Thomas. He walked in quietly and saw that Thomas was reading a book to George who had fallen asleep again. Raphael came up from behind and whispered, "Sleep."

Thomas immediately fell asleep and the book almost hit the floor had Raphael not caught it. He marked the place in it and placed it on Thomas' lap. Now, Raphael turned his attention to George who was sleeping soundly.

Raphael held his hands over George's chest and light began to emit out of them. Just as soon as the light came, George briefly opened his eyes for a moment before closing them again. Raphael could feel the cancer leaving his body. He was doing more than just healing. He was bring some relief and peace, but he was giving hope as well. In less than a minute, it was over.

Raphael took a deep breath before closing his hands again. He felt a wave of exhaustion come over him, but it didn't last for very long just as Thomas began to stir. Raphael pulled away from George and gently shook Thomas' shoulder. The elderly man woke up with a start. "Oh! I guess I fell asleep."

"It's all right. I came here just to see him before I left. I just let you sleep for a bit," said Raphael quietly.

Thomas put the book on the table as he saw that George wasn't as pale as had been just a few minutes ago. In fact, he looked like health. George's eyes fluttered open. "Mr. Graystone?" he asked. "You can leave now. I don't feel so bad anymore."

"You don't look as bad anymore. You look better," said Thomas. "You don't look sick anymore."

"Someone came and helped me. Someone took all the pain away," said George. He looked at Raphael. "An angel came. I couldn't see him. It was too bright to see him."

Thomas impulsively hugged George as Raphael took as a sign to make his exit. He walked away quietly from the children's ward, waving good night to the staff as he went along. He stopped at the statue of the woman holding the child. There was a plaque underneath it.

Raphael knelt down to read it, "In Loving Memory of Nicolas Graystone. Love, Dad." He smiled and went home to sleep.

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AN: A shorter chapter than expected. I was going to make it longer, but this was a good place to stop. The next chapter should be good because a new character is about to be introduced.

2004 © by C.S. Estoque. No part of this story maybe posted anywhere else without written permission. Any characters, situations, or circumstances that may resemble any persons, situations, or circumstances in real life is purely coincidental.