Angels Watching Over Me (14 page)

Leah glanced at Ethan, who shrugged and squeezed her hand.

Much later, as she was leaving the floor to go home—in a wheelchair, as all patients were required to do—Molly hurried up to her. “I’m so glad I caught you. I wanted to say goodbye and let you know I’ll be here after the holidays when you come back.” She saw Ethan and looked surprised.

“I came to keep her company,” he explained.

Leah remembered the book and reached into her bag. “I have something for you. Actually, it’s from Gabriella.”

“She came to see you?” Molly looked alarmed.

“Don’t be worried. She won’t be back.” Leah handed Molly the book. “She wanted you to have this.”

Molly took it, then gasped. All the color
drained from her face. “Where did she get this?”

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Seeing Molly’s reaction made Leah’s heart skip.

“It’s my sister’s diary. It’s been missing for all these years. We knew Emily kept it. I saw her writing in it, but after she died, we couldn’t find it anywhere.” Molly hugged the book to herself as tears streamed down her face.

“Gabriella told me it was in the library, and that’s exactly where Ethan and I found it.”

“How can that be? That library’s been revamped and restocked many times over the years. Someone would have found it before now.”

“I don’t know how,” Leah said, equally baffled. “But that’s where we found it. Just like Gabriella said we would. It’s locked.”

“I have the key. I’ve kept it all these years.” Molly wiped her eyes. “Oh, Leah, what a wonderful present for my parents. We’re supposed to go there for Christmas dinner. I’ll take it with me and we’ll read it together.” She looked at Leah. “Thank you. And thank this Gabriella when you see her.”

“She told me that I won’t see her again,” Leah said. “And I believe her.”

The elevator door slid open. “Let’s blow this place,” Leah’s mother said.

In the lobby, they waited for Leah’s mother to drive the car to the front door. Outside, snow was falling. Leah saw a gray van off to one side. Ethan touched Leah’s cheek. “My ride to Nappanee is waiting for me. I must go.”

Leah clung to his hand, not wanting him to leave her. “Ethan, I want you to know how much it mattered to me to have you come stay with me.”

“I wanted to stay with you.”

“I don’t want you to be in trouble because of it.”

“I cannot change what I have done.” He squared his jaw. “You should not worry about me.”

“I’ll write you. Charity and Rebekah, too.”

He grinned and stroked her hair. “We’ll wait for your letter.”

“Please tell them Merry Christmas, and that it helped knowing they were praying for me.”

“So are you no longer angry with God?”

She sighed. “I guess not. I need his help, don’t I?”

He bent and kissed her forehead. “Merry Christmas, English.”

“Merry Christmas,” she whispered. She watched him step out into the snow, his dark coat, pants and broad-brimmed hat stark against the white snow. She pressed her hand to her mouth and felt the lingering warmth of his touch. She watched him disappear into the van, and she hoped with all her heart that angels would watch over him forever.

January 30

Dear Charity,

Thanks for your letter. I
love
hearing from you. I’m mailing you two letters in this envelope, one for you and Rebekah, the other for Ethan. Could you please give it to him?

Since you asked for my news, I’ll give it to you in detail. Where to begin?… I went back to the hospital right after New Year’s Day and Mom, Neil and I met with Dr. Thomas and two of his colleagues. I wish you could have been there. It’s hard to write down what happened, but I’ll try.
Dr. Thomas hung four sets of my X rays on his light board, which included a series he’d had done that very morning. The first few sets of X rays showed big dark spots where cancer had eaten away my bone. But on the newest set of X rays the spots were smaller! He explained that the X rays were showing that the cancer wasn’t nearly as advanced as they originally thought. So I endured another biopsy which showed that while there were still some questionable cells, the doctors felt that after a round of chemotherapy, I’ll eventually be all right. In other words, NO amputation! What a relief!

Mom went ballistic (which means crazy-angry). She shouted, “What if you’d cut off Leah’s leg and then found you’d made a mistake? Then what would you say?” Dr. Thomas insisted he hadn’t made a mistake. He assured us his diagnosis had been correct. He explained that sometimes X rays can look different from each other, but he did agree that he was mystified by the shrinking spots. He showed us some pretty interesting stories in a medical book about patients who go into “spontaneous
remission” with absolutely no help from medical science. He admitted that there really
are
some weird unexplained healings. I mean people who were at death’s door—much worse off than me—and then their sicknesses mysteriously vanished over time. That’s when Dr. Thomas recommended chemo. He said it was the smart, responsible thing to do. I’m not crazy about taking it (I’ll probably lose my hair and be sick), but I guess it’s best not to take a chance that I’m not having a “spontaneous remission.”

Neil was real quiet through the whole discussion. But right after Dr. Thomas finished with his explanations, Neil says, “ ‘Spontaneous remissions’—in my day we called them miracles.” It made me laugh, and, of course, think of you and Rebekah. It also made everybody in the room relax a little.

Anyway Dr. Thomas agreed that there were some things science couldn’t explain. Whether we call it a spontaneous remission or a miracle doesn’t matter to me. All I know is that I still have my leg. And in spite of having to go through chemo, I
have a good feeling about this, Charity. You might even say I have faith. Maybe your prayers for me helped after all.

Which brings me to the part Gabriella may have played in all of this. Only Rebekah and I ever saw her. But she
did
exist. Emily’s diary is proof enough for me. Molly can’t understand how it could have been in the library all these years and nobody ever found it. It’s a real mystery, and only Gabriella knows the answer.

Speaking of books, did I mention that I got my own Bible for Christmas? I’ve been doing a lot of reading in it, especially about angels. I keep thinking of all the things you told me about them the night we decorated the Christmas tree, and so-o-o, I’m going to tell you something that may make you think I’ve gone nuts. Charity, I think that Gabriella might be an angel. That would explain so many things about her. The way she seemed to appear and disappear. The way I felt so peaceful the last night I saw her. She may even be responsible for the craziness with my X rays! I honestly can’t find another way to explain the things that have happened.
But you’re smarter about these things, what do you think?

Anyway, I
do
know that you and Rebekah and Ethan are angels too.
Earth
angels who came into my life when I needed a miracle! Thanks for your friendship. Please keep writing and tell Rebekah that if she ever sees Gabriella again, she should throw a net over her. I have a hundred questions I want to ask her.