Angelica Jr. hated herself. She had hoped for the better, but nothing seemed to go right for the 17-year-old; Her Aunt Angelica had abandoned her about a week ago, and she had recently lost her older brother Philip Hamilton. Everything seemed to be crumbling down around her, and she believed that it was all her fault.
"I'll be home soon, Angel! Just you wait!" That was the last thing that Angel had heard from her big brother, Philip Hamilton.
"I love you!" Andthat was the last thing that Angel had ever said before Philip was shot.
Philip had said that while pointing his gun at the sky, which was to be fired in ten seconds... until George Eacker quickly pulled the trigger and shot him in the chest. Angel was relieved that Philip didn't die straightaway, but still felt bad for what Philip had suffered.
Angel remembered going to the Hospital with her parents, Alexander and Eliza, to see Philip. The day seemed a bit more slower before she went. Angel couldn't bring herself together after Philip was shot. She was a mess; crying everyday, wishing that Philip would knock on her bedroom door saying that he was all better. But instead, her brother had to stay in the hospital for days before Angel had been finally permitted by her parents to see him, mostly because the 19-year-old had been requesting for his sister's presence ever since, yet was ignored by his parents' constant worry for his well-being.
Flashback :
November 24th 1801
Angel made it into the room in which Philip was being held. The room itself was like a regular hospital bed, but Philip being the one in the bed made it seem as if the room was a prison cell.
"Philip!" Angel made her way to Philip's side, and took his hand in hers. Philip looked pale, and the heart rate thermometer beside him was showing a temperature colder than usual, indicating that Philip was in a bad condition.
"Angel..." Philip's voice managed to slur out in the state that he was.
"Are you OK?"
Philip's lip slightly curved upward, "Well... you're... here..." he gasped.
Angel smiled slightly at the compliment. "How long do you think you'll be here?" She asked, her free hand starting to twitch nervously.
Eliza, who had been watching the scene with Alexander, took a step toward the teen, "Angel, sweetie... we have some bad news for you..."
Eliza then burst into tears, and Alexander went to comfort her, "We're afraid that Philip won't – he can't – he's not..." he tried to finish his wife's announcement, but also ended up sobbing mildly, leading A.Jr. to approach Philip and Angel.
Philip turned Angel's attention over to her, "I'm not gonna be alive much longer, Angel..."
Angel looked over at her brother, "brother..."
"Angel, it's my time to go on to the next life..." Philip informed his sister with a tear rolling down his cheek, "...if there is a next life."
"There is, Philip." Eliza nodded, still upset, "You'll be in a place with other nice friendly brave people."
"NO!" Angel yelled, startling her family, "Philip, you won't die. You CAN'T die on me now! We were gonna go through adulthood together, and maybe even poetry together, and..."
"Now you have a future that you can control." Philip pointed out weakly, "I won't be in your way."
Angel sighed sadly, "Don't talk like that. I saved your life once, and I'll be able to do it again! All we need is to-"
Angel felt Philip's other hand rest on top on the hand that was already holding Philip's other hand, "It's alright. The doctors have done everything they can to help."
Angel could feel herself tearing up, tears already gushing out uncontrollably, "Please, brother... please..."
"Philip..." A.Jr. quietly muttered as his parents approached him, "Don't go..."
"I have to, Jr. . But before I go, I want you all to know that I love you all. And Angel..." Philip looks over to Angel again, and Angel stares into Philip's teary eyes with her own, "Thanks for being such a wonderful sister all my life. I will forever love you for your long-lasting loyalty to me..."
"But, Philip, you're-" Angel wanted to respond, but it was too late. The thermometer went all the way down, indicating that Philip was officially dead.
"Oh, Alexander," Eliza sobbed, "Our son is dead!"
Alexander gave his wife a comforting embrace, "I know Eliza." He looked up, "But at least he's in a better place."
Angel's still looking at Philip, not paying attention to the world around her; she's still holding Philip's hand, only making her cry harder, "Philip..."
A.Jr. put a hand on Angel's shoulder, "Come on, sis. We should go..."
Angel watched as A.Jr. left the room with his siblings and bawling parents. She noticed how he wasn't crying, but he is likely just as sad as she is. Angel left the room, and before she closed the door, she whispered, "I'll miss you... all my life."
November 27th 1801
About three days later, Angel attended Philip's funeral with her parents and siblings. She looked around and saw that nearly everyone that knew Philip had attended the funeral, and even Aaron Burr and Angelica Schuyler. The two had been quick to find Angel, leaving their families.
"Angel!" Angelica cried out.
Angel, however, was occupied in her own thoughts. She was going to talk about Philip during the ceremony, and was still a little short was what to say, mostly due to being too depressed over Philip's death to even concentrate. If only she could see Philip again...
"ANGEL!" Burr cried, even louder than Angelica had done.
"What is it, Uncle Aaron?" Angel asked.
"Aunt Angelica's talking to you!"
Angelica then got Angel's attention and spoke again, "Are you OK?" she asked.
Angel sighed. It was obvious that she wasn't, but as Angelica was her aunt, she was always open to her advice, especially at a time like this, "I just feel that I could have done something to save Philip!" Angel could feel herself getting angry at herself, "I should have at least tried to push him out of the way of Eacker."
Angelica stopped Angel's anger by putting her hands on her shoulders, making her less tense, "It wasn't your fault, Angel. But he's gone now, so you just have to live on!"
Angel slapped her aunt's hands away having been taken aback by her shockingly unhelpful advice, "NO! It's NOT alright! I could have SAVED him! Don't you two get it?" She saw that everyone was making their way into the synagogue to start the ceremony, "Now we better go."
The funeral was basically like any normal funeral. Angel had only been there for a little while and already it felt like hours to her. Mentally, she thought that she last saw Philip years ago, and slowly Death was creeping behind them hoping to take her away. Angel turned to her uncle next to her. Burr was rather tolerable during the ceremony, as he did not make a snide remark to Angel's personal challenges or even the fact that she was in a synagogue. He seemed rather intrigued as to what was being said about Philip. Angel was impressed, but thought that it was possibly a play so she could pull a big joke at the end. Angelica, on her other side, looked fairly clam. She did have a reason to, but to Angel she found it completely disrespectful, for Philip and Angelica were good to each other in the family and always helped each other out holiday parties. If anything, Angelica and Philip were practically in a relationship.
"I believe the parents have a few words to say about Philip." The minister announced.
Eliza and Alexander went to the front of the synagogue while Eliza cleared her throat, "Philip has always been our special son. He was the perfect child an American couple could ask for; he always wrote poems, he was one of the most intelligent in his class, and he even spent every day with me teaching him to play the piano. He may have nearly sacrificed himself before as well as go to extreme lengths to get his own way which made us angry, but it's painful for us to accept the fact that the Lord has decided to end our son's life at such a young age, and we can only wish that he is up there in Heaven, looking down upon us and smiling, wanting us to try to move on." Eliza then picked out a clean tissue from her pocket to blow her nose, and proceeded to sit down with Alexander.
Angel quietly snorted in disbelief at her mother wanting them to move on. Eliza had broken down, clearly not even trying to move on from this. She was stabbed. She may have been a thorn in Philip's backside (and even her daughter's on occasion), but she did care deeply about her son, and would probably go through any length just to make sure that the monster that shot him got what he deserved. Angel also swore she saw a tear on Uncle Burr's face, but quickly turned away from the man when he caught her.
"Oh, can I say something?" Burr suddenly interrupted with his stubby hand in the air. Angel knew that this was his opportunity to insult Philip.
Burr made his way to the front as fast as his body would let him. Angel put her head in her hands while Angelica watched her curiously, wanting to see what would happen. Burr pulled out several pieces of paper from his pocket, placing them in some sort of order and straightening them out, "Now, what do I have to say about my nephew Philip... I have such wonderful things to say about him, like..." Burr looked around the room, with faces of sadness looking straight at him, looking at him as if he was going to say something good about Philip, but as Angel knows, she won't. Angelica, however, seemed to be encouraging Burr to continue for a reason that Angel is unaware of. Burr saw Angelica's encouragement and pressed on, facing Philip's casket, "Well, he... he... I..." looking at the casket, the man then began to cry. "I miss him so much! I know I always insulted him for being a little rascal but now I feel like it was all for nothing! I'm sorry, Philip! I'm sorry for everything stupid I've ever said to you! I wish I could make it up to you somehow!" He then ran back to his seat, where he was comforted by Angelica.
Angel swore Burr was lying, but looking at the tears and how upset he had been, maybe Burr was actually sorry for treating Philip stupidly. Philip always didn't like his uncle for this, and without Angel by his side, he would have lost it years ago.
"Angel, you should go say something." Angelica suggested to Angel, and it's not a bad idea.
Angel raises her hand, "I have a few things to say about Philip."
Angel made her way to the front, and was given whispers of encouragement by her siblings, and her parents. Nobody else said a word. "Hello everyone. What can I say about my brother Philip Hamilton? Well, he was the best big brother a girl like me could ever have. He made me who I am today, but now I'm not even sure if I even know who I am anymore because he's not by my side, laughing along with me. We did everything together. We went on wacky adventures that may have seemed virtually impossible, but we both had high hope that helped us on our journey. I always went to him whenever I needed a shoulder to cry on, and he would come to me whenever he needed some comforting. I loved him like a parent, because we stuck with each other through thick and thin. We were never that far apart, and because of this I don't know how I'll cope without him in my life. I do wish that I could have saved him if I had the chance, because he wouldn't be dead if I did something to stop him! I want Philip back!" Angel began to cry, overwhelmed by both the loss of Philip and the fact that she was in front of many people, most of which didn't even know her, but they were shedding tears at what the teen had to say. Her mother went up to Angel and carried her back, making her dad groan. Angel remained on her mother's lap for the rest of the ceremony, where she cried herself to sleep.
After the ceremony, Angel was woken up and met up with Aunt Angelica and Uncle Burr. They were both holding hands, and Angelica seemed to be angry at Angel.
"What the hell, Angel?" she asked, "You went to Philip for everything? What about me? Was I not good enough all those times you were upset? You always want Philip! When I try to comfort you you always make me back off and yell at me like I've done something wrong. I'm your goddamn aunt!" she took a quick glance at Burr, "At least I was anyway..."
Angel held her hands up, "Wait... you're abandoning me for MY UNCLE?!"
"You never listened to her, Angel." Burr began, "And Angelica could only take so much of your shit before she left you for good."
"And Burr's more confident with who he is than you are with yourself!" Angelica then strolled off with her husband in tow, "Good luck getting over things from now on, Angel!"
Angel felt like crying again. Her aunt, the only one she trusted, had abandoned her. God, it hurt. "No..."
End of flashback
Now finished from remembering the past couple days, Angel was sat down on the kitchen floor, holding a half-empty bottle of rum, while two empty bottles sat beside her. By now her parents had already grown accustomed to her drinking habit, and had tried several times to get her off, but failed every time. Eliza watched her daughter carefully, afraid of her next move. She had seen her drink a lot of rum since the funeral, and at this point had no idea how to hold her daughter back.
"Phiiiiliiiiip..." Angel slurred, "Commmeee back tooooo meee...."
"Angel?" Eliza walked over to Angel and examined her, "Are you OK?"
"You t-tell m-m-me." Angel pointed at her mother, "Is PHILIP O-OK?"
"Honey, you know that he's gone, don't you?"
Angel only got up from where she sat, unknown where she was going to go. But as she took a step toward her mother, she collapsed on the ground right away.
Eliza bent down and put two fingers on Angel's chest, checking for a heartbeat, "Angel? ANGEL! Can you wake up?"
"Ma..." Angel managed to say before her eyes shut once again.