"Thank you for coming," Ash said for what felt like the millionth time.
"I told you, I want to be there for you," I smiled.
"Thanks," she grinned.
"You say thanks once more and I'll jump out of the car, I swear I will," I warned.
"Alright," she nodded with a grin and rested her head on Patch's shoulder.
I smiled and looked out of the window. Mitchell was driving the old van (which I was very surprised to find out they even owned) to the hospital, it was time for Ash's checkup. There was Ash, Patch, Sean, Mitchell, two wolves called Ryan and Tara, and me. Apparently Ryan worked at that hospital so we were just taking him up there and Tara helped keep everyone under control if they were to get bad news.
I had no idea when I woke up this morning and ended up being the tug-of-war rope that Ash had a doctor's appointment today. It was only at breakfast that Ash had asked me if I wanted to go. Of course I'd wanted to go, to be there for her as I said, but I was also scared. What if it was bad news? I couldn't stand the thought of her getting more bad news...
The drive was mostly silent and at the hospital no one talked. The tension was so thick I probably could have cut it with a fingernail. Ash was called up by a nurse for testing and the rest of us were shoved into a room to wait for her. Still no one spoke.
A good half hour passed in agonizing silence before the door opened and Ash came in laughing with a pre-historic doctor who's bushy white mustache looked ready for birds to nest in.
"Have a seat Ashley," he smiled at her.
"Okay," she walked over and sat in Patch's lap. His arms went around her instantly, like the loss of contact had been physically painful to him. Maybe it had, I've never been in love, so I don't know.
"Well?" Sean demanded as the old man sat down.
"Well I have good news," the doctor smiled around the room.
"Good news?" Mitchell repeated like he hadn't heard right.
"That's right," the doctor beamed. "I can't explain it, but Ash really has improved. Her vitals are much less stressed, her thought process is more constant from one idea to the next. I can officially tell you that she is out of the red zone. Her chance of recovery has greatly increased over 50%."
No one said anything for a long moment.
"She's out of the red zone?" Patch whispered.
"Yes," the doctor nodded. "Whatever the new thing in her life is, keep it up."
"I'm gonna be okay," Ash looked down at Patch, tears in her eyes. "I'm gonna be okay."
Then all hell broke loose. Patch and Sean ended up hugging Ash so hard I thought she'd end up a puddle and Mitch was hugging all three of them three times as hard. I felt tears well in my eyes, she was going to be okay. Ash was really going to be okay...
"Rose," Sean looked up out of the fray at me.
"Yeah?" I grinned.
"Thank you," a tear rolled down his cheek.
"Huh?" I wiped my own tear away.
"Thank you," he repeated and went back to hugging his sister.
"Well I'll let you all rejoice," the doctor laughed and stood up. "Just don't kill the recovering patient. I'll be wanting you back in two weeks to make sure that this upward trend is continuing."
"Well," Ash laughed when she could breathe again. "I guess I have a guardian angel too." She looked at me.
"Guess so," I grinned. "Ash I'm so happy for you."
"Me too," Patch kissed her again, for the millionth time in ten minutes.
"Let's go home," Mitchell stood up. "We're going to have a party tonight, thanking God that Rose came to us."
"What?" I looked up at him in confusion.
"You're so slow from someone from the future," Sean shook his head. "You're the new thing in Ash's life. I don't know how, but you helped."
"Me?"
"Yup," Ash grinned. "Now let's go home."
I was still finding it hard to believe that I was the one who'd helped Ash so much, but everyone seemed to think so. We talked, laughed and joked all the way home. It was brilliant and I loved every second. Everyone at the manor was just as crazy happy when Mitchell burst through the doors like a king and declared that we were all going to party till dawn. No one could seem to leave Ash alone, they all needed to be sure that the doctor was right.
I'll say this for werewolves, they can party like... well animals. It was crazy, not drunk crazy, but fun crazy. I felt so... at home. This was where I always wanted to be. I ended up on the couch, on top of some random werewolf who I'd been dancing with. He was a couple years older than me and so muscled it was almost like sleeping on a rock. But I didn't mind, I drifted off happily. Ash was going to be okay... she was going to be okay.
The doorbell rang. No one moved, though I heard couple of people shift around on the floor. I may have been sleeping on a rock, but I didn't want to get up. Five minutes later the bell rang again.
"Coming!" Mitchell called, half asleep. I heard him stand up, accidentally step on someone, then eventually get to the door.
"Um- hi," a familiar voice came from the door. "I'm sorry if this is a bad time.... I was hoping to see Rose."
"Oh, yeah," Mitchell let her in. "She's on the couch I believe. We're not usually like this, just had a good night."
"Don't worry," she laughed and it sounded like bells. "Been there."
"Oi, Rose," Mitchell called across the room. "There's an angel here for you."
That got me up. As soon as I got up off that hard-chested wolf I saw why I'd recognized the voice. It was Silver, my alleged guardian angel. Pregnant as ever.
"Hi," she smiled, rubbing her arm. "I was hoping we could go out and talk. I didn't realize there'd be a celebration aftermath morning."
"No, no," I starting walking over, picking my way through the sleeping bodies. "I'm fine to go out." Silver may be strange but I'd really like to learn more about all this stuff.
"Do you want to change?" she asked as Mitchell went back to sleep on the armchair.
"Yeah," I nodded. "I won't be five minutes."
"Okay."
I ran upstairs, changed into jeans and a hoodie, then ran back down stairs, slipped on some pumps and followed Silver out of the house.
"So..." I started. "What did you want to talk about?"
"You actually," she smiled at me like I was the most interesting thing in the world. "Tell me all about you."
I didn't intend to tell her much, just my age and interests... but I ended up saying everything. Everything. All about the territories, the future, time-travel, all of it. I have no idea why, but it just all came out. Craziest thing is, she just nodded and listened like everything I was saying was perfectly normal.
"So you're from 2055..." she murmured. "I have to remember that."
"What?" I stared at her.
"Nothing," she grinned. "So, do you have anything to ask me? It's only fair considering I got your whole biography. Thank you by the way, for telling me."
"Oh," I said, still confused about why I'd told her so much. "No problem. I was actually wondering, you'r an angel right, do you have any idea how I would have been able to... time travel like that?"
"Oh..." she blinked in surprise. "Um, I know that angels and demons can time jump, so can warps and same mages. But you're giving off a... human vibe. I don't know how you did it."
Was it just me or did she sound disappointed when she said I was human? I'll just ignore that possibility, too much strange stuff has been happening to deal with that. I am happily human, end of story.
"Alright," I nodded. "So, did you want to go somewhere?"
I looked around, realizing that I'd taken her to the field that Sean had taken me to, the one with the big tree.
"Not really," she smiled. "I just wanted to spend time with you."
"Because you're my guardian angel?" I asked, watching her expression.
"Yeah," she smiled, looking into the distance like she was thinking about something very soothing... or something very sad. It was hard to tell with her expression.
"So what's it like?" I asked, sitting on the ground under the big tree. "Being an angel."
"What's it like?" she laughed, sitting beside me. "That's like me asking what it's like to breathe."
"Do you have to breathe?" I looked at her.
"Yeah, on Earth I do, sort of," she shrugged with a smile. "I'm guessing you're asking about heaven."
"Yes, that's what I meant," I looked out over the field again.
"Well... it's just like a vast bright space," she said, her voice taking on a tone of longing. "It's the best place to be, so peaceful and bright, everyone loves unconditionally. It's a parallel place to this one, just like hell is."
"That sounds beautiful," I murmured. I wish I'd grown up there instead of how I had.
"Yeah," she smiled to herself. "It is."
There was a pause before she started speaking again.
"There are two types of angels," she continued. "Avenger and guardian. Avengers come to earth for small periods of times for specific reasons, like to destroy a hell threat. Guardians stay longer, usually the span of a human life of the person they're assigned to."
"Wait," I turned on my knees to look at her. "If you're my guardian angel then why did you only just meet me and act so surprised that you did?"
"Because I wasn't assigned to you," she didn't look at me. "It's complicated."
"How do you know me?" I demanded.
"I told you," she sighed. "It's complicated."
"It's to do with me," I insisted. "I have the right to know."
"Rose-" she started, then paused, touching her stomach. "She just kicked."
"What?" I looked down at the bump too.
"Here," she took my hand and rested it against her stomach with a smile. I jumped with a small but sturdy kick hit my hand. A strange, strange feeling came over me, making me jerk back. "Rose?" Silver looked at me in concern.
"It's nothing," I shook my head. "So, what were we talking about?"
"You," she smiled. "About your interests and hobbies and stuff."
"Okay," I nodded, though I didn't remember that being the topic. "But afterwards you have to tell me your favorite colour and stuff."
"Deal," she smiled.