Crossroads (27 page)

“
Oh, Gamma.” My heart sunk
to the floor. I thought I was going to lose control, but I forced
myself to feel nothing. I was afraid to touch her or to hold her;
she appeared so fragile. Gently I reached for her hands, but they
were cold and unresponsive. Softly I cupped them with my two hands
to give her some warmth. I took a deep breath, not wanting to have
a breakdown. I completely blocked myself from reality and pretended
she was asleep.

“
Can you hear me?” I asked
softly. “It’s me, Claudia.”

Startled by the twitches from her
fingers, I immediately dropped her hands and stood up. Was that her
way of communicating with me? I was hopeful that she would wake up,
so I asked again. “Can you hear me, Gamma? Please wake up. I’m
here. I know you’ve been waiting for me. Let’s go home,” I pleaded,
touching her forehead, her cheeks, and finally, her
hands.

Upsettingly, there was no response. I
looked at her intensely, as to not forget her face. I realized the
deeply rooted wrinkles in her forehead had eased. Was she in pain?
Could she hear me? Many thoughts ran through my mind. Just then, a
doctor entered, and I jumped with surprise to see someone come in.
I was startled to see such a young doctor. Would he have the
experience to help Gamma? He was attentive and tried to answer all
my questions to put my mind at ease. He started off with words I
could not understand, all that medical jargon, but immediately
realized I wasn’t comprehending.

He paused and spoke again. “Basically
your grandmother had a massive stroke. She is unable to breathe
alone, as you can see. She is hooked up to an oxygen tube. Given
her age, surgery would only complicate the situation. Most likely,
if she even wakes up from her coma, she will be severely impaired.
To what extent cannot be determined. I am very sorry.”

“
I am sorry” meant that
she didn’t have a fighting chance of recovery, and hearing those
words from her doctor made it that much more difficult to bear.
“Thank you, doctor,” was all I could say.

“
Excuse me,” he said. He
shone a light in her eyes and nose, and shook her for response. I
was upset by the sight of him shaking her like that. I wanted to
yell at him to stop, but I knew he was doing his job. I couldn’t
bear to watch, so I turned around. Then he headed for the
door.

“
I’ll be with other
patients, but if you have any questions or concerns, just have any
one of the nurses page me.”

“
Thank you,” I said
solemnly.

Focusing on Gamma, I started speaking
to her again. “Please, wake up,” I said, as if she could hear me. I
had read an article about a patient being able to hear their loved
ones while in a coma. Whether this was true or not, I had to
try.

I sat there for who knows how long.
Mom had texted me back to let me know she had been here earlier,
but had to leave because of an emergency at work. They needed
additional nurses, but she said she would meet me as soon as she
could. It didn’t bother me; in fact, I was happy to have this time
alone with Gamma. I wasn’t sure how long she had. I embraced her
with my arms gently around her shoulders, trying not to disturb the
tubes that were keeping her alive, and rested my head lightly on
her chest. As I told her that I loved her, I didn’t even fight the
tears; instead, I welcomed them.

“
Come on, fight!” I said
out loud to her. “You still have much to live for. You can’t leave
me, especially now!” I wanted to tell her about Michael, and about
speaking to the angels. I knew she would be fascinated by my
stories. Suddenly, I felt movement and then a light grip on my
shoulders; I looked up to see Gamma’s eyes, opened wide and alert.
The tube in her mouth was out. She must’ve pulled it out just
before she grabbed me.

“
Gamma!” I couldn’t
believe my eyes. I was ecstatic. Either the doctor had misdiagnosed
her, or this was truly a miracle. “Do you know where you are?” I
stared, waiting for her to respond.

Without warning, she pulled me closer.
“Claudia, listen carefully. I’ve been waiting for you. I can’t wait
any longer. Please listen carefully as it may come as a shock. I’ve
been protecting you.”

Protecting me? Was she hallucinating?
What was she talking about? I listened intently, trying to make
sense of what she was saying.

She continued after a pause. “I knew
your mother. I promised your mother…would look after you…keep you
safe.”

“
My mother? Of course you
know her,” I said, reassuring her that she did, thinking she was
out of her mind.

“
What I’m about to
say…difficult to believe…listen carefully. You need to know. The
mother you live with, Ava Emerson…not your real mother.
Adopted.”

My eyes widened with shock at first.
Then I thought something must have happened to the part of her
brain that held her memory. I just sat there, listening to humor
her, and didn’t say a word.

“
You were sent from the
clouds, Ava would say. She named you Claudia.”

“
Yes, Gamma, I know the
story. Mom told me she thought she couldn’t have children and that
I was a blessing from above,” I said, caressing her hands, trying
to play along with her made-up story that I was adopted.

She shook her head. “I’m not making
this up. Your real mother, Sophia, was my dear friend. She had a
short relationship with a man, but he was not an ordinary man. Your
father was one of God’s first angels. And because only God’s first
angels or their offspring have the soul of the Holy Spirit, I had
to protect your soul.”

“
My father was one of
God’s first angels,” I mumbled. I was trying to make sense of all
this while I was in complete disbelief. I had to decide whether she
was telling me the truth or losing her mind. But God’s first angels
and having a soul of the Holy Spirit was something she couldn’t
just conjure up in her mind. If she was telling me the truth, why
hadn’t she told me sooner? Not that this kind of news was easy to
explain. I already had background knowledge of what the Holy
Spirit’s soul was, so I could understand the severity of what she
was telling me.

Every fiber in my body was fighting
back the shock, confusion, and anger brewing inside me; but Gamma
was sick, so I had to watch my tone. “What do you mean by
protecting my soul?” I asked calmly, although I was fuming. I was
nearly having a heart attack. It was too much to bear.

She didn’t answer my question. Instead
she started talking again. “This may come as a surprise to you. I
don’t have time to explain. I’m an earth angel.”

“
Earth angel?” My eyes
widened with disbelief. I remembered Phillip telling me about them,
but it was unfathomable that Gamma was one.

Gamma continued, “You were in danger.
I knew others would be looking for you,” she said.

Aden popped into my mind. My mind was
being pulled into all different directions, wanting to know more,
not knowing what questions to ask. Gamma snapped me out of my
thoughts when she continued to speak again.

“
Sophia, your birth
mother, told me that a fallen angel was after your soul. You were
just a baby when your birth mother was murdered by him. I’m sorry
that I couldn’t save her. I promised her that I would watch over
you and find a nice family for you so that you could have a normal
life.”

I placed my head down on the bed to
soak all this in. Immediately Gamma placed her hand on my head. She
was trying to comfort me, and for the first time, she couldn’t. I
needed to be strong and get more answers, so I refocused. I looked
up. Gamma had her eyes closed.

“
Gamma…Ava Emerson, my
mom, does she know any of this?” It was strange to ask this
question. I had known her all my life as my mom.

“
No.”

“
So, she thinks I’m her
biological daughter?”

“
Yes.”

“
Is Ava Emerson
human?”

“
Yes.”

“
Sophia, my real mom, was
she human?”

“
Yes,” Gamma said quickly,
and gasped for air.

I was trying to find a way to help her
through this, but all I could do was watch. She took a deep
breath.

“
Are you all right?” I
asked compassionately.

She nodded.

“
My father is one of God’s
first angels?” I asked nervously and swallowed hard.

“
Yes.”

I paused, looking at her with narrowed
eyes, wondering if I had heard what she had just said. I had no
words. She kept nodding her head, trying to reassure me that what
she was saying was true. I looked away. I didn’t want to believe
her. I didn’t want it to be true. How could this be?

She continued. “I know you’ve been to
the Crossroads.”

I blinked my eyes at her in alarm.
“What?” I whispered. How did she know?

“
When you were a child,
you would dream about the Crossroads, and you would travel there
through your dreams. Somehow, subconsciously, you knew such a place
existed. But I stopped you. I pulled you back. The last time you
went there was about a year ago. You stopped going there, so I
didn’t monitor you any longer, but I should have continued. You
found your way there again, didn’t you?”

“
Yes,” I nodded. At that
moment, I remembered Michael telling me that I would disappear
without a warning. It was Gamma who had pulled me away. “How did
you know?”

“
It is difficult to
explain, but I knew when a fallen angel named Aden tracked me down.
I thought you were safe. This is my fault. I could have prevented
this if only I hadn’t stopped monitoring you. My poor judgment has
caused this.”

“
But why? Why did you pull
me away? Why must I stay away from the Crossroads?” I
asked.

“
Going to the Crossroads
is not the problem. Sometimes, human souls wander there when they
have near death experiences. It’s when you crossed over to Halo
City; I was trying to protect you from crossing over, but I was too
late,” she answered.

“
Why must I not cross
over?”

“
When you cross over to
Halo City, your aura becomes different. And having the soul of the
Holy Spirit complicates things. You hold the key to our
survival.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. Then, I
remembered Phillip telling me that the fallen may be after me
because crossing over to Halo City will cause my aura to stand out.
“No, no, no!” I shook my head vigorously. “It’s not me. It can’t be
me. Why me? I’m not special. I have no powers.”

“
It’s you,” she
said.

I didn’t want it to be true. “Make it
stop. I don’t want this,” I said, not realizing my grip had
tightened on her blanket.

“
You have your father’s
soul. You can’t stop, or fight, destiny. Don’t fight what you
cannot control. Fight for what you can. It’s too late. It has
begun. The fallen are multiplying by the hands of one angel. He is
creating his army now that he knows you exist. We have to stop
them, or humanity will be lost forever.”

“
Soul of the Holy Spirit”
now registered loud and clear. Feeling dizzy again from information
overload, I felt the room closing in. Covering my face with the
palms of my hands, I saw my whole life flash before me, realizing
that my life was a lie.

Now I knew why Aden was after me.
Inside me was the soul of the Holy Spirit. He needed my soul not
only to open the gates to the Crossroads, but to regain his powers.
There was nothing I could do about it. But there was one thing I
could control; I had to give my soul to Aden willingly, and I was
not about to give him that. He could hunt me down for the rest of
my life. I would never give him my soul.

She turned away from me. “Claudia, my
time has come,” she said sorrowfully. “I must leave you
now.”

“
No, Gamma, please! Don’t
leave me! I need you!” I begged, wrapping my arms around her, even
though I knew it was useless.

“
I’m too old. I can’t help
you anymore. I’m so sorry that I won’t be able to protect you, but
I asked someone to watch over you so I can leave you in peace.” She
spoke so softly, it was hard to hear her words. “You are a miracle.
I’m so proud to have watched you grow into a fine young woman. You
have a big responsibility ahead of you. You must have faith in
yourself, faith in others who want to help you, and especially
faith in the one you cannot see. Find my letter, and everything
will be clear.”

Before I had a chance to ask her who
she had asked to watch over me and where I was to find her letter,
her eyes widened and her face elongated with terror. “Run, Claudia!
They’re coming!”

“
Who’s coming?” I asked
anxiously.

Beep! Beep! Beep! The heart monitor
beeped out of control, alerting the nurses.

As the nurses rushed through the
doors, I stepped out of the way. They were trying to revive her
when I heard the heart monitor sound go flat. It was a while before
one of the nurses turned to me.

“
I’m so sorry. I’ll give
you some time alone.”

I knew what “I’m sorry” meant. I just
couldn’t believe it. What made everything worse was that I had many
questions, and Gamma was the only one who could answer them. As the
nurses left, I reached for Gamma again. Knowing she would go to a
peaceful place gave me a sense of peace.