Chapter 30

 

When AJ passed through the door and into the bedroom, he was greeted with a chilling sight.  The small bedroom reeked of alcohol and cigarette smoke.  He could see masses of beer cans littering the night stand and dresser.  The window was open, letting a cool breeze into the room to air it out.  And straddling the windowsill, hanging halfway out, looking ready to fall or jump at any moment, was a woman.

 

“AJ!” Lindy cried, turning to him in horror.  “It’s Momma; she’s going to jump!”  She was hysterical, and AJ felt her terror.  What could either of them do?  Lindy’s mother could not see or hear them.  How could they stop her?

 

AJ could hear Lindy’s mother now, mumbling something incomprehensible and crying - heavy, drunken, racking sobs.  “No more,” he heard her slur.  “No more…”

 

“Momma, please,” Lindy whimpered, walking cautiously over to the window.  AJ hung back, watching the woman carefully.  There was no reaction from her, even when Lindy was just feet away.  She clearly was not a Believer.

 

A tense minute passed, Lindy’s mother continuing to cry, her tears dripping from her face and falling five stories to the ground below.  And then, without warning, she swung her other leg over the windowsill, let go of her grip on the side of the window, and toppled forward with a drunken scream.

 

Lindy screamed too, her shrill voice blending with her mother’s.  While AJ watched in horror, Lindy bounded forward, reached out… and grabbed one of her mother’s flailing arms.

 

AJ thought at first that Lindy would surely be pulled right over the sill with her mother – after all, the older woman was taller and all-around bigger than her daughter.  There was no way Lindy could hold her back.  But AJ did not know the true capabilities of an angel, the special powers an angel is given for completing her mission.  He watched in astonishment, as Lindy planted her feet firmly on the ground and, with superhuman strength, began to pull her mother back up.

 

Within seconds, the woman’s body was crawling weakly back over the windowsill.  Sobbing, shaking, gasping, Lindy’s mother collapsed to the bedroom floor.  “Lindy!” she cried out.  “Melinda!”

 

“Right here, Momma,” Lindy whispered.  “I’m right here.”

 

She said the words aloud, but she was also thinking them, and just as Brian and AJ had connected and communicated in their minds to one another, Lindy and her mother were able to read each other’s thoughts as well.

 

Slowly, her mother looked up, up from the floor, up to her daughter’s face.  AJ watched the two of them closely, assuming Lindy’s mother was only seeing her light, just the vague light shape Brian had seen.

 

“Lindy,” whispered the trembling woman.  “H-how can… ?  You… you’re dead!”

 

“I’m an angel, Momma,” Lindy said calmly.  “And I know why now.  I’m here to save you.  That was my mission.  It’s not your time to die now, Momma.  You can’t try to take your own life.  It’s not your time yet.”

 

“Melinda… I love you, baby… I love you so much… I know it didn’t seem like it… I know I was a horrible mother…”

 

“I know you love me, Momma.  I know that now.  And I’m sorry,” Lindy whispered.  “You’re not a horrible mother.  You did the best you could.”

 

And then something miraculous happened.  AJ, who was so sure that it was just Lindy’s silvery light her mother was seeing, watched as the tearful woman reached out a trembling hand towards Lindy.  Lindy reached back.  And then, with a burst of silver light, their hands touched.  Lindy opened her arms wide and pulled her sobbing mother into them… and their bodies did not pass through each other.  Somehow, in some way, Lindy had become solid.  And now AJ was sure that her mother was not just seeing her light… but her, her in her solid, human form.

 

They hugged for a long time, clinging to each other, both crying.  AJ, feeling again like an intruder, slowly backed away and slipped out of the room.  He walked slowly back to the living room and sat down on the couch, feeling a little shaky himself.  What he had just seen went against everything he had learned from Lindy, that angels can not solidify their whole bodies at one time, that angels cannot be seen, except as a light…

 

He was not sure exactly how long he sat there, dazed and confused, but eventually, Lindy reappeared in the living room, alone.

 

“Where is she?” AJ asked.

 

“Crying in her room.  Only it’s happy crying this time,” Lindy said softly, glancing down the hall towards the bedroom.

 

“Lindy… what just happened in there?”

 

“That was my mission, AJ,” she said.  “To save my mother from ending her life like I ended mine.  She’s gotten much worse over the pat year, and it’s because of me.  I caused her so much pain… I had to fix it.  Now she knows I’m okay and that I’m watching over her.  She knows it’s okay to go on living.”

 

“Okay… but, Lindy, h-how did you manage to pull her back inside?  And how did you get your whole body solid?  How could she hug you?  How could she see you?”

 

“I don’t really know…” Lindy whispered, a dreamy expression crossing her face.  “All I know is that I’ve changed… and I think it’s because this is the end…”

 

“The end?”

 

“The end of this… phase.  I completed my mission, AJ.  You know what that means.”

 

The realization hit AJ like a dead weight.  “You’re leaving,” he said dully.  “You’re going to Heaven now.”

 

“Yeah, I think so.”

 

AJ sighed.  He should have known this moment would be coming.  Lindy had been dead over a year; of course she was going to complete her mission before him.  Of course she was going to go to Heaven before him.  Of course she was going to leave him behind…

 

“I’ll miss you,” he admitted, smiling sheepishly.

 

Lindy snickered and opened her mouth as if to make some rude, sarcastic comment, but then she stopped.  A smile came over her face instead, a genuine smile.  “I’ll miss you too,” she said softly, almost shyly.

 

AJ started to ask when exactly she’d be going… but before he could get the question out, it was answered for him.  All of a sudden, the dim room was bathed in light… a very bright, white light.  It seemed to be coming from an invisible hole in the ceiling, shining down on them… shining down on Lindy.

 

“Is that it?” AJ whispered, looking up.

 

“I think so.  I have to go now, AJ,” Lindy said, her voice quiet and serene.  “I’ll see you in Heaven.”

 

“Lindy, wait a minute,” AJ said, suddenly feeling panicked.  What about his mission?  He still didn’t know what it was.  How was he ever going to complete it without her help?  There was still so much he didn’t know…  “Lindy, I need you!”

 

“You’ll be fine, AJ.  Trust me.”  Lindy smiled at him.  “Watch your stalker tendencies now.  And good luck getting in touch with Bianca.  I know you’ll do it sooner or later.”

 

“No, Lindy, I-“

 

“Goodbye, AJ.” 

 

With that, Lindy positioned herself in the very center of the ring of white light and looked heavenward.   As AJ gave a resigned “Goodbye,” her whole body lifted off the ground and seemed to float up towards the ceiling, caught in the light.  And as it did, it faded, until the light seemed to suck her up, and he could see her no more.  And then, suddenly, the light vanished.

 

***

 

 

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