We're Almost There

20. Nothing Glamorous Like The Medieval Times.

Twenty

Kyle

He could hear his blood pumping in his ears when they arrived in the emergency section of the hospital. What if Kenzie had hit her head really hard? Like, life-ruining hard?

Sure, Kyle just learned that a sort of friend of his was an angel, and some other kid he barely knew was a devil, but it was easy to ignore when the girl he was basically in love with was in such a critical state.

"Sorry for freaking you out, earlier, with the whole super natural thing," Erin muttered as they paced the halls.

The two of them had just gotten a couple crappy cups of coffee to share. "It's fine," Kyle insisted, taking a sip of coffee and burning the tip of his tongue. "Now that I've actually had time to process it, it just seems ordinary. But still so freaking crazy."

Erin laughed and tucked a piece of her blonde hair behind her ear. Kyle noticed they were pierced with little owl earnings. "Yeah, I understand."

A few seconds of silence passed before he spoke up. "Is it okay if I ask some questions?"

Erin nodded. "With the stress of tonight, you've earned it."

"If you're an angel, what are you doing here? Like on earth."

"I'm Kenzie's guardian angel," Erin replied easily.

"Oh. So um, are you... dead?" Kyle didn't really know how to go about asking that one.

Erin took a sip of her coffee. "Yes and no. I mean, I was human a long time ago. Then I died and ascended into Heaven with God and other angels. There it's very complicated to explain what I was. Hopefully you won't find out for a long time. But now that I'm here, I'm very much alive. Just not human."

Kyle nodded. "Oh. Well, what time period are you from?"

"Nothing glamorous like the medieval times or cavemen," she explained. Kyle didn't know what was glamorous about either of those. "I'm from the 1930's. I mean, that's when I died. I was born in 1918."

"Making you actually 97 years old," Kyle mumbled in astonishment.

Erin laughed, which somehow made Kyle laugh as well. "I know, I'm old."

He nodded. "This question might be a little touchy, but... how did you die?"

Erin closed her eyes and instantly Kyle knew he had touched a nerve. She looked at the ground, opening her eyes again. "Well, my best friend and I were walking home from church, and we were crossing the street. A car suddenly made a quick turn and came barreling straight at us. I pushed Natasha, my best friend, out of the way, but didn't move quick enough and got hit. It was more than enough to kill me."

Kyle let out a deep breath. That had to suck. "Jeez, I'm sorry, Erin."

"Don't be," she shook her head. "I can't change it, and I'm okay."

They reached the end of the hall and turned back around towards Kenzie's room. After a minute, Kyle said, "You told me you were with your best friend, Natasha. What happened to her?"

Erin sighed. "Well, she was pretty scraped up from hitting the ground so hard, but she was fine. She grew up and got married and had three kids. Happily ever after."

"Not without her best friend," Kyle insisted. Then he had a thought. "Hmm, do you think she's still alive?"

I don't know," Erin said. "I haven't checked up on her in a long while."

"I can find out if you want," he promised. "What's her last name."

"Delvec," Erin said immediately. "Wait no... she got married to Wayne Conroy. She's Natasha Conroy."