Fallen Angel by Patricia Puddle Page A

If you get
your father to drill a hole in it, you could wear it around your
neck like the crucifix you lost.”
    She looked up at him.
“How do you know about my necklace?”
    Uh-oh, he’d slipped up.
Thinking quickly, he said, “Because you dreamed me up, so I think
and say whatever you want me to.”
    She raised a brow.
“That’s bullshit because if I really did dream you up, you wouldn’t
have rejected my kiss.”
    He blinked twice. “I
didn’t reject your kiss. I’m an angel and angels don’t kiss. Surely
you know that from your bible classes.”
    “ Whatever,”
she said, holding the crucifix tightly in her hand. “I can take
rejection. You don’t have to make excuses.”
    Holy Heaven, now what had
he done? He quickly crossed himself. How could he have let her get
a crush on him? He certainly hadn’t encouraged it, had he? He
frowned, knowing he’d better get her back to the hospital before
she got him banished to Earth forever.
    Feeling guilty for
wasting precious time, he scooped her into his arms and flew
towards the hospital.
    “ Where are
you taking me?” she said, snaking her arms around his neck and
gazing into his eyes again.
    Nathaniel scowled. He
wished she wouldn’t look at him like that. She was awakening
something in his soul he never knew existed, but what? Heavens
above, is this what happened to Devlin? He gave her a stern
look. “I’m taking you back to the hospital because your dream is
ending.”
    She pouted. “But it’s my
dream and I don’t want it to end.”
    “ You have no
choice. It’s dangerous to astral travel for too long.” He wanted to
tell her it was also dangerous for him to be with her like this,
but that would just encourage her.
    She tugged on his curls.
“But you still haven’t told me your name.”
    He grinned. “You dreamed
me up, so I don’t know my name.”
    “ Well if I
did, I should’ve made you ugly.”
    Smirking, he sailed
through an open window on the fourth floor of the hospital and
headed straight to her recovery room. When he saw a medic
desperately working on her physical body, Nathaniel flipped her
spirit in his arms so she couldn’t see what was happening. Then
hovering above the hospital bed, he spoke softly to her. “Your
dream is ending now, Eloise, and you’ll wake up soon.”
    She shook her head. “No,
please don’t leave me. I don’t want to wake up yet. You haven’t
told me who you are or why you snatched me away from that other
angel.”
    Nathaniel scowled. “What
did he tell you?”
    “ He said his
name was Devlin and that he was my guardian angel. Then he said he
loved me and he’d always protect me.”
    “ Listen,
Devlin’s not your guardian angel, Eloise, but I am. You have
to believe me. Please, tell me you’ll never listen to him? He’s a
bad angel.”
    When the doctors began to
panic, Nathaniel knew he had to let her go. But as he readied
himself to send her soul back into her body, she reached up and
kissed his mouth again, sending a surge of electricity right to his
core. As his whole being vibrated, he dropped her onto the hospital
bed.

 

     

Chapter Eight
     
    His head still reeling,
Nathaniel grabbed his robe from the floor and pulled it on. The
sister and a nurse were hovering around Eloise and checking her
vital signs as she lay unconscious on the bed.
    “ Her blood
pressure is nearly back to normal,” said the nurse.
    “ That’s
great,” said the sister. “Wake her, and then leave her for a while
longer.”
    Nathaniel sighed with
relief. Though he was happy Eloise’s soul was back in her body, he
wanted to see her conscious to make sure she was all
right.
    The nurse patted her
hand. “Eloise, it’s time to wake up.”
    Opening her eyes, she
blinked at the bright lights, then drifted off again.
    “ Can you hear
me, Eloise?” The nurse tapped her arm.
    “ Yeah,” she
mumbled, her eyelashes fluttering open for a second.
    The nurse put another
blanket over her. “Okay, we’ll leave you for a