“Sorry, Princess, I can’t hear…”
My eyes closed and I didn’t have the energy to open them so I didn’t bother. I figured angels could fly blind. They had to have angel-like sonar or something like that. Anyway I would only bump into clouds even if I couldn’t fly blind and I didn’t figure clouds would hurt.
But before I took off to heaven, I had to know or more importantly, Vance had to know, so I said to Vance, my eyes stil closed, “I said earlier ‘home’, did you get it?” I felt him get close and I thought that was strange since I didn’t have a body anymore not real y anyway so I shouldn’t be feeling anything. But I was certain I felt his cheek pressed against mine, his stubble rough against my skin.
“No, Jules,” he said into my ear. “I didn’t get it.” I sighed huge and felt the angel nap tugging at me.
“Jules?” Vance cal ed and he sounded far away but it felt like his lips were at my ear.
“Home…” I whispered and then slid closer to somewhere else, maybe heaven I didn’t know. There sure as hel weren’t any bright lights. Oh shit, they probably didn’t say “hel ” in heaven. Oh shit, they probably didn’t say “shit” in heaven either. I was already getting angel demerits and I hadn’t even been to angel orientation yet.
I had to finish my thought. It might be my last chance.
So I whispered in Vance’s ear because it seemed like it was real y close to my mouth (although I knew it couldn’t be because I didn’t real y have a mouth anymore as I didn’t have a body). “You’re home. See, Auntie Reba said home isn’t a place, home is anywhere just as long as the people you love are there.”
Then I slid into heaven except weirdly, right before I drifted away, I felt some pain in my fingers like someone was holding my hand too tight.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
No Matter What
I was an angel in heaven for two days or at least I thought I was.
Real y I was whacked out on drugs and in ICU.
During these two days, I saw Vance once and Nick three times. I had no idea they came by often to spend time with me while I was taking angel naps. When I saw them I regaled them with stories of what it was like being an angel (since, for two days, I thought I was an angel). I figured they could write a book about it and become mil ionaires. I even shared this idea with Vance.
The nurses told me it was the only time they’d ever heard that much laughter in ICU.
After two days when it became clear I was going to survive, they moved me to a normal room. I stayed in the hospital a long time but it wasn’t uneventful mainly because nothing in the World of Rock Chick was uneventful.
*
First, Vance decided he didn’t feel much like adhering to visitor’s hours. The staff kept tel ing him he couldn’t spend the night, sleeping in a chair next to my bed but he did it anyway and Vance seriously was not the kind of guy they wanted to argue with so they let him be.
I also told him, considering his job meant he always needed to be rested and alert, that he should stay at my place. He didn’t pay one bit of attention to me and stil came to the hospital anyway.
We bickered about it (because I didn’t worry about arguing with Vance).
I lost.
Real y, it wasn’t fair for him to bicker with me when I was in that condition.
I informed him of this but he just grinned at me.
*
A couple of days after I was moved from ICU, in the middle of the night I heard weird noises. Considering hospitals weren’t the most restful places in the world, I suspected some doctor or nurse was there to check up on me. Instead I saw Vance and Hector in a death-lock at the door, torsos together, legs planted.
Clearly Hector was trying to get in and just as clearly Vance didn’t feel like al owing that.
“Vance,” I whispered and both men froze in death-lock position and looked at me, “let him in.”
“Princess,” Vance said low.
“Let him in.”
Vance hesitated a moment then stepped out of the death-lock but he didn’t pretend to be happy about it and Hector approached the bed.
“I didn’t know about Shard,” Hector told me the minute he hit my bedside and I noticed he also hadn’t gone to etiquette school to learn you should start a conversation with words like, “hi”, “hel o” or “glad to see you aren’t dead”.
“I know,” I told him.
“I thought Roam wouldn’t want one of Lee’s boys saving him from Cordova. Cordova was a moron, Roam would lose face. I thought he’d prefer you to take care of it.”
“I know,” I repeated.
“If I’d have known –”
“I was cocky,” I broke in and my eyes slid to Vance who’d moved to the other side of my bed. I didn’t exactly want him to know this part since it might piss him off.