In The Arms of An Angel
Chapter 12
When Gaby got home, Anya was in the living room looking frigid and seething
at the same time. Her face was etched with worry. "What the hell were you
thinking?" she barked, standing abruptly at the sight of Gaby. "Sneaking out
to stroll around a place you hardly knew! What were you thinking, Gabrielle?"
Uh-oh. She's definitely mad, she thought, feeling terrible. She only calls
me Gabrielle when I've pissed her off completely. "I only wanted to have
fun, Anya!"
"Fun?" her eyes growing with exasperation. "You call that fun? Giving me a
heart attack? I'm supposed to take care of you, dammit!!"
Gaby snapped. "Nobody asked you to take care of me!" she screamed, as she
ran her hands through her hair. Her head was throbbing again. Thump, thump,
thump. Louder. Louder. "I'm not some weakling! I'm a normal person! Stop
treating me like I'm dying!"
"You are dying!" she retorted. Gaby`s eyes grew huge, pain slashed her
face. Tears began to fall down her eyes. Anya started for her, trying to
reach her and tell her sorry. She didn't mean to snap that way.
"Don't come near me!" Gaby hissed. "I swear to God I don't know what I`ll
do to you! Stay away from me!" Hot tears were soaking her face. Her head was
pulsating loudly. It was as if her skull was going to break. "Stay away.
Stay away. Stay away," she chanted.
"Gaby, listen to me. I'm sorry. It slipped." Anya sobbed, her mascara
running. "I didn't mean to hurt you."
"It slipped?" Gaby whimpered. "It slipped? Just all of a sudden it slipped?
You must be thinking about me dying all the time if it slipped!" her sobbing
built more crescendo. It was driving Anya crazy seeing her cry like a madwoman.
"What do you want me to do? I can't help but think about it! I can't just
store the fact that you're going to die in one of those shelves in my head
and think about it when I want to! Gaby," she sat infront of her, her thumbs
and forefinger holding Gaby`s chin forcefully to look in her eyes, "I don't
want you to die. I feel like I have this task to protect you and keep you
alive. I feel as if by protecting you I can stop you from getting sicker and
sicker."
Like a baby, Gaby`s weeping grew louder and louder. "You can't do anything,
Anya. The damned doctors couldn't even take all of the stupid tumors out!
You can't protect me. Nobody can." She stared at her agonizingly and reached
out to hug her. "I'm so scared, Anya. Now that you've said it aloud, I'm
scared more than ever. Any minute I can die."
The thought made them shudder in fear. "I'm sorry, Gaby. I don't know what
to do. I'm just as scared as you are."
"I don't know what to do either. I don't even know how to live normally.
I'm trying so hard to be brave, to act as if nothing's wrong but I can't. I
can't be strong all the time. Somehow, this cancer has eaten the strength I
thought I had." Tears continued to roll down her face, streaking her pale
cheeks.
"You're strong," Anya insisted. "You are. You're one of the strongest
persons I know. And I love you more for that."
They hugged each other tighter as they continued sobbing. Time is running
out for them. When or where Death will strike, they both did not know. Soon
though, Gaby would have to say goodbye.