Chapter 41
Emily guided little Angelina across the road. She walked ahead, but Angelina suddenly stopped.
“What’s wrong?” Emily asked.
“There’s a lot of cars,” Angelina muttered.
“You don’t have to be scared of cars. See, the light’s green. That means we can cross to the other side of the road without worrying about the cars,” Emily explained.
“No, the light’s red,” Angelina argued.
“It’s green. That means we can go,” Emily said.
Angelina looked up at Emily. “Why can we cross when it’s green but not when it’s red? There are too many cars. I’m scared.”
Emily chuckled. “I forgot you don’t have traffic lights where you come from. It doesn’t matter. I’ll teach you.”
11
A new scene flashed before Angelina’s eyes. The younger original Angelina was playing with a few of her classmates when she suddenly stopped. One of them turned around and asked, Aren’t you crossing?”
Angelina pointed at the red light. “That’s red. We can’t cross.”
“That’s meant for the left pedestrian crossing. We can go straight,” her classmate explained.
Another one sighed. “What a bumpkin.”
“Yeah, how much time did you spend in the sticks to not know how to read traffic signals?”
another teased.
“I don’t want to play with you anymore. You’re so embarrassing!”
Angelina clenched her fists and looked down at her shoes.
When she noticed her classmates going ahead without her, she tried to follow them. However,
a large hand pulled her back, and she turned around to find an adolescent Chester staring at
her.
“Don’t follow them. Didn’t I tell you not to run off on your own?” he chided.
“Ches…” Angelina mumbled.
“Don’t go with them. You don’t have to do everything they do. It only matters if you do the things you want to do,” he said solemnly.
“Ches… When I grow up, I want to make lots of money,” Angelina declared.
Chapter 41
“I can give you the money. All you have to do is follow me. I’ll have lots of money when I grow up,” Chester said.
“And what if you run out of money one day?” Angelina pressed.
“As long as I’m alive, I’ll find a way to make money for you,” he promised.
“Can you carry me, then?”
“Of course.”
Chester lowered himself and pulled Angelina into his warm embrace. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, pressing her chin against his shoulder as she watched her classmates giggle while they crossed the road.
Suddenly, the road disappeared. “Ches…”
She turned around and glanced in the direction Chester was headed. The sun was shining there, and the weather was nice and balmy like it had just rained. A rainbow arched overhead.
“Ches…”
“I’ll always be with you, Angie,” Chester promised.
“Always?”
“Forever and always. It’ll just be you and me.”
Over at the hospital, the flatline on the monitor suddenly rose in ridges until a steady beeping filled the room. Angelina’s eyes fluttered open, and she winced as bright white light flooded her vision. Next to her, a baby was wailing.
A pair of strong hands clutched her, but before she could take a good look at the person, she blacked out again.
“Angie!” Chester cried in alarm.
“Her condition is stable now. Don’t worry, Mr. Whitmore.”
“Mrs. Whitmore is exhausted and needs her rest.
Chapter 42
