The Angels in My Room (Chapter 1)

“Ah!” Mary cried as she sat up. She quickly turned on the lamp next to her bed and pulled down the comforter to see if there was any blood. No, no blood, she thought, breathing a sigh of relief. The baby was okay. She flinched as the baby started thrashing around. Why does it have to hurt so much? she thought as she gingerly rubbed her stomach. It had been a hard pregnancy, that just seemed to be getting harder. The doctors weren’t sure if the baby was going to go full term, or what its condition would be when it was born, or what her condition would be at the end of the pregnancy. She was playing the odds, and losing.

All Mary Johnson wanted was the baby to be here, safe in her arms. If only Ralph was here, he would know what to do, but he wasn’t. The love of her life had died just after she found out she was pregnant. The one person who had always been her rock, who she had always counted on was dead, and here she was, alone.

“Well, not alone my little love,” she said to the baby, and she started to sing a slow Irish lullaby she remembered from when she was a child, gently stroking her stomach. And as she sang she felt the pain leave her, and the baby relaxing inside her, “We’re going to be fine you know, daddy is looking out for you and mummy. He’s our guardian angel,” she said blowing a kiss to the baby. 

As she was reaching toward the light she saw something move in her peripheral. Her eyes darted around the room quickly. There can’t be anyone here, the alarm is on and the doors are locked. Mary glanced around the room again before reaching toward the light again, and that is when she saw it, only for the briefest moment, an angel, but it was gone as soon as she blinked.