Saving GraceI remember the first time we met... No. I don't, really. She wasn't important then, just something to be avoided or escaped or, usually, dismissed.I do remember the second time. I left my heart behind me, then turned around at a party and it found me again. All chatter and brightness and vanity and... life. Whether I wanted it or not. I didn't want it, until I lost it. Until I saw her here, mind and body twisted with other people's agony. Until I called her name, and she couldn't answer. Hold on, Cordelia. I can't do this alone.
Best FriendI screamed for him the whole time.All those people crying, begging me for help. I needed him to come, to fix things, to save me from my private hell. I knew he'd save me, somehow, so I waited. And I screamed. And he came. The voices went away and he was there, holding my hand and smiling. I'm safe now; he brought me home again. Home. The office is gone, I know, but I found out something new today. Anyplace can be home, even a hospital -- as long as Angel is sitting beside me, holding my hand. And smiling.
Greatest GiftI rest easier here, watching them, than in my sterile hospital bed.Cordelia sleeps at last, her mind quiet. But she'll never look a child again, not with the weight she now carries. Even in exhausted slumber, slumped in a chair by her side, Angel has not released her hand. His face will be the first she'll see when she wakes again. They need each other, are gifted with each other, in ways no one could have predicted. I'm grateful for that -- because I know when they awaken, they'll look for me to join them. And I will be here. Finis
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