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Harry ith a start His eyes flew open as panic overtook hiet his breath No led, he couldn&039;t breathe The pain intensified, suffocating hi for the small bottle he kept at his bedside, he popped a nitro pill under his tongue and waited This had happened before in the early hours of the h he was iet any air

Could this be his tiht then and there Quelling the panic, Harry surrendered his life to God and then all at once, the ache lessened and his lungs filled with glorious air The relief was instantaneous He dragged in a second deep breath and realized he&039;d had a narrow escape yet again

Wide awake now, Harry watched the jerky movements of the second hand on the old-fashioned alarm clock by his bedside Rosalie had a clock radio, but he continued to use the one he&039;d always had It needed winding every couple of days, but had served hie The ticking was a familiar co normally

His close call reminded hier; naturally he wanted to get her settled before he left her She was determined to spend Christmas in this old house Harry couldn&039;t deny his wife that But while he sys, Harry didn&039;t have that kind of tione, Rosalie would just keep putting off theafter New Year&039;s, he&039;d ive hi

Harry sat up in bed

"Harry?" Rosalie was instantly awake The slightest moveirls were small, she&039;d wakened at the tiniest sound Harry had never understood it because his as usually a sound sleeper Not when their daughters were young, though, and not with him now

He&039;d disturbed her sleep far toothe assisted-living complex Rosalie was exhausted, and Harry didn&039;t want to interrupt her rest tonight

"I&039;m fine, sweetheart," he whispered

Her eyes drifted closed and she went back to sleep Harry lay very still and listened to the regular cadence of her breathing Twice his oent shallow and then regained an even consistency

It ithout saying that God had granted him yet another reprieve Death would come Not now, but soon - sooner than he would&039;ve liked

When it beca to fall asleep iht as well empty his bladder, which he needed to do two or three tiht Darn nuisance it was, but that was another sy demands

Once he&039;d finished, he started back to bed and remembered that he&039;d left his walker in the other roo to use the contraption, he soot it He kneas in trouble; the short trip to the bathrooth and without the walker, he couldn&039;t e even the few steps back to his bed Weak as he was, he leaned his shoulder against the wall, considering his options There weren&039;t any He needed help and he needed it now

"Rosalie," he called His voice was barely a whisper As soon as he&039;d reassured her that he was all right, she&039;d gone back to sleep Sohe&039;d credited her with a few minutes earlier

Despite all his resolve, all his deteran to slide toward the floor Rosalie wasn&039;t strong enough to help hi If he survived untilher hands "Is Harry going to die now?" She needed direction Her initial response was to hold hiels routinely o through the proper channels, to get permission first She didn&039;t have time for that She&039;d certainly bent the rules on occasion, but she couldn&039;t risk interfering with God&039;s plan for Harry

"Gabriel," she shouted helplessly toward the heavens "I don&039;t knohat to do"

A second later, the Archangel was at her side

"Is it Harry&039;s ti to take ely cal but She hovered close to Harry, anxious to do what she could, awaiting word froth was draining away As she watched, the old man&039;s eyes widened and he placed one hand over his heart

"Gabriel," Mercy shouted "Do so" Hurriedly she revised her request "Can I help Harry?" And because she&039;d coenuinely love this old man, she added, "Please"

Gabriel nodded "Take hireatly relieved

Harry&039;s eyes widened again Only this ti directly in front of him in plain vieas a woarded hi look

"I could use soht think he&039;d died The continuing ache in his chest told him otherwise The pain intensified with every beat of his heart

The beautiful angel stepped toward him and silently slipped her arm around his waist She didn&039;t see Harry knew, he was in bed and his rescuer was gone Vanished She&039;d disappeared as quickly as she&039;d come

Grateful to have averted a catastrophe, or what had seeure out what had just happened The angel ination except for one thing He&039;d been sluth left, no ability to stand upright His walker rested next to his chest of drawers, where it had been all along But noas safely tucked into bed, next to Rosalie

Harry blinked to clear his eyesight and picked up his glasses Maybe then he&039;d be able to see the angel a second tie to turn on the light

She was gone Truly gone

Still, Harry was convinced she&039;d been there She&039;d helped him back to bed What a beauty she&039;d been, too He&039;d alondered about angels, and now he kneith certainty that they were real

"Will he be all right now?" Mercy asked, leaning over the slu Harry

"Harry will sleep coht," Gabriel told her

"In the ht be best if the incident was erased froain, she wanted hi down on hiel Gabriel himself had come to Harry&039;s aid

"He&039;ll remember This close to death, the separation between Heaven and Earth is only partially veiled," Gabriel explained

"It&039;s almost as if Harry has one foot in Heaven and one still on Earth"

"Exactly" The Archangel began to leave, then paused "I&039;m proud of you, Mercy," he said

"You are?" She beamed, but she wasn&039;t sure what she&039;d done to warrant such high praise Gabriel didn&039;t issue praise often He was a strict task her mind, Gabriel elaborated "You didn&039;t take it upon yourself to make a decision on the matter You turned to Heaven and towith pleasure at his words, Mercy fluttered her wings Thankfully the Archangel hadn&039;t been around when she&039;d sent Shirley scraive me cause for concern at the Safeway store, however"

So Gabriel knew

As if his words had summoned her, Shirley appeared

"I knew Mercy was responsible for that unfortunate event," she cried, glaring at her friend

"It as all in jest," Mercy stammered, embarrassed now At times, especially while on Earth, she adopted a ht have said, Shirley had been asking for it

"Shall we discuss this elsewhere?" Gabriel said, gesturing down at the sleeping Harry and Rosalie