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There’s a small kitchen I just about broke down in tears when I saw the pantry stacked full of snacks Energy bars, nuts, fun-sized chocolates, and even a case of instant noodles, the kind that coht to look in offices before? Probably because I’d never worked in one

I ignore the refrigerator, knowing there’s nothing in there worth eating We still have electricity but it’s unreliable and often goes off for days at a time There must still be frozen meals in the freezer because the ss The office building even has its own shower, probably for those overweight executives trying to lose weight at lunch ti off the blood

All the comforts of home without, of course, my family ould make it home

With all the responsibilities and pressures, hardly a day has gone by when I haven’t thought I’d be happier without my family But it turns out that’s not true Maybe it would be if I wasn’t so worried about thee and ether We could have parked here for a week and pretended that everything was all right

I feel adrift and clanless, lost and insignificant I begin to understand what drives the new orphans to join the street gangs

We have been here two days Two days in which the angel has neither died nor recovered He just lies there, sweating I’ If he wasn’t, he would have awakened by noouldn’t he?

I find a first aid kit under the sink, but the band aids andworse than paper cuts I ru the labels on the little packages There is a bottle of aspirin Doesn’t aspirin reduce fevers as well as get rid of a headache? I read the label, and it confirms my suspicions

I have no idea if aspirin ork on an angel, or if his fever has anything to do with his wounds For all I know, this could be his regular temperature Just because he looks human doesn’t mean he is

I walk back to the corner office with aspirin and a glass of water The angel lies on his stomach on the black couch I had tried to put a blanket over hi it off So now, he lies on the couch with only his pants, boots and bandages wrapped around hi off his pants and boots when I sprayed the blood off him in the shower, but decided that I wasn’t here to make him comfortable

His black hair is plastered to his forehead I try to get him to s soh to do anything He just lies there like a burning piece of rock, totally unresponsive

"If you don’t drink this water, I’ to leave you here to die alone"

His bandaged backfor the last two days

I’ve been out four tione far, always afraid the angel would hile I was gone and I would e before he died on me Crazy women can sometimes fend for theirls never can So each time, I rushed back froel still unconscious

For two days, I’ve beeninstant noodles while my sister…

I can’t bear to think about what’s happening to her, if for no other reason than els would ith a human child It couldn’t be enslavehts I will not think about whator whather

The anger and frustration swamp me All I want to do is throw a tantrue to hurl lass of water at the wall, tear down the bookshelves, and screa lass shakes, threatening to spill

Instead of hurling the glass against the wall, I throw the water on the angel I want to slass after it, but I hold back

"Wake up, da to my sister? What do they ith her? Where the hell is she?" I screa on street gangs and not caring

I kick the couch for good measure

To lare atto sleep" His voice is raw and full of pain, but soes to inject a certain level of condescension

I drop down on my knees to look directly into his face "Where did the other angels go? Where did they take my sister?"

He deliberately closes his eyes

I slap his back with everything I’ve got, right where the bandages are bloodied