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“911, what’s your emergency?”
“Please, put the phone down. I’m not here to hurt you.”
“Hello? Yes, someone’s broken into my house and I’m-”
“Scared. Nervous. Worried that you’re seeing things.”
Simon gaped at Raphael.
“Hello? Sir?”
Raphael took a small step back, unsure of what to do. On the one hand, Simon very obviously needed Raphael's help and creating a rainbow wasn’t going to fix this situation. On the other hand, Raphael had already broken so many rules that he didn't think it was wise to break another one.
"Yes? Someone's broken into my house and is trying to kill me-"
Simon woke up groaning. He was looking up at a stark white light in a room that smelled like bleach. He blinked a few times, trying to adjust. He began to sit up and immediately touched the small of his back. He gingerly ran his left hand up and down, a sharp pain radiating through his spine up to his head, the newfound pulsing of it impossible to ignore. He sat up slowly and looked around. He was in a hospital: An IV to his left, a small cart with wheels, and a large television on the corner of the room. Simon saw that his glasses were sitting on a small stand next to his bed.
He reached over to grab them and slowly put them onto his face. He sighed and blinked again, the world finally coming into focus. Simon was about to look for a button or bell he could use to call for help when he heard a voice.
“Magnus, ven al hospital, ahorita.”
Simon jumped. "Hello? Hello?" He squinted as he looked around.
The person walked into the room slowly, their steps somehow not making a sound. Simon shrunk back into the pillows. The person that walked in was stocky with broad shoulders, tan skin, and dark hair that was slicked back as if he was a 60s greaser. He wore a black leather jacket over a button up, black slacks, and a pair of loafers. He had a finger to his ear and a scowl on his face. He stopped in the middle of the room, at the foot of Simon's bed.
Simon's eyes darted up and down the man's figure, his back and head still throbbing. "Maybe it's the back pain but You're not a nurse-"
The man sighed deeply. "No, I'm not. You'll understand soon e-" He pushed the finger on his ear forcefully. "He's awake and he saw me what am I supposed-"
Simon furrowed his eyebrows. The man had no phone, no headset, walkie talkie, or visible hearing aid on him. “Who are you talking to?”
The man paled at this, shoving both of his hands into his pockets. “No one. Go back to bed.”
"I-" Simon jumped out of the bed. He looked down to see that he only had on socks and a pair of blue scrubs. He didn't know how or why he was here, but he knew he needed to leave. Now. "W-who are you? Tell me."
The man rolled his eyes. "I'm Santa Claus." He took a hand out of his pocket and gestured to the bed. "Why don't you lay down. Don't make this harder than it has to be."
Simon looked at the slightly ajar door. "Tell me or else. D-don’t lie to me.”
“Simon, please-”
“Please what- How do you know my name?”
The man froze. "Go. Back. To. Bed-"
“I’m your guardian angel."
“And I’m Bruce Wayne.”
Simon looked at Raphael, opening his mouth with the intention of screaming at him, but what came out was a sob. Multiple sobs actually. Simon covered his face with his hands as his shoulders shook up and down and his breathing became ragged. His chest rose and fell in quick little bursts as tears streamed down his face. He slid down with his back against the wall and fell to floor with his knees pulled into his chest.
Raphael stood back, unsure of what to do. There was a long pause before Simon looked up at him. His eyelashes were wet and the whites of his eyes were rimmed red.
“Everyone thinks I’m crazy.”
“Bendito, you’re not crazy. Just confused.”
“There’s nothing to be confused about. I've been getting sick, not eating enough, sleeping irregularly-"
"Please-"
"-living alone, I have no one to talk to so now I'm hallucinating.”
“That’s not true.”
"No, I'm crazy, I'm dying, I'm...."
“Where am I?”
“The hospital. Still. You fainted after I showed you my, um, secret.”
Simon’s eyes went wide. “So I wasn’t dreaming!”
Raphael opened his mouth and then closed it. He wanted to respond, say something clever or witty that would calm Simon down, but he could not stop staring at his face. His face was a work of art. His mouth was beautiful with rosy pink lips that looked softer than clouds. His eyes were dark in color but light in spirit, only amplified by the pink in his cheeks. He had the look of an angel.
“What are you doing here?”
Raphael rubbed the back of his head. “It was something of an emergency.”
Catarina frowned. “What kind of emergency? Are you okay?”
“I am but he’s not,” he said pointing towards Simon's room. Raphael shook his head. "Some how he found me."
“He found or you went looking for him?”
“I swear , Clary," Simon whispered. "And it’s like...like whenever I imagine him, I imagine angels.”
“Don’t you think you’re putting him on a little bit of a pedestal, Si?”
“I- maybe? I can’t explain it.”
“The feathers, the rainbows, the coins.”
“Coincidences.”
“And what about that ever present feeling I’ve been having that someone’s watching me? "
"And you get no privacy?"
Simon scoffed. "This is not the time to quote the King of Pop."
Raphael placed his pin on the altar. “I have another purpose on Earth now Magnus. I’ve avoided it for too long.”
“I guard my sister, Rosa, the elderly home she lives in, the people in it, and well, you.”
Simon stopped twiddling his thumbs and placed them on the table. He looked at Raphael. “And now, you’ve been kicked out of Heaven? Because of me?”
“No.”
“But you said-”
“I said that I had to stay on Earth because I couldn’t bear to be so far away from people I loved anymore and I couldn’t spend the rest of my days in love with a human while I stayed in the sky, now could I?”