Chapter 18:
Was I dead? No, thank God. The familiar dimenishing pain once again struck my chest as I slowly opened my eyes to see my precious Liam. Jewl and Obie were walking next to us. I yelped a lot. The pain was revolting and horrendous. Liam’s shirt was off. He had put it on my bullet wound to stop the obsessive bleeding. How sweet of him. I tried to lean over to kiss him, but I shrinked back because of the pain. He kissed me from where he was. “Where are we?” I asked, my voice very weak. “Larue, Kentucky. We walked a very long distance. You were out for a long time, baby. Are you okay?” he asked me, looking very worried. “I think so. We have walked a long way. We went from Detroit to Larue?” I asked. He nodded. We must have special powers for running too, all of us, because we ran for about two hours before getting tired.” His face was bright now that I was awake. "You carried me this whole time?" I asked, on the verge of tears. He nodded, blushing. I stroked his cheek, but then I quickly snapped my hand back because of the uncomfortable place I was in. We walked in silence for another hour, and then we saw a small white building, not far away. It had a cross on the top. “What’s that?” Jade asked, ready to rest. “It’s a church.” I croaked. We all walked in to see many elderly folks. A lot of them saw me covered in blood and gasped very loudly. The Pastor stepped off the tall podium and walked towards us. Uh-oh. He took me from Liam and carried me to the back of the church, away from everyone. I was frightened. Volunteers were there to take me to a bathroom. They brought out the first aid kit, and cleaned my insanely deep wound, and it stung so bad, that I accidentally cried out. They gently took a rag and wiped off all of the dry blood. Some nice ladies gave me a fresh t-shirt that had the church’s name on it and a pair of Capri’s. They helped me get dressed, because I couldn't do it on my own. It was very embarassing. They helped me get into a wheelchair. “Why are you guys being so nice to me? I don’t even know you!” I said, wondering. “God wants us to help people that need help, and we’re here to do that. It's what the Bible says. You will be okay, just don’t put a lot of pressure on yourself. You can have that wheelchair.” A lady said. I felt tears but I blinked them back. “That’s so thoughtful. Thanks so much. I really appreciate it. God Bless you wonderful people!” I sobbed. They wheeled me out into the main chapel room, and Liam gave me his big beautiful smile. We sat in the church pews and listened to the heavenly message that the Pastor said, and I prayed to God and thanked him for keeping me safe and for blessing me with the life I have. I also prayed that Ariel was safe, and that we’d find her. At the end, we bowed our heads. “Dear precious Lord, place your loving, healing hand on this young child. Keep her protected from the dangers in this world, and heal her wound, so the awful pain will leave her soul. Lord, keep all of the children with her safe as well. Let your guardian angels shelter them. In Jesus’s name we pray, Amen.” The Pastor said. He shook all of our hands on the way out, and then we left. We went into the small town that appeared right after the church, and I took a deep breath. "Nobody has ever been that nice to me before in my life. Ever." I said, crying tears of joy. Liam was in charge of pushing my wheelchair. He kissed me, finally! What I was waiting for, and we had a chance to catch up. “Ariel and Victor are in Venezuela. Let’s get going!” I said, even though I just got shot. I trusted God to heal me. I wasn't going to sit down and rest for a few days. My little sister is out there, in danger. I couldnt' let anything happen to her while I was alive. We found a bus station near the church, and Liam grabbed a map. The nearest airport was about 40 miles away. We decided to just walk. I looked up into the sky, and prayed to God to myself. "Dear God, I thank you that I am still alive, because I know that I have a purpose in this world, and you kept me here to fulfill it. Please let my Ariel be safe. Thank you. You are my Father. My only Father. Amen."
