32 | To Move Mountains

**Third Person POV**

Father Gabriel Sullivan sat outside Sienna’s room, his elbows resting on his knees, and his hands were folded in a gesture of praying. A rosary hung from his entwined fingers as he closed his eyes and sat in utter silence.
He wondered if God was punishing him for breaking his vow.
Though his vow of celibacy was still intact, and he has not engaged in any sexual contact, but his thoughts revolving around Sienna Emerson was far from sacramental.
Watching her lie motionless and pale in a bland hospital room sparked something within him. Once again, he was torn between his heart and his head. For six years, he has not felt the need to protect and care for anyone other than his duty towards the parish, to serve the Almighty Father and His wishes, and suddenly the need to shield Sienna Emerson grew stronger and more profound than anything he knew.
‘Do not abandon your God in your toughest of times, Gabriel.’ Father Lucas had taught him that many years ago, and even now when he knew that he has sinned, he was seeking the blessings of the Lord in the form of a miracle.
The doctors have assured him that Sienna was out of danger, but he still prayed the entire night to take away her pain and suffering. In turn, he was ready to suffer for her and begged for the divine blessing upon her.
Father Lucas urged him to go back to the rectory to change and get the much-needed rest, but he had flatly refused. Instead, he sent him back to the school in order to take care of the smooth functioning of the administration until he returned. His unbalanced sanity could not take up the school functions at the moment.
All of a sudden, he heard some noises coming from Sienna’s room and rushed inside. The doctor, along with his team, and a couple of nurses gathered around her bed while the machines beeped loudly and incessantly.
“Miss Emerson, you need to calm down,” the doctor instructed, almost mechanically, as he leaned over her bed. But Sienna’s subconscious mind was still fighting.
“Nurse, hold her arms down.”
“No…I…” Sienna croaked hoarsely, barely able to speak a coherent sentence.
“Miss, you are in a hospital,” another woman in scrubs tried her best. “You fell down the stairs and was badly injured. Do you remember anything?”
“Which…hospital?”
“This is Spring Hill Care.”
“I…No…” Sienna tried her best to fray her arms and legs, but she was too injured to move them. Instead, she squirmed her body, and instantly the pain flared up.
“Miss, please calm down.”
“No…”
“*Sienna*.”
That one word, that baritone of his voice, immediately halted her movements. Her subconscious mind fought to come alive, and even before she saw him, her body obeyed.
The doctors and nurses parted a little to take away for him as Gabriel came closer and touched her hand.
With enormous effort, Sienna peeled her eyes open and parted her mouth as the word slipped past her lips. “Gabriel…” Her whisper was almost like a prayer.
With his other hand, he cupped the side of her face, letting her feel the warmth of his skin against her cold flesh. The touch was as blessed as an act of anointing.
“Calm down and let the doctors check you over, okay?” he coaxed, lulling her with his gentle yet firm voice. He knew how her brain worked, and it was time to use his power to settle her nerves.
Sienna clutched his finger tightly. “Don’t go…please.”
“I am right here, with you,” he assured with a small smile.
Gabriel looked at the doctor and gave him a knowing nod to allow him to check over her vitals. All the while, he held her hand as Sienna struggled to stay conscious. Her tired mind was finally lured back to sleep, but her hand never left Gabriel’s finger.

***

Sometime during the night, Sienna fought out of the dizziness and fluttered open her eyelashes. And the first thing she saw was Gabriel, half lying on the small sofa that barely fit his enormous size. His black shirt was tugged out, his hair messy, and for the first time since she had met him, he looked every minute of his thirty-two years.
“Gabriel?” she croaked just once, and his eyes snapped open. He sprang out of that small space and immediately rushed to her side.
“Welcome back.” A smile of relief appeared on his lips. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I have been bulldozed,” Sienna mumbled with her eyes drifting close for a moment. “How was your Annual Conference with the Satans?”
Gabriel let out a boyish laugh, grateful for her sass for once. He would love nothing more than to listen to her quirky comment right now.
“For someone who has been sleeping for two days after a concussion, you are in a fine mood, Miss Emerson,” he said with an arched brow and a fake stern look.
Sienna tried to shrug to the best of her ability. “I have been through worse than a fall. How long have you been around? Every time I woke up, you are here.”
“Ever since I got a call from Father Lucas,” he said. “I rushed in as soon as they told me that you had been brought here. I did not leave your side since.”
Sienna could not believe that this tough man could have such a soft heart. Somehow, his anguish made hers all the more acute.
“My head…the headache won’t go away,” she groaned, unable to make sense.
Gabriel pulled a chair close to her bed and settled down. “You had a bad concussion from the fall. Then, bruised ribs sprained ankle and nasty bruises too. Honestly, Sienna, how could you be so careless? Why were you rushing down the stairs?” His impatience grew with every word he uttered. With the relief out of the way, he could finally express his displeasure. “The doctors said that you could have broken your neck or damaged your spine…and the thought alone….”
“Gabriel, I wasn’t careless or rushing down,” she interrupted him quickly.
“What do you mean?”
“I was standing…on top of the staircase. And then someone pushed me,” she murmured in a low voice.
The memory swarmed into her mind and almost sent a chill down her spine. She had remembered that exact moment between life and death as she tumbled down the stairs without any control or balance.
And Gabriel could not believe his ears the first time.
He stared at her with incredulous eyes of a man with no clue whatsoever. “Sienna, are you…”
She sighed, slowly shaking her head. “I know you are not going to believe me now, and everyone will say that I hurt my head, so I am talking crap, but I am absolutely certain.”
“Did you see who it was?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
Sienna stared at him for a moment, trying to read his thoughts, but his face and expressions were unreadable. It was challenging to understand him at times.
She sighed, averting her gaze. “You don’t trust me.” It was not a question.
Gabriel felt slightly offended and slowly coerced her gaze on him. “Do you think so little of me?” he countered. “The thought of someone pushing you down the staircase makes me angry, and I don’t want to be angry right now. But I will find out who it is, and I will make that person regret it. But first, I need you healed.”
Sienna nodded feebly. “I will be fine.”
“Still, your movements will be restricted,” he cautioned. “You will need all the care of a home to heal and recover.”
Sienna stared at him in disbelief. He could not possibly be thinking of sending her home, or did he? Odd fear clawed at her heart as she frantically shook her head. “Gabriel, no. I don’t want to go home,” she pleaded.
The home was not where her heart was.
“Did I say you will?” he countered. “You are my ward and my responsibility.”
“I don’t understand.”
Gabriel trailed a finger down the side of her face, almost like a lover would and flashed a rare smile. “You will be staying at one of the rectories at Mount Carmel. And I will make sure that you are cared for and provided for, as long as you need to get back on your feet.”
A wave of relief washed over her. But the thought was a little jarring too. She knew that he was either breaking the rules or making new ones for her, and her heart could not agree to it.
“Can you do that?” she asked incredulously.
Gabriel nodded. “I would move the mountains, if need be. Only for *you*.”
Sienna was weary to her very bones, and the sleep was lulling her once again. But this time, she slept with the knowledge in her heart that there was someone out there who cared and cherished her, even in the most forbidden of ways, and that the divine plans of God were more mysterious than any mortal could fathom.
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