This story is dedicated to those that were lost in the 9/11 attacks and those that were left behind. I have been working on this story for a while after my father had completed a puzzle titled The Day the Angels Cried. Where two small angels comfort a NY firemen after the attacks. This is my take on that Puzzle and it's meaning. And what the boys may have been feeling during and after the attacks.

A/N sorry for the delay I would have had this up sooner but a headache kept me away from the computer most of yesterday and all of today.


The Day the Angels Cried.
By Vicki © 2004

It was nearing the anniversary of the worst day in

American history. The day that no one would ever

forget. But for five men they had seen it change

their lives in ways they never knew possible.



He couldn’t live life without her and had never

expected to go on. The words still echoed in his

dreams at night, and the words of a small child

haunted his life. He tried to bury his sorrows in his

work, and had even tried to move on, but

something told him that even moving on was

hard. He had seen how happy his friends were,

how they did the tributes to the fallen following

the tragedy but it was still her voice that called

him from the dark. He often wondered why he

allowed her to work in that job, why did she have

to go that day. He had talked her into going on

the road with him and at the last minuet she had

backed out, had turned and smiled saying she’d

meet him in Canada later in the week. He had

agreed kissing her lightly before boarding the bus

headed to Canada. But it was later that morning,

that dreadful morning that had changed

everything for him.

*** Flashback three years before. ****


“ Hey Alex you up?”

“ Yeah what’s going on?” Alex McLean asked

rubbing his tired eyes.

“ Something bad has happened.” Nick said turning

on the TV. Alex’s mom Denise was with them this

trip and was sitting on the couch of the bus.

“ What’s happened?” Alex asked looking at the

screen, before him was the horror he thought

could never happen. The twin towers where

burning.

“ Ally.” He said slowly.

“ She can’t be there man. We left her in Boston.”

“ She was headed back to New York, back to work.”

Alex said sitting down.

“ Honey, maybe her company wasn’t called.”

“ Ma, with this everyone was called.” Alex said

looking at the horror as it unfolded on live TV. He

listened to the news casters tell them that already

several hundred where dead and thousands more

where trapped inside the burning towers. But to his

horror he heard one say that the north tower was

coming down. He watched as the hundred-story

tower collapsed into itself and crashed to the

ground.

“ Oh my god. Where are the others?” Alex asked

looking up at a teary eyed Nick.

“ I’ll go check.” Nick said rushing off the bus. Alex

sat down next to his mother as he could hear the

faint sounds of fire trucks. He was only hoping that

his Allison wasn’t with one of the trucks.

“ I bet she’s fine.” Denise said to her son.

“ I hope so, I don’t want to tell Dawn that her mom

is gone.” Alex said looking down the hall.

“ You wont have to.” Denise said hugging him.

She knew that Alex and Allison had only been

married a few years and with the addition of

Allison’s daughter Dawn from a previous

relationship, they had become a full family. Alex

loved Dawn as if she was his own and had been

helping Allison raise her child since she was a

baby.

“ I know ma, but I am scared. With something like

that happening, I know Ally is in the middle of it.”

Alex said looking into his mother’s concerned

eyes. He looked up to see his four brothers

entering the bus.

“ We saw, we have another missing. Leighanne

hasn’t arrived at her destination yet and we can’t

find Daniel.”

“ Wasn’t Daniel going back to be with his wife?”

Brian asked.

“ Yes.” Kevin said running his hands threw his

unruly hair.


They all watched as the second tower fell leaving

everyone speechless and wondering how anyone

could attack a city as large as New York, or even

why. Kevin had been pacing for several hours

wondering if they’d hear from their loved ones.

Kevin’s wife Kristin called panicked and wondering

if they where all safe. After calming his hysterical

wife Kevin again waited for another call. The

second call came in and it wasn’t something they

had wanted to hear. Daniel Lee had been killed

on the flight from Boston, the first plane that hit

the towers. Now having to tell his wife, was

management and the police.

“ Have you heard from Ally yet?” Kevin asked sitting down next to Alex.

“ Not yet, her mom called about an hour ago to let

us know that they where safe, and that wanted to

be sure so where we.” Alex said looking at his friend.

“ At least you know her family is safe.”

“ Her father worked in the north tower, but he

wasn’t feeling well today and had stayed home.

Lucky huh?”

“ Yeah very lucky.” Kevin said placing his hand on

Alex’s shoulder.

“ Alex, phone.” Randy said holding out the cell

phone. Alex looked at Kevin and then at his

mother before taking the phone from Randy. They

watched his facial expressions change and then

he dropped the phone.

“ Alex?” Denise said coming to her son’s side.

“ She’s gone.” Was all he said, as tears streamed

down his cheeks? How was he going to tell their

daughter, how was he going to tell her family?

The officer on the other end was still waiting for

Alex to come back on the line. Denise picked up

the phone and held it to her ear.

“ Yes, I understand, we will get there as quickly as

we can. Thank you.” Denise said hanging up the

phone.

“ She’s gone.” Alex said again.

“ Alex, why don’t you rest, I’ll call her family and

then I’ll come check on you.”

“ She’s gone. He said again as he walked down

the hall towards Dawn’s room.

“ What happened?”

“ Allison was hurt badly when the towers collapsed

and was rushed to the hospital in critical

condition.”

“And? She died there?”

“ No, but she may as well had. They said that she’s

got some major brain damage and is in a coma. If

she wakes she’ll never talk, move or be able to do

anything for herself.”

“ Oh my god. Are they sure?”

“ Her brain is swollen very badly and they are

certain that it’s irreversible.”

“ Oh god.” Nick said looking down the hall.

“ I’ll go talk to him.” Howie said heading down the

hall where his friend had gone. Howie and Alex

had been threw a lot and had been best friends

long before the group ever started and he knew

that his friend needed him more now than ever.

*** End Flashback ****

The awful day seemed to replay in everyone’s

mind. Alex barely had time to take in everything

that had happened that day. His plans being

placed on hold as he attempted to make his way

back to his wife. With the borders being closed and

all fights stopped getting back to New York was

near to impossible, but everyone was determined

to get him back to his wife. Upon arrival Alex was

told of his wife’s condition and was informed that it

was irreversible and that she’d remain in a coma

for a very long time. But when she woke several

months later, Alex had thought it was a sign that

she was getting better. Instead it was the vision of

a life without his wife. He had arrived at the clinic

where she was being kept and found out the

horrible news.

** Flashback **


“ I am here to see Allison McLean.” Alex said

looking at the nurse.

“ Mr. McLean I am glad you made it.” The petite

nurse said. Alex looked at her and smiled a little,

this was a great day for him, his wife had finally

woke up.

“ Can I see Allison?”

“ Yes you can, she’s in room 214 on the second

floor. The doctor will be waiting there for you.”

The nurse said. Alex nodded and headed for the

elevator. Once he had arrived on Allison’s floor he

quickly found her room. The doctor and several

other people stood around Allison’s bed when he

entered.

“ Dr. Connors?” Alex said as he entered the room.

“ Mr. McLean I am glad you made it.” The doctor

said turning and facing him. Alex could see his

wife clearly the minuet the doctor moved her eyes

where open but something didn’t feel right.

“ I was told she was awake.” Alex said moving

towards the bed.

“ She is, but it seems that the damage to her brain

was worse than I had first anticipated.”

“ How bad?” Alex said taking his wife’s hand in his

own. He looked into her eyes and for once couldn’t

see the light that used to shine deep within them,

it was as if she wasn’t even there.

“ As you can see she’s opened her eyes. But as

near as we can tell that will be all that she’ll be

able to do. Her body is able to take care of itself as

in breathing and her sleeping, but she will always

need constant care.”

“ Are you saying that my wife is awake but is still in

a coma?”

“ In some ways yes. In her catatonic state she will

never get any better. And we are unsure that it will

ever change.”

“ Then run tests. I want the finest brain doctors on

this. I want my wife back.” Alex said looking at the

doctor.

“ I will run the tests. We have a brain surgeon

coming into town and he’s going to look at your

wife. But I don’t want to make any promises Mr.

McLean.”

“ I don’t expect you to. I’ve waited nearly a year for

her to open her eyes again. Her daughter misses

her terribly and I wish I could tell her that

everything will be all right.” Alex said running his

fingers over his wife’s hand.

“ It’s always hard to tell a child that a parent is

gone.” The doctor said putting his hand on Alex’s

shoulder.

“ Ally and I have only been married just over two

years. Next week would be our anniversary.”

“ Just think that she’s with you.”

“ I want to be able to bring her home.” Alex said

looking up at the doctor.

“ Give me time to run the tests and the surgeon to

look at her and then I’ll see what I can do to have

her moved to a facility closer to your home.”

“ I don’t want her in a facility I want her home.”

Alex said.

“ I can see if we can have that arranged.” The

doctor said.

“ Thank you.” Alex said kissing Allison’s cheek. The

doctor nodded and turned and left Alex alone.


It took several days and several arguments to

finally get the doctor to release Allison to him, but

it was done. At the end of the week Allison would

be moved back into the house. Alex had already

called and made arrangements to have a special

bed sent to the house and set up in one of the

guest rooms, a home health nurse was called and

was to be on call once he had gotten home. A

physical therapist was also on call to come twice a

week for Allison’s therapy sessions. Alex had

promised that what was being done for Allison in

the hospital would be done in his home. But what

pained him most was the doctor had informed him

that it may only be a matter of time before

Allison’s body started shutting down completely

and she’d die. He had nearly lost her over a year

before he wasn’t sure if he could handle losing her

again. But that didn’t matter, what mattered to

him was his wife was going to be home.

** End flashback **

Alex walked down the hall and stopped at the

guest room door, he could hear talking from

inside, slowly opening the door he saw Dawn

sitting on the edge of her mother’s bed and could

hear her talking to her. A smile spread across his

face seeing Dawn reading a book to her mother.

“ See mom, everything is getting better. Today

daddy found out that he’d be going back on tour

again. He’s finally gotten back with his friends and

they are finally finishing that album they had

promised to finish. I am not sure when daddy is

leaving but he promised he wouldn’t leave until

he told you. He’s so excited about getting back to

work.” Dawn said touching her mom’s cheek. Dawn

turned to see Alex standing in the doorway.

“ Hi Daddy.”

“ Hey munchkin, I see you told your mom about

the new album. We are leaving in a few weeks.

But I want you to know that grandma Denise is

going to come stay with you during the time I am

gone.” Alex said looking at them both.

“ That’s cool I like Grandma Denise. Grandma

Shannon called this morning.”

“ Really? What did she want?”

“ Just doing her normal check on mom. Said she’d

be over later in the week to visit.”

“ That’s good. Your uncles are going to be over

later today for a barbque.”

“ Oh cool, are we going to be moving mom

outside again?”

“ I was thinking about it. Do you think she’d like

that?” Alex said sitting down on the other side of

the bed.

“ Yeah I think she would. She seems happier

lately.” Dawn said moving some of her mother’s

strawberry blonde hair from her face.

“ That’s good. Did you finish your homework?” Alex

asked looking at Dawn.

“ I’m going to do that right now. I just wanted to

check on mom. Molly will be by later to check on

her and give mom her meds and then Sandy will

be by to start with the therapy again.” Dawn said

heading towards the door.

“ You know you’re a smart eleven year old.”

“ I know but look who my parents are.” Dawn said

running over and kissing his cheek. “ I love you

dad.”

“ I love you too kiddo.” Alex said kissing her cheek.

He watched Dawn hurry from the room and then

looked back at his wife.

“ She misses your company.” Alex said looking into

his wife’s empty eyes. “ I miss your company. I wish

they could find a way to bring you back to me.” He

just looked at her, in some ways he knew that she

understood what he was saying but something in

his heart yearned to hear her voice again. He

missed being able to tell her how his days where

going, how the tour had started. Always loved how

she laughed at his jokes and laughed at some

things his friends did. But now she was silent just

sitting there watching his movements. The nurse

had told him that over a few days that her eyes

had moved, he had hopped that maybe that was a

sign to say that she was coming back to him. He

had seen her eyes move, watching him walk from

one end of the room to the other, watching their

daughter talk about school and boys.

“ I’ll be back in a while.” Alex said kissing her

cheek. Alex stood and headed for the door, he

turned and looked at Allison one last time before

leaving the room. He hadn’t noticed the single

tear that had rolled down her cheek.

Dawn sat in the dining room going over the books her teacher had left her.
“ Where is Mr. Rhodes?”
“ Already headed out dad. You know he’s only here an hour.”
“ That’s right, how much homework do you have?”
“ About three hours worth. I might work on it in the room with mom. Uncle Kevin moved a desk in there for me so I can work on my homework and still be with mom.”
“ That was nice of him, but why didn’t you just ask me?”
“ You where gone and he was here. By the way they are waiting out back for you.”
“ Thanks kid.” Alex said kissing her cheek. Dawn watched her father leave the house and then looked at the load of books she needed to move up into the room.
“ Hey kiddo.” Nick said coming into the room.
“ Hi Uncle Nick.”
“ How are you today?”
“ Doing OK, I was about to go do my homework up in moms room.”
“ How is your mom doing today?”
“ Same as always. I guess all the prayers really aren’t helping.”
“ Maybe they are, how about you go outside and visit with the others while I go upstairs and get your mom. Have your dad bring your moms chair so I can put her down.” Nick said looking at her.
“ Sure thing Uncle Nick.” Dawn said heading out of the house. Nick looked up at the short staircase and then headed towards the room where Allison was.

Nick quietly walked down the long hallway, he could hear soft talking and wondered if Dawn had left the TV on in Allison’s room. Slowly opening the door he saw the nurse standing next to Allison’s bed.
“ I’m sorry I didn’t know that you were here.” Nick said looking at the pretty blonde.
“ I came a day early. Mr. McLean said that his wife needed some meds.”
“ Could be possible, is she getting any better?” Nick asked moving to the side of the bed and taking Allison’s hand in his own.
“ Hard to tell, I have noticed that her eyes are moving more, she’s been watching my movements and now seems to be watching you.” The nurse told him. Nick looked down at smiled at Allison.
“ It would be great if she got better, Alex misses her so much.” Nick said moving a piece of stray hair out of Allison’s eyes.
“ Even if she gets better, it will be a long time before she can do anything for herself.”
“ I know.”
“ Well I am done here, I will see you tomorrow Ally.” The nurse said before heading for the door.
“ I’ll be right back for you.” Nick said walking the nurse down the hall. Allison watched them leave and then let some more tears roll down her cheeks. Nick walked back into the room and noticed the tears.
“ Hey beautiful no tears, things are getting better.” Nick said wiping the tears away. “ Come on lets go outside and watch the party shall we.” He said lifting her into his arms.


Alex looked up as Nick came from the house with Allison.
“ Hey babe.” Alex said taking Allison from Nick. He kissed her cheek and then set her down in the chair they had waiting for her. He hated that all she did was sit and stare out into space.
“ HI mom.” Dawn said kissing her mother’s cheek. She held her mother’s hand and sat down in the chair next to hers. Dawn gasped and stood up startled.
“ What’s wrong?” Alex asked looking at her.
“ She squeezed my hand.” Dawn said getting down in front of her mother.
“ What?” Kevin said moving closer.
“ She squeezed my hand. Momma if you can hear me do it again.” Dawn said holding her mother’s hand again. Dawn looked down at her hand and felt her mother squeeze her hand again. Dawn smiled brightly.
“ That’s right mom, it’s time to come back to us.” Dawn said tears rolling down her cheeks.
“ I saw Ally crying earlier.” Nick pointed out.
“ What? She hasn’t made a movement in nearly three years, are you telling me now she’s starting to move?” Alex said tears of his own threatening to fall.
“ Yeah that’s exactly what we are saying. Dawn go call that nurse back.” Nick said. Dawn stood there for a moment and then headed back inside to use the phone.


The nurse arrived about ten minuets later and looked at the shocked group.
“ It looks like Mrs. McLean is starting to come back.” The nurse said touching Allison’s shoulder.
“ And that means what?” Howie asked.
“ It means that some of her motor functions are starting to return, she’s started moving her hands and her eyes. I will come tomorrow and take her to have an MRI and several other tests to see what’s going on.”
“ Have you called her doctor?”
“ Doctor Martin was informed of your wife’s condition change and will be at the hospital when we arrive.”
“ Thank you.” Alex said looking at Allison, he was so happy to be thinking that Allison could be coming back to them, but he had a fear that it was going to be a long lonely road for her.


Alex looked at the bed and smiled. He wanted to spend the night with his wife tonight, even if she wasn’t back yet he wanted to feel her next to him. Sliding into the bed he lay her head on his chest and held her close.
“ I’ve missed you so much, just the thought of you coming back makes my heart skip a beat. To finally have you back to be able to hold you, for you to respond to my words.” Alex said moving his fingers threw her hair. He could feel the wet tears that his wife shed as she lay with her head on his chest.
“ I know baby.” Alex said before sleep finally called him.