A visitor to the Pearly Gates will see the whole range of human emotions as the Blessed walk through. There's a lot of joy, of course, and anticipation, and serenity: but there's also pain, and sorrow, and sometimes even anger, depending on what a particular human was going through just before he or she died. And, in the worst cases, what the human was going through results in him or her being tenderly carried through the Gates because they're too traumatized to walk. This has become more unfortunately common in the past few centuries. These unfortunates are usually destined for a stay in Hospital.

Hospital is Novalis' bailiwick, and she defends its patients as only a Cherub can. Several Servitors of Flowers are always on watch at the Gates, and once they decide that a person needs to go there, it would effectively take the entire Seraphim Council convened in state to reverse the decision. This is not an exaggeration. Hospital is reserved for the poor souls so battered by their final moments on earth that they still can't believe that the pain is over, and none of them leave until they've decided that they're ready to face existence. No matter what the circumstances.

Hospital is set up in a remote part of the Glades. From the outside, it's collection of cheerful brick buildings with lots of windows, gardens, a few fountains and a lake view. Inside, of course, the normal rules apply to celestial structures: that is, the inside is bigger than the outside, and Hospital is never full, no matter how many people are being treated. It's a peaceful place, and nowhere is the Pax Dei enforced so strongly than inside its walls.

There are several sections of Hospital. The largest section are the Wards where those physically wounded on Earth recuperate from their wounds in company. Of course, they don't actually need to, but certain blessed souls (mostly military types) find adjusting to their new existence easiest when done in light, airy rooms with pretty nurses and other blessed souls around. It's pampering, of course, but many of the residents deserve a little pampering after what they went through on Earth. Michael and Laurence find the Wards a fertile recruiting ground for Saints, although the nurses (mostly Novalis' minor Choir of Rofeah) are always chasing agents of the War and the Sword out. Novalis can't ban them completely, of course, since many of the patients are Soldiers of God who have earned in blood the right to visits from their angelic friends. She can't stop the endless poker games, either, though she only objects for form's sake

There are also a large number of bungalows scattered throughout the grounds. Here are placed those mentally or emotionally scarred souls that need solitude for a while. Each soul gets his or her own residence, and spend most of their time at first staring out of the windows. However, after a while things calculated to encourage an interest mysteriously appear: the stimulus is tailored to fit each soul, and can range from a set of books to the sounds of a raucous party next door. The attendants to this section are infinitely patient, and fiercely loyal to their charges.

The Hall of Surcease is possibly both the saddest, and most joyful, part of Hospital. Sad, for the patients here sleep, endlessly and without dreams or nightmares, until their shattered psyches reknit enough to support them; joyful, for when a Sleeper finally wakes, they rise cleansed of their pain and full of infectious joy. Most only Sleep for a few months or years at most, but there is one soul here (a Russian corporal) that has Slept since the siege of Stalingrad. The attendants try not to think about what he must have experienced, before the end.

As mentioned above, while Hospital is one of Novalis' responsibilities, other Archangels take an interest in it as well. The War faction is actually deeply appreciative of the fact that the Archangel of Flowers does not let politics get in the way of helping their mortal servants, and they try not to unnecessarily interfere with Hospital's operations. However, there have been shouting matches in the past, when the urgent need for fresh intelligence has run into the equally urgent need to put back together a broken warrior of God. The general rule is, once a soul has entered Hospital, breaking her out of there is more trouble than it’s worth. However, if the soul can be intercepted in time, then handed over to the Rofeah once his vital information has been transmitted, then Novalis will usually not make too much of a fuss.

On very rare occasions, she will allow a mild - very, very mild - amount of debriefing, if the situation is dire. A Rofite whose sole purpose is to shut the debriefing down when the soul becomes too agitated always attends. They'll capable of looking an Archangel in the eye and telling him to back off without trembling, and it's amazing how often that works.