Alek was on his way to see his sister, Abby. She had gotten into a car accident with a semi-truck and was now at the hospital, her life hanging on the line.

   His father had told him how serious her crash was. She had broken about five rib bones and had banged her head up really bad. She had been slipping in and out of consciousness for the last few days and Alek was desperate to see her one last time, in case she didn't make it.

    As the bus he sat in rolled along the road, he remembered a conversation that he had had with another college student a week ago. 

    But it hadn't just been any college student, it was the girl that he had bullied since the beginning of semester, and now he felt terrible for it.

    She had overheard his conversation with his father and had actually 

cared that he was worried for his sister. And once he had asked her why, she had told him about a God who helped her love him. He had been so confused, and still was. After everything he had said to her and the way he had treated her, she was still willing to forgive and forget.

    He remembered being bullied in the fourth grade and hating every single bully because of that. He had been so busy hating that he had never realized that he was becoming a bully himself.

    He closed his eyes and wondered where the girl was now. What was her name? He thought and then remembered; Lily.

    Lily had told him about God's love and how it helped her love him no matter what he did. Honestly, that had been the part of her that had peeved him the most. The fact that she never retorted or fought back had been annoying and that might have been another reason he bullied her.

    But as he thought of everything he had done, he wished he could go back in history and change them. He wished that he had been kinder and had cared more about people, like Lily does.

    The bus stopped with a loud screech and he recognized the stop as his stop. Getting up, he checked his phone and read the time. 4:09. He still had time to see Abby. 

    Rushing off the bus, he bolted down the busy sidewalk toward the hospital. His training in athletics helped him speed ahead and, in twenty minutes, he was entering the hospital.

    Stepping into the waiting room, he spotted his father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Pine, who were looking worried as always.

    His father noticed him and got up. "Son," he said in a cracked voice. "You are here, finally. Let's go see Abby."

    His mother got up and joined them. "She has been here for two weeks," she said in a worried tone, her hands shaking. 

    Mr. Pine walked up to a nurse who pointed them toward a door and said that they only had forty minutes to see her because she was going to have to go to testing soon.

    They entered the room and Alek winced once he saw his sister. Her long, red-brown hair had been cut into short and her face didn't seem natural at all. 

    He ran to her side and said, "Abby? Abby? Can you hear me? It's Alek."

    Abby reached out a bandaged hand and Alek grasped it tightly. She tilted her head and one of her eyes opened to look at him. "A-A-Alek?" she asked hoarsely. "Are you here to save me?"

    "From what?"

    "From the monster? Death," she said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "remember I used to be scared at night because the monster was going to take me. But you always came in and saved me."

    Alek smiled and nodded. He did remember Abby's crazy imaginations during the night, and how he used to go in and comfort her. Tears stung his eyes as was reminded of everything that he and his sister had been through together. She couldn't die, he wouldn't let her. But how was he supposed to save her from something he didn't have power over? It would take a miracle.

    He remembered what Lily had said to him a week ago; that she believed in a God that could do miracles. He closed his eyes and wondered if this God would even love him after what he had done. But he realized that he 

couldn't ask God on his own, how could he, after all those years of looking down on those who were believers. And what would his parents think if he started believing some gospel theory because some college girl was nice to a bully.

    No, he needed someone else, a believer, to pray for his sister. And he made a solemn oath that if Abby was healed, then he would look deeper into Christianity.

    Him and his parents spent the rest of their time at the hospital comforting and reassuring Abby, who was worried for her life.

    On their drive back home, they stopped by a small restaurant that was near a church. Alek stared at the church from the restaurant window and saw that there were lights on inside. Maybe someone inside could help Abby. 

    He finished his food and excused himself, saying that he was going for a walk outside. He walked up to the church and opened the unlocked door slowly. The inside was bigger than he had imagined and he felt kind of guilty stepping inside, like this was a holy place and he was not holy at all.

    He saw two people sitting in the rows of chairs that faced the pulpit. One was an old man and the second was a girl with shoulder-length, brown hair. 

    They must have heard him come inside because they turned and stared at him. The old man got up and strode toward him, leaning on a wooden walking stick. 

    "Hello," he said n a kind voice. "Why are you here? You are not a member of this church."

    "I was looking for help," he said truthfully as the girl also got up.

    "Ah. My name is Jacob Mawley. And this here is Abigail," the old man said, pointing toward the girl. "Now, what help do you need. Oh, please have a seat."

    Alek sat in one of the seats and explained about Abby. "A . . . college student told me that the god she worshipped could perform miracles. And I wanted to find out more, to see if Abby could be saved."

    To his surprise, Abigail bent down and said, "I was once like you. I didn't believe in God and didn't care about him either. But Jacob showed me his love and I believe that he can come into your life as well."

    Alek blinked and turned away. This wasn't exactly what he had been hoping for. He just wanted someone to help his sister, he didn't want to have to worry about becoming a Christian. He found himself thinking of