Abby lay on her hospital bed, thinking.  Her big brother, Alek, had just been over in the hospital to see her.  He had been talking about her getting better and how God was going to heal her.  She had been very surprised to hear that.  No one in their family believed in any god, and now Alek seemed to be obsessed with one. 

    Abby knew that the chances of her getting better were slim; her head hurt everyday and she felt so weak.  But she had felt something, as Alek had sat beside her, praying.  Maybe there was a God.  Maybe he could heal her and help her get onto her feet again.  

    The door to her room opened and a doctor walked in.  He checked her vitals and then looked at her as she asked, "How much longer am I going to be here?"

    "Your health is slowly coming back," he said slowly, "but I would still give it another three weeks.  We must make sure that you make a full recovery."

    She sighed and turned her head to look out her window.  It was a beautiful 

summer morning and the birds were chirping outside.  She longed to be out there, laying in the grass and soaking up the sun. 

    The doctor left and she sat up.  Immediately her back let out a sharp pain  and she fell back.  She hated this.  The only thing she could do was sleep.  But if she did then she would probably dream about outside and then wake up and find herself nowhere near getting there.

    She reached over to the table beside her bed and picked up and pencil and a drawing notepad.  It was the only thing that the doctors allowed her to do, besides laying around and being bored. She started a small sketch of a tree and a girl sitting under its shade. Now she wished to be outside even more.

    Hours passed and she was finally visited by Alek. He strode into the room and said, "Mother and Father won't be able to come till afternoon. How are you feeling?"

    "Bored, sad, lonely, angry, exhausted, a lot of emotions, mostly bad ones though," she answered truthfully.

    "I mean physically.  Is your body feeling any different?"

    "Not really.  I know you expected your prayer to work, but maybe there isn't a God."

    "I didn't expect it to work right away.  I am not a prayer warrior.  But I have been praying all last night for you.  I know that you are going to get better."

    "Alek, why are you so different.  You used to only think about yourself and, no offense, but you were kind of a bully."

    "I know.  And I hurt a lot of people doing that.  But after finding this God, that loves and cares and forgives . . . you would be changed as well, Abby."

    "I don't know.  If he cares, then why am I not healed?"

    "Because you need to know him yourself," Alek said, swiftly reaching into his

pocket and pulling out a red book. 

    "What is that?" Abby asked, confused.

    "I know that it is pretty boring in here.  So I brought you this, so that you can read it and find God for yourself."

    "It's a Bible?  I'm sorry Alek, but I don't want to read that."

    "Why not?"

    "Because . . . I don't know.  But maybe this "God" thing works for you.  But I don't believe."

    Alek sighed, but still placed the bible down on her bed. "Just one verse, Abby.  I have already read a lot, and I feel so much different because I have."

    "Maybe," she said.

    Alek left as a doctor came in and announced that it was time for her check-up on how her body was doing.  She quickly hid the Bible under her sheets and 

allowed two doctors to help her step out of bed. 

    It was noon once she finished and was placed back in her hospital bed. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Pine, were waiting for her.  Once the doctors left, Mr. Pine said, "Dear, how are you feeling?"

    "The same," she answered. "Alek was here in the morning."

    "Yes, he has been telling us about his new-found faith in a god.  Is that true?" asked Mrs. Pine.

    Abby nodded and Mr. Pine shrugged, "I don't know what got into him. Someone at college probably."

    They talked for a little longer, Abby did not tell them about the Bible that Alek had given her.  She was afraid that they might take it away.  It wasn't that she actually liked it, but that she was becoming more and more curious about it and she wanted to understand why Alek had been completely changed by it.

    After her parents left and a doctor checked in on her to make sure that she was fine, Abby settled down to sleep.  But she felt something under her sheets and realized that it was the Bible.

    She pulled it out from under the sheets and placed it on the table.  She didn't know how one book could change her brother, but maybe she could find out in the morning. 

    The next morning, Abby woke up to another cloudless day filled with sweet chirps.  Now she longed more than ever to be out there.  Not having anything else to do, she grabbed the Bible off the table and opened it.  Flipping to the starting, Genesis, she started to read.  It told how God created the world and formed all the animals and people.  Abby flipped to the very back of the book and found a small book called James.  It  looked

short so she decided to read it.  

    Around chapter 5 she spotted a verse that was talking about healing.  It read, "Is anyone among you sick?  Let them call for the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord."

    She continued on to verses 15 and 16 which read, "And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up.  If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to each other, and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."

    Abby was surprised by this.  She thought of all the times that she had sinned and not really known it.  But now this god was offering his healing and forgiveness.  But for what?  What did she have to do to deserve this?  It was her fault that she was in this mess.  The night she had crashed, she had just been out at a bar with