The amber gem pulsed warm against her palm, alive, somehow, like it remembered where it came from.Like it remembered him.
Caleb.
The name seared through her like a hot blade, reopening the wound that never healed.
She closed her hand around the relic.Her breath hitched.She lowered her head, the weight of years pressing on her shoulders.She hadn’t prayed since the day her mother died.Hadn’t spoken to God since Heaven’s silence broke her heart.
But now, what else was left?
“God,” she whispered, her voice trembling.“If You’re up there… I could use a little help.I don’t know what to do.From what I’ve seen—” She swallowed hard.“I guess You’re real.Caleb believes in You.Maybe I should too.”
A warmth brushed over her, not from the sunlight, but something deeper, gentler.It washed through her like a tropical tide, sweeping back the cold.She looked up quickly, heart pounding, expecting someone behind her.
No one.
“Is that You, God?”she breathed.
And then—
Daughter.
The single word shone in her soul, bright and sure as a lighthouse beam.
Tears blurred her vision.“I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch.I guess I’ve been a little mad at You.Forgive me?”
I do.
A small laugh escaped her.“Really?That easy?”
That easy.If you trust Me now.
The voice wasn’t in her ears, it was in her spirit, louder than every beep and hiss around her.And somehow, she knew it wasn’t imagination.
“Why did you take my parents?Why did you leave me alone?”
I have always been with you.
The words wrapped around her, warming, soothing.And she knew they were true.
Then came another whisper, sharp and cold as a serpent’s breath.Use the Ring.It can heal her.
Desi froze.The tone was wrong—acidic, slick, crawling beneath her skin.Her fingers tightened around the relic.Maybe the Ring could heal, but it carried a curse.She’d seen enough to know that every miracle exacted a price.
Trust Me.
The warmth returned, tender, persuasive.
She slipped the Ring back in her pocket and gripped her sister’s cold, frail hand again, afraid to squeeze, lest it crumble in her grip.“Okay, God… Jesus… You win.I believe in You.I give You my life.”Her throat constricted.“Just please, please heal my sister.”
Light poured into the room, not from the window, but from everywhere.The gloom lifted as though someone had torn back the veil between heaven and earth.It seeped into her chest, her bones, her very breath.
Desi pressed a trembling kiss to her sister’s fingers.She had no idea how to pray for healing.Maybe she should repeat what Caleb had said.Rising, she drew a deep breath, already feeling silly.She laid her hand on Daria’s side where her failing kidneys rested.
“In the name of Jesus,” she whispered, voice breaking.“I command Daria’s kidneys to completely heal and her good health to be fullyrestored.”
It was a simple prayer, maybe not as powerful and confident as Caleb’s, but it was the best she could do.
Silence.
