Free A Time to Die by Lurlene McDaniel Page A

same time when we were kids and we smeared Vaseline on all the doorknobs.” She slugged Vince playfully. “Help me come up with something.”
        Kara lay awake, staring up at the ceiling and listening to the night sounds of the hospital. There was the hum of the central heating unit and the muffled sound from a radio at the nurses’ station. Occasionally, she heard a nurse pass down the hall and the soft squeak of rubber-soled shoes on the linoleum. The light burned dimly in the hall, and from somewhere down the corridor, Kara heard a child crying for its mother.
    She sighed and shifted upright. No use trying to go back to sleep. She knew from experience, sleep wouldn’t come anytime soon. She decided that if she had to be awake, she should keep herself busy and catch up on her schoolwork. She was behind in every subject. With a sigh, she opened the drawer of her bedside table, where she’d left her work.
    Inside the drawer, she noticed a long, elegant envelope lying on top of her English book. She picked it up and read her name, which had been written across the front in calligraphed letters. The envelope was of fine parchment paper, and it had been sealed with red wax, stamped with the letters OLW.
    Odd
, she thought. She’d been positive she’d opened all her mail. How could this one have gotten past her? How had it gotten into the drawer? Kara gingerly broke the red seal and pulled out two pieces of paper. One was a letter written in delicate script. The other was a check made out in her name for an enormous sum of money. She stared openmouthed.
    Quickly Kara picked up the letter, and using the soft glow of the light on the wall over her bed, she began to read.
    Dear Kara
,
    You don’t know me, but I know about you and because I do I want to give you a special gift. Accompanying this letter is a certified check, my gift to you with no strings attached to spend on anything you want. No one knows about this gift except you, and you are free to tell anyone you want
.
    Who I am isn’t really important, only that you and I have much in common. Through no fault of our own we have endured pain and isolation and have spent many days in a hospital feeling lonely and scared. I hoped for a miracle, but most of all
I hoped for someone to truly understand what I was going through
.
    I can’t make you live longer. I can’t stop you from hurting, but I can give you one wish as someone did for me. My wish helped me find purpose, faith, and courage
.
    Friendship reaches beyond time and the true miracle
is
in giving, not receiving. Use my gift to fulfill your wish
.
    Your forever friend
,
JWC
    Flabbergasted, Kara reread the letter and stared at the check. It was made out in her name. She counted the zeros. One hundred thousand dollars. It seemed real, but incredible at the same time. Who could JWC possibly be? The check was signed, “Richard Holloway, Esq., Administrator, One Last Wish Foundation.”
    Kara was awestruck. She felt as if she were in a movie or TV show. She looked around the room, but no one shouted, “Surprise!” With trembling fingers, Kara slid the letter and check back inside the envelope. Her schoolwork forgotten, she stared thoughtfully into space. What she wanted more than anything else was to be well, but no amount of money could buy that. Still, there were plenty of things she could do. She wanted to share this incredible event with someone—but who? She decided that her parents would be skeptical of the entire mysterious business, eventhough the check looked real. Should she tell Christy? Elyse? Vince or Eric? Finally, she decided to take her time and think it through thoroughly. This was a miracle and she didn’t want to do anything foolish.
    Kara turned out the light, and cradling the letter to her chest, she fell asleep.

Thirteen

    E RIC EASED THE heavy barbells back into their slots on the weight lifting bench and felt the exhilaration that came from pumping iron. He wiped the sweat from