“If you were us, would you opt for your child to have this surgery?” Megan asked. She searched his face for guarantees.

Sometimes, this question wasn’t easy to answer. Sometimes parents faced two choices with evenly matched advantages and disadvantages. This was not one of those times. This surgery was Isabella’s only hope. “Absolutely.”

“Do you think she’ll make it through?” Megan asked.

“I think she will make it through, yes.”

“We’re Christians,” she said. “And we believe that God is still in the business of doing miracles.”

Sebastian nodded.

“He did a miracle for you once,” she said. “Right?”

“Right.” Clearly, they’d researched him and learned about the earthquake.

“Are you a believer?”

“Yes.” Sebastian didn’t elaborate, though he wanted to remind them that God didn’t often provide miracles on cue. In fact, only occasionally did He answer prayers for critically ill humans by healing them here on earth.

“It’s clear to us that God chose you to be Isabella’s doctor.” Megan glanced at Timothy, then back at Sebastian.

“We’d like to move forward with the surgery,” Timothy said.

“The two of us, our family, and our church will all be praying for Isabella and for you, Dr. Grant. We’re trusting the Lord to bring her through the surgery and, eventually, to give her a whole new heart.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

In the northeast corner of the United States of America, Leah was engaged in a game of smashball with Dylan. The two of them played barefoot on a wide strip of grass situated between their trailer’s spot in the RV park and the dusky blue of Moosehead Lake, Maine.

Had they been keeping score, Dylan would have been beating her one hundred to zero. Happily, they were working as a team, their objective to keep the ball going back and forth between them.

She’d been unable to afford some of the more expensive items and activities Dylan had wanted on this trip. But at $10.95, the price of smashball had been right, so she’d purchashed the two wooden paddles and rubber ball in Bar Harbor a week ago.

They’d hiked in Vermont. Gone canoeing in New Hampshire. Followed a walking tour map of Boston.

Without the pressure of schoolwork, friend dynamics, and football, Dylan had been more communicative. Another bonus—Leah hadn’t had as many reasons to worry about him because he was usually within her line of sight.

The Airstream had turned out to be more difficult to tow than anticipated. Twice she’d needed the help of a passerby to navigate her way through gas stations. Once—horror of horrors—she’d been forced to back the trailer up. Also, she now knew more about emptying the trailer’s sewage tank than she’d ever wanted to know.

Overall, though, the trip had been everything she’d hoped.