Gideon's Gift by Karen Kingsbury Page B

to live again.”
    “And now? Now you want to help Gideon? Is that right?”
    Earl could feel the sorrow lining his face. “That little girl loved me. For no reason at all she loved me.” He swallowed,
     searching for the right words. “The gift she gave—I can’t explain it but it was a miracle.”
    D. J. nodded. “I have no doubt.”
    “You know what she said?” Earl’s tone was filled with awe. “She told me Christmas miracles happen to those who believe.”
    A smile eased the sadness in D. J.’s eyes.
    “She told me about her perfect Christmas, and then she said none of that would matter if she could get a Christmas miracle.”
    “That’s Gideon.”
    “Well.” Earl drew a deep breath. “Sounds like Gideon could use a miracle about now.”
    The mission director was choked up, touched by Earl’s story. “Your money—is it still in the bank?”
    “All of it.” Earl reached down, untied his boot, and lifted the insole. From underneath he pulled out a worn bankbook and
     tossed it onto the desk. “I haven’t looked at it since I left home.” He leaned back. “I couldn’t bear to spend it. Not when
     it was Anne and Molly’s blood money. Not for anything in the world.” Earl shrugged, the pain in his soul deeper than the ocean.
     “Besides, what good was money with my family gone?”
    “Unbelievable. I never would have guessed.”
    “The point is, now I know how I can use it.”
    For the next two hours the men worked out a plan. When they were finished, D. J. helped Earl find clean clothes and shoes.
     Before lunchtime they set out with two activities in mind.
    Banking. And shopping.

CHAPTER TWELVE
    G ideon wasn’t getting better.
    Brian hated to admit it, but the truth was obvious. Gideon was pale and weak and it seemed she grew worse by the hour. It
     was the day before Christmas and they were gathered in her hospital room, searching desperately for a way to make the moment
     feel happy.
    Dustin watched television as Gideon received constant treatment. Nobody said much. Every time Brian looked at Tish she was
     wiping her eyes, filled with the terror that Gideon was slipping away from them.
    And she was. The doctors had told them so earlier that morning. Her blood levels were not responding to the chemotherapy like
     they’d hoped. A transplant was critically necessary.
    When Brian wasn’t leaning over Gideon, holding her hand or stroking her thin arm, he dreamed of ways he might get the money.
     Bizarre, outlandish ways. Like selling his organs or spending a season on a crabbing boat in the icy seas of Alaska. He’d
     heard on television once that a crew member could earn twenty-five thousand dollars in eleven weeks.
    He wondered if he’d have time to work a season and return with the money before Gideon died. He wondered if anyone might be
     interested in purchasing his lung or a kidney.
    He wondered if he was losing his mind.
    The only good news of the day came just after two o’clock. One of Gideon’s doctors entered the room and approached her bedside.
     “I have a surprise for you.”
    Gideon raised her eyes. She looked so frail, her body wasting away before their eyes. “I’m getting better?”
    A flicker of sadness crossed the doctor’s face. “We’re working on that part.” He smiled first at Tish, then Brian. “We’ve
     reviewed her chart and decided she can go home this afternoon.” He looked down at Gideon again and patted her hand. “You get
     to be with your family for Christmas, Miss Gideon.”
    Tish took a step closer to the doctor. “Does she have to come back?”
    “Yes.” The doctor shot her a sympathetic look. “First thing on the twenty-sixth. A few days away won’t hurt. We’ll have a
     nurse stop by twice a day with her medication. But after that she needs to be back here.”
    When the doctor was gone, there was silence. Then Dustin flicked off the television and popped up from his chair. “Why’s everyone
     so sad?” He looked around the room