Read Online Believe by Sarah Aronson - Free Book Online Page A

didn’t have a tube in his mouth, he would probably start singing one of those sappy ballads people use for prom themes and ad campaigns.
    Seeing was supposed to be believing, but in reality, when it stared you in the face, seeing was confusing. These were not hard things to do, and yet, right now, after everything that had happened, they seemed impossible. The doctors patted each other on the back. Miriam practically danced around the room. “I told you it was a miracle.”
    I hated that word, but I refused to be unhappy. “Yes! This is wonderful. It’s a miracle of medicine.”
    Mrs. Demetrius clutched her Bible to her chest. “No, no, no. She meant it was a miracle of faith.” She introduced me to some of the doctors, like I was some sort of miracle-diplomat. “This is the girl we were telling you about. Janine Collins.”
    They looked like they found me amusing. It was sort of embarrassing. Maybe they knew who I was; maybe they didn’t.When people thought they should have heard of you but didn’t, they always acted a little funny.
    Most people needed less than twenty seconds to figure it out. But once, someone thought I was the daughter of the plumber. Today the doctor snapped his fingers after less than six seconds. “Oh yeah. Wasn’t I just reading about you somewhere?”
    Mr. Demetrius reached into his bag for the retrospective and waved it in his face. “She is the Soul Survivor .” When they all started nodding— oh yeah, of course, I remember you—the kid in the temple, right? —he told the group, “At the scene, she held him. She prayed for him. Right here—right before he woke up—she read him Scripture. Every word she said, I could feel him getting stronger. If you ask me, that girl healed him right in front of our eyes.”
    â€œFor a long time,” Mrs. D. said, “people have wondered about why Janine lived, when everyone else in that synagogue died. Now we know. She has a gift. A quantum force.”
    Quantum force? I almost laughed out loud. Religious people came up with the craziest things.
    The doctors must have agreed, because they talked about things like friendship and family and the healing power of touch, which were the only logical ways to deal with the questions with no answers. As they rationalized, I looked at the floor, the door, anywhere but at their faces—I was sure they were laughing at me. I worried they were thinking fame whore
    Freak.
    Or maybe they were hoping to give a press conference.
    After they left, Miriam excused herself. “I need to go call my mom.” She shrugged. “She’s left about ten messages.”
    â€œI should call Lo, too,” I said, following her out the door into the hall. The power must have still been out, because all I got was an off-key tone and message. Luckily, Miriam got through, but when she was done talking, she looked really upset.
    â€œWhat’s wrong now?”
    She said, “We need to get going.”
    The doctor thought this was a timely idea. “I think we’ve had enough excitement for one day. We don’t want Abe to overdo it.”
    Outside, Miriam walked fast. The air still had that cool, saturated feeling it had after a big storm. The rain had passed, but Miriam still looked miserable.
    â€œSo are you going to tell me?”
    She kicked some gravel. “The tree was hit by lightning.”
    I didn’t have to ask what tree. There was only one tree that would make Miriam’s face turn white.

    This time, Miriam couldn’t drive fast—there were too many branches in the road. Too many detours. Orange cones blocked streets. Many houses were dark.
    She took a sharp right past the school. “It was hit by lightning. My mom says it looks bad.”
    â€œWow. That’s terrible.” There was no point saying sorry. Miriam loved that tree. She loved that farm. It wasn’t the right time to tell