I open my eyes, I'm crying. I raise my hands in the air as I start to pray.

"Father," I say, my voice breaking. "If it wasn't for Daniel, I would've never encountered Your amazing love."

I smile and laugh softly, my hands are still raised. I close my eyes and raise my head up.

"Thank You," I go on, "thank You for helping me to recover form that day."

"Heather?"

I open my eyes and find Ellie standing in front of me.

"Hey," I say, bringing my hands down.

"Ready?" she ask, pointing to the car.

"Yeah," I reply; I can't stop smiling and I don't know why.

We have arrived at the place where the fund-raiser is being held. The police chief, Daniel's dad, is greeting people at the door.

"Heather," he says, carefully hugging me.

"Hey Chief," I say, hugging him back the best I can with crutches. "It's been a while."

"Yes, it has. Far too long. I hope everything is going ok."

I nod as we pull apart. Chief had come to see me while I was in the hospital.
I go inside, I can see the chief's family sitting at one of the front tables. I can see Daniel's mom, younger sister and, well at least I think its his twin brother. But I'm not so sure because I can't remember him ever having one. I can't remeber his sister's name, but I know it's a name from the Bible, like Daniel's. The brother looks at me. He looks so much like Daniel! He smiles and waves. I wave back, maybe I can get to know him after the fund-raiser. I follow Ellie to the table where Dylan and some other co-workers are sitting. I take the empty seat next to Dylan.

"There she is," he says; I can tell he's already getting goofy. "The gir-"

"Don't start," I say, cutting him off. "I'd like to go through at least two hours of no goofing off with you. Is that too much to ask?"

Dylan raises his hands in surrender and nods. I make the sign-language sign for thank you. Miranda comes and sits on my other side, giving me a one arm'd hug.

"How're you feeling?" she asks, rubbing my arm.

"I'm feeling great," I reply, smiling a little bit. "I'm actually excited-"

"Ssh," Ellie says, pointing to the stage.

We all turn, facing the stage. Chief Harden and his wife are taking the microphones. Mrs. Harden has a square frame in her hand.

"Good evening," says the chief, clearing his throat. "Thank you for coming tonight. I expect you all brought your hungry stomachs, because we've got a delectable dinner for all of you-" the crowd applauds, "Ha-ha! Okay, well before we begin, my wife and I would like to call up someone very special. You may have seen her working at the Pharmacy, or just around the block. Let's give a hand to Heather Diaz."

Everyone is clapping, Daniel's brother seems to be clapping the softest. My cheeks must be pink; I stand and carefully make my way to the front of the room. Daniel's sister stands and helps me up the stage.

"I'm Sarah," she whispers in my ear.

Sarah, I should have remembered that. Sarah stays by my side as her mom starts to say something.

"'Heather,'" she reads from the frame; its a plaque. "'You took a great risk in what you did for Daniel. You could've lost your life, but you didn't care because you were more worried about him. Some might say you're crazy, but the Bible says differently. "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13." She hands it to me.

I take the plaque from her, I'm tearing up. The words truly touched me. the tears roll down my cheeks as I embrace the chief and then his wife. I hug Sarah too, but I keep her next to me. The chief holds out the mike to me.

"Would you like to say something?" he asks.

I take the microphone from him with hesitation. I'm not a speech person, but I don't want to offend them. I take a deep breath; Father in Heaven, please give me the right words. I know just what to say.

"Hello," I say, trying to stop my tears. "I'm...I'm not very good at speeches, and I wasn't planning on saying anything. But now that I'm up here, I feel that there is something for me to say." 

I'm looking at Daniel's brother as I say this, hoping that he turns around. 

"I had gone to high school with Daniel, as many of us did, but we never really interacted with each other. After graduation, my parents decided that they wanted to move to a new place, somewhere near the university so that I could go to college. But there was something inside of me that didn't want to leave. I didn't know why, but I wanted to listen to it. So I stayed here, got the job at the Pharmacy, and things were going good for me." 

I stop to breathe and keep in control, I might start crying again. "Daniel was always coming into the store, buying hair-dye. I never knew why until he told me that his mom-" I look at Mrs. Harden "-was taking classes to become a beautician, and how she would practice dyeing on his hair. That was the same day as...." tears are falling again. 

"I was locking up when I heard a gunshot. I didn't know what to do, but I wanted out of there. I was going to just try and get away without being seen. Then I heard Daniel's voice..." I look back at the audience "..something, something came over me in that moment. I jumped out of hiding, my taser-gun in my hand, and when I saw him on the ground, I just could not take it. I thought that maybe I could get the two of us out of there and call the cops. But it turned out that I wasn't quick enough. When that guy shot Daniel.....I-I was so angry. I barely knew Daniel, but I cared for him enough to want to save his life. When I had pulled him wounds, Daniel asked me these questions.

"'Do you know who Jesus is?' he asked. "Do you know about Heaven?' I'd never heard of either, but I didn't know how he could be talking about anything while in such pain. 'Why are you asking such questions?' I asked as I tried to stop the bleeding. 'You've lost a lot of blood already. You should be worried about whether you're about to die or not.'" I close my eyes briefly before going on. 

"And...Daniel just looked up at me, calm as could be in between the pain. 'I'm not worried,' he said. 'I know where I'm going if I do die tonight. I just want to know that you'll be there too, if you die tonight too.'" More tears are falling now, but I'm smiling the best I can. "And then he smiled. But it wasn't just any smile. It wasn't the kind of smile you'd give someone when you feel awkward for saying something like that. No, it was a genuine smile, and I knew Daniel truly meant what he was saying. That did it.

"'How can I get there?' I asked him. And he said the sinners prayer with me. At that moment, I felt calmer than before. I felt relieved in a way. I called for help after that, I knew he was going fast..." I'm releasing small sobs now, Daniel's brother has his head in his hands. 

"As we waited for help to arrive, I held Daniel's hand, telling him to hang on a little longer. That help was on its way. He simply looked up at me, and smiled a smile that could never compare with any other, not even the one before that. And then he closed his eyes-" Sarah is hugging me now "-weary from the loss of blood. In the second, I didn't feel sad, but complete calmness. He looked so peaceful that I didn't try to keep him awake. I had thought that I could save him....when in reality, Daniel saved me. After I got out of the hospital, I started seeking out churches and Bible groups. I wanted to get to know more about Jesus. I look back now, to that day, and give thanks to God for Daniel helping me accept Jesus in my heart."

I stop here because I'm crying harder than before. Everyone in the room is crying. Sarah is still hugging me, I keep my arm around her the best I can with my crutch. I close my eyes as the chief takes the mike from me and Sarah leads me off the stage. She takes me to the restroom to dry my eyes.

"Daniel was right," she says, blowing her nose in a tissue.

"What do you mean?" I ask, dabbing my eyes.

"Daniel always said that you would turn to Christ one day. And I think that those words you just said have made a real impression on everyone in that room."

I lick my lips, they are dry and cracking. I guess I did make an impression on everyone....Except Daniel's twin brother. I wonder why he stayed in that one position the whole time. Maybe he was really close to Daniel.

"You know," I say, as we go back to the main room. "I'm really glad that I stayed here. God has a purpose for me here."

"I'm glad you stayed too."

I'm probably imagining things, but that was Daniel's voice. I look around, looking for the owner of the voice. Someone is standing in the corner wearing a hood. Sarah lets me go and disappears into the other room. I stare at the shadowed face, trying to see who it is.

"Who are you?" I ask, clutching my plaque close to my chest.

The person straighten and pulls the hood away from his face. The black hair.....his eyes and smile. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

"Do you believe that God can do anything?" he asks, staying where he is.

I drop my crutches and place my plaque on a nearby chair.

"Do you believe that God can do anything?" he asks again, stepping closer.

"Yes," I reply, my voice breaking. "He can."

Daniel holds out his arms and catches me in a tight hug. I'm crying again, but not because of sadness. Happiness is the only emotion that is occupying my consciousness.

"God heard your cry," Daniel whispers in my ear.