stopped looking put out; her mouth dropped open and she whispered, "Signing? A contract with Hell? That can't be!"
"Jezerael offered her the power to heal."
God hit a few keys on the keyboard and the scene on the monitor rewound, then ran forward. The angel once again saw Jezerael tempting Dayne, and once again heard Dayne say, "Let me read the contract."
God put the monitor on pause. "Don't watch," she said.
"What? What do you mean, don't watch."
"Even I'm tempted to interfere in this—but if we stopped her from making a decision she wished to make, we would be making a mockery of the free choice I promised humankind. So just don't watch. Then if she signs, we won't know until we check the register."
"But Dayne Kuttner is special. She's the one who called on you to . . ."
"They're all special," God said softly, tugging on one bead-tipped braid. "I regret the mistakes each of them makes, and I hope each of them will live well. I hope Dayne will make the right choice . . . but I won't make her. She had faith in me; now I must have faith in her."
"I don't want to turn the monitor off."
God shrugged. "Then watch . . . and I'll watch with you. Remember, though, that only through the exercise of her free will can her soul grow; only through courage in the face of temptation and pain can her spirit soar."
Chapter 44
Dayne put the contract down on the bedside table. Unlike the contract that Adam had brought over, this one was short and to the point. The main clause, written in large print and plain English, specified that she would be able to do miraculous healing for her entire life—that she would be able to make the blind see, the deaf hear, the mute talk, and the lame walk. She would be able to reverse the effects of cancer, of AIDS, of madness, of massive trauma, and of the l