Read Let Him Live for Free Online Page A

decide on how I spend it.”
    “But—”
    “You promised,” Donovan interrupted. He softened his words by stroking her cheek. “Friends keep promises to friends. That’s a fact.” He tugged her upward. “Come on. I think I can beat you in Monopoly. Want to give me a chance?”
    Meg wanted to discuss the One Last Wish money some more. “But, Donovan—”
    “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you. I don’t mean to put you in a tough place. I just need some time to think it through.”
    “I’m glad you told me, but I don’t know how to help you with it.”
    “Then let’s go inside and talk about it later. Right now, I want to have some of that fun you promised me.”
    Meg spent the rest of the afternoon and evening with Donovan, playing board games and watching the video movie in the recreation room. Several of the younger kids joined them, and Meg saw how fond they were of Donovan. He had a way with them, a friendly, open manner that put people at ease. She knew she felt comfortable with him.
    By the end of the day, Donovan was completely worn out and couldn’t eat the pizza Meg brought to his room. “You don’t mind?” he asked as he crawled into his bed.
    “Who needs the calories?” She kept her question light, as she shoved the unopened box to the side and fluffed his pillow. His coloring, which looked more yellow than it had that morning, bothered her. “Maybe you pushed too hard today,” she observed.
    “I wouldn’t have traded today for anything. I really appreciate your spending your free time with me. It meant a lot.”
    “I had fun.” Meg meant it. The time she’d spent with him had seemed to fly. “Your mom and Brettwill come by tomorrow, and then it’ll be Monday again and the start of a brand-new week.”
    “Another week in paradise,” he mumbled cynically. His eyelids looked heavy, and Meg watched them close. “Don’t forget your promise,” he whispered.
    “I won’t forget,” she said. He was asleep instantly, but Meg couldn’t bring herself to leave. His breathing sounded shallow, and she was concerned about him. She wished her father were there to assure her that Donovan was all right. She fiddled with the bedcovers, smoothing them the way she’d been taught during her candy striper training. She kept thinking about the letter he had received, and the check.
    Meg realized that she had been raised quite differently from Donovan. She’d been given many material things and had never truly wanted for anything. At sixteen, she attended a top private school, wore expensive clothes, had her own car. Not that her parents hadn’t taught her values. Many a time, her mother had lectured, “We have a duty to help others who are less fortunate. Your father’s profession is aimed toward helping and healing. I work hard with my charities because it gives me a deep sense of satisfaction to know I’m doing something useful for others.”
    Until now, Meg hadn’t paid much attention. But JWC’s generous gift to a person he or she claimed to not even know, caused Meg to pause and reevaluate her parents’ philosophy of life. Why would a complete stranger give Donovan somuch money? Who was this JWC anyway? Meg found herself not only curious, but also a little jealous. Not that she didn’t want Donovan to have the money—she did. The money didn’t threaten Meg at all. It was the caring, the concern, from an anonymous, faceless person that intimidated her.
    “Don’t pout. It won’t help.”
Meg heard Cindy’s voice in the back of her mind.
    “But you don’t understand. My dad thinks more of his patients than he does of me!” Meg recalled wailing to her friend the day she’d graduated from eighth grade and an emergency had made him miss the ceremony.
    “Doctors don’t belong to just their families, Meggie. They belong to everybody,” Cindy commented. “Sort of like the President, I think. I’ll bet he feels he owes something to the people he takes care of.”
    “Then why did my