Courtland went swiftly into the hospital.  Pat looked after him for a moment with a great light of love in his eyes, and realized for the first time what was meant by the expulsive power of a new affection.  Court hadn’t minded seeing Gila in the least on his own account.  He was only thinking of Tennelly.  Poor Nelly!  What would he do?

There was no hope for Gila from the first.  There had been an injury to the spine, and it was only a question of hours how long she had to stay.

It was Bonnie’s face upon which the great dark eyes first opened in consciousness again.  Bonnie in soft, white garments sitting beside the bed, watching.  A strange contraction of fear and hate passed over her face as she looked, and she spoke in an insolent, sharp little voice, weak as a sick bird’s chirp.

“Who sent you here?” she demanded.

“God,” said Bonnie, gently, without an instant’s hesitation.

A startled look came into Gila’s eyes.  “God!  What does He want with me?  Has He sent you here to torment me?  I know you, who you are!  You are that poor girl that Paul picked up in the street.  You are come to pay me back!”

Bonnie’s face was full of tenderness.  “No, dear!  That is all passed.  I’ve just come to bring you a message from God.”

“God!  What have I to do with God?” A quiver of anguish passed over the weird little face.  “I hate God!  He hates me!  Am I dead, then, that He sends me messages?”

“No, you are not dead.  And God does not hate you.  Listen!  He says, ’I have loved you with an everlasting love.’  That’s the message that He sends.  He is here now.  He wants you to give attention to Him!”

The little blanched face on the pillow tightened and hardened in fear once more.  “That’s that awful Presence again!  The Presence!  The Presence!  I’ve been trying to get away from it for three years, and it’s pursued me everywhere!  Now I’m caught like a rat in a trap and can’t get away!  If I’m not dead, then I must be dying, or you wouldn’t dare talk to me this awful way! I am dying! And you think I’m going to hell!” Her shrill voice rose almost to a scream.

Above the sound, Bonnie’s calm, clear voice dominated with a sudden quieting hush.  Courtland, standing with the doctor and Tennelly just outside the partly open door, was thrilled with the sweetness of it, as if some supernatural power were given to her at this trying time.

“Listen, Gila!  This is what He says:  ’God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved....  God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’  He wants you to believe now that He loves you and wants to save you.”