“what you’re saying is impossible. Doctors have told me that I will never walk again.”
Lily smiled and her whole face seemed to glow with warmth.
“Sometimes doctors don’t know everything. Sometimes miracles happen when people believe and love each other enough.”
She let go of the judge’s hand and stepped back.
“I’m not asking you to believe me right now, judge lady. I’m just asking you to give me a chance to prove it. Let my daddy come home, and I will show you that impossible things can happen.”
Judge Catherine looked at Robert, then at Lily, then at the packed courtroom full of people waiting to see what would happen next. Her logical mind told her this was absurd. Children couldn’t heal paralyzed legs. Miracles didn’t happen in courtrooms. The law was the law and feelings couldn’t change that. But her heart, the part of her that had been locked away since her accident, whispered something different. What if? What if this special little girl really could do what she promised? What if hope wasn’t just a foolish dream?
“Your honor,”
the prosecutor interrupted.
“Surely you’re not considering…”
“Mr. Chun,”
Judge Catherine said firmly.
“I am considering everything.”
She looked around the courtroom at all the faces staring back at her. Maybe, just maybe, it was time to take a leap of faith. The silence stretched on for what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes. Finally, Judge Catherine straightened up in her wheelchair and looked directly at Lily.
“Young lady,”
she said in a voice that carried throughout the courtroom.
“You have made me a very serious promise. Do you understand that promises should never be broken?”
Lily nodded solemnly.
“Yes, judge lady. I always keep my promises.”
“And you truly believe you can help me walk again?”
“I don’t just believe it,”
Lily said with the kind of certainty that only children possess.
“I know it.”
Judge Catherine took a deep breath that seemed to come from the bottom of her soul. When she spoke again, her voice was shaking slightly, but her words were clear.
“Mr. Mitchell,”
she said, looking at Robert.
“You have committed a crime, and normally I would sentence you to jail time and fines. However, your daughter has made me an offer that I find intriguing. Therefore, I am going to do something I have never done before in 20 years on this bench. I am going to postpone your sentencing for 30 days. If within that time your daughter can fulfill her promise to me, all charges against you will be dropped.”
The prosecutor jumped to his feet.
“Your honor, this is highly irregular. You can’t make legal decisions based on the impossible claims of a child.”
“Mr. Chun,”
Judge Catherine replied calmly.
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