Amazing Grace

She was finishing up her rounds, as she does every night she works at the children's hospital. Checking on all her patients to make sure everything is alright. Some of the children she cares for are only in for the night with little aches and pains, but there are a few that are destined to die.
Her name is Annie. She's been going through many hard times, her parents have divorced, and her long time boyfriend has just cheated on and broke up with her. Living isn't her favorite thing lately; everything seems to be going wrong. As she is thinking about these things, Annie comes to room 210.
It's the last room of the night and she is ready to leave until she hears the noise of the patient singing. She's been to church enough to recognize "Amazing Grace" but decides to ask anyway. "Is that 'Amazing Grace'?" The boy gives a small nod and continued on with his song. "He must not know what he's singing" Annie thought to herself. You see this boy was a cancer patient and, just that morning, his parents were told he wasn't going to make it. She wondered how he could be singing such a song when he is losing his life.
"Are you ok?" asked the boy "you look like something is bugging you." She replies "I'm ok, but I have to ask you something." It was a hard question for her to ask, but she knew that it was now or never. "I've been watching you these last few days, and I've noticed you're different then the other kids. You always seem to be happy, even though you have every reason not to be. You act like you have all the riches in the world; but we all know your fate. I was just wondering, why?" The young boy smiled at her and said, "The reason I seem so happy, the reason I can still smile, is because of the amazing grace that God has given me." Annie tried to hide her puzzled look but the boy saw it. "I know I'm young, but I'm not perfect. I swore once, and then this one time I lied to my mom about eating the last piece of cake. I've sinned a whole lot. God doesn't like sin, but for some reason he has still let me go on. I don't deserve it at all." Annie's eyes started to water as she replied "I still don't understand, how can you keep on being so cheerful when you're dieing, losing everything." To this the boy said "Amazing grace. I think that really it's what I deserve for not living my whole life for God. But he has let me have a great life, a great family, a dog. I've traveled to 4 whole states; have a house and a really awesome bike. What have I done to deserve all that great stuff?" By this time, Annie was moved to tears as she looked at how ungrateful she has been. The boy continued to tell of his joys. "I'm always happy because every breath I take is one more than I deserve. Every morning I wake up is another gift from God. Every time my mommy and daddy and little sister walk through that door it's another thing I haven't done anything to deserve. Some people don't get to see their parents, some kids don't even get a bicycle or all the cookies my grandma makes me; and some of them are living more for God than I ever have. So the reason I smile, the reason I wake up every morning with joy in my eyes, is because of the amazing grace I've done nothing to deserve." Annie couldn't say anything but "Thank you". The boy replied, "Don't thank me, thank God."
Annie and the boy talked for awhile longer that night and for the next few days after that. They became the closest of friends and were inseparable. One day, Annie came to visit even though she wasn't working. She walked into the room and started talking about how he's been. She didn't get a response and she ran over to the bed. She didn't have to look at the machines to know what happened. But through her tears she knew exactly what he would have wanted her to say, "thank you God". The boy died the night before, a smile still on his face.