RORY FEEK THOUGHT HE HAD LOST HIS DAUGHTER. HOURS LATER, INDY OPENED HER EYES—AND GAVE HER FATHER THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MOMENT OF HIS LIFE. Just two weeks after open-heart surgery, Indiana Feek had finally enjoyed a peaceful week recovering at home in Waco. Then everything changed. She became sick Wednesday night, vomiting and nearly fainting again and again. Early Thursday morning, Indy passed out and would not wake up. Rory later wrote that he and his wife, Rebecca, had never been more frightened. “We thought we had lost her.” Paramedics rushed Indy to a nearby hospital before she was flown to Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin. Doctors discovered fluid pressing dangerously around her heart and preventing it from beating properly. They inserted a drain and removed 610 cc of fluid. Almost immediately, her heart rate returned to normal. Then Indy opened her eyes. By that evening, she was awake and ordering her favorite food. The next morning, her color had returned. She was smiling, talking and asking to play game after game of Uno. Only hours earlier, Rory had been praying simply to see his daughter wake up again. Now she was sitting across from him, holding a hand of cards and waiting for the next round. Doctors expect Indy to make a full recovery. Sometimes the greatest answer to a father’s prayer is not something grand. Sometimes it is his little girl opening her eyes—and asking him to deal the cards again.

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