Chapter 123

The beeping of medical machinery, the chattering of medical personnel, and nightmares of death had all made a seemingly frantic endeavor to slowly bring Francis back to reality. He had thought he would die the moment the bullets came piercing through his upper back, but somehow he found himself awake and alive.

It took a few moments before he could feel his body, the intense pain in his midsection, the bandages on his skin, and then the soft mattress of the hospital bed underneath his body.

What had happened? He couldn't recall how he had gone from getting out of his car to talking to Emma to being at the point of death and in the hospital and in that pitiful state.

Slowly, his mind recalled how he'd been scooped into a stretcher while he had been bleeding out. The desperate utterances of the medics inside the ambulance, trying to keep him alive still echoed as it all played back in his mind. He had instinctively pulled out his phone and dialed 911 as he watched Emma drive off and lea