Page 61 of Death Wish

Another moan.

“Come on, sugar. Time to wake up and show us your pretty eyes.”

She blinked.

“There you are.” He smiled at her. “How do you feel?”

“Like a truck ran over me,” she said, voice raspy. “Why does my chest hurt?”

“That’s quite the story. Your friends saved your life.”

Her eyes widened. “I don’t understand.”

“You went into cardiac arrest and collapsed. Your friends administered CPR and saved your life.”

Her eyes filled with tears as she looked up at Francen. “Thank you, Beckett. You, too, Wyatt. I don’t understand what happened. I just had a physical last week. Everything was perfect.”

“What you do in your off time isn’t my business, but you almost died. I need you to answer my question honestly. I’m not a cop so I can’t arrest you.”

“For what?”

“Taking drugs.”

“What?”

“Did you take any drugs, Allison? Be honest. The doctors at the hospital will have to know in order to treat you properly.”

“I don’t take drugs. I barely take medicine at all, just for the occasional headache.”

“What did you give her?” Francen demanded. “She woke up almost immediately.”

“Narcan.”

Shock filled the other man’s gaze. “Are you serious?”

“Afraid so. Based on the symptoms Allison exhibited, I think she overdosed on a drug, maybe fentanyl or cocaine.”

“But I don’t do drugs,” Allison protested. “I swear.”

“If you don’t, then someone close to you in the past few minutes deliberately dosed you with fentanyl. The drug is so powerful, it wouldn’t take much.”

“I took nothing. I swear.” Tears leaked from her eyes.

“I believe you. Listen, when the ambulance takes you to the hospital, you need to tell the paramedics and the doctor that you might have been exposed to fentanyl or cocaine, and you had one dose of Narcan.”

“How did you have Narcan on you?”

“Besides being in security, I’m also a medic. I always carry a mike bag wherever I go, and Narcan is standard equipment.”

Sirens sounded close by. Jesse breathed easier. Excellent. As long as the hospital wasn’t too far away, Allison had a good chance. “I need to get going, Allison. You should be fine now.”

“Thanks, Jesse. I can’t thank you enough for what you did.”

“It was a group effort.” Jesse squeezed her hand briefly. “See you later.”

When he stood, Francen shook his hand. “Thanks, man. I owe you.”

“Just take care of her, all right? If the doctor releases her tonight, don’t let her go home alone. She needs someone with her tonight.”

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