This is Book 3 in the Seaside Boulevard Series!
BLURB
Richie and Francine’s marriage takes another hit when his dad dies of a
massive heart attack. Angelina, Richie’s mom is distraught, not leaving
her house. When Francine finds herself pregnant, everyone is ecstatic,
especially Angelina. However, their excitement turns into worry when
Francine falls putting her pregnancy in high risk, restricting her to
bed rest. Gary Thompson gets traded to another team on the west coast.
Toni needs to make the decision to go with him, or stay home and end
their relationship. Amy and Jason’s wedding invitations are sent out.
The question is will their families accept their wedding? A surprise
guest the eve of the wedding will put the spin on the next day’s
festivities.
EXCERPT
Carefully Amy walked up the
path. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Francine lying on the floor at the
bottom of the steps, her head on the grass and her body on the pavers. The bags
fell from her hands and she let out a shrill cry.
“Francine,”
she nudged her, “what’s wrong?” No answer, no movement. “Oh my God.” Reaching
into her back pocket, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed 911. “I need
help,” she cried into the phone.
“Calm
down. I need to know what the problem is.” “My friend is down on the floor
outside unconscious.
She’s
pregnant, oh my God, her baby. Please help me. Francine, talk to me.”
Her eyes barely opened. She
mumbled something, which Amy couldn’t understand before closing her eyes again.
Amy
gave the woman on the other end of the phone Francine’s address. The woman told
her not to move her and an ambulance was on its way. Amy got up, ran to her car
and took out the beach blanket in the trunk, returning to cover her.
“Please,
Francine, wake up. How did this happen? Don’t worry, I’m here for you. I’m not
leaving your side. Everything is going to be all right. Please stay with me.”
Out
of the corner of her eye she saw an open book and a bag with what looked like
clothes. She reached over for the book and it turned out to be Sally’s
sketchbook. Why would Francine have Sally’s sketchbook? Francine hadn’t said
anything about Sally coming over when they spoke this morning.
In
the distance, Amy heard the ambulance approaching. She took hold of Francine’s
hand and started to talk to her about all their antics they pulled throughout
their friendship. She didn’t know what else to do. At least if she kept talking
to her maybe she would open her eyes or respond by squeezing her hand.
The
ambulance arrived. The EMTs started taking Francine’s vital signs, shielding
Amy from seeing what they were doing.
“Let’s
get her on oxygen,” one of the men commanded. “Oh my. Is she okay? Is she all
right?” Amy cried. “She’s fine. After doing a quick assessment, it seems
that she slipped and fell
down the stairs. It’s possible she has a concussion. We won’t know anything
until we get her to the hospital for additional testing.”
“What
about the baby?”
“She’s
pregnant?”
“Yes.
Please don’t let anything happen to the baby.”
Ignoring
her, he said to the other EMT, “Let’s get her on a stretcher.”
“I
think something else happened here. These items,” Amy pointed, “do not belong
to her. It might be possible someone pushed her down the stairs.”
“That
isn’t our department. You’ll have to wait for the police to come to file a
report.”
“I’m
not leaving my best friend alone. I’ll call the police on the way to the
hospital.”
The
EMT strapped Francine down to the stretcher and put her seat belt on. Amy
followed the stretcher onto the ambulance. She sat on the bench next to her. As
the ambulance raced down Father Capadanno Boulevard, Amy called Jason and then
911 again. By the time the ambulance arrived at the hospital, the police had
arrived as well as Jason.
Amy
followed behind Francine. Along the way she grabbed Jason’s hand, leading him
into the emergency room.
The
first thing the nurse did was check all Francine’s vitals. Next, the doctor
came in and ordered a CAT scan of her head, along with an ultrasound of the
baby. Amy told them Doctor Taylor was her obstetrician. When the transporter
came to bring Francine up for her scan, the doctor told Amy she couldn’t go
into the room with her and she had to stay in the waiting room. They would come
get her when they were done.
When
they wheeled Francine into the elevator, she turned and fell into Jason’s arms.
Amy cried for the longest time. Her thoughts kept going to Francine. If
anything happened to her baby, Francine would never recover. What worried her
even more had been why she had been unconscious for so long. She was no medical
doctor, but she knew this wasn’t a very good sign.
“Ms.
Mills?” a deep voice said. Amy turned around to face Officer Miller.
“Yes.”
“You
placed a call to us.”
Amy
took a deep breath before sliding into the leather waiting room chair. “I did
because I suspect that Francine wasn’t alone when she fell down the stairs. I
found her friend’s sketchbook and shopping bag with clothes at the bottom of
the stairs. If I was to make a calculated guess, I would say Sally Britts was
at the house.”
“Who
is Sally Britts?” Miller asked. “She is a friend of Francine.” “What would
cause you to believe she had something to do with the fall if she was her
friend?” he asked, resting his hand on his gun.
Amy
gave him Francine’s address. “Just a feeling I have.”
Miller
scribbled something on his pad before flipping it closed and placing it back
into his pant’s pocket. “I will be in touch with you.”
When
Miller was out of ears reach, Amy said, “He’s so full of shit. He thought I was
a nut job. I bet he doesn’t follow up on this.”
“Babe.”
Jason turned her around to face him.
“Let
it go. What’s important here is Francine.
*****
Amy
walked into Francine’s room. When she saw that Francine was still not conscious,
she called Angelina.
“Hello,”
she yelled into the phone.
“Angelina,
this is Amy, Francine’s friend.”
“Of
course. How are you?”
“Not
too good. I’m at the hospital with Francine.”
“What?
Why is Francine in the hospital? Is it my Richie?”
“No.
It’s Francine. She’s had an accident.”
“What
kind of accident?” Her voice raised two octaves.
“I’m not sure. I think she
fell down the front stairs. I found her on the floor.” “Where are you?” “In the
emergency room.”
“I’m on my way.”
The phone went dead. Amy
slid her phone into her back pocket and crossed her arms tightly against her
chest, staring out the glass window at the flock of turkeys walking across the
street, holding up traffic. This day had turned into a complete disaster. The
one question, which kept going through her mind was why Sally’s things were on
the floor near Francine. She needed to talk to Francine to get answers. “Oh my
God. Where’s my daughter-in-law?” Amy heard Angelina’s voice echo down the
hallway about a half hour later. Within seconds, Angelina walked into
Francine’s room
hugging her. Amy felt
Angelina’s hot tears fall against her neck. She held onto Amy tightly, rocking
back and forth in Amy’s arms.
“It’s
okay, Angelina. Francine should be returning any minute. The doctor took her
upstairs to do a CAT scan.”
“Why?”
“Because
she’s unconscious.”
“Oh
dear God.” Angelina covered her mouth. “What about the baby?”
KAREN'S SOCIAL MEDIA
Exciting scene and there's a mystery involved
ReplyDeleteYes there is. Thank you for stopping by!
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