CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY SEVEN – EMERGENCY ROOM

Doctors and nurses flooded the hallways in a kaleidoscope of rapid movement while overhead speakers crackled with a code being called - stat, emergency, crash cart... Kayla's breath seized in her lungs. Without needing to ask, a horrible certainty gripped her that the chaos was centered around Lance. Sure enough, the door burst open and a team of gowned personnel swarmed inside, all brisk efficiency amid a flurry of shouted orders. She was instantly shunted aside by the crush of white coats, catching only terrifying snatches of information around words like 'internal hemorrhaging' and 'crashing vitals.' Scrambling to stay close, bile rose in her throat as Lance was rapidly divested of his gown, wires and tubing seemingly erupting from every inch of his pallid flesh. An oxygen mask was strapped over his face, obscuring his features from view as the gurney began to move. Even through the cacophony of barked numbers and frantic beeping, Kayla strained to hear any murmur, any reassuranc