Alex Cross 16 by James Patterson Read Free Book Online Page A

the phone.
    "Nine-one-one, what is your emergency?"
    "My grandmother has just collapsed. I found her unconscious on the floor." My eyes scanned her face, her arms, her legs. "There's no sign of injury, but I don't know what happened before her fall. Her pulse is very weak."
    Bree started timing Nana's pulse off the kitchen clock while the operator took my name and address.
    "Sir, I'm dispatching an ambulance to your house right now. The first thing you want to do is make sure she's still breathing, but try not to move her. It's possible she injured her spine when she fell."
    "I understand. I won't move her. Let me check."
    Nana's face was angled toward the floor. I leaned down and held the back of my hand to her mouth. At first —
    it seemed like forever — there was nothing, but then I felt a faint movement of air.
    "She's breathing, but barely," I said into the phone.
    A soft rattle came from Nana's chest.
    "Please hurry. I think she's dying!"

Chapter 23
    DISPATCH TALKED ME through something called a "modified jaw thrust" to help open Nana's airway. It was all nightmarish and surreal, in the worst way I could imagine. I took hold of the curved part of her jaw and pushed it forward and up, using my thumb to keep her lips open.
    Her breathing picked up, but only slightly, and not a regular cadence.
    Then Ali's voice came from behind me, soft and scared. "Why is Nana on the ground like that? Daddy, what happened to her?"
    He was standing in the kitchen door, holding on to the frame as if he didn't want to be pushed any farther into the room than that.
    Bree put a hand over mine on Nana's cheek. "I've got her," she said, and I went to talk to Ali.
    "Nana's sick and she fell down. That's all it is," I told him. "An ambulance is going to come and take her to the hospital."
    "Is she going to die?" Ali asked, and tears flooded his gentle eyes. I didn't answer, but I kept my arms around him, and we stood in the doorway to the kitchen. The one thing I page 27
    couldn't do right now was leave Nana. "We're going to stay right here, and we're going to think about how much we love Nana. Okay?"
    Ali nodded slowly without taking his eyes off her.
    "Daddy?"
    I turned and saw Jannie in the hall. She was even more shocked and wide-eyed than her brother. I motioned her over, and we all waited together for the ambulance to arrive.
    Finally, we heard a low siren outside. In a strange way, it seemed to make everything worse. Once the EMTs got there, they took Nana's vitals and started her on oxygen.
    "What's her name?" one of them asked.
    "Regina." The word almost stuck in my throat. Nana's name means queen, of course, and that's what she is to us.
    "Regina! Can you hear me?" The tech pushed a knuckle into her sternum, and she didn't move. "No pain response. Let's get a heart rhythm."
    They asked me a few more questions while they worked. Was she on medication? Had her condition changed since we called 911? Was there any history of heart trouble with her or in the family? I kept a hand on Ali the whole time, to let him know I was there, but vice versa too. Jannie stayed right by my side as well.
    Within minutes, the EMTs had started a saline lock. Then they slid a collar around Nana's neck and put a backboard under her. Jannie finally buried her face in my side, sobbing quietly. That got Ali crying again. And Bree too.
    "We're a mess," I finally managed. "That's why she can't leave us." They lifted Nana's tiny body onto a stretcher, and we followed them through the dining and living rooms, then out the front door. The familiarity of the surroundings seemed both sad and scary. Bree had disappeared for a minute, and now she came up from behind, handing me my cell, a shirt, and a pair of shoes. Then she took Ali from me and put an arm around Jannie. Their faces were like mirrors of everything I was feeling.
    "Go with Nana, Alex. We'll follow you in the car."

Chapter 24
    GABE REESE WAS pacing with his arms folded tightly, just inside the West