I’m working hard on polishing Sleep Tight for something special I’ll be telling you all about soon. I’m also working on new installments in the DAY ZERO series! Lost: The Story of Preacher, Fire: The Book of Phoenix, and, the tentatively titled Waiting: The Story of Finley are all in various stages of work.

For those of you who helped name our latest Zero…THANK YOU! Finley is someone I’m coming to love as I write about him. In fact, I like him so much, I wanted to share this little snippet for you all to enjoy. This is just the draft stage so there may be changes. Shoot me a message and tell me what you think of it! There’s a fun little special guest star that’s already in the series from his days before Immortality.

Drumroll……..

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“Don’t you dare leave me, mister!” Margie’s frail, arthritic hands clutched at the front of her husband’s shirt. The nursing staff worked nearby trying to stabilize him. An oxygen mask obscured part of his face while his eyes took in her anxious, worn face. “I’ve had you for 63 years of marriage and I’m not about to let go of you now. We’re supposed to go together. Don’t you forget that! We’ll poison ourselves like Romeo and Juliet or God will just let us die in each other’s arms like in The Notebook.” His eyes began to roll up in his head and she shook him with surprising strength. “Finley Davis…you are NOT going to die on me today. You hear me?” His eyes opened back up with a renewed awareness.

Most of the residents at the Emerald Plantation Home had a DNR in place, but not Margie and Finley Davis. They were going to cling to every last drop of life they could have together.

The nurses and aides worked on him dutifully until the EMTs could arrive. The females on staff always got a little excited when there was a daytime code. They knew their favorite EMT would be on call and they might catch a glimpse of him. When described to new staff, he was compared to Thor (at least Chris Hemsworth’s version), angels, and Brad Pitt. He had longish blond hair that he pulled back into a ponytail, impossibly green eyes, and a body that was only hinted at by the straining of his sleeves and the strong forearms he revealed when he rolled them up to work on a patient. They all felt a twinge of guilt at their excitement over someone dying, or at least nearly dying, just so that they could spend time with the handsome paramedic.

As if on cue, he came striding into the room and asked all the quick and pertinent questions he needed to save the life on the bed. He quickly went to work with his partner. He gently put his hands on either side of Mrs. Davis. “Ma’am. My name is Gable. I gotta tell you, I’ll need all the room I can get to save your husband. Is it okay if you watch from about three feet closer to the closet? You don’t have to leave and that should be close enough for him to still see you. I’ll do everything I can to save him. I promise.” With her milky eyes full of tears, she nodded and backed closer to the closet. “Thank you.”

He leaned over Mr. Davis with a smile on his face. “I hear you’re a fighter, Finley. You’ve got a lovely wife over there that I’ve now made promises to. Don’t make us both out to be liars. Got it? Keep fighting for me.” He checked vitals and prepared syringes but noticed the music filtering through the wall from the adjacent room. It was a surprising choice for a nursing home. “Finley…I think the resident next door is playing your song. I wouldn’t think I would find a Rush fan here, but Time Stand Still is a great choice for you today.” And with that he went to work saving an elderly life as if it were one of a child.

The neighbor on the other side of the wall only had a vague knowledge that the elderly man in 24B was fighting tooth and nail to survive the day. Randall was merely thirty-two…very young to be a permanent fixture in an assisted living facility but had been completely paralyzed from the neck down in a diving accident in college. Most of the residents couldn’t hear well enough to complain about his love of rock music, so he got to play whatever he wanted. Today, it was Rush.

Over thirty minutes and several complete codes later, the steady heartbeat on Finley’s monitor had everyone smiling. Margie Davis hugged the paramedic known as Gable tightly. “Thank you, young man. He’s all I have. I can’t thank you enough.” She nearly collapsed into the chair next to her husband’s bed and squeezed his hand to assure herself he really was still alive.

Finley had beaten the Angel of Death with the help of a talented emergency medical tech.