Another seizure ripped through Vicki. Her eyelids jerked open, her pupils were dilated, her mouth attempting to expel words through the harsh, rasping struggle for air. It sounded almost like “Why? I . . . loved . . . him,” but Sarah couldn’t be sure. “Sorry. I couldn’t make that out. What did you say?” There was an anguished sorrow in Vicki’s eyes so much deeper and more potent than the fear. The woman opened her mouth, her lips moving, but another painful spasm arched her body. Vicki’s eyeballs rolled back in her head, and horrible choking noises were clawing their way out of her throat. It sounded like she was suffocating. Wasn’t getting enough air. Sarah’s mouth was chalk dry, and her heart was pounding a million miles an hour as she placed her hands at the center of the woman’s chest and began doing compressions.

“Hang in there, Vicki.” Sarah hoped on some level Vicki could hear her voice and that knowing she wasn’t alone would offer comfort. “Help is coming.” She was so grateful for the CPR course she had taken with her mother in the first months of her pregnancy. Vicki sucked in another rasping breath. “You’re doing great. Good job, Vicki. Take another breath. Wonderful. And another.” She could hear the faint sound of sirens wailing in the distance and prayed that they were heading their way.

“Yo!” A man’s voice jerked Sarah’s focus away from Vicki’s face. The cabbie was standing at the entrance of the walkway framed by the gate, a beer-bellied silhouette backlit by the streetlight. “Time’s up.”

“Hold on a second,” Mick called. “We’re dealing with an emergency situation here.”

“And I’m tryin’ to make a livin’. It’s simple. Pay me to wait, or I’m leavin’ to find another fare.”

“Jesus H. Christ,” Mick muttered under his breath.

“Go on. Pay him,” Sarah said. “We aren’t going to want the hassle of trying to find a cab once we’re done here. Also, if this isn’t a heart attack or a stroke, then we’re going to need the cabdriver as an alibi/witness when the police and paramedics arrive.”

“All right, time’s up. I’m leaving,” the cabbie called.

“Fuck me.” She felt Mick’s hand alight on her shoulder. “You okay here? It’ll just take a second.”

“Absolutely. Do it. Quick before we lose him.”

Mick turned on his heel and jogged down the walkway. The cabdriver had already stepped back onto the well-lit city sidewalk and was moving toward his taxi.

“Wait up!” Sarah heard Mick call, and then he was swallowed into the shadows along the side of the house. She needed to pause her compressions for a minute to wipe the sweat from her forehead and then began again. The sirens were getting louder.