Chapter 2 - The Cinnamon Rolls
Mark and I sprinted down the hallway right behind Officer Reyes.
The kitchen window was completely smashed, and the glass shards glittered across the linoleum floor.
Gary was gone.
The officer who had been guarding him was lying on the floor, clutching a bleeding wound on his forehead.
"He hit me with the coffee mug and went out the window," the injured officer groaned.
Reyes immediately drew his weapon and climbed through the broken frame to chase him.
I stood frozen in the center of the kitchen, staring at the table where Gary had been sitting.
My eyes slowly drifted toward the plate of untouched cinnamon rolls he had brought over this morning.
Gary had insisted that I eat one, pushing the plate toward me with a strange, forced smile.
I had pushed the plate away because I was too anxious about Lily opening her gifts.
But Mark had not refused.
Mark had eaten an entire cinnamon roll while drinking his coffee.
I turned around to look at my husband, the terrifying realization washing over me like ice water.
Mark was leaning heavily against the hallway wall, his face completely drained of color.
A thick line of dark sweat was beading across his forehead, and his breathing was incredibly shallow.
"Sarah," Mark whispered, his voice cracking as his knees buckled beneath him.
I caught him before he hit the floor, struggling to support his dead weight.
His eyes rolled back into his head, and a white, frothy foam began bubbling at the corners of his mouth.
The injured officer reached for his radio with trembling hands.
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"I need a second ambulance at this address immediately," the officer shouted into the microphone.
I held my dying husband in my arms, screaming for help that I knew would not arrive in time.
