The world vanished around Eldon. He felt at once weightless and as though he were falling. Soul devouring darkness pressed in on all sides of him.
Somehow, some part of him understood that he was dying. His only regrets concerned how sad his family and Gloria were going to be.
Clear!
"I'm sorry, Gloria," he whispered into the emptiness. "I didn't want to leave you."
It's not enough. Turn the defibrillator up to 300J. Clear!
A tear formed in his eye as he pictured his beautiful girlfriend, not as he'd seen her a moment ago, but as he'd seen her that first time, wearing a backpack and a ball cap. She was beautiful!
Damn it! 360J. I won't lose you! Clear!
He didn't know how long he would fall, but he was certain that Death would meet him at the bottom. Even so, it shocked him when he finally stopped.
* * * *
A steady beeping noise poked into his awareness and soon became annoying.
