Page 56 of Battle with a Billionaire

“Julia? Stay with me,” Kyle said as he continued with his work.

Her heart rate felt off—too fast or irregular. Grant couldn't be certain, but the panic in his son's voice sparked an unease within him, clouding his thoughts.

“Somebody page Derek Grey. She’s going to need emergency surgery.”

“He’s on his way,” a nurse answered as a man in scrubs forced Grant into the hall. He stared through the window at the chaos surrounding Julia.

“Doctor, she’s in Vfib.”

Kyle glanced at the monitors, then cupped Julia’s face in his hands. “Stay with me, Julia.”

“Daddy, what’s happening?” Sierra sobbed.

He wrapped his arm around his daughter, unable to answer.

A second later, it became all too clear. Julia’s head lolled to the side, her eyes closed, and then a constant tone sounded as a single flat blue line marched across the screen.

“No, no, no, Julia, no, you can’t do this. Starting compressions,” Kyle said as he began to push against her chest. “Push a round of Epi and get me a crash cart.”

A nurse pushed a rolling cart toward him. “Epis in.”

Kyle grabbed the paddles as a nurse covered them with a clear gel. “Charge to two hundred. Clear.”

Grant startled as Julia’s chest leapt in the air but the constant tone never changed.

Kyle murmured a curse before he tried a second time. “Charge to two fifty.”

“Charged.”

“Clear,” he said before he shocked her again. Her chest leapt a second time, but still no change on the monitor.

“Push another Epi,” he said. “Come on, Julia. Don’t do this.”

“Epi’s in,” a nurse reported.

He pressed the paddles against her body again, sending another jolt through her. But the persistent blue line refused to give up. With a frustrated growl, he tried again, upping the charge to three hundred.

Nothing.

“Push another Epi.”

“Doctor, she’s already had two.”

“I said do it!” he screamed at her. The nurse bounced back a step before she administered the third round of medication through Julia’s IV.

Kyle pressed the paddles against her chest again. “Come on, Julia.”

Her chest leapt again, and he gave a desperate glance at the screen. A spike shot up.

“We have sinus rhythm.”

Kyle’s shoulders slumped as he heaved a sigh of relief. A bevy of scrub-clad medical professionals hurried into the room.

One of them tugged his hand away from Julia’s. “We’ve got it from here, doctor.”

Grant pressed against the wall as his battered wife rolled past him on her way to surgery. Kyle stepped into the hall, shock etched into every line of his face as he watched her disappear.

Grant shifted his gaze to the man. “She’s going to be okay, right?”

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