Page 184 of Devil Mine

Jake threads his hands together and starts pumping Tess’s chest. Her whole body thrashes as he presses hard enough to crack her ribs. My eyes remain trained on the monitor, not seeing any changes.

“Charge two milligrams of epinephrine.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

Loud noises sound through the walls, coming from the hallway, but I ignore them and focus on her vitals.

Still no change. My own pulse starts racing.

“Alright, prep for the defibrillator. Keep performing CPR in the meantime.”

Jake continues chest compressions as one of the nurses readies the AED. She puts the pads on Tess’s chest, but her head snaps to the side when the sounds of the commotion in the hallway get louder in the background.

“Are the pads in place?” I ask, grabbing the paddles from her.

“Yes, Doctor.”

“Charge to two-fifty.”

“Charged.”

“Everybody clear,” I order.

I look down at Tess, at the white of her face and the red drying her blonde hair in clumps. Knowing what she looks like when she’s not at death’s door butalive, as a breathing, feeling human being triggers me. I’ve only had that happen one other time and I’ve worked hard to forget those memories.

Tess is going to live. She has to.

One by one, all seven nurses and doctors in the trauma room remove their hands and step away from her until everyone is clear.

“Shocking,” I announce.

There’s a loud electricalthumpand Tess’s body jerks once. I stare at her vitals, looking for any sign of change in activity. Something pinches in my belly when her heart rate stays in flatline.

“Come on, Tess,” I shout, desperation making my voice unrecognizable. “Come on, stay with me.” Louder, to the rest of the room, I say, “Charge to three hundred.”

“Charged.”

“Everybody clear?”

“Clear!”

“Shocking.”

Tess jerks again and silence descends on the room as we all stare at the monitor. It feels like it stretches on for hours as I hold my breath, as we all do, hoping and hoping to see signs of a pulse.

And then there’s a beep.

One single beep, threadbare and timid.

The most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard.

I feel emotion crawl up my throat and I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because I saw the way she cared about her mother, maybe it’s because she’s only a year younger than me, but the relieved breath that expels from my lips feels like it releases twenty tonnes of pressure off my chest.

That one beep morphs into a steady beat as her vitals level out. It’s not strong, but it’s there.

“We’ve got a pulse,” I announce. I witness the relief I also feel etch itself on the faces of every single other person in that room. “Let’s stabilize and monitor her closely.”

I lean in close to her ear and whisper so only she can hear me. “You’re a fighter, Tess. You’re going to get through this.”

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