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20
Paul
“Coffee?” Will asked, holding the paper cup in front of my face.
I blinked a few times, then slowly raised my gaze from Shelby’s sleeping face to Will’s concerned one as he stood over me. The bright fluorescent light on the ceiling of her hospital room was behind his head, creating an aura of white around him. It almost looked angelic. Which was a really weird thing to think, I knew, but I hadn’t slept in I didn’t even know how long, and my mind was starting to shut down even though my eyes were still open.
I took the cup from him without a word and brought it to my lips, numbly sipping the hot liquid.
“I’d say you should get some sleep instead of drinking that, but I don’t want to get punched,” he said as he dropped into the chair beside me.
“Good call,” I replied in a low tone.
I’d been sitting in this same spot ever since they’d moved Shelby to a room following the cardiac arrest she’d miraculously survived. We’d come in through the emergency entrance and they’d treated her there before admitting her once she’d stabilized.
She’d only been awake for brief moments since then, once to give them permission to insert her ICD, once to squeeze my hand, too tired to speak, and once to give her parents the ghost of a smile that I knew made her mom feel about a million times better if only for a moment. I didn’t care how long I’d have to sit here until she woke up again. All I knew was that when she did, I’d be here, just like I’d promised her I would be.
“How’s she doing?” Will asked.
“Same. Still sleeping.”
“Good.” His eyes darted to me. “You know, I mean, rest is probably best for her.”
“Yeah.”
We sat in silence then, his presence having broken the trancelike state I’d been experiencing for the last little while. And that was bad because then my mind replayed what happened. I’d been doing so good keeping the images at bay, but they came back now in full force.
I’d been sitting at the table wondering what was taking her so long when someone I didn’t know burst out the back door of the venue, looking around wildly. It could have been about anything. Shelby and I weren’t the only people at that event, so an emergency could have had to do with any of them. But something deep inside me knew it was about us. Knew it was abouther.
I jumped up from the table and moved toward the door. The guy’s eyes locked on mine as I approached, and he pointed at my chest. “Are you Paul?”
“Yes.”
“Come with me.”
I followed him through the door and into the ladies’ room, my stomach bottoming out when I saw a gaggle of people huddled on the ground, Shelby’s black heels visible between their legs. I pushed through just in time to hear Aria’s voice yelling for everyone to back up.
Two white pads were stuck to Shelby’s chest and torso, and the shock from the portable defibrillator blasted through her lifeless body. Even though I hadn’t been close enough to touch her, I could have sworn I’d felt it too.
The machine’s mechanical voice advised that it was safe to touch the patient, and when it began giving instructions for CPR, I burst forward. I got down on my knees beside her and pumped her chest, counting to thirty in my mind while Aria focused on the machine.
Most hotels didn’t have automated external defibrillators, but it was recommended when you had fitness centers or pools. Given the fact that one of Aria’s closest friends had HCM, she’d made sure her B&B had one. They’d stored it right there on the main floor, in easy reach, and hoped to never have to use it.
Commotion at the door to the bathroom drew my focus, and when I saw that it was a team of paramedics, relief flooded me with enough force to almost knock me backward. But I had work to do, and thanks to my job in the Marines, I was trained to do it. I kept up with CPR while Aria filled in the medics, only stopping when they got into position and asked me to let them take over.
I watched as they pulled out a specialized device used to automate CPR in the field. I’d only seen it used one time before. My family and Shelby had come to visit me in Hawaii one time, and someone at the mall in Waikiki went into cardiac arrest.
The paramedics who’d shown up had slipped a small yellow board behind his back while one of them did chest compressions. Then, they’d placed a large arch above him and connected it to the sides of the board. An automatic arm protruded down, administering perfect chest compressions for them. From there, they were able to move him onto the gurney and get him to the hospital without a single misstep in the CPR process.
I hadn’t known what the outcome had been for that patient once they’d left the mall with him, but as I watched the paramedics follow the same steps with Shelby, I could only hope that for her, it would mean she’d survive this episode.
Back in Shelby’s hospital room, Aria slipped inside and closed the door behind her with a quiet click. She looked at Shelby, met my gaze, then moved to the light panel on the wall and turned one of them off. “Better?”
I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the dim light. “Yeah.”
Will stood from the chair next to me, offering it to her. She didn’t meet his eyes as she sat next to me, then leaned over so her head rested on my shoulder. “How is she?”
Looking over at the monitors next to Shelby’s bed, I noted the numbers with relief. “Seems good.”
