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“On it,” Gregory said, and grabbed one of the passing staff. That person darted off.
Everyone stood in a loose circle around them, watching with worried expressions, glasses of champagne and appetizer plates still in their hands. Murmurs ran wild through the crowd, alive with concern and tarnished by speculation. Only Randolph kneeled down to take Darlene’s hand and check her pulse as well.
Hanna glanced at him. He shook his head. Now she had confirmation. More quiet commentary rippled through those gathered. She tried to pay it no mind, though all attention rested on her.
She shifted position to kneel next to Darlene’s shoulder, high up by her neck as she lay on her back. She’d had her CPR certification since her first year working as a nanny but had never needed to use it until now. Practice on a dummy felt much different than staring down at an unresponsive human with no pulse.
One hand on Darlene’s chest. The other hand on top of the first. Hanna took a deep breath, summoned a fast disco tune in her mind for the proper rhythm, then lunged into compressions.
Her training told her thirty compressions per two breaths, and to continue until professional help arrived. It also told her she would have to keep doing CPR until help did arrive and take over, because few victims would awaken before then. Fewer still would live at all.
Darlene gasped and screamed after five compressions. “Get her off! Get this beastly girl off me! She’s hurting me!”
Hanna fell back. Randolph did, too, surprise evident on his face. “Darlene?”
“Get her away from me! She hurt me! Gregory! Gregory, where are you? Where is my son? Where is my Gregory?” Darlene wailed.
Gregory threw Hanna a confused look. Hanna shook her head, with no answers to the questions in his eyes. He knelt down where Hanna had sat moments before. “Mom? I’m here.”
“Gregory! My beautiful boy. She assaulted me. You must call the police and have her taken away for hurting me so.” Darlene clung to Gregory’s arm as he reached down to her.
“Mom, she saved your life,” Gregory said. “No, stay laying down. Laura’s coming downstairs to help you.”
“But I’m cold. Please, hold me to keep me warm. Your mother needs you…”
Hanna swallowed hard to wash down what threatened to crawl back up her throat.She shouldn’t be this awake. This isn’t right at all. I don’t understand what’s happening here. I didn’t feel a pulse. Randolph didn’t feel a pulse. She wasn’t breathing. She felt cold. But she’s acting like nothing happened.
Then Laura was dashing into the room, and Hanna had no more time to think about it. Darlene continued caterwauling as Laura asked Gregory to step back, then began a professional evaluation of the fallen woman’s vital signs.
Gregory disentangled himself from his mother so he could move out of the way. Once he was clear, he helped Hanna up. The commotion provided them the space to step off to one side for a hasty conference.
“What the hell happened there?” he murmured.
“I don’t know. She was unresponsive. I didn’t feel a pulse, and she wasn’t breathing. Randolph didn’t feel a pulse either.” Hanna glanced over to where an unhappy Darlene tried to sit up while Laura scolded her down again. “She shouldn’t be like that. Your heart stopping is a big deal.”
Gregory’s lips flattened. He rubbed a tense hand over his forehead. “Is it at all possible you felt the wrong place on her wrist? Or her wrist was bent funny, and obscured the pulse? Or she tensed her wrist to hide it and held her breath?”
“It’s possible? Anything is possible, I suppose. She might have naturally thick wrists, and that vein might be buried. I didn’t feel tension in the muscles. When I had my hands on her chest to start compressions, I didn’t feel a heartbeat. Why?” Though as she asked, the potential reason occurred.
Gregory confirmed it. “Because she may have been faking it. This isn’t the first time she’s thrown a dramatic scene, claiming her heart was failing, or she felt strange chest pains, or she couldn’t breathe… We’ve been to town in an ambulance more than once because she swore she was having a heart attack.”
“You don’t think she did that just now, do you? It’s not like I was subtle about my positioning. CPRhurts. It’sviolent. It can break ribs. She can’t have wanted that.”
“She may not have known. They don’t really show the true effects of CPR in movies or on TV. It could be, she thought you’d squish her chest a few times, she’d wake up dramatically, and get all the attention.” Gregory sighed. “Or she wanted to accuse you of assaulting her.”
Hanna opened her mouth to reply but closed it as she considered what he said.Just like she’s doing now.“She wouldn’t.”
“I wish I believed that.” Gregory turned Hanna to face him, hands on her shoulders. “She walked in to see us dancing and kissing. Sure, she talks a good game about wanting me to be happy and holding on to you if you make me happy but seeing it in person might have been too much. All those people looking at you, thinking you’re amazing, and no attention for her. So she decided to steal the spotlight with some medical drama. She’s laying there right now, putting on airs, calling you a ‘beastly girl’ and talking like she’s the high-class lady of the house. When she’s not asking me to hold her.”
He looked a little green around the gills. She reached up to stroke his face. “Has she ever done that? Called you her boy, wanted you to cuddle her?”
“No. And I hope she never does it again, because it makes my skin crawl.” He licked his lips in discomfort. “Can you do me a favor?”
“Anything.”
“Can you stay here and make sure Gran’s all right? I’m going to ride with Mom to the hospital once the ambulance gets here.”
“Do you want me to come see you there tomorrow morning?”
