Chapter 7 - The Fragile Bridge
That night, back in the ICU, the fragile peace between the body and the machines shattered.
It was 2:00 AM when the alarms began screaming.
I jumped out of my armchair. The green and red numbers on the primary vital monitor were flashing erratically. Rowan’s heart rate was spiking to 170 beats per minute, then plunging to 30.
"Ventricular tachycardia!" a nurse shouted as the code blue team burst through the double doors.
Dr. Soren was right behind them, pulling on sterile gloves. "Get the crash cart! Charge to 200 Joules!"
"No!" I screamed, backing into the corner. "What’s happening?!"
"Her potassium levels have collapsed!" Dr. Rao yelled over the blaring alarms, pulling up the ultrasound monitor. "Her myocardium is irritable! She’s going into cardiac arrest!"
Evan rushed into the room, having been in the waiting area down the hall. He froze in horror as he saw a nurse place the defibrillator paddles onto Rowan’s chest.
"Clear!"
Rowan’s body jolted off the mattress with a sickening, heavy thud as the electric shock jolted through her torso.
The monitor flatlined into a high-pitched, terrifying single tone.
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
"No pulse!" Dr. Soren yelled. "Start chest compressions!"
A male nurse jumped onto a stepstool beside the bed and began rhythmically slamming his hands into the center of Rowan’s chest. One, two, three, four...
"Stop!" Evan screamed, tears cascading down his face as he tried to push past the nurses. "Stop hurting her! Let her go! Please, God, let her go!"
I grabbed Evan’s arm, crying hysterically, pulling him back. "Look at the ultrasound screen, Evan! Look at the baby!"
Dr. Rao had the transducer pressed against Rowan’s stomach while the nurse performed chest compressions. On the ultrasound screen, the baby’s heart rate was dropping rapidly—100... 80... 60... 40...
"The fetus is going into severe hypoxia!" Dr. Rao yelled. "If we don't get maternal circulation back in ninety seconds, the baby will suffer irreversible brain damage or die!"
"Charge to 360 Joules!" Dr. Soren ordered.
"Clear!"
THUMP.
Rowan’s chest jolted again.
Silence hung in the room for three agonizing seconds. The digital clock on the wall ticked forward.
Beep... beep... beep.
The monitor caught a rhythm. A sinus rhythm returned. Rowan’s heart was beating again.
On the ultrasound screen, the tiny heart inside her womb flickered back to life, acceleration rapidly back to 140 beats per minute.
Dr. Soren wiped a thick sheen of sweat from his forehead, leaning against the wall, visibly shaken. "Get an amiodarone drip started. Fix that potassium immediately. We almost lost both of them."
Evan sank to the floor in the middle of the ICU room, resting his head against his knees, sobbing hysterically.
I walked over to him and knelt on the cold floor beside him. I put my arm around his trembling shoulders. He didn't push me away. He turned and buried his face into my shoulder, weeping like a broken child.
"I can't do this, Elise," Evan sobbed, his hands clutching my sweater. "I can't watch them shock her body. I can't watch her bleed and decay like this. It’s killing me."
"I know, baby," I whispered, holding my son-in-law close, tears soaking through my eyes. "I know it’s a nightmare. But she survived. Maya survived. They are both still fighting."
Evan looked up at me, his eyes filled with unbearable pain.
"What if Judge Vance rules to turn off the machines on Thursday?" Evan asked softly.
May you like
"Then we will have to face it together," I said, finally recognizing the agonizing burden he had been carrying alone. "I'm sorry, Evan. I'm so sorry for treating you like the enemy. You love her just as much as I do."
Evan took my hand, squeezing it tightly. For the first time in two months, we were no longer two opposing sides in a lawsuit. We were just two people holding hands in the dark, trying to shelter a tiny spark of life from a merciless storm.
