Safe Word: Rosé

Chapter 3

Narrator-

Cara watched with numbing horror the events that unfolded before her eyes. The nurses and doctors rushed into the room. One the nurses pulled a lever under the bed, and the entire bed with her father's frame snapped into a 180-degree line. His body pulsed, while a respiratory technician removed the nasal cannula from his nostrils then moved aside to allow the doctor room to intubate the patient. The tube was in, and the tip of Joe's pink tongue now slightly stuck out from below the tube and rested on his lower lip. The respiratory technician retook his place as he began manually bagging the patient.

A loud beeping sounded from the monitor, and Cara's eyes snapped to the screen. The heart rate had decreased significantly.

"Patient is bradycardic." One of the nurses announced.

"Push one of epi, let's start CPR."

"Ma'am." Cara suddenly heard in her left ear.

Cara's head snapped in the direction of the sound, her wide, unblinking eyes registering a short nurse of Asian descent with a round face and soft eyes. The nurse's hair was tied in a low bun at the base of her neck.

"How about we step out of the room for a moment?" The nurse invited.

"No!" Cara denied the offer firmly, her eyes returning to her father's figure, who's chest was now being pumped rhythmically by one of the earlier med students.

"I'm not leaving him." Cara decided firmly, her tone holding no room for argument.

"Okay." The nurse nodded her head in understanding, and instead chose to stay next to Cara in sign of comfort.

"Alright stop." The doctor ordered.

The medical student removed her hands from Joe's chest. All eyes turned to the monitor's screen. The heart rate seem to stabilize for a few beats, but then it started to decrease again.

"Alright, another dose of Epi." The doctor instructed again.

The same routine was followed. The medication was pushed into the IV line, and respiratory technician keeping a routine of pressing the bag rhythmically to imitate each breath. It was now the male student's turn to pump Joe's chest. The nurses all looked on anxiously.

"Take a break." The doctor called, and though Joe's heartbeat stabilized, it once again quickly declined in it's pace.

The elderly man shook his head, his brow furrowed as he stepped away from the bedside and approached Cara.

"Miss Thompson, I can only give him so much medication. If his heartbeat doesn't stabilize, he will flatline and at that point, performing more CPR, we'll only be hurting him." The doctor tried to explain as softly as possible, knowing just how delicate and yet pressing the matter was.

"Try again." Cara said without looking at the doctor, her dry eyes simply locked on her father.

Cara's heart thumped, her stomach boiling with a unwanted excitement and expectancy. There was a heat enveloping her scalp, and Cara could identify her fear thrumming in wave-like motions in the deepest and lowermost pits of her stomach. Yet, she couldn't tear her eyes away from her helpless dad. Cara told herself that she couldn't look away. She couldn't leave him.

The doctor sighed, "Miss Thompson-"

"Try again." Cara continued undisturbed, her tone hitting a cement-like octave.

The doctor looked towards his team and shrugged.

"Let's give him another dose-"

*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!*