Family

“Stats are dropping again,” Riley, one of my nurses screams from behind the curtain.

My legs are moving before I can think. My eyes scan over the monitor, “Blood pressure is dropping rapidly. His heart is out of rhythm. “Two milligrams of Atropine,” I shout, and the nurse scurries away quickly.

James’ grandfather’s body begins convulsing, and the shallow sound of his gasps drowns out the bustle of the hospital. I can’t let him die.

The flatline of his heart pulls me back into the moment, and without thinking, I climb on top of his eerily still body, pressing my palms to his chest.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six.

I make it to thirty before his heart shows any signs of life. My panicked eyes meet Riley’s as she’s thrusting the syringe into his line. My arms are tired, but I don’t stop. Right now, the only thing keeping his heart from stopping is the rhythmic pump of my hands.

“Sir, you can’t be in here,” I hear a nurse shout as the curtain draws behind me. I pay no mind, smelling Jam