Chapter 11 - The Medical Emergency
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“Margaret! Call 911!” Nora screamed at the top of her lungs, her voice echoing violently through the cavernous foyer below.
She didn't panic. The adrenaline sharpened her focus into a razor-thin point of absolute clarity. She lowered Elaine’s limp body flat onto the carpeted landing of the second floor.
She checked for a pulse. Nothing.
Elaine wasn't breathing.
Nora didn't hesitate. She ripped the expensive silk scarf from Elaine’s neck, interlocked her own fingers, placed the heel of her hand dead center on Elaine’s sternum, and began chest compressions.
One, two, three, four…
Nora pushed hard and fast, her arms locking, throwing her entire body weight into the rhythm. She had practiced this a hundred times on plastic dummies in her community college classes, but the horrifying reality of feeling a human ribcage yield beneath her hands was entirely different.
Footsteps thundered up the stairs. Madison appeared on the landing, her face contorting into a mask of pure, unadulterated terror as she saw her mother lying motionless on the floor.
“Mom?!” Madison shrieked, dropping to her knees beside them. “What did you do to her?!”
“She’s in cardiac arrest!” Nora yelled, not stopping her compressions. “I need you to stay back, Madison! I’m keeping the blood flowing to her brain!”
Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty.
Nora pinched Elaine’s nose, tilted her chin back, and delivered two rapid rescue breaths. She immediately resumed compressions. Sweat began to bead on Nora’s forehead, her shoulders burning with the exertion, but she refused to stop. She was not going to let this woman die on the floor of her own mansion.
Margaret arrived, out of breath, holding a portable phone. “The ambulance is three minutes away! I called Mr. Caldwell’s office!”
“Keep pushing, Nora, please!” Madison sobbed, grabbing her mother’s limp hand, her arrogant facade completely shattered. “Don't let her die! Please!”
For five agonizing minutes, Nora waged a violent, physical war against death. She poured every ounce of her strength into the compressions, ignoring the burning in her muscles and the sheer terror gripping the hallway.
Finally, the front doors burst open. Paramedics rushed up the stairs carrying heavy bags and an AED.
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“We’ve got her!” the lead paramedic shouted, dropping to his knees and taking over compressions while his partner prepped the defibrillator.
Nora fell back against the wall, her chest heaving, her hands shaking violently. Madison threw her arms around Nora’s neck, burying her face in the maid’s shoulder, weeping uncontrollably as the paramedics shocked Elaine’s heart back into a fragile, terrifying rhythm.
