“Kwon’ll expect us to try adenosine,” Theo said.
“Adenosine flatlines you for about 30 seconds. Wanna to try it with a baby on board and no MD behind your name?” Erin pointed out. They were out of their league on this one. Every second Tiffany spent outside of MetroGen was another second in which she could die. “We aren’t Carver. You drive, and I’ll try different vagal maneuvers en route.”
“Strap in.” Theo climbed out the side door to reenter the driver’s seat. They peeled out with lights and sirens at top speed.
Erin hung onto the support bars and tried to keep her mind on the game. Tiffany needed help now, and Erin would go back to the basics. “I’m going to let you in on a secret about controlling your heart rate and breathing. Songs. I want you to take a deep breath and then slowly hum as much ofThe Itsy Bitsy Spideras you can.”
“Itsy Bitsy Spider?” Tiffany panted, her color whiter than paper.”
“Yes,The Itsy Bitsy Spider. We’ll do it together. One, two, three.” Erin kept her tone even but commanding, same as Noah did when he gave orders.
They started, and by the third line, Tiffany’s heart dropped down to two hundred.
“Again. One, two, three.”
The second time, Tiffany’s heart made it down to 120. Erin had about six seconds of triumph until she saw the EKG. Something was very wrong with that rhythm.
Tiffany clutched at her chest in relief. “Better. Nice voice.”
“Thanks. You did a great job.” Using another Noah skill, Erin kept her voice neutral as she accepted the compliment. She wasn’t a paramedic, but she had passed the EMT-intermediate class in Seattle, and she’d never seen anything like this in any class. This group of symptoms she remembered being related to heart failure.
Her mind stuck on one conclusion—Tiffany was dying.
She keyed her radio, holding in her growing terror, “HR down to 120. What’s the MetroGen ETA?”
“Five minutes,” Theo answered.
“Great news, Tiffany, you are going to see cardiology very soon. If that weird thing in your chest happens again, hum the spider song.”
“Can you check the baby? Please. The heart’s usually around here.” Tiffany indicated the space between her belly button and hip bone.
“I don’t have a monitor for a baby,” Erin said, wishing they could drive faster.
“Use the stethoscope. Do mine and then the baby’s. That’s what Dr. Perkins does. Says you can hear two different heart rates.” There was an odd note in Tiffany’s voice. “Please?”
Erin tried to hold her stethoscope steady over Tiffany’s heart. It didn’t sound normal, a slurry of extra noises. Whatever was going on there was bad news, but she couldn’t say anything because she had no clue what was going on.
She gave what she hoped wasn’t a tight smile and moved the stethoscope down to near the lower abdomen. After a good thirty seconds, Erin successfully located the heartbeat. It was fast and clipped, very different than the mother-to-be’s.
“I hear the baby.” Erin stated, hoping she wasn’t asked to comment further. This was a job for a cardiologist, not a firefighter. “Him or her?”
“Her.” Tiffany closed her eyes.
“You okay, Tiffany?” Erin quickly rechecked the monitor. Nothing had changed.
Tiffany slowly re-opened her eyes. “I’m talking to my husband. He’s dead. When I pray, I ask God if I can talk to him. Let him know I still have the baby.”
“I’m sorry.” Erin said the only words that popped into her head.
Tiffany sounded young and scared. “What’s your name?”
“Hudgens.”
“Hudgens, if something happens, don’t save me. Save our daughter.” Tiffany reached out and grabbed Erin’s arm.
“What?” This was way out of Erin’s pay grade. This was happening. She was getting asked to solve an unsolvable problem. Save the mom or save the baby.
“The other cardiologist, Leyman, told me to terminate. He said I could die if I kept her. No Leyman. Only Perkins. Perkins’ll save her. Promise?” The monitor started beeping, and Tiffany’s heart rate started to climb again.
