Chapter 5 - The Rogue Resuscitation
Ethan pushed down on Claire's chest with all his strength, ignoring the terrifying sound of cracking ribs.
He counted the compressions out loud, his voice echoing fiercely over the screaming heart monitor.
Margaret grabbed his arm, trying to physically drag him off the dying patient.
Ethan easily shoved her away, his eyes completely wild with desperate, unrelenting focus.
He yelled at his favorite surgical fellow, a young woman named Sarah, to grab the defibrillator paddles.
Sarah hesitated for a microscopic second before choosing loyalty to her mentor over hospital policy.
She charged the paddles to two hundred joules and pressed them firmly against Claire's chest.
Ethan stepped back, and the massive electrical shock violently jolted Claire's lifeless body upward.
They all stared at the monitor in absolute, suffocating silence.
The flat red line stubbornly refused to change, mocking their desperate efforts to save her.
Ethan climbed back onto the bed, resuming the brutal chest compressions with tears streaming down his face.
He begged Claire to stay, shouting that he finally knew the truth about her fake diagnosis.
Sarah charged the paddles again, increasing the voltage to the absolute maximum limit.
She delivered the second shock, filling the room with the harsh smell of burning ozone.
The monitor blipped once, a tiny green mountain appearing on the screen.
Then it blipped again, slowly establishing a weak, fragile, but undeniable rhythm.
Ethan collapsed against the metal bedrail, gasping for air as relief washed over his exhausted body.
Margaret glared at him with absolute fury, her face flushed with bureaucratic rage.
She informed Ethan that he was officially fired, his medical license suspended indefinitely.
She ordered the armed security guards to escort him out of the building immediately.
Ethan raised his hands in surrender, allowing the guards to grab his arms.
He had successfully bought Claire a few more hours of life, but he knew the tumor would ultimately kill her by Tuesday.
He needed a team, a secret operating room, and a distraction massive enough to steal a dying patient.
As the guards marched him through the lobby, he caught the eye of an old friend who managed the hospital's power grid.
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Ethan subtly tapped his wrist three times, signaling a desperate, prearranged code they had joked about years ago.
The maintenance manager nodded slowly, pulling a heavy ring of master keys from his belt.
