Chapter
12
As they waited
for the ambulance, the guys watched anxiously as the man and woman hovered over
Brian. The woman continually gave Brian mouth-to-mouth, pinching his nose
closed and breathing into his mouth. The man stood and watched her for a few
moments before grabbing Brian's wrist to check his pulse again. This time, he
dropped Brian's wrist in alarm and grabbed the kit that he had brought with
him.
"No
pulse?" the woman asked, her eyes wide. The man shook his head and took
something out of the kit. Kevin realized it was a portable defibrillator, which
was used to shock the heart into beating again. He watched in terror as the man
charged up the defibrillator and pressed the paddles to Brian's chest. His
whole body jerked as the surge of electricity jolted through it.
"Is there
a pulse?" the man asked as the woman felt his wrist.
"No
pulse," she said. "Shock him again." The man again charged up
the defibrillator and shocked Brian.
"No
pulse," the woman repeated after checking Brian's wrist again. The man
started to charge it up again when the paramedics hurried in and took over.
They worked on Brian for a few minutes. Finally, Kevin heard them say they had
gotten a pulse. Relief washed over him as the paramedics loaded Brian onto a
stretcher and rushed him out to the ambulance. Nick started to run after them,
but Kevin held him back.
"Wait,
Nick," he said. "We can't go yet. We have to go get our luggage
first, and then we can take a taxi to the hospital." Nick scowled, but
agreed. The four of them hurried to get their baggage and went outside. They
hailed a taxi and rode to the hospital.
***