By Mark W. Meier
Part 45
Act V
Victory
Chapter Two
Police arrived. One of the men rushed over to check Andy’s neck for a pulse. After looking to see if anything would obstruct Andy’s breathing, the officer moved Andy to his back and began chest compressions. The open area in the cramped apartment left little room for the police to work.
Amy wept and turned away again.
The second policeman picked up a radio and pressed the talk button. “Code in progress. ETA of ambulance?”
The reply was too garbled for Amy to make out, but apparently the man could decipher the message.
“Less than five minutes.” He nudged Amy toward the doorway. “We need some room here, ma’am.” Not long afterward he took over CPR. All Amy could do was stand with tears draining down her cheeks. Was it possible he could be resuscitated?
Another two minutes passed and the sound of an approaching siren filtered into Andy’s third floor apartment. That’s when Amy noticed the group of people gathering in the hallway. Too late to keep the issue private.
The paramedics hustled in carrying bulky cases of medication and equipment. They scattered the gawkers like a flock of ravens.
The cop, dripping sweat and gasping for breath, stopped CPR and made room for one of the emergency workers to take over. A second medic spread out the contents of the cases on Andy’s bed and prepared an IV.
“Ready.” He waited for the man pumping on Andy’s chest to pause, then with practiced ease sliced off Andy’s shirt, exposing sallow flesh, and applied electrodes to the man’s gaunt body. The IV was inserted a moment later, and the first medic went back to CPR. A monitor was switched on and the two paramedics frowned at each other.
Amy didn’t know what to do. Andy was dead, unless the medics could bring him back. More than ten minutes had passed already.
One of the police officers took Amy by the elbow. “Ma’am, let’s step into the hallway and let them do their jobs.”
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