Leave The City (Book 8 of Adopted by the Josephs)

63. Jenna

Sam and Dylan came down from reading bedtime stories to Junie and Rosie, but Sam looked a little pale when she came down. And something in her eyes had me concerned.

"Sam," I asked. "Sam? Are you alright?"

She raised her head and was about to answer when she threw up, and then dropped to the floor like a stone.

"Sam!" I cried. Dylan dropped to his knees beside her as soon as she fell. Tyler was by her side a second later.

"Sam, Sam, wake up," Dylan was gently shaking her shoulder and patting her cheek. "Sam!"

"Sam?" Tyler was saying. "Sam, Sam, speak to us."

Sam wasn't moving. Her eyes weren't opening. She wasn't responding. I watched Dylan put his fingers on her neck and my heart dropped. What had happened? Why had Samantha dropped like that? And why was she so still?

"I don't feel a pulse!" Dylan cried, and started doing chest compressions while Tyler, tearfully, called 911.

"Come on, Sam," I said, as I knelt beside her.  Sarah had come and cleaned up Samantha's vomit and was now sitting beside her, too. I took Samantha's hand in mine. It felt wrong. It felt cold. Colder than it should, I thought.

"Please, Sam," Dylan was sobbing as he was doing compressions on Sam. "Please!"

Before I was even aware of what was happening, the paramedics showed up and took over for Dylan and Tyler. They were pushed out of the way and I could see the devastation on their faces. Neither of them wanted their hands off Sam.

I couldn't pay attention to what the paramedics were saying. Brendon, Sarah and Tyler were trying to fill them in on everything that Sam has been through this year, considering it was the most significant. Could this be something from the accident again? Was this something new? What was happening to my daughter? And why couldn't I hear her heart beating? I was watching as they were putting leads on her chest, but I couldn't hear a monitor beeping. I couldn't see her chest rising on its own. The paramedics had put a mask on her face and one was pushing air into her lungs while the other was setting up a piece of machinery. He put a pad on Sam's chest, and another closer to the side of her chest.

"Ma'am, I need you to let go of your daughter's hand for a second, please," one paramedic said, touching my arm so I knew he was talking to me. I didn't want to let go of Samantha's hand. I shook my head.

"Ma'am, if we need to shock her heart, we can't have you touching her. We don't want to hurt you," the paramedic explained. I nodded and put Samantha's hand down on the floor and moved just a little bit away, so I wouldn't be touching her in any way if the machine needed to administer a shock to her heart.

"Assessing heart beat," the machine said. "No rhythm detected. Press the green button to administer a shock."

The paramedics both moved a little bit away, ensuring they weren't touching any part of Sam's body. The paramedic at her head pressed the button on the machine by Sam's head. I watched as Sam's body was jolted by the electricity.

"Resetting," the robotic voice said. "Continue chest compressions."

The paramedic went back to pushing on Sam's chest while the one at Sam's head continued trying to get air into her lungs.

"Clear the area," the machine said and the paramedics repeated the same steps as before.

"We can't move her until we can stabilize her," the paramedics explained to us. I knew that they also meant, but didn't want to say, or if they weren't able to and we lost her.

They repeated the same procedure three more times before I heard a slow beeping coming from the machine.

"Sinus rhythm. Stop chest compressions. Roll the patient into the recovery position and wait for paramedics," the machine said. The paramedic who had been doing chest compressions smiled at me somewhat sheepishly.