Chapter 137

The sharp alarm from the monitor shattered the silence in the hospital room. Jason's head snapped up. The steady green heartbeat spikes were suddenly jagged, erratic. The heart rate numbers were plummeting. "Charles!" He lunged toward the bed, pressing his hand against Charles' rapidly heaving chest. "V-fib! Get the defibrillator!" Jason tore open the hospital gown, exposing a chest still wrapped in bandages. The surgical wound from seven days ago was still seeping blood, red blotting through the previously white gauze. A nurse rushed in with the defibrillator. Jason grabbed the paddles. "Everyone clear! 200 joules. Charging!" The moment the paddles touched his skin, Charles' body jolted violently like a fish gasping for air, before crashing back onto the bed. The monitor let out a long, flat beep—the line went deathly still. "Again! 250 joules!" The second shock hit—and finally, the green line began to spike once more. Jason leaned his forehead against the cold metal railing of the be