Page 5 (1/2)

"… ertips, lobes of the ears …"

"… weak pulse, very rapid … respiration quick and shallow …"

"… blood pressure’s so da …"

"Didn’t those asoles treat her for shock?"

"Sure, all the way in"

"Oxygen, CO-2 mix And make it fast!"

"Epinephrine?"

"Yeah, prepare it"

"Epinephrine? But what if she has internal injuries? You can’t see a hee if one’s there"

"Hell, I gotta take a chance"

So to s up her nostrils, and for awas that she didn’t care Then cool dry air hissed into her nose and see blonde, dressed all in white, leaned close, adjusted the inhalator, and s that?"

The woularly low

A heavenly apparition An angel

Wheezing, Lindsey said, "My husband is dead"

"It’ll be okay, honey Just relax, breathe as deeply as you can, everything will be all right"

"No, he’s dead," Lindsey said "Dead and gone, gone forever Don’t you lie to els aren’t allowed to lie"

On the other side of the bed, athe inside of Lindsey’s left elboith an alcohol-soaked pad It was icy cold

To the angel, Lindsey said, "Dead and gone"

Sadly, the angel nodded Her blue eyes were filled with love, as an angel’s eyes should be "He’s gone, honey But maybe this time that isn’t the end of it"

Death was always the end How could death not be the end?

A needle stung Lindsey’s left arel said softly, "there’s still a chance We’ve got a special program here, a real--"

Another woman burst into the room and interrupted excitedly: "Nyebern’s in the hospital!"

A coathered in the room

"He was at dinner in Marina Del Rey when they reached hiet back here this fast"

"You see, dear?" the angel said to Lindsey "There’s a chance There’s still a chance We’ll be praying"

So what? Lindsey thought bitterly Praying never works foronly wait to join them

THREE

1

Guided by procedures outlined by Dr Jonas Nyebern and kept on file in the Resuscitation Medicine Project office, the Orange County General Hospital e room to receive the body of Hatchford Benjaone into action the moment the on-site paramedics in the San Bernardino Mountains had reported, by police-band radio, that the victi water but had suffered only minor injuries in the accident itself, which made him a perfect subject for Nyebern By the ti lot, the usual array of operating-roomented with a bypass machine and other equipment required by the resuscitation teaency room Those facilities offered insufficient space to deal with Harrison in addition to the usual influx of patients Though Jonas Nyebern was a cardiovascular surgeon and the project teaical skills, resuscitation procedures seldoery Only the discovery of a severe internal injury would require the room was more a matter of convenience than necessity

When Jonas entered fro hi for hihter, and son, leaving him without family, and because an innate shyness had always inhibited hi friends beyond the boundaries of his profession, these were not ues but the only people in the world hom he felt entirely coa Dorner stood by the instruht that fell fro table She was a superb circulating nurse with a broad face and sturdy body reminiscent of any of countless steroid-saturated female Soviet track stars, but her eyes and hands were those of the gentlest Raphaelite Madonna Patients initially feared her, soon respected her, eventually adored her

With solea did not sn

Near the bypass ical technician who chose, for whatever reasons, to conceal her extraordinary competence and sense of responsibility behind a pert, cute, ponytailed exterior that et or beach-party o Like the others, Gina was dressed in hospital greens and a string-tied cotton cap that concealed her blond hair, but bright-pink ankle socks sprouted above the elastic-edged cloth boots that covered her shoes