Page 44 of Mountain Shadow

“Gael’s on it. ETA ten minutes.”

“Copy that. Thank you, Kat.”

Ten more minutes?

Sarah cringed inside, but Jens didn’t falter, even though she knew he must be exhausted from the constant tension. She used her sleeve to wipe the sweat from his face. He nodded his thanks, but didn’t break count.

Finally, after the longest ten minutes of her life, Kat thought she heard a sound.

Is that the helicopter?

The sound grew louder.

Definitely a helicopter.

Although she knew the red and green sail lying next to the building would be highly visible, Sarah couldn’t help standing up and waving wildly. She sighed in relief as the helicopter started to descend towards them.

* * *

Jens

Unused to the noise, Sarah covered her ears as the helicopter set down on the field, as close to the small building as was physically possible.

Jens’s arms were beginning to cramp. He gritted his teeth and kept the compressions going. He estimated he’d been going for twenty minutes—it was a long time to be in cardiac arrest, but the patient was young and had no other obvious injuries beyond a broken leg. There was still a chance.

“A man carrying a black bag just ran out of the helicopter, Jens.” Sarah moved to the edge of the building. “Here, use this ladder!”

Moments later, Gael was on his knees next to them. Jens kept the compressions steady while Gael pulled the automated external defibrillator out of the rescue backpack.

“Switching it on,” Gael said.

Jens felt his pulse spike.

They worked together in perfect tandem. As soon as Gael was ready, Jens released the compression. He’d already unzipped the man’s jacket to be able to perform the compressions, but now he placed his hands at the neck of the T-shirt the man was wearing and pulled hard, tearing it from top to bottom and exposing the man’s chest.

Jens attached the pads expertly to the patient’s chest and moved back, informing Gael when his hands were off the patient.

Gael pressed the shock button and the man’s body jerked once before going still again. A message flashed on the defibrillator to continue CPR.

“I can do it,” Gael offered.

Jens shook his head. “Prep the defibrillator for another shock.” He looked at his watch and restarted two more minutes of CPR, alternating with rescue breaths after thirty compressions.

“Ready,” Gael said.

Jens moved back, and Gael shocked the man a second time.

Breathe, dammit. Breathe.

The body beneath them was still.

Gael looked at him, awaiting orders. The man’s naturally tan skin was wan—this was the hardest part of their job.

Jens knew it was up to him. He looked at the young man’s slack face and knew there was a high chance they’d lost him already—but he owed it to him to keep trying.

“We go again,” he said laconically.

Gael nodded and moved back as Jens restarted chest compressions again.