Chapter 3 - The Flatline
The room erupted into chaos in a fraction of a second. The steady green line on the monitor flatlined into a flat, deadly scream of sound, casting an eerie emerald glow across the panic-stricken faces in the room.
""Code Blue! Room 312! We need a team in here now!"" Julian roared, abandoning all caution as he threw open the door and shouted down the empty corridor, his voice echoing with commanding authority.
Within seconds, heavy footsteps thundered down the hall. Two doctors and a team of nurses rushed past Julian, pushing emergency crash carts loaded with defibrillators and intravenous trays. One of the nurses gently but firmly scooped Leo up into her arms, pulling the crying toddler away from the bed as the medical team swarmed Marcus.
""Out! Please, sir, you need to step back into the hall,"" a nurse told Julian, her hands pushing against his leather jacket.
""I'm his brother! Let me stay!"" Julian shouted over the blaring alarm, planting his boots firmly on the floor.
""Sir, you are obstructing care! Out, now!""
Julian locked eyes with Marcus, who lay completely motionless on the mattress as a doctor slammed his palms against his chest, beginning aggressive chest compressions. The sight sent a violent shiver down Julian's spine. The last time he had seen his brother upright, they had been screaming at each other in an empty garage three years ago, trading insults that felt like permanent scars. Julian had walked out that door vowing never to look back. Now, looking at the bruised skin and the slack jaw, the past felt devastatingly short.
Leo was sobbing hysterically against the shoulder of the nurse holding him, his small hands clutching the folds of her uniform. ""Daddy! Wake up! Daddy, please!""
""Charge to 150! Clear!"" a doctor yelled over the noise.
A sharp, violent jolt surged through Marcus’s body, his chest arching off the bed before crashing back down.
Julian gripped the doorframe, his knuckles turning stark white, his breath caught entirely in his throat. The monitor continued its agonizing, flat electronic wail. One second. Two seconds. An eternity compressed into a blinding white flash of pure terror.
""Again! Charge to 200! Clear!""
Another shock. Another violent jolt.
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Julian closed his eyes, his chest burning as if he were the one taking the electrical currents. He whispered words he hadn't spoken since they were kids hiding in the attic during a thunderstorm. Don't you dare quit on me, Marcus. Don't you dare.
And then, cutting through the electronic whine, came a faint, rhythmic mechanical blip.
