Page 76 of A Billionaire for Christmas
‘Keep his airways open for me. The rest of you stand back. Give us some room,’ Molly instructed. ‘How long until the ambulance gets here?’
‘Twenty minutes, maybe more.’
‘Do you keep a defibrillator in the house?’ Molly asked Levi calmly.
Levi shook his head.
‘Are you sure? Lucca, go to the boot room. There’s a shelf with first aid kits. See if there’s a portable defib machine.’
‘What will it look like?’ Lucca shrieked. ‘I don’t know what it’ll look like!’
‘Stay calm. Either a large unit with defibrillator written on it or a small pack with AED on it. Hurry.’
Molly continued compressions but Armand remained unresponsive. Time seemed to stand still as she worked harder and harder on him. She bent at regular intervals to blow air into his lungs only for it to seep back out. If he didn’t start breathing again quickly, his brain would be starved of oxygen and the consequences too awful to imagine.
‘Found it!’ Lucca yelled, tearing through the room towards them just as Freda came running back into the room with an armful of medicine boxes.
‘Levi, take over compressions,’ Molly ordered. ‘Freda, give me the medicines.’ Molly scanned the boxes for confirmation that Armand had a heart condition and tore the AED pack open, deftly switching it on and taking out the electrode pads.
Without being told, Levi ripped Armand’s shirt open, exposing his unmoving chest. Molly grabbed a napkin from the table and gave it to Levi. ‘Dry him.’ They watched her take the razor from the pack.
‘What are you doing?’ squealed Valerie. ‘Someone get her away from him. Levi, for crying out loud, tell her!’
Molly ignored her and quickly shaved two patches on Armand’s unusually hairy chest, one on the upper right side and the other on the lower left side. She peeled off the plastic backing of the electrodes and stuck the pads to the shaved areas, then plugged in the cables and was relieved when the machine automatically began analysing his heart rhythm. She sat back, her eyes glued to the monitor’s screen.
Valerie raced round the table and dropped to the floor, elbowing Molly out of the way. ‘Armand, can you hear me? Armand!’ She went to slap his face.
‘No. Don’t touch him!’ yelled Molly, knowing it would interfere with the reading.
Levi, fast as lightning, grabbed his mother just as she reached for her husband. ‘Mother. Molly knows what she’s doing. Trust her.’
Valerie’s eyes widened. ‘But she’s just a chalet chef, for God’s sake.’
Taking no notice, Molly threw her arms wide. ‘Everyone, stand clear. We need to shock him.’ She pressed the button, and they watched as Armand’s chest jumped. Molly swallowed. Seconds seemed to drag by as Armand showed no sign of breathing. She restarted compressions immediately. Sweat dripped from her forehead as she counted. ‘Come on. Come on.’
Molly heard Freda crying, which seemed to set off Valerie, who howled into Levi’s shoulder. Molly made brief eye contact with Lucca’s tear-filled, disbelieving eyes. She sent a silent prayer up to Ava.Help me save him.
She bent to breathe air into his lungs and finally, Armand jolted and they heard a small choking sound as he took a breath, then another, then another. His eyes pinged open as he gasped loudly. He was alive! Molly checked the machine to make sure Armand’s heart was beating regularly and collapsed backwards on the floor. ‘You’re okay. You’re going to be okay.’ She leaned over to the pile of medication and quickly rifled through it. ‘The spray?’ she asked Armand.
Armand reached for her hand and tried to nod. He opened his mouth, and Molly gave him a squirt of the spray under his tongue. Within seconds, colour was flooding back to his face.
‘How long before the paramedics get here?’ she asked Levi.
His phone beeped. ‘That’s them now,’ he said, jumping to his feet.
Molly made eye contact with Valerie. ‘He needs a blanket. We need to keep him warm.’
Valerie bent to kiss Armand on the forehead and got to her feet. Freda and Lucca sank to the floor and took a hand each. Amid the commotion, Molly ran to the kitchen to get a glass of water. She hurried back, grabbed the box of aspirin from his pile and took one out, crushing it.
Armand, his body now covered in a warm blanket, seemed to know exactly what she had in mind and patted her hand when she bent down. Freda lifted his head as Molly sprinkled the crushed tablet onto his tongue and put the water to his lips. Within minutes, two paramedics stormed through the house with a stretcher and first aid kits. Molly stood out of the way to let them check him over.
‘Who did this?’ said one of the paramedics, unpeeling the electrodes carefully. ‘Was he unresponsive?’
Molly stepped forward. ‘Yes. He was unconscious for around three to four minutes. He took one shock and I’ve given him a spray of GTN and an aspirin.’
‘Great job,’ he said, eyeing the AED unit and Armand’s chest. ‘You saved his life.’
Levi was the first to throw his arms around Molly. His eyes were misty. Molly felt the adrenaline that had been soaring through her body suddenly crash. She felt weak at the way he was looking at her.
