The words echoed in his head as he continued with compressions. One minute ran into two, then three, then four, and Hunt was too scared now to stop because that would mean giving her up to God.

Don’t quit. Don’t quit.

All of a sudden there was a rush of people coming out of ER, and Dr. Quick issuing clipped, decisive orders. They lifted Ava up onto a gurney and rolled her into the last empty exam room on the floor.

Nurses began cutting away Ava’s clothing and attaching the leads to the electrodes that were connected to the heart monitor. Another nurse came running, pushing the defibrillator into the room, and moments later it was charging.

Hunt was shaking from the tension of what he’d been doing and panic was setting in.

Don’t quit me, Ava. Please God, don’t quit me, baby. Come back. Please come back.

“Clear!” the doctor yelled, and slapped the paddles to her chest.

Her body bucked from the shock, but the monitor still registered a flat line.

They charged it again, and again the doctor yelled, “Clear!” and hit her with the paddles one more time.

They stepped back, watching for a heartbeat, and then Ava gasped. The monitor registered a beep, and then a series of erratic beeps, and then all of a sudden there was a heartbeat, and all Hunt could think was Thank you, God.

“I’ve got a pulse!” Rhonda cried.

They put her on oxygen and started an IV, making sure that each heartbeat was followed by the next.

Dr. Quick turned to Hunt. Now that Ava had a heartbeat, he wanted to know what had caused it to stop.

“Somebody…just tell me what the hell happened?” he asked.

“She took a hard blow to her chest,” Hunt said. “I saw her gasp, grab her chest, and drop. When I got to her, she wasn’t breathing. I think the blow stopped her heart.”

Quick began ordering X-rays to check for broken bones.

“When will she wake up?” Hunt asked.

“I don’t know, but the important thing right now is that she has a heartbeat. I’ll know more later.”

“I need to call her parents,” Hunt said, then took Ava’s phone from the pocket of the scrub top she’d been wearing and stepped out into the hall to make the call.

Karen answered, thinking it was her daughter.

“Hi, honey!”

“Karen, it’s me, Hunt. I’m calling to let you guys know there was a fight in the ER. Ava got hurt.”

“Oh my God! Are you there?”

“Yes. We’re still in the ER.”

“Dear lord, what happened? Is she bleeding? Last time this happened she got stitches.”

“No, ma’am. She’s not bleeding. I’ll tell you about it after you get here, okay?”

“We’re on the way,” Karen said.