Chapter 5
Eventually, most of the family regained consciousness. The grandchildren were throwing up on the rug, but that mattered little to Liz and Abbey. At least they were alive.
But Jed was still unconscious.
Abbey struggled to her feet with the assistance of her agent.
"I really wish you would lie still." Her agent urged her to stay where she was but determination overcame any physical problems the poisoning had produced.
"No."
Even Ron turned heard the steel-plated determination in her voice and didn't try to stop her from getting to the President.
Still reeling from the dizziness and nausea, she made her way over to her husband and knelt beside him.
"Jed. Jed. Wake up." Abbey tried to wake him by shaking his shoulders, but had no response.
Abbey checked her husband's neck and found no pulse. Her next actions came from instinct.
"No pulse!" she automatically screamed out, forgetting that she was in her own living room with children and grandchildren listening to every word.
Ron knelt by the President's side and started CPR.
The paramedics had been stationed in the ambulance on the property, a mandate by the Secret Service whenever the President or a member of his family was on the property. They had just arrived to offer assistance. They hooked up the monitor and saw ventricular tachycardia on the monitor. V-tach. So did Abbey.
The pajama top was ripped open and pads placed on the President's bare chest. Paddles were placed in position. "Clear!" That immediately sent hundreds of volts of electricity through Jed's body. Abbey jerked as if someone was shocking her.
"Still v-tach. Let's increase it to 300. Clear!"
What might have been routine anywhere but in the President's own living room, only served to dramatically increase the tension in the room.
Annie and Gus started crying and reached for their mother, who gratefully enveloped them in a hug. Ellie and Zoey hugged each other, if only to know there was someone else feeling the same way.
Abbey was in shock. Never did she expect to be witnessing this in her own house. She doubted if she would ever be the same again.
"Sinus rhythm. Okay, let's get an IV in and contact the hospital."
Abbey just stared at her unconscious husband. She had gone through this process so many times as a practicing physician, but the patient had never been her husband'
"Jed. Jed. Wake up." Abbey thought she was screaming, but in reality she was barely whispering. Fear was her main emotion of the moment.
"We need to get him to the hospital now!"
"Yes, ma'am. Life Flight has just arrived and we should be out of here momentarily. If you're going with us, you need to change your clothes."
It was only then that Abbey realized she was still dressed in her pajamas.
"I'll be right back."
But before she reached the stairs, she fainted and hit the floor with a thud.
"Oh hell." The words escaped his lips unexpectedly. He hoped he had said it softly enough that nobody had heard him.
But as he looked up, the agent next to him had a slight smile on his face. Ron glared at him and the agent dropped his eyes.
"Let's get her stabilized for transport as well."
Within minutes, two stretchers were being carried to the waiting helicopter.
Two patients were lifted on board and with five minutes of landing, the helicopter was on its way to Boston.