Caleb glared at the delinquent in front of him as he stacked insult upon insult about everything from his background to his character. The boy clenched his jaw and glared right back until suddenly a glazed look came over his face and he winced as he suddenly grabbed his arm and then his chest. Caleb stopped, shocked when his daughter's charity case collapsed to the ground.
"Boy! Boy what's wrong?" He shouted.
Kirsten, Seth and Lindsey burst into the room.
"RYAN!" Kirsten exclaimed, hurrying across the room to kneel next to the gasping teen. She quickly checked his pulse and became alarmed when she didn't feel one. Kirsten couldn't believe it! Her seventeen-year-old son was having a heart attack! Thanking God that Sandy thought it would be fun to take that first aid class together in college, she prepared to begin CPR.
Seth and Lindsey were staring in shock when Kirsten looked up at them. "Seth! Call 911. Tell them that Ryan is having a heart attack."
"Nonsense! He's a kid!" Caleb scoffed, recovering from his original surprise. "He's probably faking."
"His heart isn't beating Dad!" Kirsten declared as she began compressions. "Come on Ryan, don't do this. Stay with me Honey."
In response, Ryan stopped breathing and passed out.
"No! Ryan, come on!" Kirsten screamed, hurrying to breathe for him before switching back to the compressions.
Lindsey and Caleb watched helplessly as the blond woman fought to save her son.
"He's in here!" Seth exclaimed, leading the paramedics into the room.
Caleb and Lindsey hadn't even heard the siren.
The paramedics swarmed Ryan and took over for Kirsten, who backed up and sat on the floor trying to catch her breath. Her own heart pounding in her ears drowned out the voices of the paramedics as they shouted information into their radios and followed the instructions of the voice on the other end. It seemed like seconds before they were wheeling a gurney out towards the ambulance.
"I'm going with you." Kirsten declared, grabbing her purse off the hall table and hurrying after them. "Seth, call your father and meet me at the hospital!" She ordered before she left with the ambulance.
Seth nodded absently, still going through the motions, and dialed his dad.
"Seth, I'm sorry son, but I'm about to go into another meeting. Can I call you back later?" Sandy asked absently as he answered the phone and thumbed through the file he was about to go into the conference about.
"Ryan had a heart attack." Seth declared brokenly, finally starting to cry as the reality of the situation began to sink in.
Sandy froze and actually stared at the phone before putting it back to his ear. "What did you say?" He whispered, sure he had misheard.
"Ryan had a heart attack. Mom had to do CPR and now they're on their way to the hospital. He stopped breathing Dad." Seth cried.
Sandy turned on his heel and rushed towards the elevator, not even bothering to go back to his office and get his things. "I'm on my way Seth. I'm leaving right now." Sandy informed him as the doors of the elevator opened and he pushed the necessary button.
"I'll see you there. Mom's with the ambulance." Seth sniffled.
"Is Caleb or Lindsey still there? See if one of them will drive you. I don't want you driving this upset son." Sandy instructed as he opened his car door and started the car.
"Yeah, I'll do that." Seth agreed.
"I'll see you there. I love you." Sandy told him, wishing he could reassure his son that everything was going to be alright. But he didn't know that.
"I love you too." Seth whispered brokenly before he ended the call.
Sandy tossed the phone into the passenger seat of his car and accelerated towards the hospital praying that he would still have two sons at the end of the night.