Chapter 6 · Don't Let Him Stop

"Grace!"

Huo Yanzhan's shout cut through the room half a second before Jingchuan's back arched off the bed.

I was already moving. The black veins I'd seen crawling up his neck were spreading fast, branching under his jaw like cracks in glass. His lips had gone blue.

"Get over here," I snapped at Huo. "Now."

He crossed the room in two strides. "What do you need?"

"Your hands. And do exactly what I say." I shoved the thin blanket off Jingchuan's chest and pressed two fingers to his throat. Nothing. No pulse. "Shit."

"What's happening?"

"His heart stopped." I locked my hands together, positioned them over his sternum. "I'm going to restart it."

"How—"

"Watch." I slammed my weight down. Jingchuan's chest compressed under my palms. I counted out loud. "One. Two. Three."

Huo Yanzhan's face went white. "You're breaking his ribs."

"I'm keeping his brain alive." Another compression. "Four. Five. Six." My shoulders were already burning. "If you want him breathing, shut up and hold his head still."

He moved without another word, one hand bracing Jingchuan's skull, the other flat on his shoulder.

"Good." I kept the rhythm. Thirty compressions.