Nurse: Doctor, her pulse is gone! We've been doing chest compressions for three minutes!
Dr. Vance: Administer another round of epinephrine, quickly!
Nurse: Nothing is changing! The monitor is showing zero electrical activity!
Dr. Vance: Charge the defibrillator paddles to ten joules!
Nurse: Doctor, she is a premature newborn, her body cannot handle another shock!
Dr. Vance: We have no choice! Do it now!
Outside the glass observation window, David held Sarah firmly as she pounded her fists against the thick pane.
Sarah: Don't give up on her! Please keep trying!
David: Look at the screen... oh God, Sarah, look at the screen...
The green line on the medical monitor flattened completely, making a long, terrifying tone that filled the room.
Nurse: Time of death... four fourteen PM.
Dr. Vance: Turn off the automated ventilator. Let the family come inside to say goodbye.
That was the exact second Toby slipped past the heavy wooden doors and reached the side of the bed.
Without hesitation, he reached inside the incubator port and placed his hand onto his sister's cold chest.
Toby: Wake up, Lily. I'm right here.
Nurse: Little boy, you can't be in here! Step away from the infant!
Toby: I'm not leaving her! She's just cold!
Dr. Vance: Son, please... your sister has passed away. Let your mother come in.
Toby: She hasn't passed away! She's listening to me!
Toby closed his eyes tightly, concentrating every ounce of his energy into his hand.
For a few seconds, the room fell dead silent, save for the weeping of his parents behind the glass wall.
Then, a soft, singular thump echoed through the room's speakers.
The flatline on the monitor suddenly broke into a sharp, green wave spike.
Nurse: Doctor... look at the monitor screen!
Dr. Vance: What? That's impossible! It must be an electrical glitch from the machine!
Another beep sounded. Then another. Then a steady, rhythmic pattern began to build.
Nurse: Heart rate is forty beats per minute... fifty... seventy... it's rising rapidly!
Dr. Vance: Get me my stethoscope right now! Move!
Dr. Vance pushed his earpieces into his ears and pressed the cold metal disk against the baby's chest, right next to Toby's small hand.
His eyes opened wide in sheer shock as he looked up at the ceiling.
Dr. Vance: SHE HAS A PULSE! IT'S A MIRACLE!
Behind the glass, Sarah stopped crying and stared in absolute shock as the red numbers on the monitor stabilized at one hundred and twenty beats per minute.
Sarah: David... is that... is she breathing?!
David: She's moving her arms! Look at her hands!
Toby turned his head toward the glass wall, a calm, confident smile on his face as he pointed at the monitor screen.
Toby: LOOK! BABY IS BREATHING NOW!