Elena Rostova kept one hand welded to Clara Vance’s mobile ICU isolette.
Her other hand pressed the cold diaphragm of her Littmann Cardiology IV stethoscope against Clara’s chest.
Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
The heartbeat was seventy beats a minute. It was steady, but the rhythm sounded strained through the binaural earpieces.
“How does her chest sound?” Lin Mei asked, leaning over the partition with her digital stopwatch.
“Her lungs are clear,” Elena replied, keeping her voice calm and clinical. “Oxygen saturation is holding at ninety-eight percent.”
“What about her brainwave telemetry?” Lin Mei asked.
Elena checked the portable monitor screen. “Her EEG is locked flat at four hertz. That low delta rhythm hasn’t shifted since we boarded.”
