That was when Camille’s father, Senator Whitmore, stood up to give his toast. He got two words in — “To family” — before the champagne flute slipped from his hand and shattered on the marble. His face went gray. His left arm locked at a strange angle. He hit the floor before anyone at the table even stood up. Camille screamed. Actually screamed, high and useless, clutching her pearls like they were an airbag. Her mother froze. The Whitmore son yelled for someone to call 911 and then just stood there, phone in hand, doing nothing. A waiter dropped a tray. I was already moving. I was on my knees beside him before Camille finished her second scream, two fingers on his carotid, ear to his mouth. No pulse. No breath. I ripped his tie off, tore his shirt open at the collar, and started compressions. “You — count out loud. You — get the AED off the wall by the coat check, it’s mounted next to the fire extinguisher, GO.” My voice came out flat and surgical, the voice I use in trauma bay four. Camille was still frozen, mascara running, mouthing something. I did not look up. Thirty compressions. Two breaths. Thirty compressions. The AED arrived. I cut his undershirt, placed the pads, cleared, shocked. His body jumped. Nothing. Again. Compressions. Shock. On the third cycle his chest rose on its own and he gasped like a man surfacing from deep water. Sirens outside. I kept one hand on his pulse and finally looked up. Two paramedics burst through the double doors and froze mid-step when they saw me. The older one straightened. “Commander. We didn’t know you were on site.” The room went absolutely silent. Camille’s mother slowly turned her head. Camille’s mouth opened. I stood up, wiped my hands on the Target clearance dress, and picked up the ID badge that had fallen out of my purse during compressions. I set it face-up on the linen tablecloth in front of Camille. Lieutenant Commander Sara Vance, U.S. Navy. Chief of Trauma Surgery, Walter Reed. She read it once. Then again. Then she looked at her father, alive on the marble because of the glorified bedpan-changer, and something in her face collapsed. Hannah finally lifted her head, and for the first time all morning, she smiled.
