Cade stood frozen, staring at the closed ICU doors as if sheer will could make them open. Every second that passed felt like an eternity. A bead of sweat ran down his temple, and his breaths came fast, shallow, panicked. A few feet away, Ward gripped his phone so tightly his knuckles whitened. Cade turned to him, desperation cracking his voice.
“Ward...” Ward looked up. “What does… what does ‘Code Blue’ mean?” Cade asked, voice trembling. Ward didn’t answer immediately. That pause was its own answer. Cade’s eyes went wide, his chest tightening. “Ward,” he said again, more insistently.
Ward swallowed, forcing the words out, careful but honest. “It means his heart stopped.”
The world tilted.
“Stopped?” Cade whispered, staggering back a step before catching himself on the edge of a chair.
