New blood spreads onto her undershirt and makes a red necklace. I am stiff calm, muscles tight, supporting Lillie's quiet weight. My own blood rushes, loud. Lillie is turning blue. She begins to relax, an awful relaxation.
Time rushes at a crawl.
Tina is back. She moves fast, cuts the ties, and the short trach falls away. She pushes the new tube in with determination, gently forcing it past the granulation tissue, and gets it through. Air pours toward the vacuum, and Lillie is breathing again. Her color comes back.