Incest, Murder and a Miracle by Cheryl Cuccio

Author:Cheryl Cuccio [Cuccio, Cheryl and Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cheryl Cuccio
Published: 2016-12-12T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 21

CHERYL

FIGHTING FOR ROB’S LIFE

I COULD STILL HEAR THEM POUNDING on Rob’s chest, and thought maybe I hadn’t heard him right. Why would they still be doing CPR if Rob was dead? I gave the doctor a questioning look.

His next words chilled me to the core. “Mrs. Cuccio, I’m so sorry. We really tried, but we couldn’t get his heart started. He’s been without a pulse for more than thirty minutes now.”

By that time, my heart was pounding so hard it felt as though it would explode if I even took a small breath. My daughters were next to me and I was speaking up for them as well as myself. I couldn’t bear the thought of giving up on my husband—their father.

The sounds I heard in the background seemed to move very fast, while everything else felt as though it was in slow motion. Loud noises from all the commotion going on spilled into the hallway as the medical staff worked on Rob. I fought to remain standing and needed to catch my breath. It felt like I had been punched in my stomach so hard, I would vomit if I spoke. My feelings intensified. The lights in the hallway seemed so bright it hurt my eyes just to keep them open.

As a child I was taught children should be seen but not heard when in the company of adults, and to respect my elders. Whether the adult was right or wrong, I was never allowed to speak up for myself. The knowledge that my opinion didn’t matter had been drummed into me to such a degree that I’d lived in fear of confron­tation my entire life.

Even though I’d worked on building my confidence through the years, I still was never able to build it to the point where I could challenge the opinion of an authority figure. And, believe me, the doctor was an authority figure. But when he said nothing more could be done for my husband, something inside me crashed through the fear. Everything in me said I had to challenge authority and not back down. I had to do everything possible to try to save my husband.

This new feeling of empowerment went against everything in my soul, everything I’d been brainwashed to believe, but this wasn’t a dress rehearsal. If I didn’t speak up and demand that they keep trying, Rob would be lost to me forever. I reached down to my very core, summoning every bit of strength and confidence as possible. When I implored the doctor to keep trying in a very firm voice, my expectation that he would came through loud and clear.

Caught somewhere between pleading and demanding, I wasn’t going to give up. “Can’t you just cut him open and pump his heart with your hands?” I demanded.

There was pain in the doctor’s eyes when he said, “No, I’m so sorry, we don’t do that at this hospital.”

Really. I thought all hospitals are supposed to do everything and anything to save a patient’s life.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.