Sometime around 11 AM on February 10, 2021, my husband of 30+ years shuffled upstairs from his basement man cave, sat on the couch next to me, and announced that he wanted a divorce. He had already consulted with a divorce attorney and the news came as a rude shock; especially as the announcement was made in front of our 25-year-old daughter, (who promptly burst into tears).

A few minutes later, he walked out of our home for good, his head bowed, averting my gaze, towing his rolling suitcase behind him with a pillow tucked under his arm.

His name was Marco: a 17-year-old soccer player in the ER with no pulse.

As our trauma team beepers went off simultaneously, I realized that this code must be the reason we heard helicopters from the OR earlier. It had to be. Surgeons are not usually on the Code Blue team but we were occasionally called in later for the complicated cardiac codes that need more: a cracked chest, extra lines, or bypass. And for children: anything less than heroic is unacceptable.