A bedside monitor screamed and grew faint as Lopez, infected with the coronavirus, lost consciousness.
Her heart and brain, deprived of oxygen, weakened. Cells in her blood vessels that maintain pressure began to die. Her kidneys slowed. She felt the room grow dark and quiet.
A nurse rushed in and hit a button on the wall. “Code Blue” sounded throughout the fifth-floor intensive care unit of Adventist Health Glendale medical center.
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Specialists ran to Room 4506. They donned masks and face shields and tried to squeeze air into Lopez’s damaged lungs with a respiratory bag.
On her second day in the hospital, Blanca Lopez texted a selfie to her parents and children so they wouldn’t worry.