Chapter 2
Maggie Carver’s heart was pounding when she entered the emergency room. It was strange to be at work and not dressed in her scrubs. But she never thought she’d be in the shoes of so many mothers who entered this hospital, desperate to help their child.
“Maggie!” Darlene waved at her, catching Maggie’s attention.
“Where is he?” Maggie asked, clinging to Darlene like a life raft.
“He’s in prep,” Darlene answered. “C’mon, I’ll take you to see him.”
Maggie kept hold of Darlene’s hand as they navigated the hallways of the hospital. All around her, there were staff members and patients, along with family members running around, helping those in trouble.
As an emergency room nurse, Maggie had treated individuals in some of the most horrible accidents imaginable. But none of them compared to having her own son in the ER.
When Darlene brought Maggie into the preparation room where Blake was being held until the doctors were ready to work on him, she rushed to her son’s bedside.
Blake was in tears, unable to speak. Maggie held her son close, whispering to him that he was going to be all right.
The broken arm was already wrapped, so Maggie couldn’t see the extent of the damage, but it was clear from her son’s tears it was serious.
“It hurts, Mommy,” Blake said.
“I know,” Maggie said, wiping away his tears. “But the doctors are going to get you all fixed up, okay?”
“Where’s Dad?” Blake asked.
“He’s on his way,” Maggie said.
Maggie sat with Blake on the bedside, and he leaned against her with his good arm to her side.
“The doctor should be in just a few minutes,” Darlene said. “Do you guys need anything?”
“We’re good, Darlene,” Maggie said. “Thank you.”
“Of course,” Darlene said.
Once Maggie and Blake were alone in the room, Maggie closed the door so they could have some peace and quiet, silencing the chaos of the hospital.
Maggie held her son close, gently stroking his hair the way she did whenever he was sick.
He whimpered and clung to her side. Even though Blake was ten years old, she couldn’t help but see him as the baby she had held in her arms. He had always loved to be cuddled when he was little.
Of course, when Maggie was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to put him in his crib, it was annoying, but in moments of reflection, she wished she could return and relive them.
It was so easy to keep her children safe when they were in her arms. But they were growing up, heading out into a dangerous world.
But that was life.
“I’m sorry,” Blake said.
Maggie frowned. “Sorry for what?”
Blake looked up at her, his face red and sweaty from his time outside. “I didn’t mean to get hurt. I was just playing around, and I lost focus. Dad always tells me that I have to pay more attention.”
“Well, he’s not wrong,” Maggie answered. “But everyone makes mistakes, and there are consequences. But you can choose to let those moments define you, or you define the moment. You’re the one in control.”
Blake considered this, and then he slowly sat up. “I won’t make the same mistake again.”
Maggie saw the brave face her son was putting on. He was growing more like his father, swallowing the pain and replacing it with courage.
Despite Maggie’s best efforts, her son was growing up. All she could do now was to ensure he walked the right path.
Eventually, the doctors and nurses returned, ready to escort Blake into the operating room. The doctor explained the process and how Blake wouldn’t feel a thing as they put him under anesthesia to reset the bone and apply the cast.
“So, I’ll be asleep?” Blake asked.
“That’s right,” the doctor answered. “And when you wake up, your arm will be put back together with a cast to keep it in place until the bone has had time to heal.”
Blake relaxed a little at the news that he wouldn’t have to feel the pain of the bone being set again. “Well, that’s good.”
The doctor smiled. He was one of the better surgeons who had a good bedside manner, especially when dealing with the kids. He was a father himself, and Maggie believed that always helped doctors when they were speaking with children.
“So, are you ready?” the doctor asked.
As Blake nodded, the power cut out, casting everyone into darkness. Because they were in the middle of the hospital, there were no windows to allow light in, and the room was pitch black.
“Mommy?” Blake asked, unable to hide the fear in his voice. The bravery he had displayed moments ago vanished along with the light.
“It’s okay,” Maggie answered, and she fumbled through the darkness toward her son until she grabbed hold of his shoulder. He immediately tucked himself closer to her side.
“That’s strange,” the doctor said. “The backup generator isn’t coming online.”
One of the nurses reached for her phone and tried to turn on the flashlight app, but it wouldn’t work.
“How is that possible?” the nurse asked. “I just charged it.”
It took a moment for Maggie to put all the pieces together. But between the phones not working and the backup generator failing, she could only come to one possible conclusion about what had happened.
Someone had detonated an EMP device, which had shut off all electrical equipment that used a microchip, along with the power grid. And Maggie knew it was only a matter of time before everybody’s confusion transformed into full-blown panic.
At that moment, Maggie needed to make a decision.
The longer they stayed at the hospital, the more they would be exposed to the chaos about to unfold.
She could already hear the rumblings of panic and dissent echo through the hallways as the machines keeping people alive suddenly turned off, and families were suddenly disconnected from their loved ones via their phones.
And as people became injured and hurt in the streets after being in car accidents with their vehicles shutting down, the hospital would be full of new patients searching for answers, with a hospital staff ill-prepared to handle the influx of injured people with limited resources.
Maggie knew what she had to do.
“We need to set his bone now,” Maggie said, grabbing the doctor’s attention.
It was still too dark to see anything in detail, but Maggie’s eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, and she saw the doctor’s silhouette.
“We don’t have the necessary tools to do it here,” the doctor said. “I can’t set his bone in the dark.”
“I thought I was going to sleep?” Blake asked, suddenly worried.
Maggie knew her son would be in significantly more pain by having the doctor set the bone without anesthesia, but the faster they set it, the sooner they could get out of there. She needed to take her son home to be with her family. That was priority number one.
“I think we have some flashlights in the supply closet,” Darlene said. “I can grab them, and then I can meet you in the operating room. Everything is already set up.”
Maggie could see the doctor better now. He was concerned about performing the procedure, but he also heard the screams and cries of everybody in the hospital. There might not be a better time to do this than now.
“Okay,” the doctor answered. “We can get this done as fast as possible.”
Blake immediately tugged on Maggie’s pant leg, worried about what would happen next. But Maggie calmed her son.
“Blake, listen to me,” Maggie said, looking her son in the eyes, of which she could only see the whites around his pupils. “We’re going to fix your arm, and then we’ll leave.”
“But I’m still going to sleep, right?” Blake asked.
“No, sweetie, I’m sorry,” Maggie answered.
Blake whimpered, growing more anxious. “Mom, I don’t want to do this. Please, don’t make me do this, please!”
Blake’s cries were daggers in Maggie’s heart. All she wanted to do for him was to take away the pain. But there was no easy solution.
“It’ll be over quickly,” Maggie said, trying to stay positive. “And I’ll be right here with you, I promise. I’m not going anywhere, okay? I’m staying right by your side.”
Blake clung to his mother’s words, but it would take all of her son’s strength to get through the operation.
Once Darlene collected all the flashlights in the storage closet, they walked to the operating room, where the doctor awaited them.
When Maggie escorted her son down the hallway, they saw the staff running around, trying to save everybody they could, but the sudden and unexpected power outage had already claimed lives, and Maggie knew this was only the beginning.
Once in the operating room, Maggie helped lift Blake onto the operating table, and the doctor gently laid Blake back onto a pillow.
“Okay, Blake,” the doctor said. “We’re going to set the bone and then place two pins inside to ensure it stays in place until the bone has healed. Then we will put a cast around your arm to keep it protected until it’s fully healed.”
It was all Blake could do to muster a quick nod, but it was clear to Maggie that he was terrified.
“I promise we will do this as fast as possible,” the doctor said.
“And I will be right next to you the entire time,” Maggie said, hoping to reassure her son.
Again, Blake nodded and lay back on the operating table. They removed his shirt and the wrap, and Maggie saw how the bone was bent inside the arm. It was a gruesome sight, but Maggie kept hold of her son’s hand.
Blake remained tense as the doctors prepared all the necessary medical equipment. It was hard for anyone to concentrate with all the screaming and yelling inside the hospital.
“Everything’s going to be okay,” Maggie said, desperately seeking to reassure her son.
Blake nodded, and then the doctor approached his arm.
“I’ll use some numbing cream on the point of contact where we’ll be putting the pins to keep the bone set,” the doctor explained. “Hopefully, that will help ease some of the pain.”
“Okay,” Blake nodded and winced as the doctor applied the cream.
Maggie wished the doctor would speed it up, but she didn’t want to rush him into making a mistake.
The doctor poked the spots along Blake’s arm where he applied the numbing cream. “Do you feel that?”
“No,” Blake answered.
“Good,” the doctor replied, then he nodded to the nurses around him, who nodded. “Okay, Blake, we’ll set the bone now.”
Blake stiffened, and his breathing quickened. “I don’t want to do this.”
“Honey, it’s okay,” Maggie said reassuringly, tightly holding her son’s good hand. “This has to be done.”
“But I don’t want to,” Blake cried.
“This will be over in no time at all,” the doctor said, and then the nurses gathered around Blake to hold him down, which only worsened the boy’s anxiety. “On the count of three.”
Blake continued to whimper, glancing at his mother. Seeing him so afraid and in so much pain broke Maggie’s heart. But this was necessary.
“One,” the doctor said.
“Please don’t,” Blake said, hyperventilating.
“Two,” the doctor replied.
“It’s okay, son,” Maggie said.
“Three!”