by E A Chance
“Absolutely.” Looking at Jace, she said, “Speaking of sleep, any way I can get my own room with an actual bed? I’ll get no rest with Coop as a roommate.”
Before he could answer, Riley said, “I’m going to move both of you into private rooms. Jace, get Dashay settled, then come back and help me with Coop.”
“Yes, Doctor,” Jace said. He unlocked the gurney wheels and rolled her toward the door. “Come, Lady Dashay. Let me escort you to the royal suite.”
“Got that right,” Dashay said, and tucked her hands under her head.
Riley was glad to have a minute alone with Coop to think. She checked his vitals and was frustrated to see that his temp was 102 degrees, and his BP was elevated. “Wish you could tell me what’s wrong with you, Babe.”
When Jace returned, she asked him to point her to the pharmacy. “Until we can pin down the best treatment, I’m going to throw everything available at him,” she said. After Jace gave her directions, she asked him to monitor Coop until she got back. When a beam of sunlight shined through a crack in the blinds, she stopped halfway out of the doorway. “What time does your shift end?”
He avoided her eyes as he said, “An hour ago.”
“Hm. Sorry. Where’s your replacement?”
Looking her in the eye, he said, “I told her to take care of our five other patients and that I’d assist you.”
“That’s unnecessary. Go home and sleep. I’ll need you fresh, and Craig expects you.”
“I’m not that tired. This is the most exciting thing to happen around here since the early days after the CME, and it’s an honor to treat Dr. Cooper. As for Craig, he can just wait until he comes over to have dinner with us tonight.”
“I guess he doesn’t think eating with your sister is favoritism?”
Jace shook his head. “He has his own ideas about how to run this town and doesn’t see dinner as a problem. He and my sister are getting married in a few months and already have a house close to the library picked out. Then it’ll just be back to Kip and me. She spends most nights with Craig but no one is supposed to know that.”
“Kip doesn’t live with his parents?”
“My brother and his wife were killed in the CME. Kip’s been with me since.”
“I’m sorry. That’s horrible. I’m glad he has you. Do you mind me asking about your parents?”
“No, Grandpa lives with them. Grandma died five years ago. I’m glad she didn’t have to live through this, but Grandpa’s been a trooper.”
“I can see that. I’m grateful for the help if you insist on staying.”
He stood taller and raised his chin. “I do.”
She nodded and left for the pharmacy, not bothering to talk him out of staying. She’d been awake for twenty-four hours and needed all the help she could get.
She found the pharmacy easily and after greeting the pharmacist wearing a nametag that read Sadie Whitlock, rattled off a list of meds she wanted to try on Coop. Sadie scribbled them down as quickly as she could, then finally held up her hand and asked Riley to slow down.
When Riley finished, Sadie said, “We have maybe a third of these drugs. Which are most important?”
Riley ticked off on her fingers as she said, “The antivirals, antibiotics, IV antipyretics to get his fever down, and sedatives.”
Sadie glanced at her notepad. “That covers every drug on your list.”
“Let’s go at this the other way round,” Riley said. “What do you have back there?”
“Give me a sec.”
Riley paced in front of the pharmacy window as she waited for Sadie to search her stock of drugs. Riley was surprised and grateful the hospital had even a third of what she’d requested and wondered where they were getting supplies. It wasn’t as if drug manufacturing plants were functioning. At some point, warehoused stocks would be depleted or expire.
Sadie interrupted her thoughts when she came out from behind the counter carrying a bin filled with IV bags and pill bottles. “I found more than I expected, but I’m required to report this to the librarian. You’ll have to trade for them, probably with your time in treating other patients.”
“Easy enough, and I’ve met Dr. Himes. Why does everyone refer to him as The Librarian instead of using his name?”
Sadie shrugged as she handed Riley the bin. “He asked us to.”
What an odd town, Riley thought as she went out shaking her head. Jace was waiting for her when she got back to the trauma room, but Coop was gone.
“I took him to our one and only isolation room,” Jace said. “It’s on the second floor, so we have to climb the stairs. The elevators got fried by the CME.”
He took the bin from her and led her to Coop’s room. It was a much better setup than the ER. Jace set the bin down on the counter and the two of them started unpacking the contents onto a rolling table. Riley picked the drugs Coop needed most urgently, and the two of them began dosing him.
“I’m giving him the sedative since he’s delirious and keeps pulling out his line. Monitor his O2 sat, blood pressure, and heart rate closely. Once his fever comes down and stays down, I’ll take him off it. I suspect this is a mosquito borne illness that won’t respond to antivirals, but I’m going to administer them in case I’m wrong, along with Cipro, which will cover most bacteria. If none of those treatments work, we’ll try the parasitic route. Take another blood sample to the lab and ask them to prepare slides for me and grow cultures.”
A wave of dizziness washed over Riley. She grabbed to the counter to steady herself.
“When was the last time you ate or slept, Riley?”
She took a few deep breaths and rubbed her forehead. “I don’t remember. Too long ago.”
Jace put his arm around her shoulder and guided her toward the door. “I made up the adjacent room for you, and I’ll find you something to eat, then you need to sleep.”
She grabbed the doorframe and hung on with an iron grip. “No. I want to stay with Coop.”
“Trust us to care for him. You won’t sleep if you’re in the room with him, but you’ll be right next door if we need you. You’ve got your baby to think about, too.”
Riley let go and moved her hands to her belly. She’d forgotten about the baby in her rush to save Coop. “Bring my meal here. I promise I’ll go to my room after I eat. That should allow enough time for Coop’s fever to come down.”
Jace helped her to the recliner in the corner. “I have your word that you’ll rest as soon as you’re done eating? Adrian and Dashay are both already sleeping.”
“You have my word.”
She watched Jace leave to get her food, then closed her eyes to rest them and the world went dark.
Yeager swore when his driver slowed the truck to a stop in front of the sentry blocking the road. He was out the door when the truck had stopped moving. “What is this, Sergeant?” he demanded.
The sergeant put his hands on his hips and scowled at him. “Why should I tell you?”
Yeager was about to berate him when he remembered he was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. He drew his wallet from his pocket and flashed his new military ID. “Does that answer your question?”
The sergeant came to attention and saluted. “My apologies, sir. I didn’t recognize you.”
“At ease, son. You acted according to protocol. I could have been an enemy. Now, answer my question.”
“The bridges are washed out ahead due to the flooding. The floodwaters have receded in the valley, so you can get into Henderson, but to cross the Ohio River, you’ll need to backtrack or travel south.”
Yeager swore again. Another delay. “How long have the bridges been out?”
“Nearly a week, sir. Lots of deaths and destruction, too. There was also what doctors think was a typhoid fever outbreak. Teams have been scouring the area, trying to get their hands on drugs to treat it. It’s been a mess, sir.”
“Bad news but good intel, Sergeant.” Yeager reached into the truck and pulled the wanted pos
ters off the seat. “It’s a longshot, but have you seen these people?”
The sergeant studied the papers for a moment, then shook his head. “Sorry, sir.”
“That’s fine. Keep your eyes out for them. Notify your superiors if you spot them.”
“Yes, sir.”
Yeager got back in the truck and lowered his window. “You’re doing a fine job. Keep it up.”
The sergeant saluted again and moved out of the way for them to pass.
“Where to, sir?” the driver asked.
“Henderson. We need to refuel and replenish our supplies, and I need to assess the situation.”
“Yes, sir,” he said.
Yeager studied the map and read off instructions. “Should take about two hours. Wake me when we arrive.”
“Yes, sir.”
Yeager pulled his baseball cap over his eyes and slumped down in the seat. His last thought before drifting off was that Daybreak and his companions would face the same delays and obstacles. He hoped that they’d gotten laid up in Henderson and would be there for the taking. He was sick of this never-ending game of cat and mouse, unable to figure out how they’d eluded capture for so long.
After what seemed like moments, he heard the driver calling his name. “Far as we can go, sir.”
Yeager slid his cap off his eyes and sat up to get a look at his surroundings. The devastation spreading out before them left him speechless. He climbed out of the truck to get a clearer view. Mounds of mud were piled where streets should have been. Wooden structures had been reduced to matchsticks and cars lay flipped like turtles on their shells or stacked in mangled piles. It was worse than destruction he witnessed in DC after the CME.
He swept his gaze over the area, looking for where to turn next, and spotted a cluster of olive-green military tents to the south. The road between the truck and the camp was clear. Yeager pointed it out to the driver and climbed back into the truck. As they moved toward the camp, Yeager avoided making eye contact with the souls wandering the streets like the lost sheep he’d seen countless times since the CME.
Another sentry stopped them at the entrance to the camp, but Yeager remembered to have his ID ready. The sentry pointed them to the base commander, a major still wet behind the ears who must have had multiple field promotions. Yeager explained his mission and asked for the VIP tent.
“The VIP quarters are occupied,” Major Collier said, “but I’ll arrange the best I can for you, sir.”
“Occupied? By whom?” Yeager asked, unable to imagine who could be more of a VIP than him in the area.
“Admiral Barker, down from Crane Naval Warfare Center. He was traveling to Nashville when the storms hit and trapped him here.”
Yeager couldn’t expect to displace an admiral. “Just find a dry, quiet corner for me and a place for my driver.” Before turning to go, he said, “I’ll need some soldiers to distribute fliers for me in the morning.”
“I’ll make them available to you but don’t expect much help. Most of these people have lost loved ones and are just trying to stay alive. They won’t care much to help you locate some fugitives.”
“I’m aware,” Yeager said. “Where’s the mess? We haven’t eaten since yesterday.”
Yeager was lost in his head while he and his driver tramped through the mud to the mess tent. If Daybreak and crew had been killed by flood or disease, he’d have no way to verify their deaths and would have no choice but to keep searching. Counting on his targets being too smart to die, he sat down to his meal of rations, planning his next move.
Julia’s gut twisted into a knot while she watched Uncle Mitch tune the radio. They hadn’t been able to reach her mom and Coop for days. She was mad and scared at the same time. It felt like someone had played a dirty cosmic cruel trick on her by letting her find her mom, then taking her away just as quickly. It wasn’t fair after all the trouble they’d been through.
“Getting anything?” she asked, crossing her fingers.
Uncle Mitch’s look told her all she needed to know. When she stuck out her bottom lip, he gave her a weak smile.
“Don’t get discouraged, Julia. I’m having trouble contacting anyone. If your mom is having this same terrible weather, it’s no wonder we can’t reach her. The storms will pass as we get farther west, then we’ll be able to talk to her and Coop every day.”
“Promise?”
“I can’t promise, but you know I’ll do whatever I can to make it happen. Go pack up. We need to get moving.”
Julia slogged across the muddy camp to her tent, discouraged and not even pretending to exude a positive attitude. She’d assigned herself as morale officer earlier in the week when she was sick of all the grumbling and gloomy faces, but even she was having a hard time maintaining her cheerful attitude. It was bad enough she couldn’t talk to her mom. Having to travel day after day in waterlogged clothes, eating soggy food made it worse. As she slowly rolled her sleeping bag, she wondered what she wouldn’t give for an hour of sunshine.
Holly came in and grabbed her backpack, then stopped and watched Julia for a moment. “What’s with the face?”
Without looking up, Julia said, “Couldn’t reach Mom on the ham.”
Holly sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her. “That stinks. I’d hate it if I wasn’t with Mom and Dad and couldn’t talk to them.”
Julia kicked her sleeping bag away and crossed her arms. “Every time I think life is getting better, something else bad happens. It’s been dragging on for so long. I’m sick of it.”
“We all are, but I know you’ve been going through it longer than us. Life wasn’t so bad on the ranch. There were days I almost forgot about the CME. I didn’t stop to think what it was like outside of our little bubble.”
Julia cringed at the memory of those months on the road. “It was hell. You have no idea. This is easy compared to what that was like.”
Holly lowered her arm and clasped her hands around her knees. “This is going to make you mad, but I’m going to say it, anyway. We all think it was stupid for your mom and Coop to run off like they did. Or if they had only waited a few weeks, they’d be with us now.”
Julia turned and looked at her. “I’m not mad. I’ve thought the same thing a hundred times, but they didn’t know the Army was going to swoop in and take over the ranch. None of us did. She just wanted to get to my brother and sister. She thought I was safe. I don’t blame her anymore.”
“You’re more forgiving than I’d be. If my parents did that, I’d never speak to them again.”
“Yes, you would, but it doesn’t matter. They won’t leave you. Uncle Mitch says as soon as we’re out of the bad weather, I’ll be able to talk to Mom.”
Holly climbed to her feet and threw her pack over her shoulder. “You can believe him. Grandpa’s always right.”
He wasn’t right about saving the ranch, Julia thought, but kept her thought to herself.
“You better hurry,” Holly said. “Everyone’s ready and just waiting for us to pack the tent.”
“Be there in a minute,” Julia said, as she watched her cousin hurry out of the tent. She had no choice but to trust her uncle and hope he was right this time. She got up and threw her rain poncho over her head to go help Holly take down their tent. Before ducking out of the tent, she pasted on a smile, determined to take her morale officer duties more seriously, hoping that pretending to be happy would make it true.
Chapter Eleven
Riley’s eyelids felt like lead when she opened her eyes. She looked around the dark room, confused at how she got into the bed. Last thing she remembered it had been early morning. When she sat up and swung her legs over the end of the bed, the room spun for a second before she got her bearings. She lifted her arms to rub her face, but something tugged on the left one. She glanced down and was surprised to see an IV line in the crook of her elbow.
She reached over to pull it out, but a voice said, “Don’t you dare. We’ve had a hard enough time keeping those in
your disobedient husband.”
Riley shifted her gaze toward the sound and found Dashay in a recliner, watching her. Dashay got up and lifted Riley’s legs back onto the bed, then gently pushed her against the pillows.
Riley cooperated for the moment but had no intention of staying in that bed. “Tell me what’s going on right now,” she said, “and why are you out of bed taking care of me?”
“You sort of passed out in Coop’s room, which wasn’t surprising since you hadn’t slept in more than a day or eaten in almost as long. I don’t care what Julia says, you aren’t Wonder Woman. Are you trying to hurt your baby?”
Riley glared at her. “Don’t be ridiculous. I feel better after my nap.”
“Nap? You’ve been asleep for twelve hours.”
She sat up again and tried to climb off the bed. “I have to get to Coop. How could you let me sleep for so long?”
Dashay pushed her back onto to the pillows a little less gently than the first time. “Don’t worry about Coop for the moment. He’s in excellent hands. A Nurse Practitioner named Loraine came in to check on you after Jace moved you in here. You were severely dehydrated and your electrolytes were out of balance. She’s been pumping you full of that wonder juice all day. Guess what? I got to hear your baby’s heartbeat. It’s nice and strong despite what a neglectful mother you’ve been.”
Riley was speechless for once and felt tears spring up in her eyes. “Can I hear it?” she whispered.
“Later. First, you need actual food. I’ll go order it if you promise not to leave this bed. Then, I’ll fill you in on Coop while you eat.”
Riley sank into the pillows and crossed her arms. “I won’t move until you get back.”
Dashay flashed her best smile. “About time you did as you’re told. Be right back.”
Riley watched her go, then rested her hands on her belly. The baby responded by flipping and turning inside her. She closed her eyes and imagined getting to hear the heartbeat and maybe even seeing an ultrasound. Every hospital had one.