After the shot, the child relaxed almost immediately, his movements slowing and gradually stopping. He became still and peaceful so quickly it was almost like nothing had happened, his little face a picture of innocence in a building full of horrors. It was one life among hundreds which had been saved, for the time being.
Austin looked across the ward and saw Samuel who remained by Cassie’s bedside, talking to her soothingly and stroking her hair.
“Thank you,” the father gushed, grabbing Austin’s hand and shaking it feverishly. “Thank you so much.”
“It’s okay,” Austin replied, his eyes sweeping the room and counting the number of patients who seemed to be lying dead in their beds. “Glad I could help.”
He moved away from the family almost on auto-pilot, counting up the figures that he had been unable to save. He wasn’t a doctor or a nurse and he had done everything he could, but it was still difficult to see that many still bodies and know that there were plenty more that should still be alive. Samuel finally noticed him and turned away from Cassie for a moment, taking a step toward where Austin stood motionless. As he did, the lights flickered again and Austin’s breath hitched in his throat. Surely not again. Not so soon.
Everyone on the ward seemed to freeze and there was a moment where they all looked upwards to the lights, begging for the same thing not to happen. They flickered again and then a silence came, the machines fading to nothing as yet another blackout ripped through the hospital and put everyone’s life back in immediate danger. Austin had managed to help one child, but how many more were there that were now going to be fighting to stay alive again.
He could only do what he could, but just like with Daveed, it didn’t feel like it was enough.
Chapter 5
“Okay, thanks Martha. We’ll see you later tonight.”
Closing the door on her friend, Jessie glanced down at the piece of paper in her hand and sighed. This was inevitable, but she still couldn’t believe it was happening. Today marked the second day on the island since the ship had left port, taking with it over half of those who had lived there. Now that the shock of what had actually happened was finally beginning to subside, those that remained on Kauai agreed it was time to start thinking about their future.
“What was that?”
“It was Martha from down the road,” Jessie informed her husband as she walked back into the kitchen. Arthur sat on the floor building blocks with their two sons. “There’s going to be a meeting later tonight for everyone who was left behind so we can try and figure out what we’re going to do.”
“What about the boys?”
“We can bring them,” Jessie replied. “Some of the older kids are going to look after them while we talk.”
“Okay,” Art smiled at his wife, seeing the worry lines that grew thicker and thicker on her forehead and wishing he could do or say something to ease her stress. “What time?”
“Five. At the surf shack.”
“Okay babe, sounds good to me.”
Jessie smiled wistfully at her husband and turned away, leaving him to continue playing with Zayn and Axel. She was struggling to talk about things in front of the boys, not wanting them to worry about what was happening but also aware that she couldn’t shield them entirely from the truth. Axel was already having nightmares about being trampled by the crowd as they rushed to board the disappearing ship, her youngest traumatized by something Jessie feared was only going to get worse.
She just wanted some answers. The news reports were becoming increasingly scarce and when they were aired now, they were reporting more on the disasters in big cities instead of focusing on aid and how the country was going to get through this. Without any way to immediately contact her brother or parents – the phone lines were all dead and the internet connection across Kauai was too patchy for a proper call anymore – Jessie felt like she was operating in the dark. She’d sent a few emails to her brother but was yet to hear back, uncertain whether they had just failed to deliver properly or whether he was simply unable to respond. It did Jessie no good to worry about Samuel and her parents as well as her husband and two boys so she tried to think about them as little as possible.
“Are you okay?”
Looking up, Jessie realized Art had left Zayn and Axel playing by themselves and now stood in the doorway of her study, a steaming mug of coffee in his hand. He smiled at her with the same kind eyes that she had fallen in love with many years ago and Jessie found herself wanting to dive into the deep blue ocean of her husband’s soul and just swim peacefully in circles until this was all over.
“I don’t know,” she replied as she accepted the mug of coffee from him. “I feel lost.”
“You’re not lost, Jess,” Art shook his head, walked around the back of her chair and rested his hands on her shoulders, massaging her. “This meeting tonight is a good idea. We’ve still got plenty of skilled people left on this island and we’ve got sufficient resources, too. This isn’t a hundred years ago – it’s not like we’re all living in mud huts
