Hal sat quietly in a chair. “Yes, I’m just in thought. That’s all. And don’t try to read my mind, please.”
“Knock. Knock.” Danny Hoi poked his head in. “Hey, Frank, I have someone I want you to meet.”
Robbie lifted Frank’s phone to get a picture of Frank when he saw Hank.
The reaction was not what anyone expected.
“Frank,” Danny said. “This is Nine-B.”
“Nunbee, huh?” He extended his hand. “Frank. Nice to meet you. Are you from Africa? The name sounds African.”
“No,” Hank replied. “And they call me Hank here.”
“Hank. Good name.” Frank stared then snapped his finger. “You look really familiar.”
Robbie laughed loudly.
“Have we met before. Because I know, I know you.” Frank pointed.
“Frank!” Joe snapped. “what the hell is the matter with you. He came from the future.”
“Then I met him.”
“No! You said he looks familiar?”
“Yes.”
“Familiar, Frank.”
“Yes.”
“Wanna know why?”
“Because we met?”
“No!” Joe shouted. “Because he’s a clone Dean made.”
“Of?”
“Who do you think?” Joe asked.
“If I knew I wouldn’t ask.”
“You.”
Frank looked at Hank. “No. He looks nothing like me.”
“Oh my God.” Joe brought this hand to his own face with a slap.
Robbie laughed. He laughed so hard he started to cough. He coughed continuously.
Frank spun to him. “You okay?”
Robbie nodded, coughed again with a smile, then froze.
There was a second of quietness, then he made a noise, a deep dry wheezing sound. No air was getting in our out of his lungs. He struggled again as his chest arched out.
“He can’t breathe,” Frank called out. “Get Dean! Get some one.” He leaned down to Robbie. “Calm. Calm. Look at me. Look at me little brother. It’s gonna be alright.”
Robbie struggled to breathe his body jolting with every diligent attempt he gave.
“Where’s Dean!” Frank yelled, then brought his voice to a calming one, he had one arm behind Robbie’s back bracing him as grabbed Robbie’s hand. “Look at me. Just watch me.” He felt Robbie’s fingers grip tightly around his.
Robbie reached up his other hand. His eyes locked in a deep stare with Frank, his fingers trailed across Frank’s chin, a single tear rolled from the corner of his eye, as he strained a whispering, “Frank.”
Silence.
Robbie went motionless.
A gut wrenching, “No!” came from Frank as his little brother went still in his hold. “No!” His hands reached frantically to feel for a pulse, then he pushed the bed flat.
Dean was just walking out the door when Danny Hoi screamed his name.
He ran as fast as he could to Robbie’s room and felt as if he were hit with baseball bat when he arrived at the room. He couldn’t breathe, or move and an instant ache radiated through his entire being.
Joe stood gripping the foot of the bed. Jimmy faced the wall, arms folded tight to his body while Frank and Hal frantically performed CPR on Robbie.
Dena spun around to get the crash cart just a few feet away, when he did, he slammed into Ellen.
“What’s going on?” she asked rushed.
“Get the PCRS.” Dean spoke fast. “Get the PCRS now!”
“Oh my god, Robbie.”
“Now, Ellen!” Dean grabbed the cart and wheeled it into Robbie’s room. “Watch out.” He moved the cart near the bed, whipped out his stethoscope and placed it to Robbie’s chest. He tossed it off, opened the top draw of the cart and grabbed a syringe. He injected the fluid into the IV line. He looked at Frank across the bed.
“One second he was fine, the next…” Frank spoke through hyperventilated breathes. “He stopped breathing … he stopped. He just stopped.”
Quickly Dean exposed the defibrillator and placed monitor pad on Robbie’s chest.
A single tone emerged. After putting a bag valve mask on Robbie’s face, Dean returned to the defib. “Frank, do compressions while this gets read. Hal do the breaths...”
Immediately, Frank and Hal began.
“Paddles ready,” Dean approached Robbie.
Behind him, he heard Joe. “My God this isn’t happening.”
“Clear.” Dean placed the paddles on Robbie.
His body jolted. He looked at the monitor.
Nothing.
“Again. Compressions.” Dean instructed and changed the voltage. “Ready. Stand back.” He brought them down. “Clear.”
Click. Jolt. Nothing.
“PCRS.” Ellen called out as she raced in. “Direct cardiac and intravenous…”
“Direct one.” Dean held out his hand for the syringe,
Ellen handed it to him. “Please, let this work.”
Dean focused. He lifted the syringe, felt for the correct placement and delivered the PCRS.
He waited.
Still nothing.
“Clear the room,” Dean said. “Everyone clear the room. I need space.”
“I’m not leaving my brother,” Frank said.
“Frank.” Hal called him.
“I’m not leaving Robbie!”
Dean lifted his eyes to Frank. “Compressions. Now.” He turned back to the defib and adjusted the voltage again.
Thirty-six minutes. Joe knew this because he stood in the hall back against Robbie’s door, staring at the clock. He couldn’t be in there. His heart was crushed. Ellen sat on the floor with Jimmy. Danny Hoi paced. Hal kept going in and out.
Joe held his position. He didn’t move.
Andrea had arrived, she was emotionally unable to help Dean. She tried to give Joe comfort, but he didn’t want it. He didn’t want to be touched.
He just stayed there listening.
In his mind, he prayed. He prayed harder than he had ever done. “Please, God. Don’t take my son. Please don’t take my son.”
It wasn’t happening, it couldn’t be real.
“Please, God, not Robbie.”
He listened to the sounds of the room. The noise of Frank delivering compressions. The clicking of the machine.
Dean calling out commands. “Compressions. Clear. More PCRS. Compressions.”
“No, no, no. God, please. No. Not my son. Not my son.”
Joe knew no amount of prayers would make a difference. It was out of his hands. It was out of everyone’s hands.
Thirty-six minutes.
Dean reached for the machine again.
“Compressions. I’ll try another round of PCRS.” His hand grabbed the paddle.
“Dean,” Frank’s voice cracked.
“Do compressions.”
“Dean.” Frank grabbed his hand, stopping him. “He’s not coming back.” He shook his head emotionally. “He’s not … he’s gone.”
Dean gripped the defibrillator tightly. Wanting to crush it. “How do I tell your father?” he lifted his eyes to Frank, speaking in a whisper. “How do I go out there and tell him? How do I look him in the eyes and tell him I couldn’t save his son? How do I look at anyone again? It was Robbie.” He took a deep breath, choking on his emotions. “God! I’m so sorry, Frank. I am so sorry.” His hand slammed down on the machine. Slowly he faced the bed and Robbie who lay peacefully. He removed the IV and the monitors, straightened the covers, and ran his hand down Robbie’s arm. “I’m sorry.” He turned and walked out.
Frank gripped the edge of the bed, leaned down and placed his lips to Robbie’s forehead. “Goodbye Little Brother. I love you. I love you so much.” His eyes squeezed tighter when he heard the sob from the hallway. It was Hal.
He didn’t hear Dean’s voice. Just the reaction.
He felt their sobs, their heartbreak, he knew it because he was feeling it. He also, as a father, knew
what it was going to do to his Dad.
Frank heard Joe enter the room.
“Can I…” Joe walked to the bed. “Can I have a moment with my son?”
Frank nodded and stepped back.
Slowly Joe approached the bed. He sat down, then lifted Robbie into his hold. Robbie’s back to his chest, Joe wrapped his arms around him tightly and embraced his son. “Oh Robbie.” Joe clutched him tightly, pressing his cheek to his. “My Robbie. What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do without you?”
Danny Hoi was still there. He just couldn’t leave. His feet wouldn’t move, his body wouldn’t function. How? How could this happen? So fast. So unexpected.
When Dean stepped into the hall, he said nothing. He just shook his head as the deliverance of the news. It was hard to watch what happened to the Slagels to that moment. Each and every one of them holding on to hope that somehow, someway, that machine would start beeping, That Dean would pull a miracle and bring Robbie back.
He couldn’t.
It was out of his hands.
It was agonizing to watch Dean looking defeated. Danny expected Ellen to lose it, instead she handled it calmly, as if in shock. That would change, Danny was certain of it.
The worst was when Joe walked in the room.
A man who projected a wall of strength was broken.
His sounds of heartbreak seeped into the hall and delivered the final crushing blow. Danny wanted to crumble. It hurt to hear Joe lose it.
It was a huge loss. Not just to the family but the entire community.
As second in charge, Danny knew it was his responsibility to step in. To inform every one of the tragic and incomprehensible loss Beginnings had just suffered.
He knew he wouldn’t be able to speak the words without choking on his own emotions. Saying it made it real and more than anything, Danny didn’t want it to be real.
Out of respect for Joe and the Slagels, for the multitudes that loved Robbie, the news had to be shared.
Danny thought of the best way to do it. A way to reach everyone, yet, Danny would never have to vocalize the words.
He didn’t think much about it, after lifting his phone, he wrote from the heart and delivered the painful announcement.
‘Nothing will ever be the same. No smile will ever be as bright. The world just stopped spinning. Robbie Slagel … has passed away.’
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NEXT UP: AFTERMATH
Escape the Planet of the LEPS: Beginnings Series Book 28 Page 16
