by E A Chance
The OR nurse took a step toward Natalie. “You’re telling us that West Virginia is declaring war on the United States?”
Dr. Prichard got to his feet. “No, we’re simply defending our constitutional rights and preparing to repulse Kearns’ forces. We refuse to be forced into one of these Residential Zones.”
The room became dead silent. Coop and Riley stared at each other in disbelief, and Dashay grabbed Riley’s hand.
“I want no part of this,” the OR nurse said and headed for the exit.
Several people rose to follow him, but a guard who equaled him in height stepped in his path. They faced each other with their arms crossed until another man came up behind the guard and ordered him to step away.
The guard said, “Yes, sir,” and backed into the hallway.
The nurse didn’t budge until the five at the front table stood in unison, and Dr. Prichard said, “Welcome, Mr. Governor.”
Riley studied Governor Mitchell as he strode in and stopped in the center of the room. He was tall and gray-haired, reminding Riley of her grandfather, who had been a gentle man with inner strength. The governor’s expressive bright eyes slowly swept the room, then he gestured for everyone to sit. The group obeyed without hesitation.
“I heard a bit of your conversation from the hallway as I passed,” he said, just loud enough for them to hear. “As outsiders, I understand your reluctance to become a party to our battles, but trust me when I say the alternative is far worse. We’re not asking any of you to fight. We simply need you to help care for our sick and wounded. You’ll be protected and generously compensated.”
A young, dark-haired woman at the far end of Riley’s table raised her hand. When the governor acknowledged her, she said, “What if we refuse to help? Are we prisoners?”
He gave her a benevolent smile. “We won’t force you to work, but those who don’t contribute to the community cannot access our provisions. You aren’t prisoners, but we can’t allow you to leave for security reasons. Kearns’ troops are only a day or so from Charleston. For our safety and yours, you must stay until after the battle. We’re hopeful it won’t last more than a day.” He let that sink in, then said, “Any more questions?”
Riley had questions. As she raised her hand, Coop grabbed it and tucked it under his leg. He gave a quick shake of his head and a look that told her to keep quiet. She relented under protest, trusting his judgment.
When there were no raised hands, Governor Mitchell said, “I appreciate your service. I’ll let you get back to your orientation.”
Riley was numb as she went through the motions of paying attention to the rest of the ninety-minute meeting. She’d been so hopeful about moving Julia to Charleston, but she couldn’t bring her daughter into the middle of what may become a war zone. She also knew that she and Coop had to get out of there before the fighting started, no matter what it took.
The minute the orientation ended, Riley, Coop, and Dashay hurried to where Echo was tethered under a tree. The area in front of the capitol had cleared, except for the troops.
Dashay said, “I want to check on Nico. We’ll talk on the way.”
As soon as they were out of earshot of anyone they didn’t want to overhear, Riley said, “We didn’t have time to tell you this morning, but we’re heading back to Wytheville. We’d hoped to get Julia and bring her here, then stay until the baby’s old enough to travel, but that plan’s shot with the governor declaring war on Kearns. I just want you to know you’re welcome to come with us.”
Dashay stopped in the middle of the street. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing. You’ve been all fired up to get to Colorado, and now you’re turning tail? How do you plan to get past Kearns’ troops? You heard what they said in that meeting.”
Riley tugged on Dashay’s arm to get her moving. “I’m not turning tail. Brooks and Adrian are right. Trying to cross the continent pregnant is a bad idea. We’ll wait it out at the ranch until we can travel with Julia and the baby.”
“We’ll travel back to the ranch overland, just the way we got here,” Coop said. “Most of the trail we took is isolated. Kearns’ troops can’t have the resources to cover every piece of land in the country. You and Nico should join us. It’ll make us all the stronger when we start out for Colorado in a year or two.”
Dashay shook her head. “Nico won’t be strong enough to travel for weeks, and he’s almost as determined to get home as you are. He’s from a close family. He wants to get back to them, and I have no objection to settling in New Mexico.”
“We could wait until Nico can go with us,” Riley said. “He’d just have to wait a little longer to get home. Maybe the world will be more settled by then.”
“There’s another glaring flaw in your plan,” Dashay said, as they approached the hospital. “You have to escape from Charleston first. They’re not just going to let two surgeons walk out the door.”
Riley had thought of that. She was quiet as she watched Coop tie Echo’s reins to a bike rack, trying to figure out how to answer. As he walked back toward them, she said, “I don’t care what it takes, I’m getting out of here. We escaped Branson’s compound. Leaving Charleston will be a cakewalk compared to that.”
“Give it a minute,” Dashay said. “We haven’t even been here for twenty-four hours and you’re planning your exit strategy. Waiting out a one-day battle might be better than heading into the thick of it.”
Riley shrugged, then walked into the hospital. She smiled as Dashay looked wide-eyed around the hospital entrance. “What do you think of your new workspace?”
“Feels like waking from a nightmare into reality. Like the CME never happened.”
“My exact thoughts at first sight,” Coop said.
Riley led the way to the reception to find out Nico’s room number. She rested her arms on the counter and was about to ask the gray-haired woman seated behind the desk when Flynn, the nurse who’d helped them earlier, ran up behind them.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” he said in a rush. “Come with me, now.”
“We’re going to check on Nico first,” Coop said.
Flynn waved for them to follow. “I’ll fill you in on the way.” He noticed Dashay and paused for a second. “You a doctor, too?”
“Surgical nurse,” she said.
“Excellent. You come, too.”
When she hesitated, Coop cocked his head for her to join them, so she got into step behind him. Flynn led them toward the trauma unit. As they followed him, Riley was puzzled to see maimed and broken patients on gurneys lining the walls. The hallways had been clear when they’d passed that way in the morning.
“Was there an explosion?” she asked Flynn, as she hurried to keep up with him. “Wouldn’t we have heard it?”
“No explosion,” was all he said as he opened the curtain to one cubicle.
A young man in blood-stained clothes lay on the bed, groaning as what looked to be two nurses worked to staunch the bleeding.
“What happened to this man?” Coop asked, as he pulled on a pair of gloves. “What’s going on here?”
Flynn eyed him for a moment, then ran a hand through his hair. “These people were all wounded fleeing Kearns’ forces in a town called Beckley, about fifty miles south east of here.” Turning to the nurses, he said, “These are two of our new surgeons, Drs. Cooper and Poole.”
Riley stepped toward the patient and the nurses moved out of her way. Coop went to the other side of the gurney. As Riley began examining the patient, she said, “Fifty miles? These wounds are fresh.”
“The governor has sent out buses to gather up survivors,” one nurse said. “It’s getting rough out there.”
Coop lifted a square of gauze to reveal a gaping abdominal wound, and the patient cried out in agony. “Do you have morphine or other pain killers?”
Flynn gave one nurse a quick nod. She rushed out and returned with a vial and syringe moments later. As she handed them to Coop, Flynn said, “Dilaudid.”
&nb
sp; “Ah, the good stuff,” he said, as he injected the drug into the patient’s IV. The man immediately relaxed.
“What’s your name?” Riley asked.
He gave her a drug addled grin, and said, “Doug.”
“Good, Doug,” Riley went on. “Can you tell us what happened to you?”
“Sure. The army showed up and took over our town. There were too many of them for us to fight, so some of us bided our time, then made a run for it. They caught up and shot us with big guns. They killed my brother.”
Doug had just confirmed what they’d heard in their orientation. Riley glanced at Coop, then went back to work on Doug.
“We need to operate on you, Doug,” Coop said. “Have you eaten anything recently?”
Before Doug could answer, his eyes rolled back in his head and he went limp. Alarms blared on the monitors.
“He’s in arrest. Crash cart!” Riley ordered.
Dashay helped Coop and her work to resuscitate him for five minutes before Riley stepped back and shook her head. “He’s gone.”
Flynn turned to the two nurses standing near the door. “Please, take care of him and clean this room. We need it. The rest of you, next patient.”
As the three of them followed Flynn to another cubicle, Dashay touched his arm to stop him, and said, “I know these people are critical, but how’s Nico?”
Flynn shook his head. “Right, sorry. He was doing much better when I left him. Fever was down and he was more coherent. I don’t know his prognosis, but he has a chance now.”
“Thank you,” she said, as they started moving.
“This reminds me of the early days after the CME,” Riley said. “How long has it been this way?”
“Hours,” Flynn said. “We’ve seen nothing like this in months. Proves Kearns’ forces are closing in. You got here at just the right time.”
Riley passed him on her way to the next patient, and said, “We’re not staying.”
Flynn stared at her like she was mad. “How can you say that when you’ve seen what we’re up against? What kind of doctor would you be? And why would you leave? You see what’s waiting for you outside the city.”
Riley folded her arms. “We’ve survived worse.”
Coop stepped between them. “We’ll stay and do what we can for the critically wounded. Who’s next?”
Flynn introduced them to their next patient, then took Dashay to give her a quick tour of the hospital. Flynn’s words echoed in Riley’s head while she helped Coop clean and stitch a woman with a gunshot wound through the fleshy part of her upper arm. For all her bravado, she was terrified of what awaited them outside the city.
They’d passed through the edges of Beckley on their way to Charleston. It had been a quiet little hamlet only days earlier before Kearns’ forces arrived. How much more of the countryside had changed since they’d traveled there? Was there any hope of returning the way they’d come?
She pondered their situation as she treated the never-ending stream of patients, but came no closer to a solution. Each patient coherent enough to speak came with a harrowing story of barely escaping soldiers determined to stop them. What chance did she and Coop stand against such forces?
When she was about to drop from exhaustion that evening, she found an empty room and propped herself on the bed to eat her snack of cheese and crackers, fruit cup, and a protein bar. She’d eaten every few hours to stave off nausea. Her plan had worked but had done nothing for the fatigue. The only thing that would cure that was a good night’s sleep.
After her meal, she took out the blood draw kit she’d swiped from a supply cabinet. After sanitizing her skin with an alcohol wipe, she wrapped the tourniquet around her upper arm and slid the needle into a vein in the crook of her elbow. Before she finished drawing the blood, Coop burst in and glared at her.
“I’ve been searching all over for you.” He strode up to her and wrapped his fingers around the syringe before pushing her hand away. “What are we doing with your blood?”
He slid the needle out when the vial was full and motioned for her to press a piece of gauze to her arm while he looked for tape.
While holding the white square in place, she said, “Pregnancy test. This is more accurate than over-the-counter tests. Before we decide our course of action, we need to be certain. Let’s carry that to the lab and ask for a rush. We’ll wait for the results, then get out of here.”
He held out his hand to help her off the bed. “No argument from me.”
After dropping her sample with the lab technician, they found a bench in a quiet courtyard to wait. Sitting there in the gentle evening air, watching the sun dip below the hills, she could almost persuade herself that the day had been a bad dream.
Coop wrapped his arm around her, and she rested her head against his chest. “What are we going to do, Coop?”
“Whether or not you’re pregnant, I see three choices. We stay and ride out the war and your pregnancy, we try to make our way back to the ranch and stay there until we can travel safely to Colorado, or we head west as planned.”
She looked up at him, and said, “Is there a choice D?”
Coop brushed a tear from the end of her nose. “Give me a minute to come up with one. We’ll know which path is the right one when the time comes.”
“I’ll have to trust you on that.”
“Wise choice. Have you seen Nico today?” She shook her head, so he stood and helped her to her feet. “We have time before your results are ready and he could probably use some friendly faces.”
No one paid attention to them as they made their way to Nico’s room. Riley peeked through the door, then went in when she saw he was propped up eating dinner. After giving his hand an encouraging squeeze, she dragged a chair next to the bed while Coop went to the nurses’ station to ask for his notes.
“You’re making a miraculous recovery,” she said.
“Hardly,” he answered weakly, then held up his arm to show her the IV tube. “It’s the good juices they’re pumping into me. Dr. Powell says I wouldn’t have survived the day if you and Coop hadn’t gotten me here when you did. Severe sepsis. Looks like I’m going to be here for several days.”
“Glad we made it to Charleston in time.” Coop came in with Nico’s chart and handed it to Riley.
While she read, Nico said, “What’s it like out there? No one tells me anything. What have you been doing all day? Kicking up your heels, I bet.”
Riley glanced at Coop, unsure of how much they should tell Nico in his weakened state. Knowing the truth wouldn’t change anything.
Coop leaned against the arm of Riley’s chair and said, “We’ve just been settling in and helping around here. This place is incredible. Almost like before the CME, except no Wi-Fi or cell phones.”
“I’ve noticed,” Nico said. “How’d they get so lucky?”
“Bunch of smart and tough people working together. It’s heartening to see it can be done,” Riley said. “Have you seen Brooks or Adrian today? Dashay told us she stopped in to see you.”
“Haven’t seen either of them. Tell them hey for me.”
“Will do,” Coop said, and motioned to Riley that it was time to go. “I need to get her home. She’s been on her feet all day. We’ll come tomorrow.”
Riley kissed his cheek. “Get some rest so you can get out of here. It’s not the same without you.” She gave a small wave as she turned into the hallway and leaned against the wall. “Did you see his numbers? It’s a miracle he survived. Hopefully, he’ll continue to respond to the treatment. The next few days will be critical.”
“Even if he does, he won’t be going anywhere for at least two weeks. If we decide to leave, we’ll be doing it without Nico.”
She started down the corridor toward the stairs, and said, “As much as I hate to admit it, we can’t base our choice on Nico’s recovery, even if means leaving Dashay behind, too. This decision has to be about what’s best for our family. My blood test should be done. Ready to find
out the results?”
He took her hand and pulled her toward the stairwell so fast she could hardly keep up. She followed along, wishing she shared his excitement, but after the day they’d had, all she felt was a renewed sense of dread.
When they reached the lab, Riley leaned on the counter and smiled at the technician. “Do you have the results for Dr. Poole?”
“Right here, Doctor,” he said, and slid the paper with the handwritten results across to her.
She nonchalantly picked up the paper and folded it without looking. She gave his nametag a quick glance, then said, “Thank you for taking care of this so quickly, Paul. Have a nice evening.”
She and Coop strolled nonchalantly out of the lab, then ran to an empty room as soon as they turned a corner.
Riley’s hands shook as she unfolded the paper. She thrust it at Coop and looked away with her arms folded. “I’m too nervous. You read it.”
She heard the paper rustle, then nothing. Thinking Coop’s silence meant the test was negative, she slowly turned to find him beaming.
“Hot damn!” he said and slapped his thigh. “I’m going to be a dad.”
He held the paper out to her, and she shook even harder as she reached for it. Her tears dripped onto the paper as she read. A part of her had hoped she’d been wrong about the pregnancy and just contracted some parasite, but as the reality sunk in, she realized a bigger part was thrilled to be creating a new life with Coop. Of one thing she was certain, their lives had just become much more complicated than ever and would never be the same.
Chapter Six
Julia looked out the living room window for the twentieth time, hoping to see Uncle Mitch’s old red truck coming up the drive. He and her uncles Russell and Jesse had gone to Blacksburg three days earlier, and no one had heard a word from them since.
