I is for Ian

Yawning, I pulled the phone out from behind the pillow. It had only been an hour and a half or so. The sun probably wasn’t even up yet. Still, it was enough for a REM cycle, and I figured I should go check and make sure things were okay and that everyone was doing well before lying back down again. As long as everyone was good, I wouldn’t even get a cup of coffee in me before I put my head right back on that pillow and got another ninety minutes in.

Sitting up, I reached for my socks and pulled them under the covers.

I sighed and looked longingly at the coffee maker. I wanted the warmth of a good cup but didn’t want the caffeine, not if I was going to be able to lie down again. Grimacing, I decided to just get a cup of water instead and crossed over to the sink.

“Of course there’s no cups,” I mumbled.

Grumbling, I cupped my hands under the faucet and took a few sips before turning the water on warm and washing them. Then, I went to the door, opened it, and immediately noticed something was wrong.

The sun was still not up, but lines of purple and pink were starting to peek behind the mountains to the east. The hospital was absolutely silent. Not just quiet because there was barely anyone left in it, but silent. Not even the sound of machines was present. Nothing. Just the electric sound of the automatic lights that had come on the second I opened the door and the sound of the furnace unit pumping warm but still colder than was comfortable air through the building.

Weirded out, I walked down the hall to the entrance to the main ER section. Surely someone would be in there, and I would feel better once I saw another face. Even the stressed-out ones that were jealous of me getting sleep.

I opened the door and felt like someone had gripped my heart with a hand made of ice.

The ER was empty.

Going from bed to bed, curtain to curtain and station to station, I looked frantically for someone, anyone. They were all gone. No doctors, no nurses, no patients. It was absolutely desolate.

Except me.

Freaking out, I yanked my phone out of my pocket and fumbled through the contact list until I got to Dr. Sutton’s name. I dialed it and listened as it rang. And rang. And rang.

After the fourth ring, it went to voicemail, and I hit the End button. It wasn’t worth the message. Instead, I dialed another number, Daisy’s, and waited. Daisy had just been there. She had grabbed my bag for me out of the breakroom and brought it to me so I could go take a rest. Surely, she had to be somewhere in the building and could tell me what the hell was going on.

“Hello?” Daisy said after the third ring, sounding sleepy. “Mina? What’s going on?”

“Daisy,” I said, exhaling deeply. “I was so freaked-out. Thank goodness. Where is everybody? Did we all move to another part of the hospital? What’s going on?”

“What do you mean another part of the hospital?” she asked, sounding like she was waking up a bit but thoroughly confused. “I’m at home. In bed.”

“What?” I asked, feeling that now familiar sensation of ice around my heart. “You were staying the night. I remember you telling me.”

“And I did,” she said. “But I got on the bus with everyone else. So did you.” She paused for a second. “Didn’t you?”

“What bus?” I asked, my voice rising. “I don’t remember a bus. What are you talking about, Daisy?”

“You didn’t…” she began. “Mina, please tell me you aren’t still there.”

“Yes, Daisy, I am still here,” I said. “Where the hell did everyone else go?”

“Oh shit,” she said. “No, no. Shit.”

“Daisy, what happened?”

“I tried to come get you,” she said. “I woke you up. I told you the bus had made it back to get everyone that was left. The governor ordered our hospital to empty completely if possible. I asked you if you wanted me to keep a spot open for you on the bus I was taking, and you said no. I figured you were just going to take the last one with Dr. Sutton.”

“No,” I said, feeling my throat tighten. “I don’t remember that. I’m still here, Daisy. Only the emergency lights are on. I can tell that now. They only come on when I walk into a room.”

“Oh, no,” Daisy said. “That means they’re running completely off the generators.”

“I know.”

“You need to call Dr. Sutton,” Daisy said. “He needs to know what’s going on.”

“I know. I already tried. He didn’t answer.”

“Then try again. Mina, you have to get ahold of someone and let them know. Someone higher up than me. Tell them you were left behind.”