Albatross Read Free Page B

switchboard was beginning to light up. Jack stayed transfixed on the nurse, waiting for more information. Then she started to say, “Hello? Hello? Are you there?”
    Jack snatched the phone from Samantha and listened, but there was only silence. While Samantha and Jack headed back to the emergency room, they were slowed by the tide of staff heading toward the lobby to see what had happened. The nurse came around to the other side of the nursing station and looked for a lateral file cabinet.
    Samantha had to admit that for the first time Jack seemed more interested in his job than her butt. Right now, he was in full security mode and was the first to see a lateral file at the far end of the desk. He approached the cabinet slowly, and as he began to open it, the nurse whispered, “Be careful, Jack.” If she had not been there with her hand gently touching his back, he might never have opened the file at all. She could see that machismo got the better of him. As Samantha watched Jack open the file cabinet, she saw blinking red, yellow, and green electronic light emitting diode lights with wires going in and out of four separately wrapped blocks. There also seemed to be a white piece of paper with some writing on it. The writing seemed foreign with the exception of the last part, which clearly read, “May 2.” Jack stepped back, and Samantha audibly gasped.
    Samantha said quietly, “Isn’t it May 2 today?” I said that well , she thought.
    It was easy to see that Jack was all business. He moved himself and Samantha back to the main nursing station. To be convincing, Samantha allowed Jack to physically move her away from the dangerous-looking bomb. If it wasn’t for the bomb threat and the impending crisis to come, Samantha might have chuckled that Jack finally got his wish to lay hands on her. But Samantha was feeling some guilt, knowing that she was responsible for starting this part of drama. Jack turned suddenly to her and said, “Get an outside line and call 911. Get fire, police, and bomb squad to the hospital.”
    Samantha immediately went to the phone and started her tasks. At the same time, she heard Jack’s voice going over the hospital’s public announcement in a firm, calm fashion: “Code black. Code black. Maternity ward is the first to move, emergency room second, remaining floors next. Code black. Maternity room first and emergency room second. This is not a test. This is not a drill.” With that public address, a flurry of activity from medical staff began by going to all the rooms to round up patients for evacuation. Good thing this all happened close to 7:00 a.m., when there were overlaps in both shifts. After his announcement, Jack gave Samantha a reassuring nod and moved off to assist coordinating with the hospital evacuation.
    Samantha wrapped up her 911 calls to police and fire departments and, she added for good measure, a request for a hazardous material team. During her calls, she was also multitasking on her smart phone. Her text was short and two the point: “Alpha, Charlie. White bishop on the move. Bravo out.” She pressed “send” and was on her feet with her jacket and her bag. As all staff ran around her, Samantha ducked into the nurse’s changing room and took less than five minutes to change. In no time, she removed her nurse uniform, black wig, and white shoes and replaced them with navy blue slacks, a white paramilitary shirt, and an orange safety jacket with EMT on the lapel and back. With her clothes changed, she was now in her “paramedic” identity. In addition to her change in uniform, she now emerged from the changing room with long red hair pinned up under a black cap with a medical insignia. The former nurse “Smith” was now fully donned in a paramedic uniform, and she completely blended into the chaos. While all medical staff and patients were evacuating to the parking lot, the designated “safe zone,” EMT Smith was heading into the “danger zone,” where the