The Blackout ⤖ George Russell

O N E

The beeping sound in the white room was nerve-wracking. The monitors were working the best they could. It was silence in the room. The sun was shining outside, it looked like a beautiful, happy day. Everyone in the room wished they could call it beautiful, but they could not. Hugo let out a sigh and let his hand support his head when his elbow was leaning on the handrail. Maude kept looking at the floor, she was afraid she would hear the one long beep someday. Aubrey sat next to the window and watched people outside.

Was there a chance everything would go back to normal? Perhaps it would, but people said there wasn't much hope. Have a bit of faith, they said, it will all go back to normal soon. Time past and there wasn't much hope left. It was taking too much time now.

"Can you stop bouncing your leg, please?" Maude asked annoyedly and looked at her daughter Aubrey.

Aubrey looked at her mother. "What?"

Maude cleared her throat. "Can you stop bouncing your leg? It is making me nervous."

Aubrey rolled her eyes. "You are already nervous, me stopping bouncing my leg isn't gonna stop that."

"Aubrey Caroline Clarke," Maude began. "You have to stop behaving like a complete lost human-"

"Hey," Hugo stirred and raised his voice. "Calm down, both of you. I know this is a difficult situation, but we can't change it."

The silence returned back to the room. It felt like the beeping had become louder this time. Being surrounded by four white walls was almost claustrophobic. Those white walls had different meanings in different situations, there were probably hundreds of them in this building. This was the only place people get happy, get sad, get the best news of their lives, getting the worse news of their lives, breathing for the first time and letting a breath out for the last time at the same time. This was a place with mixed feelings.

It was white. It was anti-bacteria. It was the hospital.

"Mrs Hartmann and mister Clarke."

Hugo and Maude got up from their stairs and looked at the man in the white coat.

"Doctor Kline," Maude said, her voice was shaky.

Doctor Kline saw a young lady sitting between the window and the bed. "Aubrey, can I talk to your parents?" Aubrey nodded. "Alone?"

The look on Aubrey's face was concerned. Talking alone to the parents meant something. Aubrey nodded slowly and got up. Her eyes were filled with fear when she looked at her parents. She left the room and leant against the wall.

Doctor Kline closed the door of the room, and a small smile played on his lips. "Have a seat, please," he said and pointed at the chairs. He got a stool and sat on it in front of the scared parents. "The first question; how are you?"

Hugo took a deep breath. "Devastated, tired, but alright," he honestly answered.

Kline looked at Maude, and she nodded, agreeing on her husband's answer. "I understand," he said. "Nora has been in a coma for almost a month now, a medically induced coma. That's a long time for a young, fit, healthy girl like Nora."

"Wha...what are you saying?" Maude stammered and grabbed Hugo's hand.

"I'm not saying anything," Kline said. "I just want to let you know this isn't normal for Nora. We have tried to wake her up this weekend but in vain...Nora is too weak, but it isn't healthy to keep her in a medically induced coma. We have to come with alternatives, I want you to know we are working on it with a lot of people," he explained.

"Is there a chance Nora won't make it?" Hugo blurted. "That's all I want to know," he whispered.

Kline looked at the young woman on the bed, he swallowed hard. "If she doesn't wake up in one week, we have to consider other options. In most cases, a coma is induced for a few days up to two weeks, Nora is been in a coma for almost a month. We are trying everything we can to wake her up," he told them and looked back at them . "She is going through a hard time."

Hugo gasped for air and covered his mouth with his hand. It couldn't be true he had to let go of his daughter one day. Nora was young, too young for this. Maude shook her head and blinked away the tears in her eyes.

"We're doing everything we can," Kline said once again, his pager began to make a noise. "Stay strong, I will be back for a post up later this afternoon. If you will excuse me," he quickly said and got up. He ran towards the door, opened it and ran to another patient of his.

Aubrey's eyes were focused on the doctor, did this mean something? "Is something wrong?" The tone in her voice was panic. Her eyes found George's, who arrived a minute ago.

George looked down. "I don't know. Let's go inside," he said and comforted her by placing his hand on her shoulder. Aubrey nodded. "Let's go," he softly said.

They both entered the room and saw an upset couple sitting in the chairs. Hugo and Maude were processing the words they got from the doctor.

"What did he say?" Aubrey said and looked at her parents.

George pressed his lips into a thin line and crossed his arms in front of his chest to cover up the shaky hands he had. Hugo and Maude noticed George entered the room with Aubrey, but they didn't bother to greet him. And he understood that.

"She's in a coma for too long," Hugo said. "We might have to consider other options."

"Like what?" Aubrey said. "Because we can't let her die."

Maude looked at Aubrey. "She will not die, Aubrey."

George separated himself from the family and walked over to the bed. It hurt him to see Nora this fragile. He sat down next to her and grabbed her hand what he placed between both of his hands. That smile, her smile what captured many hearts, wasn't on her face, her eyes were closed. Her blonde hair was laying next to her head on a pillow. There was a tube going through her throat, it looked horrible. The lively in Nora was gone. Her skin was warm, but cold at the same time. He brought her hand towards his mouth and pressed a kiss on it.

Minutes passed. George his mind was quiet, he couldn't think of anything. He was staring at something randomly in the room, he didn't even know at what he was staring. The beeping faded slowly away, everything around him fell apart. It was just him and her. George softly squeezed in her hand.

To his surprise, he felt a soft squeeze back. He squeezed his eyebrows together and squeezed in her hand for a second time, did he feel it or was it just something that he wanted to feel? Nora squeezed again in his hand, but this time harder. George's jaw dropped and looked at her face; her eyelids were shaking.

"Guys," George said and looked at the family. They stopped talking. "I think she's waking up."