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“Ah!” I jump in the air and spin around, having been so preoccupied I hadn’t realized there was someone else on the elevator with me. Only the second I start to get a good look at the man who was standing silently—and directly, I might add—behind me, the lights flicker and go out. The elevator makes a strange noise and then coasts to a stop.
What the fuck?
“Um.” Fear ripples through me, and my instinct is to go to the panel and repeatedly smash the open button with my fist until the doors do just that. Or scream for help. Or generally lose my freaking mind. My lungs empty and immediately refill, but I can’t seem to catch my breath.
“Don’t move,” the man demands urgently. “The power must have gone out. It’s been going out all over the city today from the storms. It’ll likely come back on in a second, or the hospital’s generators will kick in.”
“Right. And I should try not to panic, correct? Because I’ll be honest with you, this is legit one of my biggest fears and a reason why I take the stairs whenever I can. Why didn’t I take the stairs? It’s only ten floors.”
He chuckles. “Don’t worry. We’re perfectly safe. All modern elevators should have safety lights and the fan should keep going.”
“I hate to be the one to point out the negative, but the lights are out, though bonus, I do hear the fan in the ceiling.”
“Yeah, I’m noticing that. I take it this elevator isn’t the newest?”
I snort. “It’s been here since I was a kid, and I don’t think it was new then. And not to be a total downer, but that generator you promised me isn’t kicking in either.”
He audibly sighs. “So it seems. Okay then. Plan B.” I hear him move around, and then the screen of his phone lights up, illuminating his downturned face in weird shadows and a blue glow. “There we go.” Turning on his flashlight, he flips the phone around and goes straight for the control panel which appears to be dead. “There has to be a maintenance or emergency number to call.”
“How do you know so much about elevators?”
His head turns slightly in my direction, and I catch a hint of a smile before he turns back to the panel. “This is my third time being stuck in one.”
“Third?!” I bark incredulously. “Who gets stuck in an elevator three times? Remind me never to get on an elevator with you again.”
He laughs, the sound rich and smooth, and not the least bit ruffled. Unlike me. I’m a half-beat from hysterical. “When we get off this one, I’ll be sure to remind you.”
“I suppose I should be grateful you’ve done this as many times as you have and are alive to talk about it. And get stuck a third time.” Before he can locate the number, my phone rings in my hand. “Even better than that number, it’s my friend, Keegan.”
I answer. “Hey, Keegs.”
“Oh my god! There is no power. As in, the main generator isn’t working and the backup generator is only powering the red outlets and necessary life-support systems. Please tell me you’re not?—”
“Stuck in the elevator?” I finish for her. “I am.”
“Holy shit. I’m calling Bruce. He’ll know what to do.”
“Sounds good. Thanks!”
“Don’t go anywhere.” Then she laughs awkwardly. “Sorry, I’m flustered. I have laboring women here with minimal monitors and my best friend is trapped in a freaking hospital elevator. I’ll call you back.”
She hangs up on me, and since it seems I’m not going anywhere anytime soon, I take a seat, scoot my butt until I find the wall, and press my back into it. Gross or not, I’m too exhausted and scared to stand anymore. “Did you hear any of that?”
“Yes,” the stranger admits. “Your friend is a phone shouter.”
I brush some of my hair back from my face and draw my knees up. “Don’t I know it. Bruce is the head of maintenance. Keegan knows everyone because her family more or less owns this hospital—well, and a few others in the area—but her family has been working here as doctors and nurses forever. Lucky for us, she’s also my quasi-cousin, so she’ll get this sorted even if my last name isn’t Fritz like hers is.”
“Quasi-cousin?”
“Don’t ask. It’s a long story. I should probably let my boss know where I am.”
I text Wes, informing him I’m stuck in the elevator and that I won’t be able to get down to the ER to check on the patient in trauma. I hope the patients are stable. It was a stat page, and that makes me uneasy. Plus, if any of them require surgery or other intervention, the elevators aren’t working.
Thankfully, he replies immediately to let me know he’s there covering, that the patients are, in fact, stable, and that help is on the way soon since Keegan already put out the alert.
“Good news. My boss says help is on its way. I’m Katy, by the way. I might keep talking because talking is keeping me from fully losing my shit over the fact that I’m trapped in a pitch-black elevator in a hospital with no power.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Katy. I’m Bennett,” he says, taking a seat beside me, pointing his flashlight up at the elevator ceiling which gives me enough light to see him.
