Read Chapter 24: — THE NIGHT OF OXYGEN

The worst night came in February.

A cold front moved across Lakeshore while the hospital’s oxygen demand climbed beyond anything engineers had planned for. The central system alarmed repeatedly as high-flow devices, ventilators, and non-invasive support drew from the supply.

Facilities warned that pressure was dropping.

For three hours the hospital fought not one patient crisis but a systems crisis.

Peter coordinated with engineering. Rachel moved through the newly expanded respiratory unit checking which patients could safely change devices. Lena and Adrian—back at work after clearance—reviewed oxygen needs bed by bed.

No one made heroic speeches.

They made lists.

Who could tolerate lower flow?

Who could not?

Which portable cylinders were full?

Which units could transfer patients?

Which ventilators had independent supply options?

A truck carrying emergency oxygen cylinders arrived under police escort shortly before midnight.

The entire crisis passed without a catastrophic failure.

Afterward, Lena sat on the floor with her back against a wall.

Adrian lowered himself beside her.

“You know what’s strange?” she said.

“What?”

“When people tell this story later, they’ll talk about doctors and nurses.”

“Probably.”

“But tonight we were saved by an engineer named Carl and three drivers who got cylinders across a locked city in a snowstorm.”

Adrian nodded.

“Then remember their names.”

She did.