“Code blue!” The hospital’s public address system blared out. “Room five-sixteen!”
Rusty was in that room! Bill’s stomach lurched and he feared he’d throw up. He leapt to his feet, knocking his chair over in the process. He snatched up his hat and ran out of the cafeteria and down the hallway. There was a knot of people in front of the bank of elevators. Through the pounding in his ears he could hear the code blue message playing on an endless loop in his head.
Bill charged through a door marked “Stairs” and took the steps two at a time. Despite being physically fit, he was finding it hard to breathe, and his vision was graying at the edges. Dimly he found it odd that he could hardly feel his feet as his boots pounded the stairs. Rusty was his…everything. He had to be okay, he just had t
