The ice
storm hits
Indiana!
We see it
coming...
We must
be ready!
So I leave
husband
and kitty...
I go to
New Castle
to wait out
the storm.
I sleep
at Jeffery Street
fitfully....
and I wake up....
...to ice!
My basketball hoop
is frozen...
My back yard
is solid ice...
Poor Marshall
is shivering...
Koda
checks out
the frozen turf...
- What can
we do
with this?
- You're on
your own,
Koda!
I've got
to get
to work!
I toss
my suitcase
in the trunk....
...don't know
if I'll make
it home
after work...
The roads
are pure ice.
I see one car
slowly
creep
down Jeffery Street.
I'll have
to try...
I'm alone
on the road...
...except
when I'm jostled
by a plow...
Normally
15 minutes...
My drive
takes 45...
I park
next to
frozen cars...
...sliding
down the halls
of the hospital...
...I check
the latest
news....
I'd better
stay here
tonight!
Luckily
the hospital
has a spare room
for visiting doctors -
- in Phillips Hall
across the
parking lot.
I spend
the day
at my scope...
...listening
to reports
of freezing
rain...
...frozen
pipes...
...wind
chills...
I hear
the danger
tonight
will be power loss
from
shattered
power lines!
I'm glad I'll be
near the hospital
tonight.
It's Feb 1.
I'm still
following
the Egypt crisis.
Last I heard
KC was
on a plane
for Greece...
I hope
she's okay.
After work
I settle in
to
Phillips Hall...
I try to
look out
my window.
All I see
is ice.
Wait!
There it is!
I can see
my own power cable
feeding energy
to Phillips Hall...
....and covered
with sleet.
Will it
last
the night?
Chuck,
the security director,
tells me
I can park
my Prius...
...under the
entrance roof
for the night.
I wander
the empty
halls....
....eat
in a silent
cafeteria...
I remember
the lonely nights
in the Chicago hospital
years ago
when my nephew
lay near death.
Up
the back
stairway...
...across
a frozen
parking lot...
The sleet
whips
the trees...
They
crinkle
against
the brave
streetlight.
What happens
if I lose power
tonight?
It could be
a long
treacherous
walk
to the hospital
on the dark ice.
I clutch
frozen
railings.
What
if I fall?
Warm
light
inside...
Up in my room
I look out
at a blue
frozen
world...
I suddenly realize
I have
no flashlight!
If I lose power
If the room
chills from
no heat...
How would I
find my way
from Phillips Hall
to the hospital
in the dark?
I carefully
fold clothes
on a chair
where I
could feel them
if it's dark.
I plug in
my phone.
It could be
a source of light
in a dark world.
I turn out
the light
and
I go to sleep...
....wondering
what will
happen.
