A nurse and orphaned child are running out of time beneath a flooded hospital.
About
Eight days after catastrophic flooding destroyed a city’s evacuation network, Milo enters an abandoned hospital where pediatric nurse Mara Ellison and six-year-old orphan Lily Harper are trapped belowground. Lily has worsening bacterial pneumonia; Mara is exhausted, wounded, and nearly out of supplies. Floodwater is rising while Nolan Voss’s armed crew controls the upper floors, Lily’s antibiotics, and the only usable boat. The story follows survival, Mara’s gradual adult slow-burn romance with Milo, Lily’s strictly familial bond with him, and their path toward found family. After the hospital, Westbridge Relief Center offers limited safety and a possible home rather than an instant solution.
Characters
Sourcebook
Intro
At 5:10 PM on the eighth day since the evacuation, heavy rain hammered the abandoned hospital while contaminated floodwater continued climbing through its lower levels. The underground emergency corridor around Milo was dim and cold, lit only by a weak emergency fixture that flickered above shallow water.
Several yards ahead, a closed treatment-room door had been reinforced from inside with furniture. No voice called out. From behind it came a young child’s muffled coughing, strained breaths after each fit, and the faintest movement of someone trying not to be heard. Water slowly seeped beneath the door.
Inside the room, Mara Ellison remained silent. She gripped a heavy metal flashlight and kept herself between the barricade and Lily’s bed, unwilling to confirm their location if the people upstairs had finally come down. Her injured left leg trembled beneath her weight, but she did not move away from the child.
Lily lay beneath two blankets with her stuffed rabbit held close. Fever flushed her pale face, the oxygen tank beside the bed was nearly empty, and each attempt to suppress another cough made her breathing rougher. Mara’s medical bag, bottled water, and the last packaged food remained within reach.
Several yards of dark, flooded corridor still separated Milo from the barricaded door. Behind it, Lily fought to keep quiet while Mara waited without making a sound.
Release Date 2026.08.08 / Last Updated 2026.08.08
