hall and reached the elevator, where they were met by a large crowd waiting for the lift. They stopped in their tracks.
“Stairs!” Keith said as he led the team around the corner and threw open the heavy metal fire door. Taking two steps at a time, Nick and Shelly passed Barry, then a nurse and doctor embracing on the third-floor landing.
“Get a room,” said Nick. The young couple gasped as they made way for four people bounding up the stairs. Out of breath, they arrived at the seventh floor and stopped to collect themselves for a moment before they pushed open the stairwell exit. They reached Manny’s room to find a group of onlookers.
“Make a hole, people,” Keith announced as Barry, Shelly, and Nick followed him through the small crowd. The first thing Shelly saw was Mrs. Howard holding her mouth. She looked at Shoo, who stood in front of the monitors.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
Shoo turned, tears forming in his eyes. “It’s working. Look at the vitals.”
Respiration, heart, and blood pressure were all rising and stabilizing.
“Feel his arm,” Dr. Shoo said, grabbing Shelly’s hand. “It’s vibrating.”
“Right, just like in the lab. That tells us it’s working.” “What’s happening?” asked Manny’s wife, looking at Nick.
“I think what the good doctor is trying to say is that Manny just
might be around for that great-grandchild,” Nick said.
“I prayed for a miracle!” she exclaimed. She looked at the group surrounding the hospital bed. “I asked God to send us a miracle. He sent five.”
The room went quiet as they all looked at Manny and then to his wife. Nick gave her a hug. Shelly teared up.
“It’s all about faith, Mrs. Howard,” Shelly said. “Isn’t that right,
Dr. Shoo?”
Shoo looked over the glasses perched on his nose. “I would think the miracle is your husband, Dr. Manny Howard.”