Chapter 5 - The Mountain Pass
At 3:15 AM, the storm raged over the Cascade Mountains.
Ethan’s custom Pierce Logistics heavy-duty transport truck roared down Interstate 5 at ninety miles per hour, its heavy tires cutting through standing water like a blade.
Beside him in the passenger seat sat a specialized ice-cooler unit containing the donor lungs, monitored by an emergency technician named Sarah.
The rain beat against the windshield in deafening sheets.
"State Patrol says the mountain bridge at Mile Marker 42 is compromised!" Sarah shouted over the roar of the engine and the storm. "Ethan, we should turn back!"
"If we turn back, Olivia dies!" Ethan yelled back, his hands gripping the leather steering wheel.
Up ahead, orange highway flares flickered through the heavy fog. A massive mudslide had swept across the highway, blocking two lanes with boulders, downed pine trees, and thick, churning mud. A single lane remained open, guarded by a lone state trooper cruiser with flashing lights.
Ethan didn't hit the brakes. He shifted down, the twin-turbo engine screaming as he rammed the heavy reinforced front bumper of his transport truck directly through the fallen branches and mud.
The truck shook violently, mud spraying fifty feet into the air, but the heavy wheels maintained traction.
"Hold on!" Ethan roared as the vehicle slid sideways near the edge of the embankment.
He corrected the steering with precise, expert control—skills he had learned building his logistics fleet from scratch. The truck gripped the asphalt again, bursting through the mudslide barrier and hurtling down the final stretch toward Seattle.
The digital timer on the cooler unit read: 58 MINUTES REMAINING.
Ethan looked at the dashboard photograph he had placed beside the speedometer—a photo he had taken from his wallet twenty minutes ago. It was the picture of Olivia from twelve years ago, with a tiny hand-written note on the back that Lucy had given him: DON'T GIVE UP ON US.
"Hang on, Olivia," Ethan whispered, flooring the accelerator. "I'm coming home."
At 4:45 AM, the transport truck screeched to a halt in the ambulance bay of Saint Jude’s Hospital.
Ethan leaped out of the cab, grabbed the cooler unit with Sarah, and sprinted through the double doors straight into the surgical wing, where Dr. Harrison’s surgical team was waiting in standby.
"We have it!" Ethan shouted.
Dr. Harrison checked the thermal indicators on the cooler. "Viable. Oxygenation levels stable. Get her into Operating Room 2 right now!"
As the surgical team wheeled the cooler into the theater, Ethan collapsed against the hallway wall, soaked in sweat, rain, and mud, sliding down to sit on the floor, his chest heaving.
A pair of small sneakers walked up to him.
Lucy sat down right beside him on the floor, wrapping her small hand around his dirty thumb.
May you like
"Did you bring it, Dad?" she asked quietly.
Ethan pulled his daughter into his lap, burying his face in her hair. "Yeah, kiddo. We brought it."
