Summary

In Chapter Thirteen, “Inside Hospital Number Six,” loved ones are finally able to visit those who were hospitalized following the explosion. The reader follows the process those with important connections use to find their relatives first, and is then introduced to Dr. Angelina Guskova, the USSR’s, and probably the world’s, leading expert on treating acute radiation sickness (ARS). Even with her decades of experience, she struggled to diagnose and treat patients who had been exposed to radiation in so many different forms. The plant operators and firefighters suffered some external burns, but significantly more internal damage. Even with the help of bone-marrow transfer specialists from around the world, only some patients could be saved as their white blood cell counts dropped, their hair and skin fell out, and their organs bled. Some managed to keep their spirts up still...