Nineteen Minutes

A handwritten note meditates on the inevitability of bad things continuing to happen forever. Yet the writer also wonders if the purpose of all this “bad” is to remind people to recognize the good. 

The shooting at Sterling High is the worst sight Patrick has ever witnessed in his career. He sees EMTs crouch over a girl whom he recognizes because she works at the video rental store. She has been shot in the shoulder. All over the school, officers are working at a frantic pace. The cafeteria looks as if everyone who had been sitting there, eating their lunch like on any other day, has suddenly been abducted, leaving only their belongings behind. Patrick hears a noise and for a brief second believes it is another shooter; he puts up his gun, but finds that it is only a terrified lunch lady.

In court, Alex is listening to the bizarre story of a woman who had just purchased a tropical fish from a pet store and, distracted by it rolling off the passenger seat, hit a pedestrian with her car. At this moment, a bailiff enters and writes a note to Alex that there has been a shooting at Sterling High. She immediately announces that court is adjourned. At Sterling, John Eberhard—who has been shot—manages to drag himself across the art supply room. He remembers Courtney sitting opposite him in the cafeteria just before the shooting happened. He watched a “flower” of blood blossom on her chest. With difficulty, he hoists himself up to the window and ends up crashing through it, remaining teetering on the ledge.

John tries to shout for help, but he cannot form any words. Someone sees him and a fireman tells him to wait, but John can no longer control his body and he tumbles down onto the ground two stories below. Meanwhile, Patrick shows Diana Leven, who works at the attorney general’s office, through the gymnasium. He explains that ten people have been confirmed dead, but the number of wounded is stil unknown. After leaving the school building, Diana is immediately swarmed by reporters asking questions. She hates this part of her job, and she tells the reporters that she can’t give them any information at the moment. 

Due to the enormous number of people there, Lacy has to park six blocks away from Sterling High. She prays that, having lost one son, she is not about to lose the other. The last time she spoke to Peter, they had an argument about the fact that he hadn’t taken out the trash. As she walks through the crowd and hears snippets of conversation about the shooting, she hears someone mention Peter’s name. When she approaches the girl speaking, explaining that she is Peter’s mother, the girl looks shocked and explains that Peter is the shooter.

Alex goes to look at the list of wounded, which has been posted by the hockey rink. She sees Matt’s name on the list, then Josie’s. She almost drops to the floor, but instead pushes her way through the crowd in a daze. Meanwhile, Lacy has arrived at the police station, still wearing her scrubs. Patrick notes that she doesn’t “look like a person who’d created a monster.” Lacy says she wants to see Peter, but Patrick replies that she can’t, as he’s in custody. At 17, Peter is legally an adult, and thus he must request his lawyer himself—even though, as Lacy points out, he might not know how to do this. Patrick says that he hopes he will able to talk to Lacy later about what Peter did, then he leaves to talk to Peter himself.

In the cell where Peter is being held, Patrick offers him coffee. Peter is crying softly. When Patrick asks if he wants food or anything else, Peter replies, “I want my mom.” Gently, Patrick says that he’d like Peter to explain what happened and asks that Peter let him help. However, Peter won’t say anything. Once Patrick has left the room again, Peter whispers to himself, “They started it.” 

Dr. Guenther Frankenstein, the state medical examiner, is a former Mr. Universe. He and Patrick are friendly, and they occasionally hang out over beers. Now, Guenther crouches over the body of a girl whom Sterling High’s principal, Arthur McAllister, identifies as Kaitlin Harvey, a kind-hearted “special-needs kid.” Together with Principal McAllistar, Guenther has already identified five other victims: Courtney Ignatio, Maddie Shaw, Whit Obermeyer, Topher McPhee, and Grace Murtaugh. A student who is an Eagle Scout has been attempting to stop the blood pouring from Mr. McCabe. However, Guenther now gently informs him that Mr. McCabe is dead. 

In the gymnasium, Guenther certifies the deaths of another two victims, both boys, then heads to the locker room. Viewing the male body lying there, Guenther observes that he is the only victim who has been shot twice. Patrick notes that the victim had four guns: one was in his hand, one on the floor, and two more in his backpack. Guenther speculates that the victim in the locker room may have been the kid Peter hated most. At this moment, an officer informs Patrick that “the makings of another pipe bomb” have been discovered in Peter’s car.

At the hospital, Alex has discovered that Josie fainted during the shooting and now has a mild concussion. From the news, she knows that Matt is dead, and she worries that Josie was with him when he was killed. She sits beside Josie, who is still unconscious, filled with regret about the things she hasn’t done and wishes she did, including keeping Josie home from school that day. Silently, she makes promises to Josie about everything they will do together once she wakes up. At the same time, Alex is also thinking about how the trial for the school shooting will take place in her courtroom. When Josie wakes up, she is confused and can’t remember what happened. Alex assures her that she is ok, but Josie immediately asks about Matt.

Lewis has called a lawyer and assured Lacy that there has obviously been a mistake and that everything is going to be alright. Lacy wants to be comforted, but she is also troubled by the knowledge that it was Lewis who taught Peter how to hunt. Lacy is stunned by the idea that, having cared for Peter his whole life, she may not really know him at all. She thinks about the families of the victims and immediately starts to cry, but then she pulls herself together. Walking into Peter’s room, she feels determined to “fix” the situation. She immediately finds the materials Peter used to make the pipe bombs and throws them in trash bags. The doorbell rings; it is a large group of police officers. One of them produces a search warrant, ordering the rest to search the house.

Jordan McAfee, a lawyer, is watching the news coverage of the Sterling High shooting with his wife, Selena. Selena also works as Jordan’s investigator; they have a young baby, and Jordan also has a son from his first marriage, who is currently a sophomore at Yale. Jordan is on the phone to someone else when Lewis calls, asking if Jordan will represent Peter. Jordan is shocked; he looks at the baby in Selena’s arms and thinks about how the shooter at Sterling High is “someone’s son.” Wanting the shooter to get a chance at a fair trial, he immediately agrees.

Having overseen all the initial work that needed to take place at Sterling High, Patrick drives over to the medical center and asks a nurse if he can see a girl named Josie, admitting that he doesn’t even know her last name. The nurse points him to Josie’s room, and he finds her sitting with Alex, whom Patrick knows as Judge Cormier. When Patrick greets them, he tells Josie that he was the one who carried her out of the school, but Alex explains that Josie doesn’t remember anything, and mistakenly believes that she was in a car accident. Hesitantly, Patrick explains that Josie was actually the victim of a school shooting, and that Matt was killed in it. Josie wails and immediately starts thrashing. 

Outside in the hallway, Patrick feels overwhelmed by horror. Alex comes out and curses him for telling Josie about Matt. Gently, Patrick reminds her that Josie is “one of the lucky ones. Stunned by this awful truth, Alex apologizes. Patrick explains that he’d like to talk to Josie later, but for now he just came because he wanted to be certain that she was alright.