13 Weeks

What happens when the one holding everyone else begins to unravel-and no one stops to ask if he's okay?-

Scott was the steady one-an ICU nurse, a husband, a father. He walked into the epicenter of COVID determined to help as many people as he could. But the emotional toll didn't stay behind hospital doors. It came home in silence, in sleepless nights, in a weight too heavy to carry on his own.

This is a story about the unseen cost of care-and the family who bore it beside him. 13 Weeks unfolds through late-night porch talks, raw journal entries in the midst of a pandemic, and the quiet unraveling that happens when the world praises your strength but overlooks your pain.

With humility and grit, this book offers emotional permission to feel and to heal. It calls on readers and healthcare communities to listen-and to meet truth not with judgment, but with collective grace for those behind the scrubs.

This isn't just a story of an ICU nurse working tirelessly through the chaos of a worldwide pandemic. It's a story of courage, of witnessing so many final moments, and of a life transformed by purpose. It's a mirror that touches us all, reflecting our own grief, helplessness, and the quiet bravery it takes to finally ask for help.

Jodi Maiers captures the courage, heartbreak, and unyielding humanity that defined a generation of healers. Each page is a tribute to the nurses, families, and loved ones who stood on the invisible front lines of COVID and refused to let hope die.  - Joseph J. Kochan III, M.D., Captain, Medical Corps, United States Navy

I read every chapter, every paragraph, and every word, through tears and feelings of gratitude. - Rick Cooper, RN, MSN - Retired Associate Dean of Nursing, Allegany College of Maryland