A friend of mine was visiting Maine last week when she experienced chest pains. She was rushed to Maine Medical Center on Election Day and was kept overnight. Her roommate had guests who stayed until 11 p.m. watching TV and — cheering on Donald J. Trump.

How was this liberal Democrat from Massachusetts supposed to heal in that environment?

Of course, that is the question haunting all of us who said “Never Trump.”

The situation we find ourselves in might be even more frustrating for those of us who supported Bernie Sanders. We kind of want to throw our hands up into the air and say, “We told you we needed big change!”

But no, we won’t do that because we are all in this together.

Two weeks ago I wrote that Nov. 9 looked like a black hole to me, because I couldn’t visualize what was going to happen after the election. And that’s what last Wednesday was like. Friends and colleagues who share my political leanings were numb and near tears. Our fears focus on the environment — both physical and social. President-elect Trump is a climate change denier. And he made many hateful comments during his campaign.

I’m in the field of education, so I’m especially concerned about the effect Trump’s rhetoric has had on young people. In Michigan last week, a group of middle-schoolers began chanting “build that wall” during lunch in the cafeteria. Needless to say, their Latino classmates were distraught.

Here in Augusta, we have a sizable population of Muslim students from Iraq and Afghanistan. They have been welcomed and have merged quietly and peacefully into our community. A recent graduate, born in Iraq, told me she loved her time at Cony High School. I am praying our other Muslim students will be able to say the same thing.

And, of course, looking for every opportunity to counteract the disastrous effect a Trump presidency could have on our country.

My first thought after the news sunk in — when I could think, that is — was that perhaps Trump will be impeached before he can do much harm. My reasoning was that many Republicans in Congress don’t like him. If they impeach him, they’ll still have a Republican president: Mike Pence.

Then my husband, Paul, pointed out an article in The Washington Post. Allan J. Lichtman, a professor at American University, has been successfully predicting presidential elections since 1984. He has a set of 13 true or false “keys,” or points. If at least six are false, the incumbent party will lose the election. For example, number 12 is: “The incumbent party candidate is charismatic or a national hero.” Hmm.

Anyway, I’d read of Lichtman’s prediction of a Trump victory before the election, which gave me an inkling of that possibility, which I quickly chose to tamp down so fiercely it was as though I was using a fire hose on a candle. Now, post-election, he is saying Trump could be impeached. He told the Post that Republicans in Congress would “love to have Pence — an absolutely down-the-line, conservative, controllable Republican. And I’m quite certain Trump will give someone grounds for impeachment, either by doing something that endangers national security or because it helps his pocketbook.”

Although Lichtman says this is just a hunch, I do like hearing my own thoughts expressed by an expert.

New York Times columnist David Brooks is also contemplating a Trump impeachment — or even resignation. “The future is closer than you think,” he wrote. I hadn’t envisioned that Trump might leave office on his own, but he does have a short attention span. Maybe, after winning his prize, he might find the job boring. Perhaps, after a few defeats of pet projects, he’ll simply pick up his toys and go back to Trump Tower.

I can only hope. My inner political scientist (my undergraduate major) tells me that we’ve had bad presidents before, and survived. Too bad it is also telling me that it took seven years and a war to recover from Herbert Hoover. On the bright side, I know there are reasonable Republicans in Congress who can temper Trump’s most irrational ideas. I think Senators Sanders and Elizabeth Warren will move the Democrats in a more progressive direction.

Meanwhile, my hospitalized friend decided she wanted to go home after her roommate’s peeps returned to Maine Med and settled in to watch “Duck Dynasty.” (I am not making this up.) She was treated at a hospital back in Springfield, Massachusetts, and is feeling much better. Except about the obvious, of course.

Liz Soares welcomes e-mail at lsoares@gwi.net.