“So, I need to ask you, will you marry me?”“… Fire, what’s your emergency?”“Oh, she’s havin’ a baby…”“Hello? Hello? Hello?”“Ayo, man, just sit calm, she havin’ a baby.”“Ok- I need somebody to talk to me.”“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. I’m…”“Come over to the phone, I can barely hear you, man. You gotta take me off speaker phone.”“Okay, I’m sorry, it’s my…”“That’s okay, that’s okay, I understand, but I’ve gotta get an address.”“It’s my daughter. I have my daughter in my hands.”“What’s your address? Okay.Alright, listen. I’m gonna ask you a couple real quick questions, okay?How, how old’s your wife?”“Um, she’s twenty-five.”“Twenty-five? Okay, she awake right now?Is she breathing?”“She’s breathing…“Alright, is the baby breathing?”“Yes…”“If the baby is breathing…”“Yes…”“Okay, how’s the mother? Is the mother breathing?”“She’s fine.”“Okay, alright. Hold on the line. Do not hang up, alright?”“… the umbilical cord. What do I do? What do I do?”
“I’m gonna tell you exactly what to do in just a secondJust stay on the line with me, okay?How many months pregnant was she?”“Can you say it again?”“How many months pregnant was she? Was it a full term baby?”“Eight, eight months, she was eight months.”“Eight months? So it is full term.Okay, listen. The baby is breathing, correct?”“Yes.”“Okay, I want you to gently wipe off the baby’s mouth and its nose- clean towel.And then, I want you to wrap the baby in a clean, dry towel.Okay? Have you got one of those?”“Yes.”“Alright. Cover the baby’s head, but not its face.”“Okay.”“Okay, without pulling the cord tightPut the baby in the mother’s arms or on her belly.Alright? Be sure the cord is not wrapped around the baby’s neck.”“Yes, sir.”“Alright, be sure to keep the baby and the, and the mother, uh, warm, okay?”“Yes, sir.”“Okay, you got that? You got the towel?”“I’m grabbin’ it now, hold on.”“Okay. Good, you’re doin’ good. You’re doin’ a good job.Is it a boy or a girl, sir?”“It’s a little girl.”“It’s a girl? Congratulations.”
