This is the only time she will hold her daughter alive

My eyes open. The blackness of the call room envelopes me. Consciousness sets in with a lingering disorientation. A small green light, is speaking … ringing. “Are you standing up?” The resident on the other end knows her attending too well. She’s right not to risk my falling asleep mid-conversation.

A woman has arrived laboring at 24 weeks gestation. Records aren’t available, but she reports her fetus has a diaphragmatic hernia. …

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