she's ready

so why exactly did you call
911
the paramedic asks me
on the phone
while arriving
at the senior home
to pick up my mother
to take her to a hospital.
well.
I tell him. her skin
is cold.
her heart is barely
beating.
her eyes are closed,
and she's not
responding to touch,
or talking.
not to mention that the day
care worker
is spooning pureed food
into her mouth
and it's not going down.
it's on her chin, her
neck, her cheeks.
I see, he says.
well, why didn't you stay
on the scene until
we arrived.
because, I tell the young
man
on the phone, his
radio crackling with
importance.
because I went home
and called her doctor.
I live forty miles away.
he told me to call you.
okay.
he says.
do you want her doctor's name?
his number,
the number to her husband
who has all her insurance
information?
no.
no thanks, he says.
but we see that the do not
resuscitate form has been
filled out incorrectly.
all the boxes have been
checked, so we are unsure
what to do.
check the one that lets her
go, I tell him.
she's ready and so are we.