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2865 Redefining Americaimagining her mother lying still by the citrus. She wonders if a stranger waited with her until the ambulance came. About the last face her mother peered into, the last hand she touched.All these questions that she has never dared to ask her father.%u201cOkay,%u201d Kayla says. %u201cYes. We are.%u201dThe next thing she knows she%u2019s grabbing her backpack from her car, making sure all the doors are locked, the windows rolled up. When the paramedic hands her the woman%u2019s black coin purse, Kayla zips it into her backpack and then she is riding alongside this Mary, this perfect stranger, in the cool little cave of the ambulance.The paramedic performs an EKG, a mess of wires and round electrodes. %u201cThe man that was shot,%u201d Kayla asks the paramedic. %u201cIs he going to die?%u201d%u201cHe%u2019s going to be fine,%u201d the young man says, sounding almost a little bored.At the hospital, they are ushered straight into a long tan hallway with a row of beds, separated by blue privacy curtains. A nurse in mint-green scrubs tells them the doctor will read the EKG as soon as possible.%u201cDescribe your pain,%u201d the nurse says to Mary.%u201cI feel like I%u2019ve been punched.%u201d Her eyes are shut tight. She has a pronounced clavicle, long and straight as a beam, and a slender neck. Bangs that fall to her eyebrows. Her maroon hair is radiant under the hospital lights.%u201cPunched where?%u201d says the nurse.She touches her chest, her shoulder, her jaw. The nurse makes a note on her clipboard. She turns to Kayla and explains that they will draw blood and administer medications through her IV.%u201cTake two aspirin and call me from the great beyond.%u201d The softness has evaporated from Mary%u2019s voice; the words burst out of her sharp and loud.The nurse ignores her. %u201cWhat can you tell me about her medical history?%u201d%u201cWhat?%u201d Kayla is startled by the question. She%u2019s wearing her backpack and slides her hands under the front straps. The backpack has all her fight gear inside: gloves, mouthpiece in 404550its plastic case, headgear, lucky socks, a small round container of Vaseline.The nurse glances down at her clipboard. %u201cAren%u2019t you her daughter?%u201d%u201cOh,%u201d Kayla says. %u201cYes, well, we haven%u2019t spoken in a long time.%u201dThe nurse nods curtly, makes another note, leaves. Kayla closes all the privacy curtains, buffering them from the hive of the nurses%u2019 station and the dire cases rushing past. She wonders about the man who was shot in the shoulder, if he is somewhere on this floor.%u201cTake two aspirin and call me from the grave,%u201d Mary says.%u201cThey%u2019re going to run some tests,%u201d Kayla tells her. %u201cThey might need to do something called a cardiac cath?%u201d%u201cThey kill you and then they bill you.%u201d Mary writhes around on the bed. %u201cThey kill you and then they kill you.%u201d%u201cNo one is getting killed,%u201d Kayla says and right then the patient next door starts screaming, a cry so high and awful it could split the heavens. %u201cIs there anything I should tell them about your medical history? Is there anyone you want me to call?%u201dShe has to raise her voice to be heard over the neighbor%u2019s skull-cracking screams. She is terrified to step into the hallway and see for herself what%u2019s happening next door.%u201cNo,%u201d says Mary. %u201cNo calls.%u201dThe screaming neighbor suddenly goes silent.By the time the nurse returns, it is past lunchtime; a doctor has read the EKG. %u201cYou%u2019ve had a heart attack,%u201d the nurse says. %u201cThat%u2019s the bad news.%u201dThe good news is that the heart attack was relatively minor. Only a small portion of the muscle has been damaged. Still, Mary must be admitted to the coronary-care unit; it is possible that she will need surgery. Kayla feels bewildered by the pace of information: One minute she%u2019s hearing minor and the next surgery. How to understand what it is that Mary is facing?%u201cWhen?%u201d Kayla asks. A good daughter, she imagines, would ask questions.5560Copyright %u00a9 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. Distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers. For review purposes only. Not for redistribution.