I used to be naïve, thinking family shouldn't keep count.
Now, sipping my coffee, I said slowly, "Mom, I'm an emergency doctor, not an ambulance driver. How can I drive to save her?"
My mom was frantic. "You know you're an emergency doctor. Then hurry and go with the ambulance to the school to save Lily. What if something happens to her because you're late?"
I held up the phone to show the chaos of the emergency room.
I said, "Mom, it's not that I don't want to go, but you know how busy I am in the emergency room. The nurses are calling me for an urgent surgery. I have to go now."
My mom nearly lost her mind, shouting, "Wait! Audra, do you even have a conscience? Is Lily's life less important than those strangers in the hospital?"
I calmly advised her, "Mom, don't panic. Lily is getting along well with Mr. Zuniga. Maybe he'll even send a helicopter to rescue her, which would be faster than an ambulance."
My mom, furious, started cursing me and lamented how the family ended up with such an ungrateful child.
I hung up the phone and turned around to find several nurses pushing a stretcher into the emergency room.