I kneeled down beside Mrs. Garrett as Yana entered the front of the bakery, she was on the phone giving the emergency operator our address.
“Is she breathing?” Yana asked.
I looked at her chest and couldn’t tell. It hadn’t even occurred to me that she might not be breathing. I’d just assumed that she’d passed out from heat stroke. I bent down and checked to see if I could feel any breath on my cheek. Nothing. I immediately began doing CPR and listened to Yana describing what was happening.
Thankfully, all my years of being a nanny meant I’d taken a half dozen CPR courses. This was the first time I’d ever had to use my training.
I pressed the heel of my palm to her chest, interlaced my fingers and began compressions to the beat of “Staying Alive”. After thirty compressions, I tilted Mrs. Garrett’s head back and did mouth to mouth. I made sure that her chest rose and administered another rescue breath before resuming chest compressions.
I was only vaguely aware of the background noise around me. Lexi was crying. Yana was on the phone with the operator. I had no idea how much time had passed, but the next thing I was aware of, I was surrounded by EMTs, one of whom took over chest compressions.
When I stood, I automatically picked Lexi up and got out of the way of the emergency personnel. As I stepped to the side Lexi flung her arms around my neck and time slowed. I’d never experienced anything like it before. Everything around me was going at warp speed but I felt like I was moving in slow motion.
As I answered questions about what had happened prior to Mrs. Garrett’s collapse, I rubbed Lexi’s back and tried to assure her that everything was going to be okay as I watched the flurry of activity around me.
When the EMTs lifted Mrs. Garrett up on a stretcher, I followed them out of the building.
“Where are you taking her?”
“SFGH,” one of them answered. “Are you family?”
I shook my head. “No, I own this shop. But this is her granddaughter.”
“Do you have someone you can call for her?”
“Um…” I shook my head. “No.”
“Do we need to call child services?” The EMT nodded toward Lexi.
A sudden flash of protectiveness overcame me. “No, I’ll bring her to the hospital.”
I watched helplessly as the paramedics loaded Mrs. Garrett onto the ambulance as Lexi cried in my arms.
The ambulance pulled away from the curb, sirens and lights on.
“It’s okay, sweetie. It’s okay.” I repeated to Lexi who was clinging to my neck.
“Yana. I’m going to the hospital. Can you close up?”
“Yes. Close up. Of course. You go.” Yana waved me away.
I grabbed my purse from behind the counter and rushed out the back of the shop to where my car was parked. Parking came at a premium in the city and part of the reason I’d been so excited about this commercial space, besides the residence above it, was that it came with parking. I rarely drove, but did own a car.
When I opened the back passenger side door, and started to set Lexi down, she said, “I sit in the back.”
“Oh, right.” I pulled the seat up
She stared at the backseat. “I need a booster seat.”
Shit. Of course she did. I knew that. I’d worked as a nanny off and on for fifteen years.
“You can just call daddy’s driver,” Lexi suggested.
“Your daddy has a driver?”
She nodded and sniffed as she wiped her face.
“I don’t have his number. So, let’s do this!”
