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I could choose to just watch her, and see if she can get to the hospital on her own. Maybe she could,
I'm not sure how much the pain hurts, but there are always times in our lives when we have to
throw social and psychological fragments out of the window. Times where we don't have the
benefit of picking and choosing which one we want to use. Which one we want to present to others.

Instead we are left with the instinctive fragments; who we are in the heat of the moment. Some
might argue that these fragments depict who we truly are. The ones that are not governed by any
external influence which in turn allows it to maintain its integrity.

I run up to her and grab her and put her arm around my shoulder. Tao and I are idiots for not
recognizing that she was pregnant, not gaining weight. The thing is, Mary is a bit taller than the
average woman and is normally very thin, so she isn't really showing like the average pregnant
woman normally does.

Step by step, we slowly go down each step. Wisdom is much too slow and much too graceful to
catch up with you when you're running.

When we get to the second floor, the front apartment door opens and someone begins to walk up
the stairs. It's Boris, who just like me, is immediately confused. When he realizes that we need
help, he puts her other arm around his shoulder. I think to myself that this would go by much
smoother if we had a wheelchair.

We get to the parking lot and to her car, and once again I find myself behind the wheel of another
vehicle. There has been too much excitement for one day.

Boris stays in the back with Mary as I drive to the hospital. The groaning doesn't get any lower, but
it also doesn't get any worse. She tells me that I have to call her family and gives me her phone, and
I tell her that I will do so after we get her to the doctors. Boris doesn't really talk much, probably
because if he tried we would have a hard time understanding his broken English.

We get to the hospital and hand her off to the doctors who get busy with her quickly, and for the
moment, Boris and I are on the sidelines. We sit in a waiting area and don't say much too each
other, save a few facial expressions. I look through Mary's phone and find a contact named Sister
who I then call and tell about what has happened.

After a little bit, a doctor tells us that Mary is only twenty-one weeks pregnant, which as he
explains is a very premature birth. The doctor says they will be performing a Caesarean section,
and that the survival of the baby, given the degree of prematurity, is entirely up to fate. Not in those
words.

After he departs from us, Boris says he cannot stay, that he has an important appointment.
Definitely not in those words. Not even in that grammar.

About ten minutes after he leaves, Mary's sister shows up with another woman who I later find out
is also Mary's sister. I should have fucking left with Boris.