It did not take long, however, for these doctors and nurses to impress me. If they were the B team, they were awfully good. They took over with a wonderful mix of hurry and calm. They didn't seem panicked. They carried themselves like they knew how to efficiently do what had to be done, moment by moment. And they said all the right things. As Jai was being rushed into surgery for an emergency C-section, she said to the doctor, "This is bad, isn't it?" I admired the doctor's response. It was the perfect answer for our times: "If we were really in a panic, we wouldn't have had you sign all the insurance forms, would we?" she said to Jai. "We wouldn't have taken the time." The doctor had a point. I wondered how often she used her "hospital paperwork" riff to ease patients' anxieties. Whatever the case, her words helped. And then the anesthesiologist took me aside. "Look, you're going to have a job tonight," he said, "and you're the only person who can do it. Your wife is halfway to clinical shock. If she goes into shock, we can treat her. But it won't be easy for us. So you have to help her remain calm. We want you to keep her with us."