9-1-1

i decide to cut through the park as a change of pace from the road. moments later i drop my bike and rush to his side. initially unresponsive, i reach down to his shoulder and continue calling for him to wake up. after a brief but anxious moment he stirs and murmurs. i try to make some sense of it and ask if i can help him up. indicating that this is okay i heave him to a sitting position and he promptly slumps over and nearly ends up face down again. i can tell that he's not all there but am not sure whether this is because of his elderly age or whatever induced his collapse but he frankly isn't making too much sense. he does reach for his cane but i can't help him to get it since i have been charged with the task of keeping him from falling over again. a lady comes by on her way to work and offers to prop him up while i grab my phone to call the number listed below Ronald's name on his bracelet. this connects me to a care centre of some sort where i wait for a nurse only to be told that they can't do anything and that i need to call an ambulance. Ronald moans at the mention of an ambulance but I can't very well leave him on the ground in a park unable to stand up so I dial 911. requesting an ambulance i forward all relevant details and the dispatcher assures me an ambulance is on its way. the lady who had been supporting Ronald declares that she is late for work and relinquishes her duty to me. i hold him and ask a curious, though not overly intelligent or intelligible bystander to flag down the ambulance when it comes. he wanders off and does a half-hearted job when the ambulance does arrive a short time later. Two female paramedics exit the truck and slowly, in my opinion, approach us as if they deal with this all the time. the first paramedic sits down on the nearby bench, looks at Ronald and asks "Hello. Have you been drinking?" After a moments delay, Ron looks up at her with his dirt-caked face, clears his glazed eyes and says in the most endearing voice he can muster, "Hey Baby".