Unattended

It's two in the morning.  There is a delivery that is "unattended", meaning the attending physician isn't there.  The nurse has paged for the intern to deliver and me as (as an upper level resident) to be present.

Over the past year, I have come to find this word "unattended" fairly annoying.  I mean, I'M attending the birth in the wee hours, aren't I?  I'm the one delivering the freakin kid.  It's like my presence isn't even worth recording.  And look who's doing all the work.  Let's say the attending "attends" the birth.  Half the time he doesn't even put a pair of gloves on.  Just stands in the corner, humming to himself. 

Whatever.

So I have now moved up in life from being the delivering intern to the "supervising" upper level resident.  I get paged, and come to the room to find the intern in the room, quietly gowned and gloved, ready for the main event.  The nurse is furiously tapping at the computer.  "I PAGED THE INTERN?  WHERE IS SHE?  WHERE?  I PAGED HER TEN MINUTES AGO!"

The intern says "um...I'm right here."  The nurse relents.  Fine!  I didn't see you there!

I ask another nurse if the attending has been paged.  I stand there in the room, waiting for this unattended woman to start pushing.

The nurse goes on.  "WHERE IS THAT UPPER LEVEL RESIDENT?  DOES NO ONE RESPOND TO PAGES ANYMORE?  WHERE IS SHE?"

The intern and I look at each other.

The nurse resumes her aggressive typing.

I clear my throat gently.  "I'm here"  I say.  "I've been here for awhile now.  I made sure that attending was paged."

She looks at the intern, and at me, and back at the intern, and frowns.

"NOW WHY THE HELL DO I HAVE TWO OF YOU?  WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH BOTH OF YOU HERE?"

WTF?
 
At this time, I hear someone come in and start humming behind me.  I turn around, irritated, and there he is.  Now, this delivery is attended. 

Can I go back to bed?