Five Minutes explores five minutes of a life in one hundred words. Five minutes is edited by Susanna Baird, with editorial support from managing editor Maria s. picone, newsletter editor kate meen, and founding reader bobbi lerman, plus our rotating team of guest readers, who you can meet in the latest newsletteR. Five Minutes was founded in October 2020, with the Salem (Mass.)-based writing group Carrot Cake Writers supplying the journal’s first pieces. We’d love to read your five. Submit here

A Resuscitation

CW: Child in medical crisis

I ran barefoot across the street and yelled, “I’m a pediatrician! It’s going to be okay.” It wasn’t okay. I lost a moment fumbling with the unfamiliar gate, another as I slipped on the wet grass, still another making eye contact with the hysterical neighbor I’d never met and asking her to lay her son down. I wondered if those moments mattered. I performed chest compressions next to a backyard pool and felt ashamed when I thanked God the police arrived before I had to give mouth to mouth. I didn’t want to remember his cold lifeless lips against mine.

Nancy Heavilin, MD, is a pediatrician and writer most recently based in New Jersey. Find Nancy on Instagram @calicolettersandwords.

Sonata in Hep C

Promise to Tell