读者文摘:失去我一生挚爱的那天(3)（在线收听）

Laura was an amazing communicator—a journalist—and, with her life on the line, she didn't waste a single word.

劳拉是个很棒的沟通者，一位记者，在她命悬一线时，没有说一句废话。

If only she had been talking to the right person. Laura's cell phone call was routed to a regional 911 operator.

要是合适的人接了她的电话就好了。劳拉的电话被转到了一个区域911接线员那里。

The operator, sitting in a Massachusetts State Police operations center some 18 miles away, was merely a call screener who couldn't send help.

这位接线员位于18英里外的马萨诸塞州警察行动中心，他只是一个无法提供帮助的电话筛查员。

When Laura finished speaking, the operator told her to stay on the line as she connected Laura to the local police.

劳拉讲完后，接线员让她不要挂断电话，她让劳拉和当地警察连线。

When the police picked up, a new operator asked her to explain all over again what her emergency was.

警察接通电话后，一位新的接线员让她再描述一下她的紧急状况。

But by then, she could barely speak. "She's outside of the Somerville Hospital," said the regional operator, jumping in. "She's having an asthma attack.

但是到那时，她已经基本说不出话了。“她在萨默维尔医院外面，”当地接线员接着说。“她哮喘发作了。

She can't get into the hospital." It should have been so easy for the two operators to locate Laura, since both had her cell number.

她进不去医院。”两位接线员本来应该很容易找到劳拉，因为他们都有她的手机号码。

A satellite ping of her GPS coordinates provided by her carrier would make Laura a digital dot on their computer-screen street maps.

由劳拉的载波提供的GPS坐标的卫星声脉冲将使她成为一个小点，出现在他们电脑屏幕上的街道地图上。

But, as can be the case with cell phone 911 calls, her location on their screens was wrong.

但是，比如在拨打911电话时，屏幕上显示的她的位置是错误的。

When you use an app involving your location, your phone constantly transmits where you are, like a homing beacon.

当你使用一个与你的位置有关的应用程序时，你的手机会不断发送你的位置信息，就像一个归航信号一样。

But when you make a 911 call, that doesn't happen.

但是当你打911电话时，它不会发送你的位置信息。

Instead, a satellite must be pinged, and that information is integrated with other bits of data to trace where you're calling from, a more complex and often inexact process.

相反，必须对卫星发送声脉冲，并将这些信息与其他数据进行整合，才能追踪你的通话位置，这是一个更为复杂且常常不精确的过程。

Laura's ping registered at 68 Tower Street, a street corner some 200 feet from the hospital's front door.

劳拉的声脉冲显示的位置是塔街68号，一个距离医院前门约200英尺的街角。

Somerville's police dispatcher asked Laura to clarify where she was.

萨默维尔的警察调度员要求劳拉澄清她的位置。

"Ma'am, where are you located there? You're the one— you're at 230 Highland Avenue, right?"

女士，你在哪里？你就是那个——你在高地大道230号，对吧？”

That's the hospital's official mailing address, on a completely different side of the building.

那是医院的官方通讯地址，在大楼的另一边。

But it was the only address the dispatcher had.

但这是调度员唯一能获取的地址。

It would have been the perfect moment for the original 911 operator to have relayed more information,

这本来是一开始那个911接线员传递更多信息的绝佳时机，

such as the fact that Laura twice said she was outside the emergency room, or that she twice said she was dying.

比如劳拉两次说她在急诊室外面，或者两次说她快死了。

But that operator had already hung up. In the 911 tape, you hear Laura's voice again.

但是接线员已经把电话挂了。在911的录音带中，可以再听到劳拉的声音。

"I'm outside," she starts to say, before struggling to make another sound.

她开始说，“我在外面。”然后就再奋力发出声音。

It is 4:25 a.m. and 36 seconds. It is the last time Laura speaks. It was the moment her life hinged upon.

那是凌晨4点25分36秒。劳拉最后一次说话。那是她的生命的转折点。

Within a minute or so, her heart would stop beating, and oxygen would stop going to her brain.

在大约一分钟内，她的心脏停止跳动，氧气也停止进入她的大脑。

On the surveillance video, about 30 seconds later, Laura slumps on the stone bench, her arms falling to her sides.

在监控录像中，大约30秒后，劳拉瘫倒在石凳上，双臂垂在身体两侧。