I could remember that I was starving. Five minutes earlier I had purchased a crave-worthy seven-layer burrito from the Taco Bell near campus. My mouth had been watering for a taste of that creamy sour cream and spicy guacamole. Just five more miles to my tiny apartment, and I could wolf down this culinary masterpiece!
As I headed east out of Morehead on route sixty, I had figured that I had just enough time to devour my tasty lunch before it was time for my shift to start at work. Balancing my part time job and two summer classes had been tough, but summer classes only lasted the month of June. A month wasn’t that long. I could handle a busy schedule for just four short weeks. Well, my lunch, class load, and work schedule would soon be become irrelevant. It is funny how fast plans can be spun around when outside forces take over. The thoughts of my quick lunch break were put on hold forever when I noticed that a black sedan had cruised into my driving lane. I wondered when it was going to correct its path. Then, CRASH! A stream of questions ran through my head, “Did I just black out? Where am I? Why won’t my door open? What just happened?” As I shook my door handle, I glanced around the outside of my car. All that I could see was doublewide trailers. They were everywhere. “Why are there trailers on the road?” I wondered to myself. “Aww! Help me! Please help me?” I heard an unseen woman scream. I wasn’t sure who she was, but I wanted to check on her. I just needed to get this door open. “Why won’t this door budge?” I asked. “Hang on there!” urged as young state trooper as he clasped my hand on the windowsill. I desperately asked him, “Can you help me? My door is stuck. I just need to get out of my car. I can hear someone screaming. What’s going on?” “Hold tight there,” he stated as he adjusted his hat. “You’ve been in an accident. The other driver’s car is behind you, and someone is checking on her now.” “The other driver?” I wondered to myself. The black sedan! I started to remember how a black sedan had slowly cruised into my lane as I drove down route sixty. I remember that she was looking down at her radio. I remember that I was waiting for her to look up and to go back into her lane. I remember… “Miss? Are you still with me?” the state trooper urgently inquired. As I glanced up at him, I began to realize that she didn’t correct herself. Though I couldn’t exactly recall what had happened, I now realized that our cars must have collided. Just outside the passenger side window, I could see the road. Several cars were lined up in both directions. There was sparkly glass shimmering in the midday sun. Someone was trying to stop the cars from traversing the sea of glass. “Miss?” a bodiless voice inquired urgently. “Yes? Oh, I’m okay. I seem to be stuck,” I stated as I tugged at my door. Suddenly, I felt a stinging sensation on my chin. As I touched the tender skin on my neck, I noticed a burning smell. I coughed, and then asked, “Can you help me? My door seems to be stuck.” “Hang on a minute. I can hear the ambulance now,” responded the trooper who was now standing at my window. As my surroundings started to sink in, a shattered windshield, a deflating airbag, and more screaming from the other car, I quickly stated, “I don’t need an ambulance. I just need to get this door open!” “Just a couple more minutes,” he urged. He was right. I could hear the screeching sirens as they came closer and closer. A moment later a second man appeared. “How is everything here?” he asked. “She seems to be stuck,” informed the trooper. “We’re just waiting for the ambulance.” Both men chatted so softly that I couldn’t hear them. As I started to daydream about getting out of my car and getting to work, I heard three more voices join the conversation. I couldn’t see their faces because they were standing behind my car, and I couldn’t manage to turn around. All that I could do was wait. After what seemed like several minutes, the state trooper came back to my window. “The ambulance is here, but you were right. Your door is stuck. We’re going to have to cut your door from your car.” “What?” I asked in a shocked tone. This couldn’t be happening. “It’s okay. I will be here the whole time,” he comforted. I could feel my heart starting to race and breath coming in quick, short gasps. I heard a CLANG! Then, everything became a blur. My door seemed to be ripped from my green dodge neon by Zeus himself! A blur of people hustled around my car and started to gently adjust my arms and shoulders. I could hear someone screaming, and a gaggle of people speaking in hushed tones as two people prepared to lift me from my driver’s seat. “Okay, my name is Steve, and I am a paramedic here in Morehead. We are going to move you onto a stretcher so that we can get you to the hospital. It may hurt a little when we move you, but I promise you are in good hands,” calmly informed a middle-aged man. “On the count of three. One, two, three…” “Stop! Aweee! Stop!” I screamed as they tugged my broken body from my smashed, tin can of a car. That was the last thing that I remember. I must have blacked out. As I opened my eyes, all that I could see was Steve, the paramedic. “Hey, you’re back. We are on our way to the hospital. I believe that your hip joint is dislocated and both of your feet are injured. We will know more when we get to the hospital. We are going to hit a bump in a moment. Brace yourself,” Steve warned. I did. The jarring of my body was excruciating, but I didn’t loose consciousness. All that I could say was, “Okay.” When we arrived at the hospital, Steve and his partner quickly removed my stretcher from their rig and rushed me through the sliding glass doors of the emergency room. An army of people surrounded my stretcher as they transferred my injured form to another surface. “We will need to give you something to knock you out so that we can fix your hip. Before we do, do you want to call someone to tell them where you are?” asked a kind-faced doctor. That seemed like an odd question at the time, but I knew that I didn’t want to be alone for what was to come. With shaky fingers, I quickly dialed my grandmother’s phone number. “Grandma?” I asked when I heard someone answer the phone. “It’s me. I’ve been in an accident.” As I started to cry, the nurse took the phone, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up from a foggy sleep. There, by my side, were the state trooper and the two paramedics. “Hey, sunshine! You are never going to believe what the doctor just did to you!” grinned Steve. His kind face, in a sea of strangers, made everything seem okay for a minute. “You’re family is on their way. Brad is here,” informed the kind state trooper. I glanced to behind my three angels to see the worried face of my best friend. “Brad,” I smiled as I reached for his strong hand. At the time I didn’t know how much I would need him and my family during the next few months. My injuries were pretty severe, and my recovery would take time and perseverance. While lying in my hospital bed, all that I could think about was how happy I was that he was there with me.
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AuthorSheina Kegley is a fifth grade language arts teacher from Kentucky. ArchivesCategories |