"I'm fine. This woman, she..."
"You're bleeding," the man gently interrupted. He pointed at my forehead, and I put my hand to it, surprised to feel blood there. I must have cut it when I reached through the window.
"I have to get this woman some help," I said, turning back toward the jeep. I could now see her chest rising and falling very slowly, but she still hadn't really moved.
"I understand," the man said, as sirens started to wail somewhere nearby. "Help is coming. Won't you come sit down?"
"No," I shook my head. I could barely think clearly, but I knew that this was my fault, and that I wasn't leaving this woman until I was sure she was okay.
The man must have seen that on my face, because he nodded and went back to his wife. Not long after that, the ambulance arrived. They started working on the jeep door and got it open pretty quickly. Soon they were lifting the woman out onto a stretcher, and only then would I let one of the paramedics take a look at me. I sat on the edge of the ambulance as they cleaned the gash on my forehead and checked my vitals. Once the woman was on the stretcher, they checked her as well, and determined she was stable enough to move.
They wanted me to get checked out, as well. Externally, I was given the all clear, but they insisted I be checked for a concussion or internal bleeding. They loaded the stretcher into the ambulance first, and then I climbed in. Someone shut the doors, and we sped off toward the hospital.
The woman laid very still on the stretcher. I couldn't see her face clearly, but it looked bloody and bruised. Another wave of guilt washed over me. What was I going to do if she wasn't okay?
SEVEN
DEIRA
The first thing I became aware of was a terrible headache. I kept my eyes tightly closed, the pain thudding in my temples. Where was I? What happened?
Slowly, the memory of the crash came back to me. I'd been turning at a four-way stop when a car had come out of nowhere and slammed into my jeep. Remembering the impact seemed to make my head throb even worse.
I was in a car accident, I said to myself.I must be at the hospital. It didn't feel like I was at the hospital. The bed felt really nice. The pillow was soft. The mattress might have been better than the one I had at home. At home...Makayla.
At the thought of my daughter, I wanted to open my eyes and sit up straight in bed. The best I could manage was to blink, slowly opening my eyes to a harsh fluorescent light. I tried to focus. I hadn't picked up Makayla yet. She hadn't been in the crash with me. She was with Dani. Whatever had happened, Dani would have kept her safe.
I looked around, trying to open my eyes wider. For some reason that hurt. I scrunched my face and that hurt, too. I realized I had something on my face in a few places—bandages, or plasters, perhaps. So, my face hurt because it had been damaged in the crash.
The lighting may have been typical hospital lighting, but I was right that it wasn't a typical hospital room. It was nice, and I was alone. Was this a private suite? That didn't make any sense. There's no way they'd put me in a private room with my insurance.
Insurance that, I realized as the memory of being fired came back to me, I wouldn't have much longer. But I shoved that thought aside. I would deal with that later. I had to get this situation under control. I needed to prioritize. First, find out how badly I was hurt. Next, get a hold of Dani and make sure Makayla was okay. After that... I tried to think, but found my head spinning. What was I going to do after that? Things had been bad enough already. I was working two jobs and barely making ends meet. Getting fired from the restaurant meant I was in danger of getting evicted. And now, on top of that, I was in the hospital!
I closed my eyes, feeling despair flow deep in my bones. It was too much. There was no way I could deal with it all. My life always felt like it was one disaster away from falling apart, and now I'd had two in a row. How was I going to survive?
But I had to, because it wasn't just me. I had a daughter to take care of. I opened my eyes again. Even though the room was nice, it still felt cold and sterile. I blinked in the harsh light.
"You're awake," said a voice beside me. "Please, take it slowly."
I hadn't realized there was anyone with me in the room. I slowly turned my head (that hurt, too) and suddenly my heart rate skyrocketed.
Why was Makayla's father, who I hadn't seen in six years, who for all I knew had fallen off the face of the planet, sitting beside my hospital bed?
"You're okay," he continued. "You were in a car accident. You were banged up pretty badly but no serious injuries."
Seeing him was such a shock that I could barely focus on what he was saying. And I couldn't get my heart to slow down. Worse, I was hooked up to a bunch of monitors that betrayed my panic. One of them started beeping, and the man frowned. I realized he had a bandage on the side of his forehead. Was he in the car accident, too?
He reached toward me, and if I'd been able to move, I'm sure I would have jumped back. As it was, I could only stare as he grabbed a small box attached to a cord that was lying beside me in the bed, and pushed the button on it.
"Don't worry," he said soothingly. "The nurse will be here soon."
I had a sudden flashback of him ordering wine and it showing up immediately. I wasn't sure if I wanted to laugh or cry.
He was right, the nurse did show up quickly. She pushed something on the machine, and it stopped beeping, then she looked me over. I couldn't stop staring at him, and she must have noticed.
"Sir, do you mind giving us some privacy? I just need to check a few things."
"Oh, of course. No problem. I'll go get lunch."