March 22, 2014
“WATCH OUT!” the staccato scream forced it’s way out of my mouth before I could think. Charlton slammed on the breaks, but collision was inevitable. I heard the sickeningly loud crunch as my body smashed forward. While we skidded across three lanes of traffic I struggled to comprehend the situation. A bright white, deflated looking pillow hissed in front of me and steam filled the air around us.
(I was sitting in the front passenger seat)
“Morgan are you alright, can you move, the car is smoking we need to get out of here.”
“I can move… I hurt”
I couldn’t make full sentences, all I could say was, “I hurt.” My body felt like it had slammed into a cement wall. We crashed hard, the other car was trying to make a left turn; we were going straight, somehow he didn’t see us and we collided.
My jaw, back, neck and shin pulsed with pain. I was dizzy and disorientated. Somehow I made it to the side of the road, how I did that is one of many fuzzy pieces where the timeline skips a beat. People surrounded me, insisting I lie down and hold still. Someone put my gym bag under my head, someone else told me he was a lifeguard, and I started uncontrollably shaking.
I looked over at Charlton an stated what seemed to be the obvious truth, “Oh no, I gave you my bad car luck!” I had been stuck on the side of the road with mechanical issues four times during the previous month, and I had to completely replace my cars engine.
At that point I though that the situation would feel more normal if I knew everyone’s name. People seemed to know mine. First was a guy helping, he had a huge hipster mustache, and for some reason I felt comfortable with him. Every time I tried to push my self up, he gently reminded me to stay down.
At this point, I though I was acting normal. From my position, flat on my back on the sidewalk, I looked up at him and said, “So what’s your name?” After he answered my words started to flow freely. “Wow, I think it’s really important that you know you have the best mustache I’ve ever seen, it’s truly awesome.”
Turns out me + shock = no inhibitions.
Charlton kept checking in on me, but at that point the police were trying to take a report, and they needed to talk with him. Before long the firemen arrived. They leaned over me, asking questions. I though I was fully coherent, in retrospect I was nowhere close. For some reason, I decided, that my best course of action was to become friends with everyone around me, and try to make them laugh. I made the obvious choice to act like we were having a party while I was awkwardly lying on the sidewalk, being strapped to a neck collar.
Charlton and I had come directly from Kayaking. Thankfully, I had changed into my dry clothes before we left the beach, but he hadn’t. He was soaking wet and shivering. I was very concerned over the fact that he was cold. I remember telling everyone who would listen that he needed a blanket.
Soon enough, I knew all the firefighters names, and they had me strapped onto a board. “Ok Morgan, we are going to move you into the ambulance now.” I reminded them to lift with their legs not their backs, because obviously they needed me to tell them how to do their job. They got me loaded and I went about the task of learning all the paramedics names. Uncensored words continued to cascade out my mouth. “Hey, so I think it’s important for you guys to know that I feel very out of control in this situation, in fact it’s pretty much the most out of control I’ve ever felt.”
After a few minutes, the firefighter spoke, “Charlton needs to meet you at the hospital, so he can get the police report taken care of and change into dry clothing.”
“Oh, ok…” My mouth just kept running. Eventually all my new friends in the ambulance were stifling giggles.
The whole way to the hospital, all I wanted was more blankets. My body was violently shaking and the cold was incredibly intense.
As the guys wheeled me to the emergency room my constant chatting continued. I caught sight of my reflection on a piece of metal in the ceiling and stated, “Hum, maybe the neck collar isn’t my best look. I am on a date you know!” They gave me a courteous chuckle and kept pushing the gurney.
After what felt like an eternity, the doctor finally approved for the neck collar to come off, and they got me into X-Rays. By this point Charlton had arrived at the hospital and they determined that he had a fractured wrist and I had a badly sprained neck and back.
To be Continued….
