My sister and I woke up New Year's morning craving a delicious brunch. I had been dying to take her to my most favorite brunch place in Texas, so we made a plan for the day, got ready, and set out. (The Plan: Brunch. Sundance Square. Moscow Mules and board games.)
It was a gloomy morning. The roads were wet from rain, the clouds heavy, and the skies gray. We were determined to get out of the house and go on this adventure. We had been cooped up inside most of the week due to rain and cold weather. We were not going to let it hold us back any longer.
Flash forward 20 minutes later - we're in my little white Toyota Yaris - tooting along - talking about all of the options my sister has ahead of her - how bright her future is - she's graduating in May! How exciting is that?!
We are about 3 miles from our destination. I'm merging from one highway onto another highway with only two lanes; I'm driving in the left lane needing to merge to the right lane so I can get off at the exit that's about two miles away. I turn my blinker on, look in my side and rear view mirrors to see if it's okay for me to get over, and I see a silver truck several cars behind me who is whipping in and out of cars and very obviously flying down the very wet roads. I turn my blinker off, roll my eyes, and say to my sister "I'm not going to get over yet. I'm going to let this a$$hole pass me first." My sister asks, "Who?". "The guy in that truck behind us - he's driving crazy.", I replied. My sister turns and immediately knows who I'm talking about - "Yeah, he's driving like a maniac." She turns back around and a second later he's half way past us when he looses control of his truck.
Everything happened in slow motion. It felt like the longest few seconds of my life. I could see him start to spin directly in front of us. I moved my foot to hit the breaks. He crossed our path. I saw the tail of his truck hit the yellow plastic guard barrier that was to the left of me. I heard a very loud "BOOM!". I saw water explode from the barrier. My foot made it to the breaks. I heard my sister say "Oh my gosh!" in a panicked yell. My foot slammed the breaks, but I see nothing but silver metal directly in front of me. It's too late. I felt terrified and completely and utterly helpless. There was nothing I could do. I heard the force of metal on metal. I heard screetching tires. I saw white explode in front of me. I could smell smoke. I saw smoke. I remember wondering if something was on fire. So many thoughts went through my mind - "Metal. People die like this. People die with metal as the last thing they see and think about. Is this going to be my last thought? Thinking of metal? Thinking of other people dying?" I could feel my body thrust forward towards the wind shield while my hands and arms flailed back from the steering wheel towards the seat behind me. I could feel my seat belt jerk me back. I could feel my head and arms whipping forward and backward like a rag doll. I prayed that my sister wasn't experiencing this - and hoped that maybe she miraculously in a safety bubble where no bad things could happen. ...and then it was over.
At some point I squinched my eyes closed as hard as I could. Slowly, my eyes opened. They itched. I started to cough. My lungs itched. My body was aching. I realized my car was filled with what seemed like thick gray smoke. Wreck. Car Wreck. "Sarah?!" I yelled. I looked beside me and there she was. Wide eyed looking at me. She was in one piece - THANK GOD. "Lauren, are you okay?!", she asked. I didn't even answer her- "Are YOU okay?! We need to get out of the car. I don't know if the car's on fire." I could feel myself panicking. Thank god for my level headed sister - "Yeah, we should get out of the car. I think it's just powder from the airbags going off - but still let's get out just in case."
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A frantic call to 911, a panicked call to my husband, a rushed check to make sure everyone involved was okay or would be okay until medics came, a ride in the ambulance to the hospital, CT scans, some needle pricks, X-rays, and a few pain killers later - Sam was at the hospital with us - we were getting released. Maybe it was the adrenaline....but Sarah and I looked at each other and knew the day was not over.
We went to lunch at the brunch location that we were originally headed to; we quickly walked around Sundance Square in the freezing rain, and then headed to the pharmacy to pick up our prescriptions.
Instead of moscow mules and board games - we cuddled up on the couch with blankets and pillows, took lots of ibuprofen and a muscle relaxer, and passed out only a few minutes into a movie we started.
That was mine and my sister's first day into the new year.
The next few days were rough. My sister and I felt like we had been hit by a truck (pun intended).
I am so thankful for our bruises, bumps, sprains, and aches. I hate what happened and I wish it didn't happen, but I'll take those minor injuries. That's all we got and I know like any accident - it could have been so much worse.
I'm curious to see what else 2015 has in store.
Cheers!
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| The damage I did to his truck. |
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| The pain medication wore off and exhaustion sunk in moments after this photo was taken. |
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