The ride in the ambulance is uneventful – everything before that was. When the paramedics wheel me into the emergency room, I see the group of police, highway patrol and firemen outside the slot in the emergency room. “Did he make it? Is he okay?” I ask a fireman as I am wheeled past.
The fireman says, “Don’t know. It is still touch and go.”
They wheel me past the curtained areas of the emergency room to a private room. “I don’t need this type of area. Give it to somebody more in need than me.”
“This one’s for you. You are a hero,” says the ER tech wheeling the gurney.
“I’m no hero. I didn’t do anything.”
My Day Starts Like a Normal Day
Today is like any other day, except I am not in a hurry. It’s Tuesday and judge does law and motion on Tuesday so I am not in trial. I take my time with my morning routine and don’t get on the road until about 9:00 a.m. Because I am getting out at this time, I decide to go to the office on the freeway rather than the toll road I usually take to avoid congestion.
I don’t notice how fast I am driving but traffic is flowing. The sun breaks through the morning mist. I think it’s a great morning.
As I am driving, I feel a slam from behind. I think, “Crap, not again,” and look in the rear view mirror to see who hit me.
I watch a Nissan Altima travel perpendicular across all six lanes of the freeway, then leave the freeway and cut through the ice plant between the freeway and the exit lane for the University Drive exit.