So, Monday night I was in a car wreck.


As far as wrecks go, I'm very lucky. The doctors made sure that was drilled into my head. I am very lucky, and stupid. Very very stupid for not wearing my seat belt like anyone with a thought in their head usually does. And the ironic thing is I always wear that damn thing, and the one time I don't wear it because the trip was a 5-minute long drive, I wreck. Wait, is that irony? Damn you, Alanis Morissette!

It happened like a lot of wrecks do. I was in a rush to get back to work because I was on lunch and cutting it close to log-in time. It was raining and the roads were slick. The car had already slid once that day when I tried to brake. Well the events leading up to the actual wreck are sort of muddled in my head, which is odd because I can remember the actual wreck and everything after just fine. I remember trying to stop at a stop sign, but the car kept going and another car was comign down the hill and I just knew it was coming. The weird thing was, even though I knew they were going to hit me it was like my brain was full of goo and I couldn't do anything. It seemed like it took a thousand years for the impact to come, but it was all actually split-second fast.

They hit me hard in the drivers side door, and since I was seatbeltless it threw me around like a ragdoll. I smacked my head on the window and ended up sprawled over the front seat in a daze while my car just kept going. It jumbled around a bit more and came to a stop, and I remember thinking  "I lived through it!"

The guy driving the other car opened my door and said some stuff at me. I can't remember it all, I think I was in shock. I remember reaching up to feel my head and there was a knot the size of a freaking plum there. I thought my head would explode from pain. I think he called 911 on his cell phone. I tried to get out and look at my car but my legs didn't work right.

When the ambulance arrived they medic made me keep my head perfectly still until they could get a neck brace on me, and then a bunch of guys lifted me out of the car and strapped me to a stretcher and rolled me to the ambulance. I remember watching the rain fall on me and seeing the red and blue lights flash in the corner of my vision thinking about how surreal it was. Wrecks happen to other people. The stretcher seemed like a bit too much.

The man in the ambulance got my information and asked if there was anyone he could call for me, but all phone numbers escaped me at the moment so I said no. He asked me questions and was generally nice and sympathetic. The ride to the hospital was short and I watched the florescent lights roll by on the ceiling as they wheeled me to my hospital room. 

I had to have a cat scan to make sure there was no hemorrhaging in my brain, but first they needed to do a pregnancy test. I was strapped to a spine board so they wouldnt let me get up to give them a urine sample. I had to have a catheter. Painful and embarrassing.

A cop came in and wrote me a citation because I had no car insurance, but he seemed so miserable about it I almost wanted to tell him it was okay. He said the couple that hit me were extremely concerned and didn't want to press charges. They said they just hoped I was okay. He touched my arm before he left, I guess as some kind of gesture of sympathy.

More nurses came in and asked me for numbers to call and I could only think of Austin's. I told her to tell him to call my parents, but he ended up coming, too. I knew he would. I was alone in the room waiting for them to show up and I started panicking about hospital bills and my court date. I cried so hard my hospital bed shook, and so did all the towering machines hooked up to me. I still couldn't move my head at all so it was very awkward.

Mom and Dad showed up and came up on both sides of my, grabbing a hand each as I bawled at them about how much it was going to cost. Dad told me there was no point in worrying about it, that worrying wasn't going to make me stumble into a big pile of money. It made sense in that useless way that doesn't help at all, but made me stop crying regardless. Austin showed up while I was having the cat scan done. I clung to his hand like a life line and he scolded me for being reckless.

What completely blew my mind was when Rafael and his roommate hurried in. I think I talked about Rafael in a previous post, but he's the guy I sit next to at work. Even though I only just met him like a week and a half ago he's very protective of me, and has helped me a lot in scaring off the guys that make me uncomfortable. He's my 6'5" Colombian shadow. When I heard his voice I blinked and said "Rafael, is that you?" and he said that when I didn't come back from lunch he got worried, and when he heard sirens he put two and two together and just up and left to go find me. I told him I probably would just go bother Alea at Wal-Mart for 30 minutes(which I did)he went there first to ask her if she'd seen me. She said I'd already come and gone, so he called the police and found me instantly. 

Adam is his roommate, and also someone who I have been e-mailing back and forth with flirtatiously and yet had never met. He came up next to my hospital bed and grinned and said "Hi, I'm Adam," and I said "Nice to finally meet you, Adam" and we shook hands ridiculously. What a time to have to be self-conscious of your neck brace and hospital gown. 

Since there was no spinal damage they took me off the spine board and took my neck brace off so I could feel a little less completely retarded. My parents, my ex-boyfriend, my coworker and his roommate all chatted and swapped stories and made jokes and I felt very loved and still surreal as hell.

The doctor came in and told me that unfortunately, my head would probably remain in an odd shape from now on. I totally believed him, too. Go ahead and tell me that Gullible's-Not-in-the-Dictionary joke. I will fall for it. 

I finally got released at midnight. Austin hugged me and told me I wasn't allowed to drive every again. I had to miss work and rest even though I didn't want to. They gave me vicodin for the pain and it reminded me of House. 

The lump on my head went away almost overnight.

I'm very lucky. :) And very very stupid.

Well, I got thrown out of the house by my father, quite physically. Being homeless is an interesting adventure. Price of one prescription > price of one daughter.

As for now i'm hopping from friend's house to friend's house. I'll probably be moving into my car soon.

I saw my bitches darth_rosenberg and cmiko at tha fahrworks. That's fireworks for all you YANKEES. Wow, I missed them. I'm totally getting all up on the schedule thing, dearies. We are soooo having some summer fun and smore-ing it up. <3

As for today, worst day of work ever. I totally meant to just TALK to my boss about my crazy schedule but as soon as he was there in front of me I opened my mouth to say something and started bawling. I was babied afterward, but just a bit. Anyway, I filled out a new availability sheet and everything should run smoothly now. How embarrassing, though. Geez.

I have the ick. I woke up feeling like a horrible monster had been scratching around in my throat while I was sleeping, and I kept feeling like I was gonna fall over all day today. It feels like fever is radiating out of my eyeballs.

Oh and I'm pretty sure I got pick-pocketed at le firework show. :( Damn hooligans. Bye bye gas monies.

But Snowdrop and Bean gave me kisses just now and I'm feelin' fine.

 

P.S. I've been giving Alec driving lessons and he has improved like 500%. I am so proouudddddd.