Is life a road? I post this with that thought in mind.
Crossroads
After loading my tools and equipment and saying goodbye to the people I had worked with and grown to care deeply for, I cranked up the cd player and turned myself north. In the highway home, now a familiar friend, I found comfort in the gentle sway of the SS as I made my way into an uncertain future. While indulging my melancholy mood, I rounded a turn to see a black SUV that had apparently just collided with a tree.
I drove by slowly looking at the vehicle to see if someone was inside... no other cars in sight, I turned around to find her sitting behind the wheel as if she had just pulled to the side for a rest. The dust from the air bags still in the air, I asked if she were okay.. "No".. she whimpered looking at me through a badly swollen eye and cheek. "My hip hurts bad" she says climbing across the console. "Stay still" says I as she went on to beg me to just take her home.
The front of her vehicle absolutely destroyed, folded up as so much tin foil from her impact with a tree. Very lucky to still be with us I thought.
Her pleas touched my heart as she went on to say she didn't need this DUI that would absolutely screw up her life. I tried my best to comfort her explaining that she had been involved in a very bad accident and needed to to be checked out by a doctor. "I couldn't get anyone to drive me home" she sobbed.. "I just live down the road, please take me home." " I can't" says I... " I'm sorry".
"Hows my mouth?" she asked, " Your mouth is a bit swollen but your cheek and eye look a bit bruised but I think you'll be fine."was my reply.
Meanwhile a guy on a bike who also stopped was on the phone, she asked him to not call 911 repeating that she just couldn't do this. In my calmest tone I explained that we all make mistakes and while she thinks it's the end of her world, this too will pass and all will be alright in time. "you don't know my parents" she sobs.. "they'll disown me." " I'll lose my job... I have screwed up my life." " Please, please don't call 911.." she sobs. " They're already on the way and there's nothing we can do to change that now," I replied. " You need to see a doctor" I added once again.
"Please go to the hospital with me she cries".. "I can't do this".. I did my best to comfort and console her as every emergency responder in the world showed up and began the process of managing the scene. The first EMT quizzed me about what I knew as he checked her for injuries. The broken look on her face as she gave in to her fate burned into my mind as she told him about the 4 beers she'd had before attempting to drive herself home. She kept glancing over his shoulder to me as I stood outside the door holding it open as he did his job. I softly mouthed, "everything will be fine" to which she slowly nodded the negative.
He stepped away from the door so I reached down and picked up her drivers license and credit card that had spilled on to the ground. I reached them out to her with a comforting smile, I paused briefly to read her name.. "Amber?" I asked, " Amber Royce" she said.. and with that I made sure she'd seen that I dropped them into her purse.
19 years old she was.. just a baby.. a baby that has just hit a bad streak of luck that will inevitably change her life forever.
As the Sheriffs deputies arrived I was asked if I were a witness.. "no" said I.. "I was just driving by". "Well then you need to leave" was his reply. " But she asked me to stay" I said. " She'll be taken good care of and we need to clear everyone from the scene" he said. Not feeling on top of my game to begin with or willing to engage a police officer in witless banter, I decided that he was probably right and I had done whatever good I could have done.
Reaching around him I gently took Ambers hand and told her once again that everything was going to be just fine. Again she slowly nodded her head no..
So with heavy heart I slowly walked back to my car.. all my tools and broken dreams packed inside I slowly made my way home. The ride was long and solemn as I pondered my day, should I have stayed? Should I have asked where they were taking her so I could go and be there for her? Would she even remember me if I had.. these thoughts filled my head and added to the weight of my heart.
It's all up to you now Amber Royce.. you've been given another chance so make the best of it. You've got a whole world of opportunity in front of you and lots of life left to smooth over the ripples. Sorry I couldn't be there for you for the long haul but I know that though today things look bad.. tomorrow, or the next day, they'll look just a little bit better. And I'm sure you have many friends and family to help you along your way.
Though we'll likely never meet again, I'll always carry those 30 minutes on the side of hwy9 at our crossroads with me and I can only hope they offered her just a bit of comfort in her time of need. While glad I could be the voice of calm reasoning, I simply didn't have more to offer, for today I was feeling very...old.
