The Accident

Adelyn's boss has been hounding her for months about how to do her job "If you weren't such a control freak, I'd be able to get some actual work done" she exclaimed to no one in particular as she reads another angry text message from her boss. She starts up her car in preparation for the drive home. Adelyn was at the bar again hoping for some stress relief from her daily grind. "why do I have to see my boss everywhere I go? Did he intentionally go to that bar knowing I'd be there? Ugh he makes me so mad!" She fights the urge to text her boss back and give him a piece of her mind. Frustrated she drives off when she receives another text message then another, four more after that one. Knowing her boss will keep texting until he is answered she finally grabs the phone and begins reading the messages glancing to the road at intervals. "No one's on this road at 2am it should be ok" she thought to herself. The text reads: "I am not paying you to sit around and doodle! I'm paying you good money to make my clients happy and do it right the first time! If you keep wasting my time and resources, you are fired!"

"Pfffft what does he know anyway, he can't even draw, and he has the audacity to tell me how to do my job! I have seen your work; it's stolen straight from Google! At least my work is original!" which is what she wanted to reply instead she wrote a well thought out semi-formal and polite message entailing the discrepancies, an apology and a thank you for the critique. Before finalizing her message, she had not realized how distracted she had been until it was too late. Her station wagon, handed down through the generations, had plowed right into another vehicle.

Adelyn hit the airbag hard and broke her arm. Adelyn came back to consciousness rather quickly, her left arm in immense pain. Her right hand still holding her phone she called the police, knowing she messed up. Two ambulances rushed to the scene followed by several police officers and a fire truck. The paramedics pulled her from her vehicle and put her on the stretcher; as she was wheeled to the ambulance, she looked for the other car. It had been thrown ten feet and rolled on its side she could not see the driver, but she knew it was bad. She had overheard the paramedics talking about the other driver, she was unconscious and the blood from her temple poured across her face as she hung to the side, held up only by her seatbelt.

"It's been two days when are they going to release me?" Adelyn exacerbating her broken arm by tugging on it.

The older nurse snapped at her "Stop that, your surgery is scheduled for this afternoon. Besides your broken arm we have orders to keep you under surveillance"

"What! Why?" Adelyn exclaimed.

"You didn't think we would notice you sneaking out of your room?"

"I wouldn't have to if you would just tell me how she's doing!" she snapped back irritated that she can't even know the condition of the woman she had crashed into. "She could be dead for all I know, that would make me a murderer!"

"No, besides you wouldn't be a murderer." the nurse said dryly.

"I wouldn't?"

"You would just go to prison for the rest of your life for accidental manslaughter, see not murder" smirking as she folded the sheets on the bed next to Adelyn.

"You're not funny you know" Adelyn resigned to her own bed clicking through channels on the television. Finally pausing her rampant button mashing when animal planet popped into view.

"what, are you a child now?" the nurse scoffed and left the room.

"I'm twenty-three thank you very much!" Adelyn called after her, falling on deaf ears. Sighing heavily "If she does ....die." gulping down the words she had just uttered as if they were thick molasses "It's completely my fault and I need to know, it's killing me inside." she goes to the door and peeks out into the hallway "One more room to check at the end of that hall, that's gotta be her.....I've gotta stop talking to myself."

Adelyn's surgery went well, she woke groggily from her morphine induced sleep. She could barely move her body, effects of the medication no doubt. She ran her hand along her freshly stitched arm "That'll be an epic scar" the stitches reached up her forearm and around her bicep in a spider like manner, obviously a lot of reconstruction had to be done the arm had been shattered in multiple places.

Two more nights past when she decided she had recovered enough to continue her search. There was a nurse patrolling the hall, a man whose face was covered by a thick beard, yet a pair of kind eyes could be seen. He wasn't particularly muscular, but he was tall, six-four, Adelyn guessed; much taller than her five feet two measly inches. The man found a seat and took a rest if only for a moment. Adelyn thought to herself "here's my chance" she made a brisk walk to the hallway across from her room careful not to draw any attention. Her arm hurt like hell, so she kept tugging on it trying to relieve some of the pressure that has built up since the surgery, it seemed to relieve it for a brief instant. Adelyn crept to the room she knew had to be the woman she's looking for. As she opened the door suddenly, she broke out into a sweat, the woman lying before her was black and blue all over. Some of her injuries were from recent surgeries and others were clearly from the accident. Adelyn broke down into tears "what have I done?" she stared at her damning herself before thinking to look at the woman's chart for a name, something to call her. She wanted to know who this woman was, secretly hoping she was an evil doer, at least then she could free herself from some of this guilt that keeps tearing at her. "Sandra Cuthwrite, twenty-six, blood type A positive, Comatose" she read the chart to herself before scanning the room for any belongings. A laptop bag lay on the chair nearest the window seemingly placed there haphazardly. "Where's your family Sandy?" she thought out loud as she stared at the stranger in the hospital bed, she notes her features, the ones not swollen and bruised, noticing an old scar above her right eye. Adelyn runs her finger ever so slightly over the scar deciding it suited her very much. She hears footsteps leading away and steels herself for the escape back to her own room.