i remember riding home with my mother and sister after some shopping. we had gone to jack-in-the-box. we had just dropped off my sister's friend, ann. i was still drinking my soda. looking up, i saw a car ahead in our lane coming the opposite direction. that car crashed into us. i screamed. my drink spilled all over my lap. an old man- a drunk old man had hit us. no one was hurt, but i still remember the chaos and police cars and my sister's friend and her mom running out and helping us.
last month ceily had one of those experiences.
she was riding home from school and her bus was in an accident with an ice cream truck.
i had a phone call telling me she was on the way to the hospital.
after trying to find her, and wondering and worrying for about 30 minutes we finally found her and this is what we saw.
well, actually, as soon as i poked my head in, she started to cry. i rushed in and took her hand. i tried hard to not freak out and cry myself. she looked really bad. i hadn't been nervous before, but after seeing her for the first time, i felt nervous.
as we stood there she described what had happened. they were heading home from school. ceily was sitting in the front seat opposite the bus driver. she remembers looking up and seeing the ice cream truck swerve into their lane. after that she doesn't remember what happened. she does remember having blood everywhere and trying to get off the bus. (i asked her after why she was sitting in the front seat. she said she always sits there. she hates the bus. quick on. quick off.)
she had so much glass from the window shield in her hair, in her shirt, in her bra, down her back, in her shoes and in her face and forehead. every time she would shake her head, handfuls of glass would spill out! (weeks after she is finding little pieces of glass still in her face.)
the worst wound was a gash on her forehead. they said it was about 1/4 inch deep. ceily had an out of body when they even mentioned stitches, so she opted out. the doctor said it was probably better because it would give an opening for the glass to come out. i think there is still pieces remaining.
it was crazy the amount of blood. we were positive she had a bigger cut somewhere hidden by her massive curls, but we never found one. she tells the story that as everyone was getting off the bus, the boy that was helping everyone down, wouldn't help her because she was so bloody. she was so afraid to look at her face because she thought if she looked it was "going to be torn off."
but the best part, if there can be a best part to a bus accident, is she was interviewed by the local news. she even invited one of the reporters into her room and gave him an exclusive cell phone video interview. later after she was released from the hospital, the reporter came to the house and interviewed her again. she was gracious and eloquent and explained she was glad her face wasn't ripped open and grateful nothing more serious had happened. she closed the interview by explaining she would never ride a bus again.
she has held true to that statement. every day at 2pm, she gets a ride home in the mini van.
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