Shards of glass were thrown into the air as the pick-up truck came crashing into the side of the car. The green forest I gazed at spun in full circles over and over again as the glass bounced from the floor to the ceiling of the vehicle. Once the image I was looking at was still, I was upside down. My seatbelt was tight around my chest, not allowing me to take deep enough breaths. I unbuckled and fell from the cushioned car seat to the roof of the car with my legs dangling on the back of the seat. I peered up at my aching leg; a bone protruded from my knee cap and blood leaked up my leg, seeping into my wool sweater. I must’ve been in shock due to how little in hurt; it was only a light throb unlike my head which pounded severely. I lowered my shaky hand to my knee and touched the wound. I howled in pain, tears streaming from my eyes. Then it hit me, there was nothing but silence surrounding me. The only noise I could hear, was a faint hissing from one of the cars. I slowly turned to meet the closed eyes of Elizabeth. Her chest quickly rose and fell as she took small quiet breaths. I stretched up and unbuckled her seat belt as she came limply cascading to the same position I was.
“Liz, I’m going to get you out of here.” I told her. I shimmied my way out of my blood soaked sweater and wrapped it around my elbow. From there, I inched my way towards the door and slammed my elbow into the glass window. I slammed all of the strength I had into the glass until it cracked and eventually shattered. I threw the sweater out of the window, sprawled it over the shattered glass and wrapped my arms around Elizabeth’s torso. I used my good leg to push off of the car seat and crawled through the window with Elizabeth over me. I moved from underneath her and lay her on the cool black road. Weakly, she moved her head to face the sky and began to wheeze and hack up blood onto her face and neck.
“Liz?” I asked in a panic. Her head fell limply back to the side and blood dripped out of her gaping mouth onto the black pavement. “Liz!” I screamed. I waited a moment, in hopes of some sort of response. “Elizabeth.” I whimpered, so quietly it most likely couldn’t even be heard by anyone further than a foot away. She was… dead. I sobbed and weeped until my face was dry and tight and liquid dripped from my nose.
Get yourself together. You’re in the middle of nowhere with a broken leg and no car, I thought. I clawed my way to the car, wincing at the pain in my fingernails and hands. I grabbed the edge of the wrecked flipped car and began to slowly pull myself up. I managed to get into a sitting position and tucked my good leg under myself and used the car to stand. My leg was beginning to hurt more and more, throbbing and aching in time with my heartbeat. A few hours went by and it was pretty clear that no one survived the crash but me. I managed to gather some materials to make myself a makeshift brace to keep my leg together until… until what? I asked myself. There is no what. My leg won’t magically heal without some true medical attention, so I can’t walk. This is a remote area that barely anyone knows about, therefore goes. The only car we saw in the few hours we were driving around this area, was the one that crashed into us. I’m going to die out here. My eyes began to sting with tears filling them, but I wouldn’t allow myself to give up, not yet. I collected myself and used one of the arms of my sweater to tie two thick sticks to the sides of my legs, above my knee; I repeated the process with the other arm of my sweater but this time below my knee. Once it was all secured, I tied and knotted the sweater arms even tighter so I wouldn’t bleed out, and screamed in pain as I did so.
I sat up, broken out in a cold sweat. I shivered but I was flushed in the face. I must’ve passed out. It was nighttime, and the sky was clear and I could see the thousands of stars, shining like lightbulbs up in space. I was still in no shirt, only my bra. I needed to take some kind of shelter for the night. I decided to just stick it out for the night, so I slid my legs in through the broken car window and got inside. I carefully guided the broken glass out of the car and layed down shivering. Idiot! There are supplies in the trunk! I gasped, excitedly and got back out of the car. I limped my way to the back of the car, holding most of my weight on it and popped the trunk. The supplies came rushing out like coins in a casino game. There were two thick sweatshirts, boxes of cereal, freeze dried meals, gallons of water, a first aid kit, and camping supplies. “Thank you!” I screamed, towards the night sky. I didn’t believe in a God, not some man with a white beard who opens the golden gates of heaven to you on a cloud. But it felt like even after all that had happened, there was someone looking down on me. I made a few slow, back and forth trips putting different foods in the car, water, and the camping materials. I tightly rolled one of the sweatshirts and put it under my neck as a pillow and put on the second sweatshirt on to keep me warm.
I was awakened by the beautiful song of birds, a warm breeze came blowing through the window with the delicate fragrance of the spring cherry blossoms. There was a gentle knock on my door.
“Come in!” I yawned. Mom pushed the squeaky door open and held a breakfast tray with thick fluffy pancakes, a small pitcher of maple syrup from our maple tree, blueberries and raspberries, and a glass of bright orange, orange juice.
“Hey honey.” She giggled.
“Hey.” I smiled back. “You didn’t have to make me breakfast mom. I’m going to college soon, you don’t need to take care of me anymore.” I teased.
“You’re not at college yet are you? I will always take care of you, no matter what a grown up you are!” She exclaimed, kissing the top of my head and setting the tray on my lap. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” I responded. I jerked awake, and observed my surroundings. I was still in the flipped car. I fought back the urge to cry. Crying is giving up Nadine. I used the same process that I’d been using to get in and out of the car. Once I was out I grabbed a jug of water and a box of, “Chocolate Crunch Cereal” and ate handfuls of it until my stomach began to ache. I guzzled a few chugs of water and used the car to stand. Since the accident, my leg hadn’t bothered me as long as I hadn’t bothered it, but it began to hurt without bothering it. It pounded worse and worse every second and it was beginning to be unbearable. I looked down at it and a deep purple, red, and green bruise surrounded the wound, and the bone still stuck out. The wound itself wasn’t healing at all. Green ooze was buried deep in the cavern of wound and the skin around it was beginning to turn slightly black. It’s infected! I got back onto the ground and grabbed the small first aid kit from inside the car. I opened it and a small spray disinfectant, disinfectant gel, hand sanitizer, bandaids, and a curved needle and thick black thread laid inside. I knew what I had to do. I started by spraying the disinfectant onto the direct wound, and rubbing in the gel around it. I grabbed the curved needle and thread it with the black thread and set it onto the ground. I took a deep breath in and pushed on the bone with my hand. I screamed and had to stop, as my mouth gathered a foul taste and my stomach dropped. Fluid filled into my throat and I vomited onto the pavement. It was thin, translucent, liquid with a slight pale green tint to it, and small brown pieces of soggy cereal. After sitting still for about ten minutes, I knew that if I didn’t get my knee in some better form, an infection would kill me. I pressed on the bone with a great amount of pressure and it crunched back into my leg and blood spurted out. I was exhausted from screaming but I needed to finish this. I wiped my bloody hands onto the pavement and covered them in hand sanitizer as well as the needle. I winced as I pinched the skin closed, and stuck the needle through both sides. I felt week and on the verge of vomiting again but finished the job. My leg looked pretty OK, besides the stitches and bruising. I prayed that I was being looked down on and I would make it out of this. I sat on the ground with the early afternoon sun beating down on me. I removed the sweatshirt and sat propped up on the car for what felt like hours. I looked to my right and a wooden door stood there. Just… there. Not propped up against anything, it just stood like a regular door. A gentle knock came from the other side, but I was too out of it to say anything. The door pushed open and mom came in holding the same breakfast tray that she did that one morning.
“Mom help me!” I screamed.
“Hey honey.” She giggled.
“Mom? Are you listening? Call the police! I’m stranded and I can’t walk.”
“You’re not at college yet are you? I will always take care of you, no matter what a grown up you are!” She exclaimed, kissing the top of my head and setting the tray on my lap. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” I mouthed to her. “I’m so sorry for not calling. But, I think I’m dying and hallucinating. I’m sorry.” I sobbed. She smiled and left through the door, shutting it behind her. My breathing slowed and I closed my eyes. I was willing to accept it. It was my time. I should’ve just died like Elizabeth. I thought, a tear rolling down my cheek. But then, I heard it. A howling of some sort. No not howling… sirens.