Thanking our lucky stars

Jake and I were in a pretty rough car accident Tuesday. It was like a slo-mo scene in a movie. Glass was flying every which way, and we were bouncing around, not knowing where we would stop. Luckily, Jake and I were fine, as was the person who hit us. As for our car, we're not really sure. It was taken away and left at the towyard to be dealt with until the next day. The driver's side door is smashed in and the window totally broken. Part of the windshield shattered. Jake thinks one of the tires went flat. The other driver's truck was able to move; we didn't attempt to drive our car. It's a 2003 Nissan Sentra; I expect fixing it would cost more than just replacing it.

Our friend picked us up at the towyard and took us to the hospital. I felt a little woozy, and Jake was bleeding a bit, so we got CT scans. We kept finding shards of glass in each other's hair and clothing as we waited for the results, which came back OK. Of course, in my crazy rat's nest of hair, I expect to find bits of glass for days. You'd be surprised where you can find glass. Somehow, a few pieces had slipped down the gap in my jeans waistband. My back is a little wrenched, and Jake has some pain in his knee from the door crumpling in on it, but other than that, we're grateful to be alive. After the accident, I looked up at the sky and thanked God and my guardian angel (probably my grandpa). One of the tow-truck drivers asked if I wanted to get in his car and stay warm while Jake talked to the CHP officer. I said: "I could have been killed today. I'm happy to feel the rain."

Jake's in bed, but I can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I see glass. I see parts of the dashboard popping up and out. I see Jake throwing his arm across my stomach as we're shot off in a different direction on impact. I didn't really have the whole "life flashing before my eyes" thing. It was more like "What the hell is happening?" I think I closed my eyes at one point. I don't remember seeing anything straight ahead of us. I knew that Jake was OK next to me as we were sliding off the road because I could hear him screaming. I did have a brief moment of panic after we stopped, though, when I was afraid to look at him, because I didn't know whether he would be really hurt, and whether I could handle it if he was. He had stopped screaming, too. I was all right. I somehow managed to scrape part of my right ankle on the car seat, though. A weird injury, to be sure. But Jake? I just didn't know because the impact was all on his side. Thankfully, when we were stopped, a second or two later, I heard a big sigh, followed by "You OK?" I said, "Yeah." He said, "Open your door and get out." So I did, and he climbed out after me.

Then I saw the wet road, the truck that hit us and our car, sitting there with the lights on, looking OK from the passenger side. However, I knew it was much uglier on the other side, and I screamed: "Goddamnit! Not again!" followed by a bunch of unintelligible angry syllables. And I was kicking dirt and grass like Lou Piniella. It probably didn't help my fragile state of mind, but shit, we've only had the car for 2 1/2 years! We got the Nissan when our last car had been totaled in a hit-and-run. Still, the Sentra pretty much saved our lives. Had we been in my Focus, it might have been a much different story.

Jake was so calm after the accident. He was giving information to the insurance company, AAA and the CHP officer as though he was the witness, not one of the drivers. He kept consoling me and telling me everything would be fine. I'm just lucky in so many ways. I especially hit the jackpot with Jake. Tuesday's events just reaffirmed how much I love him, and how scared I still am to be so much in love with somebody because it could be taken away when you least expect it. Falling in love and deciding to get married truly is the biggest risk I've ever taken, but it's the best thing I've ever done. I just wish my husband wasn't a magnet for car accidents. *sigh* Maybe God could give us a break on that one, say, for a few decades?

One more thing: Hospitals should not allow "Criminal Minds" to be shown in the ER waiting room. It's not exactly soothing programming for people who have been through a traumatic experience earlier in the day.