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| Weekend.. |
| Sunday, October 28, 2012 |
Last Friday was like any other Friday, I was playing with BSK while DH left to get some chicken from the Halal shop. After a lot of 'next Saturdays', a family was finally visiting the next day. I was in a dilemma as to get the groceries on Friday itself or go in the morning. But I sent DH to the store anyway. The phone vibrated. I generally dont hear the phone vibrating. This time I did. Hmm DH must have forgotten something, was my thought as I picked up the phone. "SK inga oru accident SK" My first thought, oh he will be stuck in traffic and he will be late. "Ohh enge" As he started talking more I realized that it was him that met with an accident, his voice was shaking, almost like crying. My heart froze, my hands started shivering. "K enna achu K? K enna achu K?" I started crying. BSK saw me and started crying too. DH probably realized I have tendency fear too much. "Illa inga I got sandwiched between two cars." All sorts of images ran through my head. "K enna solra K?" extreme worry. " Illa I am fine, kaal la adi, they are calling 911" More fear, more shiver. "Enge achu?" "..." It was close by. "Sari naan kelambi varen"
Thoughts were rushing in my head. I packed two boxes of snacks and a bottle of water, carried BSK to the neighbour. Stepped on the lawn which was soaked from the rain. Rang the bell. The daughter openned. "Hi.. how are you? Hi BSK.." "Is your mommy home" In the meantime, the mom came. "Hi how are you?" "I am okay" My voice was shaking. I had some tears in my eyes. "DH met with a small accident at ... can you take care of BSK for some time, I want to go and make sure he is ok.." "Ohh sure sure sure.." I went back home took some of her teddies and gave them to the neighbour. I had been working from home, so was in home clothes, ran up to the room to change, muttering to myself. "Oh my God, why did I send him to the store. Is this a punishment? I hope he is okay!"
I took the car. Dashboard read, Low Fuel. I started driving and called DH at the first signal. "I left BSK with the neightbours and I am coming." "They are taking me to ...Emergency. You should come there" "Are you okay?" "Yes yes, just my knees are hurting" I hear more chatter in the background and DH talking to more people. "Ok they are taking the incident report, you come to the hospital.. or why dont you go back home look after BSK and I will come home after everything is done" "Are you crazy? No I am coming to see you." "Did you get their number?" "No..she will be fine." Hung up.
I reach the intersection where the accident happened. I see cop lights, I see ambulance. My heart feels cold. It shrieks, that is my husband! that is my husband!. Traffic because the road is not cleared yet. "Oh my god is he lying on the road. Is he in the ambulance." I call him again. "I am in the ambulance they are asking me questions. They are taking me to the hospital" "I am at the intersection, and see the ambulance.." "You come to the hospital, here there are cops all over." Shiver down the spine again. I stop at the red light. And as the light turns green, the ambulance starts. I follow the van. Signal after signal. The van drives into the Emergency area. I drive in too, unsure where to park. A guy the Valet apparently, comes to me. "Where should I park?" "Is this emergency" he asks. "My husband is in that ambulance" Shaky words I never thought I would ever utter in my life. "Oh ok, I can park the car for you." I get down, it was quick, he gave me a ticket.
They wheeled him out just as I was done. He was lying down in the stretcher. His pants were torn to above the knee. It broke my heart to see him in that position. "K enna K idhu" "It is ok, it is nothing major." I follow them. He is checked in, moved to a wheel chair. I found huge relief when I saw him move his legs. He limped to sit on the chair on his own. He was wheeled to the semi private so called room. I took a good look at his legs. Small tear, swelling. Relief.
I got the whole story, freaky it was. So DH was waiting at the red light in the car, when a car came and hit him from behind. He got out angry but he saw that there was no damage and cooled down. Apparently the guy was talking on the phone and hit him. He was exchanging information with the driver just in case, getting the license plate info, standing in between the two cars. A third guy didnt notice the stopped cars and hit the second car from behind. DH was sandwiched between two cars, the second car hit his knees and moved back. The pain was intense, so DH limped to the side of the road and just lied down. The second car guy saw this and immediately called 911. 911 response was in 2-3 minutes it seems. They took his vitals. He said his knees hurt. So they cut his pants. DH was glad they were his old jeans that I have been asking to get rid of.
Anyway what are the odds of two drivers back to back not being careful and not watching the road? The doctor did some tests, took xray of his knees, nothing broken, said he was very lucky! He is limping. He might have torn a ligament or something, but we will not know right away. Doctor and other hospital staff said he is lucky to have got off without any major injury inspite of being sandwiched between two cars.
As I sat there, knowing DH was going to be ok, it was still hard to see him immobile. He sleeps after me and wakes up before I do, most days, I hardly ever see him tired, lying down, sick or anything. It was hard. I started worrying about BSK. I remembered it was way past her diaper changing time, was wondering if she was crying could almost imagine her sulking, hiding, not knowing who to turn to. We were out in 2hrs. Picked up some dinner and went home. BSK was fine with the neighbors, was in fact playing fine with them.
Came home, DH was to give rest to his legs, not move around. He was in pain. That meant a lot more work for me.
The next day after thinking a lot about whether to call off the dinner with the friends or not, decided to go ahead with it. It would give us some distraction. It was tough, I took BSK to the stores, my backache is back. Managed to cook something. Cleaned up somehow, took a little bit of rest. Evening went fine, the 9 month old visitor intrigued BSK enough, she was showing him her toys, and teddy and books.
DH is fine. His knees are slowly getting better. The car is unscratched, of course, DH gave his knees to protect it, in some tow place, we will find out tomorrow. He is upset he might not be able to run or do other workout for awhile. We will know if something else is torn or strained only as time goes.
But this incident really got me thinking.
This was no wrong on DH's side. He was stopped at a red light for God's sake when the guy rear ended him, what are the odds?
It takes two people to raise a baby. It is very difficult for one person to take care of the baby and the other person. God I cannot even imagine how one can manage such a scenario. You cannot take care of the other person because the baby demands all attention.
You need good neighbors. And you need to be good to your neighbors.
Lately it has been on my mind that we are not socializing all that much. We did leave some good friends back in F Town. All our friends here were new, but since we have detached ourselves from AID and since a very close couple left to India, we dont have a regular gang we hang out with. We can count the number of people we can count on to help us out in times of need.
Everybody is so busy, including us, we dont have time for others.
Accidents are scary. I have checked my mails at red lights. I should not do it anymore. I am concerned that I spending 1.5-2hr everyday on the road. Probability of something happening is only higher.
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posted by SK @ 11:22 PM  |
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| 7 Comments: |
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Hi SK,
Please take care...
Absolutely not his mistake.. don't know why people drive like they have buttons for eyes..
I have lost someone very dear and I know it hurts to know that they weren't wrong..
Will pray he gets well soon..
God Bless!!
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yenaku idha padichu azhugai vandhuruchu... so scary ma..
I cant imagine the tension you must have been under..
Aghoo knows our neighbors.. but not enough to stay with them :(:(
Hope K gets better soon.. lot of hugs to you..
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Sorry to hear! Glad you guys are OK!
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oh gosh how scary! I'm glad he's safe. After having kids I get nightmares about terrible stuff happening - I'm scared a lot more than I used to be.
We know all our neighbors and can bank on them anytime, and vice versa...neighbors are the first to come and help when there is an urgent need. And friends are important too - in this country where we dont have our clan living with us.
Take care....
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SK, hope K feels better soon and life will be back to normal. Remember one day I told you mundane is beautiful? It is weekends like this that bring appreciation to the otherwise boring laundry-cleaning-grocery weekends..
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Deepika, thanks!
Daisy! thanks dear! we need to interact more with our neighbours!
yaadayaada, thanks!
Shachi, it is! esp after dependants, need to value life more! F-town is like small town in india can know everyone around you! bay area is like being in the city, noone cares!
Megs, yes, totally get it! will have mundane anyday now.
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Oh my god - that is scary SK. I can imagine the shock - the worst nightmare to receive that call. Glad to hear DH is doing okay and it was a minor injury. But you are right - what is destiny and how do we be prepared?
Take care and send me an email if you'd like some help. I love in Fremont too
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Hi SK,
Please take care...
Absolutely not his mistake.. don't know why people drive like they have buttons for eyes..
I have lost someone very dear and I know it hurts to know that they weren't wrong..
Will pray he gets well soon..
God Bless!!