A-one, and-a two,....

[captainsblog]

Those are blessings. Ima counting them. They're both asleep, about 20 feet away from me. Emily and Cameron are fine, but they have a wrecked car, a bit of sore and a bigger bit of still-scared.

We got That Call round 7:30 last night. Emily was crying hysterically; all we could make out was that there had been a five-car pileup and that an ambulance was on the way. I threw a change of underwear and a toothbrush into my trunk and sped over here. Eleanor stayed home to field any calls on the landline.

A few minutes short of their town border, Emily called with where they were. They took her for observation to a horsepital not far from their apartment. Just before you get to it, you cross a street that Eleanor's brother lives on. I thought of calling him- and almost instantly, he called me.

I headed back to her ER bed, and she seemed okay- bruises from belt and bag doing their jobs, a few minor complaints- but they did a CT scan on her head and neck and they checked out OK. Cam wasn't driving, and sits further back from the airbag anyway, and his main problem is that his glasses flew off inside the car.

The accordion of what remains, anyway.

From their report and the PD printout, I got what happened:

They were driving out to dinner, on a moderately busy state road, when they saw Phil (as we would later identify him) sitting, stopped, at a green light. Emily braked and missed hitting him. The car behind her, on the other hand, didn't brake, slamming into her and pushing hers into Phil's. Two other cars then crashed into the guy behind her....

who, of course, knew the driver of Car Number One, whose unexplained stop at a green light caused the whole damn thing. "Hey, Phil," they heard #3 say to #1.

Sigh. I guess this time it's FIVE degrees of separation.

Cars 1, ours and 3 all got towed to a shop a few miles north of here. I'm sure they're closed today, but I'll triple check that later. There is collision on her car, so that should help if we can't get either #1 or #3's insurance to pay. Charlie did meet us in the ER, and he brought over a camping cot that I got a few hours of sleep on last night. I've cleared out my car, which the kids will use at least for now, and Charlie will drive me home so I can start working rentals and deductibles and All Dat Shit starting tomorrow.

I will not be driving Iggy here tomorrow. Duh.

And for the record: they hadn't been drinking, and she wasn't texting.

I'm exhausted, sore (would have been anyway after three different rounds of leggy exercise yesterday), and still a little off-put by all the uncertainties now ahead. But go back to the title of this post: they're okay, and everything else matters a million times less.

Comments

[bill_sheehan.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear of the accident, but glad everyone is OK.

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

Thankee. Everybody- them, us, friends- all get that as the blessing in the bump.

[thanatos-kalos.livejournal.com]

::hugs:: So sorry to hear about this. Tell Em that the whiplash pain will last about 48-72 hours afterward, her aches should be treated with ice for the first 36 hours-- after that, ibuprofen or aspirin or aleve will be okay. (If she's been taking them already it's not terrible; her bruises may get bigger though since NSAIDs are anti-platelet). She & Cam both will have to deal with adrenaline withdrawal (24-48 hours post event, it varies but should last about 36 hours) which will basically involve them both feeling like puppets whose strings have been cut. So make sure they eat and stay hydrated-- bland but as filling meals as they can take (beef on weck without horseradish would be good, soups, oatmeal, breads etc). Juice as well, plus sleep. Also constant reassurance that they did nothing wrong, that they're good drivers and that these things happen to everyone now and then.

[ellettra.livejournal.com]

All of this is true in my experience also.

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

I laid in Icy Hots and Epsom Salts for them, and they have Advil on hand. I've also told them not to hesitate to go back if anything turns worse or seems to be slow in getting better.

One oddity: although they loved their EMTs, they had no idea which meat wagon it was. Interesting, since the local fishwrap just posted a story about the competition for the meat in these vehicular sammiches:

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/local/2013/11/16/watchdog-ambulance-service-turf-tussle/3614321/

[thanatos-kalos.livejournal.com]

I'm not surprised-- R/M was always having to compete for coverage. If they were wearing blue with chartreuse accents, it was likely R/M. ::g::

[puppy-ciao.livejournal.com]

Speaking from experience, car 3's insurance will be footing the bill for all three. (I was car 3 a few months ago, which was greatttttt at 6 months preggo)

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

Oy. So glad you and Das Boy did fine. Legalities are the least of it now; Em went to HS with "Hurt in a Car" guy's daughter, so if she needs somebody, we'll be good to go.

[thediva-laments.livejournal.com]

I saw this right before I left for church. I'm so sorry for everything that happened.

For the record, I am really gratified that the young people involved were not only not at fault but that they weren't distracted like the idiot at the green light, texting, drinking, etc. Good for them for being responsible and I'm just sorry they were in the wrong place a the wrong time.

Hang in there.

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Kelly:)

[ellettra.livejournal.com]

It goes without saying that they weren't drinking or texting. You've raised Emily to be smart and responsible; I would have been shocked if they HAD been impaired some way. I'm so sorry to hear this happened, but I echo the sentiments of everyone else, that I am beyond thankful that they're essentially ok. You and Eleanor must have been pretty frightened, too, so extra hugs are heading your way. Love to all of you...

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

Thank you. When I first posted this, I didn't even include that line, because it wouldn't have occurred to me either as a possibility- but she volunteered the fact in talking about it, and I wanted to be sure that any n00bs to this post knew that about them as well as we do.

[greenquotebook.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad they checked out her neck properly. My mom suffered for *years* from neck issues that the docs traced back to her never receiving proper care for injuries sustained in a car wreck in her mid-20s. (((HUGS))) to you all.

[captainsblog.livejournal.com]

::hugsback:: and thank you for the wisdom about the delayed reaction. I saw your FB comment about that either at, or shortly after, our time in the ED, and I felt relief that they'd had the presence of mind to check on that issue before discharging her.

[greenquotebook.livejournal.com]

It came as a huge relief to me when I saw your note about that. I'm so glad she is all right.

[tilia-tomentosa.livejournal.com]

And I'm so late to read this...

*big big hugs*