To Read Part One, Click Here.

Nobody ever did let me see a mirror, but it must have been pretty scary, even after they stitched it up.I was sitting up in bed a day after the surgeries.  An orderly and family friend Ken, walked past my open door.  He hadn’t heard of my misadventures yet.

I raised my hand and waved.  “Hey Ken!”

He returned my hello, and walked out of sight.  And then I heard a strange, strangled yelp.  He spun around and walked back into view, his face as white as his uniform.

“What happened?!?”  I actually thought he was going to cry.  I ended up consoling and reassuring him.When I was released from the hospital, before Petey took me home, I made him take me to my savior’s house in Okisko to thank him.  And that’s where it gets a little weird.

It seems he and his family were a traveling band of Gospel singers.  He was supposed to be in Church that Sunday night.  He’d planned to be, he always was.  But, as he was getting in the car with his wife and kids to go, he stopped.  He didn’t know why, but he knew he had to stay home that night.  It would be the first time in many, many years that a Sunday evening wouldn’t see him in church.

But he was there, to help us, and keep us safe until the ambulance came.

The Kid and Riker, on our front porch.

My house now is on a road that has a twist and a hill at the same place.  Twice in the last ten years or so, late at night, there have been bad collisions out there.

Petey was doing another overnight at a hospital the first time.  I called 911 and ran out to do what I could.  The driver and passenger in the first car were hurt, but basically okay.  The other car was a different story.

The passenger was shook up, but also okay.  The driver was seriously hurt; best case scenario both his legs were just badly broken.  I told everybody the ambulance was on the way, then I crouched down by the injured driver and stayed with him until the paramedics came. Last night it happened again.  I pulled on my rain boots, told Petey to call 911, grabbed a flashlight, and ran out.  A car passing had been t-boned by a car that ran the stop sign.

One car had landed in my neighbor’s yard.  The other was still partially in the intersection.  The driver had exited, but the passenger side had been hit, and the woman sitting there had been hurt—her arm and shoulder were broken in at least two places, probably more.Petey came out and looked after one driver, a neighbor looked after the other, and I leaned into the car to talk to the woman.  I covered her with a coat, and gave her my hand.  I could tell by her chattering teeth she was trying to go into shock.  I tried to get her to slow her breathing, so she wouldn’t hyperventilate.  I held her hand, and told her I’d stay until the ambulance came.

But every second I waited, I thought of my own wreck.  And I remembered the fear and guilt and shame I felt.  And how my rescuer’s presence calmed me and made the whole nightmare easier to bear.

I will never ever be able to thank that man in Okisko enough.  So, holding a couple of very frightened hands is the absolute least that I can do.Thanks for your time.