15 Minutes

The traffic light turned green. Cindy was driving her new fire engine red 2002 Pontiac Sunfire with sunroof. She was so proud of her car. Fresh out of college, Cindy bought the car with no help from her parents. She succeeded in playing the same game as the car dealers. Just to make the sale, the salesman knocked $5,000.00 off the sticker price.

Cindy’s best friend and college roommate, Marilyn, was in the front seat. “I can’t believe you haggled a car salesman and got him to come down,” Marilyn said.

“I know. I can’t believe it either,” she said with excitement in her voice. “When I told Dad, he bought me a tank of gas. I don’t think he was this proud at graduation last week.”

They were out apartment hunting when a 1999 Dodge Ram extended cab came speeding from a side street on Airline Highway. Neither Cindy nor Marilyn saw the truck coming until it was too late. Time seemed to stand still as, out of the corner of her eye, Marilyn saw a truck coming right at them. She tried to call out to Cindy, but no words would come out of her mouth. She closed her eyes as she felt her door press against her arm. As the car was pushed over the median and turned around in oncoming traffic, Cindy's screams blended in with the sound of crunching metal. The force of the impact caused Cindy’s car to hit four other vehicles. After the car came to a stop, the two girls sat in a daze, trying to comprehend what had happened.

“Marilyn, are you okay?” Cindy asked, her voice shaky.

“I can’t move my right arm and left foot. How about you?”

Cindy put a hand to her head and felt the warm blood trickling down her cheek. Even though her seatbelt kept her in place, she saw the indentation of her forehead in the steering wheel. At a height of only five feet, she sat close to the wheel. I hit my head and my hip hurts. Where’s my phone? We need to call somebody.”

With her good arm, Marilyn grabbed Cindy’s phone in her purse on the backseat. Cindy called 911.

“911, what is your emergency?”

“I was just in a wreck,” Cindy replied, her voice shaking.

“What is your condition?”

“I hit my head and my hip hurts. My friend’s right arm hurts along with her left foot. Four other cars were hit. A man speeding in a big truck came from a side street.”

“What is your location?” the 911 operator asked.

“Airline Highway in front of Sam’s Club store.”

“We’ve got units on the way. I want you to stay on the phone with me until the paramedics arrive, okay?”

“Okay.”

“What’s your name?” the operator asked.

“Cindy. My friend is Marilyn.”

“Try to stay calm for me, okay, Cindy?” the lady’s calm soothing voice said.

While Cindy was talking on the phone, Marilyn looked around at the twisted metal of cars tossed over four lanes of traffic. They resembled her nephew's toys being left in every direction.

Marilyn looked at the truck that caused the chaos. The front end was pushed in, causing part of the engine to rest beside him on the front seat. Half of the windshield was shattered allowing the glass to find a home on the man’s t-shirt. Through the truck’s driver’s side window, she could see the deployed air bag hanging from the steering wheel; smoke still making it’s way out. He pushed open the truck’s door and struggled to get out as empty beer cans fell to the ground. As he gripped the truck door, he maneuvered himself so he could see the front. He let go of the open door, wobbled on his feet, and fell to the pavement, passing out. As he lay on the pavement, Marilyn could see blood coming from his face and arms.

It was a hot day in Baton Rouge. As Marilyn sat in the car surveying the scene, she noticed that the air conditioner wasn't working. She began to feel the heat from the sun penetrating down through the sunroof and windows, along with the hot asphalt radiating its heat upward.

She looked over to her left where Cindy was still on the phone with the 911 operator. Marilyn saw sweat glistening on Cindy’s face, weaving its way through the blood that had already begun to dry.

A sparkling substance on the floorboard and on both their legs caught Marilyn’s eye. She looked toward the sunroof and found only broken glass around the frame.

The windshield had three areas of shattered glass that resembled a spider’s web, ready to capture its prey. She felt like its prey, trapped and not able to get free.

Marilyn’s gaze left the windshield and traveled to the twisted and contorted metal of the hood, which reminded her of a partially wadded up piece of paper. Red paint had chipped away in places, revealing the gray metal underneath. The windshield wipers were even bent in half, looking like the pointed eyebrows of an old man. Her eyes found the radio antenna bent at its base and resting on the mangled hood.

Marilyn could feel more pressure on her right arm and left leg. As she looked at her door, she noticed that the inside panel was cracked and broken. She looked past Cindy who was still on her cell phone. Her door panel was also broken and cracked from the impact.

“Cindy, how much longer till the ambulance gets here?” Marilyn asked.

“They’re on their way. Are you hurting?” Cindy asked.

“Yeah, a little bit more. It’s getting really hot in here.” She looked around for something to circulate some air. She noticed that the glove compartment was open, letting some of its contents hang out. Marilyn found Cindy’s book of emergency phone numbers. She remembered Cindy commenting that she had just put the book in the day before. Marilyn thought of the irony of it and chuckled to herself. She took the book and used it as a fan for her and Cindy.

Tears welled up in Marilyn’s eyes. She began to vividly remember the wreck that took her dad’s life only one year ago. Her dad was driving home when an 18 wheeler ran a red light and pinned his car underneath. The paramedics said it happened so fast, that it was over before he realized what happened. I don’t need to think about that right now, Marilyn thought to herself as she wiped her eyes before the tears could fall.

She looked through the windows at the other cars involved. She could see the drivers and passengers reach for their cell phones, dial, put the phone to their ear, and begin talking. One car had severe damage. It had been hit in the front by Cindy, and from the back when the car behind couldn’t stop fast enough. One car's front bumper rested on the side of the road. Marilyn noticed another car with a personalized license plate that read, “Smile” and the smiley faces on it had twisted to conform the bent front bumper of its car. From Marilyn’s perspective, nobody seemed to have life threatening injuries.

In between the heaps of mangled metal, shards of glass littered the pavement. It reminded her of the snow when she was in Colorado last winter.

“Cindy, how are you doing? The voice on the other end of the phone asked.

“My hip is hurting more, and, it’s getting hotter. The glass in the sunroof broke.”

“How is your friend?”

“Marilyn, the operator wants to know how you are.”

“I’m starting to feel some pressure in my arm and leg. When are they gonna get here?”

“They’re on their way,” the operator responded to Marilyn’s question. “What’s the guy that hit you doing?”

“He got out of is truck and passed out on the pavement.”

Suddenly, Cindy and Marilyn heard a noise at the side of the car. A man that had witnessed the accident had come to see if they were okay, and said that he would stay with them until the ambulance came. Marilyn looked around and saw that other witnesses were doing the same.

“How long have we been here, Cindy?” Marilyn asked wearily.

“I’m not sure,” Cindy said and asked the operator.

“Just a couple of minutes,” the operator replied.

Marilyn looked down at her watch on her left wrist. The hands pointed the time as being 1:30. “It feels like an eternity.” Marilyn leaned her head against the headrest and continued to look at the destruction caused by one truck.

Cindy and Marilyn heard the sound of ambulance, police, and fire engine sirens navigating their way through traffic. They could also hear the occasional horn honking at the stubborn motorists who wouldn’t make room for the rescue vehicles and the police cars to get by.

“I can hear them coming,” Cindy told the operator.

“Let me know when they pull up and we’ll end the call.”

“Okay,” Cindy said, her voice calm, despite the situation.

A movement caught Marilyn’s eye. She looked over and saw the man from the truck roll over, holding his head. Marilyn grabbed Cindy’s hand and pointed to the man. Cindy told the operator who relayed the message to the approaching policemen.

The vehicles arrived at the scene and Cindy got off the phone with the 911 operator. Five ambulances, three cop cars, and two fire trucks parked around the accident scene.

Two EMS workers ran to the car and tried to open the two jammed doors. “I can’t get mine open!” B. J. yelled to his partner, Michael who was at the passenger door.

“No luck here either. What about the jaws of life?” Michael asked.

“Probably,” B. J. replied. He surveyed the car and noticed the hole for the sunroof. He ran around to the back of the car, climbed onto the trunk, and positioned himself so that he could look in through the hole. “How are you, ladies?” Are you hurt bad?” he asked.

“I hit my head on the steering wheel and my hip hurts,” Cindy told him.

“My right arm and my left foot hurts,” Marilyn commented.

“Okay. We’re working on getting you out. Just hang on a little bit longer,” Michael told them.

---------------

The whir of the jaws of life still rang in Marilyn’s ears as the stretcher she was on was wheeled into the back of an ambulance. Cindy was placed into another EMS unit which would take them to Our Lady of the Lake Hospital.

As the door of the ambulance was shut, she could see the man from the truck being handcuffed to his stretcher.

“What time is it?” she asked Michael as he climbed into the front seat.

“It’s 1:45,” he replied.

“It’s been a long fifteen minutes,” she said sleepily as the pain medicine began to take effect.

As the ambulance began to pull away from the scene, her last thought before falling asleep was that she would probably have to change her hair appointment.