Anybody out there remember this? Which then resulted in this? How's about I finally tell you what happened? Alrighty then.
It was a dark and stormy night It was a beautiful day and Bryan and I were driving to DeKalb to pick up two friends because we had tickets to see an outdoor play. We had a picnic packed with wines and cheeses, and were giddy with excitement at the fun we were about to have! We were running on time for once, and all was right with the world. I was driving. We were on I-88 (Ronald Regan Memorial Tollway for some Ronnie fans out there) and had just gotten off at the Peace Road Exit. There is a two-car toll; on the right is I-Pass only, and to the left is I-Pass and cash. We were in the right-hand lane so I slowed down to around 15 miles per hour. There was a semi in the left lane that was at a complete stop by the time I went through our lane. He started pulling forward and I checked to see if his turn signals were on. I did not see any so I assumed that he was going to remain in his lane and make a left onto Peace Road, whereas I stayed in my lane so I could turn right. I had already slowed down below 15 MPH at this point because there was a red light at the intersection. Then I felt it.
There was this loud crunch that shook the car. Our car came to stop and I looked to my left and there was the black cab of the semi. Literally, three inches from my face through the window. It took me a few seconds to process what had happened, but Bryan knew right away. Before I could figure anything out, he started clawing at the passenger door to get out (we have manual locks). When he finally got the door open he jumped out and screamed "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!!!?? THAT'S MY WIFE!!!!" with more anger and passion than I have ever heard from him in my life. He was shaking. One of the cars behind us had to go on the right shoulder and rolled down his window to make sure Bryan was going to be okay. Once Bryan had his little freak out he was fine. The truck driver gingerly got out of his cab with both hands up, palms out, and asked Bryan if he was cool. Bryan put his hands up the same way as a peace offering and said yes, he would be fine. Then they of course checked on me. I really felt fine. I was still stunned at what just happened. Neither one of us was going very fast (thank goodness) and I honestly thought there would just be a scratch on our door or something and we'd be hunky-dory.
All this happened in a span of 45 seconds, so at this time Bryan called our friend who we were going to pick up and told him what happened. He called the police for us. A DeKalb cop came to the scene quickly and made sure we were all fine. I was still in the car as my door was obstructed by the semi's ENGINE, and really didn't feel like climbing through the passenger side until I had to. The cop said because of the location of the accident we would have to wait for State Troopers. During this time Bryan started snapping pictures for evidence. We made a few phone calls while waiting, and Bryan kept making sure I was okay. Yup. Totally fine. The semi driver felt horrible and was honesly concerned for both of us. A simple accident and I truly believe that.
The Troopers finally showed up and assessed the vehicles. I overheard one say that he didn't think our car would be in driveable condition because our back left wheel was slightly off the ground, and he thought the axel was out of alignment. When all the pictures had been taken I was asked to get out of the car so they could remove the semi from our poor Saturn. When I got out and walked over to the shoulder I felt shakey. My legs felt weak and I was worried I'd fall down. Bryan was off talking to a police officer so I was standing by myself, waiting. The semi driver climbed in the cab and put it in reverse to dislodge the cars. The cops had to rock our car in conjunction to the semi going backwards to get them apart and the sounds they made were awful. I can't explain it. Crunching but worse.
A cop drove our car to the shoulder so the semi could drive around the bend to the frontage road next to the tollway. Once I got the okay I walked around to move our car out of the way. That is when I saw The Hole. I was astonished. I don't think I can express just how minimal I thought the damage would be. The whole incident seemed so insignificant, I really almost collapsed when I saw the condition of our car. And you can't tell from the picture, but the edge around the hole is slightly burnt from the heat of the lug nuts. It was melting our car. He missed the gass tank and me by mere feet.
Our cars were out of the way and the State Troopers wanted to know what happened. I told them my side of the story and then the driver gave his. Turns out, he didn't even know I existed. Never saw me once. When he hit me, the thought he blew a tire. Only when he saw Bryan's engraged face pop out of our car did he know he hit someone. Wow.
The filling of paperwork took around 45 minutes. During this time the left side of my spine started to hurt. Not much, but enough. Then it moved down to my lower back. I told Bryan, "I don't want to be an alarmist or anything, but my back is starting to hurt." He told the State Trooper and the Trooper asked if I needed an ambulance. Absolutley not. Why waste money and resources when someone else could really be dying? I'll drive to the ER myself thank you. So that's what we did. Once we got all our paperwork, and the semi driver got a ticket, we went to the hospital. On the way there the muscles in my neck started to hurt too. All on the left side. Side of impact.
We were at the ER for about 2-3 hours and the x-rays came back normal. Just my muscles spazzing. And from there, you know the joy that has been our lives since.
I'm still in a lot of pain now. I walked with a limp for 8 days. Can't sit for extended periods of time. Can't stand for extended periods of time. Have to sleep on my right side with a pillow between my legs. Must wear gym shoes as much as possible. Have to go to physical therapy. Needed Valium (hell, I still need it!). Been dicked around by both insurance companies. Still waiting for the remainder of our money.
We never wanted to be 'Those People' who sue any chance they get. Why sue if things get taken care of? But there was a chance we were going to have to, and that is why I waited so long to post the trauma. Didn't know if blogging about it would bite me in the ass. But, doesn't look like there will be a need. Unless down the road I need to have something amputated as a result of the accident. Then we'll become 'Those People' faster than you can say Judge Wapner.
