LIFE CHANGERS: Part One
"There's bad luck and then there's shit luck," Ella mumbled as she glanced at the skies quickly.
"And you really shouldn't monopolize all of the shit luck all of the damn time." Mentally cursing the meteorologist's faulty forecast, she cringed when the unmistakable sound of ice began tapping against her windshield.
Five minutes later, her curses abruptly converted to prayers. The monochromic gray highway had changed to a bright white with intermittent flashes of red lights.
"Don't hit your brakes on ice, people," she admonished her fellow travelers as cars began converging into the middle lane to avoid the ice collecting on the outer lanes. Casting another glance at the sky, Ella considered her options. Pushing forward in her extremely compact rental car, undoubtedly created from recycled gum wrappers, appeared to be a better choice than parking on the shoulder and waiting. Then, as so many times in her life, another person made the decision for her.
When she passed the first traffic alert cautioning drivers of ice on the bridge, she noticed the car, even smaller than her rental, race pass her in the right lane. The red blur might have been a Porsche but it was definitely driven by an idiot. Ella held her breath as she watched the car reach the bridge, fishtail, spin, hit the wall and flip. Time stopped as the vehicle went airborne directly into oncoming traffic.
"No, No, No!" she screamed when the wall of red lights suddenly blinded her. Cautious drivers were now forced to hit their brakes to avoid slamming into the cars that had stopped in front of them. The first sound of impact was only a breath of time before the sports car landed and bounced again. Drivers who had not lost control of their vehicles on the ice were now dodging other cars like bullets.
Quickly glancing at her passenger side mirror, she eased her little car towards the shoulder. A quick look ahead confirmed that the driver of a luxury SUV had chosen the same path. As Ella prayed her little car would slow its desperate crawl to a complete stop, the sound of a horn blasting behind her sent a direct shock to her system. Lifting her gaze to the rearview mirror confirmed that she was in trouble. The driver of the commercial truck was also seeking refuge on the shoulder but did not have the advantage of slow speed or control of his vehicle.
Ella screamed. She covered her face. She uncovered her face and looked at the rear view mirror again to see the truck within an inch of her car. Scenarios raced through her mind. Would the large truck drive over her car leave her as a stain on the road? Would the impact knock her over the retaining wall and into the freezing Chesapeake Bay? Would she become a buffer between the two larger vehicles?
The impact jarred her forward until the hood of her car slammed into the SUV. Throwing her arms in front of her face, Ella cringed at the sound of shattering glass and then screamed when she felt the small shards spray across her body. She dropped her arms in time to see the red sports car, which had caused the major pile up, land in the middle lane, facing oncoming traffic, and slide towards her.
The crunch on her driver side door nudged her elbow. With a glance around her now super subcompact, Ella was thankful for insurance although the existence of airbags was still in question. Finally turning to look at the culprit, she considered calling the driver an asshole but could not find the energy to speak or even stay awake.
"We can't leave her," a deep voice said from the gray fog.
"Well we can't stay here," another male voice countered with a whine. "I think I broke my arm. I need a hospital."
"It's a surprise that you didn't break your fucking neck," the first voice responded. "Hey!" he said in a louder voice. "Do you have anything in that truck that will help us get this girl out of this car?"
After a few muffled words exchanged back and forth, the first voice mumbled "shit" and moved closer. "Hey, can you open your eyes?" he asked. "We need to see how bad you've been hurt before we can move you."
Ella listened to the voices wondering who had been hurt. She waited hoping to hear the man's voice again but he was taking too long and she was getting cold. She flexed her hands and started pulling them deeper into the sleeves of her sweater.
"Sweetheart," the deep voice said as he moved closer, "Open your eyes."
"Wha....Why?" she barely whispered.
"Because I said to. Now do it," he replied in a firm tone.
Ella groaned and tried to squint. "No," she mumbled when the brightness stung her vision.
"Yes."
With a deep breath, she opened her eyes and stared ahead. She struggled to define the scene before her. Everything was different than she remembered. The interior of her car had changed and she was feeling cold as though she were outside. Then a face appeared in front of her at the oddest angle.
"Where does it hurt?" the lips on the face asked.
"Uh....I don't....It doesn't....I don't think it is," she replied knowing her answer was hardly an answer at all.
"Ok," he responded with a chuckle. "What's your name?"
"Uh....why?"
"Woman," he said with exasperation, "I'm trying to help you. By the time emergency crews arrive, you could be dead. Now tell me your damn name."
"Sorry. Ella."
"Elsa?" he asked when she slurred her answer.
"Ella," she snapped.
"Ah, so Ella has some teeth," he replied with a laugh. "Ella, I need you to tell me if you are hurt. Can you move your arms and legs? We really need to move off this bridge."
"Oh. Ok. Thank you," she said blinking at him.
"Thank me when we get somewhere warm. Now try to move."
Taking a deep breath, Ella pulled her legs closer to her body bending her knees up until they hit the steering wheel. She reached for the center console and tried to pull herself out of the driver's seat. "I'm stuck," she said in a panic.
"It's the seatbelt, baby," he responded with a gentle voice. "But at least you can move. Here, I'm going to cut the belt and reach for you."
The following minutes felt eternal as the man cut the belt but struggled to pull her from the wreckage. Ella wished he would hurry or just go away.
"Can you reach the reclining lever?" he asked. "Drop the seat as far back as you can. I'll pull you out through the back window."
The small comfort of lying flat was cut short by a series of tugs and drags. When she focused again, she was sitting on the drastically reduced width of the car's trunk.
"Ella," the man said as he took a deep breath, "Let's get the hell out of here."
She allowed the man to push her forward without a thought of where they were going. Soon she realized that her blurry vision was actually pellets of ice raining down on the highway and stranded motorists. When she hesitated to survey the wreckage surrounding her, she cried out.
"What?" the man asked behind her. He barely muffled a curse before gently nudging her forward. "Look, I can't stay. I'll be lucky to get home as it is. Police and EMTs will be here soon. We can't help these people."
With a nod, she moved forward until they reached the SUV that she had hit. He opened the driver's door and motioned for her to climb in and move to the passenger's seat while he opened the door to the backseat.
"Please, man, my arm really hurts," said a voice in the storm.
The man helping Ella turned to stare for a moment before looking around. "You need help?" he finally asked.
"Yeah, man."
"Got it," he answered before stomping across a lane and waving his arms. Within seconds, a highway patrol vehicle came into view. "This guy, yeah him, he's the asshole who caused this shit. Oh, his arm really hurts too."
Ella watched as the man led the officer to the guy who had foolishly run back to the pitiful remains of his sports car. After a few minutes of arm waving and loud voices, the man who had rescued her returned to his SUV and climbed behind the wheel.
She watched in silence as he struggled out of his insulated jacket while buckling his seat belt. When he finally turned to face her, they stared at each other for a moment.
"Hi, Ella."
"Hi...uh...."
"Ryan."
"Hi, Ryan."
With a nod, Ryan turned the ignition and smiled when his vehicle started. He looked over his left shoulder and started the slow process of driving through the ice storm.
"The HP officer said we will have to weave through some parts but we can get through," he explained. "This brings us to the part where I ask you your destination. Richmond?"
"Uh....DC?"
"Are you asking me if your destination is DC?"
"No," she snapped before realizing he was trying to get a rouse from her. "Sorry. I was headed to DC for a job interview."
"An interview for today?"
"No. Tomorrow. But it's obviously not going to happen."
"Obviously," he agreed. "And as much as I love rescuing beautiful women, there's no way I can take you to DC. Not today anyway."
