One Hundred and Fifty Five Miles

"Is this Mr. Mike Morgan?" The deep voice asked when I picked up the phone.

"Yes, it is." I answered, curious as to who was calling. It was nearly 8 AM and on a Sunday, the phone almost never rang at that time of day.

"This is Captain Stan Harrison, Oregon State Police. I am calling about Dana Morgan, I assume that is your wife?"

"Yes, it is?" I felt a sudden sense of foreboding.

"There has been an accident. She is being transported by Life Flight to the trauma center in Portland."

For a moment, it felt like my heart stopped.

"Accident? How? That can't be, Dana is in Denver?" I managed after a few seconds.

This didn't make any sense.

"I am sorry, sir. We have a positive ID on her. There was a car crash on Highway 30 West of Portland. She should be arriving at the hospital right about now."

"I don't understand, there has to be some mistake." I told him.

"We got the information from her purse, sir. She was driving the vehicle, it was registered to her. You do need to make arrangements to go up there."

"All right. What happened, was she by herself?"

"It was a head on crash. There was one other female in the vehicle, sir. She is deceased."

"Who was that?" I asked, already reasonably sure it had to be Sally Bittler, Dana's best friend.

"I cannot release that information yet, sir, we are trying to notify the next of kin."

"All right." I hung up, completely confused and in a state of panic. Dana was supposed to be in Denver at her company meeting. She worked as a sales rep for her company, once or twice each year they held meetings in various cities around the Country.

There just had to be some kind of mistake. Someone with a similar name, something like that. Dana had hugged me and climbed in the taxi for the airport Friday afternoon. She took the shuttle plane from our home at the coast to Portland, then she was flying to Denver that evening.

I called Dana's cell phone, it went to voice mail.

That was when it finally hit me that it really was Dana, she always answered her cell phone, without fail. She never turned the thing off, ever.

I called her Mother, explained what little I knew. She was extremely upset, not understanding either since Dana was supposed to be at the meeting.

I asked her to keep Mark and Sally Ann, our two little bundles of mayhem until I got back. I promised to call her with updates as soon as I knew anything.

Then I called the trauma center, at first they didn't want to give me much information but after some insistence the nurse told me that Dana was in surgery, and in a coma.

Still not completely sure this wasn't a mistake, I again called her cell phone. Once again it went to voice mail.

Then I called the number she had given me for the hotel she was staying at.

"Hello?" A man's voice answered.

That didn't sound right.

"Hello, I am trying to reach my wife, Dana Morgan. Can you dial her room, please?"

"Room? What? Who is this?" The man's voice demanded.

"My name is Mike Morgan, I am trying to reach my wife Dana."

"Why are you calling here, Mike? This is Jack Bittler, Sally and Dana were in an accident. This is Sally's cell phone, she accidentally left it on the charger here at the house. The police just came by, Sally has been killed, your wife is at the hospital in Portland." He sounded beside himself.

I knew Sally Bittler, she had been a life long friend of Dana's from first grade all the way through high school. She and Dana were a lot alike, both of them wore their hair long and dark, Sally was an inch or so taller. Other than that, they could and did share clothing all through high school and even sometimes after.

Dana had insisted on naming our little girl after her close friend. I had wanted Ann so we settled on Sally Ann.

I knew Sally was married to a man named Jack but I had never met him, they lived way out highway 30 towards a tiny town called Clatskanie. That was Sally and Dana's home town, they both graduated from the high school there.

It used to be my home town, I went to the same school through my 10th grade and a few weeks into the 11th, but my folks moved us about 50 miles south so I graduated from the St. Helens school.

+++

"I am really sorry, Jack. Do you have any idea how the accident happened?" I didn't want to upset him further at a time like this, but I also wanted desperately to know what was going on.

"They made a sudden U turn, right into another car. Probably to come back and get this fucking cell phone she just bought!" He broke down into sobs, I was fighting tears myself. Then the phone went dead, he had hung up.

Dana's Mom arrived to pick up the kids, she was beside herself. I told her I would call the instant I knew anything.

Then I went out to our garage, took the car cover off my Corvette. It was the 50 year anniversary z06 edition, and very fast. Just a toy, we sometimes took it to car shows and out for rides, just for fun and to ne looked at.

It was raining lightly, I never took that car out in the rain but now I needed it, it was far faster than my old truck.

I made short work of the two lane stretch of highway out to the valley, taking turns far faster than I ever had before. The machine stayed planted to the road, even in the damp conditions.

The Sun came out just as I made the turn Northbound, I ran in the left lane all the way once I reached the freeway, with my four way flashers on. People saw me coming and pulled over, most of them did anyway. The ones that didn't, I just slipped over to the right and sailed by.

I halfway expected to see a police officer, but the only one I did see had someone pulled over just South of Salem. I knew about that area, I was barely 5 miles per hour over the limit going through there. Once North of that, I set the speedometer on 90 MPH and let her go. Sunday traffic before noon is fairly light. A few times I looked at the windshield display and it read over 110, each time I eased up a little. Then I went right back to pressing it. Once in the long stretch North of Woodburn I glanced down and saw 130, I eased back off again.

It was a dangerous trip, I kept finding myself blinded by tears, reaching up to wipe them away.

At the hospital, I parked and dashed inside. The mileage counter read one hundred and fifty five miles, I had done it in just under two hours.

The receptionist told me to take a seat, and a social worker would be right out to talk to me.

That worried me, a social worker? Was Dana dead? Terrible thoughts were pouring through my head as I sat there fidgeting, upset.

The social worker that they said would be right out took over an hour, my mind began to whirl with memories.

+++

I met Dana in grade school, we got into a fight of all things. At that time she was actually bigger than me, with a solid little body and a round pudgy face.

The fight came out about equal and lasted quite a long time, I had finally gotten her down on her back, she had both hands in my hair and was pulling my head down for all she was worth as I tried to pummel her with everything I had.

I really wasn't having much success, then the teachers got there and broke it up.

I got a very nice bloody nose out of the deal.

We both accused each other of starting it, but the results were both us us got to sit inside in detention while all the other kids got to play outside during lunch breaks.

I hated Dana, but she hated me also so we were equal there. From then on for a few years we both refused to even speak to each other.

I grew up and got taller, just under six feet, ending up far bigger than Dana did. She stopped growing at around 5' 2" tall and then one day in the beginning of our junior year I saw her coming down the hallway.

I got a funny feeling, Dana suddenly looked...wonderful? The chubby and nearly perfectly square little body had vanished over the Summer, she had rounded out and she was simply beautiful.

My family moved just a few short weeks after, I was really upset about that. But I used every opportunity to go see Dana. She and her friend Sally were on the cheerleader squad, I was at every single game from then on.

That began the chase, I did everything I could think of to get her attention but nothing worked, she still hated the ground I walked on.

It didn't help one bit that she was a few months older than me, she turned 18 just after Christmas that year, I was still only 17.

Once when I was up there I saw Dana and Sally coming out of a store, I tried to talk to her but she blew me off.

"That stupid kid is always hanging around, he drives me nuts!" She complained to Sally as they walked away. Sally gave me a smirk over her shoulder as I just stood there.

I refused to give up, though.

One day in our senior year I was at a track meet in Clatskanie, I was a runner and actually pretty good at it. But I wouldn't have even been on the track team except for it gave me a chance to see her.

I was stretching my legs out, getting ready for my event when I looked over and one of the jocks named Harmon White had Dana by the throat, yelling at her. She was struggling fiercely, but Harmon was way too large and strong.

I knew they had been dating, much to my chagrin. Several of the other kids were standing around staring, doing nothing.

I dropped doing my warm ups and ran over there, telling him to leave her alone. Dana was crying and trying to get loose from him, and her face was red. I knew he had slapped her.

But she had gotten her licks in, he had a bloody nose.

The jerk turned on me instead, we had quite a scuffle which I was losing badly since he out weighed me by a good sixty pounds. Then as he got me down on the ground, swinging at me with both arms, Dana went right over the top of him from behind.

She hadn't changed very much in that respect, she was smacking him upside the head and digging at him in a way I remembered very well.

I wiggled loose and gave her a hand with that.

In short order he didn't want any more, he was actually whimpering by the time he got up and scurried off, to the howls of the other kids.

His nose had gotten even bloodier, I managed to get one of my own licks in.

The teachers got there a few seconds after it was over, Dana and I ended up in detention once again. Mine was served at my own school, Dana at hers. I wouldn't have minded one bit if I could have served my punishment at her school.

I even asked if I could, but just got some odd looks.

Our schools now had one of those "no violence of any kind" rules, so Harmon got detention too. Even worse, I was off the track team, I had missed my event because of the scuffle with Harmon.

I was also upset because I knew that that jerk Harmon would be sitting right there in the same room with Dana while I was stuck way down in St. Helens at my own school.

So I called her every single night after school. She didn't just hang up after that. We talked until my Mom made me hang up, it was a long distance phone call and she didn't like that much.

It appeared that Dana had forgiven me.

We began to date, the third date I kissed her and she kissed me right back.

The Summer after we graduated was the most wonderful time of my life.

+++

We both went to State after high school, she was studying business, I was working for my engineering degree. At first we both dated a few others, but we kept coming right back to each other. That Harmon White was also at State, he somehow managed to date her himself.

It appeared that she had forgiven him, also, and I hated that. I was tickled when we settled on just seeing each other.

One evening a year or so later she was in my apartment, my room mate was gone off to some party somewhere. We had made some popcorn, teasing each other by throwing pieces back and forth, trying to catch it with our mouths.

One piece went right down the front of her blouse. She reached in to dig it out, giggling, but somehow it slipped further in and she couldn't reach it.

"Turn your back." She said, giggling.

"I don't want to." I told her.

"OK. You asked for it." She laughed, reaching down and unbuttoning her blouse so she could reach inside her bra. She was digging in there, trying to get the piece loose, looking at me watching her.

At this point the most she had ever allowed was for me to touch her over her clothing. I noticed her face turn red, then her lips pursed slightly and she got a funny look in her eyes.

When she tugged the bra cup down slightly with one hand, I saw the upper edge of her nipple appear for an instant.

"Why don't you let me help you with that?" I asked her with a silly grin. She stopped and looked right at me.

"OK." She said, with only a slight blush.

An hour later we were in my bed.

+++

It would be nice to say we were both virgins, but I wasn't. I like to think that Dana was, but I couldn't really tell for sure. She didn't bleed or anything like that, although we did have one hell of a time getting things lined up.

My pants were down, trapped on my ankles because my shoes were still on. I had managed to get her panties off, her dress was hiked up, I was poking away trying to find her when she pushed me off of her.

"Let's take those things off." She said, reaching down to tug at my tennis shoes. She got both of them off, peeled down my socks, then stood up and jerked my jeans off.

I was now completely naked, Dana stood there and looked at me, then she let out a tiny giggle. I was hard as a rock. She reached down and pulled her dress over her head, stood there and smiled at me for a few seconds. All she had on was her bra, which she reached back and unhooked, dropping it on the floor.

Her body rippled with muscle, her breasts stuck out proudly from her chest, huge dark nipples capping each one.

"There!" She said, sliding back onto the bed with me. I did some more poking, finally she reached down and grasped me, lining it up herself.

It still took several minutes before it would go all the way in, that happened suddenly, all at once there was room.

I didn't even think about a condom, I didn't have one anyway. I did bring that up later on as we lay there cuddling and exploring each other's body.

"It's all right, I am on the pill." She told me.

From then on, we were nearly always together.

+++

My own virginity was lost at Spring Break a year or so before, several of us guys had a beach front condo, somehow several women ended up in the room with us.

For a couple of days there were naked people everywhere, I lost count of how many or who I was with. That was a crazy time, at one point I woke up still in a drunken stupor and some guy I didn't know had his hand on my dick, I yelled at him and took a swing but he let go and ducked.

I probably would have went after him for that but on the other side of me was this naked brunette and she quickly took his place, opening her mouth and sliding her lips over me.

I had no idea what her name was and had never even seen her before.

Did Dana have any experiences like that? Probably but I just never asked, no reason to. Dana became all mine that first night we were together, neither one of us ever dated anyone else again.

Marriage was a given by the time we graduated. The house, the car, two kids, a life? All of that came along at a perfectly normal pace. Our combined incomes put us in very comfortable shape.

I talked to Dana about quitting her job and just taking care of the house, but she didn't want to. Instead, we hired an almost full time housekeeper, a pretty Norwegian woman named Nikki. She was about five years younger than Dana and I, and wonderful with the kids.

She became a household fixture, coming in daily at 8 in the morning, then going home at 6 PM, five days each week. She was somehow more than an employee, she became part of our family. Weekends Dana and I spent at home with the kids, or off doing something, enjoying life.

+++

Dana spent a few days once or twice each year at those meetings. She always came home with everything perfectly normal, telling me everything that went on. Her job was to teach the sales crew, and she was good at that.

A couple of times I asked her if she had any troubles with guys hitting on her, she admitted it happened quite a bit. Men out of town, away from their wives, seem to be always looking.

"So what do you do?" I asked, mildly curious. It wasn't something that upset me, Dana never gave me any reason at all to ever be suspicious of her.

"The ones that understand when I tell them I am married I leave be, the ones that don't I smack if they get too grabby." She laughed.

I laughed right back at that, knowing Dana and the right hook she had, I knew darn good and well that she could take care of herself. There was no worries about her getting drunk, either, even when we were out together, she would have one glass of wine and that was it.

+++

My mind was whirling with those memories as I sat there waiting, I couldn't help it. It was like everything that had ever happened to us came pouring in at once.

Hospitals are a terrible place to be. Waiting, always waiting. Bits and pieces of a person's life slide into and out of the mind, while just sitting and waiting.

Not knowing what is happening is the hardest part.

Finally, mercifully, an older nurse came out.

"Are you Mr. Morgan?" She asked, glancing down at the clipboard she held in her hand.

I nodded.

"Your wife is very badly hurt. She has serious facial lacerations, broken ribs, a broken arm and leg. She lost a lot of blood. She was in a coma when she came in, they are maintaining that until the swelling on her brain goes down."

The nurse never changed expression, she probably had to deliver news like that over and over, all day long.

"How soon can I see her?" I asked.

"You can now, I will take you back." She got up.

I followed her down the long hallway.

+++

There was no way to really see her, Dana's face was covered completely by bandages. So was most of her upper body. They had hoses and wires hooked up everywhere. A nurse looked up at me with a sad expression, then went back to checking monitors.

One machine gave out a steady beep sound. I glanced at it, somewhat comforted to see everything was reasonably close to normal as far as I could tell.

Just then a male Doctor came in. He glanced over at me sitting there, then he reached under the blankets and listened to her breathing. He glanced down at something under the bed, I leaned over and saw a clear plastic bag. It was filled part way with bloody fluid.

"How is she doing?" I asked.

"About as well as we can expect. Better actually, for awhile there they weren't sure. Right now we are hoping the swelling goes down. The Cat scan showed some serious bleeds."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Blood is toxic to brain tissue, we won't know for sure how bad it will be until it stops completely. We got most of it stopped during the surgery, though."

I looked again, I could see a portion of her head, she was completely shaved. Her beautiful long dark hair was all gone.

I sat there quietly until finally a nurse came in and told me to leave. They were taking her in for another scan anyway, doing a followup on the bleeding.

+++

I left, found a hotel room and checked in. I called her Mother, explained what I knew. She wanted to come up but I told her that Dana was in a coma and there was nothing to be done for it at this point.

We made arrangements for her to take the kids over to our house the next day, Nikki could handle things. I called and explained to Nikki, she told me she was glad to just stay at our house as long as it took.

She did ask if she could have her friend Mary stay over, I told her that was fine.

I had known that part about Nikki for quite a long time, and knew she would be discrete around the kids.