This story is entirely fictional. There is no correlation between any of these characters and any actual, living person. Thanks to SwingerJoe for his guidance in all things literary for this, and the last story. Any mistakes are because I ignored his sage wisdom and paid the price.
*****
Sandi was in between her first and second appointment of the day. The weather situation was deteriorating by the minute. The precipitation had changed from rain to freezing rain, which was beginning to change to ice as the ground temperature approached freezing. It was already getting slick on the streets in spots. But she had to get the medication delivered before 5:00 that evening. Her destination was 5 miles out of town to the east. All the others were occupied and she was the only one who could manage to get away. It was not a normal thing, but, because of the weather, patients were trying to get the things they might need for the 3 or 4 days it was supposed to be nasty. So Sandi got pressed into service. She was going to shut down the office anyway and let the staff go home before it got too bad to drive in.
She was heading for US Highway 82, then east for about 5 miles, then to a country road for another from another mile. As she passed one of the side streets, a car pulled out in front of her. In normal conditions it would have been a minor inconvenience, but today, when she slammed on her brakes to avoid the car, she was thrown into an uncontrollable spin. Her car careened at an angle to the curb, jumped it and headed straight for the telephone pole.
It was as if she had choreographed the whole thing. Like she was a stunt driver. The pole came in contact with her bumper square in the middle. It totally destroyed the license plate. Not hard enough to deploy the airbag, but hard enough to push the front grille into the radiator, causing "Old Faithful" to shoot out the front. As the moisture fell back to the ground, it coated the front of her car with ice. She opened the door, glad she was OK.
She got out and surveyed the damage, shaking her head. She would not be able to get the medication to the patient. She quickly called to see if anyone at the office had a 4WD vehicle and could take the medication to its waiting patient on their way home. They'd check and call her back.
She shook her head, hating the situation but knowing there was nothing she could do. Within 5 minutes she got a call telling her that one of her employees lived out that way and could drop off the medication on their way home. It was a relief. She always placed the patient first.
But she was still stuck there knowing it would be next to impossible to get a wrecker out to tow her car anywhere on a Friday afternoon at 4:30 PM, especially in weather like this. So she decided to call Dave to come pick her up. She could have her car towed over the weekend. She was punching in his number when a vehicle honked right next to her. She closed her phone and turned to see Scott in his truck with the passenger window rolled down.
"Bad news, huh?" he asked her.
"Just hit a slick spot when I had to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting an idiot who pulled out in front of me."
"Good luck getting a wrecker today."
"The absolute worst time to need one. It would take hours to get one out here, if at all."
"Let me hook on and I can pull it to your house. You can have someone pull it to a body shop next week. You can't leave it sitting here."
"OK. That's the best we can do today."
Scott pushed her car back over the curb, lining it up so he could attach a strap to the front end and tether it to his vehicle. But the radiator kept spewing steam and atomized anti-freeze with gusto.
"We're going to have to wait until this stops if we don't want to get steam-cleaned. It may take a while before it stops," he said. "You look like you're freezing."
"I didn't dress for this. It snuck up on me."
"While we're waiting for your geyser to die, why don't we get a cup of hot chocolate or a cup of coffee."
"I can just sit in my car until it stops. You don't have to wait. David will be off work in a few minutes. He can get me."
"Can he pull your car?
"No, I don't think so. I don't think his little truck can pull it."
"I don't want to leave you out here by yourself."
"Well, you could take me home and you and David could come back later and get it. What about Diane? How is she getting home?"
"It's a lot worse south of here. Getting her home tonight is out of the question. She already volunteered to stay and fill in for those who couldn't make it in for their shift. So she's not coming home tonight. I was just going to get something to eat since I don't have to wait for her. I didn't feel like cooking and I didn't want to wait any longer in case the weather gets worse."