Keeping them safe

On this road trip, there are three friends traveling along a deserted highway. They are all in a small truck with all their bags and belongings in the bed of it. All three friends are crammed in the front taking turns driving. Nick is currently behind the wheel. They have been traveling for a long time and Nicks friends have fallen asleep. Nick takes into consideration that it's his turn to keep them safe and on time. He has a long road ahead of him and needs to get to the next gas station for a cup of coffee and a snack to perk him up. He can feel his eyelids getting heavier. He blinks and opens his eyes while readjusting in his seat to keep himself alert until he can make it to a gas station.

Nick continues to feel fatigue from driving for so long, but he knows if he can just push past it, he will catch his second wind as he always does. He blinks and blinks until finally his eyelids close for a second too long. In the pitch black moment while his eyes are closed, he hears a crash and feels a painful jerk. He suspects he knows what has happened but has trouble opening his eyes. His eyes start to open slowly, and try to focus on the scene before him. To his confusion and surprise, he is sitting in the passenger seat next to the window, and to his left he sees his friends unconscious and occupying the middle and driver seat. The only other thing he can assess at the moment is that they have been in an accident, but can't tell how or why it happened.

Nick thinks to himself “Am I ok? Are my friends and I going to make it?” At this moment he starts to feel aches all over his body. In the process of assessing his injuries, he notices blood dripping onto his hands as he checks them for injuries. The blood quickly increases from a single drop to an alarming amount covering his hands completely in red. Looking at his hands, his demeanor changes in an instant from cautiously optimistic to frightened and worried. His breathing becomes heavier. As he starts to feel pain on his face he has never felt more of a compulsion to find the answers to his questions. “What is happening? What is wrong?” A sense of fear and dread comes over him as he feels his chest constraining and making his stomach turn, now realizing he must assess the damage to his face. The pain and fear as he reaches the mirror on the visor causes him to groan. He pulls the visor down and immediately starts wailing at the sight of his face missing most of his skin. “AAHHH!” The more details he finds missing from his face, the deeper the dread that takes over his body, and the louder he wails from fear and horror. He feels his chest tightening even more, his heart races faster. “OH NO!, OH NO!, NO, NO, NO!” His confusion, pain,and fear is drowned out by his deafening cries. “AAAHHHH!, AAAHHH!”. He wails louder and louder until suddenly... there is only silence and darkness.

Nick opens his eyes. With his heart still racing from dread, he notices something is different. He looks around and notices they have been in a car crash, but this time he is sitting in the middle seat between his friends. He quickly assesses himself, but sees no immediate injuries to his body or his face. He sighs in relief and quickly decides to check on his friend behind the wheel and in that same instant his friend comes to. He quickly turns to Nick and grabs him violently, and only inches from his face he yells and wails,

“I”M SO SORRY, NICK, I DIDN’T MEAN TO, PLEASE, I'M SO SORRY!”

Nick feels that same fear and dread as before as he looks at his friend's disfigured face covered in shards of glass. The more he yells at Nick “I'M SORRY!” again and again non stop, the more his tears mix with the blood dripping from his face. Nick, with his heart racing faster than ever in shock and disbelief, can only stare at his friend's face, while his friend keeps yelling “I’M SORRY”. He can see the fear, guilt, and pain covered in glass, blood and tears. His friend finally stops apologizing and starts wailing and crying so loudly, it is all Nick can hear. “AAAAHHHHH!”. In an instant his friends' wailing sounds like a car horn.

Once again Nick is awakened, this time by a continuous car horn. HOOOONNNNNNK! Dazed and confused, he isn't sure if he is awake yet and tries his best to keep his eyes open to focus on everything around him. He looks around and notices once again he is sitting in the middle seat in the car with his friends, and they have been in an accident. This time he is able to put together that his friend has dozed off behind the wheel and has run into a brokedown sedan on the side of the road. He looks to his right and sees his friend's face covered in blood. Then he looks to his left at his other friend behind the wheel. He sees his friend slumped over with shards of glass covering his face. This time Nick's heart is racing, but he ignores his pain, small cuts, and bruises to quickly move his friend from the driver's seat and takes his place. Nick dials 911, and surprisingly is able to start the truck and races to get back on the road. Once again all Nick can think about is that it's his turn to keep his friends safe.