The day was half way over and Daniel was done with his college classes. He was tired and overwhelmed because of all the tests he had taken, but was excited because it was Friday and he was planning to sleep all day. He got in his black 2001 Toyota Camry with rust starting to form around the edges. He put on his black shiny reflective shades and plugged his iPod in. The music blasted through the speakers making the car vibrate. Daniel was in a hurry on his way home. The sun was out and the temperature high; he rolled down his windows and stuck his hand out. He was going about 55 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone. To the right of him a big red and yellow billboard from McDonalds caught his eye. He then couldn’t decide if he wanted to buy a cheeseburger or not. The thought of a tasty, juicy burger sinking in through his teeth was a hard decision for him, and not forgetting the slim cheese of course.

In that exact moment he felt a sudden drop of the side of his car. The wheel completely turned to the left, and there was a loud screeching sound of metal and concrete on the ground. It was that noise that everyone hated to hear like nails on a chalkboard. He lost complete control of the car, and in less than half a second he was going 55 miles per hour to 0 miles per hour. Nothing was moving. The Earth was as still as a tree. The moment was unforgettably terrifying. He had just smashed another car and it all happened so fast. The whole driver’s side was completely crushed and Daniel was passed out. It seemed like a whole day went by for the ambulance to come, but it took about ten minutes.

Daniel woke up in some certain points of being helped out of the jammed car. It was troublesome trying to get his right leg out. The pain was unbearable. It felt like they were ripping his leg out of his body. This fully woke Daniel up and he came to conclusions that he was being transferred into an ambulance car. Daniel forced his eyes open and saw what he did. His Camry was halfway pushed into a white small five passenger car. The door of the driver was not even recognizable. He saw bloody airbags, glass on the road everywhere, people with cellphones taking pictures, three different cop cars…and a young girl on a stretcher.

His mind blew up. “Did I just kill someone?”, “How did I lose control?” he thought to himself. He couldn’t take the stress anymore and closed his eyes hoping this was all a dream or hallucination. He fell asleep. Then he felt a warm hand cupping his face. He opened his eyes and saw his mom, dad and three year old sister in a hospital room. It was bright, and the room was very open and empty. The walls were all white and he was lying on a cold bed. He tried saying something but his mouth was so sore and bruised from the air bag.  His mom than said, “Danny you hit a pot hole and your tire fell off, which caused you to lose control and hit another car,” she mumbled sadly. His heart was pounding louder than a drum from fear and guilt. “Is that person alive?” he wondered to himself. Daniel had to find out. The scene looked deadly and he doubted that someone survived.
After his family left, the nurse came in. She was young and not very confident in everything she did so he assumed she was new. “How is the girl doing?” Daniel asked anxiously.

  “That is confidential information, only family is allowed to know,” the nurse admitted.

“At least tell me her name!” he pleaded.

“Alright I think her name is Bailey, but that’s all I’m saying,” she whispered. She then took some tests and left the room. This was his only opportunity to go find her. He thought quick, unplugged himself, stood up and started peeking through room doors in the hospital.  Daniel didn’t realize how badly his leg was hurt until he stood up. He had to limp extremely or be pulled around in a wheelchair for at least a month he thought. He tried ignoring the pain and searched for the girl.

On his eighth try he was positive he found her. It was room 218 with a girl on a hospital bed. He looked at the whiteboard for her name and saw “Bailey Johnson”. He was extremely relieved and gratified that she was alive and not covered in a black plastic body bag. He grabbed her hand gently and said “I’m so sorry for this”. Her face was clear with no scars or scratches, and her hair was a somewhat different color.  “Why isn’t she waking up?” he panicked. Her eyes were still closed peacefully. He saw that she was breathing at a normal rate but she didn’t show signs of movement.
All of a sudden he heard voices outside her room. He saw it was the doctor talking with a boy that looked a year older than him. Daniel leaned against the wall by the creaked door and listened… “She most likely will be in the coma for the rest of her life,” the doctor explained.  Daniel’s heart stopped with shocking feeling all over his body.

There was an emotionless look on the other boy’s face. He had long wavy brown hair that touched his shoulders with gray sweatpants. “There is no point in dating her anymore, I have no time to keep coming to visit hoping she will wake up,” he then turned around and said “I’m done” and left.  The doctor shook his head with disappointment and headed towards the girl’s room.

Daniel bolted towards the bedside hoping he wouldn’t be noticed eavesdropping. The doctor immediately escorted him out of the room back into his own once he saw him. He gave him information that he had three days left in the hospital.

He fell asleep blameful and frustrated that he had put her in a coma, ruined her life, and now caused a relationship to end. He would not forgive himself for this. The next day he decided to visit Bailey every day for his accident. He brought in his favorite book “The Maze Runner” and a few girly magazines to keep him busy and make sure Bailey would be entertained. He introduced himself starting with his name, age and all his background information. Later he spoke about his life, family, college, and interests. He talked as if she was listening, but felt as if he was talking to someone that was deaf. He spent the next six hours talking, reading, and napping. He concluded his visit talking about the accident, detailing everything as best as he could and apologized more than a dozen times. He went back to his room dreadfully and slept all night.
The second day he did the same thing again, but mentioned the incident with her boyfriend this time. He apologized even more, knowing he would never be forgiven. He went to sleep knowing the next day he would be able to go home. It somewhat excited him because the food was stale and he couldn’t get used to the clean, sanitized smell of the hospital, but it felt wrong of him to leave Bailey all alone.
It was 7:45 in the morning and Daniel was starting to wake up. He was curled up like a ball from the freezing air conditioning that ran nonstop. He rubbed his eyes for a while, sat up and stretched. Daniel looked out the window seeing the parking lot with hundreds of cars.
He got ready and decided to go see Bailey. He entered the room and saw that Bailey’s parents were standing by her bed. He walked in looking down to the floor the whole time thinking what to say to the parents. “This was all my fault,” he started. “I was distracted and became ignorant to the fact that I could hit someone.  I never thought something like this would happen to me, and that is why I would like to say I am sorry from the bottom of my heart. Please forgive me,” cried Daniel with tears in his eyes.

“Who are you?” asked the man confused.

“I hit your daughter in the car accident yesterday, and put her in the coma,” said Daniel.

“Bailey has been in the hospital for 6 months now since her severe heart attack, I think you have the wrong person” added the mom.

Daniel was speechless. “So where is the girl I hit?” he uttered. He walked out with a great amount of confusion and some relief. He ran around the hospital in search of the young, new nurse that came in a couple days before. His leg was still hurting and he started having a hard time breathing from the seat belt holding him back in the accident.
He finally found her and trying to catch his breath he said “Excuse me, you told me the wrong girl’s name! Could you please tell me the girl I crashed into three days ago and her room number,” he demanded.  The nurse shuffled through all her papers, and then pulled one out looking focused and scanning it.

“Oh, you’re right. Her name isn’t Bailey, its Hailey,” she answered staring down at the sheet with her eyebrows up. “Her room is right across from yours. I’m so sorry for that mistake; I’m new here and still getting used to the busy chaos!” she laughed.

Daniel was gone once he heard she was across from his room. He took the elevator this time and got to his floor. He was getting closer and closer, but extremely nervous at the same time. There was her room with the door opened halfway. He looked straight through the door and there she was. The strawberry blonde haired girl he remembered. He stood outside the door just staring at her. She was watching the T.V with a blank bored face. Her eyes open and legs crisscrossed. “She’s alive,” he sighed with relief. Then he couldn’t decide if he should go in or not. “Would she yell at me? Or hate me?” he thought. He fixed his hair, took a deep breath, fixed his shirt and walked in; hoping and praying she would forgive him.

To be continued…