Wedding Accident

Here's Parts 2 & 3 of the story I started last week, titled "Election Day." There are more parts after this one. I hope you enjoy them. :) 

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The ceremony was a quiet affair. Alice’s parents came, and one of Philip’s brothers. A couple cousins from both sides loitered in the background, waiting until food would be served. There were still hints of sadness in the way Philip smiled at her, and when he said “I do,” it was with such conviction that it brought tears to Alice’s eyes. In sickness and in health, in summer and in winter, in wealth and in poverty, forevermore as long as she will have me, until death do us part, and beyond, by God’s grace. The ring was cool on her finger, but his lips were warm as he bent to obey the preacher’s suggestion to kiss the bride.

The meal that followed was modest, but loud. Alice’s father enjoyed the wine a little too much, and the cousins were raucous in their congratulations. Alice’s mother whispered her blessing to the newlyweds, and stood to attract attention while they slipped away. Their car, of course, was covered in happy graffiti, but neither of them seemed to mind very much.

They pulled onto the freeway, bound for the lake house that had been Philip’s cherished childhood retreat. It belonged to his father, but no one used it anymore. They would have a quiet weekend together before the real world could usurp their newlywed bliss.

“We’re married.” Philip’s voice was quiet, almost too low to hear over the hum of road noise in the car. Alice turned to grin at him, flushed with something that felt like… victory.

“Yes. We’re married.” She seized his free hand, and a pleasant shudder ran through her. “You’re never getting rid of me, now.”

Philip’s eyes turned away from the road for just a second, and a quick smile crossed his face. “I hope not. I signed on for a lifetime membership.”

It’s amazing how much can happen in a second.

Alice saw the headlights. She hear the screech of tires as the big red pickup barrelled over the median right at them. Saw the sparks flying from the wheel well on the truck’s left side and processed, in the milliseconds left, that the truck’s tire had blown out.

Their car turned. Philip wore a frightened, determined expression as he yanked the wheel to the right.

Alice saw the driver of the pickup. Just a glimpse. It was a young woman in a baseball cap. She caught just the barest flicker of pink from the back seat of the truck as it skidded sideways and started to tip, rolling toward them. A child? A carseat?

Then the second was over.

There was a jolt as the cars collided.

A second jolt as the car behind them hit the bumper.

The sound of shattering glass.

A scream.

A bright light.

Then, nothing.

*~*~*

When she came to, she was sitting on the grassy median, surrounded by flashing lights. A paramedic in white was shining a flashlight into her left eye. Alice flinched away, and the paramedic lowered the flashlight.

“Ma’am? Can you tell me your name, please?”

“Alice Schuman. Sorry… Lancaster. We… we just got married today.” Her mind was ringing. So were her ears. She blinked, looking around for Philip, but didn’t see him. Several yards down the road and partially up on the curb, the smashed and crumpled remains of four cars lay steaming on the asphalt. A pair of firemen wielding a heavy, pincer-looking piece of machinery were prying the driver’s-side door from a ruined green sedan with “Just Married” scrawled on the crumpled back door.

“Oh my God. Philip.” She began to shake, and looked at the paramedic in a desperate bid for hope.

“He’s alive. We’ll get him out and treat his injuries as quickly as possible.” The man in white gave her a comforting smile. How could he be so calm when her world was falling apart? “Lift your arms please, Mrs. Lancaster. Straight out from your sides. That’s it.”

Mrs. Lancaster. She had hoped the first time she heard the name, it would be a cause for sidelong smiles and blushing and giggles. Now it just… well, it didn’t really hurt. It was all numb for the moment. Numbness and fear. But he was alive.

As the paramedic instructed her, she stretched her arms over her head, bent down to touch her toes, and flexed each of her legs. He felt her neck and shoulders for swelling, and pronounced her miraculously unharmed.

“But what about my husband?” Alice turned her face toward the car again. It was torment to watch, but she couldn’t look away. The door was gone now and they were cutting away the seat belt. He wasn’t moving, or making any noise. She told herself that he was just unconscious, but a terrified voice in the back of her mind insisted he was dead, he had died, he had saved her by swerving at the last second and now she was ALONE. A tow truck had pulled the red pickup back from where it had been jammed against the sedan, trapping Philip inside. From where she stood, she could see that the pickup’s cab was empty.

“The woman… the driver of the pickup that hit us. Is she alright?”

The paramedic hesitated. “I don’t know. I wasn’t the one that examined her. I’m sure once you get to the hospital, they’ll be able to update you there.”

Alice’s gaze slide back to the car and the swarm of paramedics and firemen now pulling Philip from the driver’s seat. She saw blood and that his eyes were closed, and that the paramedics were loading him onto a gurney. He was alive. He had to be alive.