[ WP ] Two people in an auto accident wind up saving each others ' lives .

“ Could you look this way please? ” Terry lifted his head and looked at the man in front of him. Terry, still disoriented, squinted to get a better look. 
 
 “ What, what ’ s going on? ” mumbled Terry. 
 
 “ Just hold still for a bit please. ” The man shined a light into Terry ’ s left eye, causing Terry to wince and shut his eyes. 
 
 “ Please, ” comforted the man, “ try to keep your eyes open. ” Terry didn ’ t know who was talking to him, but he sounded very straightforward and direct. Terry did not think twice about listening to his instructions. 
 
 “ Who are you? ” slurred Terry as he forced his eyes open, aggravating the pounding in his head. 
 
 “ My name is Doctor Fletcher, ” the doctor lowered the light, giving Terry a moment of reprieve before examining his other eye. “ How about you, can you tell me your name sir? ” 
 
 “ My name, yeah, um, it ’ s Terry. ” 
 
 “ Okay, very good Terry, and your last name? ” 
 
 “ Dob, Dobson, ” Terry took a deep breath as a pain shiver streaked across his body. 
 
 “ Do you know what day of the week it is? ” 
 
 “ Oh, um, it ’ s Monday, I think. ” 
 
 “ Good, and can you tell me what happened? ” asked the doctor has he lowered the light. 
 
 “ What happened? ” repeated Terry as he lowered his head and rubbed his eyes. “ Jesus, I hit another car, didn ’ t I? ” 
 
 “ Okay Mr. Dobson, that ’ s good. ” As the doctor continued his exam, Terry grew more and more aware of what he did. He remembered slamming into the other car. It was pulled over to the side of the road but Terry did not notice it until the two cars became one. His was mind was elsewhere, distracted by what he was going to do later that day. 
 
 “ Well Mr. Dobson, that ’ s it for now, ” said the doctor as he finished his examination. “ We ’ ll know more after the x-rays, but it looks like you just took a bump and should be okay. In any case, I am going to keep you here tonight. ” 
 
 “ Thank you doctor, ” replied Terry, “ can I ask a question? ” 
 
 “ Of course, what is it? ” 
 
 “ The other guy, is he okay? ” Doctor Fletcher paused for a moment, as though he was carefully choosing his words for an answer. 
 
 “ Try and get some rest. ” 
 
 That night, Terry wept, doing his best to make sure that nobody in the hospital could hear him. The guilt was overbearing. “ You ruined enough lives Terry, ” he said to himself over and over again. His wild thoughts kept him up all night. 
 
 At around four in the morning, Terry mustered the strength to climb out of bed. While being examined, he noticed that there was a lot of activity in a particular room, which he assumed was occupied by the victim of his recklessness. He snuck over to the room and walked in. 
 
 Terry ’ s initial reaction was that of pure dread. The man laid asleep on the bed with an assortment of machines and tubes hooked up to him. Terry pulled over a stool and sat beside the man, which he recognized as the driver of the other car. The older man looked lifeless. Terry ’ s eyes filled up with water again and continued to weep, much louder time repeating aloud, “ I ’ m so sorry, I ’ m so sorry. ” 
 
 “ Mr. Dobson! ” exclaimed a voice from the door, “ what are you doing? ” Terry didn ’ t answer, but continued bawl. “ You can ’ t be here. ” Terry recognized the voice and turned around to see Doctor Fletcher standing behind him. 
 
 “ I ’ m so sorry doctor, I should have been more careful! ” 
 
 “ Terry, ” Doctor Fletcher grabbed another stool and sat beside Terry, “ it ’ s not what you think. ” 
 
 “ Not what I think! ” exclaimed Terry. “ Look what I did! ” 
 
 “ Listen, you didn ’ t do this, ” explained the doctor, “ his injuries from the crash where only a bit more serious than yours. ” 
 
 “ But, but, why does he look like this? ” stuttered Terry. Doctor Fletcher looked around and sighed. 
 
 “ I am not the one that told you this, but this fellow here had a heart attack, which probably why he pulled over to the side of the road. ” 
 
 “ Heart attack? ” 
 
 “ Yeah, ” continued Doctor Fletcher, “ you see, had you not hit him when you did, who knows how long he would have gone unnoticed; he could have died. ” 
 
 For the first time in long time, Terry felt something, a strange feeling; he felt good about himself. It was due to pure dumb luck, but something he did actually helped somebody. He couldn ’ t help but smile. 
 
 Doctor Fletcher escorted Terry back to bed, where Terry slept for the rest of the night in peace. The next morning, he was discharged from the hospital. His first stop from the hospital was to the police inbound lot, where his wrecked car was kept. He opened the passenger door and reached into the glove box container. From within, he pulled out an envelope and a revolver. He tore the note up, removed the single bullet from the gun, and carried on with his day, and with is new life. 

