Fourteen

While we were at that Burger King, Caleb ordered a ton of food. I still wasn't very hungry, but I definitely didn't feel sick anymore. Adrenaline ran through my blood as if chasing away the nausea I'd felt.

I sat with my leg up, because it was already starting to swell. A family friend from close by stopped in to check in on us, making sure we were all alright. Bennet (another Greenville buddy) also stopped in because he lived nearby.

As we waited for Trina to pick us up, we all traded places and sat with each other. We were still pretty shaken up. The accident was clearly exactly that-- an accident. But it was kind of devastating to remember it all happening.

I sat by Caleb in one of his plaid shirts. He asked how my knee was, and I asked how his knee was, because he had trouble with it prior to the accident. I put my hand on his knee as I asked him. I knew I was touching him. Something made me feel like what we'd all just been through made it completely normal. Yet something in me also knew I wouldn't normally do that. He told me how his back and shoulders were sore. Zach and Stephen were seated across from us. I put my hand on Caleb's shoulders and rubbed them as he told me they felt tense.

Nice, Shai.

When we finally reached the Love's Gas Station in Greenville, Caleb's parents met us there to take the guys home. They check on all of us and made sure the rest of us were alright. Everyone exchanged hugs, and we parted ways. Trina and Zach helped me get all of my things up the stairs to Tenny. We were all starting classes the next day. Caleb was getting ready to go to China for the semester, so he wasn't there. But the rest of us were trying to sort ourselves back into having a schedule.

I couldn't climb up my loft bed, so Trina helped me put the mattress on the floor for me. What a tired, painful sleep. I couldn't lay on my left side because of my wrist. I couldn't lay on my right side because of my leg. My neck and head hurt. But oh my word... we were all ok.

The next morning, I opened my eyes. I ached. I could hardly move. I felt terrible. But no. One "terrible" wasn't from the wreck. Oh no... It was stirring. And I only had a matter of moments to get to the bathroom as soon as possible before getting sick all over my bed. I crawled out of bed, and painfully got to the bathroom in time.

Vomit.

Once again... Nice.

It was vicious. There was nothing in me. I had hardly eaten anything in days to defend myself against this treacherous moment. And yet I had fallen. Woe to me.

And woe to Caleb. He had woken up close to the same time vomiting as well. Us poor, poor souls.

As I lay in bed all day, missing my first day of class and occasionally getting sick, hardly able to move, Caleb texted me. He told me he heard I'd gotten sick too, and that he hoped I was feeling alright. We texted back and forth only a few times.

That night, while the lights were off, and Trina lay sleeping in her loft above me, tears sprang to my eyes. Caleb texted me, and we recounted everything. I didn't remember anything but one moment. My eyes had been closed. But his had been opened. I didn't know how I had ended up in his arms. No recollection. I didn't even know that it had been Zach to help us get out of the car. No memory. Caleb told me what happened. I felt like no one else could understand the confusion I felt. Or understand my ache about how if he hadn't held me so tight, I could have gone through the windshield, or gotten so, so hurt. His reply had been,

"It was totally God, Shaina. I'm glad you are safe."

I remember that moment being the first time the numbness of the situation started to go away. With no strength left in my body thanks to that stupid relentless stomach flu, I finally drifted off.