Weekend #1

After waking up on Thursday morning and telling Marcos what I remembered from my accident, we didn’t talk much. We knew we should notify my parents about it, but we decided to wait a few days until my condition was more stable and there was less of a reason to panic, which they do quite often.

I’d told Min about the accident by this time, and he almost immediately told me he would come visit me over the weekend. With a 7-hour drive between us, I appreciated his show of concern. A few messages later, he informed me that he would not be traveling alone. Af first Yang joined him, and shortly thereafter, Leila and Ina were coming too. Though not very surprised about this, I felt very grateful for their kindness.

I spent the remaining few days expecting their visit, unknowingly anxious to see a few familiar faces. They arrived on Saturday after noon, and it was, indeed, very pleasant to see their faces again. They brought me clothes, food, get-well cards signed by MLD, flowers, and a small cactus, which they said represented my resilience (exemplified by my not dying after a car hit me straight-on).

It was around lunchtime, so Min and Yang went out to get food, while Leila and Ina kept me company. It just so happened that I was scheduled for an MRI head scan that day, so we didn’t talk much before a transporter came and rolled my bed over down to the MRI room, Leila and Ina following. We got to talk about irrelevant but distracting things all the way. Once outside the MRI room, a doctor came to get me, and told me to transfer beds. I did so slowly, with difficulty and pain, but managed. I then realized how pitiful and pathetic I must’ve seemed to my friends, and I felt a sting of shame cross my sad body.

After listening to loud and boring machine hums droning from the MRI machine around my head, I was taken outside, and again my friends watched as I crawled my useless body back onto my bed. I was then taken back to my room, where Min and Yang had luckily just gotten back from picking up food. Apparently, they got a free extra pizza because of a shop mistake.

They eventually left back for Pittsburgh, and only Marcos and I remained in the room. We then called my dad and told him about the accident. It was great that he picked up the phone, for he could tell my mom the news most delicately.

My dad arrived at the hospital the very next day, and stayed with me until the day after. I wasn’t really happy to see him see me in my condition, but I was most relieved that my parents knew and the notification process was over with.