It was going to be a beautiful day, heck; it already was a beautiful day. Tony was going to be playing a softball game this afternoon and Carl was looking forward to being in the stands with Patty to route for their son. Carl didn't know if his daughter Molly would come as he was certain she would rather be spending time with her friends. Guy stuff, ugh.
Carl held the wheel with his left hand and reached out on the seat with his other hand searching for his lunch box. It may be a little early but he felt a few pangs of hunger. Patty did say she had packed him two sandwiches so maybe he could just have a half now to calm the grumblings in his stomach.
Carl couldn't quite get a hold of the lunchbox so he glanced over at the seat. Ah, there it was. He smiled. Yes, there was his Hannah Montana lunchbox. The boys down at the precinct had a field day with that one the first day he showed up with it. Molly had been absolutely overjoyed when she got the lunchbox for her birthday. She watched the television show and was a bit of a fan of the Disney character. A bit? Heck, she had a nearly life size poster of Montana hanging on one wall of her bedroom. That would seem to indicate a bit of a fan for sure. Carl smiled.
However, things changed. A couple of years go by then Molly announces she can no longer go to school with a lunchbox embossed with the image of Hannah Montana. Why? It's no longer cool. Carl remembers sitting at the dinner table when Molly made this announcement not sure of how to proceed. Mom stepped in with the offer to trade lunchboxes with Dad as his was a little more neutral being just the colour blue with no design. Molly seemed relieved she no longer had to show up at school toting an uncool Hannah Montana lunchbox.
Oh no, that duty now fell upon dear old Dad, six feet and two hundred twenty pounds of the meanest, toughest cop on the Hanover police force. Harry was the first one to chuckle at the sight of Carl coming into work holding the lunchbox and immediately said, "I knew it. Montana is out. All the girls at school have called it quits." Oh well. At some point he could stop in at Canadian Tire and pick up a less distinguished lunchbox. Then again, if he took Molly along, maybe he could get her the next cool thing.
The radio crackled. He leaned away from the window so he could hear the voice. "Car 4, car 4, come in please."
That was him. Carl shut the window then picked up the mike. "Car 4 here."
"Carl, we just had a report of an accident out on route 6 about 5 kilometres out of town."
"I'm on side road 54 B just coming up to route 6. I should only be about a half a click away. I'll be there in under five."
"Roger." As the radio went silent, Carl hit both the siren and the light the sped up down the side road towards the route 6. With the area so flat out in the prairie farm land, he could easily see a distance in both directions and at the moment, the road was deserted. He slowed but didn't stop as he turned onto the route and floored it.
Carl cracked the window again as the car accelerated. The wind was whipping by and the noise was quite loud. Carl could already see something up ahead even though he still had a ways to go. As the squad car got closer, Carl could make out two cars. One was off to the left, upside down in the grass just beside the shoulder, while the other was sitting in the middle of the right hand lane, turned 180 degrees and pointing backwards. It looked as though part of its front was smashed in. Oh, oh. This already wasn't looking good, but just what could have happened? It's sunny out. It's a peaceful Sunday morning. How could anybody have an accident when the conditions were just perfect? Who knows? Strange things do happen.
As Carl roared up he radioed in to dispatch. An ambulance was going to be needed, no doubt about it. He pulled over to the left and parked on the shoulder turning off the siren. He looked out the windshield to the upside down car.
Carl got out of the cruiser and jogged over to the car. The motor was still running. He knelt down to look in the driver's window which was wide open. A man hung upside down still strapped into the seat, his arms dangling down to the roof. He wasn't moving. Carl reached out to the man's wrist to feel for a pulse. He was still alive. Carl reached in and shut off the key cutting the motor then looked at both ends of the car. For the moment, there didn't seem to be any danger so he decided to leave the man as is and wait for the paramedics to show up to get the man out of the car. Unstrapping him would mean he'd fall right on his head and without knowing his injuries, it was best to wait for help.
The policeman stood up and backed away. It looked like the other car must have swerved on the road and slammed into the rear door. Hmmm, the speed limit along here was 50 kilometres an hour so if both cars were doing the speed limit, they connected at 100. Carl turned to look at the road. This car would have been spun around and at some point when it hit the shoulder it turned over.
Carl started to walk to the other car. It was sitting in the middle of the right hand lane but now pointing in the wrong direction. It too had spun around but remained upright. As Carl approached the front, he saw it was quite badly smashed on the driver's side where the car had entered into the rear door of the other vehicle. He tried to look through the windshield for the driver but the glass was cracked so much, he couldn't see the interior. Then he noticed the driver's door was partially open. At the same time he walked around to the driver's side for a closer look, he heard a moan and turned to see the body on the shoulder. Carl quickly took three steps and was standing over the man. He was lying on his back. The side of his head was badly cut and bleeding. Carl guessed that the man had not had his safety belt on. He must have slammed forward and his head smashed into the windshield then during the spin, the door must have popped open and he was flung out of the car.
Carl knelt down and said instinctively, "Are you alright?" That was silly. This guy was in really bad shape. Would he live? What the heck had he been doing? Carl looked around. The day was sunny. It was calm, perfect weather and there wasn't another car in either direction. There was absolutely no reason this should have happened.
The man coughed. Carl looked back down. Blood trickled out of the side of the man's mouth. "Are you alright?" Carl stared waiting for a response. The man's lips quivered. Was he going to say something? Carl leaned closer and watched the lips for a couple of seconds. No response. "Sir?" He waited. The lips quivered again then the man let out a long sigh and was still. Carl continued to stare at him for a couple of seconds. Carl reached for the man's wrist and tried to feel a pulse. The man had died, right in front of Carl. Just like that.
Carl remained kneeling for a moment looking at the man. Who was he? Why was he here? What happened? Is he married? Carl would have to write this up. He would have to find out the answers to these questions. Somebody was going to have to break the news to his family, maybe to his wife if he wasn't single.
A bird chirped overhead. Carl looked up. There were a three or four of them perched on the wires running beside the road. Suddenly Carl realised how quiet it was. The birds chirped, the grasses were rustling just a little in the breeze but other than that it was quiet. The sun felt good on Carl's skin. He stood up. He looked in both directions. There wasn't a car in sight.
Carl checked his watch. It was 11:10am. Now let's see, back to the station by noon. Maybe a half hour to write up the report. Yep, he could probably still get off at 1pm which would give him enough time to get home and change then he and Patty could make the game before 2pm. He was looking forward to seeing his son play.
Off in the distance, there was the vague sound of a siren. Carl looked down at the body. A bird chirped overhead. Carl turned to walk back to the police car to radio into the station. Life goes on.
2011-05-17
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