POV the victim

Crash! Bang! Thunk! Sounds of screeching brakes all around. Smells of burning rubber. Smoke in the car.

What happened?

Am I alive? I am alone in a vacuum-like space. There is a stillness which surrounds me. I can’t get my breath. My chest feels broken. Am I going to die? I keep seeing the television pictures of Princess Di as she sat in the car. Am I bleeding internally too? Am I dying? Why can’t I breathe? I can’t move my fingers. There are smashed cars all around the intersection.

What happened?

People come running up to the car. They are talking to me. I cannot understand what they are saying. I manage to gasp that I can’t breathe. I can’t get out of the car. My chest feels like it is caught in an ever-tightening vise. Someone says that ambulances are coming.

I try to remember the last moments before the impact, but the memory remains elusive. The airbags must have exploded, but my eyes were too slow to catch the airbags’ movement. I look around. There are cars strewn all through the intersection. People are milling about the various cars.

A lady is trying to calm me down. She says I am going into shock. I am trying to catch my breath. Tears are welling up in my eyes. My thoughts are racing away from me. Is this what it is like to die? Are these my last moments? I can’t breath. Every little breath tears at my chest.

What happened?