Chapter 1 –This Is Going To Hurt

Allison Cameron pushed open the glass doors of the hospital and stepped into the dark, she hated this time of year. Waking up before the sun rose and then watching it set hours before her working day ended.

The hospital parking lot was bathed in the fake orange glow from the street lights. She wrapped her coat tighter around herself, trying to block out the rain. Winter had crept up on everyone this year. Last week she had been wearing a light jacket and the trees still had leaves. It had looked pretty, the oranges and browns making the evenings seem warm and inviting. Then last night the wind had got up and by this morning, the leaves had fallen and lain in the streets like golden crunchy snow. Now the rain had turned the leaves soggy and everything just looked wet and untidy.

The rain was getting worse, sticking her fringe to her forehead. She passed her boss's, parking space and was relieved to see he had driven his car this morning. This was not the weather to be racing around on his motorbike. It was inevitable that he would come off it at some point. She chastised herself for caring about House. She pressed the button on her key fob and got into her car. She was cold and soaking wet even though she had only walked 100 meters.

She turned up the heaters and sat in the car for a few moments waiting for the mist to clear off the windshield. She didn't want to go home. It was lonely there, and whatever she did to it, she could still feel her husband there. She would have to move out but deep down she liked the memories even if they hurt, and whatever House implied she hadn't only loved Billy because he was damaged and about to die.

The rain was making it difficult to see. The wet road was reflecting all the lights so all she could see were spots of light and the incessant rain. The wipers weren't doing much good and she found herself blindly following the lights of the car in front. It was hypnotic the swish swish of the wipers and the pounding of the rain.

She sped up as they joined the freeway. The spray off the road was nearly as bad as the rain, and she was still cold. She wished her car would heat up faster, she wished the radio would work and her mind wandered to whether she had enough savings to buy a new car. This one was long past its best. Suddenly the red brake lights of the car in front flashed in front her. The lights turned into long thin red blurs as they reflected on the wet road. She put her foot on the brake and looked in her rear view mirror to make sure the car behind was doing the same. She pressed her foot down harder as the red fender of the car in front came closer and closer.

The car wasn't slowing down faster enough. The red car was getting closer and closer. "Fuck" Cameron said out loud as she heard a sickening crunch. The red car came to a stop as she heard glass and plastic shatter and break. It had hit the car in front of it. Her car wasn't going to stop either. All she could see was rain and the lights of the red car getting closer and brighter. She tried to relax knowing she was less likely to get hurt if she wasn't tensed up. She couldn't, her foot was so hard on the pedal she thought it might go through the floor. She closed her eyes, knowing that there was nothing she could do but wait for the bang. It seemed to be taking forever for the collision to happen. She looked down at the speedometer, she was still doing 30. This is going to hurt she thought as the air bag went off with a bang, forcing her back. The car came to a stop the front of it embedded into the red car. The engine cut out as she felt another car plow into her from behind, forcing her forwards, the air bag now a useless bit of fabric. The seatbelt jammed tight squeezing the air out of her lungs but still she felt her chest hit the steering wheel and then the world disappeared.