End of the Weekend - A Short Story

College football games were always fun to attend, although it might have been better to watch this game from home. Heather and Sarah had driven in from Portsmouth and the weather was sunny and relatively warm for late October. The Virginia Cavaliers lost to the Miami Hurricanes in overtime. Not what the home crowd had expected, but then not everything goes as planned. That night the girls went to the corner for dinner and then just walked around. They were up most of the night talking so the morning wake up was a little later than normal. They spent the rest of the day getting a tour of the campus and headed for home around three in the afternoon. The last stop before getting on route 64 was Starbucks. It would be a good idea to have some caffeine in their systems for the long ride. Heather ordered her favorite, a Caramel Frappuccino, while Sarah tried a Cinnamon Dolce Latte. Both selections turned out to be perfect. Traffic on 64 was normal, busy but not over powering. Heather liked driving the Tahoe because it was big and it gave her a better view of her surroundings. The vehicle handled well and made the driving enjoyable. She had taken it in for service prior to this trip so she was confident that she wouldn't have any mechanical issues. Sarah was also enjoying the drive and they both used this time to talk about their college selections for next year. Heather's plan was to attend UVA and study law. Sarah liked UVA but had selected Longwood University as her college so that she could become a teacher. The conversation continued as they were assuring each other that they would keep in contact and visit each other throughout the school year. They were best friends and nothing would interfere with their relationship. It wasn't the sound but the sudden loss of control that scared Heather. She had never been in a moving vehicle that had a tire bow out before. Her first reaction was to hit the brakes which caused the Tahoe to turn sideways in front of traffic, first one way and then another. She thought they would tip over, but the vehicle stayed upright and then hit the guard rail. The left front hit the guard rail first which caused it to spin around and then hit the back end. It came to rest with the back end about two feet from the guard rail placing the Tahoe perpendicular to the guard rail with the driver side facing oncoming traffic. Fortunately she maintained enough control so that she did not hit anyone else. Traffic was spread out enough that cars were able to get around her or slow down behind her. She sat there dazed, confused and wondering if she were alive. Heather turned to Sarah, "Are you okay?" But Sarah was slumped back in her seat. She had hit the side of her head against the passenger window and was not moving. "Sarah! Sarah wake up!" Heather yelled. She got out and went around to the other side to get her. The first couple to reach the girls was Ed and Vivian Galloway. They were in the car in front of the girls when the blowout occurred. Ed is one of those "watch everything that is going on around you" type. He watched everything that happened to the girls and thought the worst. When they reached the girls they saw that Sarah was unconscious and Heather was crying and asking for help. Ed got on his cell phone and called 911 requesting an ambulance. He then checked over the car to make sure there was no gas leak while Vivian tried to calm Heather. Tom Rhea and his wife Elizabeth were a few vehicles behind the accident. While the other vehicles passed the spinning Tahoe and continued on, Tom slowed down and parked some distance back. Elizabeth stayed in the car while Tom went to check on things. He met up with Ed and they both agreed that Sarah should not be moved until the ambulance arrived. Sarah was breathing, but very shallow. Roy Arnoe stood five feet eleven and weighed about a hundred and sixty pounds. His dark brown hair was slightly visible from under his baseball cap. There was some type of Fire/Rescue emblem on the cap and one on his blue jacket. However, no one could make out the name. He appeared from behind the Tahoe went directly over to Sarah. There was a small first aid bag in one hand and a black bag in the other. Hanging around his neck was a stethoscope. As he approached he noticed that Heather did not have any shoes on nor was she wearing a jacket. The day was warm, but not the type of weather that was conducive to her type of dress. "Hello, my name is Roy Arnoe, are you okay?" His voice was calming and he had a concerned look on his face. "I'm Heather and I'm fine but Sarah is hurt. She must have hit her head and needs help!" "Heather, I suggest that you get some shoes and a jacket or blanket for yourself. We don't want you to start getting chills and go into shock. I'll take care of Sarah.” With the help of Vivian, Heather gathered some clothing as Roy suggested. While they were doing that Roy started checking Sarah. It didn't take too long for Heather to get her things. By the time she got back to Sarah and Roy, Sarah was awake and holding her head. "Oh, my head hurts, and I feel like it's going to explode!" "She hit really hard so it will take some time for the headache to go away. I gave her something for the pain so she should start feeling better as the medication gets into her system." Roy's voice was calm and reassuring. "Thank you, thank you!" Heather exclaimed, and with tears in her eyes gave Sarah a big hug. "I thought you were going to die and I would lose my best friend." "Well," said Sarah, "I don't know what happened, but I'm not dead. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere." The girls hugged each other again. Roy opened one of the bags and pulled out some road flares. He handed them to Ed and Tom. "Gentlemen, please light these starting at the front of the Tahoe. Space them about ten paces apart walking at a slight angle back toward the edge of the road." Both men took the flares and did as directed. Roy turned to Vivian. "Would you be so kind as to stay with Sarah while I check Heather?" "I'll do whatever I can." She replied, "You showed up really fast, did someone call you about the accident?” "No," Roy smiled, "I was in the area.” He pulled a blanket out of his bag and had Sarah and Heather both sit down. Vivian took another of Roy's blankets and wrapped it around Sarah. Roy checked Heather's blood pressure, pulse and temperature. She checked out fine and had calmed down knowing that Sarah was okay. Ed and Tom had come back from setting out the flares. "Well," said Ed "Your Tahoe is really banged up. When the wrecker shows up, find out where they are going to tow it." Sarah was listening to what was going on and asked how they were going to get home. Vivian said that her and Ed lived in Williamsburg and could drive them to their house. Heather's parents could pick her up there. Heather thought that was a great idea and thanked Vivian. About ten minutes later the state police and the Goochland Fire/Rescue Squad came pulling up behind them. "The State police just arrived," said Tom. "They got here rather quickly." "Yes," agreed Ed, "We should be able to get things wrapped up and get the girls to our place." "It's nice of you to help out the girls; Elizabeth and I were trying to figure out how we could get them home as well." Tom had a relieved look on his face as he was concerned that the girls could be stranded. "We have a young son and daughter who are of driving age." explained Ed. "We're just doing what we would want someone else to do if it were one of our children." Officer Marcus Brown parked his vehicle back behind Tom's car and walked up to him and Ed. "Good afternoon gentlemen, I understand we had a minor mishap here and a possible injury." His voice was not commanding, but he had a definite air about him that made you realize he was in charge. Ed and Tom gave a brief description of what they saw and then directed him to Heather. "Hi, I 'm Officer Marcus Brown. Are you and your friend alright?” "I am fine, but Sarah doesn't feel well. Fortunately the Fire Rescue gentleman has her wrapped up and ready for the ambulance. He's right over there." Heather turned but did not see Roy. She looked all around and then started asking everyone where he went. "He was just standing here a minute ago talking to me," said Vivian. "But when I turned to see you pull up behind us, I lost track of him.” "I see," said Marcus. "What type of vehicle was he driving?" Each person turned to the other, but no one remembered seeing Roy pull up in a vehicle. Marcus continued with his questions. "Well, if he was with a fire/rescue squad, did he have on a uniform? If he did what name was on it?" "I couldn't make out the name" remarked Vivian, "and I was the closest to him. It was strange because the words fire/rescue were very clear. I don't think I was imagining any of that." "Okay, no vehicle, unknown squad name, but he did tell you his name. Is that correct?" Marcus was looking at everyone hoping that some sense would come of this. "That's correct. You know he just sort of showed up," said Ed, with a questionable look on his face. "In fact it was like he just appeared." "He said his name was Roy Arnoe," piped in Heather, "and he did just sort of show up." "Perhaps he was Sarah's guardian angel," Marcus remarked. "I'll check with the Goochland squad and see if anyone knows him." While the discussion about Roy was going on, the Goochland Fire/Rescue Squad had Sarah on a stretcher and was placing her into the ambulance. They said she looked fine but wanted to take her into VCU for further observation. The crew from the Fire/Rescue told Marcus that there was a Roy Arnoe on the squad, but he had been dead for at least two years. There was a major accident close by here involving five or six vehicles. One of them was a gasoline truck. Roy had pulled the driver from the truck and was heading back to the ambulance when the truck exploded. He shielded the driver from the explosion, saving the driver but was killed in the process. Marcus realized that this accident report was going to be challenging.