On the day Cy and I were to fly to Bacolod for my cousin's wedding, we experienced the worst accident we had in our 5-year relationship. A jeepney from the outermost lane decided to pull a 3-lane cut to get to the U-turn slot along Quezon Ave. while we were coasting along at conservative 50 kph on a rainy night. Cy stepped on the brakes, but it was apparent that we were going to hit anyway. I think he evaded the jeepney because it was going to hit on my side. We careened towards the island that that divided the lanes, went up and hit a tree which finally forced the car to stop.
Accidents like this are typically depicted in slow motion in movies, zooming in for little details that prove their import in the story. And yet, I find that it happened exactly that way for me as the car lost control during the crash. Everything for me was in slow motion. How else could I account that during that scary 10 seconds, I was able to check the back for any speeding car on the adjacent lane, exhale my relief because there was none, glance at Cy's buckle to make sure that the tongue was in place (which meant he had his seatbelt on), seize my chest to affirm that thick strap which indicated I had my seatbelt on, think of pulling up the handbrake but immediately deciding against it, look to the front to see the rapidly advancing tree and finally brace myself for the impact (shouting out my agitation all that time).
The crash gave me a serious whiplash. I seriously thought my head was going to be pulled off from my neck and was actually surprised that it wasn't. Fortunately, I didn't slam against the windshield. It took me a while to get my senses back. The first thing I did was ask Cy if he was alright while I scanned him up and down for any signs of injury and blood. I was so relieved that he was alright.
Thinking about it now and analyzing my emotions, I honestly don't care about the totaled car and the fact that it means that it's going to be back to commute for me. I'm not even worried about how much we're going to spend on the repairs since the jeepney driver didn't even have the decency to stop and ask us if we were alright but just drove off in haste to make sure we didn't catch him. I am really just thankful that we're still alive and were able to get through that accident without so much as a scratch save neck pain from the serious whiplash. That's really all I care about. The totaled car and the commute, it's all temporary. And Cy and I, we're still alive.