It was pouring. At some point during the night, the storm had settled over Beaumont and the city was drenched. It made the early morning commute even less pleasant than usual. Eddy tapped her fingers on the steering wheel, as she waited at a red light. Her car was idling loudly, a sure sign that something was planning to go out on the old truck. Another expense to stretch her miniscule student income.

The light ahead of her turned green and she eased off the brake to gently press the accelerator. The old Chevy hiccupped before it rolled out into the intersection. The song on the radio ended and the station aired an advertisement for a nearby tanning salon. Eddy caught a flash of movement from the corner of her eye.

With a blaring horn, the grill of a truck slammed into the driver's side door. Metal screeched and Eddy was vaguely aware of pain in her left side, before she began to lose time. She blinked and her door was gone. Another blink and the car was tumbling. Over and over, the view from her missing door was sky and then pavement and then finally grass.

When she opened her eyes again, she was hanging from the seatbelt. She could see her left arm laying limply across the grass that was pressed up against where her door used to be. There were noises, but none of them made sense. Her left ear was ringing, but she thought she could hear muffled noises with the other. She blinked again.

Someone was speaking to her, close to her right ear. She could not turn her head, but she could feel their breath against her face, warm and smelling vaguely of mint. They did something to her seatbelt that caused her body to lurch to the left. The voice continued to speak to her, even as they hefted her upwards, toward the passenger door. Something warm dripped into her eyes and she blinked.

The gray sky was above her when she opened her eyes again. She could see shadows standing around her, buzzing with noise like a hive of bees. One of them broke away from the rest and a black umbrella blocked out the rain. Eddy blinked.

Two people leaned over her, a man and a woman, in matching uniforms. The man was speaking, but all she could hear was the ringing and the buzzing. A coldness began to creep in on her. It was soothing. She blinked.

The ceiling above her was white and almost glowed in the sunlight. Eddy stared at it in confusion. It was not the ceiling in her dorm room or Carmen's apartment. She slowly rolled her head to the side to look toward the source of light. A large window in a plain white wall. As her eyes scanned what she could see of the room, she realized it was a hospital room. All at once, the situation hit her.

She had been in an accident. The truck had run the red light and hit her. The Eddy stared up at the ceiling. Her car was probably totaled and she had missed class. The thought had just passed through her mind, when a face appeared over her. Eddy frowned at the woman in confusion when her mouth moved, but only buzzing escaped. The woman vanished from view.

A moment later, she reappeared and held up a pad of paper with a written note.

'Are you in pain?'

Eddy frowned and turned her attention to her body. No, there was no pain. There was nothing. She shook her head.

The nurse took the note away and vanished from view. When she returned, there was a new note.

'Can you hear anything?'

Eddy was not sure if buzzing counted and tried to say as much, only to realize she could not. There was something blocking her from speaking. Her eyes widened and she tried to raise her right arm, only to find it did not move. Neither did her left.

The nurse reached for her, probably trying to calm her, but Eddy could only think of the numbness. Her arms and legs did not work and the thing that kept her from speaking was stretched down her throat. The nurse let her go to fumble with something nearby. She quickly held up another note.

'Please calm down, Edna.'

Eddy forced herself to take deep breaths, trying not to focus on the tube in her throat.

'Do you remember the accident?'

Eddy nodded. Rain, truck, and crunch. She remembered it.

'The accident caused some swelling near your spinal cord.'

Eddy stared at the older woman with wide eyes. She tried to tell herself it was not permanent if it was just swelling. The nurse's next note confirmed her hopes.

'You should regain full use of your limbs when the swelling goes down.'

That was good news, at least.

'Your eardrums were ruptured in the accident.'

Which would explain the buzzing in her right ear and the complete lack of noise in her left. She closed her eyes for a moment, before she nodded. Okay. She could deal with that. It would heal or there would be a surgery. Somehow, it would be okay. She looked at the nurse.

The woman wrote another note and held it in her line of sight. 'You have two cracked ribs on the right side and one on the left, a fractured ulna, and some deep bruising on your left thigh.'

Eddy frowned. She did not doubt the nurse was telling the truth, but it was strange not to feel any of it.

'There are a few people here to see you.'

Eddy raised her eyebrows.

The nurse glanced away, as if she were checking her facts. 'Carmen Garcia and Timothy Harvey.'

Carmen was expected, the woman a friend since freshmen year, but her Art Theory professor was a surprise.

'Would you like to see them for a moment?'

Eddy nodded.

The nurse smiled and turned to fiddle with the machine next to the bed. After a moment, she turned and walked out of sight. Eddy could not hear the door open or close, but a few minutes later two faces appeared in her line of sight. She smiled up at her best friend's pale face.

Carmen held up a sign. It was a little too close to her face, but Eddy could make out the words on the shaking notepad.

'Are you okay?'

Eddy raised her eyebrows.

Carmen's dark eyes searched her face. She quickly ducked her head to scribble something else. When she held up the next note, Eddy wanted to laugh.

'Stupid question, huh?' Carmen accompanied the note with a wry twist of her lips.

Eddy gave her a small smile and shook her head. She moved her gaze to the silent man at Carmen's side.

He held up his own sign. 'I hope you feel better soon.'

Eddy nodded.

Her professor looked down and she assumed he was writing another note. He proved her correct a few seconds later.

'The gallery called today.'

From the art show in Galveston. Eddy nodded.

He held up another note. 'It sold. The gallery has asked permission to show your latest work at their showing next month.'

Eddy's eyes widened. She hurriedly nodded.

Her professor smiled. He held up a note he had obvious prewritten. 'I thought so.'

She smiled.

He slowly lowered the paper and wrote another. 'I will send the details tomorrow. Feel better.'

Eddy nodded and watched him say a few words to Carmen. He gave her another nod, before he walked out of sight. She looked back at Carmen.

'I'm sleeping in the chair,' Carmen's next note said. She raised one eyebrow in challenge.

Eddy returned the expression.

Carmen flipped the paper over. 'Okay?'

Eddy nodded.