Crashed

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Where I’ve been, well it’s all a blur.

What I was looking for, I’m not sure.

Too late.

Didn’t see it coming…

                A man of thirty-one stepped out into the Los Angeles sunshine, rubbing the back of his neck. He pushed sunglasses onto his face and sat down on the balcony of a high-rise apartment. His guitar was waiting for him in the corner and he scooped it up into his arms before flopping down into a metal folding chair. He plucked a few strings, looking out across the city before him. The sliding glass door opened behind him. He smiled as a mohawk-ed man stepped outside.

                “Hey, Josh,” he murmured. Josh smiled at him.

                “How’s it going, Chris?” Josh asked. Chris shrugged.

                “Just thinking.” Josh nodded.

                “About what?” he asked. Chris squinted into the sun and then looked at his friend.

                “Eh, the tour, my wife, her kids. You know how it goes.” Josh laughed.

                “Yeah, man, I do. It’ll be okay. We’ll be back before you know it. The summer is going to fly by on tour.” Chris nodded.

                “Though, admittedly, it will be slower without a touring mate.” Josh chuckled.

                “Come on, Chris. We’ve been on this for days. We all decided that it would be better if we just toured alone this time around.”

                “Seriously, though, man. How do you think we got so big? I feel like a complete ass for turning down all those blooming bands. They just wanted an established group to attach their name to.” Josh shook his head.

                “We can’t think about them this time, Chris. We have to think about ourselves.” Chris nodded.

                “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He stood up.

                “Where you going?” Josh asked. Chris stretched after setting his guitar inside the door.

                “I dunno, man. I think I might just go for a drive.”  Josh nodded.

                “All right. Band meeting at six.” Chris nodded.

                “I know. I’ll be back.” And without another glance at Josh, he left the balcony, walked through and out of the apartment, and then stepped into an elevator. He hadn’t felt right about the band’s decision to turn down twenty some bands that were just trying to tour without wasting money since they’d made it. It wasn’t as if Daughtry had gotten anywhere by just touring on their own, without help. He felt like he needed to take a new group under his wing and show them the ropes, show them what it was like to be really successful. The world could do with a few more good musicians and they were just shutting them down before they ever started. He wondered how many of them were just going to die out without a second glance at the spotlight. He took a deep breath and followed the familiar, beaten path to his black Pontiac G6. He ran his hands down his face and started the engine. Between this tour mix-up crap and fighting with his wife all the time he was drained. Everything about this year, 2010, had been a complete wreck for him. Tempers had been running high for him and his wife as they had been trying to conceive a child through in vitro fertilization. So far, it had failed and it had taken its toll on them both. He was staying with Josh until things blew over with Deanna. So much for making a baby. He sped out of the parking lot of the apartment building and screeched down the street while “Judith” by A Perfect Circle screamed through his speakers. Sure, it was a pretty blasphemous song to listen to while he was counting on God to give in and give him a child, but it was how he felt at the moment. He bobbed his head to the beat and looked around, waiting for the light to turn green. When it did, he stomped the gas pedal, squealing his tires.

It came out of nowhere. He didn’t have time to hit the break, swerve, even gasp for the fear. His arms flew into the air and his eyes clamped shut as the side of his car was slammed, in what seemed like slow motion, on the passenger’s side. His body was jerked violently to the right and then pushed to the left with blunt force. His head slammed hard into the driver’s side window and he heard a miniscule crack. White spots popped in front of his eyes. He growled in pain. His car was shoved sideways, twenty, thirty, forty feet. Busting glass and the sound of metal shredding rang in his ears and then everything stopped. He knew he wasn’t injured badly but he was dazed and somewhat disoriented from the knock to his head. He looked at the driver’s side window. There was a small hole from which several cracks spidered out. He rubbed his head. It wasn’t bleeding. He tried to focus on what was going on outside of his car. Several people were staring at the scene, a few with phones glued to their ears.  He glanced in the direction in which he’d been struck and saw a grey Lexus RX450h. How slow had the jerk in the driver’s seat been going that this huge SUV hadn’t just obliterated his tiny sports car? He took a deep breath, his head still spitting stars out in front of his eyes, and opened his door. He took an unsteady step, but then leveled himself and stepped away from his car. He rounded the front slowly and watched as the driver of the Lexus fumbled around inside of it and then jumped out. It was a girl around twenty-five. He blinked at her, trying to keep her in focus.

                “I am so sorry!” she cried, “I wasn’t paying attention!” Chris squinted at her and then shook his head painfully.

                “It’s all right.” She shook her head.

                “No it’s not! Oh my God, I’m so stupid. I was messing with my iPod and I didn’t see that the light had turned.” He held his hand up.

                “No, really, it’s fine. You have insurance right?” She looked at him.

                “I---yeah, but--.” He cut her off.

                “Then it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. Are you hurt?” She looked at her arms.

                “No. I mean, I don’t think I am.” He squinted at her again.

                “Your forehead is bleeding.” She gasped and threw a hand to the cut. She winced. Chris glanced at the bystanders.

                “Did anyone call an ambulance?” A woman that was too far for him to focus on just now chimed in.

                “Yes, I did.” He nodded.

                “Thank you.” He looked back at the girl. “You need to get that cut looked at.” He heard her chuckle.

                “I think you’re a little worse off than I am.” He took a deep breath.

                “What makes you say that?” He closed his eyes tightly.

                “You’re swaying all over the place.” He let out a light chuckle, rubbing his forehead.

                “I just hit my head a little bit. I’ll be fine.” But he wasn’t fooling even himself. His speech was slurred and he couldn’t see for shit. He had to have a concussion.

                “No really. I think you should--.” But he never found out what she thought he should do. The moment the words left her mouth, he felt gravity take hold of him and his face crashed into the pavement. His body was enveloped by blackness.