Crash, Bang, Boom

On thursday evening as I was riding to Danish Class some jerk (also on a bicycle) crashed into me. We both fell from our bikes, he lightly bumped his head, and I ended up with an inch long gash just above my eyebrow. I was not knocked unconscious and remember the entire event.

 I remember hitting the ground and thinking 'oh shit, I probably just lost all of my teeth.' After a quick sweep of my tongue I realized they were all still there. Phew. A women came rushing over and tried to stand me up. With blood gushing from my head, I looked and her and said "I think I want to just sit right here." Another woman came over and started blotting my head with hand wipes and then another came with a clean towel to absorb some of the blood. The accident happened just in front of a grocery store so someone ran inside and brought a bag of frozen spinach to ice my wound while we waited for the ambulance. Both a doctor and a nurse where there as well as two other ladies who just kept shrieking at the sight of my injury (clearly not helping the situation).

While siting, waiting for the ambulance, tears welled up in my eyes. A woman came over and sat next to me; she asked if I needed anything. I told her, with a quivering voice, that I was teary-eyed because I was so far from home. She asked where home was and I told her upstate New York. She said she had just been studying in upstate New York and with a slight inclination that she would say she was studying at Cornell, I asked her where. Sure enough she had just been at Cornell so, we bonded over classic Ithaca things like CTB and Gimme Coffee. Having her there was just what I needed at that moment.

I was taken to the ER and stitched up by the plastic surgeon. After the procedure which, with all the waiting included took about 2.5 hours, my friend and colleague Justine (who met me at the hospital) and I left the hospital in search of some dinner. Just like that, we got up and left. Oh, socialized health care, how I love you. 

Best moments from the accident:
Meeting the woman who studied at Cornell.
The paramedic locking up my bike so it wouldn't be stolen.  
Snacking on chocolate covered raisins and nuts with Justine in the ER, a little gift from our other friend and colleague Guillemette.
An elderly man with blood stained white hair and oxford shirt wandering around the ER in search of a doctor.
The Egyptian doctor telling me I had beautiful eyes.
Not paying a cent to be transported to the hospital and treated.
Walking home from the Hospital on that cool, crisp, early winter night.

Getting a discount on a new helmet because the sales guy felt bad for me.