Topic: An Accident

I was driving south on Route 68 somewhere outside of Xenia in small town southern Ohio on balmy late June afternoon. At the time I was a Regional Director of Clinical Operations for a group of nursing homes and I had been a nurse for over 25 years.  I was on my way to one of my facilities to meet with the management to discuss some new regulations about reducing the use of antipsychotic medications for Alzheimer's patients.  It had been a long time since I had actually done any true patient care. 
I was sipping my Diet Coke and singing along to "Don't Fear the Reaper" on the radio when I saw the oncoming car about a football field away from me veer off the road at 65mph suddenly become airborne.  In an instant the vehicle flipped completely upside down and landed in the shoulder.  I turned off the radio and said aloud, "That just happened.  That car just flipped over.  Oh. my.God."
Funny, of all the things I remember about this accident, I couldn't tell you what type of car it was-just some mid size white 4 door used car. 
There are other details that I will never forget.  No one else was around.  No other cars came by.  I didn't see any nearby houses or businesses.  I was grateful I had phone service.  I ran to the flipped vehicle scared about what I was going to see.  Would there be dead people in the car?  Would there be severely injured people?  Decapitations?  Would the person be in intolerable pain?  Was the car going to go up in flames?  Would I have to pull someone from the wreckage?
As I approached the car a mom in a minivan with a young boy and an infant in car seat stopped behind my car.  The mom told me she was afraid to go over to the car.  I was afraid too, but I confidently told her I was a nurse.  She looked at me with some skepticism as I was sporting a business suit and heels.  I told her to stay put and to call 911. 
I saw a bloody forearm first.  It was hanging out of the driver's window which had been shattered.  And then I heard a young girl screaming hysterically.  I felt relief because I knew that at least she was breathing.  "My name is Bridgid.  I'm a registered nurse.  You're going to be okay.  The paramedics are on their way. "  I had no idea if this was true.  We were out in the middle of nowhere and I didn't know if our phones even worked out here.
Her name was Tonya and she was barely 20.  She had worked a double shift and fallen asleep at the wheel.  Her biggest concern was that her car was totaled and she didn't know how she was going to get to tomorrow.  She kept screaming for me to get her out of the car, but it had flipped into a ditch so there was no way to even open the door.  I couldn't even see her face, which meant she couldn't see me.  I held her bloody hand and told her the best thing she could do was sit tight until the paramedics came.  I sat there crouched by the side of the road for what seemed like five hours trying to reassure this stranger that it was all going to be alright.  In reality it was probably five minutes. 
Once the ambulance and the police showed up, I was shooed away.  The police had me write a statement since I had witnessed the accident.  I was right.  She was going to be okay.  I watched them extricate her from the car.  She was still crying but that was better than what I had imagined I'd find when I'd watched the car flip over.  
It was a surreal 30 minute drive to the nursing home after that.  "That just happened, " I kept saying to myself.  I had blood on my suit jacket and muddy knees as I entered the conference room an hour late for my meeting. 
"What the hell happened to you?" asked the Director of Nursing. 
"I was at the scene of an accident. She's okay.  I didn't really do anything.  I just sat there with her till the ambulance came."  And then I started to cry.