First off, we're okay.

On our way in to work this morning, curiousangel and I were involved in a six-car pile-up. Traffic had slowed considerably as we approached Baltimore on I-95, which may be the reason why no one was seriously hurt. Suddenly, the car behind us hit us hard, knocking us into the car in front of us, and then there were a series of other impacts that shook us back and forth. We were both wearing our seat belts, which did their jobs admirably.

Shock helps a lot, actually. I checked to see if Misha was all right, and then walked up and down the line of piled-up cars making sure that there were no serious injuries and starting to take down people's information. He called 911. Our car was sadly crumpled front and rear, but the frame of the passenger compartment was untouched. We were at least able to start it up and drive it to the side of the road, when the police asked us to.

As I walked up and down the wreck I started feeling more and more wobbly. Dizzy. Headachy. Neck-achy. Unsteady on my feet. Nauseated. I wound up spending most of the next hour and a half leaning against the barrier at the side of the highway trying not to throw up or fall over, and waiting for everything to finish up with the police so we could go to the hospital. Misha took over the information-gathering job, despite the fact that his neck was also aching. We started to piece together what had happened. Apparently, a dump truck swerved to try to avoid an 18-wheeler, and instead hit the woman behind us. She hit us hard enough that her air bag inflated (ours didn't), and she was scraped up a little - including a bloody scratch from the air bag, on her six-months-pregnant stomach. Her car and ours were the only ones so damaged that they had to be towed. At least everyone had insurance.

The guy we hit drove us to the ER at the hospital where I work. We were quickly separated - I stayed in the main ER because of my concussion symptoms, and Misha was sent to Urgent Care, which is one step down. Both of us were strapped into cervical collars. I got a whole series of X-rays - including a pelvic X-ray, because they didn't believe me when I said it was normal for me to have pain when my hip bones are touched - and a cursory neurological exam. We both walked away with prescriptions for 800mg Motrin pills and a dire prediction that we're going to hurt a lot more tomorrow. I was given a scrip for Valium too, which I guess is to relax my muscles. (I wasn't exactly hysterical or anything.) They said that as long as I didn't lose consciousness or have altered mental status there's nothing that needs doing for my dizziness &etc. But the whole ER trip took hours and hours and hours.

Bill came and got us and drove us home. I expect that the dump truck driver's insurance company will be providing us with a rental car, but we didn't want to wait around in the ER with nothing to eat or read while all of that got worked out.

It could have been so much worse. We're lucky to be as safe and well as we are. We're lucky to have insurance that will sort everything out for us. Lucky. We're lucky. But sore.

Update

Still have a headache and a neck-ache, but the dizziness and nausea and balance problems have pretty much subsided with rest and fluids (especially orange juice, to which I assign heroic medical powers). My boss just called to check in on me, and to say that she'd told the clinic I probably wouldn't come in tomorrow. I told her I thought I'd be able to make it, but I wanted to see how I felt when I woke up, and she encouraged me to take whatever time I need. She also offered us the use of her hot tub, when we get to the stage of recovery in which heat is advised. (They told us to use ice for the first two days.) That's an offer I'm definitely going to take her up on, for sure.

I just went walking in our apartment complex for about ten minutes. Not very fast or very far, but I wanted to use my muscles normally for a bit, if I could, before they stiffen up overnight. I still held my neck very straight, but I moved my legs and arms and back and shoulders more-or-less normally, and I think it probably did me good. The air was cool and breezy, and the sky in the west was a deep glowing melon color, smudged at the top with lavender shading into a deep slate blue.

Right now I'm mostly feeling thankful. Thankful to have walked away from the accident essentially unharmed. Thankful that everyone else involved walked away unharmed as well. Thankful that everyone we've dealt with has been helpful and friendly - even the other people involved in the accident. Thankful for all the people who called to check on us or made specific offers of help through e-mail, and thankful for all the good wishes and good advice from people who live too far away to offer concrete help. Thankful for the candle burning on saoba's altar in thanks for our safety. Thankful that Misha and I were together, that neither one of us had to go through it alone. Thankful for the garish melon lavender slate blue sky, and the cool air against my skin, and for me walking around whole perceiving those things.

It may not last. I expect that the muscle aches will be worse tomorrow, and I'll be grumpy. But now, tonight, in this time, I am happy.