Location: Panera Bread, Rock Hill, SC.
Today's flights: Charlotte -> Wilmington, NC -> Charlotte -> Charleston, SC overnight. These are all short, non-service flights.
I just noticed my uniform is covered in cat hair. Black uniform, white cat. Speaking of animals, my drive to work in the morning is an hour and a half long. I leave at 3AM if I have a 5AM ready reserve shift, and 4AM if I have the 5AM regular reserve shift. This morning, regular reserve starts at 9:15. I have an hour and a half to be at the airport. It's almost 10, so I'm hanging out in Charlotte unless they call me in, or until my flights begin at around 4PM. Anyhow, for about the first two-thirds of the drive, from Camden to Rock Hill, it's all back roads, until I hit I-77. At 3AM, it's an interesting drive. For a good 10 mile stretch of the drive, I am driving through curvy, tree covered canopy, dark highway. There aren't houses or even a single light for miles. I see more animals than cars until I hit the interstate, and I see at least 3 deer every drive, without question. Usually around 10 or so show up and cause me to swerve and slam on brakes. Today was no exception, even with daylight.
I had New Year's Eve off, but had ready reserve at 5AM, New Year's Day. That killed any type of partying I would have had, and there was a crowd at the house. I popped a melatonin and passed out around mid-afternoon. The alarm went off at 11:30PM, so I could ring in the new year, and stay up. So I did. It was fun being the only sober person in at least a 10 mile radius. I got to wake up and hang out in the neighbor's teepee (long story) to what felt like morning to me, while everyone else was settling into a drunken stupor, and eventual hangover. Knowing I would encounter drunk drivers on my commute to work, I hit the road an hour early, at 2AM, to head to work.
Sure enough, about 45 minutes into my drive, I'm winding through that stretch of SC-97 that's absolutely desolate. It's dark, very dark, and nothing is around for miles, not even a light off in the woods. Something catches my eye off the road. An SUV was off the side of the road, totaled, and upside down. What made it an eerie sight is the the lights were still on, and there were no emergency vehicles present. It was obvious that I was the first on the scene. I pulled up to the wreck, fully expecting to find a dead body, or more, inside the car. I poked my head inside, and not knowing what else to say, said, "hello?" There was a woman inside, for the most part, unhurt, but pinned underneath. After making sure she was calm and lucid, and wouldn't go into shock, I told her I had to drive about 2 miles up the road to call 911, as there was no signal where I was. About a half mile up the road, going over 100MPH, I noticed a man walking in the middle of the road, trying to flag me down, but holding his arm. He was covered in blood. He was involved in the wreck, and had lost both cell phones in the process. Considering I found the alternator down the road, I can believe it. The man was walking for help, holding his arm (a compound fracture,) in complete darkness. No moon, no streetlights, no ambient lights from a nearby city--nothing. By this time I was able to get a hold of 911, so I drove him back to the scene. I stayed with the two, keeping them warm, and talking to them to keep them from going into shock. A asked the woman a ton of random questions, since she said all she wanted to do was go to sleep. I couldn't let this happen. Then the man started grabbing his chest, telling me he had a bad heart. It took about 15 minutes for the first responders to arrive. Finally the jaws of life were able to cut her out. Her husband was already at the hospital by this time. I gave my statement to the police, and went on my way. That, obviously, was the most exciting part of my day.
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