That nagging feeling....

I'm sick. I've been sick since last Thursday. It started as a stomach virus (that Logan and hubby had the week before) and then it just became something else. I don't know what, but I've been hacking and coughing and running a low grade temp. I went to the doctor yesterday and they didn't tell me what I had, but did give me some antibiotics that I could fill if I'm not feeling better soon. The good news is that today I started feeling better. The worst is the coughing at night. The doc prescribed some cough syrup with codeine, so I went to CVS to fill that prescription last night.

Typically, it only takes 10-15 minutes. Last night when I dropped it off, they told me it would be about an hour....CVS was packed! I decided to go the grocery store and come back. I got what I needed and browsed around and then headed back to CVS. It is only about a block from the grocery store. I was waiting at a red light, but was several cars back and I noticed a guy on a bicycle on the sidewalk. He was zooming along. It had been raining and he seemed to be enjoying hitting the puddles and making them splash. Truth be told, he was making me nervous. The light turned green and we all took off and I was still watching the guy on the bike.

He never once slowed down as he crossed driveways into the shopping center. Now, I saw this guy, but I didn't know if everyone else saw him and if a car turned in he would not have been able to stop in time. So, I'm watching nervously. He started to approach the intersection and I was trying to figure out if he was going to be going straight or turning right. Just as he approached the intersection, a pickup ahead of me (there was a car in between us) turned right. I thought the guy in the bike was going to turn right, too, and was relieved. I had visions of him going straight and the truck turning right and the guy getting hit. The right turn is more of a merge, so you don't have to stop all the way and can take the turn at a decent speed, which the pickup did.

Just as I thought all was okay, the guy on the bike slid off the sidewalk and actually hit the back end of the pickup (which I didn't know until later). This caused his bike to fly in the air and he went with it. The car in front of me went straight, so I was the next car turning right behind the pickup. The guy flew in the air and landed in the middle of the road. Now, I had been watching and worrying this whole time so I was already slowing down. If the car in front of me had turned right, I have no doubt the guy would have been ran over.

When he fell in the road, he was facing away from me. All he knew was that he was in the middle of the road and there were headlights coming towards him. The look on his face told me that he thought he was about to get ran over. He slowly got up, picked his bike up and sat it on the sidewalk. I rolled my window down and asked if he was okay. He didn't speak much English, but did say he was okay. I went on to CVS to get my medicine, but that nagging feeling wouldn't stop. What if he wasn't really okay? I picked up my medicine and drove back towards the intersection. There is a Taco Bell on the corner and I could see him sitting on the curb there. His bike was in the same spot he left it when he removed it from the road.

I had to pass it and make a u-turn to get back to it to make sure he was okay. Seeing him still sitting, I knew he was hurt. By the time I made it back, there was a couple in car there talking to him. They were a few cars behind me and saw part of what happened. They didn't know he fell out into the roadway. I got his bike and brought it over to him and the front tire was mangled up. The couple told me that they called an ambulance, but didn't think the guy on the bike understood. Once they came, that is when I found out he hit the back of the pickup. The guy didn't want to go to the hospital and kept trying to say he was okay, but he was limping and bleeding. I didn't stick around to find out what happened, but I just couldn't keep going without making sure he was alright. I think he was in a bit of shock. He just kept looking at me with tears in his eyes and saying, "My breakas, my breakas" and then letting water run between his fingers to tell me that his brakes didn't work because of the rain....he just slid when he tried to stop. I was really shaken up by it, and I'm sure he was as well. I'm sure he won't be riding a bike anytime soon, but I hope he learned to be much more careful and observant of the cars around him.