The Power of Testimony

18 || ALL BUT NORMAL
John signaled and arced left into the intersection.
The impact was so sudden and jarring that neither John
nor Bev knew what had happened. Coming the opposite
way across Miracle Lane, a pickup truck banged the Corvair’s
passenger side bumper, sending John’s car spinning backward
and sideways. Another car collided with the back of it. John’s
head smacked the window and driver’s side door. Bev’s head
came down squarely on the dashboard. For both of them,
everything went black.
The three damaged cars sat silently, waiting for help.
Bystanders rushed over, alerting other drivers and peering
into car windows.
“What happened?”
“That sports car turned into the intersection. He must
not have seen the oncoming traffic.”
“Who hit him?”
“That truck. It can’t have been going more than thirty,
forty miles an hour.”
“Nobody looks too badly hurt.”
The pickup driver got out of his banged-​up vehicle and
walked over.
“You okay?” someone asked.
“I think I’m fine,” he said. “He turned right in front of
me. I couldn’t stop.”
He sat on the curb and waited. Within minutes, emergency
personnel arrived and helped John from the car.
“Can you stand up?” a medic asked.
“Yeah,” he said, feeling woozy and not completely aware
of what had just happened.