Crunching, twisting metal. Glass breaking, shattering, cutting. Pain, white-hot pain. Coppery blood. Heart pounding. Afraid, so, so afraid. Shouts. Loud, too loud....what happened? My feet....where are my feet....I can’t feel them.

I was jerked out of the nightmare, one that had constantly invaded my dreams for the past several months. It tortured me more often than not, making sleep one of the things I dreaded most. I still heard the pounding of my heart up in my ears. I still tasted the blood, heard the terrible, terrible screams. Still couldn’t feel my legs. But I suppose that was a veritable reason for the last one.

Slowly pushing the blankets aside with my good arm, I stared down at the limp appendages. They looked nearly normal, the bruises were finally going away, and on the surface there was certainly nothing wrong with them. But of course, I hadn’t tried to move them yet. I focused sharply, putting all of my energy into this one small task. A menial thing that any person does millions of times without a single thought every day. I could move my toes, I knew I could. Once, twice, three times, even more I tried, each time giving way to more and more disappointment.

Hot tears slowly began to slide down the sides of my face. A choked sob forced its way out of the back of my throat, and that was the moment I totally lost it. Dissolving into loud, angry cries, I gave up, drowning in the emotions that overwhelmed me.

Why me? What did I ever do to deserve this?

I turned my thoughts to the entire reason I was here in the first place. For once I’d tried to take my life into my own hands. To live the way I wanted to, not the way my parents expected. I wasn’t going to keep on being the studious little girl who never did anything for herself. That was my mask, the thing I hid behind to sate my parents’ expectations. I didn’t dare take it of and be myself. Just me. Just Crystal. I’d only wanted to go visit one of my best friends, the kind of friend that you tell everything to and let all your barriers down for. The kind I didn’t have to pretend in front of.

I hadn’t done anything wrong. Nothing to merit this. But all it took was one boy who had just a little too much to drink, was just a little too stupid, was a little too reckless. Then just like that, my whole life changed. Within one heartbeat, one blink, before I even had time to think, that was it.

I paid the ultimate price for his choices. I was the one who got hurt, the one whose life will never be the same. I was the one who will suffer the consequences for the rest of my life. And he walked away without a scratch on his body. I can’t help but be resentful; that boy took away every dream I’d ever had of playing sports, of surfing in the ocean, of running after my kids if I ever had any, of walking down the aisle at my wedding. It was all because of one little choice, a split-second decision and that was it. Because just one boy chose to drink and drive, I will never walk again.