Chapter 2

“You were asleep in my arms, and I was ever so watchful when your dad drove late in the night. I was wide awake in fact. Our two friends were fast asleep and snoring.

I suddenly saw a car speeding towards us from the opposite direction, its headlights flashing as a warning for us to move aside. I tried to tell your dad to be careful, to slow down and drive to the side, but before I could finish my sentence, the car was nearly upon us.

The lights blinded your dad’s vision somewhat. He swerved to avoid crashing into the car and in his haste, he accelerated, resulting in our car turning turtle on the near-empty road a couple of times, and finally stopping at a junction on the long stretch.

I was virtually screaming, and shouting. I held you so tight against me, praying that you did not get hurt in any way, hoping that we would all come off alive through the sudden nightmare.

You were crying, screaming, out of fright. The crash was almost thunderous and you were jolted from your sleep, hence, that was a traumatic moment for you.

There was blood all over me. The glass shards fell on us, and there were bruises and cuts on my back. I sat crouched with you draped between my dress, just to make sure that the glass splinters didn't touch you.

It was a miracle that you and all of us in the car survived that horrible crash! I still shudder at the thought of what might have happened to you. You were just a two-month-old baby.”

Mom stopped for a while to wipe the sweat off her brows. Clearly, the incident still affected her badly. Perhaps the trauma of the incident was buried deep in her subconscious mind too. Reliving incidents like these are never an easy thing to do.

“Dad was hurt quite badly, while his friend who sat next to him, passed out. He sustained serious injuries. His wife who was hurt just as badly as I, sat bleeding profusely next to me. Her blood stains were all over me and there was nothing I could do except to make sure that you were alright.”

After a few moments, Stacy's Mom said “I remember screaming for help. I cannot explain the fear that washed over me that time. I looked at your dad stuck to his seat. He couldn’t move, but thankfully, was conscious. Every now and then he was groaning in pain. His friend, though, was not moving much and was bleeding from his nose and mouth. I thought he would surely die that day.

After a while, his wife started groaning while trying to move from her slumped position. She was injured in her legs and had cuts on her face and hands. She kept repeating coarsely that she had broken her arm. I didn’t know what to say or do. At one point, I tried to calm her down until I realized that she was barely able to comprehend anything. She was in a semi-conscious state.

I looked outside and shuddered when I saw that it would soon be nighttime. The evening light was fading.

Afraid that no one will find us, I started crying out louder this time, hoping that someone would hear me.

You were still screaming and crying, and to make things worse, it was time for your feed.

All of a sudden, as if in answer to my prayer, I saw a young Malay man hurrying towards the car. I saw him leave his motorcycle on the other side of the road, and run towards us.

By this time, your dad’s groans were getting louder.