He heard something rattle as he struggled to get the phone out of his pocket.
He did a lot of driving, driving for a living, but he enjoyed it. He had a regular courier run that took him out of town into the country, then back again. Behind the wheel he was his own boss; nobody looking over his shoulder. The open road was where he liked to be; where he was in his element.
Seeing that the call was from his wife he answered with a cheery hello. The usual stuff, nothing unusual, bits of shopping to pick up at the end of the day. He rang off and peered down the side of the seat. Something had clattered down there, but he couldn’t see it. He shifted a little to one side and looked again. He could see something silver, glinting. A ten-cent piece… that’s what he had heard. He jammed his hand down the gap. He could touch it, but couldn’t get his fingers around it. He was trying a sort of two-finger scissor technique when he heard the bang.
The next thing he knew a nurse was telling him that his wife had been informed. Informed about what, he wasn’t sure. He had been given some sort of drug because the break in his arm was going to be painful when he woke up. It took several minutes, after the nurse had moved on, for him to realise that he had been in a vehicle accident and was now in a hospital bed. He had no memory of any of these events; which was pretty scary. He drifted off to sleep.
Sometime later, as his eyes flickered open and began to focus, he found his wife saying “…and you have no idea what happened?”
“No. There was a loud bang, but I have no idea what happened.”
“Apparently, you ran off the road. The van was towed away; I suppose we’ll find out more later; but none of that matters now, does it? It’s you I’m worried about. What have the doctor’s said?”
“Haven’t spoken to any. Haven’t been awake long.”
She looked around. “I’ll have a word with that nurse.” She strolled back along the ward, leaving him wondering again about what had happened to send him off the road.
She came back and pulled up a chair. “We’re in for a bit of a wait. The doctor will be here doing his rounds in about an hour. We’ll know more then.” She looked around. “I suppose they have a coffee machine somewhere, I’m gasping! You don’t mind do you?”
“No. Of course not, but I can’t help you; they’ll know at the front desk.”
She stood, leant across and kissed him. “Bless you. I’m sure they won’t let me bring you one.” She smiled and took off.
A few minutes later she came back sipping her drink, but she didn’t look happy.
“What’s up?”
“Oh! Just some smart-arse, giving me a hard time.”
“Why? What happened?”
She sighed. “Well, the machine didn’t give me my change, I tried banging the side of it. That sort of thing always annoys me… you know?
He nodded. “Yes, I do know” and grinned.
“I mean, either it’s right or it’s wrong; simple as that.”
“Agreed, but who gave you a hard time?”
“Well, I just happened to complain to a guy standing there. He smirked and told me if that’s all I had to worry about I needed to get a grip. He missed the point altogether, of course. To make matters worse, as I left he called after me saying he would give me the ten cents if I really needed it.”
The man in the bed remembered.