The year was 1986 and I was living in Denver, Colorado. It was late December and the sky was gray. The cold wind was blowing and the snow was gently falling. There must have been at least two inches of fresh fallen snow on the ground.
I stepped into the living room where my husband Dan was busy reading the evening paper. I gently touched his shoulder. “Can you make us a fire”? I asked.
“Sure, I’ll bring in some wood,” he said. He gathered the wood and built the fire. I walked down the hall to the master bedroom to find a sweater.
Suddenly, I heard this loud thump. I looked out the bedroom window and saw a dark colored car driving down the road with its lights shining brightly on the snow. Then it caught my eye, a figure, lying in the middle of the road. “Call 911!” I yelled to Dan. “Someone has been hit!” He frantically went for the phone and called.
I went to the closet. “You’ll need this to keep him warm,” I said to Dan. I handed him a blanket, and he rushed out the door.
As I looked out the bedroom window once more, I noticed a car turning around. The car pulled up, shining its lights where Dan was kneeling over the unconscious body of the victim. A woman stepped out of the car and stood next to him. I could just see the shadowy profile of the victim lying in the street. I could only guess that it was the body of a man.
Seconds later a neighbor joined them, a woman who worked as a nurse at the Denver hospital. She checked the body’s vital signs. Dan constantly spoke to the unconscious victim as he tried to keep him warm until the police and ambulance arrived.
After the ambulance left, Dan came back to the apartment. He looked sad. He turned his head away from me, avoiding eye contact. “The woman had no idea that she hit someone. She claims she didn’t see the boy crossing the road.” He looked at me and tears began to fall. In a barely audible voice he said, “You’ll have to wash this.”
The light green blanket was covered with blood. He hugged me. “It was a young boy, only 18 years old and he didn’t make it,” he whispered softly. We both cried for the young stranger who died that night.
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