The door closed behind her and my heart sank. That was a long hour and a half, but next time I looked up for the eightieth time it was 11:50. I text her to remind her she should be on her way home and needed to be in the house by midnight. No answer. Fine, I assumed she was on her way. At 12:15 I sent another text “Really?” No answer. I got my younger daughter and made her sleep in bed with me so she didn’t let her in the house whenever she decided to come home. I locked the door and got into bed. I laid there a while awake just waiting to hear the banging on the door, but still nothing. I sent another text around 12:40, “You are really going to ruin the vacation by coming home whenever you feel like just cause you turned 18, you are not grown, get home NOW” The text didn’t go through. Holy shit she turned her phone off. I had her sister text her. Nothing. We both called, nothing. I was so angry that she would just decide to do whatever she felt like knowing that her curfew was midnight. Just before I fell asleep, I had a vision. I saw in my head her covered with blood laying on the beach alone. My eyes flew open and at the same time the phone rang. I was disoriented and my daughter yelled , “Mom get the phone!” I picked it up and the voice on the other end was kind and calm. I heard her ask me my name and I said “Yes” Then she said “Your daughter has been in an accident.” I had received many a call in the middle of the night regarding my daughter. I did not get hysterical, nor did I think the worst. I merely said “Has she been drinking?” The woman on the other end of the phone said “No, she has been in a car accident” My mind started to race as I tried to put what she was saying together. A car accident I thought? She didn’t drive. Now I’m getting angry and my younger daughter is starting to get nervous. “What do you mean a car accident?” I asked. The phone went dead. Wait, what?! No. I began to feel the panic rise inside me. My younger daughter was screaming at this point “What did she say?” I couldn’t think. The phone rang again and I grabbed it. “Hello?” the voice again was calm and kind “Your daughter was hit by a car crossing the street, she is in critical condition and you need to get here immediately.” Here? That’s the part I was focusing on, where was here? She explained that the accident took place just a block in front of our complex. My daughter was crossing the street to make it home by her curfew at midnight and at 11:50 she was struck by an oncoming car. They had shut down the highway and medivaced her to a hospital forty minutes away. My younger daughter was already on the phone with Jolly Guy. I gained my composure, grabbed my keys and my daughter and raced to the car. I was on the phone with Jolly Guy who had just arrived home and he too was panicked. As my daughter and I got in the car, I told him I would let him know what was going on as soon as I got to the hospital. That was a very long, very quiet, very dark ride to the hospital. My daughter and I drove in silence and right as we approached the hospital, my daughter said “I feel nauseous.” I did too, but I didn’t tell her. How the heck did this happen? We both began to giggle nervously as we ran from the car into the hospital. I told the front desk woman who we were and that we were here to see my daughter. The staff looked at each other and I started to feel a sinking feeling in my stomach. You can follow us, we will bring you to a family waiting area so the doctor can talk to you. “I don’t want to talk to the doctor, I want to see my daughter.” I said in a more forceful tone than I had anticipated. The nurse spoke again, “You need to wait here for the doctor so he can prepare you for what you are about to see.”