In broken pauses, Lily explained that she had been living in a small trailer park near the stretch of road where the crash had happened. That night, rain had fallen in sheets so thick it blurred headlights into streaks of white. Her mother had passed away months before, and Lily had run away from a foster placement where she felt invisible and unwanted.
“I was walking along the shoulder,” she said quietly. “I didn’t know where I was going. I just didn’t want to stay there.”
Margaret’s hands trembled at her sides.
“The car was going fast,” Lily continued. “But it didn’t spin out by itself.”
A chill crept down Margaret’s spine.
“What do you mean?”
Lily glanced nervously toward the door before lowering her voice.
“Another car hit it from behind.”
Margaret’s heart began pounding so loudly it drowned out the hum of the fluorescent lights.
“A dark gray SUV. Big. Its headlights blinded me. Then it just… kept going.”
“Are you certain?” Margaret asked, her voice barely audible.
Lily nodded. “I fell into the ditch when I saw the crash. The black car flipped. I thought it was going to explode.”
She looked toward the man lying motionless in the bed.