HE STARED at his phone screen for a good while, trying to muster up the courage to tell his father-in-law the bitter incident that occurred. Everytime he attempted to press dial on the touch screen device, he retracted his thumb away. What was he supposed to say? That he wished he could have had better control of the vehicle? It was all his fault. He wouldn't blame Valerie's dad if he yelled at the younger male, cursing him out for putting his daughter in such a diasterous situation.

  Before he could turn the phone off temporarily, the screen lit up with Valerie's dad's contact name on the caller ID. Sighing, he swiped the screen to answer. He couldn't escape not telling his wife's dad even if he tried.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hey, Dylan!" Valerie's dad said into the other line. He sounded worried from what Dylan could gather. "I saw on the news there was a horrible car crash. Are you guys alright?"

  Dylan bit his lower lip. Here goes nothing. . . He thought.

"I am, but. . ." Dylan sighed. "but Valerie isn't."

"What happened?!" The older man boomed. "Please tell me she isn't dead son! I swear to God, I'm going to kill that son of a bitch ---"

"Sir!" Dylan shouted, cutting him off. "Valerie is not dead!" he sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Okay, good." Valerie's dad let out a breath of relief. "Well is she okay?"

  "She's okay immune-system wise," Dylan replied. "but they sedated her until her body recovers. Apparently when she wakes up, she could have amnesia."

"Damn it's that bad, huh. . ." the older man's voice trailed off and sighed. There was a lot of sighing going on. It was a devastating moment for them both. "I'll be down there in an hour. Just give me the address and we'll talk more there."

  Dylan gave the address of the hospital and the room number and hung up. He then got dressed and headed out the door.

…

      ". . . It was all my fault," Dylan said after he told his father-in-law the entire story. Valerie's father listened intently, sympathizing with his son-in-law.

  They were now in the waiting room. Valerie had moved to another room so that way they could monitor her more closely. Dylan had wanted to visit his wife first, but he needed to get the guilt out of his system. He needed to talk to someone.

  "I'm telling you right now, son," Valerie's father finally spoke, "it was not your fault. You did everything you could to stop the car and push it to the other direction, but it happened. And it wasn't because of you. It happened because that dumb ass behind the wheel of that semi wasn't paying attention." he placed his hand on Dylan's shoulder. "You did nothing wrong, okay? So stop feeling guilty. There's no reason for it."

  Dylan nodded, and there they sat: waiting for the room number to be said so that the two men could visit Valerie.