Ray stared at him.
Daniel continued. "Sarah's tired. Maisie's tired. I need to know this doesn't become one more thing they lose if life decides to be ugly."
"Nothing's happening."
"Promise anyway."
Ray shook his head, but held out his hand. Daniel gripped it.
"Promise."
At 8:42 p.m., Daniel drove away in his pickup. Ray left six minutes later because his apartment was in the same general direction. The crash happened on Fulton Road near an industrial intersection that had already generated complaints about poor nighttime visibility. A delivery van coming the opposite direction entered the intersection too fast for the wet conditions and crossed the center line while attempting to avoid a stopped vehicle.
Daniel had nowhere safe to go. Ray saw the van drift. He saw Daniel's brake lights. Then headlights twisted across the wet road.
The sound stayed in his dreams for months.
I will not describe the crash the way I imagined it during my worst nights. The actual police record was less cinematic and more terrible in its simplicity. Metal struck metal. Daniel's truck spun and came to rest against a barrier. The delivery van stopped farther down the road.
Ray pulled over, called 911, and ran to Daniel.
He did what the dispatcher told him. He did not move Daniel unnecessarily. He kept him responsive. He told him help was coming. He held a jacket against the broken window to block some of the cold rain.
Daniel was conscious for several minutes. Ray told me later that he kept asking about Maisie. Not himself. Not the truck.
Maisie.
"The chair," Daniel said.
Ray leaned closer. "Forget the chair. Ambulance is coming."
"Promise."
"I already promised."
Daniel's breathing was shallow.
"Sarah'll think..."
He stopped.
"Think what?"
"I stayed too late."
Ray shook his head. "Don't worry about Sarah right now." Daniel looked directly at him.
"Tell her I was there for them."
"You can tell her yourself."
"Ray."
"You're telling her yourself."
Daniel closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again.
"Don't let them be alone."
Those were the last complete words Ray heard him say. The ambulance arrived minutes later. Daniel was transported to the hospital. Ray followed.
I received the phone call at 9:06. The officer told me there had been an accident.